I’m glad that people are liking this story, because I would definitely be interested in seeing more work from Malone (some longer work, too).

One comment I want to make about the scene I quoted in the review, which goes to the difference I’ve been trying to articulate between what an author might intend and how something reads to me regardless. I am willing to believe that the author intended just what Janine, Vanessa, and Roslyn think it does — that Alina’s race doesn’t matter to Joshua.

But even if I accept that fully — that such was the intention of Malone’s writing in that scene — I am still left with how the exchange plays as it’s written. The hero is still saying to the heroine, in response to her concern that she is black, that he is blind. Now, if he had said, “Well, I’m blind, but even if I wasn’t your race wouldn’t matter to me,” but just, “You do know I’m blind, don’t you?” It’s the subtle difference, but when I really took a moment to reflect on what was being said there, the scene opened up in a number of different ways. I started thinking about how it’s his blindness that’s used to deflect her concern, and totally independent of what Malone intended with that comeback (I can see where it would sound clever and be an easy shorthand for exactly the kind of dismissal readers are getting out of it), it becomes his blindness that’s used there to neutralize Alina’s concern, which ironically heightened my sensitivity to the race issue.

If my review was a conversation, I probably would have said something like, “I know you probably meant, A, but I also got the suggestion B, C, and D. Did you intend that, because it presents some issues for me.”

I don’t read much erotic romance anymore, but if this is representative of the quality of stories Samhain is putting out, I’ll definitely be giving their novella offerings another look. I’ve bought a number of their full-length novels and been favorably impressed with the quality there, too.

Barbara: I hope you enjoy it; the nice thing about shorts is that they don’t cost too much time if you hate them, and they whet your appetite for more if you love them.

Keishon and Karen: I’ve seen it, too, and pretty much had to ignore the title here, lol. I can see why the title probably seemed irresistably clever, but IMO the easy reference is one of the pitfalls of choosing a title that’s so well-known.

Vanessa: have you read the story? If so, what did you think?

Keishon I was just thinking of that movie the other day because of the Amie Winehouse stuff. I said to someone that I doubted she’d see her thirties if she doesn’t make a change. The similarities to Billy Holiday (re this movie) came to mind.

Thanks for the review, Janet.