Finders Keepers [Paperback]

I've become something of a Karin Kallmaker scholar. She is the best this genre has to offer, and has the track record to prove it. Finders Keepers is her nineteenth effort. Yes, folks, I've read them all. And yes, they are all very good. Each novel gives the reader of this genre, lesbian romance, something more than is expected. Kallmaker is a skilled writer, and the bonus is she has a wicked sense of humor and is unafraid of indulging it.

If you're going to write a romance novel, how about the main character being the owner of a dating service who can't get a date? That's good. How about a vacation encounter with a beautiful and mysterious stranger that could never be sustained back in the real world? Throw in a few more twists, humor overlaid throughout, and you will settle in with a very good book.

Some of these things are standard for romance novels: a shipboard dalliance between the shy and unassuming Marissa and the tall, beautiful, but unattainable Linda, a romantic setting, surely. But real life intrudes, as it always does.

Some of the things you'll find are definitely not standard. Some will amuse you, some will cause you to think, but everything in this latest Kallmaker novel will entertain and delight you, I promise.

The something different in Finders Keepers is patent Kallmaker strategy. This author takes the standard elements of the genre and sets them on edge, sometimes pokes fun at them, even occasionally sets them aside altogether. In this one, the author plays with the accepted idea of beauty. In the standard romance, everyone is attractive. Both main characters are slim and beautiful. I won't even delve into the extreme influence television and movies have had on this concept, won't even ask the question that begs: if everyone is so darned attractive and perfect, how come they have so much trouble finding a relationship? Aren't the beautiful people the ones we envy for the ease through life that their perfection of shape, size, looks, grants them? None of them have issues with chocolate, apparently.
Yes, the two women in Finders Keepers have issues, real ones. There is something poignant about being able to laugh along with Marissa as she rethinks her life. I can't say enough about the talent of Karin Kallmaker; it takes real skill to encourage us to be there with Marissa and with Linda, as both do what they have to do to transform themselves.
It is remarkable that while reading this novel, I laughed and sometimes choked back tears. I don't think you can ask more than that of a good book, or from a very good writer.
Don't miss this one. It's a keeper, and so is the author. Make some room on your shelves and squeeze this one in.

*****
What sets this romance apart is NOT that it is a lesbian romance, but that it plays with the standards of beauty in our American cultures. I would encourage anyone to read this book, whatever your sexual orientation, because although the main characters are lesbians, the themes are universal and could be appreciated by anyone who loves.

I have never read a Karin Kallmaker book or a lesbian romance before. Relationships are the theme here, not just the relationship of the romantic interests, but mother-daughter, friends, and business relationships. I truly enjoyed the voice of the main character, Marissa, who is an overweight computer "geek" who runs a dating service. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and throughout the novel grows and matures in a variety of ways that are lovely to watch.

The book is also suspenseful, fun to read, and not formulaic as I'd expected, sort of like a lesbian "Harlequin Romance". This book is so NOT like that, and I found that refreshing. I also found the sex scenes very tasteful, but realistic, provocative, and well done at the same time.

Great read for anyone!
*****

In her latest romance, FINDERS KEEPERS, Kallmaker has once again turned the genre on its ear. She has given readers a hot, romantic story that bookends two complex journeys her lovers take in order to become and find the "keepers" they desire. In the course of the lead characters' struggles Kallmaker prompts readers to seriously consider two questions at the heart of romantic love in general and the romance novel genre in particular. She asks us to consider: what is beautiful? And what makes a perfect match?

Linda Bartok and Marissa Chabot meet in a lifeboat when the cruise ship they are on sinks. The vacation is saved when they find an island. Romance blooms in the languid and lush tropical resort. Both women find in the other someone who sees parts of them that most people never notice. In Marissa's case, Linda sees not only her intelligence and wit but past the excess pounds to the strong, attractive, and desirable woman. In the Linda's case, Marissa sees beyond the highly cultivated gorgeous exterior to the strong, capable, and intelligent woman. In the physical expression of their love, they find new aspects of themselves. The sweetly romantic week is a watershed for both women and a delight for readers. When their vacation ends, Linda and Marissa each begin a struggle to better integrate their exteriors and interiors and to fulfill the potential they glimpsed via the other's eyes. Both woman will deal with their past and discover their own strength and beauty.

Linda, frequently mistaken for a popular, beautiful actress, has been running to various far-flung and out-of-the-way locales to avoid the demons of her childhood and her mother's irrational expectations for an acceptable daughter. Hiding behind what she thinks of as her façade of beauty, Linda has engaged in empty sexual encounters but no one really saw her, none of the women really touched her. At the outset of one of these meaningless encounters Linda thinks, "What piece of me do you want? You have to pick because you don't get the whole me. There is no whole me anymore." (86) Until Linda finds Marissa. Time spent with Marissa allows Linda to see that she has to face and make peace with her past in order to heal and to find a future.

A computer geek with a wry sense of humor, Marissa has hidden herself in her work, oversized clothes and the all-too-easily acquired extra pounds of a sedentary job and a lonely personal life. Falling for Linda has been a wake-up call to for Marissa to stop the spiral and reclaim her body as part of herself. Since adolescence Marissa has been hiding her sexual attractiveness behind the protection of her size. Yet Linda's impression of Marissa is that she "had a passion for living and it had shown in the way she'd attacked the cliff. It showed in the way she made love. Even in the way she enjoyed water, sand and new experiences ..." (81)

FINDERS KEEPERS is not a light read, if you'll pardon the pun. It is a complex story with many layers. Marissa's struggle with weight-loss and fitness illustrates the "get thin quick without work" claims most American weight loss companies tout. (An attractive promise Americans are all too happy to buy.) Kallmaker provides insights into evaluating programs and understanding reasonable goals without being pedantic and Marissa's hard-won success is inspiring. Readers glimpse relatively small portions of Linda's childhood and the frightful and bizarre trauma at the hand of her mother. It reminds us that monetary success is no guarantee of love, health, happiness, or sanity. Yet the roots of her mother's obsessions are a dark reflection of American views toward perfect beauty, particularly epitomized by the beauty pageant circuit.

Further, Marissa is one of the owners of "Finders Keepers" a dating service that uses computer analysis of a complex and detailed questionnaire to match hopeful singles with their perfect partner. Thus the question of what makes a good match and, perhaps most interesting, what threatens to break even the best match, is an engaging thread through the story.

Despite the heavy topics and the "anti-romance" elements, FINDERS KEEPERS is a touching, powerful, sensual romance. In her trademark style, the author has breathed life into interesting, multi-faceted characters; she handles intense issues with care and insight; and perhaps most importantly, she uses humor and wit to keep the story from being too heavy. Marissa's tendency to write "letters" that she will never send to her mother, deceased father, or Linda are charmingly wry observations and the delightful scene wherein Marissa's mother announces her acceptance of her daughter's lesbianism is one that will stay with this reader. Indeed, her success in weaving all these themes into a moving romance makes FINDERS KEEPERS one of Kallmaker's best novels. Readers should make a date with FINDERS KEEPERS. You are likely to find it is a perfect and beautiful match.

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