Departure from the Script

The Hollywood Series, Book 1

By: Jae

Narrated by: Abigail Rakocy

It’s aspiring actress meeting photographer, femme meeting butch in this light-hearted lesbian romance set in Hollywood.

Aspiring actress Amanda Clark and photographer Michelle Osinski are two women burned by love and not looking to test the fire again. And even if they were, it certainly wouldn’t be with each other. Amanda has never been attracted to a butch woman before, and Michelle personifies the term butch.

Having just landed a role on a hot new TV show, she’s determined to focus on her career and doesn’t need any complications in her life. After a turbulent breakup with her starlet ex, Michelle swore she would never get involved with an actress again.

Another high-maintenance woman is the last thing she wants, and her first encounter with Amanda certainly makes her appear the type. But after a date that is not a date and some meddling from Amanda’s grandmother, they both begin to wonder if it’s not time for a departure from their usual dating scripts.

©2014 Jae (P)2020 Ylva Publishing

No surprise: Loved it

I loved this light sort of Hollywood romance... excellent for a summer read.
Narration was just OK no more... Abigail tends to sing a little when narrating and I don’t find it fitting....

The road to sapphic heaven may be paved with open-mindedness and NOT rushing to judgment!

The idea behind “departing from the script” is a “fem” actress who usually dates “fems” but then dates a “butch” woman, who doesn't want to date another actress. There are lots of labels and preconceived notions here, perhaps more common ten years ago than now. Or perhaps we just have a greater variety of labels now!

Describing one’s sexual and partnering motif in life is like a complicated order at Starbucks that makes the most experienced barista shake their head and everyone in line behind them moan. The book gets a little heavy-handed in extolling the virtues of a fem dating a butch but overall, the romance is a delightful story! Yes, there is angst and luckily there is long-awaited spicy romance. The grandmother is an especially fun character and I loved the plot twist towards the end of the book!

As human beings, we are so much more diverse than labels! Although this story focuses on one limited dynamic, you can’t judge this book by its cover, because you might miss something fun. The real beauty in this story lies in getting to know and appreciate people without making negative assumptions about them. And hoping they do that for us as well!

Bad narrator

The narrator needs to read the cues. The book said Michelle had a bit of a rumble to her voice, and the narrator gave her a high, slightly nasal sound no butch would ever have.

Sweet

Sweet story filled with wonderful characters! I love all of Jae’s books. The narrator did an alright job.

Uncomplicated Not So Slow Romance

Odd ‘meet cute’ after a blind drunk Valentines Day first date with a crazy obsessive woman a kind Butch woman saves the woman by letting her sleep it off at her place. Waking up with no recollection the MC connects with her knight in shining armor. This book was short and it was noticeable that the plot development or lack of it was accelerated because of it. This narrator was not the best to truly capture the emotions expressed by the characters. It was flat but still tolerable- I enjoyed the story despite these short comings. I am hoping the narration improves in the next book because I really want to hear the Grace Durant romance story