BDSM romance, but make it sweet, between a white trans woman and a Black man in Austin.

April French is a regular at kink club Frankie's, where she's hanging out one weeknight when new-to-town Dennis walks in. They hit it off, but there are, naturally, complications.

The story was told in a novel way: About a quarter of the way into the book, perspective switches to just April for Part II, and the reader gets six months from her perspective. Then Part III is the same six months from Dennis' point of view (before Part IV brings them together). This could have felt redundant or pointless, but I actually really enjoyed it and thought it worked well. (Bonus: The distinct parts provided good stopping points for my reading experience.)

Overall, I'm not sure how Penny Aimes packed so much into this book (her debut!) while keeping it incredibly readable. Sure, it's a love story between two people, but it's also about personal growth, community, kink relationships, and how to be there for someone you care about. And I always appreciate romance novels where characters' jobs matter and aren't just an afterthought.

Aimes' website has all sorts of bonus content, from a playlist to a map of April's Austin, and I feel like that's emblematic of how she approached this novel: so thoughtfully. Definitely one I'd recommend (even if you don't typically read BDSM romance -- I don't!) and I hope she'll have another book coming out soon.

Beautiful debut romance with an exquisite voice and sensitive awareness of power, intimacy, and trust. I hope this isn’t the last we see of the cast of characters at Frankie’s — from April and Dennis to Jason and Caroline and Tony, they charmed me completely. Penny Aimes is an author to watch for sure.

Such an excellent read; I really enjoyed it! This was a really great debut, and I look forward to more by this author.

Sometimes people who don’t read romance write off the genre by saying it’s just the same thing over and over. People meet, fall in love, happy ever after, the end. And while that is generally part of it - people don’t complain the same way when a mystery/thriller always ends with solving a case. And it also doesn’t account for all the different ways that romance can get to the HEA.

Over the past couple years, I’ve really been intentionally looking for ways to diversify my reading. When I saw For The Love of April French had a trans woman lead and is written by a trans woman author, I realized I haven’t read that before.

This story also handles time in a way that was very different from anything I’ve read. Giving us 6 months from April’s perspective and then going back and giving us those same 6 months from Dennis’s perspective. And I’m not sure how it worked SO WELL - never repetitive but clearly covering the same events.

I really enjoyed this story so much - a perfect mix of things I haven’t read before but still with all the swoon romance feels.

Thank you to Carina and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

This was a really pleasant surprise — a book that is both kinky and romantic, featuring a white trans woman and a black man as love interests! April French manages to balance a story that compassionately deals with the trauma both characters have experienced in their lives, with the developing feelings and boundaries that they set with each other. For an inclusive and meaningful reas, pick this up! Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC, all opinions are my own.

It's actually a 4.5 but NO ONE DOES HALF STARS!! So, here we are.

This debut was a fairly solid book from Penny Aimes. It blended kink, steam, and a sweet love story all in one and found that the author did that very well. As someone who is not well versed with the kink world, I felt she did a really good job of explaining without giving a whole history of it. By that I mean it explained everything as it went along and it flowed very well with the story.

I particularly enjoyed the trade off of PoVs between the two main characters and felt that Aimes did a great job of differentiating the voices. Both characters were also honest with their short-comings and mistakes and quick to admit them to each other as well as other characters. It was also a journey of self-discovery and love for April and Dennis; the first with themselves and then with and for each other. Because they were both flawed, as most humans are, and were actively working to fix that.

It took me a while to get the pacing of the story and I don't really know why we jumped forward six months and then back twice with little vignettes. It didn't detract too much. overall but it was a bit jarring initially.

Overall a great read that I highly recommend. . I can't wait to read more from this author.

Not my usual type of read but I am so glad that I did. For me, the read was interesting, informative, and so very sweet. April French, trans woman, kinky, loner with a caring heart. It was difficult not to like and cheer for her. Dennis Martin, nerdy guy, hurting from his last relationship. April and Dennis have something that the other needs. To be loved for who they are. Their challenge is to communicate and figure that out. I enjoyed the self-talk as they each processed what was going on with the other and what they were going to do next and why. It made for a beautiful story, messy at times but beautiful.

