Safe Harbor [Paperback]

Radclyffe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

A mysterious newcomer, a reclusive doctor, and a troubled gay teenager learn about love, friendship, and trust during one tumultuous summer in Provincetown. Reese Conlon, LtCol USMCR, is the new sheriff who has heads turning amidst speculation as to who will be the first woman to capture her attentions. Doctor Victoria King has been betrayed by love once and refuses to risk heartbreak again. Brianna Parker, the teenaged daughter of Reese's chief, fears her father’s wrath when he learns that she loves another girl. As these three women struggle to live and love in freedom, they risk their hearts and souls to give one another a Safe Harbor.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Radclyffe is a two-time recipient of the Alice B. award for lesbian fiction and has written numerous best-selling lesbian romances (Safe Harbor and its sequel Beyond the Breakwater, Innocent Hearts, Love’s Melody Lost, Love’s Tender Warriors, Tomorrow’s Promise, Passion’s Bright Fury, Love’s Masquerade, shadowland, and Fated Love), as well as two romance/intrigue series: the Honor series (Above All, Honor, Honor Bound, Love & Honor, and Honor Guards) and the Justice series (Shield of Justice, the prequel A Matter of Trust, In Pursuit of Justice, and Justice in the Shadows). She also selected and contributed to Infinite Pleasures: an Anthology of Lesbian Erotica, ed Seaman and Dunn (2004)

She lives with her partner, Lee, in Philadelphia, PA where she both writes and practices surgery full-time. She states, "I began reading lesbian fiction at the age of twelve when I found a copy of Ann Bannon’s Beebo Brinker. Not long after, I began collecting every book with lesbian content I could find. The new titles come much faster now than they did in the decades when a new book or two every year felt like a gift, but I still treasure every single one. These works are our history and our legacy, and I am proud to contribute in some small way to those archives."

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933110139
• ISBN-13: 978-1933110134
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #641,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Radclyffe, a retired surgeon and full time author-publisher, has published over thirty-five novels as well as dozens of short stories, has edited numerous anthologies, and, writing as L. L. Raand, has authored a paranormal romance series, The Midnight Hunters. She is a eight time Lambda Literary Award finalist in romance, mystery and erotica--winning in both romance (Distant Shores, Silent Thunder) and erotica (Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments edited with Stacia Seaman and In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip written with Karin Kallmaker). A member of the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame, she is also a 2010 RWA/FF&P Prism Award Winner for Secrets in the Stone, an Independent Publisher's award winner (IPPY), an Alice B. Readers' award Winner, and a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin award, the ForeWord Review Book of the Year award, and the 2010 Heart of Excellence Readers' Choice award. She is also the president of Bold Strokes Books, one of the world's largest independent LGBT publishing companies.

She states, "I began reading lesbian fiction at the age of twelve when I found a copy of Ann Bannon's Beebo Brinker. That book and others like it convinced me that I was not alone, that there were other women who felt like I did. Our literature provides support and validation and very often, a lifeline, for members of our community throughout the world. I am proud and honored to be able to publish the many fine authors at Bold Strokes Books and to contribute in some small way to the words that the celebrate LGBTQ experience."

You can visit Radclyffe at http://www.facebook.com/Radclyffe.BSB?ref=ts

Or buy her books direct from the publisher at www.boldstrokesbooks.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Safe Harbor highly recommended, May 7, 2001

By 

athos (New York State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Safe Harbor (Paperback)

Safe Harbor by Radclyffe is one of my favorite books. I say that with confidence, because I have read it three times, once in electronic format and twice more since I received my print copy a few weeks ago.

I do not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who likes a good romance. It is better than most romances because it not only satisfies the heart, it satisfies the head as well. The strong and effective characters are the reason why. Both the primary and supporting characters work.

Deputy Sheriff Reese Conlon and Dr. Victoria King are the two women who meet in Provincetown and fall in love. They are a very engaging pair, each a woman of strength and integrity, with a passion for their jobs and for each other that makes the heart soar to read about it. Teenager Brianna Parker and her lover Caroline are secondary only in that their love is not the focus of the book. The characters of Kate, Reese's mother, Catherine, Tory's sister, and Sheriff Parker, Brianna's dad round out the roster. While they are all minor characters, they ring true too. They help make the book the success it is.

One quality that you find in good fiction is that it picks you up and deposits you in another world. When I read Safe Harbor I am always very reluctant to leave that world.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indulge your romantic soul, June 17, 2001

By 

Hiraeth (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Safe Harbor (Paperback)

When an author takes a nom de plume to honor that pioneer of lesbian fiction Radclyffe Hall, it should come as no surprise to learn that she writes stories about women who love women. When Radclyffe Hall's classic work The Well of Loneliness hit the literary scene, there was nothing like it around. And as recently as thirty years ago, lesbian popular fiction was comparatively rare. Now, not only is lesbian literary fiction not uncommon, but lesbian pulp romances are everywhere to be found, with several presses both in the US and in the UK dedicated solely to its production.

Radclyffe's first published contribution to the genre is, however, a breed apart. Set in Provincetown, SAFE HARBOR is the story of two strong women -- one the town doctor, one the new deputy sheriff -- whose growing mutual attraction wars with layers of pain and past betrayal that each wears like a suit of armor. Tory and Reese must learn to trust, must open themselves to possible pain, so that their love has a chance to flourish. And while Tory and Reese are sorting their own lives out, two younger women are coping with the dangers inherent in being out and in highschool.

What sets Radclyffe's story apart from much of the lesbian pulp out there is that, in addition to the first-rate story, fascinating characters, and romance, Radclyffe writes beautifully. And her love scenes will singe your eyebrows and fry your circuits.

We anxiously anticipate her future publications. Meanwhile, we read and reread and reread SAFE HARBOR.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Safe Harbor: Romance at it's best., June 13, 2002

By 

Diane Drab (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Safe Harbor (Paperback)

Safe Harbor is one of the best lesbian fiction novels that I have read in a long time. Anyone who has ever visited or lived in Provincetown will appreciate the authenticity of the setting.
The author did a great job of crafting the personalities of both the gay and straight characters in this story. The two main characters, Tory and Reese, are strong and competent women in their fields but we are also shown their insecurities and human frailties. The chemistry between the women heightens as the story progresses which makes the romance more believable. She also does an excellent job interpreting the struggles of gay youth in today's society. I found her portrayal of Caroline and Brianna,two teenagers discovering love and the heartaches that go with it, both heartfelt and realistic.
Radclyffe is a master storyteller. Her works are always intelligent and beautifully written. If you are looking for romance, no other writer even comes close to her style in writing a love scene.
I would not hesitate to recommend Safe Harbor or any other books that she has written.