Her mother constantly found fault with her: she ate too much, she should try to get a man, and she should want children! Sam was a candidate for her PhD in Psychology with excellent grades and a, seemingly, wonderful life. No matter what she did, she excelled—except in her mother’s eyes.

Everyone who knew Sam liked her, including Bruce, a 6’2” Asian who has been in classes with her for six years. He was in the same graduate program and managed to get paired up with Samantha for a special assignment at the clinic where Sam worked. Bruce was so interested in Sam’s life that he struggled to fit in to her lifestyle. The more they were together, the more he cared and the closer Sam allowed him to get.

Ms. Stacey Lynn Schlegl does a good job of intertwining the support characters with the lives of Sam and Bruce. They face a myriad of situations which allow Bruce glimpses of Sam’s life even though she tries so hard to withdraw. The parents are examples of how tough it can be to try to live up to someone else’s expectations. Ms. Schlegl does an excellent job of representing the extremes in parenthood!

The Defense, the fat defense, is a wonderful representation of how situations can determine a person’s outlook on life. When a woman comes into the clinic that had been attacked and raped in a strangely similar circumstance to Sam’s own, she wondered if it could be the same person even after six years. This poignant glimpse of the horror of her past is just one problem she must overcome. The book is an excellent work of art and I can hardly recommend it to others!

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Mildly sensual

Reviewer: Brenda Talley
April 25, 2007