I enjoy a high stakes tryst story and I hoped that’s what I’d be getting with the three stories in All For Her, but unfortunately for the most part the collection was underwhelming.
Across the board with exception to the last story I wouldn’t class any of the stories as “forbidden”; unusual, maybe unorthodox, perhaps a bit awkward, but not anything that screams “we shouldn’t be doing this”. There’s a slight caveat to that with Aurora Rey’s story, as I think anyone with a sibling would likely consider starting a relationship with your sibling’s partner of a decade the day after they split up, pretty forbidden on a number of levels!
First and foremost before diving into each of the individual stories, these are novellas and so there’s a certain grace given in terms of detail and timescales as is the case with most short stories.
Her Boss’s Wife – Gun Brooke
January Wild has a crush on her boss’s soon to be ex-wife, and yet she needs a letter of recommendation from said boss to move to her dream job. I couldn’t get on board with this story at all, it genuinely felt like I’d picked up a book and started reading it half way through and was expected to gel with the characters. The brewing desire is at worst inconvenient to the two main characters as it might jeopardize the divorce proceedings, but it’s certainly not what I would call forbidden. On top of that January’s boss is a sleaze ball and the narrative seems to condone January putting up with his misogynistic behaviour in order to advance her career. Not to say that likely doesn’t still happen in the real world but an outdated viewpoint in my opinion.
Her Therapist’s Daughter – J.J. Hale
This story centered around the main character Freya and her self-discovery work in therapy – particularly that of maintaining a romantic relationship rather than fleeting hook ups. An outrageous flirt and good at the game, it doesn’t take long for Freya to hit it off with Blake, the woman she literally ran into outside her therapist’s building. What follows is the blossoming of a romantic relationship between Freya and Blake from flirting to first dates, Freya realizes that for Blake she’ll do all the hard work in the world if it means the chance of a real relationship. That is until Blake introduces Freya’s therapist as her mum, overwhelmed and panicked Freya turns tail and flees. This story was better, more engaging, and with depth to the characters and storyline. However whilst Freya’s therapist being Blake’s mum is for sure awkward as all hell, it was still not a coupling that I would class as forbidden.
Her Brother’s Girlfriend – Aurora Rey
This is the only story out of the three that I truly see as forbidden in some shape or form. As a twin myself I cannot imagine sleeping with my twin brother’s (ex) girlfriend – ever – never mind the same night they split up from a decade old relationship! I think what I like perhaps the most about this story though is that whilst Hadley has had feelings for Brianna since high school, she’s never tried to muscle in on Brad’s relationship with Brianna. For the most part Hadley’s kept her feelings under wraps whilst still being a part of Brad and Brianna’s life. And whilst coming home to run the family restaurant throws them all into the closest proximity they’ve all found themselves in for a while, I liked that the author didn’t go down the cheating route. Instead we get to see the natural (albeit quick) demise of Brianna and Brad’s time together as he finds a new love at the same time that Brianna realizes her true feelings for Hadley. Some of the re-couplings may feel a bit quick, but I think in some respects that has to be par for the course with novellas, other wise they’d become a full length novel.
Overall, I think Her Therapist’s Daughter and Her Brother’s Girlfriend are the stories that held the most promise enjoyment wise, but I’m not convinced that any of the three hit the point of sale blurb.
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase from:
#QueerLitLoft 
Leave a comment