Discovering Delilah by Melissa Foster
Harborside Nights #2
Published July 9th, 2015.
New Adult Contemporary GLBT Romance
Premise:
After the death of her parents on the day of her college graduation, Delilah Armstrong thought she could finally follow her heart and come out to her closest friends, but the guilt of going against her parents’ beliefs haunts her. The feelings she has for her best friend, Ashley, are stronger than anything she’s felt before, but Delilah has never even kissed a girl, and fear stops her at every turn.
Ashley Carver promised herself that she would never again date another girl who wasn’t out, but that was before she met intoxicatingly sweet and sexy Delilah.
When another girl offers to teach Delilah the ropes, it changes Delilah’s whole world and gives her the courage to go after the only girl she really wants. But coming out isn’t as easy as Delilah imagined, and moving past her parents’ death and the feelings of guilt she is left with is even harder. The intense passion between Ashley and Delilah is too strong to deny, but coming together means risking everything.
Discovering Delilah is an edgy, evocative, romantic story of friendship, family, and the courage to love.
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About Book #1: Catching Cassidy
Wyatt Armstrong never imagined that instead of celebrating his college graduation, he and his twin sister would be dealing with the death of their parents. Then again, Wyatt had never been one to think past tomorrow. He heads to their summer home in Harborside, Massachusetts, with his best friend Cassidy Lowell in tow, to deal with his parents’ death and to try to figure out his next step.Six foot two, infuriatingly handsome, and flirtatious, Wyatt Armstrong has always been there for Cassidy, helping her pass her classes and fend off unwanted advances, while driving her insane with his one-night stands—but that’s what best friends are for, isn’t it? Having each other’s backs. There was never any doubt that she would accompany him to his family’s summer home—but she never expected to begin seeing Wyatt as more than a friend. Or has she been ignoring her feelings all along?It’s impossible to ignore the sizzling heat between them as Wyatt and Cassidy get even closer, but Cassidy knows Wyatt’s past, and she has a real job to begin in the fall. Wyatt may be a sure thing for the summer, but Cassidy needs more. For the first time in his life, Wyatt is forced to look toward the future if he doesn’t want to lose the one woman who’s shared his past and owns his heart.
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Review
My thoughts:
Discovering Delilah is the second book in the Harborside Nights series, but it can be read as a stand-alone without feeling incomplete. It's a sweet story about love and friends but also about grief, overcoming guilt and allowing yourself to be happy even after something tragic happens.
Even thought there are two points of view in this story (Delilah's and Ashley's), for me it felt like it was mostly Delilah's story. Her struggles about accepting who she really is and who she loves. After her parents death, she can't stop feeling guilty for having feelings towards girls. She keeps repeating the same scene over and over again in her mind: the look of disgust her parents gave her the day she told them she was a lesbian. Most families would've gone through the process of arguing and coming to terms in one way or another with that fact, but not Delilah's. Because on that very same day she finally revealed her sexuality to her parents, they died in a car accident, and the subject was left hanging.
Now she's having strong feelings for Ashley, a girl who's been her friend for a few months and even though Ashley feels the same way towards her, Delilah can't let go of the guilt of going against her parents wishes and the fear of being shamed for loving another girl.
You know that moment in a romance book when after the glancing, the flirting and everything in between you finally find out that the love interest of your main character actually likes her/him too? Since in this book we have both perspectives, Ashley's and Delilah's, we go through that moment way too soon, as in the first few pages, and that took a little excitement and build-up out of the relationship. The story still has a lot of sexy scenes and heart-warming moments of romance between the two girls, but I felt like they we started to witness their relationship from somewhere around the middle and not from the beginning. But even then, their relationship was kind of adorable. They had a lot to work through but they supported each other every step of the way and you could tell they were just right for each other and that was awesome.
Delilah is not the type of character that I relate to the most. Not because she's a lesbian and I'm not, but because she's way too concerned with the way other people see her or think about her and let that dictate her life for most of this book. I understand that not all characters/people can be self-assured and not all gay people are comfortable with the way they feel and come out of the closet as soon as they know they're gay. But I always love the characters that are authentic and completely themselves no matter what. So, all the hiding and fearing that Delilah went through in this book prevented me from really connecting with her. I appreciate her growth though, and I hope to catch some glimpses of how she's doing with her new take on life when I pick up the next book in this series.
That said, even though I didn't relate much to Delilah on the previous matter, I still understood where some of her feelings were coming from. I don't know what would I do if my parents suddenly died, much less what I'd do if they died in the middle of a huge argument, like Delilah's did. The guilt I imagine I'd feel for their deaths would be horrible, because our last moments together would have been filled with resentment and disappointment and I don't even know if I could handle that or if it would drive me completely insane. So, the grief side of the story I totally got and I felt for her and her loss.
Overall, I think this book was pretty good. It had a sweet romance, a full set of interesting characters (a few of them already have their own story told in some of the other books of this series), a compelling writing style and a great message about letting yourself be who you truly are and be happy. It wasn't perfect but I enjoyed it. It was refreshing to read a GLBT contemporary romance with a female protagonist, which I'd never done before. I'll be picking up the first book in this series soon and the third one when it comes out.
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About the author
Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance (M/F, M/M, F/F), romantic suspense, thrillers, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa also co-writes the Love on Rockwell Island series with New York Times bestselling author Bella Andre. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented. Her books have been recommended by USA Today's book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café. When she's not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success.
Melissa has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Her interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping others see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.Melissa is available to chat with book clubs and welcomes comments and emails from her readers. Visit Melissa on social media or her personal website. Never miss a release! Follow Melissa here on Amazon and sign up for her newsletter: www.MelissaFoster.com/Newsletter
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I'm so pleased that you'll be reading more in the series! Thank you for taking the time to read and review--it's very much appreciated. I hope you have a great week XOXO
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