Risky Investment

by Beth Moore

 

Risky Investment

Beth Moore

Bella Books

 

 

Finally, Bella Books has given us not one, but two fictional lesbian romance stories that don’t depict lesbians as seducers of straight women. Our thanks not only to Bella, but its authors Beth Moore (Risky Investment) and Gerri Hill (Hunter’s Way).

Through very different situations, both books’ main lesbian characters, Lynn Gregory and Tori Hunter, respectively, find themselves thrust into the lives of two straight women, Chris Newman and Samantha Kennedy. Each of the lesbians discovers an attraction to their straight counterpart, but instead of just “going for it” per the usual stereotype, Lynn and Tori refuse to get romantically involved with the heterosexual women. An example is Lynn’s constant reminder to herself, “she’s straight, she’s straight, she’s straight.”

Definitely two of my most recent favorite books, both are true page-turners, the reading of each accomplished in one day.

Risky Investment is Moore’s debut novel for Bella, and we hope it’s not her last. Full of messages, like finding simple pleasures, don’t live in the closet and we can’t help who we fall in love with, it also features a gay man as Lynn’s roommate.

Being a true “Law and Order” fan, Hill’s latest effort for Bella, Hunter’s Way, (there are at least four previous titles) took us inside a police department’s homicide investigation with Tori being the department’s “rogue” cop. When Tori, against her will, has to break-in a new partner, her seventh in as many years, “Sam” Kennedy, the sparks really fly for a myriad of reasons.

But these books aren’t just stories about lesbians who find themselves attracted to straight women. They’re also the stories of two heterosexual women who find themselves attracted to lesbians and try to deal with their new-found feelings in a host of ways. One fights the attraction and what it might mean to the rest of her life while it takes a crisis for the other to realize her true self.

Perfect for summer reading, just be careful not to get sunburned by the pool because once you start reading, it’ll be hard to stop. And the chemistry between these characters was enough to make us lower the thermostat on the AC.

(as published in Family & Friends Magazine, June 2005)