Our lives are full of defining moments. Some clear to see and some only recognizable with hindsight. Some are of our own making defined by our choices, and some are just the unstoppable maelstrom of events that sizes us up and lead us along. The beauty of it all is that, however our lives turn out, and whomever we become, nothing is ever final. Every part of life and who we are can change. Maybe the moment that defined an upcoming change has already taken place without our knowledge?
Enough said Radclyffe is here to let us meet up with a pair of women with defining moments buried in their past, and perhaps she'll let us in on a time in their lives when change is a possibility? Ok, I know you want facts so let's get on with it. I'll give you the basics. First meet Kid as she takes charge yet again for her brother Randy's ill advised choices in life and land herself a night in a cell and 400 hours of community service. If you want to know how that choice affects her life, then follow her as she meets Jordan, who is about to trash her with a hoe for breaking into the small parcel of land in New York that Jordan has turned into a community garden.
Now, don't worry Kid is no criminal and Jordan is really not one to charge around and beat up anyone, least of all a good looking woman, so there is ample chance that Kid and Jordan will make more of the meeting not least of all because Kid's about to spend her community service doing chores in Jordan's garden project. This might sound as a dire punishment to those of you not interested in gardening, but in Radclyffe ample hands it turns out that the chance bureaucratic decision to have Kid volunteer at Jordan's garden project is really a defining moment in both woman' lives at least if they choose to take the opportunities that arise to make friends and perhaps .... more?
Well, this is where I'll leave you to decide if you want to spend your reading time and money discovering the secrets defining Kid and Jordan's choices in life and love. If you chose to do so, you'll be treated to a short romantic tale of loss and love, focused on our protagonist of choice and with only a few roughly sketched supporting characters.
The garden project and the entrepreneurship needed to get it up and running as a more permanent feature of the comunity is a nice backdrop to the romance, but the character of Kid do seem a bit constructed and not quit Radclyffe like.
Kid is somewhat young with her 25 years and her professional skills and recognition, but if you leave aside the age issue the romance is believable enough to entertain. On the other hand, I never thought that I would ask for a bit more of the Radclyffelike stereotypes of a butch woman with a soft heart so amply available in her other novels, but this time I do, and I'm going to ask all of the Radclyffe fan's out there "Am I the only one thinking that "Secret Hearts" and "Color of Love" reads different than earlier Radclyffe novels - it's almost a different pen, but still a nice one ?"
You should know that I was treated to a free copy of "Secreat Hearts" by Bold Strokes Books.
And for those of you looking for a free read maybe K.C. MacGregors "Community Service" might be a nice way to spend a little reading time. This story was writen for The Academy of Bards 2007 Valentines Day Specials. Sadly I haven' found one of those this year!
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