Customer Reviews

Finding Home

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

 

 

Georgia Beers has hit a home run with this one. I've read all her books, and loved them, and noticed a steady growth of skill and confidence.

But with this one, it got me with the dog. You'll never meet a more adorable supporting character than Bentley.

I loved this book. I love that Beers' characters are just ordinary people doing ordinary things, like screwing up their lives, trying to untangle them, trying to be smart and do the right thing.

Rushing to work every day, getting caught up in a career and a failed relationship, Sarah is on track. She has a plan. She likes things neat and under control and organized, so she can rush into work everyday and rush home after staying late at her office.

Natalie had a career, before she gave it up to push coffee and pastries at an Italian bakery. Because her "career" job just wasn't fulfilling. She has a pink streak in her hair. Natalie never thought of it as revealing a lack of character or maturity, though some people might assume that. Sarah certainly does, and underestimating Natalie goes a long way toward making this an interesting book to read.

And then there's Bentley, the dog. I could write about how vital and well-drawn the minor characters are, but I'd rather just tell you that you'll love Bentley.

And I'll add that this book will make you laugh. It will make you sniffle. And it will cause you to to reflect a bit on your own life and whether you're focusing enough on the important things, because, like Natalie says, you don't want to be haunted by too many "what ifs" in your life.

You say you don't like romance novels, that they're all the same? Read this one, and you'll see that a well-written romance can be simply delightful.

If you don't look very carefully at the cover of Finding Home, you'll miss the picture on the cover of the most important character. He's at the bottom of the page, in the middle, right behind the author's name, walking down the path. That's him, Bentley, or Chino, depending on who you ask, and that is the fact the story rotates around.

Sarah Buchanan's life is a mess. Her long time partner left her over a year ago for a man, but not without leveling a parting shot that Sarah was a control freak who spent too much time at work. Sarah has come to realize there might be some truth to that and her answer is to sink herself into a liquor stupor every night when she gets home because she just can't move on. The one bright point in her life is Bentley, her beloved dog, who adores her and represents her only contact with the world outside of her office besides her family. When her company offers her an opportunity to go overseas for three months, it seems like exactly what she needs to force a change in her situation. Sarah hesitates only because of Bentley, but finally decides to go when her family promises to take good care of him.

Natalie Fox is warm, outgoing, disorganized and loved by all, except that she can't put herself out there to get a girlfriend. Something just keeps holding her back despite the prodding of her best friend Andrea and the Italian couple who own the coffee shop where she works and who treat her like a daughter. Natalie thinks she has adjusted to living her life alone until the day she finds a starved, frightened dog by the dumpster and takes him in. Chino becomes the focal point of her life and she can't imagine how she existed without him, which is why she's not quick to turn him over when Sarah returns home, discovers Bentley has run away while she was gone and is now living with someone else.

What do you do when two women love the same animal? Can people of such different personalities try to bend their lives to accommodate his needs? Is it possible that two lonely women can find the answers to what they both have been looking for all for the love of a dog?

Georgia Beers has written a romance that can only be called charming. It tells a pretty standard story of women meeting and developing a relationship. The real gem in the book is Bentley. He is what moves the story forward. His interactions with the two women are used to reveal their personalities and how they relate to him causes the plot points to unfold. Without the presence of the dog, this would just be a routine story. He makes it sparkle. Georgia Beers' fans will like this book for all of the usual reasons, but dog lovers will have an extra treat to reward them.

When I sit down to read a novel I expect to find angst, good characters, a story that moves forward with every page, and sex. For those of you who also look for these things, this book doesn't meet the requirements. It's a nice story and the characters are well developed, but, for me, the other things were lacking. (Ok, there was one sex scene, but it came at the very end of the book). From reading her other novels (Turning the Page and Thy Neighbor's Wife), I expected more than I got from this one.

I really loved this book. It took me a day and a half to finish it because I was so glued to the story. If you are looking for a cute, well written lesbian love story this is it!

Georgia Beers always finds a way to include great dogs in her stories. Here, she introduces one as a central character in a wonderful book. I'm a huge fan of great puppies (especially mine) so this one was fun for me.

Sarah, in a rut and in search of adventure, makes the (bad) decision to leave her canine friend, Bentley, with family while she takes a temporary, international position with her company. Little does she know that her family is too careless to garner that much trust. Bentley gets lost and is a little worse for the wear when he is discovered in an alley by Natalie. Natalie tries to find Bentley's owner, but is unsuccessful. In time, she gets very attached to him and is devastated when Sarah returns and discovers what has happened.

Because both women love him, they establish a `custody / visitation' arrangement much like separated parents of human children. As they become more familiar with each other, it becomes apparent that the custody arrangement might soon be a thing of the past.

Bottom line -- Take a talented author with lovable characters and a believable plot, and you have a winner. Like all her other books, this one by Beers will forever be a part of my personal collection.

