This was a very sweet novella. At times almost a little too sweet. That I didn’t mind so much, what I struggled with was the insta love. This may be the most instant insta love I can ever remember. The mains only speak a few times and then all the secondary characters tell them they are in love. I guess if other people tell you it must be true, and then the mains start thinking it themselves. The Senator and architect, older and younger woman storyline I d. Both mains seem very able, and the sex scene was decent. All in all, this was a perfectly okay story. While this is a long series, 10 parts I believe, this short story was contained so I don’t feel I have to read on. I’m up in the air if I will continue or not. This series is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.age-gap f-f kindle-unlimited ...more29 s Corrie1,577 4

I see J.A. Armstrong come by on Goodreads a lot. That’s understandable because she is quite a prolific writer. I suggested to read part one of her By Design series with Book Club Buddie D. After a chapter or so it dawned on us we had tried this one before and had stopped reading then because it was just not doing it for us. I think I made it through the insta-love and the wallpaper banter and then just gave up.

This time I was determined to see it through to the end (it’s not a very long story anyways) and I have to be honest… it didn’t get any better. J. A. Armstrong’s series has a lot of fans and I think that’s great, but I can’t really connect with the way she tells her story. It feels very lightweight to me.

What really got to my nerve was the way the author keeps bashing us over the head with the liberal use of the character’s first names. I’m pretty sure I hate the name Jameson and Candace by now. They say that names become invisible in a story and are less annoying than the over-using for example ‘the blonde’, ‘the brunette’, ‘the taller woman’ or the ‘blue-eyed woman’… but when you read:

Candace felt the response from her lover and squeezed Jameson’s nipple gently. Jameson’s automatic reaction was to bathe both of Candace’s breasts in a flurry of small nips and kisses. Jameson understood Candace better than Candace realized. She pushed Candace back onto the bed and lifted the senator’s hands over her head, holding them there. She kissed Candace deeply, allowing their tongues to dance and battle for dominance. She gently tugged at Candace’s bottom lip with her teeth and then pulled back to look into Candace’s eyes. “Let me make love to you, Candace,” Jameson said. Jameson watched desire and confusion play across Candace’s face. “Just let me love you,” she said softly before lowering her kiss back to Candace’s breasts.

“Jameson,” Candace moaned.

It gets a bit much.

What is wrong with throwing a ‘sweetie’, ‘love’ or ‘honey’ in there to break the endless use of those names. Once my eyes fixed on that it was hard to un-see it and it spoiled the dialogue for me.

f/f explicit

Themes: what’s in a name, no connection to the characters, we hardly get to know J.D., we must be in a rush because insta-love strikes again, contrived bit of angst to enhance the plot, I mean who the fuck is this Rachel?

2,4 stars
age-gap architect-designer builder-handyman-similar ...more19 s Jane Shambler797 28

Awesome!

Well this is my first book from J.A. Armstrong and it definitely won't be my last. I loved her sense of humour. The book is funny especially how she has captured the humour within the family dynamic. But also how her humour reflects the rough waters of falling for someone new. Great story couldn't put it down. Looking forward to round two.

Just gets better the more I read it. You want something light, fun and a great story this is for you. Enjoy!8 s Agirlcandream721 4

Good little story. Too bad about the editing issues at the beginning of the book. Either the author improved as the story built, or I was too busy enjoying the story to notice the grammatical errors throughout. I'll read more of this author's work.

3.5 stars7 s Marilyn501 7

I loved this series, and the first book in the series might be my favorite of all.all-time-favorite favorite-author glbt ...more5 s Sandra461 92

Sweet beginning of the By Design series

Three days ago I started on this series and now I’ve read #1 and #2. It’s a fast read, a sweet romance with not much going on beside the romance. The characters, senator Candace Fletcher and architect Jameson Reid, are very loveable and despite the great age gap, the chemistry is there from the beginning. I d very much the banter between the two. The romance might be a little rushed, but this could be because the whole story is only about 120 pages.

What I really about this author is how she creates the family and friends around the main characters. There are always some great secondary characters who bring some more life to the story.

What me bothered a little bit, was the shortness of the story and because of that, the romance was a bit rushed.

I recommend this series to all the fans of sweet romances. My rating 4.25 stars.armstrong-healy politics romance ...more4 s Celina1,177 60

So effing good

Wow. I am impressed with how captivating and enchanting this book was. At first, I was not so sure about but today I decided to swing it and Oh God, was I content and happy and joyful.

The writing, the characters, the plot, the non repetitive subplots are an enraptured joy. I loved it.age-gap lesbian lgbtq-love4 s Tara783 359

Okay, so I Addy and Emma well enough and I was really taken by Tess and Brooke, but I didn't expect to love Candace and Jameson as much as I did. I tore through all four installments in a couple of days and can't wait for the next one. age-gap contemporary politicians-royalty ...more5 s CLo729 83

Such a cute story.

