Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Cinnamon & Cigarettes by Samantha Kate book thoughts


Title: Cinnamon & Cigarettes
Series: No
Author: Samantha Kate
Published Date: June 1st, 2016
Publisher: Torquere Press LLC
Source: I believe I bought it..
# of Pages: 281
Format: Ebook
Genre: Adult/Romance/Contemporary/Queer
Days to Read: 4
Rating: 4.25
Would I recommend it?: Yes
Would I read more books by this Author?: Yes
My Social Media: Goodreads/Instagram/Twitter

Goodreads Synopsis

Sara Clarke, recent college grad, is sweet, demure, and cautious in all things, but especially romance—until she meets Moira Estrada, a bold amateur pilot and patron at the library where Sara works. Their intimacy blooms rapidly as they share everything from a sudden medical emergency to Christmas with the Estrada family. With her dashing new girlfriend by her side, Sara learns to overcome some of her greatest fears, whether they be acknowledging her own bisexuality, flying across the sky in a Cessna, or falling in love for the first time.

But Sara’s fear of confrontation is harder to conquer. When asked about her relationship, she finds herself lying to her family, pretending to date a man so she can avoid conflict with her straight-laced and image-conscious parents. But her attempts to please everyone cannot last forever and could result in far worse than her parents’ disapproval: she might lose the respect of her new friends at the library, or become estranged from her sister—or, worst of all, Sara might lose the only person she’s ever truly loved.

My Thoughts

The more I think about it, the more I love this book. It did keep my engaged the entire time and needing to know what happened. At first I was annoyed with the main character Sara. Well at first I related to her being shy and trying to please everyone, but eventually she did get on my nerves. However I could sense character development was going to happen, and sure enough it did! And I loved it! First though I went from being annoyed by her (but not hating her or anything) to fully being on her side 100%. I could understand why she was so terrified to tell her parents she is bisexual and in love with a woman. It's the way she was raised, by her strict straight-laced image-conscious parents (who I frankly hate). I could see clearly why she was afraid.

I don't want to spoil the story so i'll just talk about feelings. I could understand some of the other characters feelings towards her in the end (though during it made me angry, but eventually I understood them) though not all exactly. I do still love the other characters. Amir, a black man, and Andy, a trans man. Her co-workers.

I didn't understand everything as it was happening, the characters actions/feelings, but it all ended up coming together. I felt so much for both Sara and Moira, her lesbian love interest who speaks Spanish. I can't recall it saying exactly what she is (but I could have forgot) but she is also a person of color. There is a little Spanish in the book but it's not a lot and easy to understand via context or Sara asking what it means.

This is one of those books that while I came for the F/F romance, and I got that, it gave me so much more. It smacked me in the face with some stuff I needed to hear but didn't want to and gave me food for thought. I love it when a book can do that! It is an adult book, there are some F/F sex scenes, and in my opinion they are beautifully done and well placed. I love the writing through-out the entire book. The love between Moira and Sara is <3 for lack of words.

This book made me angry, made me cry and made me swoon with love. It gave me all the feels and left me thinking of it when I wasn't reading it and even now that i'm done. That is a sign of good book in my eyes. Also the author is also bisexual so it's own voices in that way.

Edit: I forgot to add there is one biphobic comment that bugs me that wasn't addressed. Also I loved Hannah, her little sister! Seriously, Hannah has got to be my favorite character!

No comments:

Post a Comment