What a delightful Sunday afternoon reading!

I really like Georgia Beers' books, with the exception of Thy Neighbor's Wife, and this one delivered as well.

I think her strength is coming up with realistic scenarios and filling them with believable characters. I enjoy that so much in contrast to far fetched plots and super-human women that sometimes inhabit lesfic. Her writing is solid, dialogs well written with a feeling of authenticity, for lack of a better word, to them.

All of that is true for this book as well. I was a bit 'scared' when I read that a dog had such a bit part in the book, but that as well is really well written.

I've been a fan of Georgia Beers' writing ever since I read "Turning the Page" (1st ed.) many years ago. In these (happy)days when new lesbian novels keep raining and pouring over us, it's good to have writers who remain true to their style of story telling.
"Finding Home" is a love story, yes, but I think the main character is this adorable Mini Aussie Shepherd Bentley who sees and feels everything, and leads his two "mistresses" in the right direction.

The main characters are very real, very human and very lovable, with all their stubborness and insecurities. I want Mrs Valenti for my mother and was very irritated with Andrea most of the time!

Georgia Beers writing is, as usual, fluent, funny, and often very deep. I appreciate the fact that she doesn't feel obliged to introduce terribly big dramatic happenings in her story. It evolves naturally, almost softly, and with Bentley's help into the happy ending we know will be there.
It's like eating wonderful chocolate, with quite a few hard nuts in it!

This book was sweet, inoffensive, and a pleasant way to spend a couple of evenings. It was a little tough to get into initially, because we jump right into the rather depressed (and ill-advised) actions of Sarah, who struggles with alcohol-induced issues throughout. But the author kept events and decisions moving along at a rapid pace, which was a relief, because some of the set-up was bland and I didn't want to dwell on it.

The best parts of the book (and really all of her books) were where Georgia's strengths at character interactions and emotions were on display. Some authors are really good at set-up, but can't write realistic relationships. This author does not have that problem. She shines once Natalie and Sarah begin interacting, and thankfully we get to that point fairly quickly. She has a gentle way of portraying their humanity, and expressing emotion and angst so that the reader gets a feel for it as well.

The strengths in the book outweigh the weaknesses in my opinion. The little bit of late sex we got was hot.

I do want to know what makes authors in this genre think that once they get the characters together the book can just end. The abruptness that many reviewers repeatedly complain about isn't necessarily the literary technique of ending with the climax, but rather the fact that there are so many obstacles and issues brought up on the path to love or romance that often there are still loose ends by the time they get together. But they're just all dropped. That's the sense I get from this book, anyway.

There's also the little annoyance of repeating certain situations and descriptions more than a couple of times, yet with no new effect. We get it already! You're readers are minimally literate! Trust them.

I'll look for more of this author's work. I hope her next book is a touch more tightly plotted, however.

P.S. If you don't like dogs, you should probably steer clear.

Totally fun read.

Terrific opening line!

38 year old Sarah lives in beautiful Rochester NY. A year later, she has not gotten over her girl friend of several years leaving her. Her company sends her overseas to gorgeous New Zealand for three months. When she gets back is when all the trouble starts and all her troubles are resolved.

31 year old Natalie has been Sarah's barista for some time but until events bring them crashing together it doesn't appear they will make a connection.

Wonderful humor throughout this novel and at almost 250 pages this is a substantial read.

Don't miss the author's other novels:
Turning the Page
Fresh Tracks - Lambda Literary Award Winner
Too Close to Touch
Thy Neighbor's Wife
Mine

After Too Close to Touch and Fresh Tracks, both good romances, I was looking forward to more of the same from Ms. Beers. Her romance, Mine, didn't capture the feeling and Finding Home seems to have missed the mark by an even wider margin. Still. I love dogs, so the canine hero of this book, Bentley, compensated a bit for what was a tepid romance with characters that felt like they were just going through the motions.

One of the things I've always liked about Ms. Beers' romances is that they're light and entertaining without being shallow. This is a sign of a good author. Her characters have had depth and it's been easy to identify with them. This time, it's as if the author thought that if she threw Sarah and Natalie together in a quirky twist of fate and they agonized for awhile and then decided they were in love, that was enough. It wasn't for this reader.

I suppose, like a lot of women, I bought this book because I've had good experiences in the past and I thought Mine was an aberration not the start of a downward trend. Also, Finding Home has a very appealing plot. Unfortunately, it never gets off the ground the way that it could. This book is not in the same class as several other Bold Strokes romances I've reviewed recently. Maybe that's just a matter of personal taste or maybe it didn't help that I read this book in between others that were far better in every department. But I usually like Ms. Beers' novels, so I was surprised not to enjoy this one.

It's not easy to keep writing good romances, I'm sure. I can only think of about three authors who have written more than ten romances that are all excellent. I wish Ms. Beers better luck next time.