All the Wrong Places by Karin Kallmaker

All the Wrong Places Reviews

• 
  Harrow

  Not only best friends to lovers but best friends to lovers who are also friends with benefits. I love this trope! The blurb is completely misleading though. Brandy realizes that she has feelings for her friend Tess but is blind to the fact that they are mutual. More than half the book is her daydreaming about Tess so there were a lot of repetitive thoughts. There were one too many intimate scenes for my liking but still I loved it.
• 
  Alexis

  This was a sexy surprise.
  
  This book started off a little tricky. I initially didn't realize that there are two major story lines going on. In fact when I started reading the book I kept wondering why I was reading about Brandy and someone who I thought would end up being a secondary character only to realize that this person was really the other main character.
  
  I also thought that this was another quick erotic romance I could just breeze through but that's not true. The character of Tess for instance reminds me of a friend who has the same 'problem' she has. Meaning during a certain time of month she basically turns into a cat in heat. How is this the first time I have read about this (sometimes partially hormonal) issue in lesfic. Is it really that uncommon ladies?
  
  The character of Brandy is a lot more complex that I imagined as well and there is a part of the book that deals with her troubled past and rough upbringing. These chapters are by no means a light read. Have you ever looked at someone and thought "you are the reason contraceptives were invented," well Brandy's entire family is the reason for that so brace yourselves.
  
  Though this was published almost 14 years ago, the issues addressed within are still very relevant and made for quite the page turner. Full 4* rating!
  
• 
  Pam Holzner

  Whole lotta sex. I enjoyed this but I was skipping pages after awhile (just me -- nothing wrong with the writing).
  
  The interior journey was good. I thought Kallmaker did an excellent job at creating a consistent, likable and believable "voice" in creating Brandy. She made it look easy and I'm sure it's not.
  
  I was in the mood for a first person narrative and I liked the way Kallmaker had Brandy express her thoughts on commitment in terms of running a race. It seemed very fitting since she's a very physically active and oriented character.
  
  I might have shortened the drive from Baltimore back to the resort just a bit if I was the editor.
  
  The blurb that tries to get you interested in the story though is a bit misleading: "Celina, a celebrity in the lesbian community as a humorist and writer, tells Brandy under no uncertain terms that she's not interested in a quickie with an addled sex kitten who can't get her thinking above her crotch. " Celine is quite happy to have sex with Brandy. So if you are looking for an ice queen type of story -- this isn't it.
  
  Rating ... It was probably a 3 for me personally but that's just because I don't require any sex in a romance. One scene is probably enough, maybe two. But if you took all the sex out, you'd be left with just a long story I think. Others will like this just fine. Don't let me discourage you if this is the kind of story you like.
  
  During this COVID-19 pandemic, you can borrow a copy of this for free from the Open Library at
  http://openlibrary.org/
  
• 
  Tara

  I didn't like the first chapter, but once I got past it, I loved this book. Technically it's an erotic romance, but I actually think the friends-to-lovers theme is its strongest point, because it handles that so, so well.
  
  Full review here:
  http://www.thelesbianreview.com/wrong...
• 
  Alealea

  I'm binge-reading Karin Kallmaker's books this month.
  
  Almost pure erotica and check on all the writer-tropes !
  
  The writer tropes seems to be
  > awful birth families
  > bereavement
  > light miscommunication
  > lava-hot sex scene
• 
  Corrie

  Karin Kallmaker is the Empress of Intelligent erotica as I like to call it. It has heart and it has a good storyline. I liked the characters of Brandy and Tess. At some point I caught myself thinking why don't they just send a txt to clear things up but then I saw that the book was published 13 years ago, way before the use of messenger or whatsapp ;-) Also Brandy playing CD's in her car was dating this novel. Anyway it was a very enjoyable read and another one for my favorite shelf.
• 
  Kaye

  An early (2004) Kallmaker romance. The blurb doesn't describe the book well. Brandy Monsoon and her BF Tess live and work at an all inclusive resort in Florida. Tess and Brandy have for the last six months enjoyed a casual friends with benefits relationship. When the resort is booked by an all-lesbian tour group other potential partners open for each. A lot of the story is told as Brandy flashes back on the start of her relationship with Tess and realizing she might have feelings for her. There is also Brandy dealing with a family death and pretty horrible family members.
  
  This had more intimacy than other Kallmaker books I've read and only from looking on the internet did I learn it was written as part of an "After Hours" set of books for the publisher that was meant to be more explicit. It was a quick read (174 pages) and had some genuinely funny lines. I like friends to more tropes and I can see how Kallmaker went on to write so many novels.
• 
  LVLMLeah

  What comes to mind when I think about how this book read for me is, beach read. All The Wrong Places is light, fun erotic romance with easy going characters and a summery, recreational backdrop in which they get to play. This is also a friends to lovers story, which I’ve come to really enjoy.
  
