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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast-paced and sexy. A great read!, March 19, 2007
This review is from: Reality Bytes (Paperback)
I always tend to think twice before buying a book from an author that is unknown to me, but in this case I'm glad I took the plunge. What a GREAT book!
Reality Bytes got me in within the first few pages, and by the end of the first chapter I was hooked. The intertwined stories of the main characters-Emma, Toni, Cathy and Lisa-jog along at a pleasant pace, and little plot twists and turns defied me to put the book aside. In fact, I read it in its entirety within one sitting.
There are a few different stories happening at the one time: that of Toni who's stuck at home with chicken pox with only her cat, her chat-room buddies and a visiting colleague to keep her company; of Emma, who's just quit her job and turns to her computer to make some online employment applications and in the process discovers chat-rooms...and Pookie (aka Toni). And of Toni's boss Cathy, who is in Italy with her partner Lisa. They are celebrating their first year together, but at the same time are struggling with the issues surrounding having a child as a lesbian couple.
The characters are thoroughly likeable, with enough personal quirks and failings to make them believable, and the circumstances Frances uses to thread the story together are lively and very often humorous. In fact I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. Throw in some very, very nice sex scenes and you've got all the elements for a great read.
I loved Reality Bytes and recommend it to anyone who loves a cleverly written romantic tale.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Routine romance, April 16, 2007
This review is from: Reality Bytes (Paperback)
Reality Bytes is the sequel to Frances' earlier novel Reunion. It continues the story of partners Cathy and Lisa and their friends Emma and Toni, with the emphasis this time being on Emma and Toni.
Reality Bytes is set one year after the end of the previous novel. Cathy and Lisa go off for a month long vacation in Italy to celebrate their anniversary and Toni is left to run the accounting firm. Unfortunately, Toni comes down with a serious case of chicken pox and is confined to her house for most of that time. Meanwhile, Emma is trying to recover from the hurt of her unrequited love for her straight neighbor who has decided to get married and wants Emma in the wedding. Emma also finds herself job hunting after she is forced out of the veterinary practice she had been a member of for years. Both Toni and Emma turn to the Internet and chat rooms to fill their time and establish new friendships. They could be solving their problems while Cathy and Lisa have discovered one. Cathy wants to start a family, an idea that Lisa had never considered or desired. Could their trip to Italy be the end of the relationship instead of a celebration of the beginning? Friends, problems and how they deal with them is the theme of Reality Bytes.
Frances writes a very routine story. There's nothing wrong with it, there just isn't anything to make it stand out either. There's no suspense, no adventure, nothing new. It's a standard romance. The characters are presented with just enough details to tell the story, but there's no great development of their personalities either. If you're looking for something to read to just pass the time or for pure enjoyment without any effort, this book should satisfy those requirements. If you're looking for something refreshing and different, keep looking.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A sometimes profound romance that is mostly nice and cute, May 2, 2008
This review is from: Reality Bytes (Paperback)
I absolutely loved this author's most recent novel, Training Days, and I can recognize a lot of the elements that make that book great here. This author has great potential. But the parts are not quite assembled as cohesively here in Reality Bytes, perhaps due to a less focused narrative line and significant involvement by 4 main characters versus 2. Still, this is a solid average to above-average offering in this genre. I understand that technically this book is a sequel to Reunion. I have not read that book, but it may have lent additional depth to the characters in this book.
Here we start out with Toni and Emma, friends of Cathy and Lisa (who are heading to Italy to celebrate their 1-year anniversary). Toni and Emma, both suffering from heart-ache and distress of various types, show up at Cathy's and Lisa's place, not at their respective bests, and proceed to do the opposite of hitting it off. Toni is left with an impression of Emma as somewhat of a chain-smoking alcoholic, as Emma attempts to drown her sorrows by engaging in some uncharacteristic behavior, and Emma has little perspective on events at all given the bottle of bourbon she consumed, though she is aware that she insulted Toni. So life goes on, Cathy and Lisa go on their vacation and discuss and wrestle with bigger plans, such as potentially starting a family, and Emma and Toni are left to their own devices.
I like the way Jane Frances creates her characters with idiosyncracies and foibles. It makes them seem human, but lovable because of it. This author has a keen observational eye, and at times really brings out surprisingly accurate details of human behavior. The obstacles they face are realistic, and not overtly self-inflicted, which is nice. And the author overall has a charming voice. But there was too much going on to spend time really developing the story in any area. I enjoyed spending time with each of the characters, but sometimes felt I was drifting along with the narrative, versus anticipating what would happen next. Not unpleasant, but it kept this book merely average for me.
Still, it was a fun, light read, and I have to think if you read the first book you'll be delighted to get to spend more time with Cathy and Lisa. I would have liked this author to have developed the individual voices of these characters a bit more strongly, and focus the storyline in some way more acutely, perhaps building it around a central theme, but it was entertaining enough following Emma and Toni as they get their lives together in fits and starts.
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