I bought Let The Lover Be, not caring very much for the title, but encouraged by the favorable reviews and an instinct the novel was so much more than the cover.

Going by all that would make sense in an ideally rational world, I should not have found my heart aching for main character Kiana or rooting for her to find her way out of her troubled world. She is irresponsible, self-absorbed, sex-obsessed, taunts a recovering alcoholic's sobriety and takes the longest time to see ex-girlfriend Michelle is not (and never was) the woman for her.

But Kiana's also deeply suffering, terribly missing her dead mother, grateful to her always-there-for-her sister and (when sober) able to see all the goodness and light in Genevieve, a wonderful woman she meets when she travels to New Orleans to try and stop her ex's wedding. Sheree L. Greer's writing (her dialogue and vivid portrayal of character, especially) is just amazing! She leaves the reader spellbound even when things become almost too much to take, plus she accomplishes that rare feat in fiction: makes a rather unlikable character likable.

Having finished Let The Lover Be and struggling to do it the justice it deserves, I find the title makes much more sense and isn't as jaded or detached as I thought in the beginning. The title and ending are perfectly in spirit with all that happens, though I sincerely hope we someday to get to find out the rest of Kiana's story. ( )

That was intense, super intense and quite unlike any other lesbian romance I've ever read.

It was the story of Kiana and Genevieve. Kiana is described in the synopsis as a functional alcoholic, but for most of the novel it seemed to me that she wasn't too functional at all. She's still smarting from a break up and when her ex-girlfriend, Michelle, sends her an invitation to her wedding in New Orleans, Kiana goes down there aiming to get Michelle back. But then she meets Genevieve and with that Kiana's world starts spinning in a much more metaphorical way.

As I said, this was an intense book, and I really had no idea what the ending was going to be, and yet still I was surprised by it (in only the best way). This was a very good book and if I did half stars it'd would have gotten a 3.5 stars.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. ( )