Deep Blue
Kathleen Duhamel
Claire is a struggling artist haunted by her ex-husband’s pleas for return and threats of money. A chance encounter with an ageing rock-star opens her heart to love again – but also opens other areas of her life to danger. Denise, her BBF, has other things going on in her life, besides being Claire’s buddy.
Oh man, oh man. Where do I get started with this? The jazz and soul music promised to me by the author, or the attractive cover? Or both? I found myself hooked in, with the music and lyrics speaking to me and tying in nicely with the delicious cover. I didn’t feel ashamed of taking it out in public, and in fact read it instead of doing house renovations!
The perspective between the older women changes mid-way through the novel. It took me a bit to get adjusted, and I still felt more attached to Claire. However it didn’t then continue swapping back and forth, so I wasn’t disturbed.
I think a lot is made of the addiction problems in the blurb, which is unrepresentative of the actual contents of the novel. We do see some struggle going on, and it fleshes Rob out nicely. It does make a nice change from not having any issues, and adds some interest. It’s not just the ‘love story’, it’s also real people problems.
Could it have kept going with no sex scenes? Yeah, I think so. But at the same time, it’s cute how they are all over each other all the time. Did I just write that? It is a romance after all.
I’m really looking forward to a sequel. I didn’t feel done with Denise. I’m going to give it 4 stars, a chick/hen-lit that gets my approval.