I was looking forward to reading this #ownvoices romance featuring a trans woman, and it didn’t disappoint.

Because April can’t pass for a cis woman, she’s constantly having to navigate the world’s reaction to her gender identity. That affects everything she does, from casual interactions with strangers to her job to relationships and romance. On that last front, April’s largely given up on finding someone who will accept her as she is, and she simply settles for what she can get. So, when she meets Dennis, who seems to have no problems with her being trans, April finds it almost impossible to trust him. It’s her inability to believe in his love and in her own worth that almost destroys their romance before they find their happy ending.

April’s self-loathing and her belief that no one could truly love her was painful to read about, which made Dennis falling for her all the more satisfying. Dennis is still recovering from the implosion of his marriage, which was largely his fault. He’s determined to do better by April no matter what it takes, including taking the time to learn all about the issues facing trans people. Dennis is just pretty much a complete cinnamon roll of a guy, really. April desperately needs someone who will treasure her, and Dennis’s tender care is incredibly sweet.

That care also extends to learning to be a better Dom for April. Their relationship mostly involves dominance and submission, although other aspects of BDSM are also explored. I don’t tend to read a lot of romance with kink, but I found it interesting in this book, especially the very careful negotiation of the expectations and limits of April and Dennis’s interactions as Dom and sub.

I do wish that April and Dennis had more on page time together, which would have strengthened their love story for me. They are physically separated for part of the book, which obviously has an effect. But they also both spend a lot of time in their own heads, thinking about each other rather than interacting. I liked the way they connected as a couple when they were together, and I wanted more of it.

Overall, though, I enjoyed April and Dennis’s story, and I’m looking forward to more from the author.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

CW: Transphobia, misgendering, discussion of racism, sexual abuse (mainly emotionally) abusive adult BDSM relationship)

Dear Penny Aimes,

I was keen to read your debut novel which features a white trans woman and a Black cis man navigating a relationship, particularly because you are a trans woman yourself. While I don’t make the mistake of thinking that April’s experience is your own or universal, I did feel confident April’s depiction would be authentic and sensitive.

April French is a 32-year-old trans woman living and working in Austin, Texas. She does something involving data (I admit the details were very much lost on me) for a sizable corporation and has good medical insurance which is super important for her of course as she is still having treatment regarding her transition. She is also active in the local kink community. As a pansexual submissive, she has a reputation at the local kink club, Frankie’s, as a bit of a “Wendy” – always looking after others. She’s also regarded as the “welcome wagon”. I didn’t love that terminology really; it seemed to diminish April somehow. I think this was because April does actually long for a long term relationship, someone to call her own. She just does not believe she can ever have it. So she restricts herself to short-term interludes and tries to protect herself that way.

Dennis Martin is a tech whiz having made millions (literally) with a Seattle startup. He’s realised he’s not cut out for the stress of a start up however and has made the lifestyle choice to take a job as a Chief Technical Officer at business which does something to do with Medicaid (again, I got a bit lost in the details but maybe USian readers will understand that better than this Australian did. It didn’t make any difference to my thoughts about the book though). The business has offices in various places in the USA but he is going to be based in Austin. His friend, Jason, with whom he grew up in Seattle has invited him to Frankie’s and on his first night in town, Dennis goes to the club – and meets April.

He is instantly smitten. Dennis is a Dominant who had a bad breakup (the details of which are eventually revealed later in the book) and who hasn’t really had much interest in a new relationship since. However, almost immediately on meeting April he’s starting to think long term.

April doesn’t let herself think long term, does not dare to hope. And therein lies the core conflict of the book.

Plus, of course the company Dennis is going to work for is also the same one where April works – but this conflict feeds into the main one rather than exists as something separate.

