Jane Doe: A Novel by Victoria Helen Stone

A double life with a single purpose: revenge.

Jane’s days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She’s just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes—meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven.

But plain Jane is hiding something. And Steven’s bringing out the worst in her.

Nothing can distract Jane from going straight for his heart: allowing herself to be seduced into Steven’s bed, to insinuate herself into his career and his family, and to expose all his dirty secrets. It’s time for Jane to dig out everything that matters to Steven. So she can take it all away.

Just as he did to her.

Carolyn: Well, here we are again, talking about a book that's new and different. Very, very different, lol.  Just in case you didn't know, Stone writes romance as Victoria Dahl but this is not a romance although I was completely satisfied with the ending. Also I've never read Dahl but that will probably be changing soon.  :-)

I must say, this is a completely appropriate story for "The Year of the Woman" or whatever they (the ubiquitous 'they') are calling it.

So Lori - nature or nurture?

Lori:  Oh so nurture. The few glimpses we get into Jane's family (especially her Mother) actually makes one delighted that Jane didn't become a serial killer (a real fear she had herself at one time).

Jane is a self-professed sociopath. What I love about this is that her awareness that she has a disease primarily, she understands it and she accepts this about herself. She knows that her childhood short-circuited something inside her and she's learned to use it to her advantage. Jane has no soft fuzzies inside her but what she cares about, she cares about deeply.

She's also the first heroine I ever read in my long, long life who wants what she wants and doesn't stop herself from getting it. I want to be Jane in that sense, want cake? Have cake. Want a cat? Get a cat. Want revenge? Destroy a few lives.

There were a few things about this book that made my heart happy. I loved Jane. We all have a little possible sociopathy inside us and we all try our best to ignore our darkness. To finally read a heroine and not a man who has this darkness and lives well with it... it's a revelation. It feels so good.

I like revenge. And Steven. Steven is a little twisted himself and preys on women's vulnerabilities. He has his darkness too. But his is hidden under being a good guy, a great catch, a true Christian. He's a guy we've all dealt with who makes you feel a little less. Makes you choose not to eat that slice of cake, not to complain that you're still hungry, horny or not listened to.

I loved this book. Loved, loved, loved it. I've read it twice already and will probably open it up again.

Carolyn:  So I looked it up and what it boils down to is that sociopathy is acquired early in childhood and a psychopath is born that way. Based on this, I suppose there can be different degrees of sociopathy and many of us may have a touch or more of it. Certainly I've wondered about myself, especially when it seems like everyone is so glad a heroine forgives someone who hurt her badly, like a mother or father who was abusive and all of a sudden the antagonist has enother side that's supposed to mitigate the circumstances and I'm all  FUCK NO! GET THAT TOXIC PERSON OUT OF YOUR LIFE! I DON'T CARE IF SHE'S YOUR MOTHER/SISTER/WHATEVER!

They never listen to me. *sigh*

All this to say, I liked Jane too, lol. And I totally agreed with her decision for Steven's punishment. Another reason I don't go for the death penalty. Let 'em suffer instead. Bassards!

But anyway, back to the book. Objective points: very good writing, pacing, characterization. I don't remember any formating mistakes, at least nothing that took me out of the story. Subjectively, I can't remember reading anything like this heroine; she makes 'tough' heroines seem like blowhards or children playing a role. Jane is the real deal.

Lori:  Years ago, I worked in a medical office and one of the MAs there decided to make my job hellish. We had our own little parking garage and I remember finding out which car was hers and always having in the back of my mind that I could key her car. I never did. Jane would have.

Jane would have.

This book is a delight for anyone who has ever felt unheard, unexpressed. Every time someone helpfully suggested you not have that slice of birthday cake, you not turn your back on the obnoxious guy. This book is for women who have had to deal with men.

Following Victoria Dahl on Twitter, I know this book emotionally takes aim at the trolls, the mansplainers, the misogynists who swear they love women but just not any that apparently exist in the real world...

I want more books  like this one. More Jane-type heroines who see the bullshit and manipulation. This isn't just Jane's revenge fantasy. This is all of ours.

Carolyn:  You got that right. Perhaps that's why I like Kate Daniels so much. She can see the bullshit, doesn't accept it and has no problem lopping a few heads off. Of course, her  bad guys are much more overt than Steven.

I wonder if this could be a series?  There are so many people who need Jane's attention.  :-D Anyway, both of us highly recommend this book and have no problem giving it an A. It's a book for the season.

Oh, and have a link!  Definitions