Review: infidelity
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 14, 2013
I have some mixed feelings about this one.  Not because I'm a moralist and have issues with adultery and cheating girlfriends (yes, both leads cheat). Oh heck no. Any author who dares to explore taboo affairs with some real character integrity is going to give me a good fix of passion and obsession... and I lust for emotional characters and high drama, lol.  There's definitely a fix of that here to some degree.  However, I just wasn't into these leads as much as I wanted to be and I wasn't too crazy about the plot twists in the end.  I kinda checked in and out.  I can appreciate all the good things about this story... I just didn't personally love these leads.  Plus, I've recently read Jackie Kennedy's Denial... it might have ruined me for all further adulterous affairs because I loved that story and those leads so very much.Here we meet the wholesome lesbian Caton... who I guess was some kind of femme side.  I needed more description for sure.  I registered plain upfront and can't really recall her hair/eyes... but the married couple lusted for her.  hmm.  Anyway, Caton (whose name I never figured out how to pronounce) works for a misogynistic jackass at Halston and Company for like 15 bucks an hour.  She puts up with constant sexual harassment and then is lured (financially) into working as a personal assistant for the boss's wife when he's got no luck with her.  Caton is to spend 6 months alone with Amelia at her estate and cater to whatever her needs might be.  And they do get interesting as you might imagine.These initial chapters are the very best, in my opinion.  Amelia was very appealing as the beautiful and icy-mean wife.  I was turned on by her initial power and dominance and classy-femme attire.  She came on strong.  But for me, she ultimately fell flat and I craved more description and dominance from her than this author was willing to give.  Granted, I found myself fascinated and amused by her marital issues and this weird dynamic with her husband.  Initially, I didn't wanna know about the idiot caricature of a husband.  I'd be happy if ALL the straight males in my lesfic were no more than waiters and doormen with only passing cameos as a matter of fact.  But the "prison" Amelia was caught up in was interesting for me to see unwind.  I just didn't like seeing her turn into a softy so much.  She is not even remotely as cruel or vicious as any reviewer or the synopsis might suggest.  Once we got her backstory, her cool exterior dissolved and I saw someone almost needy and desperate.  I appreciate the humanity, but she just wasn't as strong or as fun as I wanted her to be.Some reviewers are raving about the sex scenes.  But what was hot to me was mostly the IDEA of a powerful and possessive married woman establishing her claim over the wholesome lesbian.  The sex itself wasn't that memorable or noteworthy for me.  I sometimes had a hard time picturing what the heck was happening or what position they were in.  Suddenly one is bent over.  Or this way or that.  huh?  And she mighta lost me altogether with the strap on sex scene. Apparently, neither of these two femmes have been properly boinked with one and they both expressed indifference about it thus ruining what coulda been a very sensual scene.  I was oddly tempted to focus my entire review on this event, lol.  I've never seen a strap on addressed so obscurely, lol.  Caton looks down at the "accoutrement at Amelia's hips."  Huh? Later Amelia "carefully extracted the implement" and comments that it's "overrated."  Extracted... WHAT?? lol.  Have these leads been in bed or at the dentist?!  This conjured a sudden image of one author putting on latex gloves and goggles merely to type out the icky strap on scene.  pfft.  The danger of two femmes in the sack, I guess. Butches always do it better.  I'd of preferred Amelia (whose name I hate by the way) to have a sexy inner butch.  A little more yin/yang, please.But then that's my personal taste.  I enjoy a strong yin/yang dynamic between leads.I really wanted to like the story, but it's not one for the reread pile... though I rarely reread this stuff anyway.  3.5 rating but leaving it at four stars for the theme than anything else.  Somewhat for characterization and plot. And because FINALLY a lead takes it from behind in a lesbian romance (hell yeah!).  What popped up at the end was kind of weird and kind of made me hate Caton.  But I kinda hated her for cheating on her sweet (albeit boring) girlfriend as well. I don't care about women cheating on men, but lesbians cheating on lesbians... yeah, I got a bit of a double standard, lol.  Again, not a moralist because I still loved the drama... it just made me like the character less.  And I have to agree with the reviewers who wanted to see more dialogue.  Soooo much narration... though, technically, the writing overall is quite good.  But ultimately, I felt Caton was simply out of Amelia's league.  Not enough chemistry between these two maybe.3.5 Stars