Maggie Cummings

Welcome back to Bay West, the NYC lesbian condo community bursting with friendships, romance, heartache, and girls--everywhere. Meg and Lexi are back with new friends, new romances, and new problems. California girl Tracy Allen has just dropped in on old friend Meg McTiernan to nurse a bruised ego and a broken heart. Will the lure of life at this lesbian-only development entice her to make a permanent move? Local resident Jennifer Betsy certainly hopes so. Meanwhile, reluctant singleton Meg may have just found the perfect girl in coworker Sasha Michaels. There’s only one problem: Sasha is straight as an arrow...or is she? And Lexi and Jesse are planning a dream wedding that promises to be the lesbian party of the year, so long as they can get past a trio of disapproving mothers, and exes that pop up at every turn. Bay West Social: where there’s always fun, drama, and more than enough love to go around.

Serious Potential

Jude Silberfeld

Serious Potential is the second novel in the Bay West Social series. The first one, Totally Worth It, introduced us to lesbian-exclusive development Bay West, on Staten Island, through Meg’s move there. Meg is the constant, the main character, around whom others gravitate.

In book 1, the main couple storyline – besides Meg’s – was between Lexi and Jesse. In this episode, it’s between Meg’s best friend Tracy Allen, professional golf player, and Jennifer Betsy, Jesse’s best friend. Tracy has left California, temporarily at first, after her breakup with a closeted celebrity. Her golf carrier isn’t going anywhere either, and she feels a change of scenery will do her good. She’s not looking for anything serious, but when she meets Betsy, everything changes. Betsy tries her best to resist Tracy’s charms, who she thinks will be leaving soon, when all she wants is a committed relationship.

Even as she gives Tracy and Betsy a sweet romance, Maggie Cummings sure enjoys torturing Meg. Not only do her exes seem happy together, which is never an easy situation, the woman she thinks could be The One might not be after all. And the one she barely looks at might be the love of her life.

While romance plays a big part in this series, it’s not why I enjoy it so much (even though the romance arcs are really good). I love the atmosphere, the universe Cummings has created, the characters. They are normal people, with normal jobs, some exciting, others not at all (at least to me). They are relatable. They don’t have extraordinary lives, yet their stories are far from boring. They are moving and heartwarming, fun and bittersweet. I’m taking a short break from Bay West because I don’t want to get to the end of the series too quickly, but I’ll be reading the third book, Definite Possibility, real soon.

Serious Potential

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