Run by Isis Brown is a romance about learning to let go of control and open your heart to another person.
Sasha, the deputy attorney general for the state of Oregon has sensed a change coming for some time. She’s been completely dedicated to her job at the expense of her love life. For a while, one-night stands seemed like enough. But when her best friend Layla marries her soul mate, Sasha begins to long for a relationship that will feed her heart and wipe away her loneliness.
Sasha has a chance meeting with June, a social worker who’s dedicated to social justice reform. She’s smart, funny, and gorgeous. Sasha and June start dating, but there’s always something keeping Sasha from completely opening up to June.
When the attorney general decides to run for Congress, Sasha knows this is her time to run for higher office. There’s one sticking point. Her deeply religious mother thinks Sasha’s sexuality is an abomination. Sasha hasn’t been home in years, but she needs to find out if her parents will support her run for office before the opposition gets to them first.
Sasha asks June to accompany her on her trip home. She reveals the dire consequences that followed when her mother outed her high school sweetheart. The moment Sasha enters her parents’ house, it’s as if she’s still a teenager and unable to stand up to her mother. Overwhelmed and discouraged, Sasha reverts to emotionally shutting down, and she sends June home.
Sasha knows she’s behaved badly. She understands what she needs to do about her parents, and she understands the changes she needs to make in her own life. Above all else, she knows she wants June by her side, but is it too late?
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Run has a lot more angst to it than I expected and I’m 100% okay with that. Sasha is incredibly driven and self-sufficient. She’s so self-sufficient she keeps everyone at arm’s length, even her best friends. This serves her as deputy attorney general and is probably necessary. She’s wonderfully clever and uses her quick, sarcastic wit to cover up the moments when she feels exposed. As we get deeper into the book and explore her trauma, it becomes even more clear why it’s so difficult for Sasha to become vulnerable with another woman. She’s a tough cookie, but it’s clear there’s a soft center in there that’s just waiting for the right partner.
The book’s written in third person, and it follows Sasha and her friends. We only get to know June through her interactions with Sasha et al. This puts the focus on Sasha with June as her inspiration to make major changes in her life.
Cons And Heads Up
Nothing comes up for me.
The Conclusion
If you want some social justice with your romance, then this book is perfect for you. Run is heartfelt and romantic, and it features two confident Black women navigating professional and political spaces historically reserved for straight, white men. There’s palpable passion between Sasha and June that’s equal to the passion they bring to reforming the justice system. With the added angst surrounding Sasha’s reckoning with her mother, this book has everything going for it. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
Excerpt from Run by Isis Brown
“I have been here dozens of times and still have no idea how to make my way around this place,” Sasha said, aimlessly running her fingertips along the spines of the books on the shelves.
“That’s the beauty of Powell’s. You don’t need to know where you’re going. I get lost in here for hours. Thousands of stories, adventures, guiding principles, novelty mugs. What more could a girl ask for?” June mused.
“I would start with a simple, easy to understand map,” Sasha joked. The laugh died on her lips as June stepped closer to her in the middle of one of the aisles. Sasha suddenly realized they were alone. Her throat suddenly dry, Sasha cleared it and licked her lips. June kept moving closer, her eyes scanning the shelf behind Sasha. They were standing so close they were almost touching. Sasha couldn’t deny her attraction in that moment, because clear as day was the desire for June to stop searching for whatever she was looking for and to look at her instead.
Frozen in between June and the bookshelf, Sasha couldn’t move, and didn’t dare breathe. June reached behind Sasha and grabbed the book she was looking for. She then tilted her head toward Sasha. Sasha could feel June’s breath tickle her cheek.
“Just what I was looking for,” June murmured. Sasha didn’t know if she was talking to her or the book. The look lingered between them until a rambunctious group of teenage boys made their way down the aisle.
“Hey man, you said the graphic novels were here. I don’t see any,” one of the kids said to another.
“I thought they were bro,” the other one replied.
“Just keep walking fellas, down the stairs to your right,” June offered.
“Thanks ma’am,” one of the kids said, as they raced off to find what they were looking for.
June scoffed. “Ma’am? Who the hell they callin’ Ma’am? Punk-ass kids.”
Sasha laughed. “Don’t feel too bad. You look good for being a ma’am, in your old age.”
“Oh, you think so?”
Sasha smirked. “I do.”
“How kind of you to say.”
“Well, my mama taught me to respect my elders, so.”
June playfully narrowed her eyes at Sasha. “You think you’re cute, don’t you?”
Sasha loved this part. The flirting, the quick banter. “I think the real question here is, do you?”
June sucked on her bottom lip as she took a step backward. She turned and led Sasha out of that stack of books. “Damn lawyers, always got a comeback and a question.”
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Series
Run
Bits and Bobs
AISN number: B0983X28KF
Publisher: Indie author
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