Departure from the Script

The Hollywood Series, Book 1

By: Jae

Narrated by: Abigail Rakocy

It’s aspiring actress meeting photographer, femme meeting butch in this light-hearted lesbian romance set in Hollywood.

Aspiring actress Amanda Clark and photographer Michelle Osinski are two women burned by love and not looking to test the fire again. And even if they were, it certainly wouldn’t be with each other. Amanda has never been attracted to a butch woman before, and Michelle personifies the term butch.

Having just landed a role on a hot new TV show, she’s determined to focus on her career and doesn’t need any complications in her life. After a turbulent breakup with her starlet ex, Michelle swore she would never get involved with an actress again.

Another high-maintenance woman is the last thing she wants, and her first encounter with Amanda certainly makes her appear the type. But after a date that is not a date and some meddling from Amanda’s grandmother, they both begin to wonder if it’s not time for a departure from their usual dating scripts.

©2014 Jae (P)2020 Ylva Publishing

No surprise: Loved it

I loved this light sort of Hollywood romance... excellent for a summer read.
Narration was just OK no more... Abigail tends to sing a little when narrating and I don’t find it fitting....

Sweet

Sweet story filled with wonderful characters! I love all of Jae’s books. The narrator did an alright job.

The road to sapphic heaven may be paved with open-mindedness and NOT rushing to judgment!

The idea behind “departing from the script” is a “fem” actress who usually dates “fems” but then dates a “butch” woman, who doesn't want to date another actress. There are lots of labels and preconceived notions here, perhaps more common ten years ago than now. Or perhaps we just have a greater variety of labels now!

Describing one’s sexual and partnering motif in life is like a complicated order at Starbucks that makes the most experienced barista shake their head and everyone in line behind them moan. The book gets a little heavy-handed in extolling the virtues of a fem dating a butch but overall, the romance is a delightful story! Yes, there is angst and luckily there is long-awaited spicy romance. The grandmother is an especially fun character and I loved the plot twist towards the end of the book!

As human beings, we are so much more diverse than labels! Although this story focuses on one limited dynamic, you can’t judge this book by its cover, because you might miss something fun. The real beauty in this story lies in getting to know and appreciate people without making negative assumptions about them. And hoping they do that for us as well!

awesome

Jae knows how to write a story. She is one of today's best storytellers. Her books are all must haves and this book is just that a must have. Her characters are well developed and her plots have wonderful twists. At the end you fell like her characters are friends that you know.

Bad narrator

The narrator needs to read the cues. The book said Michelle had a bit of a rumble to her voice, and the narrator gave her a high, slightly nasal sound no butch would ever have.

Loved It!

You can never go wrong with a book by Jae. She ties characters together so nicely, and really captures the essence of falling in love.

okay

the story is fine, the narrator makes it cringy with how overacted and saccharin it sounds.

Opposites Attract

Amanda is searching for her place in Hollywood with about eight months left of the five years she gave herself. After the world’s worst blind date she gets blitzed at an anti-valentines party. Waking in a stranger’s bed she fears the worst but is relieved it’s a butch not a man. Michelle had rescued her. Now it’s a case of opposites resisting the draw between them. Sexy, romantic and family. This one has it all. Great performance. Recommend

Good story horrible choice for narrator

I’ve listened to almost all of Jae’s books and have loved every single one however this has been my least favorite by far, not because of the story line but solely due to the choice in narrator.
1. Michelle is depicted as a “butch” yet the narrator made her sound like a prissy fem and it just did not work.
2. The narrators voice constantly sounded like a mix of smiling and Siri no matter the scene and it was beyond irritating.
3. In one scene Michele was ordering food at a Mexican restaurant and the narrator pronounce pollo as polo like Ralph Lauren polo I had the worst second hand embarrassment.

If you can get past the narrators voice and mispronunciation of a few words then you’ll like the story itself. I do look forward to hearing about Amanda and Michelle as little Easter eggs in Jae’s other novels

Hollywood.

Amazing read. Characters were lovable funny and well written. I just love theesy Jae ties ate her character's together.