  Brandy is one of those characters who I’d love to be friends with. She’s a light, easy going but inherently grounded person. Although a full on confirmed lesbian who has no issues about it within herself, she seems to be constantly getting involved in non-committal flings with straight girls who want to experiment. Brandy knows this not a good thing for her ultimately, but she hasn’t met a lesbian who rocks her world. She’s also a person who has had to deal with major crap from her family who’ve disowned her for being gay and it still affects her psyche.
  
  Although this story is told from Brandy’s POV in first person, I will talk about Tess as well. Tess is working with Brandy in the same resort. The resort they work at has an unwritten policy of don’t ask don’t tell about sleeping with the clientele. Both Brandy and Tess enjoy mingling with the guests on a sexual level; Brandy with straight women and Tess with men. Tess is the type of woman who goes with men to scratch an itch. She loves sex and especially when she’s premenstrual, she seems to need non-stop sex. Unfortunately, she hasn’t met a man who can satisfy her when she’s hormonal and then have a normal sex life the rest of the month.
  
  Tess and Brandy are friends and after one night of desperation and lack of satisfaction with the man she was with, Tess heads over to Brandy’s for some girlfriend comfort, and bitch about men and sex, time. This innocently leads to a hot night of unbridled sex in which Brady satisfies Tess’ hormonal/sexual needs without a break and Tess finds out how juicy it is to be with a woman. In the following weeks, they have several friends-with-benefits encounters but stay just friends.
  
  The rest of the story is Brandy’s musing and obsessing over her growing feelings for Tess as she realizes that Tess has maybe switched sides for good and that makes her a bit jealous. They have an easy going relationship, sexually and otherwise, until a group of lesbians show up at the resort giving Brandy some options with real lesbians. It also gives Tess a chance to explore to Brandy’s chagrin.
  
  What I really enjoyed about All The Wrong Places is that it was a nice slow build to a sweet love story between Brandy and Tess. I love it when I’m reading and half way through I’m really dying for two people to get together, wondering and hoping that it can work out. I love it when I can feel the ache of the characters and ache myself for them to get what they want. Ms. Kallmaker created that longing and tension in this story, but not in an angsty, heavy way.
  
  Ms. Kallmaker’s style of writing is fun and very erotic, meaning, there’s a lot of sex in this book, written fairly graphically. However, it all had its place and nothing felt gratuitous. Nor did it really feel over the top erotic, but more playfully sexy.
  
  All The Wrong Places was basically a few weeks in the life of Brandy and what she feels about them. It’s a rather intimate viewpoint and I liked that; it had the feel of chatting with a girlfriend and her sharing everything that happened, which kept this entertaining.
  
  I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a light lesbian love story with a satisfying ending.
• 
  Jay Odon

  "Sweet Fifteen and ready to grow up"
  
  Karin Kallmaker is one of the queens of romance novels and this is one of her best outings. Bella After Dark is known for being a little more graphic than the regular romance books yet it still has a great plot and characters that you care about.
  
  Brandy Monsoon (lesbian) works as a fitness instructor at a tropical resort along with her best friend Tess (straight, well mostly). Things are going at a good pace, work keeps them busy during the day and the activities at night are just as fun. One day Tess had a date with one of the male guests but she suddenly comes to Brandy's room freaked out and wanting more attention than she knows the man can give her. At first she just wanted some friendship and chocolate but things get a little more heated as both women have a need to fulfill. Once or twice a month Tess is insatiable in bed and the only one that has ever sated her or even tried is Brandy, and while Tess is straight they both enjoy these nights. This continues for the next few months while they still have their other dates, the problem is that each of them wants more than just one night stands. Then the magical week comes with an all lesbian tour group arrives, dykes galore, some couples, some families and some very single, willing and ready. As if that isn't enough to elate Brandy, her favorite comedian Celine Griffin shows up and she wants a little more than a workout from Brandy. During the week Brandy gets bad news, her father died and while her family is estranged she feels obligated to make an appearance. Not only is she going to be missing most of the lesbian week, she will have to deal with a family that doesn't welcome her and a best friend who is acting unusual around her. With all this pressure on her and not knowing what is wrong with Tess, Brandy feels out of sync and wants to make things as good as they were but she is in for a surprise when everything changes. Hellos, goodbyes, and why haven't I seen what was in front of me the whole time drives this story of fun and physical versus substance and need.
  Great outing from KK as usual, this time with just a little more spice!
• 
  Dide

