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4.0 out of 5 stars
The relationship with the child was genuine and convincing ., Mar 20 2004
Anyone who ever was involved or lived with a woman who had kids, especially adolescent kids, will relate to this story. A woman and her children are clearly a "package deal" and you have to work out two relationships instead of just one. Then, suppose the relationship with your lover goes south? Instead of simply filling the U-Haul with your candles and books and leaving, you have all the messy stuff about your relationship with those children. Outside the Flock is the story of Jo who is in love with Gail. The book opens with Jo, who is about to tell her husband that she is leaving him for Gail, when they are in a horrible car crash. After a couple of months Jo suffers no ill effects of this wreck. The thread of the accident is never picked up again. So, I wondered why Calhoun chose to start this way. Jo eventually does manage to talk to Mark who loves her so much that he offers to let her have her women as long as she is discreet. Jo declines his offer and moves in with Gail and Gail's thirteen-year-old daughter Connie. Connie is the first real conflict in this plot. She hates Jo and she is grossed out that her mother is openly having a lesbian relationship. They live together in a small, cozy house. Jo gets to work on the relationship with Connie and things are going better when she meets Laura, a local veterinarian who has a lover named Wendy. Jo's mother, whose relationship with Jo is tense, is sick and Jo visits her in Florida. Laura is on the plane and is visiting near where Jo will be staying. They begin seeing each other. Back at home the affair continues. Gail confronts Jo and Jo moves out. Except, there is this problem about her relationship with the kid. Most of the time Jo seems decidedly immature. She doesn't seem to love Laura, but can't or won't give her up. Once while considering a more permanent relationship with Laura, Jo thinks, "How can I give up Gail when Laura might not give up Wendy?" First of all, I wonder if there are only two choices here. Secondly the line seems a little high school to me. But, based on my own experience, lesbian romance can be pretty high school. I have to say, though I am not a romance fan, this book kept me interested. The thing about the relationship with the child was genuine and convincing-probably the strong point of the book. I give this one a marginal thumbs up.
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