Customer Reviews

A Matter of Trust

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me start with the disclaimer that I love Radclyffe's writing as a whole and have read all of her published works at least twice. The author does not disappoint with this one by any means. In fact, it is a great pseudo-prequel to her Justice Series. The main characters (Sloan, Michael, Jason/Jasmine, and Sarah) are very well developed and seamlessly make the tranistion to the Justice story line.

Rad does a masterful job developing even the minor characters in 'Trust.' The most complicated character, Michael, is a wallflower genius who lets her husband handle much of her social activity. That is, until Michael finally gets fed up with his infidelity and decides to file for divorce. Before she can proceed, she has to protect her intellectual property -- her company. After hiring the mysterious, yet talented, JT Sloan to handle the task, Michael finds herself drawn to the woman and subsequently falls in love. Sloan comes with her own emotional baggage as well. The combination of lust and reluctance lends itself to a phenomenal story the reader can't help but enjoy.

Radclyffe has produced a winner in which she tastefully mixes lust with erotica... suspense with intellectual pursuits... hidden worlds with mainstream reality. Very highly recommended. No collection of lesbian fiction is complete unless it includes this one.

A Matter of Trust by Radclyffe has been re-released as a 2nd edition, and it was just as much fun reading it the second time as it was the first. True to her style, Radclyffe has written a sexy, powerful love story filled with angst, discovery and passion. Quite simply, she seduces the reader with her prose, only freeing us after we have read the final pages.

A Matter of Trust, now the prequel to the Justice Series, was originally written as a stand alone romance. The story's main characters eventually become critical players in the Series, but in this book, we are first introduced to Michael Lassiter and JT Sloan. Michael hires Sloan, an expert cyber sleuth, to protect her company from her ruthless husband, but their relationship, which is tentative at first, develops into something much more than a business affair.

While both Michael and Sloan have been involved with others before, they are empty inside and in their own way, feel unworthy of a deep all-encompassing love. Their journey to get to this new kind of love is what makes Radclyffe's romances so rewarding to her readers. She is the master at spinning romances where the characters discover a truly passionate and fulfilling love for the first time. Along the way, we experience everything that the characters feel. Radclyffe's words build anticipation and give us release. She captures the uncertainty of first love and its discovery as the plot deftly differentiates between love and sex.

Even if you have read A Matter of Trust before, it is well worth a reread. And if you have not, this book is a must for all those that enjoy getting swept away with a tender and sizzling romance.

The plot of this book is as described elsewhere.

Whether you read Radclyffe's series books, like the Justice series or the Honor series or the Provincetown series, or you read one of her stand-alone romances, you can not go wrong.

I have been reading lesbian fiction for many years, and can honestly say that I have never come across a writer that has so affected me. Her characters are strong, intelligent, and romantic. Naysayers will say that Radclyffe's characters are too perfect almost never flawed - either in looks or character. That may be true, but aren't you tired of the genre's penchant for ordinary? Radclyffe's characters are always enchanting, intoxicating, enticing, and intense. The stories, particularly in the series books, are all first class. Most of her series books are page-turners. And in two of the books, I actually turned to the last page to make sure that the main characters survived - something I never do.

Radclyffe let us believe, at least for the duration of each of her books, that the grand passion, the true love, the happy-ever-after are all possible. She lets us believe that being a strong, intelligent woman does not mean that we will be alone and/or isolated.

The only caveat I have is to read the series books in order. And if you enjoy watching a writer grow, then read the non-series books in the order they were written and watch Radclyffe's talent grow before your very eyes.

When a client walks into the office of a computer security company, she is most definitely NOT what they were expecting? There to hire someone to protect her company from a security invasion, one woman finds out that the security "expert" is not what she thought either. Once past the surprise that they are both women, they band together to fight the threat. Just exactly who is the security threat coming from and why? Spending a great deal of time together, both women discover the beginnings of tentative friendship where secrets long held by one are slowly discovered. What are these secrets and what could they cost one or both of the women? Will the ghost of a past cost one a new chance at love and another chance at love for the other?

Radclyffe continuously displays considerable talent, masterfully combining romance and intrigue in the world of the written word. A Matter of Trust is a thoroughly interesting and well-written story of the lives and adventures of very diverse people brought together under stressful circumstances.

This is a prequel to the Justice Series as has been mentioned before.

Michael, blond and beautiful, fears that her soon-to-be-divorced-from husband (though business partner is a better description) will do anything to keep control of the business that they built with all of Michael's ideas, visions and dreams. Since much of the information exists in the company computer network, she knows that she must make sure that her information is safe. She hires J.T. Sloan, and Sloan's assistant Jason (also known as Jasmine, another side of Jason)to help her with all of the computing security requirements. Suspicious computer crashes occur that only Sloan and Jason can fix but can they do it in time? Sloan soon awakens a side of Michael that she never knew existed, for anyone, and Sloan is terrified of the feelings that she herself is having for Michael. Enjoy this book. I know that I did!

A Matter of Trust by Radclyffe has been re-released as a 2nd edition, and it was just as much fun reading it the second time as it was the first. True to her style, Radclyffe has written a sexy, powerful love story filled with angst, discovery and passion. Quite simply, she seduces the reader with her prose, only freeing us after we have read the final pages.

