Customer Reviews

The Candidate

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What would you do if you were the first serious female candidate for President of the United States and discovered during the campaign that you love a woman?

Jane Kincaid has all of the credentials she needs to be President - beauty, intelligence, a distinguished career as a doctor, an electrifying career as a Senator and she's the scion of a respected political family. Since her husband's death in a plane crash years ago, she's focused on nothing but her service to the people of the United States and that suites her fine. Unfortunately, her high profile as a candidate means she has to have protection from the Secret Service and that necessitates a female agent being assigned to her. Agent Alex Warner isn't sure she's any happier about the assignment than the candidate until they meet. Alex is immediately impressed with Jane's down to earth personality and dedication to improving the country. Jane can't help but admire Alex's natural humility and her heroism. The women find themselves becoming fast friends as Alex slips into the role of advisor as well as protector. When the women realize they have developed feelings for each other the timing couldn't be worse. Jane is fighting a hard enough battle as a woman. She doesn't want to give up Alex, but her life has been dedicated to one path. Suddenly she appears to be looking down two paths that run in different directions. Can she be satisfied following one, but not the other? Is the country ready to accept both? Just how much are they willing to tolerate from their golden girl?

Tracey Richardson has written her story with considerable skill. The personalities of the characters are well defined in the beginning, but also are allowed to change as their relationship progresses and the women don't fall in love immediately, but grow into a realization of their feelings over an appropriate amount of time. The dilemma Jane faces is also handled very realistically. For someone who wants to be president, outing herself couldn't be more impossible. What makes the book particularly enjoyable is that the affair, though important, doesn't drive the plot as much as the situation in which Jane finds herself and the decision making process she goes through. The result is an interesting tale with some thought behind it. This book is worth reading.

This is the first Tracey Richardson book I've read.
The political storyline was interesting.Surprising,I know.
I love well written conversations between the characters and this story has them in abundance.
Jane and Alex deserve more time in Ms.Richardson's capable writing hands.
Can't wait to read more of her work.
Go buy this book.

I really liked her first book and then was less entertained. However this book has more depth, action and angst. There is a new maturity to her style, perhaps its just her characters are a bit older & she is too. : ) I liked the political intrigue and deal making as well as the march toward the presidency. The main characters were given time to get to know each other which makes for a better read for me than instant love just add eyes catching. I'm sure I'll be re-reading this one soon and am glad it is on my shelf.

I'm always excited to find a new author in this genre, and am almost always impressed with their work. Tracey Richardson is no exception. This is a timely story about a female presidential candidate who is running against a strong male opponent. Talk about fiction mirroring reality...

This story is reminiscent of the plots from `Madam President' by Blayne Cooper, and `Love and Honor' by Radclyffe. In all three books, the story is about a public figure who would potentially lose a lot by exposing her sexuality to the nation AND a public servant (or reporter in the case of `Madam') who must remain emotionally neutral to do her job. One would think these stories would eventually get boring, but all three authors bring something unique to their writing to keep the reader hooked.

In this, my first Richardson novel, she has brought us Jane Kincaid, a passionate candidate for president. Jane is a different kind of candidate, in that she includes all of her staff in decisions, celebrations, etc. Hoping to find a primary Secret Service agent who will fit well with her team, Jane brings Alex Warner on board. Alex is concerned about her ability to fully perform in this new role, but is looking forward to the assignment. That is, until she and Jane begin to become more than professional companions. Their story is compelling and well-told.

I enjoyed this book. What it lacked somewhat in expressing emotion it made up for in its depiction of the issues that would surround a high profile candidate suddenly coming out. Everything was somewhat idealized, but it also dabbled in realism in addressing the decision-making and ramifications of political events. I thought the potential "speechifying" would annoy me, but it was actually handled skillfully, and I enjoyed the brief light that was shined on some issues (though there was never any real in depth discussion that would overwhelm the central romance).

I think this book appealed to me intellectually more than emotionally. This author did a good job creating characters that you liked and admired. She established a robust back-story for each, which really helped provide some support for actions and motivations later when the author's descriptions of their emotional journey lagged or got dry. You could assume based on their pedigrees (Senator, Olympian) that Jane and Alex would be drawn to one another, thus you could make the leap when things moved quickly. Ultimately it was the plot versus the characters that drove this book, and there was a touch too much of the author telling us what the characters were feeling, instead of describing the feelings, which lent an occasional detachment, but this may be a rookie issue, and the author did pull the romance off in a satisfying manner.

