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This book is about homophobia and racism written within the
framework of a romance.
Heather King had come to Nashville to realise her dream of
becoming a singer. However, she finds that rather than singing her real talent
lies in discovering talent and becomes a part of a record label. Fearful of her
career being derailed, she is firmly in the closet. She dreams of starting her
own indie label and not hiding any more. This dream seems to be within her
reach in a couple of years.
Louie Francis, a masculine presenting butch, wants to become
a songwriter and comes to Nashville in search of her break. Gabe is a magical singer,
with one drawback – he is not white.
Heather, a high femme, falls into lust with Louie on sight – much to her
own surprise because she always thought that she preferred women like herself,
femmes. The lust is returned (and then some) by Louie.
The entire book is about their struggle to actually act on
their attraction within the boundaries set by Heather who is certain that she
doesn’t want to toss away everything that she had worked so hard for.
You can completely empathise with Heather even when she is
sending mixed signals or is faced with a Sophie’s Choice kind of situation and
chooses to let Louie down. The pressures of being gay in a world that destroys
alternative lifestyles can be felt keenly.
These were tough topics for the author to deal with and fit
into the structure of a romance and is a fairly good effort.
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