Dennis is Black and of course has experienced racism over the course of his life (and will again) but he has little experience with transgender people. He isn’t familiar with terms such as “TERF” and he does make some missteps in the relationship, asking April to do things which seem kinky and fun but for a trans woman would be downright dangerous. He does, over time, educate himself, not relying on April to explain everything – another thing I appreciated about Dennis.

He watched, listened to, and read stories from trans individuals. Stories of stunted youths spent pretending and always watching to see who was noticing and stories of young transitioners tentatively asserting their truth with their parents behind them; stories of relationships that couldn’t take the strain and stories of the ones that did; stories of humiliating questions from HR directors and crushing assumptions by store clerks, and stories of inclusive policies and how they made people feel.

After just about every story he wanted to hug April and never let her go. Microaggressions and concepts like psychological safety weren’t new to him, God knew. But now he was learning a whole new register of them in addition to the ones he’d experienced all his life and the ones he’d learned to notice for Jason’s sake, the last time he’d attended PFLAG meetings.

I thought it was interesting the way that Dennis notes certain similarities in his own experience of racism and Penny’s experiences of transphobia and transmisogyny. It made sense that he would be able to relate to it that way but I also appreciated he understood that the they were also not the same. I expect it’s the kind of book where some readers might go along on a kind-of parallel journey with Dennis. I only very occasionally found the book a little didactic. Mostly the education was seamless and integrated.

Dennis is not gay – he identifies as straight. He did some experimenting in college and realised that he wasn’t into men. I’m not going to discuss April’s genitalia here. That feels wrong somehow. What is important is that she is a woman and Dennis always thinks of her that way. As he says to her “I can work with anything” when it comes to body parts. It never fazes him that April is trans. He identifies her as trans immediately, always thinks of her as a beautiful woman. April does not see herself as pretty at all really and she knows she does not “pass”. I haven’t read a great deal of romance featuring a trans characters (part of that is my bad and part of it is fear of reading bad representation which is why I try and read trans authors) and the few I have read featuring a trans woman, transitioned as adolescents and had puberty blockers. April didn’t transition until well into adulthood. She has to navigate a lower vocal tone, facial hair and (as she puts it) “the shoulders of a linebacker”, among other things. I was happy to see the representation on-page of a trans woman who does not pass. Her experience is going to be necessarily different in some ways at least to that of a trans woman who does. (April is never resentful of other trans persons.)

April was married to a cis woman and in a dysfunctional BDSM relationship which became more so after her transition. Ultimately, that led to divorce and April’s relocation some years earlier to Austin. She still has some baggage (as one would) from that relationship. It is one of the reasons she is convinced that she is not destined for her own HEA.

April is kind, generous and desperately lonely. She’s the reliable one who always helps out at Frankie’s, sorting out their social media and guiding other subs to avoid Doms who don’t exactly break the rules but who should nonetheless be avoided. She is a caretaker but who takes care of her? Dennis is also a caretaker and he wants desperately to be April’s safe place to land but he carries his own baggage from his prior relationship and this hampers their communication somewhat.

I liked the way they talked about April’s transition. It broke my heart a little that she had been so sad and vulnerable and it made me cheer for her all the more to get her HEA.

“Do you think of it as being a different person?” he asked.

“I don’t think he was ever anyone,” she said. “Just someone who had a lot of problems and wasn’t very happy and wasn’t even a real person for the trouble. But he kept us alive until I could… I could take over. I have to respect that.” She took a gulp of her drink.

He considered. “Where were you while all this was happening? Or is that the wrong question? I know it’s not really a split personality.”

“I was there,” she said, looking thoughtful. Looking vulnerable in a way that made him want to protect her from the world. “I was somewhere, I guess. Nobody ever asked me that before.” She studied his lapel. “I was hiding, I guess.”

