Embracing the Dawn

...I liked the characters and I liked the tension...There were plenty of family relationships and old wounds to work through, which gave each lady a chance to grow as they attempt to grow together. Some cool side characters rounded out the story nicely, and it’s a nice, pretty quick read.

Reviewed by Leslie Shaip

Embracing the Dawn by Jeannie Levig has to be considered one of the best books of 2016. This book is, at its most basic, a book about relationships, and the healing power they can have.

The reader starts out waking up with Jinx and E. J. the morning after a one night stand. The thing is, we can see from the very beginning that nothing about this encounter is normal, for either person.

The following story takes us on a wild ride of twisted family baggage for both women, deep feelings and a backlash of fear, and a hope for redemption and happiness in the future. And not all of that with just each other. We also see a lot of the relationships with secondary characters, and how important those friendships are to the growth and happiness of our main characters. Levig handles all of these relationships with a deftness that is truly a joy to read, and reread. The story is well plotted, the characters have depth, and the story sucks you in and keeps you turning pages.

This story is about two women, both of whom are living in a type of confined box. Jinx because of how people react to learning that she’s an ex-con. And E. J. because she’s afraid of how people would react if they knew her innermost self. At first glance, these two women don’t seem to fit each other. But as we get to know them both, we see that E. J. may be the person who can make Jinx believe in the people outside prison, and Jinx may just be the one person who can make E. J. brave enough to live an open and truthful life. Being that person for each other could give both the courage to face those in their lives that they have unresolved issues with.

The Characters
First is Jinx, a convicted felon who is trying to make a life for herself on the outside. At around 40 years of age, she’s been incarcerated for her entire adult life, and the circumstances leading up to her conviction mean that Jinx is still fairly young emotionally when she gets out. Jinx seems to hold on to a type of innocent naivety that endears her to those who stick around long enough to get to know her.

It’s hard to believe that Jinx has held on to this innocence given the details of her life that we learn. Levig doles these facts out slowly, and we are just as interested as E. J. in figuring out how this beautiful compassionate woman who seems to know so much about life could also be the person who made so many horrendous decisions. We get to experience the discovery throughout the book, fascinated by the mistakes one person can make, and how many very different ways they have to pay for those mistakes.

Our second character is E. J., a successful businesswoman, a rather less successful mother in her own estimation, and an unsuccessful wife. She has rigid rules for picking up women in order to keep her life safely compartmentalized. To her dismay, she immediately begins breaking those rules for Jinx. At the bottom of all of E. J.’s rationalizations and running is fear. She’s afraid that if she becomes the person she truly is on the inside that she’ll lose her children. It takes someone who touches her deep inside to force her to overcome the fear she’s lived with for so long.

The secondary characters get a shout out in this book, simply because they added so much value to all of Jinx and E. J.’s struggle.

On Jinx’s side are Reggie and Sparkle, who come to Jinx’s aid with a unique perspective not only of Jinx’s past, but of the things both main characters need.

E. J. has Gwen and Taylor, the type of friends who force E. J. to face truths she doesn’t want to face, and give her the kick to the pants that she needs sometimes. I would also add in the families of both women, but won’t name them for brevity’s sake.

The Writing Style
This book is written in third person limited, with point of view switching between Jinx and E. J. It works really well for the story, and we get to see inside each woman, to what makes her tick.

The writing is good and easy to read.

The Pros
These characters make you fall in love with them. You’ll root for them to find their way through their baggage to find each other.

When E. J. finally stands up for Jinx and what she really wants, I almost felt like cheering.

The Cons
There were none.

The Conclusion
This book is sweet and a wonderful love story about two women who aren’t perfect, but might be perfect for each other. The book also made me take a look at how society treats those who have made mistakes in the past, even when they’ve supposedly paid for those mistakes. Mistakes that add the word “felon” to your baggage don’t seem to ever let you get past them. In that way, the book is a little eye-opening. But it’s such a joy to read that I definitely recommend it to everyone.

Reviewed by The Lesbian Review

Embracing the Dawn was written beautifully and it has slipped straight into my ‘Favourite’ and ‘Must read again’ shelves on Goodreads.

I was quite taken by Jinx Tanner’s story. Her backstory was what gripped me from chapter one. Every time she explained details from her past I was in tears at her struggles and bravery. She was quite a woman someone that I would genuinely love to know. She comes from such a wounded past and deserves the happiness that She and E.J can have. Unfortunately E.J has her own family drama that is stopping her becoming her true self and making things difficult for her and Jinx to be together.

I absolutely loved this book. It was so raw and honest. The story was very believable and I think that’s what has stood out from most books I’ve read recently. Bold Stokes Books have really upped the ante recently with there Authors. This was a fantastic novel. I was gripped from the beginning.

Can’t wait to see what’s next from Jeannie Levig.

Reviewed by Les Reveur

I love this book! It is written beautifully. I love the MC. And i really care and really want to know about them while I read it. I just love it.

Reviewed by Enia Priskila

I loved this book, the instant connection and attraction between the two main characters did develop fast, but the connection between them made it believable. The complications in both of their lives brought them closer together and even though E.J's first response was to run, once she realized how much she needed Jinx she stepped up. Around this love story is both of these women's problems with their families, we were able to see progress with both of these fronts. I have never read anything from Levig before, but this book is going to take a long time for me to forget about.

Reviewed by Penelope Parker