Behind the Pine Curtain

Gerri Hill delivers very satisfying romances with every book, and Behind the Pine Curtain is no exception. While the story is somewhat predictable, she delves into serious themes while giving the reader a thoroughly enjoyable read. Hill's character and theme development remain the strengths of her storytelling. In Behind the Pine Curtain, Kay's best friend Jackie returns home after 15 years, when her father dies, to attend his funeral. At 18, Jackie fled Pine Springs Texas after her parents kicked her out when she confessed to being a lesbian. Jackie never looked back, ending all ties with Kay and the rest of Pine Springs, assuming the entire town felt the same way as her parents did. When Jackie come backs, she has to deal with these unresolved feelings, including her childhood crush on her straight friend Kay. The reader gets to know both Kay and Jackie through strong and illuminating dialogue. Jackie's courage and strength are revealed as we are exposed to her past and as she comes to terms with the present. At the same time Kay questions her uneven history with men especially her abusive ex-husband and begins to see Jackie as the solid foundation in her life. While the theme of sexual discovery is one Hill repeats in most of her romances, her expressive and poignant telling prevent the reader from becoming indifferent. Each story captures us anew. In Behind the Pine Curtain, Hill's words envelop us so we become a part of Kay and Jackie's love story. We are totally absorbed, and we cannot help but feel what they experience. While the author can easily give us a rewarding romance filled with angst and heartfelt prose, she takes her novels a step further. In the book the reader is exposed to the devastating effects of being rejected by one's own family, how it can tear apart each family member's lives, and how the hatred can spread beyond the family to others. The contempt that Jackie's mother still holds for her daughter is evident and chilling, and there is no reconciliation in sight for them. Her mother's place in society is more important than her daughter. But the author balances this rejection with the support Jackie receives from Kay's extended family, and this sharply contrasts with the cruelty shown by her parents. It is often said that if the reader knows what will happen in the romance and how it will end then the novel must be formulaic. If that is the case, then Hill is one of the few authors today that can write "formulaic" romances without them appearing prescribed and fixed. Behind the Pine Curtain is delightful and inspiring. It is a must read for all romance fans.

Gerri Hill is a wonderfully talented author who has never disappointed this reader. `Behind the Pine Curtain' is likely her best book yet! Jacqueline and Kay were inseparable friends as children. That is, until a 17-year-old Jackie admitted to her parents that she was gay. Within a few weeks, Jackie was put on a bus with $100 in her pocket and told not to come home until she came to her senses. Jackie's pride would not let her return to her parents' home or the town of Pine Springs. A frightened young woman, she tentatively made her way - eventually working her way through college and becoming an acclaimed author. One day, about 15 years after being discarded like garbage, Jackie receives an unexpected phone call from her father's attorney, John Lawrence. John says her father has died and convinces her to come back for the funeral and reading of the will. Struggling with conflicted feelings, Jackie heads to her childhood hometown and reconnects with Kay. While Jackie reconciles the content of her father's will with her feelings for the man, she learns about Kay's disastrous past due to an abusive and loveless marriage. Feelings of guilt overwhelm Jackie as she begins to come to terms with her romantic feelings for her old friend, but she is terrified Kay will discover her secret. Without revealing the whys and wherefores, I'll just say Hill does a masterful job allowing the sexual tension to build between these two women until they both explode with passion. I could feel my own breathing rate increase as I turned each page. Thank goodness I had the time to finish it in one night, because I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to sleep without getting to the end. Quality writing, lovable characters, believable story... What's not to like?!? Very highly recommended by this reader as a permanent addition to your personal collection. This is one you'll want to read again and again.

I have been a Gerri Hill fan since her first book "One Summer Night" and she just keeps getting better and better! As an author she has grown with each story, creating realistic characters and dialogue that draw me in as if I too am a part of the events that take place. "Behind the Pine Curtain" is her best yet and she nails it when it comes to small towns and small ways of thinking. Having lived, worked, and grown up in small Texas towns I relate to the trials and tribulations of each character! Oustanding job Ms. Hill! Keep them coming!

