Because I Said So

There’s a reason why Karin Kallmaker has been hailed as the queen of lesbian romance. While this might not be her best book (or at least not my favorite), it definitely more than does the job.

Because I Said So is a second chance romance. Four years after an intense three days that ended for the wrong reasons, Kesa and Shannon meet again as Kesa’s younger sister (whom Kesa has been taking care of since their parents’ death) and Paz, whose unofficial guardian Shannon has been for a few years, plan to marry.

There’s a lot to like in this book, but the best is, as often with Kallmaker, both the characters and their jobs. I know it might sound strange, but the way she seems to research her MCs occupation makes their day to day life feel real. It has impressed me since my first Kallmaker book more than 20 years ago, and it still does. Both MCs and the small community of secondary cast are really good (I wish they existed and invited me to dinner, there’s a lot of food in this book and it all sounds yummy), and I loved the Jennifer Lamont cameo.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Because I Said So by Karin Kallmaker is a beautiful, though angst filled love story. As a veteran author with some thirty books to her name, she is obviously skilled in writing great stories, and this book is a great example of her work.

The tale actually has two couples. Josie Sapiro, a nineteen year old college student who has fallen in love with Paz, a twenty year old college student, and even though they have known each other less than a month, they want to get married. When Josie announces this fact to her sister Kesa, who has raised her since a young child, she flatly refuses. Paz gets pretty much the same from his guardian, Shannon Dealan. Josie and Paz come up with a plan to get Kesa and Shannon to meet. Since both are lesbians, they hope that they might become distracted with each other and let Josie and Paz do what they want. However, things don’t go exactly as they hoped.

This is a character/relationship driven novel, you will not find a lot of action or adventure here. For this kind of story, you really need well-defined characters, and Ms. Kallmaker has provided exactly that. These characters have depth. There is also a great deal of chemistry, especially between Kesa and Shannon. Their attraction crackles with electricity from their first meeting to the last page. Josie and Paz present as first loves with all the youthful enthusiasm you expect from this age, including the flashes of immaturity young adults sometime display. The characters make this story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading their tale. If you enjoy a good romance with great characters and a fair bit of angst in the story, then this book is for you.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

Karin Kallmaker is a fantastic author who knows how to write a great book. Her characters are interesting and well developed.