The BDSM depicted in the novel is not super kinky/confronting – I’ve certainly read far more explicit books. While the book is set in and around a kink club, it is not what I’d call an erotic romance. In fact, much of their sexual interaction is about withholding orgasm. I did like the attention Dennis paid to consent and safewords and I liked that there was on-page depiction of their use – including this one:

“Shit, shit, yellow!” she panted. “One second, one second. Yellow.”

Dennis froze and tamped down the fires raging inside of him. “What’s wrong, lovely? Are you hurt? Is it—”

“No, no, just—can you put a towel down? This comforter takes forever to dry.”

where the interaction continued afterwards.

The structure of the book is a little unusual; in fact it threw me a little at first. The initial section is alternating Dennis/April POV but then the we go into “part II” where it is only April’s perspective. The prologue of that section is six months into the future and then the story proper backtracks and time moves forward to that six month point again. Then the next part tells the same time period from Dennis’s perspective, including some sections which are identical other than we’re in his head, are expanded, or new. Part IV is April and Dennis again, alternating. That “prologue” bit certainly knocked me off kilter – for a while I was a little lost. Fortunately that feeling did not last and I got into the groove pretty quickly.

There was one thing I was not a big fan of but it is very much a case of “your kink is not my kink” rather than being objectively not okay. Dennis calls April “doll” much of the time. At first I thought it was merely a pet name and that was fine but as it happens, his kink is a bit more specific than that and the name had a different emphasis after I understood it. I’m not really sure how I felt about it. But April wasn’t bothered and that’s the main thing.

I did find it a little unlikely that it took such a long time for the work “secret” to come out. And, there were some story threads which were only touched upon where I’d have liked a little more detail. But I did believe in Dennis and April and I was charmed by them. For all that the setting is overtly sexual, were I to describe the romance, mainly I think it’s sweet – in that charming and happy-squishy way. I related to both main characters in their longing to find that special someone and their happiness at actually doing so.

Considering this is your debut, I can only look forward to what’s next.

Grade: B


Regards,
Kaetrin

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes

Moving from Seattle to Austin for a new job, hoping to find some action at Frankie’s Kink Club, and meeting April almost immediately may have seemed a godsend to Dennis…at first…but the road to their happily ever after takes longer than it could have and is VERY interesting to read!

What I liked:
* Stepping into the shoes of two people that took me outside of my norm
* April: complex, intriguing, intelligent, giving, loving, mother-hen-type, has some issues to deal with, good friend, pleaser, transgender female, sub, and so much more.
* Dennis: wealthy, attractive, dom, good friend, brother, son, bad breakup in the past, has much to learn and is willing to do so.
* Jason: wealthy, tech guy, friend of Dennis and April, owns Frankie’s, wise, would like to see him have his own book at some point in the future.
* The supporting characters
* The main characters had real issues to contend with in addition to their attraction to one another
* That the story was educational in addition to being a romance
* How issues were worked through and getting to see how the characters were thinking while acting
* That I liked the people in the story and cared about them, their lives, and the outcome of their stories

What I didn’t like:
* Knowing that bigotry still exists and how difficult it must be to live on the receiving end.
* That April and Dennis were not open at first but in the end it did work out alright.
* Having to say goodbye to the characters

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin-Carina Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

This is the epitome of hot, thoughtful contemporary kink romance. Penny Aimes’ debut is vital trans heroine rep, but more than that the book is a joyful experiment in the form of a romance, with dual timelines that give you the emotional arc from both characters’ point of view. It’s unusual, but after reading this I think a lot more people are going to want to be brave enough to give something like this a try in their own writing.

One of my favorite things about reading is getting to experience life through the eyes of other people with very different experiences from my own. Reading the right book really can make you more compassionate and empathetic. For the Love of April French is such a book. April is a transgender woman who has been trying to take up as little space in the world as possible. She moved to a new city after transitioning, works at a tech job where she can mostly avoid interaction, and has few friends. Her one safe place is Frankie's, a BDSM club and bar where she has a reputation as a mothering sort, friendly and welcoming and helpful. One night she meets Dennis, who's new in town and seems really into April, and takes him home for the night. In her experience, the men she meets see her as a waystop until something better comes along, so she tries to keep things casual. But Dennis isn't so easily dissuaded, and he'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to convince April that they deserve a real chance.

