Wild Ginger in the Rhubarb by Eule Grey is a short and sweet romance between two women who are instantly smitten the second time they meet.
Ginger is the scent of love for Rose, who has worked and saved to open Gin Gin, where she creates specialty gins and tailors bottles specific to her customers’ needs. She dreams of meeting a handsome butch who smells of ginger who will sweep her off her feet. Instead she meets gingery Charlie and does what she always does when frightened, she runs.
Rhubarb is the scent of love for Charlie, who is taking much needed down time after a grueling undercover assignment. She longs for the love of a sweetly feminine woman, but the rules are clear. No romance just after returning to the world. The super sexy neighbor in the gin shop who smells of rhubarb tests her resolve.
Luckily, ginger and rhubarb gin is a blend made for love.
Writing
This is a very short book so the author wastes no time with the plot. The nearly stream of consciousness by Charlie and Rose is enhanced by sometimes hyperbolic emotional language and feelings. They both know what their dream woman will be like, but of course there are obstacles along the way.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Beyond extreme highs and extreme lows of emotions and feelings there is a lot of silliness, like Charlie’s tongue-tied response to Rose on their first real meeting. There is never any doubt the two will get together, it’s something they both want very much. I enjoyed the actually low barriers to reach their romantic goal because it felt like there were few distractions to the main event of their romance. There is a bit of deadly seriousness in the story and coy sweetness masking dark depths for both Rose and Charlie.
Heads Up
There is a threat of gangster violence.
The Conclusion
Two women with synesthesia, associating a person with a natural perfume, hardly resist an overwhelming attraction. Ginger is the scent of love for Rose, and that’s what she gets from Charlie after recovering from her initial fright of the butch woman next door. Charlie smells rhubarb from the gorgeous femme who owns the gin shop next door, and that is a perfume she cannot resist. Both women are very attracted to each other, but there are rules Charlie should follow, and Rose has a secret that may ruin everything.
There is no doubt Rose and Charlie are meant for each other, but first they must surmount some not terribly harsh obstacles. This is a story that I enjoyed for its simplicity and sweetness. There is a little silliness, a little mystery and danger, but nothing overwhelming.
Excerpt from Wild Ginger in the Rhubarb by Eule Grey
“Rose—if you only knew my life as her brother. Charlie’s a monster. She used to steal from my piggy bank.” He adopted a limp, pulling an exaggerated, pained expression like when they were kids. Oli had always been good at playing the victim.
Charlie couldn’t resist. She aimed a pretend kick at his bum as he passed, figuring she’d already ruined the day with Rose anyway.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
Rose placed her hands on her hips and glared witheringly at Oli. “This is serious, young man. Don’t you know what a crime it is to waste water? I’m going to have to report you to the environmental police. There’s a hosepipe ban.” She lifted the hose and then slowly and deliberately switched it off.
When Oli wasn’t looking, Rose winked at Charlie.
Charlie died of happiness. Fuck the training manual and the rules. She’d take Rose biking and have a great time, maybe even ask her on a proper date afterwards.
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-1-64890-790-6
Publisher: NineStar Press
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