The Good Girls Kindle Edition

The Good Girls by Teresa Mummert is a wonderfully written story of self discovery and acceptance while finding true love amidst the harsh judgements and criticism of not only society but loved ones as well.I thought that the author did a fantastic job exploring Cara and El's story giving her readers a fair look at what each of their struggles were but also combining their lives into one beautiful and heartbreaking love story. What I appreciated most about this book was that it gives readers like me who is a "newbie" into the LGBT theme a perfect introduction. It showed great depth and insight into their struggles simply because of the person whom they chose to be with. The author took a great approach in setting Cara and El's story a part from the expected, girl on girl action-- Though for the most part, Teresa stayed true to the emotional aspect choosing to give us the nitty gritty of what a same sex relationship must undergo when acceptance is nowhere to be found, she also gives us a look into the sensual and quite frankly, sexy aspects of their relationship too. A nice balance to keep a reader's interest peaked and eventually, sated.I really enjoyed this book, reading it from the first to the last page just within hours. A perfect introduction to the F/F world, Teresa Mummert will definitely further spark your interest into exploring this genre much more.

3.5 StarsI’ve had my eye on The Good Girls for a while, and decided to snap it up when it was on sale. I finally made time to read it but I thought it to be a little different from what the blurb portrayed. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a good read, but I expected it to be a lighter kind of read with some sizzling scenes to get me blushing. The Good Girls was about two girls who are a little unsure about their sexuality, and how they deal with the feelings of their families and the attitudes of people in a small town. It was emotional, gut-wrenching and intense.Ellie was raised by her single mother, and after a tragic accident was sent to live with her father. She has to start over in a new town with no friends and a father she doesn’t know. She seems lost, but soon strikes up a friendship with Cara, the girl who lives with her father and his girlfriend Dawn. Soon, they are sneaking out with Cara’s boyfriend Tristan and his friends.I enjoyed the alternating perspectives in this book, so I could see the struggles that both girls were going through. The friendship between Ellie and Cara developed quickly and lines were blurred early on. They were both attracted to one another, but they both felt very alone and neither of them had anyone to support them. Their families and the community shied upon same sex relationships, and so they both struggled with their feelings. They both made decisions to keep the peace, and to prevent heartbreak down the road.I loved Brody! He was a good guy and he became close friends with Ellie. He initially harboured feelings for Ellie, but they ended up forming a strong friendship where he supported Ellie and eventually Cara with anything they needed.The Good Girls was a difficult and emotional journey. My heart broke numerous times at what the girls had to deal with. Teresa Mummert knows how to write a story that will impact you and leave you emotionally wrecked. This was a fantastic read that will stay with me for a long time.

This book goes beyond the typical realm of romance. It is intriguing, gut wrenching, and beautiful all mixed together. There are many people out there that don’t allow people to have the choice in who they love and Teresa Mummert does an excellent job at bringing this out within the story.When Ellie and Cara first meet, they assume their relationship will be a typical “step-sister” relationship. But both girls are dealing with such complex demons that having a typical relationship doesn’t occur.Cara is a lesbian, but she hides this aspect of herself from everyone she knows. This is due to the rejection and pain she has dealt with in the past- from parents and friends. Ellie is in pain because her mother was killed and she was sent to live with her father- a man she never had a relationship with. When the two girls finally come together, they realize that they do share a bond. One that is so strong that it can never go away. This doesn’t mean the girls don’t go through challenges to be together. But how and when they get there makes this book memorable and beautiful.This is one of those books that I would highly recommend to all my friends and even family. It opens reader’s eyes into a different world, a different kind of love that we don’t see enough of in romance novels. Mummert deserves a lot of praise for writing this book so eloquently. I just loved it to pieces.

