For a girl whose first book was called “The Scariest Forest Ever,” the jump to romance may seem to be a far one. But a love of happy endings and the stories she kept making up in her head for strangers on the street lead to an unhealthy amount of time spent behind the keyboard typing away and giggling mischievously over sassy heroines, sexy heroes, and healthy sprinklings of geek humor. With time split between a day job staring at teeth, two little girls, college courses, workaholic husband, and too many voices in her head, Jennifer James still finds time to sneak off and devour all the books she can find – even if it means hiding in the closet to read them. She insists on her jokes being dirty, drinks spiked, and tattoos placed in intriguing, muscular places you can only find when the clothes come off. Her first published novella is Love Kinection. Love Kinection is the story of Abby Fine overcoming her distaste for love, romance, Valentine's Day, etc. To be fair, she has had it rough. She was supposed to marry Charlie on Valentine's Day, but she was left at the altar because her fiancé ran off with her sister. The story begins a year later, with Abby receiving a text from her sister. She and Charlie are getting married in Las Vegas. Understandably disturbed by the news, Abby drops her phone and it breaks. Fortunately, Tom Walker, whom Abby describes as "IT department hottie," offers to fix it for her that evening and bring dinner. Abby doesn't realize that she's actually agreed to a Valentine's Day date until she gets home. Furthermore, Tom doesn't merely bring dinner, but also an Xbox, so she's caught playing video games, eating dinner and ice cream, and actually having fun. That is, until Charlie shows up a few days later, begging for forgiveness.... What makes James's fiction so intriguing is the fact that her characters are not the typical erotica fare. Granted, Abby has some self-image issues that get annoying at times, especially when faced with blindingly obvious evidence to the contrary. However, Abby also seems to dabble in geek culture, from her TARDIS mug at work to her horror movie collection. Tom, of course, is enthralled by this, and their bonding over Dr. Who debates makes for a much more believable romance. Furthermore, Abby's openness to Tom's teasing allows for playful banter that heightens the tension between the two, so that when they finally do have sex, it's much more of an erotic release for the audience. Abby is also a fairly independent heroine. Self-consciousness about her weight aside, she is self-reliant and intelligent. When she finds herself in situations that seem begging for the knight in shining armor, i.e. Tom, to rescue her, she refuses this obvious path and instead solves them for herself. This autonomy makes for a much more compelling read because the reader understands that Abby is willing to go it alone if necessary, so when she chooses a lover, it's not to be rescued/healed/saved/insert your favorite erotica trope here. Abby chooses a lover because of a deeper passion and willingness to open to them, which makes the ending of the novella all that much sweeter. According to James's homepage, this is her first novella. A second one is quickly on the way, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Love Kinection proves James to be an able writer, certainly. She has a mastery of plot, character and emotion that makes for an enjoyable read. However, is her mastery of ordinary people with ordinary lives, including all the quirks, hobbies and secrets which those lives contain that places James in another level of writer altogether. According to her website, Love Kinection is her first of many books. I eagerly urge fans of erotic fiction to get their hands on this book and thrill at this new voice in erotic fiction. I don’t think I’ve ever had the occasion to bring this up, but I really really really really really like romance novels. Like, I walked into Half-Price Books one day and came out with a giant box of fifty books that cost me five dollars. Naturally, some of them were disappointments and the vast majority of them were regency, medieval, or otherwise historical novels, which, like any genre, gets a bit old when it’s all you read. The tropes aren’t fun anymore, the language gets tired, it’s just boring. I felt that way about the romance novel for about five months now and then there was this book, Love Kinection, and yes, the alternative spelling is on purpose.Jennifer James taps into one of America’s most underutilized romantic resources: nerds. The two main characters, Abby and Tom, are nerds who meet at work, after Abby spends her morning tearing down cardboard cutouts of Cupid and dropping her phone because her sister is marrying her ex-fiance in Vegas exactly a year after he left her at the altar. Abby’s cubicle is covered in Nerdy Stuff, from her TARDIS mug to a plush towel with 42 printed on it. She likes Star Wars and Monty Python and Princess Bride, hates working out sometimes, drinks a lot of wine, and loves to cook. Although I love Tom, and trust me when I say that I really love Tom, Abby is the person who puts this book on her back and carries. She is a stark contrast to what you would normally find in romance novels, the helpless and innocent virgin who needs a big alpha male to save her. Abby needs Tom, but isn’t him that can save her from her past and the pain it causes her. She, ultimately, is in charge of her own destiny, and that makes all the difference.Love Kinection is a lovely little book that doesn’t try to be anything more than what it obviously is. It isn’t high literature, it isn’t trying to send its reader some high handed message from the mouth of God. It’s fun and light-hearted and meant to be gobbled down like a bag of half-price post-Valentine’s chocolates. There’s nerdiness and video games and leftover Chinese and bitchy sisters and more than one awesome sexy scene, and all of the pieces lead to a very satisfying whole. Love Kinection may not be trying to change the world, but it does get across the message its male lead tells Abby: all women deserve to be princesses. Whether your princess model of choice is Leia, Peach, or Zelda, whether you are a damsel in distress or a woman ready to grab a battle axe and save a prince, we deserve to be treated with respect and we deserve to heard and to be in control of our own lives.That’s a message I can get behind.Long may we reign.
What do You think about Love Kinection (2012)?
A very short,fun and quirky romance with a nerdy heroine and a hero who is even more of a nerd.
—Camila
I liked this but wish the story was elaborated on more...way too short.
—cici
This was well-written for a short story
—townergirl
