Review: No Boundaries – Donna K Ford

Posted 31 July, 2014 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 6 Comments


Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Review: No Boundaries – Donna K FordNo Boundaries by Donna K. Ford
Published by Bold Strokes Books on 6 May 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBT, Romance
Pages: 264
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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3 Stars

Andi Massey lives a secluded life in rural Tennessee. Since a brutal attack, she has avoided emotional connections. She is certain she has nothing left to offer anyone, but secretly wishes her life could be different.

Gwen Palmer has never been afraid to go after what she wants. Betrayed and tired of meaningless sex, she leaves her roots in the big city, seeking the quiet and peace of the mountains. The last thing she wants is another emotionally distant relationship.

Andi and Gwen find that small town life has a way of bringing them together whether they like it or not. But all may be lost when Andi comes face-to-face with her past and the man who has vowed to destroy everything she loves. Can Andi and Gwen overcome their past hurts and fears—as well as present dangers—and accept love without boundaries?

*I received a free ARC of No Boundaries from Bold Strokes Books via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

No Boundaries is a sweet, tender contemporary suspense romance, sharing the budding relationship between Gwen and Andi.

My No Boundaries review:

While I really enjoyed the characters in No Boundaries, the story was so slow paced it felt like double the pages that were actually there. The story itself is quite good, but it took a long time for Gwen and me to figure out what had really happened to Andi. And while I can understand that Andi was hiding behind a wall o f indifference to protect herself, and also those she loved, I felt like it was a little bit forced in this story. The writing could have been tighter, especially because the occurrence of sentences like these :

She pulled Gwen inside her, tasting the succulent essence of her mouth. She accepted Gwen into her, her own tongue meeting Gwen’s with heartbreaking tenderness, urging her deeper into her mouth.

The fact that almost the same thing was said twice in two sentences following each other brought me completely out of the moment, and into questioning why it was written this way. Keep in mind that I read an ARC, though, so this may well have been changed in the final version of No Boundaries.

And I might just show my ignorance here, but I really wondered at Gwen trying to pick up Andi the first time they met – she must have a really good radar if she realized after only a couple of minutes in Andi’s company that she was gay. And I guess that is completely possible, but it felt a little bit off to me. Especially for a woman who has supposedly been hurt in her prior relationships, moving to a small town in the mountains might not be the best place to try to pick up the first woman she meets outside of the diner and its older patrons.

The first half of No Boundaries was extremely slow, but once things started really happening – outside of Gwen and Andi’s relationship – they happened pretty fast. I was introduced to some real friends Andi had left behind three years earlier, and also finally learned the reason why she was in hiding, and some the reasons why it was so difficult for her to form new relationships. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if No Boundaries had been faster paced from the start, and that the writing had been less tentative – because it’s completely possible to show me that a character is tentative but still have precise and tight story-telling.

The love story between Gwen and Andi in No Boundaries was beautiful, though, I really enjoyed Gwen’s assertiveness, even if I thought she was a little on the pushy side at times. If you are looking for a romance where both of the leads are women, and where there is a big mystery in the past for one of them, you definitely might enjoy No Boundaries.

Some of my favorite No Boundaries quotes:

Gwen sighed as she watched Andi fade into the foliage along the mountain road. Part of her wanted to go after her, but she wasn’t up for another shutdown. Andi had made it clear she wasn’t interested.

It was comforting to hear about the closeness of Gwen’s family, and Andi loved the look in Gwen’s eyes when she talked about them.

She was incredibly attracted to Andi and she was pleased to find how easy it was to be with her. Andi was some of those rare people who instantly made Gwen feel at home, and she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the way she felt when she kissed Andi.

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Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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6 responses to “Review: No Boundaries – Donna K Ford

  1. I haven’t read very many LGBT stories with girls either, Jeann, so I had high hopes for No Boundaries. The story itself is good enough, but the writing wasn’t able to wow me completely.
    Thanks for stopping by 🙂

    • Yeah, and it also really takes me out of the story, it makes me not ‘feel’ it that well anymore. The cover would have been better without that head in the right corner down there, I agree, Braine 🙂

      Thanks for stopping by.

  2. Ah, I had higher hopes for this one, Lexxie. I’m sorry it was ‘slow out of the gate’ and the writing was – well, “tentative” is the word you used. I’m glad it wasn’t a complete loss though.

    *BIG HUGS*

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