Substitute for Love

"Substitute" may be the best Kallmaker I've read in a long time, and given her extraordinary talent, that's saying something. -- Bay Area Reporter Kallmaker skillfully weaves a tale of longing, need, and desire, complete with mystery, good guys, bad guys and raw sexuality. -- Lambda Book Report Karin Kallmaker's best and most engrossing books yet! -- Womyn's Words She's the lesbian hybrid of Joyce Carol Oates ...and Danielle Steele.... -- Richard LaBonte, Book MarksProduct DescriptionA deep kiss and a single rule. Like most women in dead-end relationships, Holly Markham was used to finding substitutes for love. Like chocolate. Fun times with good friends. Throwing herself into her work. But throwing herself into the arms of a leather-clad stranger was never on her list. When Holly's best friend Tori takes her to a dance for lesbians only, she realizes that Tori is gently trying to push her out of the closet. While it was true that Holly had been trying to come to terms with her growing attraction toward women, no one expected Holly to take one look at the mysterious Reyna and fall hopelessly in lust. Unable to resist the purely physical appeal of Reyna's sensuous demands, Holly quickly succumbs to Reyna's delicious seduction. After a night of delirious passion, Reyna gives Holly a long kiss and single rule: Call whenever you want me to make love to you. There can be nothing else. Although sexually fulfilled for the first time in her life, Holly soon realizes that pleasure without emotion is no substitute for love - a love she knows she and Reyna could share. Knowing too well the high cost of living in shadows and denial, Holly risks everything and sets out to pierce the deep shroud of mystery surrounding the woman she has come to love.