The Good Girls by Teresa Mummert3.5 Stars!!“My free will is not a freedom at all. I have to be a certain person, follow arbitrary rules set by his own creations, or be locked away in a cage like a circus animal, poked and prodded by society until I give in and become one of them.”So, Teresa Mummert has broken my F/F virginity, I do love M/M so I wasn’t that apprehensive about diving into this one but I still had a few jitters. I have to admit that I did think this would be a genre I couldn’t read but I actually enjoyed it and it wasn’t as taboo for me as my brain had led me to believe.This is the story of Cara and Ellie. The book starts with a prologue that is upsetting to read. Cara has been the victim of a hate crime and Ellie is begging her to report it. With peoples opinions well known, Cara is reluctant and despite her injuries and what she endured she does not want to down that route. Then we are taken back to how Cara and Ellie first met.Ellie has just lost her mother and as she is only seventeen she is sent to live with her father, a father she hasn’t seen for years and years, a father that deserted her and her mother. Cara also lives with her dad and his new wife, Dawn. Cara is the daughter of Dawn’s best friend and because of issues that Cara’s mother had with her, she sent Cara to Dawn’s to “re-evaluate” her life.“She was like gravity, and my head was constantly in the clouds. I needed her to keep me grounded.”Ellie is struggling after losing her mother and her Dad is not the best support network, he comes across as aloof and not worried but really he is just like a duck out of water and he has his own reasons too which I am glad that he and Ellie finally got around to airing. Ellie and Cara become each others crutch, Ellie is there for Cara as she struggles to work out who she is and Cara is there for Ellie as a shoulder to cry on, to grieve with and Cara is the person that makes Ellie want to live again. But lines cross and get blurred is this a friendship or is this more?“What I had for her was just a crush. I knew that now, because losing her absolutely crushed me.”This was a really good story, as always Teresa Mummert knows how to deliver an interesting and convincing story and I really enjoyed Cara and Ellie’s journey. Whether it be racism, discrimination, anti-gay whatever, and people always have their beliefs whether they be right or wrong and Teresa really managed to bring to the forefront how this affects the victims. At the end of the day you cannot help who you fall in love with, whether the world recognises it as “normal” or not. Just because you don’t agree with it does not mean you have the authority to try and do something about it. Live and let live, as long as it does not affect you directly why get involved?“I’m wishing that you will find the kind of love that isn’t afraid - the fearless love that you gave me when I didn’t deserve it.”This would have been a solid 4.5 star for me but for me personally I didn’t have that emotional connection to the characters. I am one of these “emotional readers,” I like to feel everything and live through everything that they are going through, I want to experience it too and for me, I just didn’t have that with this story. It may just be me though, I am just off the back of an extremely emotional book so perhaps I am just all cried out, but I have to be honest and say what I felt while reading.For those that are unsure about reading an F/F, give it a try, it was a beautiful read and while it maybe taboo, love is love and this is a love story that evolves before your very eyes, one inexperienced girl and another trying to find out who she really is. This is a voyage of discovery for both Cara and Ellie. A journey where they find themselves and find out who really is on their side and is there for them. I have to say I loved Brody in this book; it just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover.

Looking at this author’s other books, this would seem to be her first foray into F/F fiction and it’s a decent enough coming of age/coming out story of young love between two 17 year old girls. Other reviewers have already written long reviews of this so I’ll just mention some other highlights of the genre (that I have read) for those who liked this. All the books I mention are recommended reading and at least 4 stars each. The homophobic hate crime aspect of this story is quite reminiscent of ML Rice’s “Who I am”. As to the young love/coming out side I can recommend ME Tudor’s “Suddenly”, all of Siera Maley’s books (particularly “Time it Right”) and if you want a British author doing something similar, try KE Payne - I’m a particular fan of her book “Because of Her”.Another reviewer has already quoted it but I loved the line in this that said: “What I had for her was just a crush. I knew that now, because losing her absolutely crushed me…”

This was first time when I was reading that kind of book, but to be honest with you guys I loved it so much. It was very interesting and captivating love story with great characters in it. It was very well written and showed to me as a reader , that you can't decide who your heart desire. You can't pick up who you are , the most important thing was that you shouldn't be ashamed of yourself. I loved it every second with this beautifully written book. I highly recommend it this story to every other reader who didn't get it yet.

Loved it from start to finish. It’s a really engaging story about first love (or so). The story about Ellie and Cara is not without drama but not farfetched. Teresa Mummert crafted believable and likable characters which aren’t without fault but I could always relate to them.

What a beautiful book.

