After breaking off her relationship with a female lothario, Jess Taylor decides she doesn't want to expose herself to another cheating partner. Staying at home, alone, suits her just fine. Her idea of a good night is an early one-preferably with a good book. Well, until her best friend, Sophie Harrison, decides it's time Jess re-joined the human race.
Trying to pull Jess from her self-imposed prison, Sophie signs them both up for a Still Life art class at the local college. Sophie knows the beautiful art teacher, Diana Sullivan, could be the woman her best friend needs to move on with her life.
But, in reality, could art bring these two women together? Could it be strong enough to make a masterpiece in just twelve sessions? And, more importantly, can Jess overcome her fear of being used once again?
Only time will tell.
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(Ylva Publishing, 29 August 2014, 380 pages, ebook, A Year Of @EpicReads 2019, a book with an LGBTQIAP+ protagonist, copy from @AmazonKindle)
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I'm usually a big fan of Smith's work but haven't read anything by her for a few years. Either her writing is not as good as I remember (her novel, Hearts and Flowers Border blew me away) or her style or my tastes have changed. Either way, Still Life disappointed me. Don't get me wrong it's well written and engaging for the most part. There are a couple of issues that didn't quite work. Jess annoyed the hell out of me. There's a lot of internal monologue where she gives into paranoia about Diana and her motivations, her ex and how much she hurt her and she keeps jumping to the wrong conclusions. This is a bit exhausting and started to grate after a while. Still Life has a few cheesy moments especially towards the end and my eyes rolled a few times. There are seemingly endless sex scenes between Jess and Diana. I'm no prude but I got a bit tired of it as they seemed to be inserted in place of plot (i.e. I have no idea what the characters will do now so let's insert another sex scene, yay!). The sex scenes are also a bit cheesy and flowery which made me cringe. This book cost more than a normal Kindle book and I feel like I wasted my money. Smith is an author I'll stop praising to everyone. Still Life let me down.