Finders Keepers ebook

So much for escapism. Seriously. If you pick up this genre to abandon the dramas of everyday life... welcome to Kallmaker in full-swing Agenda Mode where she seems to have forgotten with this one what many of us come here for.

This book *IS* more of a weight loss treatise (as another honestly put it) and less of a romance. It buries you into the obsessive thought of 34 year old workaholic Marissa Chabot who is described as "chunky" and appears to be about 50 lbs. overweight. Her deep-seated worthlessness is challenged when she is shipwrecked with the 31 year old Xena-esque Linda Bartok who finds her beautiful. And that's a first.

These two spend a brief (albeit modified) vacation together on the island the lifeboat arrives to. They part intending to keep in touch but the mysterious Linda flat out disappears for a year. Yet the book goes on. For a year. In this time, the characters are described in their own lives (i.e., not together) for most of the book!! The romance seems to get a cameo at the beginning and end. This DOES NOT work for me!!! Also in this time, we are taken through Marissa's resolve to lose weight, lots of paragraphs about food, mommy issues, therapy, more mommy issues, more therapy, and the author's commentary on the fads, frustrations, and the complexities of weight loss in our society.

*yawn*

The initial "romance" between these two functions more as a catalyst to explore poor body image and weight loss and their chemistry consequently comes off as flat and implausible. I couldn't buy anyone passing for Wonder Woman would see our bloated protagonist as a curvy sexpot... eh....unless she was crazy. LOL. Let's face it, there is a trade off when someone waaaaay out of your league wants you. Ya gotta ask... what's wrong with her?! lol. And trust me, there's plenty wrong...

I did like Kallmaker's choice to keep the story in a light-hearted tone... and that these two initially bond as "comrades-in-twisted-humor." But their initial togetherness is too brief and they simply stay apart TOO LONG!! I found this unredeemable. I found Linda unredeemable. I didn't really care if they ever got together... I mostly just wanted the story to end so I could read something better.

Admittedly, I will say that I'm somewhat touched Kallmaker is so eager to reach out to the many women who suffer from poor body image. And her point that beautiful women aren't necessarily happy or stable is a good one. I even love her premise that having one person's genuine approval and belief in you can set off some real changes in your spirit and self perception. But if you do it at the expense of a good romance... meh. Wrong forum. If you are a die hard Kallmaker fan I suspect you'll ride with it... but if this is like your first lez romance I can see you abandoning this genre altogether out of annoyance.

Okay. One pet peeve. I'll never understand why our overweight leading lady was assaulted with the scene where she falls in the rain and mud and sprains her foot. Okay. We all love the part where the lover "nurses the hurt one back to health"... but having your fat protagonist fall in the mud and literally eat mud makes her look like a fat little pig rolling about in her pen. lol. I cringed. This is worse than just having read the 200 mile an hour volleyball that hits my pretty femme in the head in Thy Neighbor's Wife. HUH?! How undignified!! lol.

I just don't like my leading ladies abused in shameful ways. I want to admire them, not laugh at them.

I also thought we'd get a lot more behind-the-scenes on the Finders Keepers business which Marissa runs with a pal. This is more about body image, but we get some interesting commentary about artificial matchmaking and its questionable effectiveness. I wanted to see more on this topic, however.

The sex wasn't much, memorable, or particularly sexy. Ultimately, these two overcome fat and crazy and live happily ever after so don't worry.

Not my favorite Kallmaker book, but I'm not going to stop reading her stuff. But please. No more pastel covers!!... they make her books look like the Naiad Press days... sooo old. lol. I can't recommend this book because this isn't what I look for in this genre. If you're looking for a good love story and some good sex and you don't read a whole lot of lezfic and want to choose carefully... read something else.

Yes, another big hit of Karin. It's not about beautiful, gorgeous, the exterior but about strength, intelligent, about the interior. A gorgeous body can be a burden in your life but that also applies to a body with overweight. Two women who struggle with their bodies but also dealing with extremely controlling mothers. Mothers who had a big impact on their lives. This story has a lot of twists and turns, it was fun, sad, passionate, emotional and heartbreaking. I enjoyed it immensely and I really really loved the mental letters of Marissa. They were witty and revealing. I highly recommend this book. It's an amazing story.

I've become something of a Karin Kallmaker scholar. She is the best this genre has to offer, and has the track record to prove it. Finders Keepers is her nineteenth effort. Yes, folks, I've read them all. And yes, they are all very good. Each novel gives the reader of this genre, lesbian romance, something more than is expected. Kallmaker is a skilled writer, and the bonus is she has a wicked sense of humor and is unafraid of indulging it.

If you're going to write a romance novel, how about the main character being the owner of a dating service who can't get a date? That's good. How about a vacation encounter with a beautiful and mysterious stranger that could never be sustained back in the real world? Throw in a few more twists, humor overlaid throughout, and you will settle in with a very good book.

Some of these things are standard for romance novels: a shipboard dalliance between the shy and unassuming Marissa and the tall, beautiful, but unattainable Linda, a romantic setting, surely. But real life intrudes, as it always does.

Some of the things you'll find are definitely not standard. Some will amuse you, some will cause you to think, but everything in this latest Kallmaker novel will entertain and delight you, I promise.

The something different in Finders Keepers is patent Kallmaker strategy. This author takes the standard elements of the genre and sets them on edge, sometimes pokes fun at them, even occasionally sets them aside altogether. In this one, the author plays with the accepted idea of beauty. In the standard romance, everyone is attractive. Both main characters are slim and beautiful. I won't even delve into the extreme influence television and movies have had on this concept, won't even ask the question that begs: if everyone is so darned attractive and perfect, how come they have so much trouble finding a relationship? Aren't the beautiful people the ones we envy for the ease through life that their perfection of shape, size, looks, grants them? None of them have issues with chocolate, apparently.
Yes, the two women in Finders Keepers have issues, real ones. There is something poignant about being able to laugh along with Marissa as she rethinks her life. I can't say enough about the talent of Karin Kallmaker; it takes real skill to encourage us to be there with Marissa and with Linda, as both do what they have to do to transform themselves.
It is remarkable that while reading this novel, I laughed and sometimes choked back tears. I don't think you can ask more than that of a good book, or from a very good writer.
Don't miss this one. It's a keeper, and so is the author. Make some room on your shelves and squeeze this one in.

*****

What sets this romance apart is NOT that it is a lesbian romance, but that it plays with the standards of beauty in our American cultures. I would encourage anyone to read this book, whatever your sexual orientation, because although the main characters are lesbians, the themes are universal and could be appreciated by anyone who loves.

I have never read a Karin Kallmaker book or a lesbian romance before. Relationships are the theme here, not just the relationship of the romantic interests, but mother-daughter, friends, and business relationships. I truly enjoyed the voice of the main character, Marissa, who is an overweight computer "geek" who runs a dating service. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and throughout the novel grows and matures in a variety of ways that are lovely to watch.

The book is also suspenseful, fun to read, and not formulaic as I'd expected, sort of like a lesbian "Harlequin Romance". This book is so NOT like that, and I found that refreshing. I also found the sex scenes very tasteful, but realistic, provocative, and well done at the same time.

Great read for anyone!

*****