Waiting For Harper Lee by Lea Daley

After being dumped by her girlfriend Sarah, potter Lynn Westfall, moves to the quiet town of Quillan’s Crossing, Missouri. It’s a town where the men folk rule their wives, including telling them how to vote. Lynn isn’t happy with this and decides to try her best to implement some changes. Most of the women think liberation is a good thing, they are happy to talk about changes, but not to act towards getting anything changed. One woman has other ideas though.

Sexy and gorgeous Alix Dunnevan is married to Charles, a powerful politician. Their marriage is the perfect example of how all marriages should be. Isn’t it?

From the outset Lynn is smitten with Alix. She tries her best to put her feelings aside. A friendship develops between the two women and they find they share many of the same interests, including a deep love of music. It becomes harder and harder for Lynn to suppress her feelings for Alix. Even if Alix did share her feelings, the lesbian and the straight woman rarely works out. Plus there is Charles, Lynn knows he will do anything and everything possible to keep Alix and their two daughters with him. As they are to find out, this includes getting Alix committed if he has to.

Lynn searches her soul and tries to find the strength to walk away. Alix has no intentions of allowing this. Her marriage is flawed and far from the perfect ideal the outside world sees. But getting out of her marriage won’t be easy. Is it too much to hope for that Lynn and Alix will find a way for them to be together without Alix losing her daughters?

This is an excellent, well written debut book. Had I not known this was Lea Daley’s first book, I would never have guessed. Her writing style is unique. She shows, rather than tells the story.

There is a wealth of colorful and wonderful characters all fully formed and essential in progressing the story forward and on to it’s climatic conclusion.

The story is actually quite a well used and tested formula. A married woman with two children, straight to all intents and purposes and an out  lesbian fall in love. There begins all the trials and tribulations of will they, won’t they, be able to make the relationship work. But, this is where the tried and tested formula stops. Lea Daley has woven their story beautifully together and there are a lot of ups and downs and heartfelt scenarios to take the reader on a rollercoaster ride. I hated the character Charles, but he is so well written and he added a great deal of emotion and excitement to the book, albeit in the form of despising him to the point of wanting to hit him. To evoke such emotion in a reader tells me that this author is extremely talented.

I’m looking forward to Lea Daley’s next book. Will she be able to top this one? I can’t wait to find out.