Erotic romance (with more focus on erotica) writer Meghan O’Brien has created some interesting characters in Camp Rewind.

Alice Wu suffers from social anxiety. She is almost debilitatingly shy. Not many authors have dealt with shyness and the trauma shy people face in their interactions.

Read the full review @https://www.bestlesficreviews.com/2019/01/camp-rewind-by-meghan-obrien.html ( )

Reasonable plot. Good characters. Nice idea. I just did not care for the use of "blunt" language and the amount of sex/erotic scenes. Just an opinion. ( )

I'm not going to lie - when I pick up a Meghan O'Brien book, it's because I want to read some hot sex scenes. She tends to be very strong when it comes to writing them, but plot...well, not so much. Unfortunately, this book is more plot-driven, at least for the first half of it, and it was like slogging through mud trying to get myself to get through that part of the book.

I thought I'd like the characters more; I'm always up for some good hurt/comfort in stories (and there doesn't seem to be a TON of overly angsty lesbian romances out there - or if there are, I haven't been able to find them yet). Alice is riddled with anxiety, which I can definitely relate to (at least pre-living-in-Colorado LOL), and I did feel sorry for her character. Alice was married before, and her husband was a total asshole to her , even going as far to make fun of the noises she made during sex and never bothering to get her off once in their entire marriage, ugh. Rosa was an okay character, but I never felt like I "got" her, and then she just threw in a lot of needlessly dramatic stuff toward the end of the book that I didn't care for, in an attempt to give them more obstacles to overcome, I guess. Meh.

The sex, when present, was super hot and almost all that I could want - but it suffered in my mind because I just didn't like the characters together as a couple.

I'll keep picking up books from Megan O'Brien, but this one just didn't do much for me. ( )

This was a fun and interesting read.

It's about two women, Alice and Rosa. They meet at an adult Summer Camp called Camp Rewind. Alice has a problem with people, and worrying, and is very, very shy to the point where she's in therapy for it. Her therapist is the one who suggests that she go to Camp Rewind, try it and see if she can do it.

Rosa has just gone through the worst patch of her life, ever. She had written an online critique of a very very popular game and in response she has been doxxed and harassed, and basically been terrorized for months (Think what happened during GamerGate). She goes to Camp Rewind under an assumed name so that maybe she can get away awhile, from her own life, and so that she can just be relaxed for awhile.

They meet and find out quite a bit about themselves as the relationship progresses.

The uncomfortableness felt at different times during the novel by Rosa and Alice is palpable. All O'Brien uses is her words and I was uncomfortable and worried, etc. right there with Alice or Rosa. I can't say that this is my 'favorite' part of the book, but it was the part of the book that impressed me the most.

I also liked that it was one of the slowest burns that I've ever read from a Bold Strokes Books book. Now, that's not to say that it was anywhere near the slow burn that a Ylva book'll give you, but, the relationship of Rosa and Alice were not rushed at all and that was nice.

I got this galley via Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. ( )

Every once in a while I can read a romance novel, but not the usual straight-white-couple romance which I'd like to avoid in other books I read because it's simply boring and no matter how hard the writer tries, I have read that story before. But when I'm given a gay romance novel I always try my best to read it and support the author. It's not easy for them in this world.
This is a novel about two girls, Alice and Rosa. They are both really interesting - Alice has social anxiety which I can relate to and Rosa was bullied online by a group of sexist monsters, which I can also relate to, being someone who sometimes writes a personal opinion on social media. They meet at a Camp Rewind and they start an unusual friendship that turns to love relationship while they both struggle with their daily problems.
This is a novel that lesbians will enjoy. In fact I already know who to recommend it to. There is honestly so few lesbian romance with happy couples who deal with relationship problems and not tragedies. I hope it finds its following.
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I found this book trough NetGalley. Thanks so much for sharing.