Blue Streak

by Jules Barnard

April 16, 2015 · Jules Barnard

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This RITA® Reader Challenge 2016 review was written by Allison. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Romance Novella category.

Here is Allison's review:

I have to start this review by saying that I should not have read it in the same week that I read several feminist writings. The story is engaging and the hero and heroine (Zach and Nessa) are likeable. It’s part of a larger series so it suffers from having zero character development for anyone aside from the lead characters, but most people would think that’s a feature, not a bug in a novella-length story.

And now for the critical parts….

First of all HOLY TRIGGER WARNING, BATMAN! Major TW for statutory rape of Zach when he was a teen, with repercussions that are still plaguing him eight years later, plus a potentially iffy first hook-up when both Nessa and Zach are fairly drunk.

The statutory rape happened at the hands of his guardian, Alexis. He was 16; she was 30. Eight years later, they’re still occasionally hooking up. Zach feels horrible about the situation: he uses metaphors like “inky” and “filthy” to describe his emotional turmoil. Alexis is oblivious to his pain and wants to continue the affair. Much of the plot consists of Zach convincing her to go away and stay gone. Nessa is suspicious of the older woman, which provides a convenient fight between the leads about two thirds of the way through the story.

Later, we find out that Zach’s mother’s debilitating injury may have related to her accusing Alexis of flirting too much with teenaged Zach. Ouch! Unfortunately, the tale is too short to really see Zach react to this development, which struck me as unrealistic.

As other reviewers have said here before, novellas have the choice of either having a lightning fast connection between the lead characters, or else dropping into the middle of an existing friendship and watching what unfolds. This story goes for the latter approach. Nessa and Zach have been friends for about a year. He’s attracted to her but thinks he’s too guilty/messed up from the situation with Alexis. Nessa is frustrated at being kept in the friend zone but enjoys his friendship too much to challenge the status quo… until….

Well, she gets drunk. Most of a bottle of top-shelf tequila is consumed by our leads. They hop in the hot tub. Despite several demurrals from Zach, Nessa proceeds to push ahead with her planned seduction until he caves in and responds to her. Given that both of them had previously said they were too drunk to drive, this struck me as “iffy at best” on the issue of consent.

The rest of the story involves a couple of misunderstandings and a miscommunication. Fortunately Zach knows how to use his words, so things get resolved fairly quickly. The epilogue shows them having a Happy Ever After several months later: they’re living together, the sex is still great, and she’s gotten a major promotion at work. Even better, their friends are happy for them.

The rest of my feminist complaints? He’s older and better with money; he owns his house and is saving for another one, while she’s renting in an iffy neighborhood. (She does take steps to pursue a better career during the course of the tale.) He has significantly more sexual experience than she does, and both of them think this is a good thing. At one point, we get perilously close to the cliché of “I am damaged but you may cure me with your magic hoo-haa” that afflicts too many romance stories.

Since the story is told in alternating narrator first person stream of consciousness, we get a close look at the inner workings of both characters. He thinks she’s a “bad girl” when he takes off her suit and sees a lavender bra. He says that of course he’ll let her keep working if she wants to, but he wants to be able to provide for her. He quickly becomes possessive of her, and only Nessa’s enthusiastic welcoming of this attention prevents it from coming across as creepy.

If I had to assign a grade to “Blue Streak”, I would give it about a C. The language was repetitive. The treatment of the statutory rape is troubling: Zach never fully realizes that NONE of it was his fault, and the story allows Alexis to blame him for “wanting it too” without ever making it clear that this viewpoint is faulty. On a brighter note, I really liked that Zach is the cook of the group. Both he and Nessa are mixed race, a fact that is casually dropped into the story and treated with respect. Nessa knows all about Filipino restaurants and has some fun backstory about how her parents met. The alternating viewpoint is clearly labeled and the internal voices are different enough that I never wondered who was narrating at any given moment.

In summary, I found aspects of the plot troubling, but the characters were likable. I’d invite both of them over for a barbecue if they lived in my neighborhood! The two major sex scenes were hot. I will probably buy at least one other book in the series.