Author: Kris Ripper
Publication Date: 31 Oct 2016
Genres: Queer Romance, Trans
Author's links: Website • Twitter • Facebook / FB Group • Goodreads
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My rating: 4.5 Stars
Blurb
Ed Masiello has been on testosterone for a year, is working his dream job as a reporter, and is finally passing as a man (so long as you don’t ask his abuela). But the investigation of a murder case is starting to take over his life. Afraid he’s becoming obsessed, he goes to the local club to relax, and meets the flighty, whimsical Alisha.
Alisha is a free spirit who’s tossed aside ambition for travel and adventure. Her approach to life is a far cry from Ed’s, and while Ed has always assumed that meeting his goals would make him happy, Alisha is much more content than him—despite all the plans she can’t yet fulfill.
As their relationship heats up, so does the murder case. Alisha thinks Ed needs a break, but someone’s got to find this killer, and he wants to be there when it all goes down. Besides, taking off into the great unknown with Alisha is crazy. But opting for what’s safe is just another way of living in fear, and Ed vowed to stop living like that a long time ago.
Review
This is my favourite book in the Queers of La Vista series far. It continues the suspense/crime plot line from the previous two books, so you should definitely read them before this one. It will make your appreciation of Ed and Alisha's story even better.
I absolutely loved Ed. And I loved that his character was not only about being trans but also about being a young man in general - professional ups and downs, relationship wins and losses that have nothing to do with his gender/sexual identity.
We see his struggles with being trans too - lack of acceptance/support from his family, his fear of not always passing, of not being male enough, the doubts and insecurities of being liked/loved for who he was not and just for the sake of being an adventure or a thrilling experience to be cross off someone's bucket list.
We see him dedicated to his work, trying hard to rise and develop professionally to the extend of putting everything else in his life on hold. He became sort of obsessed with his work when it got tangled up in uncovering the murder mystery threatening his community.
Alisha was Ed's are perfect opposites in many ways. I found it a bit more difficult to relate to her even though I did like her a lot too. She was different, craving adventure and fun, seemingly flighty and irresponsible in comparison to Ed who came off as too serious, to the point of boring at times.
I loved them as a couple, though, and think they suited each other well. Still, I felt that her attraction to him was not as well explicitly shown in the text as his to her. Her motifs for liking him and wanting to be with him remained a bit unclear to me. What I really loved though was the way she treated Ed - she loved the man he was and was supporting and understanding of his fears and desires. I felt their relationship created a true sense of intimacy where one can be open about one's feelings free of judgement or ridicule.
There is an easy flow to this story, very much like in the previous two stories in the series. Once again we get the sort of effortless, easy going and simple, yet engaging and real writing of Kris Ripper. Ze manages to create a great sense of community by adding all these details about the characters in each story in the series.
I'm really excited for the next books as this is shaping to be a really unique, all-encompassing, fun and enjoyable series of diverse romance.
We see him dedicated to his work, trying hard to rise and develop professionally to the extend of putting everything else in his life on hold. He became sort of obsessed with his work when it got tangled up in uncovering the murder mystery threatening his community.
Alisha was Ed's are perfect opposites in many ways. I found it a bit more difficult to relate to her even though I did like her a lot too. She was different, craving adventure and fun, seemingly flighty and irresponsible in comparison to Ed who came off as too serious, to the point of boring at times.
I loved them as a couple, though, and think they suited each other well. Still, I felt that her attraction to him was not as well explicitly shown in the text as his to her. Her motifs for liking him and wanting to be with him remained a bit unclear to me. What I really loved though was the way she treated Ed - she loved the man he was and was supporting and understanding of his fears and desires. I felt their relationship created a true sense of intimacy where one can be open about one's feelings free of judgement or ridicule.
There is an easy flow to this story, very much like in the previous two stories in the series. Once again we get the sort of effortless, easy going and simple, yet engaging and real writing of Kris Ripper. Ze manages to create a great sense of community by adding all these details about the characters in each story in the series.
I'm really excited for the next books as this is shaping to be a really unique, all-encompassing, fun and enjoyable series of diverse romance.
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