My second . . . my . . . hmms. When a book gets broken down into parts, it’s harder to say how many ‘things’ you’ve read by an author. Well, this is my second ‘thing’ I’ve read by this author.

Let’s start off immediately with that – I’ve read many series over the years, sometimes big long books, sometimes short little stories (or novellas). I’ve even read several serialized novels. Series come in many forms and length. Just because everything in a series is less than a hundred pages doesn’t mean that you are dealing with a book that got broken up into smaller pieces, you could very well have a series of ‘stories that can be read on their own’ that have some link with the other works in the series (character, shared universe, etc). And just because you have a series of books longer than 300 pages each doesn’t mean that this isn’t one book that had been broken into pieces (see: Lord of the Rings, or any Game of Thrones book overseas (many of Martin’s books get broken down into smaller books across the ocean).

I mention the above for several reasons, not all of which will be addressed. One reason to note the above is to note that this series here, that this is the second work within, has characteristics of being both independent works and serialized novels. While the first ended with questions still in the air, it could that could have been it. I’ve read many a book that ends with the ‘ending’ left open to interpretation. It’s not exactly a cliffhanger, but it’s close to being one. Since the relationship hasn’t been formalized, the people involved live far apart, but there’s a good chance they will spend a significant amount of time in the same city shortly.

This story here opens with phone sex. The first story also opened with a variation of self pleasure, so that’s similar. But immediately a different style is introduced through heavy use of italics. There’s a ton of flash backs in this story, going back to Sabrina’s childhood, and watching, being close to, meeting for the first time Josie. That was, on one level, vaguely annoying. Both reading long passages in italics, and . . . well, mostly reading long passages in italics.

The main part of the story moves from Las Vegas to New York. Sabrina has not yet started her ‘semester abroad’ (insert Lily: New York isn’t abroad! It’s not even across state lines!), but has been invited to a party by her semester leader/mentor/head. So she decides to wander over to New York from Syracuse for a week or so, since that would likely give her a much greater opportunity to be within physical distance of Josie. Who, if you do not recall, is the woman who Sabrina has lusted over since all were small children, and who finally ‘captured’ during both their visits to Las Vegas to attend Lily, Sabrina’s sister, wedding.

Tension and conflict are in the air, though, as Sabrina fears allowing her overly controlling sister know about her relationship with Josie, while Josie hates being forced to lie. There’s also the stress and time-eating nature of Josie’s work which makes time together harder to find and experience.

This second part of the story is a much sadder one. And ends somewhat abruptly. Abruptly in terms of story, not in terms of placement in the file. As in, I’ve read many digital books that end suddenly at the 78% mark, and then the rest of the file is filled with samples. I don’t mean ends abruptly like that – this ends at the 98% mark.

Bah. I need to get a set formula for these reviews. Then just fill in the blanks. As it is I just ramble and leave half-thought out ideas, and lots of stuff dangling. But, bah. ( )