About Date Night
Written by Kathleen Dale
85 pages / 29000 words
ISBN: 1-933389-15-X
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback (along with Farr Anderson Lane in the collection, Girls' Night Out)
Jen and Cassie have a standing date. Through them they discover each other, relearn each other and tease each other. From the county fair to the masquerade ball, Date Night stories are sensual, loving, and hot. These dates should be savored, enjoyed, devoured by the reader with the same enthusiasm the characters bring to them. They’re delectable.
Review
CB Potts, editor of the upcoming Play Ball! writes:
God, I wish I had half the imagination Jen does, not to mention author Kathleen Dale. In Date Night, we’re treated to ten encounters between the lovely lesbian and her equally luscious partner Cassie.
Dale begins with the couple preparing for that ever familiar but oh-so-favorite setting: The masquerade party. A sense of the deep intimacy and emotion between the two is instantly evoked, and the romantic interlude that follows at the event seems not only natural but inevitable.
Dale takes the couple in some interesting directions – up to the top of the ferris wheel at the county fair, onto the mini golf course, across the country and into the fancy boxed seats at the opera. But whether Jen and Cassie are dancing in a coffee shop or snuggling under surprising star lit skies, the same strong love keeps shining through.
Extremely well done characterization explores Cassie’s tortourous mix of confidence and insecurity. The same woman who takes dance classes and dons stripper attire to dance for her beloved is knocked for a loop when Jen runs into a former lover. At the same time, Jen finds herself surprised by her own possessiveness. Dale does a masterful job working these deeper themes throughout the entire work, subtly using snippets of dialog to catalog the emotional evolution.
Date Night can be read on two levels: as a delightful erotic romp, or as a careful study of two women in love. It succeeds on both levels. Dale is to be commended.
Sample
Jen paid the cabbie and climbed out of the car in front of the Starlight Empire Hotel. The high end hotel was the perfect setting for the hospital's annual charity ball as this year the theme was an old fashioned masquerade.
It was also the perfect setting for Date Night. She and Cassie had set the Date Nights up after they'd moved in together and found they missed the excitement and thrill of going out on a date with each other. Every second Saturday they arranged to meet somewhere different, places ranging from the State Fair to the Opera.
She grinned as she joined the throng of people going in, tugging her ticket out of her pocket. The hospital had really gone to a lot of trouble to give the ball an air of authenticity -- the tickets were printed to look like gold embossed invitations. Very ritzy.
Jen exchanged her invitation for a mask and stopped in the mirrored lobby to settle it on her face. The mask was black with feathers rising up along the sides and tied around her head with a black velvet ribbon. The women had been given a choice of white, red or golden masks, but the men were given only black. Her costume was obviously quite effective.
She wore a black mourning coat over a silken white dress shirt with black pants and pointed black leather shoes. With her breasts taped so that her mustard yellow cravat lay properly, she looked every inch the young dandy. She just hoped the goop she'd used to slick her short black curls back didn't slick up the mask's ribbon and make it slide off.
Cassie was never going to guess it was her. Not until she got close, anyway.
The fun of it tickled at her spine and put a spring in her step as she went in to the ballroom to find her lover.
She had no idea what Cassie was planning to wear to the ball, not even the color, but Jen felt she knew her lover's petite, curvaceous form well enough that she would be able to find Cassie without too much trouble.
And then she was going to flirt. And tease. And maybe slip Cassie behind one of those big burgundy curtains that lined the ballroom and slide her fingers into...
Well, it was Date Night after all.
First though, she had to find her lover among all the glittering and masked hospital supporters.
There was an orchestra of about twenty playing on a dais at the far end of the ballroom, dancers spilling out in front of them, led in an old fashioned dance by a pair of instructors. Along one side of the ballroom was the buffet, dressed up to appear right out of a historical romance. The other side boasted small tables with chairs around them like at a Parisian cafe and to her immediate left was a surprisingly large fountain bubbling away.
Jen scanned the dancers first and then the rest of the room. None of the ladies were obviously Cassie, so she strolled to the fountain, hands in her pants' pockets, trying to put a bit of a swagger in it to match her outfit. She had to admit, it was quite a novelty not having to wear heels. Almost made up for the damned binding that was cutting off the blood flow to her breasts.
She heard Cassie before she saw her, the low, husky laugh familiar as her own breath. Then Cassie walked by and stole her breath more than the wrap around her chest.
Her Cassie was all in white, almost like a bride from a hundred years ago. She was in a flowing gown, bodice scooped low, skin creamy and perfect. The corset was shot through with gold thread, huge feathered white wings attached to the back.
Those bright auburn curls were piled up high, curled and sprayed and stacked. The lips that had slipped and slid over her body last night were painted a shiny, ruby red, eyes hidden by a white mask.
Jen slipped in behind Cassie, following her sweet angel, breathing in the scent of her jasmine and honey perfume. God, just the smell was enough to make heat slide through her, starting in her belly and working its way down.
Cassie sashayed, hips swaying nice and slow, laughing and chatting with people, her pretty little butterfly.
She dropped back again, deciding to approach Cassie from the front, see how long it was before her lover recognized her. If she could catch Cassie's eye, they could flirt across the room and she could pretend to be an over arduous gentleman who wanted to get the lovely angel into a compromising position.
It took Cassie a few minutes before those brandy-colored eyes met hers and then her angel flushed a sweet rose, those red lips parting. She let her smile grow wicked and wanton and, after snagging a glass of champagne, raised it toward Cassie and took a sip. The flush grew darker, Cassie's chin dipping, the look sweet and innocent and completely fake, but charming nonetheless.
Jen scanned the room again, noticing recessed alcoves along the far wall, each with little benches in them. She caught Cassie's eyes again and tilted her head toward them. Cassie nodded, moving slowly, the weight of her costume making her movements deliberate, ethereal.
Jen made her own way over just as slowly, walking casually, smiling at the people she passed. All the while her attention was on her angel in white.
Cassie met her at the bench, warm eyes blinking up at her. ''You're stunning.''
She managed a bow with a little flourish at the end. ''Thank you, madam, though I do believe it is you who are stunning.''
''It was this or the Queen of Hearts. I was hoping to catch a certain person's eyes.''
''Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but you have certainly caught my eyes.'' And Jen wagered she wasn't the only one.
That warm little laugh sounded again, hand brushing against her fingers. ''Thank you, sir.''