This book left us overwhelmed. The huge number of emotions that this book evokes is unbelievable. It is long, but unputdownable. It draws you in immediately and keeps you firmly engaged.

Gardner has created a complex and complexed MC in Toni with a devastating past leaving her with an extreme case of PTSD. In Laura, she has created a deep and sensitive MC. The two together are so awesome that their relationship practically jumps out of the pages and takes firm residence in our hearts.

Read the full review @https://www.bestlesficreviews.com/2019/01/give-me-reason-by-lyn-gardner.html ( )

I never ever post about a book twice, even ones I cherish as much as I do Give Me A Reason. I just had to write again, though, about how absolutely special and splendid this book is and that it is even more lovely and heartbreaking and deeply affecting the second time you read it.

Whenever I go searching for new lesfic titles on sites like Amazon I sometimes find myself just so saddened and offended by a majority of what is offered as lesbian romance. Lurid covers with descriptions that sound more like a late night Cinemax movie than a sincere and moving love story do not make for a strong read nor reflect the lives of gay women who struggle with homophobia and are looking for genuine love and characters in the stories we seek.

Books like Give Me a Reason are rare and not to be taken lightly by those of us who like (and really need) well-written lesfic that reflects our beliefs and values and what is in our hearts. ( )

The author's frequent use of dangling modifiers in the beginning distracted me, but once that got under control and the compelling plot, lovely characters and excellent dialogue took over, I found myself falling into this beautifully sad story.

Very sweet, though often emotionally exhausting (I had to put it down at various times and watch Golden Girls), Give Me A Reason is well worth the read. The very last part of the epilogue seems like a small slap in the face and quite unnecessary, but the heart of the love story (plus great character development) keeps everything together.

Lyn Gardner creates a very convincing atmosphere (through the torment and phobias Toni suffers from and the amazing mutual love she finds with Laura) and situations that make you experience everything from tears to laughter to intense sympathy.

But just when you think you can relax and enjoy all the hard-won happiness and love, you're left hanging...luckily the hope that is infused throughout gives you reason to believe it will all work out okay. ( )

By the time I got to this book, there were a large-ish number of reviews, and all but 24 people 'liked' the book (or 4% of the readers; I'm going with how GoodReads takes everyone that rates a book 3,4,5 and calls them 'like' for % purposes). And so, I'll just tackle a few things here and there.

1) I loved how fully formed the characters were. I'm sure there were things here or there that could be pointed at, probably some of the side characters, but there's even more fully formed side characters going on in this book than is normal in a romance.

2) And we come to the main thing I wanted to mention - the . . .genre of romance novels, I guess I could label the 'thing'. Romance novels, with exceptions, seem to be relatively repetitive in at least one way - they might not all get there the same way, they might have a million and one variations, but they tend to follow a certain path. Two people (occasionally more, but I do not tend to read love triangle books, and rarely poly books) circle each other for most of the book, and even if they 'come together' as a couple fairly early on in the book, that doesn't remove the book from the repetitive cycle. It just means that the couple will probably either have outside forces pound on the relationship (a danger/damsel in distress type situation), or internal forces pound on the relationship (fear, miscommunication, cheating, etc.). And then, as long as the book is actually in the capital R Romance category, then the book ends with a HEA (Happily Ever After) or HFN (hmm, I have the second one wrong, but whatever the letters are, they mean 'Happy for now'). Some include a chapter or two in an epilogue section that follows the couple as a couple. As a fully formed entity. Some don't have that epilogue.

Romance novels tend to get around this relatively repetitive trap of having the majority of the book being about the formation of a couple-hood instead of being about a couple as a combined entity through two to three means - (A) create a series wherein the couple in book 1 can show up as a fully formed entity in book 2 but are not the main characters (see such series like Soho Loft, that Shifter Universe by Jae, the two series by Lynn Galli (Virginia Clan and Aspen Friends) etc.), (B) have a book that's really really long, like, say, this book here. (C) is something like a trick - have romance elements but put the book in a different genre - which the fanfiction by Fletcher DeLancey involving Star Trek Voyager mostly is - Science Fiction with very strong elements of Romance. Or be like two of Galli's books - follow the same couple, but add an element, the second book changes the normal emotional 'things' that wrap themselves around a couple and slam against them, and wrap themselves, instead, around family - so it's a two book series involving a Romance, and something else (Slice of Life?).

