Lesbian romance in the workplace has never been so wickedly funny
It’s love at first sight when the most beautiful woman in the world is waiting for the elevator next to Wendy Cedar at Savin Aerospace. When Wendy flags a potentially faulty part in a new helicopter, she gets fired from her unpaid internship and is immediately hired by the very same new love of her life, Janet Lace. But Janet has a ring on her finger and is probably straight, and Wendy knows the older woman couldn’t possibly be interested in someone like her, sexy glasses be damned. It would really be best if she could let her crush go, but she just can’t seem to help herself.
Recently divorced, Janet is lonely and needs to get laid. When she finds an email Wendy sent someone else explicitly detailing a sex dream featuring none other than Janet herself, she sees a possibility to work out some of her own tension while making Wendy’s dream literally come true.
Scissor Link does a lot of things very, very well. The age gap aspect to the romance is great, with the characters addressing it directly, and often irreverently, in several spots. Their chemistry is explosive, and the sex scenes rival the best erotic romance that came out this year (seriously, there’s a scene with a glove, and it’s unlike anything else out there). It also does something interesting with the boss/employee dynamic, especially given that power play is part of their kink. More than all of that together, however, is the humour. Scissor Link is hilarious and had me laughing until I was in tears. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and even the non-dialogue text has perfect comedic moments.
The character work is king in Scissor Link. While the plot is there and it’s well done, the story is driven more by the characters, their interactions and their arcs. Wendy is entirely adorkable, falling over herself with her crush, and often just blurting out ridiculous phrases without ever thinking before she speaks. Yet she has a core of strength that drove her to get her Masters in engineering and work her way through a thankless internship. That same strength drives her through the conflict, and we see her changed for the better in the epilogue. Janet is also strong, but in a way that makes her unyielding, comfortable in her workaholic solitude. The author took a risk in changing the tone whenever Janet is alone, but it pays off in spades in showing the difference in her life with and without Wendy.
Scissor Link is being sold as a rom-com, but think sexy-sassy kink rather than lighthearted Richard Curtis-esque romp. There’s romance and there’s comedy, and both are done well, but this book is different from your typical lesbian fiction book, and you’ll either love it or you won’t. I, for one, loved it and I can’t wait to read more from this author.