The Good Girls zählt zu den Büchern, die man nicht mehr weglegen kann, bevor man sie nicht zu Ende gelesen hat. Dann ist man traurig, dass es zu Ende ist, weil man Abschied von lieb gewonnenen Freunden nehmen muss.Zunächst war ich skeptisch einen lesbischen Roman von einer Autorin zu lesen, die sonst meines Wissens keine solchen Bücher schreibt. Und dann ein Coming Out Roman. Die Skepsis war jedoch nach wenigen Seiten verflogen und die Geschichte entwickelt eine Eigendynamik, der man sich nur schwer entziehen kann.Die 17jährige Elise, genannt Ellie, kommt nach dem gewaltsamen Tod ihrer Mutter in das Haus ihres Vaters, der die Familie in ihrer Kindheit verlassen hat. Ellie trifft dort auf die gleichaltrige Cara, die von ihren Eltern wegen einer lesbischen Affäre verstossen wurde und bei der Freundin ihrer Mutter, der Lebensgefährtin von Ellie's Vater, Aufnahme gefunden hat. Cara verschweigt jedoch diesen Grund. Die gegenseitige Anziehung zwischen Cara und Ellie ist unmittelbar.Während Ellie naiv und unschuldig ist, versucht Cara durch ihre Neigungen durch Alkohol, Drogen und Sex zu unterdrücken. Sie ist mit Tristan befreundet, einem College Studenten, verschweigt diesem aber ihr eigentliches Alter. Cara überredet Ellie mit ihr auf ausschweifende Parties zu gehen. Schon auf der ersten Party küssen sich Cara und Ellie. Doch auch Tristan und dessen Kontrahent Brody sind mit von der Partie. Kommt es zu eine Menage a trois? Oder gerät Ellie an den undurchsichtigen Brody? Oder kommen die beiden Mädels zusammen?Eine Atmosphäre der Bedrohung zieht sich durch das Buch und die Leserin hofft, dass den beiden Hauptcharakteren nichts zustößt. Schließlich spielt die Handlung in den konservativen amerikanischen Südstaaten.Insgesamt ein sehr spannendes und berührendes Buch. Einziger Kritikpunkt aus meiner Sicht: die ständig wechselnde Erzählperspektive, da die Handlung jeweils abwechselnd von Cara und Ellie erzählt wird. Aber dies ist Geschmacksache. Gegen Ende des Buches nehmen die Rechtschreibfehler zu, fallen aber nicht sonderlich ins Gewicht.Wer sich für eine spannende lesbische Coming Out Geschichte interessiert, sollte hier unbedingt zugreifen.

Teresa Mummert never ceases to amaze me - she is some kind of genius mastermind that has perfected the art of screwing with my mind. Her books make me happy, angry, sad and giddy at the same time as they blow my mind. Whenever I think I know where one of her stories is headed, she delivers a twist that throws me off track. "The Good Girls" was no different from my previous Mummert-adventures - just when I thought I had it all figured out, I had to realize that what I thought I knew wasn't even close to the whole story."The Good Girls" was my first f/f read; not because I am one to shy away from the topic, at all, but simply because no blurb hinting on a lesbian romance had ever caught my interest before... and truth be told, the blurb alone probably wouldn't have done it for me on this one either, but once I had laid eyes on the first teaser, there was no turning back - and I definitely do not regret having picked up this book. On the contrary - "The Good Girls" is a great read, and I had a lot of fun exploring the lives, feelings and sexualities of Ellie and Cara, the two main characters whose alternating point of views the story is told from. Mummert has done a tremendous job in sharing their story - it doesn't make you feel like anything has been forced or far-fetched; it's as real as fiction gets. The novel tackles a lot of sinister issues that some people unfortunately have to face on a daily basis in real life - including, but not limited to, bullying, bigotry, hatred and hate crimes, violence and rape. At the same time, it also targets the importance of love, family, friendship, support, unconditional parental love, and accepting people for who they are... not to forget the journey of curiosity, of confusion and of exploring the beauty that comes with discovering one's sexuality.Altogether, "The Good Girls" is a beautiful approach to the topic - and as cute as it is dark. It will make you frown as much as it will make you giggle, and Mummert definitely didn't forget to include some hot and steamy moments.My only small little dislike was that both Cara and Ellie seemed a little too naïve to me at times, but in retrospect that just showed their young age (in the beginning of the story they are both about to start their senior year in high school), so it isn't a real dislike - and every time Brody showed up in the story most certainly made amends for any and all 'ugh, how naïve'-moments I might have had. Brody... sigh... I love, love, loooooved that character, so he can't not have a mention in my review! While "The Good Girls" did come to a beautiful end, I am not-so-secretly hoping that there will be some sort of sequel, featuring a loooot of Brody - maybe he could be taken up on his donation offer?! There is no denying that he is a character that got my fanfic mind spinning (; ... more, please!

A great story of 'forbidden' romance.This is one of the authors best work. I was hooked to the storyline from the beginning