This was such a sweet, emotional book. Aimes is generous with her insights about life as a trans woman, including many logistics and concerns I'd never considered (like the excruciating pain of facial electrolysis). My only issue was the way the narrative is structured. We get alternating chapters, then only one character for a long stretch, and then suddenly we're back in time with the other character. It was a little confusing.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

For the Love of April French is a tender, poignant, and exceedingly romantic story, and a stellar debut for author Penny Aimes. This book wears its heart on its sleeve in all the most touching and compassionate ways, in its portrayal of two people who have been hurt in the past and who come into their connection with some serious reservations. For April, it is the underlying belief that a long-term, loving and committed relationship is something she’s not destined for because history has dictated it, so she settles for whatever she can get in whatever time she’s given with someone.

The author’s skill in crafting engaging characters is inarguably one of the book’s strengths. April and Dennis are layered and nuanced, charming and sensitive and sincere, and I became completely invested in the success of their budding connection. It was clear to me they were destined for each other, even if it took them some time to reach the point where they could admit it themselves; however, it’s this book’s heart that reached out a grabbed me and kept me invested in seeing them build towards their happily ever after. April’s inner voice—the one that whispers she’s not worthy of a lasting connection with anyone, the voice that sometimes tries to convince her she’s not who she knows she is—remained a persistent adversary, even as she came to understand she’d found someone in Dennis who dominated her so beautifully, in every way she needed.

It took time for April to realize Dennis’s exceptional kindness and generosity weren’t part of a game to string her along until he would inevitably move on to another submissive. What Dennis is not, is perfect, though, and I appreciated that Aimes gave him his own flaws along with a past he’s had trouble forgiving himself for. He was not the expert Dom, nor did he always get things right with April, but he sought to learn, which proved to be pivotal in their relationship, though it wasn’t the magic fix to every layer of conflict they faced. Some of those challenges had to be faced alone rather than together, and, wisely, the author allows her characters to do that within the third act tension that led to their happy ending.

For the Love of April French is composed of so many things: compassion and conflict and insight, and the joys and struggles and sweetness of two lovely people falling in love with each other. It epitomizes the sort of courage to fall in love that means patience and taking risks in spite of your fears, not only in love but in being who you are meant to be and allowing someone to see your strengths and vulnerabilities. The range of emotions I experienced while reading this story made the journey, as a bystander who came to want every good thing for these characters, such a fulfilling one.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. For The Love of April French by Penny Aimes was a nice balance of angst and steam. The heroine April French is a trans woman. She’s insecure because she’s been beaten down by countless micro-aggressions and an abusive first marriage. When she meets Dennis Martin, the new Dom in town, at a kink club called Frankies, which has become her second home, she’s interested but cautious. As a means of protecting her heart, she’s always going to have one foot out the door. She finds trust hard because of her past experiences. When Dennis’s marriage ended badly, he sought a fresh start in a new town, and he’s ready to learn how to make a relationship work. He’s going to ask questions, not make assumptions and will seek out help when he’s not sure he’s on the right track. He’s pretty sure April is the one for him, but if she can’t love herself as much as he loves her, how can they make it work?
I enjoyed reading this book very much. The combination of steaminess and sweetness in their relationship had me cheering for them to find their HEA. Steam Level: Medium Hot (BDSM). Publishing Date: August 31, 2021. #ForTheLoveOfAprilFrench #PennyAimes #Harlequin #CarinaPress #CarinaAdores #ContemporaryRomance #LGBTQIARomance #OwnVoicesRomance #BDSMRomance #RomanceReader #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes is a contemporary romance. A love story between two people who are both the strongest and most insecure and gentle. A well-written, fast-paced read that pulls you in from the beginning and leaves you wanting more. For the Love of April French is a stunningly sweet and steamy romantic read that is sure to stay with you long after reading.