I love Armstrong's books but I have never really been a fan of older/younger genre books. Despite that (I just pretended they were 10 years instead of 20 years apart), I am glad I gave this read. It really was cute with very, very little angst and scenes that just make you smile. Plus the banter and chemistry between J.D. and Candace was very much present. Give it a read.kindleunlimited3 s Heidi700 30

Quick easy read. Great humor, I laughed often. Looking forward to the second book?3 s Hsinju ChenAuthor 2 books237

By Design is the kind of book that makes you wonder if you just read the same book as everyone else.

While I did not hate the book, I still rated it one-star. The flow of the story was not consistent, which made me feel I was dragged through mud at a very slow pace and thrown into the thrashing water the next. I felt confused when Candace and J.D. secretly admitted their love for each other to themselves. Surely I missed something. But I did not, and though it was not improbable for them to fall in love without much onscreen interactions (physical or otherwise), I did not find their declaration of love believable at those given points in time, either. Another thing that I did not quite understand was how Pearl seemed to be much older than Candace, but was actually just nine years her senior. I guess she was not that old after all.

Candace and J.D. are sweet and I appreciate the aspect of their age difference (Candace is fifty-five and J.D. is thirty-five). Their bantering was cute at times, but seemed forced when it went too lengthy. Also, I hated it when Candace threw the word “lunatic” around. Yes, I get that it was mostly a pet name, yet it was still very inappropriate. Just how many times did Candace refer to J.D. as a lunatic? About ten times. In a novella. And I kept wondering if the sentence “don’t be surprised if she sells that cat to the Chinese restaurant” insinuated that the Chinese restaurant would use the cat as food. Maybe I am overreacting, but as an East Asian with Chinese heritage, I find that throwaway comment incredibly racist.

By Design could have been a great novella, bu alas, it did not work for me. All in all, I would not read the rest of the series. It could be that I had too high a standard for novellas. However, I am still willing to try Armstrong's Alex and Cassidy series written under her pen name of Nancy Ann Healy.2020-read fiction lgbtq-sapphic ...more2 s MJSam477 37

This one was ok, it needs some editing to give it a polish. As a novella you can't expect it to dig very deep, but the relationship seemed one sided. JD learns some stuff about Candace, but Candace doesn't really know much about JD at all. The supporting characters were fairly interesting, and as the first of a series it could have been worse, it was interesting enough. 2 s Kennedy1,042 72

What I enjoyed most about this read was the banter between Jameson and Candace. There were some laugh out loud one liners. What I did not enjoy about this read was the abrupt ending. It is set-up perfectly for a follow-up.2015-to-some-exent-enjoyed3 s Alicia360 12

Loved it

I had a smile on my face the whole time while reading this and can't wait for part two. Every character that was introduced was great even the story about Jinx.to-be-read2 s Heinerway763 95

Nice and easy.age-gap politics women-of-a-certain-age2 s C. MackAuthor 2 books20

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this author's books, but this is one of the series that I have enjoyed and this recent re-read was a reminder of some of the positives.2 s Kaye3,626 51

Trying a new novella serial series. It follows one couple through multiple stories. I enjoyed the writing style of the author in her Special Delivery series. This book focuses on Candace Fletcher who is a US senator for NY. When planning to restore her family home she meets architect Jamison (J.D.) Reid. I wasn't thrilled with the "instant" feelings before they really had one date. This is also an age gap romance with J.D. at 35 being twenty years younger. Candance is divorced and has 3 adult children. But where both are successful in their own professions this is okay with me. I felt this novella was just setting up the main characters with minimal story.books-in-a-series-romance f-f-romance kindle-unlimited ...more1 Mummy's Naughty Corner1,511 80

Well this was a good start to the series. I d the character development and i love the age gap. I thought it was quite instant love and it'll be interesting to see how the relationship goes throughout the series. I the fact that one is famous and ones not there can be lots of hurdles that come between them. In such a short book we have already seen some. f-f kindle kindle-unlimited ...more1 Kexx1,939 71

Short story - what looks the first of many - feel I've been subjected to a campaign to buy lots of "chapters" of one longer book - so treat this as an extended "sample." It was OK but won't be buying the rest. Sorry.age-difference business-work-colleague lesbian-romance ...more3 s MizLiz791 7

A quick read, sweet. Going to read book 2 as this one left out really getting to know one another.1 currentlyreadingbynat712 74

I enjoyed this and loved our two MCs. The romance was good, albeit a little quick. I would've loved a little more build-up. 1 Kristen230 4

I'm writing this review as a straight woman. I originally read the "Special Delivery" series which made me curious abut J.A Armstrong's other series. I noticed that there was such a high review marking for this series, so I decided this series would be my next read. So again, here's my two cents as a straight woman.

I loved Candace and Jameson. This series was great. But don't you hate it when you can't accept something because it doesn't mesh with your own opinions, preferences or beliefs? What I couldn't accept was the difference in age. 20 years?! That bothered me the most. Not that they were lesbians, but that they were vastly different in age. I don't think that I could ever accept step children that's almost my own age. I just have to be honest here. Even the Millionaire Matchmaker says that it's a romance disaster when you have such a gap in age between the couple. But I digress.

