Product Description

Despite the questions of her roommates and the objections of her fiance, Jamie Evans persists in enrolling in a college course that seems an odd choice for a young woman of her background. What no one can know is that the course, The Psychology of the Lesbian Experience, will propel Jamie onto a journey of self-awareness and realization. For the required fieldwork, Jamie is paired with the darkly beautiful Ryan O'Flaherty - a boldly "out" and sexually adventurous lesbian. This somewhat unlikely pair, slowly, and sometimes painfully, becomes aware that what they feel for each other is more than just friendship. The temptation to live life on her own terms is great, but so are the costs, as Jamie struggles to break out of her establishment-fashioned, pre-ordained mold. If she can summon the courage, however, she might find out that love, and life, have so much more to offer than she ever dreamed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #946692 in Books
• Published on: 2006
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Customer Reviews

Wonderful beginning to a fantastic series
Awakenings is a beautiful book. Ryan O'Flaherty, UC- San Francisco's lesbian Casanova, meets & befriends fellow student Jamie, who is straight. Their friendship triggers a journey of self-discovery for Jamie. Ryan's assumption that Jamie is an adult capable of making decisions & setting her own goals gives Jamie the support she needs to start living her own life, instead of the life her parents expect. (Marry a lawyer like Daddy, join the Junior League & country club, and have a bunch of kids.) Soon Jamie is asserting her independence, much to the consternation of her father & fiance.

Meanwhile, Jamie encourages Ryan to seek actual intimacy with a girlfriend rather than slake her libido in a series of one night stands & short affairs. Will their friendship become something more? Hello?? This is the first book in a series! Of course it will! But watching Jamie & Ryan awaken to the possibilities right under their noses is a wonderful reading experience.

You can read the original draft of this 460-page book online, but I definitely prefer the print version. It has better editing & the language is a bit tighter. It's also a *very* high-quality book & a pleasure to hold. Awakenings is worth every penny. Plus shipping. :D

The beginning of a wonderful thing
Susan is in my top five lesfic writers. As one of the best, she has transcended the fanfic milieu and become an accomplished novelist writing original tales with compelling characters. Her specialty is multi-dimensional characters having real life challenges, especially with complex families and fully fleshed out supporting characters. Awakening is the first of a series that just gets better and better. While I'm not thrilled that one of the characters is filthy rich (that has become a cliche in the lesfic genre) Susan handles it sensitively and doesn't use it as a "get out of jail free" card. The main characters are college students and at my age I didn't expect to be able to relate to them, so I'm grateful for the sensitive treatment of their parent's stories, and I'm completely in love with my girls. I cry with them, root for them, want to reach through the pages and shake them...This is romance and family drama. It is a coming out story. It is worth reading!

You really get to know these people and love them
From the very first page the reader is captivated and wants to know more about the characters. We meet Ryan O'Flaherty and Jamie Evans, juniors at the University of California at Berkeley. Oh My Goodness, this was fun reading. The two main characters are completely endearing (I just can't get enough of them). The author explores them thoroughly so that the reader gets to know them well. This is a wonderful story.

This novel is a substantial read to be savoured. Happy Sigh ...I Love this series,

I was completely delighted to see this novel in print. Excellent writing, perfectly paced plot, lovable characters. I was riveted to every page and didn't want to put the book down. I always hold off opening this author's novels until first thing Saturday morning so I can read as much as possible in the next 48 hours.

Along with the great plot the humor is laugh out loud funny. The author, who I thought was perfection in her other novels, All That Matters, Cherry Grove and Arbor Vitea just keeps surprising me with one hit novel after another.

I am already clamoring for the next novel in this series. I must mention that the quality of the book itself is outstanding from the paper, to the cover to the printing. Lovely cover!

This is a Keeper!

Don't miss the other novels in this great series:

Awakenings
Beginnings
Coalescence
Disclosures
Entwined
Fidelity
Getaway