  I really like this writer so any chance I get to read her books excites me. This book however isn't as fulfilling as her others but it certainly delivers on my erotic interests. The author has an uncanny way with words and this book served it well especially on the erotic scenes.
• 
  Melissa Redden

  Great sick day read. I thought the main character was likable.
• 
  isa Simonet

  Kallmaker is Kallmaker, unique in her writing and unique for the stories. This book is both very erotic and a fabulous romance. I have never read anything like this before.
• 
  Kexx

  Some times you just read the wrong book at the wrong time! Just finished the superb and thoughtful R J Noyes and then straight into this wham bang thank you.
• 
  Sandy

  This is one of Karin Kallmaker’s early books and published in the early 2000’s. It is an admirable effort to speak to the blossoming lesbian romance fiction genre. It is more gritty in vocabulary, palpable anger at the family dynamics of coming out and the emergence of a freer love and sexual awakening. There is quite a bit of sex and inner character turmoil but not necessarily character development of anyone but the main character Brandy. I enjoy the author’s books and reading an early one shows how far the genre has developed.
• 
  Kelsey

  An extremely sexy book that was brought down a bit by some 2004 weirdness as well as a weird fixation on Tess and her "hormones." I felt like the explanation of it belonged to a science fiction book, not a contemporary book?
  
  Also more than a dash of 2004 homophobia. Not going to say life is sunshine and roses, but it's hard to look back to even just 15 years ago. We've come so far!
• 
  Linda

  het boek begon vreemd, maar werd uiteindelijk t waard om door te lezen!
• 
  wilson

  too smutty for my taste
  angst until like 80%
• 
  Glenna

  Read many years ago, and never quite forgot it. Just stumbled across it again, and it reads just as well the second time. A well-done blend of friends-to-lovers with lots of steam!
• 
  Chiyo Gomes

  3.5
  
  Pleasantly surprised, seeing as I gave the last book I read by Kallmaker 2 stars (The Kiss That Counted).
  
  There's no denying that this read was purely porn, though.
  
  Pretty sure I was aroused through that entire read.
• 
  Heidi Lynn’s BookReviews

  First, I would like to thank Rebecca Fisher for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
  
  Poor Casey she has been in all the wrong places in all the wrong times when unfortunate events have taken place. Husband infidelity, verbal abuse, strained relationship with her parents, a car accident, and financial issues to name a few. She couldn’t catch a break. I wanted to leap into the book and give her a big comforting hug.
  
  I felt bad for Casey’s daughter who was just along for the ride in all of this. However, she seemed to be oblivious to what was really going on. On the other hand she was so cute, adorable and very likeable.
  
  In every book there is a character you do not like for one reason or another. For me that person was Casey’s father. He really brought out some deep strong emotions in me while reading his interactions with Casey.
  
  “My whole life I had disappointed him, from my petty wants for play as a child, to my irrational and impractical decision to have Maddy and get married. The rage grew and I stood there, watching him sit with his game face on, waiting for me to break, while smoke passed over his fixed stare. I remembered his cold and matter-of-fact decision that I needed to have an abortion immediately. How he was infuriated by my sabotaging his plans for me to work at his firm, and make him proud, impress his colleagues, be perfect.”
  
• 
  Melissa Hayes

  When I picture a Fabio-covered romance novel, a think of a woman being attracted to a man and eventually falling in love with him. The lesbian romance was far more sexual. In the span of a couple of days, the MC slept with 3 different women. And acts that would be atrociously vulgar in a straight hookup were considered romantic in this book. There was a lot of crying during sex in this book as well. I have never heard of a woman wanting sex sooo much. The cheesy nipple and wet references keep me wanting to stay away from romance novels for a long time.
• 
  Sharon

  The erotic writing is fine, and that is the only recommendable thing about this book. The characters are shallow and underdeveloped and you can see the whole storyline (I refuse to consider these greeting-card characters are involved in a "plot") from the first few pages. It's a mediocre casual read, but I would not actually recommend it.
• 
  Raven

  For me this book really wasn't about a romance. This book was more about Brandy growing up and realizing just who she was and to be comfortable in her own skin. All the sex in it seemed so odd, for a Karin Kallmaker book, but maybe its just because I haven't read many of her books. It was just an "ok" book, and definitely not a big favorite. Blech.
• 
  SpritetheRight

  the character's voice was really annoying
• 
  Patrizia

  Up to now, the best book I have ever read in this genre. Karin is writing for herself and for people like herself - and that comes right out from the pages of this book. I was so happy while reading!