Recently divorced Tina Durham is trying to be self-sufficient, but her personal-training career is floundering, her closest friends are swept up in new relationships, and her washing machine has just flooded her kitchen. It’s enough to make a girl cry.
Instead, she calls a plumbing service, and Joanne “Joe Mama” Delario comes to the rescue. Joe is sweet, funny, and good at fixing things. She also sees something special in Tina and invites her to try out for the roller derby team she coaches.

Derby offers Tina an outlet for her frustrations, a chance to excel, and the female friendships she’s never had before. And as Tina starts to thrive at derby, the tension between her and Joe cranks up. Despite their player/coach relationship, they give in to their mutual attraction. Sex in secret is hot, but Tina can’t help but want more.

With work still on the rocks and her relationship in the closet, Tina is forced to reevaluate her life. Can she be content with a secret lover? Or with being dependent on someone else again? It’s time for Tina to tackle her fears, both on and off the track.

Review

Recently divorced Tina Durham is trying to be self-sufficient, but her personal-training career is floundering, her closest friends are swept up in new relationships, and her washing machine has just flooded her kitchen. It’s enough to make a girl cry.
Instead, she calls a plumbing service, and Joanne “Joe Mama” Delario comes to the rescue. Joe is sweet, funny, and good at fixing things. She also sees something special in Tina and invites her to try out for the roller derby team she coaches.

Derby offers Tina an outlet for her frustrations, a chance to excel, and the female friendships she’s never had before. And as Tina starts to thrive at derby, the tension between her and Joe cranks up. Despite their player/coach relationship, they give in to their mutual attraction. Sex in secret is hot, but Tina can’t help but want more.

With work still on the rocks and her relationship in the closet, Tina is forced to reevaluate her life. Can she be content with a secret lover? Or with being dependent on someone else again? It’s time for Tina to tackle her fears, both on and off the track.

We are heading to our first holiday party of the year (base libraries hold a joint party for staff and volunteers) tonight. Our white elephant/dirty Santa gift is the two books I bought from a local author and had signed by the author plus a cross stitched bookmark from a charity shop in town. I love playing WE/DS because you never know what you will walk away with (last year's gift was a color me calendar that the kids colored in completely on day one of their winter break from school).

I read American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang today, my first book of December. It's for a square later in the game; highly recommend to middle grade and younger young adults.

On tap for this weekend, my reading will be lots of shorts - my mind can take only so much and I want to keep my reading to relaxing levels.

1. Saga Volumes 1-4  by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples - volume 4 is for another square in the game, but I want to refresh my memory so I will just start with volume 1. That will kill an afternoon.

2. Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole - originally published in last year's Daughters of the Revolution anthology, I picked this up when it was published as an individual novella and on sale. Romance between a suffragette (and business woman) and her new chef. It's from Alyssa Cole, so expectations are high. Reading this for a game square.

3. Unleashed (Love to the Rescue #1) by Rachel Lacey - contemporary romance with a dog rescue foster mom (and almost completely in remission cancer survivor) and a PI. Not knocking my socks off, not annoying me to the point of DNF, so I am just plodding along for now. Reading for a game square.

4. Burning Bright: Four Chanukah Stories by Various Authors - a non-Christmas holiday romance!!! Also for a game square.

5. Roller Girl (Lake Lovelace #3) by Vanessa North - I spun the dreidel and landed on this book. F/F contemporary romance. Reading as a result of the game.

Happy reading weekend everyone!

The only exposure I've had to roller derby is through the film Whip It which admittedly is more than some people. Therefore, I thought it would be fun to read more about it especially when I saw the cover of today's book. Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson follows a middle schooler named Astrid who (after going to a roller derby bout) decides that she will be an all-star roller derby girl. However, there are a few hiccups in this plan. (I was going to tell you what they are but I decided it would be better for you to discover them yourself especially since they make up the backbone of the book.) This is a story all about discovering what you're made of, adolescent friendship, and perseverance. It's pretty much middle school wrapped up in one volume + crazy rollerskating antics. I should also mention that it's a graphic novel with truly epic illustrations which were done by the author (I love when that's the case). Overall, I thought this was a fast paced, angsy book that captures what it's like to be a preteen girl who is obsessed with . It's a fun book, guys. If you have any middle grade readers in your life that love sports I think they'd really like this one. 8/10

And since I've done this with a few other author/illustrators I thought I'd include a blog post that Victoria Jamieson did with some sketches from the book. Here's a sample:

Source: Victoria Jamieson Illustration

And here's what you can expect from the finished product:

Source: books4yourkids