Behind the Pine Curtain provides a glimpse into Smalltown America that hits very close to home for readers who grew up/live there. And even if you didn't, Kay and Jackie's story is bound to strike a familiar chord. Gerri Hill first charmed me with the bantering courtship of Pat and Carly in Gulf Breeze. In Hunter's Way, she pulled me in as Tori and Sam fought the bad guys and not only won but found love along the way. In The Killing Room she mesmerized me with her skill to twist and turn a plot creating a satisfying romantic mystery as Jake and Nicole joined forces to find the solution. Finally, with Behind the Pine Curtain she astonished me with a romance so pure I could feel the intensity of their love with every page I turned. As girls/teens Kay and Jackie were inseparable, best friends. They forged a bond that in their innocence they didn't recognize for what it was--love. Just before her high school graduation, Jackie admitted to her parents that she was gay. An embarrassment to them they forced Jackie to leave town with only a hundred dollars in her pocket. Jackie makes her triumphant return to Pine Springs, Texas fifteen years later as not only a college graduate but a successful writer with confidence born of her success. She finds that some things haven't changed. Everyone still seems to know everyone else's business and a lesbian is still cause for gossip and concern among the good citizens. Another thing that hasn't changed is the bond between Kay and Jackie and this time they have a chance to explore their feelings as adults while Jackie tries to determine if she does indeed have a place in Pine Springs after all. Behind the Pine Curtain is lesbian romance at its best and you don't want to miss the opportunity to get to know Kay and Jackie and of course the good folks of Pine Springs.

I grew up in the smoky blue pines. At times I still long for the small town closeness and for the familiarity of knowing everyone, seeing old favorite spots, like the first sight of the river when you drive over the hill. . . and the best friend who could have been much more. So this novel has a special appeal to me. This is a story about going back home, trying to reassess what was there for you once, what is there for you now. It's about reacquainting yourself with the person you once were, and learning that maybe you're not the only one who has changed over the years. Jacqueline Keys left home under difficult circumstances that may be all too often familiar to lesbain and gay people. Her parents refused to accept her when she came out, concerned more about their own image in the eyes of the community. They put her on a bus with a hundred dollars and told her not to come back. She made something of herself, struggling through college, becoming a successful novelist. Maybe there was a bit of payback and vengeance in her decision to return to her home town after the death of her father. Uncertain of her motives, she reluctantly goes back to a place she no longer thinks of as home, to find her mother, hospitalized with injuries from the accident that killed her father, still as narrow-minded and concerned with public image as ever. Some things never change. Her feelings for her best frind Kay haven't changed either. But has Kay changed enough to deal with those feelings? Drawn into the details of dealing with her father's estate, Jackie learns that maybe her father wasn't as hard-hearted as she believed. Against her will and her better judgment, she is forced to take command and make decisions that will affect her and perhaps Kay as well. This is a lesbian romance. But it is about much more than the girl getting the girl in the end, and simple solutions are not always options. This is also a story about homophobia and change and growth, and about something worse than homophobia. Jackie's parents rejected her and threw her out because they feared how their daughter's lesbianism would affect their standing in the community. It's a fantasy a lot of people must share, going home to show off how they've managed to make it on their own without the support and approval of family and friends. Whatever satisfaction Jackie might gain from that is wrapped in sadness and real dismay when she finds her feelings for Kay are as strong as they were when the two of them were inseparable, but her best friend might never be able to escape from the prison of expectations and obligations to accept the possibility of love. This is author Gerri Hill's eighth novel, a solid effort with well-rounded characters, subplot, and situations bound to ring a familiar tone with many of us, gay and straight. Those who refused to follow their parents' wishes and dreams, and instead forged their own paths, those who could never be what others want them to be, those who followed their