A compelling story of two people who are stuck in their marriages and start to question their future happiness when they come together.

Cheating on your partner is a hot-button topic—at least for me. And of course I’d rather believe that in an ideal world it never ever happens  in Lesbian La-La Land, where all couples live happily ever after. So it was with some hesitation that I picked up The Affair. However, the publisher (Ylva Publishing) is known for putting forth great fiction and for nurturing new talent. And I was not disappointed. The Affair, the first novel by Cori Kane, was certainly thought-provoking and a read that stayed with me afterward.

The first chapter sets the tone: Linda and Robin work closely together on a marketing campaign for a new perfume and have started a hot and passionate affair outside the office. Both are married and both never expected to have an affair. But they’re there and they’re even on the brink of something more—they are starting to fall in love. Linda has to deal with a broken marriage and an infidel husband and Robin is in a failed marriage with a partner, Sherry, who is dying of cancer.

The Affair is very well written and tells a compelling story of two people who are stuck in their marriages and start to question their future happiness when they come together. We come to understand Linda and Robin’s situation, their motives, and the chemistry between the two of them. And seeing their humanity makes it hard to condemn, in fact the reader wants to cheer them on. The story is thought provoking: what if I were stuck in a similar situation? Should anyone be denied happiness and stay in a loveless marriage for appearance‘s sake? How do you balance your own freedom with respect toward a dying or otherwise incapacitated partner?

Although a novella, Kane doesn’t fall short on character description and character development. The chemistry between Linda and Robin is made crystal clear in some very hot love scenes that balance well with the story. The novella is well-rounded—with many a dramatic moment—and skirts easy solutions, though it ends on a positive note.

As we have come to expect from this publishing house, the editing is excellent. Kane is to be congratulated on this novel and I look forward to reading more from this talented writer.