Review of ‘The Persephone Star’ by Jamie Sullivan

This was a fun read. A little bit of steampunk and the Wild West made this an entertaining read. This little read was able to keep my mind off reality for a few hours and that was exactly what I was hoping for.

The story is about Penelope, who followed her father out west to cash in on some of the gold-rush with his new bank. Penelope is the local postmistress and librarian, although no one actually reads her books. Penelope doesn’t fit in very well and is biding her time until she must marry the local Sheriff who got her father’s permission for her hand. Penelope’s mundane life is shattered when she hears a band of female airship pirates are out to get her fiancé. Why is Penelope’s fiancé so obsessed with these outlaws and how did a bunch of women become pirates? Penelope needs to find out these answers and more before it is too late.

This is a 2020 release of this story. It was originally released with a publisher that is no longer with us. I did not read the story when it first came out but it does look to be different. It looks like this used to be a novella then Sullivan added 30+ pages so it’s now a quick-read full-length book. I read a review for the older version and they mention the ending was rushed and that we didn’t get to see this and that. Well, this book had all of those things the reviewer was missing so it looks like most if not all of the new content was added to make a non-rushed and satisfying ending. I’m glad I got to read this new version because I enjoyed this ending.

The lesbian romance in this book is very PG. Penelope is a 27 tear-old virgin, a “lady” of the times so I’m actually glad that Sullivan kept the romance lighter as anything fast-moving would not have been believable. The characters have some chemistry and a little heat, and that worked well enough for me.

While there was a lot in this book about how women were treated and suppressed, the overall storyline had some good feels. This is a story about a bunch of strong women and Penelope who does not know how strong she really can be. It’s not the deepest of stories but it was entertaining and had a good pace. It doesn’t take long to get into the story and once you do, you’ll want to read until the end.

I would recommend this to people who like lesbian Wild West stories. There is nothing really groundbreaking here but it was fun and entertaining so I’m glad I read it. I would definitely read another lesbian story by Sullivan. 3.50 Stars.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.