TW: transphobia, abusive (past) relationship
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FOR THE LOVE OF APRIL FRENCH is an ownvoices romance novel following transgender woman April French, a regular at her local kink club, and Dennis Martin, a handsome, rich Dom who’s new in town. After his first kink relationship implodes, Dennis is trying to get back on his feet and learn how to do it the right way. April is the Mother Hen of this club and with her instant connection with Martin, she’s more than happy to help ease him back into the lifestyle.
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I loved April and her journey of self love and self worth. Watching her grow into herself and realize that she is deserving of all things good made my heart so warm.
I loved Martin and his devotion to learning all that he can about what it is to be transgender and how to be the best partner for her. These two had such a strong connection for the first moment they met, and it was lovely to watch them reconnect in the end. They helped balance each other and this pair just *makes sense.* I learned a lot of information through April of what she has the go through to be her true self.
My only issue was that I didn’t love seeing the POV from Dennis when I had already gotten most of that info from April’s POV. I did appreciate seeing his insight at times, but I wish it was worked into the story differently. This is a great read— heartfelt, sexy, a little bit of angst, with a happily ever after. Be sure to check this one out.
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4/5 stars, FOR THE LOVE OF APRIL FRENCH by Penny Aimes is available August 31, 2021!
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Thank you to Carina Press Adores and Netgalley for sending me an eARC to review.
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At the beating heart of this story is the romance between two people who might just be perfect for each other. The potential heartbreak in this romance is that just as much as their likes and dislikes, quirks and propensities align to make them a perfect match, their insecurities and emotional baggage are just as well (or poorly, depending on how you look at it) aligned to drive them apart.

Both April French and Dennis Martin are kind of new in Austin. Both have fled there, from opposite coasts, after each of them left places and lives that were just too full up of memories of everything that went wrong in their previous relationships.

April’s been in Austin just a few years, but long enough to have settled in, as much as she can, into Austin being her city and her home, with the kink club Frankie’s being the center of the life that she has carved out for herself, one painstaking piece at a time.

Dennis’ best friend Jason – rumored to be a silent partner in Frankie’s – steers him towards the club because he knows that Dennis has a place there, and that the kink community in Austin is at least one place Dennis will be able to call home.

April is a submissive whose previous long term relationship was with a Domme who abused both her love and her trust. In his last long term relationship, Dennis unknowingly abused his power as a newbie Dom over his sub because he didn’t learn how to separate the power dynamic of the play from the rest of their lives. She was drowning, he thought everything was copacetic until it all blew up in both their faces.

Both are feeling guilty and insecure. Both are starting over. When they meet for the first time, they connect instantly on multiple levels. Their kinks align perfectly. But the guilt and insecurity they carry from their previous relationships creates an emotional minefield. He’s learned enough to know that he needs clear consent at every stage. He’s afraid to push too hard out of fear that he’ll recreate the mess he caused before. He’s learned more but not nearly enough.

And April has learned to her cost that partners like her, and are interested in playing with her for a while, but that no one ever stays. She’s internalized the feeling that she is not enough, so she’s learned not to let herself get too involved, because that only ends in heartbreak.

But from the moment they meet, they each want more than just a fling, or even a friends with benefits kind of thing. In their heart of hearts, they want a happy-ever-after with each other.

And they’re both, out of their own equal and opposite baggage, afraid to reach for it.

Escape Rating A: On the one hand, For the Love of April French is some of the fluffiest fluff that ever fluffed. And that’s both in spite of AND because of the way that the story deals with a whole bunch of really serious stuff along with, under, besides and on top of its fluffy fluff. I want to say it’s like cotton candy with a Sweet-Tart center, which captures the flavor but perhaps trivializes issues that shouldn’t be trivialized and that the story does not.

