For the Love of April French: An LGBTQ+ Contemporary Romance Novel

Newly wealthy after a tech startup buyout and recovering from a devastating divorce, Dennis Martin leaves Seattle behind to start over in Austin, Texas, the home of his lifelong best friend. Invited to join his buddy’s kink community centering around bar and nightclub Frankie’s, he has an immediate attraction to beguiling trans sub April French. As Frankie’s unofficial event organizer and community mom, April cares deeply for her community but after her own devastating divorce, hasn’t managed to find a Dom that wants to keep her. Having only transitioned a few years earlier, thirtysomething April is self conscious about not passing, and is constantly navigating career and personal challenges as a trans woman living in a red state. Dennis and April start a casual play arrangement, but Dennis knows he wants more and is determined to get what he wants. With Dennis being Black, and April being a pansexual trans woman, they had some conversations about the privilege and oppression they both experience in different ways as well as their personal safety in certain situations and I thought that aspect of the book was really well done. I also love the way the kink was portrayed. Both characters had had bad experiences with kink in their marriages and Dennis especially didn’t want to make any mistakes with April. Dennis has a bit of a doll play kink (he likes dressing her up and treating her like a living doll) and that was fun to read about. I loved Dennis and April. I really loved…

What stands out for me is the honesty I see in the people in the story. Except for the millionaire trope, the story felt more real because the people were flawed. It wasn't always grammatically on point and it wasn't always great reading but the story carried itself over those minor flaws. Thank you for writing a story for people like us!

💝 Am I glad I read it? YES. This book is romance at its finest. It’s smart and emotionally compelling. It deals with heavy, complicated issues and also delivers on the warm fuzzies that I pick up a romance for. April’s character is written so well. Aimes demonstrates that being a “strong” heroine and being vulnerable are not mutually exclusive, a notion I’d love to see more of across romance and its subgenre. April IS strong; she’s also deeply insecure and concerned with how the world perceives her. Understandably so, given all we learned about the abuse and marginalization she has been and continues to be subjected to. As a result, April makes poor decisions, including hiding sensitive information from Dennis for the majority of the book, to protect herself. Aimes leans into this, allowing April to be convincingly, deeply flawed without judgement. This is poor communication done right. And smartly, a happy relationship doesn’t magically fix April’s self-destructive tendencies. The D/s dynamic is lovely. Aimes takes care to communicate the importance of trust and communication, and it works so well in supporting the book’s overarching themes. After Dennis (a millionaire Black man) expresses interest in choosing April’s clothes, the two have a conversation about power that has stayed with me since I first read the book a year and a half ago. This one’s at the top of my list of underrated faves. 💝 Rating: 💖 (loved)

As a kinky, bi, trans girl, I feel like this book was written for me. There's so much in here that sounds like it could be pulled from my own life, or the lives of my friends. And it was just so delightful to have this framed in this great kinky fantasy. The male love interest is compelling and even if he's not a perfect dom on day 1, he's trying to learn and improve, which is really all anyone can ask for. I loved this book. It was sexy, it was romantic, it was raw and realistic. I would recommend this to any of my trans friends that want to read about about people like us. And I would recommend this to any of my cis friends that want to learn more about the trans female experience.

I was glad to see a romance with a trans woman who was not idealized. April isn't some fashion model who passes fabulously as a cis woman. She has her struggles. I rated only 4 stars because I think Dennis, a tech mogul, was smitten with her too quickly and challenged my suspension of disbelief, but he comes across as a real person who has had real relationship challenges. Like some other reviewers, I found some of the early chapters redundant because they rehashed the same events from different POVs. But that was just early on and is not repeated through most of the book. I admit that it did help me understand the characters, so I'm not sure I really consider it a flaw. There are BDSM themes throughout and they are handled gracefully. A reader doesn't have to be a BDSM afficionado to appreciate that part of the dynamic between Dennis and April. I bought this book to understand popular current trends in fiction with trans women characters, but I had great fun reading it. Was warm and fuzzy to see a trans woman getting a believable happily ever after. Well written and a wonderful debut by the author.