Happy Endings
By Marlene Sexton
Dec. 20, 2011
Lesbian/f-f/Paranormal/Erotica
9.8K words
Publisher- Red Heels Press (self-published)
Emma needed to get away from Boston and her on again, off
again girlfriend/editor Haya to work on her book. She found a quaint inn near
the sea in Connecticut. The innkeeper Gladys is a sweet woman and Emma
instantly likes her. Apparently, a young couple, the Finnegans, are staying at
the inn also, but they are rarely around.
Emma begins having vivid, sexual dreams and then one night a
woman comes to her darkened room. She thinks it might be Gladys but then a
younger woman, Beth, joins her in bed. The women make love and it's some of the
best sex of Emma's life. She assumes Beth is the elusive Mrs. Finnegan, but
when she meets the real Mrs. Finnegan the next morning, she finds out it
wasn't. Now Emma is wondering who the strange woman really is. The answer is
almost to strange to believe.
If this story doesn't leave you horny and in tears, your
better check your pulse!
This is a new to me author. I bought this book during ARe’s
½ ebook bucks back sale. There’s no way I’d buy a 10K book for $2.99 without a
deal unless I loved the author’s work. I have mixed feelings about this story.
There were some things about it that I found off or lacking, but other parts of
it I really liked.
The main thing that didn’t work for me was that I found the
writing to be amateurish and repetitive in parts. I got the feeling the author
was adding words unnecessarily to make a higher word count and or that it
wasn’t edited very well.
One example:
“You must be Emma!” the middle-aged woman exclaimed. “We
were getting worried about you with all the ice on the roads. I’m Gladys
McGillicuddy and this is my husband Oscar,” she said as she pointed to the thin
but hardy looking man just emerging from the inn.
“Hi, I’m Emma. I’m not used to driving, especially on icy
roads at night. I went really, really slow.”
They already know and assume she’s Emma and said so, so
introducing herself on top of that is weird.
This is a short story, only 23 pgs., so there’s not too much
to it. It’s not a romance, but more about a short erotic interlude in Emma’s
life that helps her get out of a rut she’s in. Between the quiet folksiness of
Gladys and her short stay at the country B&B, and the unexpected paranormal
elements, Emma manages to get her writing mojo back. The title is Happy Endings
and I guess for several characters that’s what happened in their own way.
The “Beth” part of the story, outside of the actual sex,
felt a bit unfocused. It’s treated as if Beth was waiting for Emma in
particular but there’s no background for that. Why Emma in particular? The
author kind of goes there but then goes the direction of it’s only because Emma
happens, coincidentally, to be a single lesbian who showed up as a guest after
so much time for why Beth comes around.
The best parts are the dream like, ethereal erotic moments
between Emma and Beth. The sex is nicely and sensually written even if not overly
graphic.
To be honest, and I’m sure the author will not like this,
but the best part of Happy Endings can be read in the excerpt on All Romance
Ebooks. Or a good part of it. There’s more of course, but for the cost, and
other issues I’m not sure it’s worth it. Or you can download the first 50% of
the book on Smashwords to see if it’s a book you might like.
I wouldn’t say this book is totally not worth it, it was
generally an OK read. I still have a pulse. But if you’re into paranormal sexual scenarios or want a short
quickie that’s hot sexually, then you might like Happy Endings.
Heat level- 3-4- Vanilla sex with some minor anal play.
Grade- It was OK