This is a nerd romance. And it’s a BDSM romance that emphasizes the romance while not shortchanging either the BDSM or the sexual aspects of their relationship. It’s an interracial romance, as Dennis is black and April is white. It’s also a romance between a transwoman and a cis man. As the icing on the surprisingly sweet cake of all of the above, it is also, briefly – very briefly – a secret workplace romance, which turns out to be the straw that very nearly breaks the proverbial camel’s back.

There’s also an explicit message about not just acknowledging your own baggage but actually dealing with your own crap, because no one else can do it for you. They can support you through the hard parts, but they can’t pick up your emotional baggage and process it on your behalf. If you don’t do it for yourself, if you don’t learn to love and care for yourself, whoever and whatever and however you might be, you won’t truly be a fit partner for anyone else.

And that’s a message of universal applicability that doesn’t get the attention it deserves in romance. A happy ever after won’t heal your emotional wounds. Working on your own emotional scars gets you ready for an HEA.

Not that, in this story, both April and Dennis don’t have a few extra pieces of emotional baggage to deal with because of the ways that societal expectations and limitations impact them because of their identities. Something which gives them each an insight into the shape of what the other faces without having much knowledge of details of it.

An exploration that feels like it’s handled both well and not so well at the same time. For example, each knows that the other faces a metric buttload of microaggressions – and all too often macroaggressions – without knowing the details until they get slapped in the face with exactly what the other faces.

The way that this got dealt with was the one thing in the story that got handled both well and not so well. It feels fair to say that the author probably assumed that readers wouldn’t know every detail about what it’s like to live as a black man or as a white transwoman and/or a member of the kink community and every other detail of those lives that makes them different. We may have some knowledge and hopefully a lot of empathy but not full knowledge of absolutely everything.

The method for dealing with those different perspectives and levels of knowledge was to tell the story in the first person, first from April’s perspective and then from Dennis’. As Dennis has more to learn because he didn’t learn what he should have about being a Dom in addition to what he needs to know to be the right partner for April, his point of view is more informative for those of us who are less aware. But the story is more April’s journey than Dennis’ so we start with her point of view and stay with it for the first half or so of the story. Then we switch and see the exact same events from his perspective.

It’s a bit jarring, because we go back in time several months on that start over. I think it would have worked better as a storytelling device if they’d alternated perspectives chapter by chapter or event by event.

Both perspectives are necessary, because we see more from her perspective but we learn more from his. Still the switches between them are just awkward. And very much on my other hand, as rough as those changeovers were they give the reader way more than a glimpse into the minds of a transwoman in a cis world, and a Black man in a largely-white world, both in the kink community and in general. That the author covers this territory at all, and covers it well, is noteworthy and absolutely adds to the reader’s empathy for these characters.

So the roughness of the changes between perspectives, which is a writing thing and not a story thing, is enough to drop the rating from an A+ to an A because at that level I start getting a bit picky about the writing things.

But the story, oh this fluffy, romantic, wonderful story is so very worth reading. It’s the kind you finish with a smile on your face and possibly even a bit of a happy song in your heart.

Considering that this is the author’s debut novel, the whole thing is beautifully awesome and I can’t wait to read more of her work!

For a sweet, happily-ever-after romance, For the Love of April French hit me hard. Beneath the romance, behind the power-exchange erotica, and underneath the questions of privilege and prejudice, there's an exploration of self-esteem and self-acceptance that absolutely gutted me. There's so much of April's internal trauma that resonated with me, going right to my heart, that reading this left me in a dark, contemplative place for a few days.

Having climbed back out of that place, full of as many questions as revelations, I can honestly say that I unequivocally loved this book. Penny Aimes explores the story from both April and Dennis' points of view, with story threads that overlap, showing how each of them saw things and responded to them. The extended timeline is a bit odd for a romance, but perfectly fitting for a power-exchange story built on edging and orgasm denial.

