Fiona Zedde. Broken in Soft Places. Bold Strokes Books, 2013. PB. 308p. $16.95. 978-1-60282-876-6. 

In this novel, three people come together, initially not a unit, as they learn about themselves and others, about love, lust, adoration, and separation. Rille and Sara became partners in college, but not equals, as Rille continued sexual relations with others who fed into her need for admiration and adoration while Sara focused solely on Rille. They separate, but come back together after Sara is assigned to represent Rille in a case of a professor sexually harassing taking a student. Steve enters the relationship when Rille wants another member of her harem. Sara resents his addition but reluctantly accepts him because she does not want to lose Rille.

Rille is the sun around whom Steve and Sara orbit, wanting all to love and yield to her desires, without thinking of what others need or want. Beneath the narrative of Rille lie the stories of Sara, facing a mother who is homophobic and the loss of her beloved older brother that impacted the entire family, and of Steve, who broke off his relationship with Lance because of Steve’s own inner demons uncovered after the death of his parents.

Filled with stereotypical college sex scenes, as well as edgy sexual scenes such as fisting and group sex, this book may not appropriate for younger audiences although the awareness of focusing on others beyond one’s own self is an important theme. Also of value is the concept of a trio relationship among a bi-man, a bi-woman, and a lesbian woman, not often explored in terms of the impact on the individual members.

Zedde’s vivid language paints pictures of the lower class Jamaican family recently immigrated to the southeastern U.S., the wealthy, and the middleclass. Confusing at times as the story changes in time and focus on individuals, the writing is graphic and the storyline draws one in. The rich language and attention to detail will entice readers.

Reviewer: s.n.