Another Book That Will Have You Singing Vollbrecht's Praises, February 16, 2008

Jane Vollbrecht's newest book proves once again that she has a talent for picking appropriate book titles. Her previous novels (Picture Perfect, Heart Trouble, In Broad Daylight and Close Enough) all perfectly incorporated the book's name into the main message of the story. And now she's done it again with Second Verse.But more importantly, she also has a talent for character development, realistic dialogue, and complex plotlines. While Second Verse is more of a romance than her most recent works, it contains plenty of thought-provoking, real-life drama to satisfy her loyal readership. Be assured, though, that Second Verse is much more than a simple girl-meets-girl love story.When we first meet Gail Larson, the book's endearing protagonist, she's suffering through a therapy session intended to help her curb her debilitating, pervasive anger. There's good reason for her attitude. She's lost Marissa, her lover of the past fourteen years, and the love song that...

Gail Larsen needs to move on with her life, but it just hasn't been possible. Her partner Marissa has been brain dead and in a coma since a canoeing accident that Gail, incorrectly, blames herself for. A victim of polio, Marissa was left with a weakened body, so Gail believes if she had responded faster, she might have saved her. Marissa's parents have moved her to a nursing home near them and refuse to let Gail have any contact with her, but she still thinks of Marissa as her partner and meeting anyone else is out of the question. When Gail is assigned by her publishing company to work as the editor on the new book by Connie Martin, the leading figure in lesbian literature, she is appalled when she realizes there is an attraction between them. Conveniently, a childhood friend needs Gail's help to clean out her family home before it is sold, thus providing an excuse for Gail to flee from any contact with Connie. Connie is persistent with her attentions though and Gail begins to...

A quiet voice in the lesbian fiction genre, Jane Vollbrecht has made a name for herself as a writer of quality, well-developed stories. This, her fifth published novel is no exception and is probably her best yet. Of course, as a reviewer I think I have said this for every one of her books. That's probably because she simply gets better over time.Here, she introduces Gail Larsen. For the last few years, Gail has been living with the guilt of not being able to save her lover, Marissa, from a canoe accident. The accident left Marissa brain-dead and solely in the care of her homophobic family - a family who completely denies Gail access to the injured woman. Unable to move on, Gail isolates herself from the world, working as an editor from her private retreat and coming to light only when necessary. That is, until Gail is assigned to edit a forthcoming publication for author Connie Martin.Connie is Gail's complete opposite. She is distracting, disjointed,...