It seems I’ve been on a political kick lately, at least when it comes to fiction. I’ve stayed as far away from politics (and the news) as possible in real life. Kathleen Knowles’ character, Gail Moore and I have something in common. More than something, actually. We’re both librarians, and like me, Gail prefers to keep her head out of politics. That is, until organizer and LGBT advocate Trevor Connelly comes to Indianapolis to help locals fight a religious freedom/discrimination bill in the state House and Senate. Trevor is great at her job and one night stands. Gail is two years out of her only major relationship and not looking for anything casual. When Trevor proves too interesting to resist, however, Gail tries to accept the casual fling for what it is, until deeper feelings start to emerge for both parties. Half a country isn’t the only thing separating these new lovers, and they’ll have to overcome some pretty large hurdles if they want to make a relationship really work.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It’s a quick read (I finished in just about twenty-four hours), and the love scenes plentiful and hot. I’m from the East Coast and not super familiar with the Midwest, but some of the book felt older than 2015, though to be honest, I am from the South and sometimes I think we’re still stuck in the 50s, so there’s that. There is a ton of back and forth with Gail and Trevor, which helps with character development and keeping the tension high, but for me, it did drag on a bit too much at times.

That said, I liked the characters, both main and supporting, and I feel like Knowles did a great job with Gail’s mother, Sarah. Sarah knows her daughter is a lesbian, but it’s not something they talk about, so if Gail wants any kind of life other than basically “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” she going to have to come out all over again. And again. And again.

I appreciated the familial relationships in this book as well as the romantic one, and that, while not rare, is not always something I think about. Mothers and daughters and cousins, Knowles did a great job.
She also did a good job with the foundation of this story, mainly the state government and a bill becoming a law. Our heroes must fight tooth and nail every step of the way, whether they win or not, for their voices to be heard, and I felt immersed in that particular event. Overall, I’d recommend it for some easy, quick reading.

This book is contemporary, although the constant mentions of Pence as governor is a bit disarming. However, the overdone coming out subplot and the poor writing overshadowed the good.