Sense And Instability: An enemies to lovers sapphic romance set in Minneapolis by CM Harris

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I liked a lot of this novel but there were some things that stood in the way of falling totally in love with it.

First off, I love the author’s voice. Some of the prose is poetic and evocative, but some is modern language and real-life. I loved the side characters, particularly the co-workers. I loved that the civil unrest that hit Minneapolis and other cities, including my own Milwaukee, was discussed and dealt with by a diverse cast. Also how different moral/political views exist in families.

Oh, here’s the blurb:

Late-blooming curvy girl Lina Johannsson leaves her predictable copywriting job to bring stability to a floundering Minneapolis marketing firm. Led by enigmatic designer Isabel Sloane, the diverse and eccentric staff spitball their way through daring projects that barely pay enough to keep the lights on. As the two women circle each other, down-to-earth Lina bristles at Sloane’s unconventional methodology and troubled past. Despite this, they team up to create ground-breaking real estate campaigns while an inconvenient attraction flickers between them.

Meanwhile, their growing city experiences an increasing homeless population and police violence. Lina and Sloane grapple with their agency’s role in gentrification and culpability in the unrest—navigating it on separate paths that eventually merge. As Lina grows into a more confident woman, their relationship heats up. When she discovers firm investors want her to replace “bohemian” Sloane as creative director, it threatens their partnership in more ways than one.

I wish there had been more depth on the hard emotional stuff, though. I wanted to know how Sloane dealt with her loss and how those things were addressed or eased through her new relationship with Lina. I wanted much more personal depth instead of so much work-life stuff. And, while I appreciate the ending for what it was, a little less abruptness would have been nice. I had to check to see if I missed a page.

While this didn’t knock it out of the park for me, I did enjoy my time reading and will absolutely recommend Sense and Instability to my friends.

Thanks to Booksprout and the author for the ARC.



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