Otherwise, this book was quite good. It was eyeopening in how Jameson was able to connect with Candace's children. And how they work out the kinks between themselves. I absolutely loved how Jameson connects with Candace's grandchildren. You could practically see that she could be a great mom, even though she keeps saying she never wants to have children.

Not only that, what interested me the most was Candace's job. She's a senator who might will become the governor of my state, New York. That really pulled me into this series. I'm very interested in politics in my own state. I loved reading how she acts and reacts in her office to emergencies or situations or even people on and off her staff.

I read the entire series. I won't spoil it all. But I was pleasantly surprised how J.A. was able to keep up the pace without making it feel an actual series. And how she was able to bring something in each book that made it interesting yet brought another challenge for Candace and Jameson.

But I had such a dark thought at one point. I thought, what happens in 20 years? 30 years? What happens if Candace passes away because frankly, she's much much older? How will Jameson handle it? For some reason, I wanted to read THAT book. I am curious how can you rise above that? How do you recover? How do you heal? How do you go on without the love of your life? I said, it's such a dark thought.

But don't get me wrong, this is such a great series that you should give a try. I just wish the covers were much better for the "Special Delivery" series. They look so yucky and messy. They don't really represent the gems that J.A. Armstrong produces which is why I was grateful that this series' covers looked much much better. It looked more professional.

That's my two cents as a straight woman.1 Lexxi Kitty2,040 462

For better or worse, I do not particularly Candy and J.D. as much as I Addy and Em. Not exactly sure why. I do , though, how we finally have two lesbians involved. I'm so bloody tired of two women meeting, one is a lesbian, other isn't and then . . . ooh, I'm a lesbian, I just didn't know (that would be Em in that other series by Armstrong, who didn't realize she was a lesbian).

Right, so, both Senator Candy, and Architect J.D. are long time lesbians long before either meet. I'd make some age joke to lead into the age difference, but J.D. probably has been a lesbian longer than Candy. Since Candy only came out as a lesbian after she divorced her husband 12 or 17 years ago. Or however long ago it was.

Right, both lesbians. One's old enough to be the other's mother (Candy being something 55, and J.D. is something 35).

Interesting enough story. Well rounded. Well constructed characters, both in terms of the leads - J.D. and Sandy, and the sub-characters. For the most part. That was one of they annoying things, though. The huge number of characters. I didn't actually reread the opening chapter, but for a while there I feared I'd need to. Just so many people's names slamming into me right at the start. And J.D.'s connection to the Senator was needlessly complicated. Reminded me of Space Balls. When Dark Helmet (or whatever his name was) told the guy playing the parody of Luke that he was his . . . father . . .'s roommate's uncles, hairdresser's nephew (or something that).

J.D. went to school with Steven. Steven's married to Dana. Dana works for Senator Candy. Senator Candy has been thinking of remodeling her house for 15 or so years. J.D. is an architect. That isn't too complicated, it was just a ton of names hitting me all at once and I couldn't figure out just what the fuck connection was immediately. And yes, more names were slamming into me at the same time. There was a Susan, I think, always in the mix. Maybe more.

The first story in that other Armstrong series really made me want to continue reading, to see where everything goes. This one, though, seems sufficiently self-contained and complete. I'll probably read the next two parts but . . . I'm less eager to do so this time. _2015-ez-read-a-thon _2015-strong-female-protagonists 04-stars ...more1 Fae152 26

The love between the couple seems rush. The accident and conflict seem contrive. Still, the concept overall and the story is nice. It's feel a typical romance. What most interesting about this story is the age differences between the two protagonists. No doubt, Candance's insecurity is justify and understandable. I wish the story could have expand more, but overall, I did enjoyed this piece of work.

architect lesbian lgbt ...more1 Patty364 1 follower

Good book. This is the first book in the romantic series called "By Design". I have read several of Armstrong's books and have found them to be interesting as well as entertaining, and this one is no exception. The plot was good and character development thorough. It was a little predictable but overall it was a good book that was meant to catch the reader's interest so that future books would be read. I was not disappointed and rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.1 Gina L986

Loved It!

This story went by so fast and had me invested from the start. It had the right amount of chemistry to suck you in. You felt the age gap romance building but it did not overwhelm the story. I was glad to see that the story continues. However I did not realize it continues through many books so I will see how that goes. I do Jameson and Candace and am looking forward to this relationship blossoming. J.A. Armstrong delivers again!1 Lisa432 4

A little humor with a romance. Yes please.

Loved the banter between the main characters. Really enjoyed the gentle romance. Good secondary characters as well. Fun story to breeze through.

2024.01.16 After my 4th reread of this book I had to change my rating from 4* to 5*. I just love this book. Jameson and Candace are so good together.hall-of-fame1 Mayra Luria458 1 follower

Great read!

No spoilers! The characters are wonderful and the story is fantastically funny when it’s not making you cheer on the ladies for their courage and humanness. Moving on to part two without hesitation.1 Cathy22

I love the characters of Candace and Jameson. What a couple!1 Arn390 114

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