I thought, while reading, that the book could have had a great closing roughly around the 56% mark. And when I feared, as I occasionally fear, how this specific author was going to 'mess with' the couple, I kind of wanted it to end there. I'm really really glad that the book did not, in fact, end there, though. But if it had, then it would have been two things - longer than the average romance novel (being, as it is, that 56% of the book would be 371 pages, and most Romance books from 'official channels' in the lesbian genre tend to be closer to 240 to 300 something); and, the second thing, roughly in line with that repetitive thing I mentioned above that Romance books fall into. However they get there, the books are about the formation of a couple, not about a couple living their life after formation of their relationship. Well, this 'formation' didn't end at 56%, but there was enough there for it to close, then have some epilogue tacked on the end. Then spin the second book out as a sequel. I'm, roughly, 100% happy that that isn't the direction this author went.

As I think I mentioned somewhere along the way - this is a fully formed book. A mixture of a Slice of Life book, with a Romance, with a Family novel all rolled into one (with the addition of a 'Holiday' novel slipped inside as well). It even had the element of danger/damsel in distress/etc. mixed in. And no I'm not only talking about flashbacks for that/this point.

Hmms. I just realized that I finished this book in the early morning hours of the 14th. It's one of those books I figured I'd read a little then close it for sleep, glanced at the clock and saw it was 1 am, glanced again when I realized I'd finished the book and noticed it was 3:30 am. *shrug* Back to the 14th - it's a rather good book to read/finish up on/begin the day with on Valentine's Day.

ETA: Oh, right, forgot two elements that I reminded myself of when I glanced at my status updates. This book includes a love scene, and yes I call it love instead of sex, that is arguably the best I've read. And I forgot when I was mentioning things that this book contains - it also contains humor. Bits and pieces here and there.

From my status updates:
- Now that, friends and whatevers, is how you write a love scene. A and words like that.

- 'Smiling at her accomplishment, Toni looked over at Laura. “I recommend we don’t open this until Scotland or the bloody thing will projectile vomit all over the motorway.”' - re: filling trunk with luggage. Was funny. I laughed.

February 14 2016 ( )

The last time I read 600 page lesfic books, they were both fanfiction. Doesn't make them any less enjoyable. Both are on my all-time-favorites list. I guess when the book makes the transition from free to published, they get trimmed down to the usual 200 pages or so that's become the expected length for lesfic romance readers. I wonder if this a publisher-imposed limit?

Anyway, I'm not sure if this book was originally fanfic, but the resemblances to my fave characters from Bad Girls were uncanny. I'm glad though that the author has chosen the self-publishing route, and as a result this book is not heavily edited to conform to the usual pacing or length of lesfic romance books as 'defined' by an editor. It's almost like a template they follow, especially with the big publishers. That's perfectly fine for thrillers and mysteries where pacing and need to maintain tension is critical but when it comes to romances, I've found myself turning to indie releases more, as they are less predictable (to the extent that romance books can possibly be :)) and oftentimes have more interesting stories to tell.

Tony Vaughn starts the book as a deeply damaged character--after a horrifying stint in an isolated prison where the jailors were allowed to run rampant without supervision. After four years in hell, she came out totally broken and paralyzed with fear. Fortunately, traces of the old Tony Vaughn, vaunted educator and author, survives. Under the auspices of a very understanding boss, she manages to carve a niche and somehow excel in her own little classroom of women ex-cons. In strides Laura, newly hired assistant manager, and Tony's world is turned into chaos.

Their relationship develops naturally--from avoidance, to antagonism, to wariness, to reluctant friendship, and eventually to a tentative romance. The pace is leisurely but realistic. Their journey towards each other is a joy to read and savor. The book might be about a fourth shorter if it was just about the two ladies, but it also meanders a bit around Laura's parents, especially her estranged relationship with her father. This was very well treated though, so no complains there. There were also a couple of coincidences too many, that stretched believability. But all in all, a very good read and worth the premium price the author charges for the ebook.

A friend asked if this book is depressing, as the blurb seems to imply that its all about PTSD. Weird, but this is the third PTSD book i've read in the past month ('Picking Up the Pieces' and 'Show of Force'). Of the three, Tony here suffers the worst case of PTSD, yet, this is actually the least depressing book. There is a lot of humor sprinkled throughout via witty dialogue and repartees, although the overuse of the title of the book got to be over-the-top. At no point did it bring me down (as most of 'Picking up the Pieces' did...and the middle part of 'Show of Force' almost caused me to stop reading). OTOH, this is more of a 'feel good' read, a reaffirmation of the resiliency of the human spirit and the limitless possibilities of hope.

Lastly, one can't review this book and not comment on the ending. You'll either love it or hate it. I don't care for it, but I don't think it is enough of a reason to not read this book. I don't know if a sequel is planned, but if it is, I hope it isn't a rerun of this book.

The book ends in a cliffhanger. But don't worry, all the threads in the main story are properly resolved except the very last one. The cliffhanger is just like in those horror movies where they leave an opening for a sequel.

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