This story appealed to two of my idiosyncrasies: it had a beagle and a runner. Okay, and a bold and lustful woman. So…three, I guess.

There were some nice, quick character sketches here: one woman walked to reminisce about her day; the other ran to avoid thinking about hers. Like the main character, Lorna, I was surprised by the boldness of Sophie (and wondering why I don’t meet women like this at my local park). The story was a nice afternoon fantasy, the erotica brief but meaningfully told. But I was shocked when I turned the page and the story was over. That’s both good and bad, of course: expecting more means I was getting into the characters and wanted to see how they faired, but I also felt cheated, as if the story was merely a vehicle for the sex scene.

Then I reminded myself the story is titled “taste” — not “meal” or even “mouthful”, and I’m okay with that. Bryn is a prolific author in several genres. I’ll definitely be reading more of her lesbian erotica.

A Taste of Freedom by Bryn Colvin, published by loveyoudivine 2008. Fictionwise 2009.