Customer Reviews

One Summer Night

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read One Summer Night in 2 nights. I loved the characters and the tension between Jo and Kelly is delicious! The story is laugh out loud funny in places, erotic in others, and sad too in places. I loved the characters. The author does a great job of bringing you back to that-"so in lust you could die" feeling as well as the angst of trying not to fall in love and risk heartache.

I will look for more of Gerri Hill's books. Highly recommended!!

One Summer Night is a first novel for Gerri Hill and is a promising beginning. Her romantic encounters are powerfully erotic and may prompt many readers to return to this story. However her characterization is rather flat and the plot is thin. Some women are portrayed rather one dimensionally and Hill, however unintentionally, sometimes falls victim to using some negative stereotyping.

An educated, thirty something college instructor, Johanna Marshall suffers from the loss of her parents as a child -- despite having been raised by loving grandparents who have accepted her lesbianism without strife -- and the betrayal of (in hindsight) a clearly inappropriately matched lover. For the last several years, Jo has climbed into her ivory tower and shut the door.

Dragging herself out to watch friends play in a softball tourney, Jo is drawn to a ringer brought in to boost the team she supports. The former college ball player is the attractive, intelligent Kelly Sambino. The two women are drawn together by an almost overwhelming attraction and end up spending a tremendously charged night together. The next morning Jo awakes to find Kelly, who had a game to play in the morning, gone. Despite their backgrounds in writing and communication the two women prove to be very poor communicators. Almost annoyingly so. Jo, confused and embarrassed by the night's impulsively, does not go to the ball field. Thus adding to the miscommunication particularly since Kelly lives in another town.

After the tournament, some of Jo's friends suggest that Kelly has a reputation as a "Don Juan." Thus Jo returns to hide in her academic tower, though the memory of their passion remains. Fall semester brings a new faculty member to Jo's department and it's Kelly. Still interested in Jo, Kelly tries to court Jo as well as clarify their earlier miscommunication. Jo spends lots of energy trying to keep Kelly at arm's length but calls on her for solice when her grandfather dies suddenly. Kelly is the more likeable of this hit-and-miss couple, although her willingness to put up with Jo's passive-aggressive behavior is rather masochistic.

Perhaps more annoying is the treatment of secondary characters. One of the few short and over weight dykes (most are lean, althetic, and beautiful) is depicted as insensative, desperate, and mean spirited with her attempts to trash Kelly to Jo in an effort to woo Jo for herself. As some of Hill's writing is quite moving, one hopes that her future novels will explore characterization and plot in a more complex manner.

This book was excellent! It is a must read. I read it in about 3 or 4 nights, and I never wanted to put it down. The relationship is really great. It is one I can only wish for! I was a little disappointed when it ended though. I wanted to keep reading more and more about their relationship and life together. I wasn't ready to stop reading the lives of Kelly and Jo..Oh well..Great book!

This was my first lesbian romance book and I read it in 2 nights and I wasn't the only one judging from the reviews! This book I could definetly relate too. The passion and the explosive emotional scenes described by Gerri Hill were fascinating! I wanted more of Jo and Kelly, I felt like I knew them! This book is absolutley the best book I have read! My girlfriend is reading it now and she can't even put it down! I felt so at home with this book and it helped that it was set in Austin, Texas because that is where I am close to! You will love this book!

This book was amazing! I read it in a few hours. It was impossible to put down. When I finished I went back and read parts again. This book has such intense passion and strong emotions that I couldn't help but think about it the entire following day. Do relationships like that really exist? One can only hope! I highly recommend this book and I can't wait for Gerri's next masterpiece!

START OF BACK COVER TEXT - College professor Johanna Marshall does not make a habit of taking strangers home. But after a few dances, she could not resist Kelly Sambino on that hot summer night. Embarrassed after their night of passion, Jo hopes to never see Kelly again, especially when friends warn her of Kelly's reputation as a womanizer. When fall classes begin, Jo is as surprised as anyone to find that Kelly has been hired to teach at the same college. She denies her attraction and refuses to be swayed by Kelly's considerable charm, vowing never to repeat their night of passion. But Kelly insists she is not the womanizer others claim her to be. She pursues Jo, breaking down her resistance, professing her love, only to have her reputation come between them again and again. But Jo turns to Kelly in her moment of need, the stirrings of her heart stronger than the warnings of her friends. - END OF BACK COVER TEXT

This is the typical story of two emotionally-fragile women who meet and try to resist their growing attraction. However, it's told by Gerri Hill - an author who is able to make any story exciting and engaging. Here she brings us college professor Johanna Marshall - a conservative woman who doesn't do one-night-stands. One summer day while watching her friends play softball, she notices a new player - Kelly Sambino - who owns the field with her skill. After going out with the team for after-game eats and drinks, Jo finds herself frantically enjoying Kelly in bed.

Later, Jo is surprised to find Kelly teaching a class at her college. Although the athlete tries to get to know Jo better, the professor resists. The attraction is too strong to ignore and Jo is torn between the woman in front of her and the reputation she brings in tow. Something doesn't add up for Jo and Kelly doesn't give up easily.

There are many scenes in this book the reader doesn't expect, many pairings that don't make sense on the surface, and a lot of angst for the protagonists. Hill pulls this all together into a great book that will be on my shelf for many years to come.

I actually read later Gerri Hill books prior to reading this one. I can see how her work improved. But in saying that, I really liked One Summer Night. It's fun, sexy reading! And definitely a book that you'll open up to the "good" pages to reread. Gerri Hill is definitely a "go to" for entertaining stories. I can't wait for a new book to come out.

This book is HOT! I've been reading these types of novels for a few years and there are only a few I've found so good I couldn't put them down and this is definately one of them. The love scenes are wonderful and the plot is fulfilling. Gerri Hill is extremely talented & should definately write more books. One of my other favorites is "Room for Love" by Frankie J. Jones.

I have owned this book for two days and I have already read it twice. I stayed up until 3:00 a.m. last night reading this book, because I couldn't put it down. I was exhausted tonight, but I picked it up again and I again was engrossed. The characters were touching and real. I hope that Gerri Hill continues to write about Kelly and Jo!

I am so happy I bought this book, it was my first lesbian novel but definitely not the last. I loved both characters especially Kelly Sambino whom I thought was great and very understanding about the whole situation with Jo. I think the way she stayed by Jo`s side even when she rejected her so many times was just amazing.

The story was awesome!! The sex was just hot, hot, hot! the minute I finished it I borrowed it to my girlfriend. I think Gerri Hill wrote a wonderful book...