I've found this book really dense and pointless, therefore boring. First, its characters are weird, all of them: models, rich, royal, successful, that's a common trait in many lesbian novels, but here is extremely absurd. And is so repetitive that at times I've wanted to shake this gal Renee Russeau, and frankly even now don't know what was the mater with her. No need for any further explanation, please, I've had enough psychobabble.

The universe in which the book is developed was also weird and uninteresting for me. Characters coming and going, all related sexually, but nothing happens really, all is remembered and remembered again, on and on.

I don't have any knowledge of previous books of this author and I don't know if this is her usual style. And right now after reading this one, I don't feel chancy enough to find it out.

I always read the acknowledgements and forewords in books, and instantly I knew this would not be a standard romance. There's a lot to digest here: Renee realizing that the torch she thought she had been carrying for her first love was actually a crutch used to keep others at a distance; the second chance romance with Constance, who came with an incredible backstory; and the therapy sessions, which uncovered deep feelings regarding how Renee sees herself as a biracial woman. Individually, any of these three things would make for an intriguing book, but when put together, this is a story that really made me think. The author obviously put a lot of time into writing this book - it's very heavy on dialogue but didn't feel too info-dumpy to me. And there were a lot of loose ends throughout the book that were all tied up nicely but not too conveniently. I've seen that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I appreciate the massive effort involved in writing this story.

I very much did not enjoy reading this novel. There was literally nothing to read and absorb, the plot moved at the speed of light and much of the happenings were nonsensical. Feelings just abruptly come and go without any build up or proper explanation and what little explanation was given made the characters seem incredibly childish. The main characters meet within the first 15 pages and feelings spring forth immediately and these feelings progress every 10 or so pages so about 40% of the way they are just so in love but we even don't get to glimpse how that happen because everything is summarised.

This was an average or slightly below average read for me. I have to say that the writing style of the author is good, but my issue was with the plot and the characters. For that reason, i will be looking forward to other books by the author, as it seems this specific book was not for me, but im assuming other future books could be good!

There was some angst, which i liked most in this read, and i have to say the last part of the book was actually a lot better than the first part. However, If you dont like and you dont connect with the characters in a book, it becomes very exhausting for you and you end up not enjoying reading a novel, right? This was exactly my issue with this one. The characters were just so pretentious!

Overall i am not extremely comfortable recommending this book, but i would recommend the author and will be reading her next novel.

"I received an ARC for an honest review."
My rating is a 2.5 rounded up to 3.

This book fell flat for me for several reasons. The first is that there were so many characters that I had a hard time keeping track of them. The second was that the story just didn't pull me in at all. I loved the premise and really wanted to like this book but the whole thing just had me wanting more and rolling my eyes about several points in the book.

While it's plausible that someone could be in love with their best friend for many years, the way it was presented to the reader felt unrealistic. The characters also felt like caricatures. I just could not buy this group of wealthy women who were in their late 30s but seemed like they should have been much older.

The writing itself was not bad, but the story needed some more thought.

This was an okay read. I never completely got into the story, until the last quarter, which I thought was really nice.

Renee Rousseau (half-French, half-American, half-white, half-Black) has hidden for the last twenty years or so behind her love for her first girlfriend, Darcy. At Darcy’s wedding (read Matters of the Heart if you want to know how this wedding came to be), she realizes she has to let go, finally. As life would have it, one of the only women who ever made her want more from the relationship than good sex reappears, sixteen years after leaving Renee without a word. The attraction is still there, and so are the strong feelings between them. But while Renee feels she herself has not changed much during their years apart, Constance comes back to her a widow and the mother of twin teenage girls.

While the biracial issue is interesting, it felt forced. And the express therapy sounds a bit too good to be true. The romance is slow-burn but most of the rest feels rushed.

My reviews are usually longer than this but I’m afraid if I start delving deeper, I’ll focus on what left me dissatisfied, which wouldn’t be fair. This book wasn’t bad but it was not very exciting either. The writing is good, however, and I’ve read wonderful reviews of Maiorisi’s Chiara Corelli mystery series so I’ll give them a try.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.
Renee Rousseau has been in love with one of best friends for over 20 years. It was her first love and watching her get married to the love of her life Renee realizes that she has to let her go. To do this she realizes she needs help and decides to get therapy to help resolve these issue and maybe help her open herself to love again.
Bedsides her best friend Darcy there was one other girl she never forgot about and that’s Constance.
She met Constance while she was at Stanford and fell into a fast affair. Constance knows that Renee is not looking for love and afraid to get hurt breaks up with her without saying goodbye.
Will they have a second chance at love and will Renee open herself up to it.
This was an ok book. It was hard to follow with all the friends or “Inner Circle” and the romance was kind of flat

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Renee Rousseau has been in love with her first love Darcy for almost twenty years when Darcy marries the love her life Andrea. Renee realize it's time to move away from this unrequited love.

When she has conversation with her friend Tori who also dated Darcy, Tori ask her if she using Darcy as crutch to not let herself be love and and her loving someone else. Tori learn that she did loved two other people beside Darcy and is shock that one them is their friend Gina and one she can't talk about.


Renee goes to a therapist same one she went to before but the therapist Olivia told her not to come back until she was really ready to talk and now she is.

Renee and Darcy had a good relationship but Renee at the time didn't want to be in a committed relationship so she suggest a open relationship at first Darcy was ok with but for long she wasn't but they always windup back together but this time Darcy fell someone else which was Tori and when Renee realize she lost her she push her feelings down.

Second women she felt see herself with is Gina but they didn't last long because they always argue about race and class.

Then she met Lady Constance and it sursprise Renee that she wanted to get to know Constance then rather bed her first as they grow closer Constance never been with a woman before but she really is attracted to Renee suggest they have a fling because she was leaving in two months but when their feelings start getting serious Constance dump Renee before she could and left without a goodbye.

This is second chance for love but it's mainly about going through the journey with Renee while she in therapy and learning to accept who you are. I really enjoy read this book.

This book looks good but is really just awful.
I know there's a school of thought that's particularly prevalent among lesfic, that you shouldn't leave bad reviews but I do not agree with this. Apart from anything else it devalues the books that earn really good reviews.
Anyway, all the characters in this text are spoilt, rich lesbians who while they nominally have careers, don't ever appear to do any work. Instead they spend their time jetting about, whinging, reminiscing about how they've all slept with each other but have remained friends, and telling their therapists their not very complex backstory (very clunky and obvious plot device there). The dialogue is excruciating, full of clichés and unsubtle info-dumps.

I could go on but I won't, it's a cringey,painful and poorly written novel I only kept going as I got an arc and therefore had committed to giving an honest review!