Book Reviews Lesbian Reviews

Natasha West’s second quarter It’s a second time lesbian love story told in two timelines.

Nora Caldwell is not happy. Her marriage to a good-for-nothing man is failing, and she’s only with him for the sake of their five-year-old son, Freddy, while working a thankless customer service job at an online flower shop. The last person she wants to run into is the woman who broke her heart when she dropped Freddy off at school.

Twenty years ago, Nora’s best friend Poppy Jennings stopped speaking to her after a night of great love in her bed. Nora was deeply in love with Poppy and was sure that Poppy loved her back. Within a year, Poppy was on the pop charts as part of a girl group, and Nora stayed in town.

Now, Poppy is back with her daughter and no money to her name after giving up her music career. Nora would love to avoid her, but their children are in the same class and quickly become best friends. The more time they spend together, the more they remember why they became friends and fell in love with each other in the first place.

Can their love song have a second part? If only Nora can forgive Bobby, if only Bobby can forgive himself.

writing

The writing style was so engaging, yet so relaxing, I finished the entire book in one day. I honestly can’t remember the last time I finished a book in one sitting, only stopping for meals or snacks, so I was shocked.

For most of the book, each chapter has two parts – what happens when Nora and Poppy get to know each other again, and what happens twenty years ago when they became friends, fell in love, and then broke up. When I first learned that we had two timelines, I was a little nervous because I have mixed experiences with this structure, especially when the past is too angsty. Thankfully, it works well here because the anxiety level is just right for me (yes, I am the anxious Goldilocks of lesbian romances).

This modern romance is probably the slowest romance I’ve ever read, so I appreciate that their previous relationship served as a counterbalance. If we only saw the “will they ever get together?” in the present timeline, I don’t think it would work as well. Also, like many other slow romances, I’m glad this one has an epilogue. It gave me the extra comfort that can only be obtained by seeing what life will be like for Poppy and Nora in the future after they become a stable couple.

Pros and my favorite part

My favorite element is the characterization, hands down. When we meet Poppy and Norah as teenagers, they both have big dreams. Poppy wants to make amazing music, and Norah wants to go to art school and create graphic novels. However, today, neither of them has achieved their dreams.

Nora’s storyline is about her gradual realization that she’s not as stuck as she thought, both in her marriage and at work. And Poppy’s storyline sees her accepting the consequences of leaving a career she hated, even though most people would consider it a sign of success. This includes Poppy’s humble move back to her hometown for her daughter.

I love that, in addition to falling in love again, we also see Poppy and Norah get a second chance to live the life they want. and Life, if you will.

careful

Deception is an element of the story, but neither Nora nor Poppy deceives others.

in conclusion

If you’re looking for a gentle, sweet, funny book with just enough angst to keep it interesting, you should check out Section Two. Also, if you haven’t read anything by this author before, this would be a great place to start. I thoroughly enjoyed my day with Nora, Poppy, and their children.

Excerpted from Natasha West’s second quarter

Even though it was her daughter’s first day at a new school, Poppy Jennings was nervous. She had been up since six this morning, battling nerves. Poppy took a swig of wine. She was going to dress as perfectly as possible for school. Her hair was going to be combed and her clothes were going to be neat. She didn’t know if she could keep it up forever, but for now, it was the only way to cope with all the changes. She was going to be strong.

She loaded Luna into her BMW for her first day at Northwood (a school she knew well, having attended from the age of four to eighteen) and drove the mile to school, which was walkable, but only in the mornings. If Poppy tried to take Luna to school, it would take Luna three times as long. She might scrape her knee to a degree she considered near-fatal, or launch a complicated rescue operation to save a bug stuck on the sidewalk, or decide that she didn’t really want to go to school today because she wanted to watch Moana three times in a row. Sometimes all three of these things happened.

But somehow, Poppy wasn’t nervous about what turned out to be something she should be nervous about.

Because what were the odds that she’d run into Nora at the school they’d attended as children? Nora now had a five-year-old of her own. It was a ridiculous coincidence, so unlikely. Even though life had brought Poppy back here, it seemed impossible that she’d find Nora here. She’d be somewhere else, wouldn’t she? Doing something cool. Not standing there in her gym clothes, looking exhausted.

But here she was, staring into Poppy’s eyes with an expression that could only be described as mild fear.

“Nora!” Poppy exclaimed. She waited anxiously for the answer.

Then Nora said, “Do I know you?”

Poppy almost laughed. Nora knew exactly who she was. Her reaction made that clear. “Nora, I think you know…” she began.

Nora then sang the most ridiculous song and did a reminiscing dance. She snapped her fingers. “Oh, yes, it’s Poppy, right? Sorry for not seeing you in so long.”

Poppy decided to go along with the ridiculous show. There was no point in calling her out. “Yes, of course,” she said calmly.

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Small things

AISN Number: B0D8JZJV38

Publisher: Independent author

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