Unexpected Sparks | 
| Author: Gina L. Dartt
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 226314
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 264
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 1933110465
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781933110462
ASIN: 1933110465
Publication Date: July 27, 2006
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Condition: Paperback. NEW. Ships protected by cardboard with Delivery Confirmation!
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Book Description
Unexpected Sparks explores a relationship not so different than the one presented in Gina's Janeway/Seven fan fiction: two strong women portrayed equally in a romantic relationship. Unexpected Sparks opens with a fatal fire for Sam Madison, Truro's local Lothario, as his insurance office burns to the ground. This arson and subsequent fires makes falling in love a little more complicated as Kate Shannon, forty years old, elegant and highly respected in the small Maritime town, finally surrenders to her growing feelings for twenty-six-year-old Nikki Harris, a country girl who has a habit of poking her nose in where it doesn't belong. Will discovering the unexpected sparks for each other blind these two very different women to the sparks set by an arsonist? Or will the new couple, working together, stop the killer before anything else goes up in flames? The age difference between the two women and their widely differing backgrounds allow Gina to explore many issues facing lesbian couples today in supportive, healthy, and humorous ways. Read Unexpected Sparks and you will want to know more about this couple and their adventures. Stay tuned for the sequels. Gina has signed with JHP for all three books in her Unexpected Series.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
Slow to start, needed better editing BUT.... June 18, 2008
the story line is very good, and some of the situations brought back a lot of the pain associated with how it feels to be gay in straight world.
Well done.
A promising beginning February 9, 2008
I read the sequel to this novel first, and while I liked the sequel better, it was still a treat to go back and experience these characters in the first blush of their romance. I'm perfectly willing to concede the points of other reviewers that this author has written stronger fiction. In addition, if you are reading this primarily as a mystery novel, you are doomed to disappointment. This author uses the "mystery" aspects more to add a bit of flavor to her characters and their lives, than to confound the reader and keep them guessing until a clever ending.
The main editing issues have also been brought up in other reviews, but as far as a contribution to the genre, I find that Gina has a really fresh voice. I enjoy the way she uses language, and her well-crafted sentences. I think I like the strong character progression we're given in the 2nd book more, but this book laid an excellent foundation, and is one I will undoubtedly read again.
 Unexpected sparks fizzles fast May 4, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Honestly, I love lesbian romance novels, but this was unfortunately one of the lamest I've ever read. The mystery aspect was completely based on overhearing conversations, and had not substance to it at all. You could completely predict "who did it" before you got 1/4 of the way through the book. The romance dialogue was sophomoric at best. It took me forever to get through it, it was drudgery. I kept hoping something better might happen, it didn't. Save your time - pick something else.
A Touching Love Story December 13, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Forty-year old Kate Shannon, who begins the story as a straight woman, is drawn to twenty-six year old Nikki Harris, a lesbian who is quietly nursing a broken heart. As the book progresses, the two women get to know each other while investigating a local crime and their relationship as lovers evolves.
This is a well-written love story with only minor flaws. Firstly, the editor's touch would have helped in a few places. For example, what is the length of Nikki's hair? "After drawing back her hair in a ponytail..." (bottom of page 66), but "Kate tangled her fingers in Nikki's short, blond hair..." (page 187). Secondly, there is a little too much thinly veiled pop therapy. For example, on page 195, to Nikki's statement, "I'm afraid my insecurities pop up at the worst times," Kate replies, "Well, that's why they're insecurities. At least you know what they are. It's when you refuse to recognize them that they can really trip you up." And on page 253: "The society which forms us is patriarchal, like it or not...the truth is when you recognize and understand your feeling, and exactly where it's coming from, rather than trying to hide or suppress it, you're better able to deal with it." And so forth, including the U-haul joke and the caveat about living together too soon in a relationship.
There may also be an excess of preaching to the choir (that would be me). For example, on page 161, "We still have a lot of things to fight for...I guess it's just a matter of picking your spots. You strike a blow for holding hands when you've won all the other, larger issues." And on page 219, "Hopefully, one day, a person won't be judged on...who they fall in love with. But we have to live in the now, and unfortunately a lot of misconceptions and prejudices remain."
These diversions to impart therapy and preach the gospel were a bit distracting, but they didn't diminish the overall impact of the book. I understand that the story of Kate and Nikki continues in the author's next book, "Unexpected Ties." I'm looking forward to that one and many more books from this promising new author.
Yes to Romance, Maybe to Mystery December 10, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Bookstore owner Kate Shannon, a pillar of the community, finds herself attracted to out lesbian Nikki Harris. Kate has been married, divorced, and never consciously attracted to a woman until she meets Nikki. "Unexpected Sparks" is the story of their heart-warming journey from tentative friendship to full-blown romantic love.
The romance part of the book is well done. The mystery part is a bit of a stretch. When a case of arson/murder occurs on the very same street as Kate's bookstore, the women inexplicably drop into Nancy Drew mode: in an abandoned mansion outside of town, our heroine finds an old desk with a hidden compartment---that sort of thing. It goes on from there along the same lines: shielded from view by potted plants, our heroine just happens to overhear the prime suspect reveal the existence and location of a cabin hidden in the woods where she has stashed (instead of destroyed?) incriminating evidence. Not that it's a bad thing---I devoured the Nancy Drew books when I discovered them a couple of decades ago, and I still love them. And the adventure provides a backdrop for Kate and Nikki to come together as lovers. But in an adult novel, well....
Despite the questionable mystery aspect, this book presents a nice love story as well as interesting treatment of some of the "relationship issues" many of us must face.
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