Customer Reviews

Conflict of Interest

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

 

 

First, let me say that for anyone concerned with the topic of sexual assault, that Jae(the author) has done an excellent job of showing the subject the sensitivity it deserves. Many times authors will exploit rape to drive a storyline. While it was the theme of the book, it was not depressing. It was handled in an uplifting way that portrayed Dawn(who was a sexual assault counselor, as a survivor and not a victim. With the help of Aiden(sex crimes det) she was able to not only bring her attacker to justice, but persue the budding romance that had started prior to her attack.
Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this book. It dealt with a senstive subject , and realistically portrayed a romance between two strong, professional women. She also follows this up with the book Next of Kin,a continuation, which I am in the process of reading. I hope that there is more to come from this author.

In a book which starts like many "cop drama"s, cops arguing about attending a required training session, the way the main characters meet is a bit contrived. Once the reader gets past this point, however, the book takes off in an enjoyable, unpredictable fashion. I especially liked the way the author handles Dawn's "recovery" from rape. It is realistic and somewhat painful to "watch".

The characters in this book are enjoyable and fairly well developed, and inspite of the difficult subjects in the story, it is a compelling read. The main characters, Aiden and Dawn, are struggling with major psychological burdens, and yet they are easy to like and the reader is drawn into their lives. I especially like the realistic reactions of the secondary characters: Dawn's mother doesn't automatically like or embrace Aiden;and Dawn's "Aunt" Del is decidedly cool toward Aiden even though they are both cops and both love Dawn. Another secondary character, the Assistant District Attorney Kade Matheson, is a beautiful, powerful character who keeps everyone guessing and at arm's length.

At the end of the book, I wanted to connect with the characters again, and was delighted to discover the author had just released the sequel, "Next of Kin".I recommend both books for an entertaining read. And for the techies among us, both are also available as ebooks.

Jae's Backward to Oregon was wonderful. I looked forward to reading her earlier novel, Conflict of Interest. What a disappointment. I think it is a disservice to Lesbian readers to not plainly indicate on the jacket that this book is predominantly about bi-sexual women. The Sexual Assault Division detective has many one night stands, mostly with men. The Deputy District Attorney, too, alludes to a strong preference for men and none for women but remains ambiguous. While bi-sexuality is fine for some, I wish my protagonists to be Lesbian, which is why I buy Lesbian literature. The book is well written and the trial in the first half of the novel is spellbinding. The second half of the novel is slow, redundant, and tedious. For the expense, I would not recommend the investment.

When I first seen the price for this book, I was thinking, "there's no book that well written!" Then I read Conflict of Interest by Jae and instantly changed my mind. The relationship of Aiden and Dawn in this book comes around in the most interesting way. Not wanting to give away the plot, I will just say that you need to pick it up and read it for yourself. Both characters have had their fair share of problems before, but together they find trust and belief not only together, but in themselves. I also liked the character of Kade Matheson, who in the sequel has some important decisions of her own to make and is a strong person in her own right. "Conflict of Interest" was the prequel book to "Next of Kin" and I highly recommend both of them.

Buy it you will like it. I really liked this book and could not wait until I could read the next page.

It was ok. Nothing deep about it, somewhat predictable. If I was surprised it was that the bad ass butch cop was bi and screwed as many men as she did women. But oh ... she only had sex with so many men because with women there was too much emotion. (I almost gagged on that b.s. excuse for being the character being f.o.b.)
However, the sin of this book was the writer didn't know when to end it. The writer was like a film director who also edits her own film - neither knows when to make the cut. The book was entertaining at 350 pages, by the end of the book I was glad it was over.

The book cover describes the novel as a romance crime novel. I am a romance reader first and also very much enjoy thrillers & mysteries and crime novels.

The book opens in October in Portland, Oregon and gives the reader a nice flavour of the city.

Dawn is a twenty-eight year old psychologist whose brother and father were police officers. She meets Aiden, a sex crimes police detective who looks as fabulous in a dress as a uniform, in the first chapter. Aiden attends a lecture given by Dawn dealing with male rape victims which Aiden describes as "informative, practice-oriented and witty."

They meet up again in a local grocer's (turns out they live near each other) that is robbed while they are there, Dawn & Aiden save the day and go back to Dawn's place for a coffee, things are going nicely when Dawn asks Aiden to speak to group of rape survivors impregnated by the rapists, Aiden is visibly upset and leaves (great story line follows this throughout the book).

This book is unique in that one of the two central characters is raped by a stranger in her home at the beginning of the book (chapter 3).

The rest of the novel involves the support by friends, family and the local police force, the apprehension of the criminal and the trail.

Saying more would give too much of the story. I can say that even though each character has had relationships in her past, they are not explored in detail nor are they intimate with anyone else in the book.

at 464 pages this is a substantial crime novel with a terrific number of characters that you get to know more than you would in a shorter novel.

The primary plots are resolved by the end of the book but enough story remains that the author created a followup book "Next of Kin".

I enjoyed this as much as others I have read by Jae. Kept my attention throughout the whole book. If you like cop books, this is a great book.

What a thrilling writer! I could not put the book down! As soon as I finished it, I had to read the sequel, "Next of Kin". Lots of unexpected twists and turns!

I have been mining through the Amazon Kindle lesbian fiction, and this is one of my favorites. I liked the characters and the plot was entertaining.