Product Description

Different Dress is the story of three women on a cross-country music tour. Jaime Esperanza is the assistant production manager in charge of both stage and stars. The headliner, Lacey Leigh Jaxon, is a fast-living, heavy drinking prima donna with intimacy problems. She’s had a brief relationship with Jaime, then dumped her for a series of new band mates. Lacey still comes back to Jaime in between conquests, and Jaime hasn't gotten her entirely out of her heart.

Lacey Leigh steamrolls yet another opening act and, in desperation, the tour manager brings on board a folksinger from Minnesota named Kip Galvin, who wrote one of Lacey’s biggest songs. Kip has true talent, she loves people and they respond to her, and she has a pleasant stage presence. A friendship springs up between Jaime and Kip—but what about Lacey Leigh?

It's a honky-tonk, bluesy, pop, country EXPLOSION of emotion as these three women duke it out. Who will win Jaime's heart and soul?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #846231 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

From Booklist
Jaime is glad to see a new opening act for the Lacey Leigh Jaxson tour she helps produce and manage--after all, the tempestuous star tires quickly of the openers and band members she's dallied with, making for something of a revolving door as they concertize their way across the nation. Jaime is still smarting from her fling with the famous Ms. Jaxson, and the new opener, a folksinger from Minnesota, is somewhat bruised herself from her ex's sudden departure. Though their coupling is predictable, the pleasure, like on some road trips, is in the journey, not the destination, and Lake's tale takes its leisurely good time as this love affair runs into detours and unexpected roadblocks. This lesbian romance is full of entrancing details that make the day-to-day tour come alive as the dazzle of show business and the joy of making music serve as backdrops to the lovers' deepening relationship. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"(T)he pleasure, like on some road trips, is in the journey, not the destination … full of entrancing details…" -- BOOKLIST, v. 99, August 2003, Whitney Scott

"Considered one of the best authors of modern lesbian fiction, her work—part action, part drama, and part romance—gleefully defies categorization." -- Lavender Magazine, Minneapolis, Minnesota

From the Publisher
This fourth novel from Lori L. Lake is yet another elegant combination of carefully executed plot and memorable characters.

Customer Reviews

a romance for readers who don't like romances
Kip is a teacher by day and folksinger by night who is asked to join the tour of diva Lacey Leigh Jackson. She falls in love with Jamie, the tour electrician, but Jamie is hung up on Lacey Leigh.

This is an intriguing romance because Jamie and Kip are genuinely likeable people and the reader will root for them as they make their cross-country musical journey. But there's so much more to the story than that. There's Wes, the exasperated tour manager, Eric, the cool-headed boss, Buck and Drew, the band mates that inspire Kip's career, Emma, Jamie's lifelong friend, and Mary, Kip's giddy friend back home in Minneapolis. Each of these characters round out the story and give it dimension.

A Different Dress, but the Same Talented Writing We Love
Lori Lake's new novel is best read obsessively -- I managed to read it in one long day, carrying it about as I tried to do other things, then surrenduring to the narrative and just reading for hours. What's so mesmerizing about the novel, I think, is that it brews up a potent love story mixed with just enough realism to engage the reader's hopes on behalf of the characters -- what a fine line to walk, and Lori has done it very well. Also enjoyed the fact that the main characters were older women (not the usual 20-somethings searching for love - nothing wrong with that at all, except it's been done and done), and the extremely subtle portrayal of lesbians who are clearly "out", but face that continual tension about when and how to reveal themselves to new people in their lives. This novel WORKS in so many ways.....another literary victory for Lori Lake! Thank you!

Intriguing! Action-packed! A Great Book!
The author of such great books as Gun Shy, Under The Gun, Have Gun We'll Travel, Ricochet in Time and Stepping Out: Short Stories introduces readers to two new favorite characters to take to heart.

Kip Galvin, school teacher, songwriter and singer is asked to join the summer tour of popular singer Lacey Leigh Jaxon, It seems Lacey Leigh has, once again, run off another opening act. Assigned the task of picking her up at the airport, is Jaime Esperanza, electrician extraordinaire who handles and oversees several aspects of the tour, one of which is Lacey Leigh when she's `under the weather.'

As Kip spends more time on the tour, she begins to form questions: Exactly what does Lacey's being `under the weather' mean? And why are so many of her opening acts quitting? As the tour progresses, Kip is `adopted' by members of Lacey's band who surprise Kip one night on stage by playing back-up on one of her songs. When Lacey objects to this and throws a fit, Kip literally scolds Lacey as if she were a small child, shocking both Lacey and the people around her.

As Jaime and Kip begin spending a lot of their down time together, they form an easy friendship. As time passes, Kip realizes her feelings towards Jaime are changing and she is completely blind-sided when Jaime, who has a history with Lacey, "dumps" her and goes running when Lacey calls. When Lacey's "under the weather' condition surfaces as a serious drinking problem, more questions arise. How will this affect the tour? The band? The fans? Even Lacey herself? Will it take Lacey all the way down to rock bottom? What happens to Jaime if it does? Could Kip and Jaime's friendship survive the fall? And which of them would give all they have for ONE true chance at love?

Lori L. Lake is an extremely talented writer who once again snares the reader with skilled telling of an extremely entertaining, event-filled, decidedly well-written tale of a journey by three women as they experience life, love, heartbreak, drama and adventure in the behind the scenes action of touring, and the complicated world of country music.