I agree that there are elements of Radclyffe's "Honor" series and "Madame President" in this one, but that this book has its own unique viewpoint. I don't know that it considered the ramifications for Alex professionally in a realistic light, and in that way suffered in comparison to the Honor series (not that that sets the bar for realism), but as I said the focus was on the politics anyway. Things were perhaps a bit too pat in the end, resolved too neatly, but it worked. As a plus, the author has a distinct voice. Her descriptions didn't fall into the same ruts that are perpetuated in this genre.

All in all a solid first novel: enjoyable characters that spark believably with one another, interesting plot driving the story, some twists and turns, a happy ending. A little dry emotionally, but a good use of language and issues to buoy the book along intellectually. I'll check out future efforts by this author because this is an imperfect, but promising start that I expect most will enjoy.

Other reviewers have explained the plot, so I'll just stick to giving an opinion. I found this book very satisfying. It's not the most touching romance I've ever read, but the subject matter more than made up for what was missing in that department. This is a timely novel, now that a woman is running for President for the first time, and Ms. Richardson gives a believable portrayal of situation that is hard to imagine. I found the ending a bit unlikely, but this is a romance and it would have been disappointing if Alex and Jane didn't have their happy ending.

The high pressure combination of politics and passion makes The Candidate a page turner. The writing is above average for Bella Books, and there is also more plot depth. Some reviewers have said that this book is more rewarding intellectually than emotionally, and I agree. But that's not a big drawback if you appreciate books that are well plotted and interesting, not just emotive. I don't think The Candidate can be compared to Radclyffe's honor series or Madam President just because of the subject. The author's style is very different from both these other authors.

This is not a 5 star romance but I liked it.

This well-written book has elements of both "Madame President" and Radclyffe's "Honor" series, but has its own integrity. Maybe the next book about women in top drawer politics in the US can ignore the fact that secret service agents fall in love with protectees. Maybe it happens, but I think the agent would be yanked before it could come to fruition and would be assigned to East Podunk. Both Alex and Jane try to dodge the bullet and it isn't clear until near the end whether or not they will get together. This book is captivating and the women are both believable. I've not read anything else by Richardson and hope she writes more.

This was a fun book to read. A little slow for me but a nice read none the less.

The first chapter of this book is pretty good. The novel goes downhill after that, although there are a few bright spots of tension. What struck me most as I was reading was the woodenness of the story and the characters. The heroines, Jane and Alex, do not come alive on the page, and so neither does their romance. Their journey to their relationship seems hollow. The novel is a good example of why authors should show and not tell. I don't really care what happens to the characters. We aren't allowed into their minds much. We're told what they're feeling, but we don't FEEL what they're feeling. That's unfortunate, because the plot idea, if done correctly, could have sizzled.

A few spots of tension sprinkled throughout the book make it worth reading, if barely. Other issues are the characters going back and forth/on and off (they must like ping pong), repetitive dialogue, unnecessary dramatics, overuse of exclamation marks, a contrived plot device to bring the characters together in the end and unrealistic voter responses to gay issues. I also don't really understand the character of the candidate. What are her motivations, her histories for falling in love with a woman? She seems to have little inner conflict over this. What conflict she has is simply about having an external, public relationship with a woman. She experiences little shock or surprise at actually being in love with a woman. Little background information is given on her dating or sexual history. We never find out if she even identifies as lesbian, bisexual, queer or whatever.

My understanding is that this is a debut book. Hopefully future efforts by this author will be better.

Overall I didn't like it because there are parts that are too ridiculous, unrealistic and backward to ignore.

The story line itself is almost completely unlikely but it was still possible to write a believable story and I feel that this book failed to do so.

If you're not already tired of the fact that almost every lesbian novel is about a straight woman who needs to deal with being gay, this book adds insult to injury. In fact, it's hard to believe this book is written by a lesbian it's so unflattering:
- Jane sleeping with the judge is unnecessary and distasteful;
- Alex's breakdown, begging and neediness is unattractive, unbelievable and completely out-of-character.

So many parts of the book are hard to swallow, it's difficult to list then all:
- from the convenience of the black Democratic Party matriarch (a most stereotypical character if ever there was one) sweeping in to save the day;
- to the fact that they still win the election, or that Alex gets to continue as part of her security detail.

And certainly, by the end, Jane's character is hardly fit to be VP.

The book's not a complete washout, but I think you'll be hard pressed to want to read it over. The book really should have been shelved for a few months and then re-worked. (In that respect, I think the story could still be salvaged.)