Coming to Terms is one of two novels by KA Moll that is narrated by Emily Beresford, the other being the supernatural romance, Haunting Love.
While there are certain themes that remain consistent across each of Moll’s novels, it is surprising how different each is. Moll comes with a background in psychology and social work and uses that experience to develop love stories around scarred women who need to deal with their baggage in order to find true love and happiness.
Coming to Terms is no exception, although this time, the baggage handler is Sawyer, a police woman who has turned to alcohol to numb the pain of her past. She’s aggressive, angry and concerned for her hospitalised sister. When she bonds with one of her sister’s carers, Sage, she is helped through her own journey of healing.
The Sawyer/Sage relationship is unique in Moll’s literary world, in that their struggle is not to find each other. Here, they find solace in each other’s arms early on, and the story is driven by Sawyer’s need to deal with her past so she can let Sage love her. It’s a different kind of romance, with the dark forces of external characters driving the action forward. Sawyer’s father, in particular, is perhaps one of the vilest characters Moll has written to date.
There’s a lot of repetition of dialogue in this novel, particularly from Sawyer and, while that may be realistic, it does get a bit tiresome, but Moll understands her characters and the trauma they’re dealing with. This allows for a gripping read. As much as we want to cheer for Sawyer, we’re also fearful her anger will erupt.
The minor characters aren’t as fleshed out as one would expect and, in particular, the tension would be enhanced if we got inside the head of Sawyer’s father more. Like the plot however, Moll’s focus is on the two central lovebirds and she develops them and their relationship well.
Beresford once again delivers a fine reading, playing with the tension, drama and lighter moments to great effect. The unabridged audiobook of Coming to Terms runs for approximately 7 hrs and 8 mins and often borders on being a thriller more than a romance. It’s another highly enjoyable listen from the pages of an exciting author of lesbian fiction.
Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet
Rating out of 10: 7
The audiobook of Coming to Terms was published by Triplicity Publishing and is available through Audible.com.au.
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