Reviewed by Anita Moyt, Managing Editor, Family and Friends Magazine, Memphis, Tennessee (July Issue)

Bait is the story of Jax, a musician by night and a temp legal secretary by day, and the lesbian, for sure. She is a lover and "sometimes" girlfriend of Lil. She is also a sister, a daughter, a friend, and, in the not too distant future, a sister-in-law.

Where the major conflict occurs, and continues throughout her life, is between her life as a lesbian, and her life within her family -- fundamentalist, evangelical and consumed by the fact that they all have to repent their way into heaven every day.

And here's where Bait is different from other lesbian stories. Jax is a lesbian and Christian, from an early age. She is secure in her salvation and relationship with her Maker. And she is secure in her life and content with being gay, oh so gay. But her family isn't and have a quest to bring her back into the heterosexual fold, complete with a husband and family. Yet Jax, raised in this churchy family, can battle Scripture with the best of them.

She loves her family, especially her "near-twin" younger brother, who is now almost 40 and still waiting on God's perfect match. So how does she balance the two worlds? More than that, how does she deal with the fact that her brother has met that perfect someone and the angels sang but Jax realizes all is not right. Jax knows that familiar feeling and those familiar looks, but why from Jenn, this wonderful, near-perfect-in-her-brother's-eyes, Christian woman?

The author, Lauren Stone, has weaved a wonderful tapestry in Bait. The scripture, which easily could have been offensive or dry, was well worked into the color scheme. Stone goes way beyond telling you a story, and brings you into the dining room, into the park, into Jax's world, where you, too, can see, hear, smell, touch and even taste what is going on. And, more than that, the needlework, the plot twists, are exceptional. You just don't see it coming, even to the last page.

See it online here, too

Infuriating family dynamics and an irreconcilable clash of cultures serve as the foundation for Loren Stone’s substantial debut novel Bait.  About the only thing butch lesbian Jax Madigan has in common with her über-devout, Evangelical Fundamentalist Christian brother is their taste in women and an unwavering faith in the validity and worthiness of their respective "lifestyles."  But when Danny finally meets a wholesome woman worthy of his affection - who just happens to be hiding a radical feminist past - he naively calls upon his sister to make Jenn feel like one of the family.

Steeped in theological arguments and astute social commentary, Bait is as much a story of a taboo love triangle as diametrically opposed ideologies.  The prejudice and intolerance of the Madigan clan are no less vehement than that of Jax and her friends, although her family’s homophobia is shrouded in the noble crusade to save her wayward soul regardless of how demoralizing and hurtful their efforts.  It is desire - whether carnal or spiritual - that drives them to act, in dramatically different ways, to fight for their beliefs even at each other’s expense.

For more information on Bait (Trade Paperback) by Loren Stone, or to order a copy direct, log on to www.baitbook.net.

Buy the Book