I loved the pairing of a self-made millionaire and a self-made woman, one having lived a lifetime of prejudice because of his race, the other because of her gender. Both have their own character arcs of self-realization and self-improvement within the story, and it's all tied directly into the power-exchange. That element adds a whole new layer to the story, and Aimes captures it beautifully, going beyond bondage and punishment to explore the emotional bond between Dominant and submissive, complete with safewords and aftercare. It really brought the story to life for me, and it's a big part of why I identified so strongly with April.

Getting back to April, Aimes takes an honest, realistic approach to building out her character, and I love her for doing it. She's not some perfect, plastic, pretty girl. She deals with passing, struggles with her voice, and suffers through the pain of all-day electrolysis. Despite all that, she is happy with who she has become. Dennis loves her for who she is, inside and out, and supports her through all of it, which makes him just about the world's most perfect Dominant and lover. Aimes could have played it safe, she could have pandered to a cis vanilla audience who might have had an easier time accepting a perfect heroine, but it wouldn't be the same book, and it wouldn't have half the emotional impact.

Finally, I have to give credit to the wider cast. Whether it's in the office or the kink club, there's also a lovely cast of supporting characters who bring some added resonance to the story, including April's pregnant coworker (who I loved), a lesbian BDSM couple (who I adored), and a cis submissive (who I came to respect). For the Love of April French is an unusual romance, but it works on all levels, and should resonate with a wide range of readers.

4.5 stars

I really loved this story and would hate for anyone to pass it up due to the cover. While I believe the model on the cover at least fits the physical description of April, her personality does not come through. It’s not often I will include my opinion on a cover in my review, but when I feel the cover will possibly keep people from picking up the book I will speak up. April has a lot of internal issues she has to work through. April is also one of the kindest people one could meet and is always welcoming and warm to those around her. I actually almost passed on the opportunity to review this book because the cover made me think it would be too gloomy and morose for me. (I know, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.)

This is the debut traditional publication for Penny Aimes, and she did an amazing job. Being a cisgender woman myself, I learned a lot from this book while also being entertained by the story of April and Dennis. I never felt as though I was being lectured, yet the book gave me knowledge I didn’t even realize I didn’t have. On top of that, the love story is so sweet and sexy. April and Dennis have a connection from the start. Even their insecurities and past mistakes cannot tamp the fire.

Both Dennis and April have intense relationships in their past that went from wonderful to terrible. Neither know how to fully trust anymore, themselves or others. This can be extremely detrimental in the BDSM community. They both know this, especially Dennis, and take steps in their lives to protect themselves and others. In doing so, they put up too many walls. Until both of them accept that they need outside help, and seek out such help, they are never going to be able to be fully open with anyone, no matter how much they care. They have to learn to love and accept themselves before they can believe they are deserving of the same from others.

There are plenty of heavy elements in this story, but there is also so much joy. It’s almost as if it’s a coming-of-age story for adults. Especially April. She never had her opportunity to work through the feelings the come with being a teenager and learning who you are at that age. She had to learn who April was now, something she never took the time to fully do before. Even in therapy she kept a part of herself back in fear. Seeing April finally find the confidence and faith in herself was a beautiful thing.

I’m very much looking forward to more from this author. Some of her peripheral characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, but overall this was a story that will stick with me for a long time.

One last thing, the description of this book mentions kink and the characters are into the BDSM community. Don’t let the scare you away if that’s not your usual fare. This is kink-lite, so to speak.

If I had to give just one word about my feelings on For the Love of April French, I think tenderness is the one that comes to mind. This romance was very tender, and I think that's exactly what April needed. She had been in a very difficult relationship with her ex-wife, and now, she didn't trust easily - if at all.
I loved getting to know April, and see the way she prepared for so many different outcomes to protect herself and her heart.
This novel is very well written, and I loved that while most of it was from April's point of view, there were also some chapters from Dennis' perspective - and that added some layers to him that I think I needed so I could trust him, too.
As soon as I read the synopsis for this novel, I knew I wanted to read it, and I really loved it! Learning more about how it can be to navigate relationships as a trans woman, all the while also getting all the feels I adore in a romance was what I got!