A Matter of Trust, now the prequel to the Justice Series, was originally written as a stand alone romance. The story's main characters eventually become critical players in the Series, but in this book, we are first introduced to Michael Lassiter and JT Sloan. Michael hires Sloan, an expert cyber sleuth, to protect her company from her ruthless husband, but their relationship, which is tentative at first, develops into something much more than a business affair.

While both Michael and Sloan have been involved with others before, they are empty inside and in their own way, feel unworthy of a deep all-encompassing love. Their journey to get to this new kind of love is what makes Radclyffe's romances so rewarding to her readers. She is the master at spinning romances where the characters discover a truly passionate and fulfilling love for the first time. Along the way, we experience everything that the characters feel. Radclyffe's words build anticipation and give us release. She captures the uncertainty of first love and its discovery as the plot deftly differentiates between love and sex.

Even if you have read A Matter of Trust before, it is well worth a reread. And if you have not, this book is a must for all those that enjoy getting swept away with a tender and sizzling romance.

The newly released second edition by Bold Strokes Books, "A Matter of Trust" is the prequel to Radclyffe's popular, award-winning "Justice" series. Vastly satisfying and totally engrossing, this intriguing novel explores the worldwind courtships of J. T. Sloan and Michael Lassiter and Jason McBride and Sarah Martin amidst an intricate plot.

Reputed as top in her field, J. T. Sloan is an extremely efficient, resourceful, and highly capable, competitive, and ruthless internet security specialist with a colorful past. "Rumors abounded, with speculation that she had been everything from a CIA agent deep undercover to a criminal engaged in nefarious underworld dealings" [p. 21]. Michael Lassiter, the founder of Innova Designs, hires the head of Sloan Security, along with her business partner and friend Jason McBride. Michael is about to divorce her husband and dissolve their business association. She hopes to secure her position, protect her vision, and needs someone like Sloan to help her do it. Sloan is an expert in corporate cases where security breaches are bound to happen.

Nothing excites the cyber sleuth more than to dig her teeth into corporate sabotage and get lost in her job - except for the lovely, charismatic woman behind Innova Designs. After suffering heartbreak and developing lack of trust issues, Sloan vows never to allow love into her life, preferring casual flings, until she meets Michael. Sloan fights hard to ignore her feelings but she falls in love with Michael, mind, body, and soul. There is no denying that the straight woman has strong feelings for her too, but as hard as Sloan tries, she cannot get Michael off her mind.

Who wouldn't fall in love with Sloan? When she says things like, "Now I am going to take you inside and let everyone wonder how I have somehow managed to get the most beautiful woman in the room to sit at my table" [p. 89], there isn't a woman on earth who doesn't long to hear someone feel that way about them. On the other hand, Michael has a company to save and a husband to divorce. "The last thing she needed was a sexual identity crisis and an involvement with a woman who obviously didn't care to be involved with anyone" [p. 107].

From explaining the first kiss, "...every cell in her body tingling..." [p. 116], the first embrace, "....when that first brief flash of golden heat suddenly makes you feel alive...and you realize that until that moment, you had merely existed" [p. 116], to the ultimate surrender of love, Radclyffe has written the perfect romance. With fascinating, loveable characters, you just want to be with them, feel what they feel, and have what they have because Radclyffe is adroit at fleshing out her characters yet leaving just enough to the readers imagination. The depth of Michael and Sloan's characters is what makes "A Matter of Trust" so powerful, absorbing, intimate, and vital that I find myself feeling every emotion with them. You can't help but root for Michael to beat her husband at his own game and keep what is rightfully hers. Will Sloan be able to help her save her company? And more importantly, will Sloan and Michael be able to give each other what they are both sorely lacking in their lives namely love?

"A Matter of Trust" is one of those books that you will want to read many times and won't be able to put down. It can be read at any point since it is the "back story" of one of the couples of the ongoing "Justice series," or as a stand-alone novel. Trust me when I say that you will want to read all five books in the series and at the same time hope that Radclyffe continues to delight her fans with this series for many years to come. Uplifting, romantic, sexy, inspiring, and enjoyable are just some of the adjectives I would use to describe this five star novel. You are in for a treat when you read "A Matter of Trust." Don't miss it.

Pros:
- Radclyffe does a very good job in developing the characters of JT Sloan, Jason McBride, Michael Lassiter and Sarah Martin.
- Sloan and Michael relationship is covered very well and Jason's kinky side has a very interesting twist
- Radclyffe did a very good job of researching the aspects of networking and computer security/hacking
Cons:
- The story itself was average. Not bad but not a page turner like the rest of the Justice series

Overall this book does what it is intended to do. It does a very good job of introducing the characters of JT Sloan and Jason McBride to the reader. Although the description states that this book can be read at any time, I highly recommend that you read it after Shield of Justice - especially if you intend to read the rest of Radclyffe's Justice series. That's what I did, and it made me really appreciate In Pursuit of Justice even more.

I read the first book in the justice series and found that there was prequel, so I wanted to finish this book before I continued on the series. I got it at about 8pm monday night, I finished it by 7am (with a full night of sleep I might add), it just pulls the reader into the covers. *does happy dance* its amazing! Get it and read it!

I love it. Sloan is an awesome character. I haven't finished reading the story. I'm half way through but it's amazing. I love the interactions between all the characters.

Great book.