TWO 5 star and TWO 4 star reviews for Capsized by Julie Cannon #FF #Lesbian #Romance #Lesfic

Title: Capsized
Author Name & Publisher: Julie Cannon (Bold Strokes Books)
Publication Date & Length: April 12, 2016 — 240 Pages

In the middle of a three-week fishing trip, commercial fisherman Roberta ‘Bert’ Coughlin rescues Alissa Cooper from her burning yacht and has no choice but to take the pampered rich girl along.

Alissa and Bert are from very different worlds. Bert struggles to succeed with the whims of Mother Nature. Alissa owns a successful advertising agency and is the epitome of high class and high fashion. When Alissa volunteers to help on the boat, Bert is more than a little surprised at how well she does.

The attraction between them grows, and one stormy night their pent-up desires crash together like the waves against the ship. When the ship returns to port, both women realize their lives are too different for anything other than their brief affair. They are simply too different. Their families are too different. Their lives too different. Then why do they keep coming back to each other?

Alissa runs her own very successful advertising agency and life appears to be great for her on the surface.  She is still reeling from a huge  betrayal by her lover Ariel, where she embezzled millions from the company and sold company secrets.  Can she ever trust anyone again? Can she love again?  Bert Coughlin is a fisherman, owns her own boat and make a good living out of something she loves.  She doesn’t do commitment as being the wife left at home is a hard life for any woman and she won’t put a partner through that.   When they meet in a grocery store and end up having coffee together both seem a bit smitten but neither feel able to take it further.  When they later unexpectedly meet up, under the most surprising of circumstances, a second chance beckons.

I really loved this book as it had a great tale to tell  and an angst-ridden, hot as hell love story.  The slowly developing relationship between Bert and Alyssa was so passionate and sexy and couldn’t fail to up the heart-rate.  Alyssa was brought on board Bert’s boat after having to abandon her own burning vessel and she was extremely vulnerable and in pain.  Bert and her crew looked after her and showed her kindness and friendship.  She began to relax and trust again which was exactly what she needed.  Bert’s gentle, caring manner was nurturing and brought out the best in Alyssa.  The verbal sparring between the two women came out of each being afraid to let themselves fall in love and be open with each other.  I took them time to be physical with each other but when they did sparks flew.  Was that all there was going to be to their relationship though?  I loved finding out and the story was well written and flowed beautifully.  I was hooked on their story and couldn’t put it down.  A really good read to while away a few hours, with amazingly observed love scenes.

Kitty Kat

A really well written romance that incorporates enough factual details to give it authenticity and a touch of realism.

I particularly enjoyed the way Ms Cannon narrated the novel, first  she had Alissa give her opinion then the same tale was retold from Bert’s point of view. This allowed the reader to gain insight into each of the women’s personalities as well as gaining an understanding as to how they had reached this point in their lives.

Learning about Tuna and fishing for Tuna showed how much research the author had done. It was presented in a very interesting and engaging way that added real authenticity and substance to this creative novel.

It was refreshing to have two such powerful and strong characters with such different but equally compelling personalities in one book. I was also found coming from different social background added to an already compelling read.

A delightful and satisfying novel that I can wholly recommend.

~Chris

I couldn’t stop reading this one. I really like the way these two women click. There probably could have been a bit more from Bert about her feelings of insecurity when she’s thinking about a relationship with Alissa, based on the fact that they’re worlds apart as far as what they do. But I really like that even from the start, there wasn’t any doubt on Alissa’s part that Bert was an intriguing woman who really caught her interest, not only physically, but mentally as well. I completely understand why Alissa backed off after the first meeting. I have to say, Cannon did a great job of making me feel like these two were never going to get past their issues and move things past the physical. Thing is, she also did a great job of making me believe that their connection was more than physical from the start. Lovely story. Two things that did make me question things a bit: one, why would Ariel/Cindy come around knowing she could go back to prison for it? Two, how did that fire start in the first place? It seems like both issues kind of dangle unresolved at the end. I was wondering if the fire was some sort of sabotage, but with the boat gone, we’d never know for sure. I’m also not sure some things were addressed enough. There’s the implied disparity between the two that obviously weighs on Bert’s mind, but it somehow gets lost later in the book. And Alissa’s reaction to how close she came to dying. It makes it seem like that and the time she spent with Bert and the guys on the fishing boat made her think differently about her life, but we don’t get to see whether anything changes. I also want to know if Ariel is coming back to make even more trouble. I find that whole appearance by her at the end weird; she’s coming to tell Alissa that she fell in love with her, but obviously her husband thinks he’s still in her life because he’s been supportive and close to her all through her incarceration. It just seems like something else is going to happen there. I almost feel like the end was chopped off. But the book is enjoyable, and definitely a romantic and hot read.

~AmyP

In this hot and spicy story, we meet the guarded, sea-smart, successful Alissa, who doesn’t want a relationship after what happened with her last girlfriend. Bert is a fisherman through and through, who doesn’t want to put a spouse or significant other through what her mother had to go through. After a rescue mission, Bert and Alissa are forced to live in close conditions for a while. At sea, both women seem destined to be nothing more than friends and casual lovers; however, what happens once they are back on dry land with the world pressing in.

I was pulled into this lovely story from page one. Both women were a pleasure to get to know and I enjoyed watching them grow and deal with their feelings, though Bert’s feelings about their differences suddenly no longer matters toward the end.

The author does a great job giving us a look inside their heads and into their hearts. The pacing of the book was perfect, not too fast or too slow. The sexy scenes were tastefully done and left me fanning off myself afterward. I enjoyed the dynamic that they had with one another. I loved that they had an instant connection.

I did find some of the passages awkwardly worded and they momentarily disrupted my reading flow when encountered; however, I was usually able to get the gist of their meaning. I did feel that Cindy/Ariel’s appearance toward the end of the book was weird; why appear just to say that she was in love with her when it could result in Cindy/Ariel going back to jail? Also, after her near death experience and her time on Bert’s ship, Alissa is reborn and her ideals and views on life change; my complaint is that we don’t see where that goes. We also never find out how a boat that was so well taken care of suddenly caught fire in the night.

All-in-all, it was an enjoyable hot and sweet story and I enjoyed meeting Bert and Alissa; I hope that we see more from them in the future.

~Tori

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Julie Cannon is a native sun goddess born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a corporate stiff by day and dreamer by night. She has nine romance novels and five short stories published by Bold Strokes Books. A recent transplant to Houston, Julie and her partner Laura live on the lake with their two kids, two dogs and a cat.

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