Official Description:
Senator Edward Cullen is the handsome scion of the Cullen family. A playboy’s playboy, he is taken with an intern in his office, Bella Swan. She is untouchable for many reasons, and he’s in a tough re-election battle with Jacob Black.
Word Count: 230,000
I absolutely love reading fanfiction stories. You find some of the most talented authors out there, especially in this fandom, who come out with truly original stories, and Betty Smith is in the top 5 for sure in my book. When Kassiah asked me to do a few recs, we talked about who my favorite authors were and what my favorite stories were, and of course I thought of Miss Betty Smith 
She began her foray into Twilight fanfiction with The Gentleman from Washington State. The author understands the need to have a nice, slow burn, a building romance. One of my biggest pet peeves is when you go from this great unresolved sexual tension to all of a sudden having them hump like dogs in heat with every single chapter. If you think back to some truly great stories, whether it was published or not, you were hooked by the ‘Are they gonna get together or not?’ You want the chase… and you get this feeling of completion when they finally get together. You have wanted it, pleaded for it, hell, even prayed for it, and then FINALLY it happens and you have taken that journey with the author and the characters to get there. It’s almost, dare I say it, orgasmic. (And yes I am punny so if that’s not your thing, sorry folks, it’s what you’re gonna get.)
We enter the world of A Gentleman from Washington State with Senator Edward Cullen as the handsome, young heir to the Cullen Family. Edward is really a playboy, not really wanting any kind of relationship that requires more commitment than one night – he’s having his fun and eating his cake, too, until he meets Bella Swan – a new intern in his office. She is untouchable for so many different reasons, and he’s in a re-election campaign against Jacob Black, a former dalliance for our Miss Bella.
Chapter 1: I’m sorry I can’t see you. Please stand up.”
Bella rose to her feet, but she was petite so she didn’t stand much taller than her those sitting around her. She was blushing as she looked the senator in the eye. Bella was taken aback a bit by the intensity of his eyes on her. She hoped she hadn’t angered him, and she worried about his thoughts on feminist critiques.
Edward immediately thought Bella was a rather pretty brunette. He could only see her from the waist up, but he noticed she had a tiny waist and nice sized breasts for such a small woman. Very nice. He didn’t let on that he was checking her out, though.
What we have in the beginning is frustration, some resentment, some angst (but not over the top as some stories seem to do these days), and the chase that I adore!!! Our author doesn’t neglect our secondary characters, such as Rose, Emmett, or Esme. I found each character had growth from beginning to end. Here’s a sampling of that:
From Chapter 18: Rosalie snickered. “Oh Edward, there are few things I would rather see than the introduction of your little intern girlfriend to your lesbian fuckbuddy. Count me in.”
Chapter 41: Esme went back to her knitting and answered as the yarn flew through her fingers and into the blanket. “Oh that. Yes, I talked with Rosalie that night you all discussed it. I agreed with her. I thought it was the prudent thing to do.”
She smiled at her son. “And I’ve been proven right. Jane now must deal with Karma, and you and Bella are no longer the most interesting news out there. In fact, now you two look rather boring.”“But Mom, we have permanently ended her career and potentially even her private life.”
Esme’s warm, motherly side vanished for a moment, as her harsh, political side came out. She declared tersely, “It was necessary.”
Considering the issues settled with her simple sentence, Esme then nodded over to a basket of yarn near Edward’s feet. “Can you please hand me the dark brown? I need it for the giraffe’s horns.”
Edward blinked at his mother’s indifference. “Mom, I can’t believe Carlisle would’ve allowed this to happen.”
“Hmm.” Esme considered the situation. “Oh, he might have balked a little at first, but he would see the benefit, just as you will.”
The road we take as the reader is fun, sometimes light-hearted, with definite unresolved sexual tension and that slow burn I mentioned before. This story often reminds me of Spencer Tracey & Katharine Hepburn movies – where they obviously want to get together but so many things are in their way and you often ask yourself, “What will they get together and can they make it work?” and then once they are together can they STAY together. Falling in love is so standard in romantic stories, but how do the characters STAY in love…what a bigger question!
Come follow me on the journey that is this intelligently written tale of romantic love where the political arena taking center stage.
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