Recently, author Karen Janowsky reached out to me to offer me a galley of her new title Her Name Was Lola. The description felt a bit “new age” in genre (in my opinion) so, with Karen’s permission, I offered it to my college-age daughter, Anne, to read and to give me feedback.

Here’s the scoop:

In Her Name Was Lola, which also is published by eXtasy Books, readers are introduced to Lola Nelsson, a fairy tale lover and college senior determined to learn how to “adult.” In her mind, this includes falling in love, becoming self-sufficient, and losing her virginity. Parallel to her journey is Vance Anderson, a womanizing fairy tale professor grappling with a traumatic past. He is determined to avoid anything that smacks of emotional commitments. The two meet at a conference, where they have a tryst that lasts less than a couple of hours. Then he kicks her out. A week later, they are both shocked to discover that she will be his research assistant for the year. The year can only end in one of two ways: they’ll either end up wanting to kill each other or they’ll fall madly in love. Before they can make sense of their feelings and decide whether their own fairy tale will end happily, they must learn to trust themselves, and then one another.
Please check out Karen’s website and blog: https://KarenJanowsky.com

Here’s what Anne thought:

Overall she liked the story, the characters, and the writing and found it compelling and engaging. We Conners gals tend to be “gentle readers”, however, and Anne felt readers should know that there was some sexually explicit scenes and also a scene of what she termed “sexual aggression” (but not violence) where she got a bit nervous for the protagonist. As long as readers are prepared for that, she would recommend this book and she also enjoyed the ending!

Here’s the blurb from Amazon:

Sometimes you have to lose your heart in order to gain your dream.

Lover of fairy tales Lola Nelsson learned at an early age that darker truths lay behind their bright facades. At twenty-two, she still hopes for her fairy tale to come true before she graduates college. But she hasn’t met her prince yet, and she doesn’t know how to navigate the real world. Then a handsome man at a conference catches her eye. She’s sure he’s out of her league but tries to get his attention anyway. And she’s successful… until she isn’t.

Only one thing matters to Professor Vance Anderson—gaining tenure. Known as Dr. Casanova on campus, he’s a true love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. For now, though, he’s sworn off the distraction of women. When he spots a beauty of a different sort at a conference, he can’t stop thinking about her. But when she accepts his invitation to his room, his insecurities kick in. Everything goes well… until it doesn’t.

The night ends disastrously, and it’s all over. Until Lola and Vance wind up in a working relationship, making it impossible to avoid one another. The situation can only end in one of two ways. They’ll either end up madly in love or they’ll want to kill each other. Before they can discover their real feelings, they need to learn to trust themselves. Only time will tell if their fairy tale is sweet or dark.

And here’s a bit on Karen herself:

Karen wanted to be an author and/or Wonder Woman when she grew up. One of those jobs was already taken, though. She lives with her husband, son, and six cats in Maryland, where she teaches college literature and writing. Karen received her MA in literature and creative writing from Florida State University. When she isn’t writing, she can often be found sitting at a friend’s dining room table drinking wine and playing RPGs, hanging out at the local Indian restaurant with her bestie, or curled up in bed with a few cats, listening to the rain and either reading a book or watching a BBC mystery.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and share your new book, Ms. Janowsky!