I really could not get on with this book. The mix of French and English interspersed with speech was really annoyed and I groaned internally everytime Helene spoke using this, as if we, the reader, have to be reminded she's from Belgium and can speak French. This book had the potential to be good but the characters were quite annoying and Helene was the worst. Technically, she cheats on her husband and I don't like queer books where one partner deems cheating on their current spouse acceptable. I'm not a fan of bed hopping at all.

OMG I hated the book, the writing is good but man I was so board and even tho i speak french fluently I HATED THE MIX, gave me a headache, besides the main character H was so frustrating and annoying nothing made sense to me maybe i needed to read the first book to understand cuz god know i was so confused I couldn't finish the book sadly

i'm grateful for the opportunity to have a free copy in exchange of my honest opinion

This book attempts to convey the turmoil of being straight and then suddenly finding yourself lusting after a woman. A good plot, but sadly the story falls a bit flat. The idea of including inner thoughts in italics is not a bad thing in itself, but it is used far too often here, which messes up the flow of the story. Also the inner thoughts were often so naff, after a while I wasn’t very keen on either of the two women and found myself longing for them to shut up and get on with it. Even the drama near the end didn’t save this one.

I believe that readers should read the first book Underwater Vibes and then this book and it may help them get a feel for the characters. Broad Awakening can be a tough read because of the disconnect switching from French to English. I loved Underwater Vibes and the story flowed better in it. I still enjoyed the story and I will read from this author again.

This is a follow on from Underwater Vibes (which I didn’t read) which left off with Hélène and Sylvie having kissed. I didn’t have a problem following the story so it may not be necessary to read the first. Hélène continues the swimming lessons with her sexy Greek coach, Sylvie, but with each day she reflects more on the wasteland that is her relationship with her husband of twenty years. Her constant thoughts of their shared kiss make her realise her attraction for Sylvie. A chance meeting with a psychic gives her some odd information to deal with.

Set in Brussels, French is scattered liberally throughout the dialogue. I could make out much of what was said in French (thanks to school Latin and a reasonable knowledge of English) but I still found it jarring and a block to my flow of reading because it’s not a language I think in. I wasn’t entirely sure why there was so much of it. I got the impression that the characters were both speaking French in which case there was no need for the amount of French.

I had a weird disconnect in reading this. It was like watching a 70s dubbed movie. The words and the mouths didn’t quite fit and not just because of the French. The dialogue was often quite mundane and then Hélène would do something quite quirky or strange which would be fairly humorous if I was connecting with her. I wonder if someone who can think in both English and French will have a better reading experience than I did.

In the end, for me, the language and the antics reduced the characters to caricatures rather than people I could connect or empathise with. Two and half stars.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.