tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29872829866517335852024-03-04T19:58:33.050-08:00The Bi and Lesbian Romance Book ReaderTalk and Book Reviews about F/F love and sexLVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.comBlogger236125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-22260562941663743832015-01-24T20:06:00.000-08:002017-02-12T15:37:14.549-08:00Review- Criminal Gold by Ann Aptaker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Criminal Gold</i></b></span><br />By <b>Ann Aptaker</b><br />Nov 2014<br />Mystery/Era historical 1940’s/ Lesbian/ Crime/ Noir<br />264 pgs<br />Publisher: Bold Strokes Books<br />Kindle Edition<br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Midnight, New York Harbor, 1949. Cantor Gold, dapper dyke-about-town, smuggler of fine art, waits in her boat under the Brooklyn Bridge for racketeer Gregory Ortine. In the shadow of the bridge, he’ll toss Cantor a satchel of cash, and she’ll toss him a pouch containing a priceless jewel. But the plan, and the jewel, sink when a woman in a red sequined dress drops from the bridge and slams onto Cantor’s boat. She is Opal Shaw, Society Page darling and fiancée of murder-for-hire kingpin Sig Loreale. Through a night of danger, desire, and double-cross, Cantor must satisfy Loreale’s vengeance, stay ahead of an angry Ortine, and untangle the knots of murder tightening around Opal’s best friend and keeper of her dirty secrets, Celeste Copley, a seductress who excites Cantor’s passion but snares her in a labyrinth of lies. The lies explode in a collision of love, loyalty, lust…and death.</i></span></span><br /><br />I became aware of this book before it came out and it’s one of those rare books with an unknown author to me that I know I want to read before it comes out. So I was quite excited to read it and it definitely hit the spot for me. <br /><br />Basically the blurb gives a great idea of what this story is about and the all the main characters involved, so I’ll go more into what I enjoyed about it. <br /><br />Mostly what I loved about this book was Cantor Gold as a character. She’s not that typical female protagonist/ heroine who does bad things for the greater good. No. She really is a badass, tough woman who makes no excuses for how she lives, what she’s done, and that she lives on the wrong side of the law. I liked this. I’m always fond of characters who don’t fit society’s expectations of what their role should be. Particularly I enjoy female characters that buck the Donna Reed ideal for women of this time period.<br /><br />She’s also an out lesbian, which for the time period was very dangerous. And as the first scene in the book shows, could get you hurt, badly. But I loved that she dresses like a man and walks through her criminal world unabashedly lesbian and butch. While she is accepted as such in that world in the surface, of course, when push comes to shove she’s once again shown that she will never be accepted in any world due to that. And while it hurts her at times, she ultimately doesn’t care; it’s more important for her to be who she is. <br /><br />She’s also ruled by her passions. Damn but I loved the scenes with her and Celeste. Even though Celeste is no one to be trusted---she’s definitely a femme fatale type with no loyalty to anyone--- Cantor finds herself fantasizing about all the delicious things she’d do with her. Cantor struggles internally with wanting to save Celeste, mainly because she feels attracted to her, but knowing what ultimately might/probably will happen. <br /><br />But what’s also appealing about Cantor is that while she’s tough and is mostly out for herself and is portrayed as a player, she does find in the course of events she’s been thrust into that she cares more for Rosie, her current friend with benefits, than she thought. And there’s also a hint that she loved someone once very deeply, showing a more vulnerable side of her.<br /><br />The language author Ann Aptaker uses is very colorful and evocative throughout, which added a lot to my enjoyment of this book. Particularly, even though not a romance or descriptive in terms of common erotic language, I found the dance between Cantor and Celeste to be somewhat erotic and, well, very entertaining: <br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>“I hope you like Chivas,” I say, handing her a glass. “What’s not to like?” There’s nothing not to like. The whiskey is smooth, the woman sharing it with me is gorgeous, and the way the light from the desk lamp slides along her leg is picturesque. I wouldn’t mind taking my own ride along Celeste’s shapely calves.<br />…after I take the scenic route along her leg and continue up the rest of her, I finally arrive at her face, where on the other side of that hat veil her eyes accuse me of doing exactly what I am doing: undressing her mentally and having my way with her.”</i></span></span></b><br /><br />Outside of some of the focus being on what’s going on through Cantor’s head about Celeste, this is a fast paced crime drama. As Cantor tries to figure how who actually killed Opal, while thinking it’s Celeste and trying to save her life, she falls into all kinds of situations that both luck and smarts get her out of. This story if rife with constant alliance shifts and betrayals in this underworld of criminals and I never really knew how it all might pan out. All of the characters are well-rounded, interesting and solid in who they are.<br /><br />Almost as important as the language, characters, story, pacing, etc, <i>Criminal Gold </i>definitely had the feel of the time period. I could really imagine being in 1949 in NYC with those characters. The ambiance of it was perfect. Loved it. <br /><br />Will definitely pick up the next book by this author. <br /><br /><b>Heat level: </b>0 – no sex, but a lot of linguistic foreplay. <br /><br /><b>Grade:</b> 5 Stars</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-33679448807094244662014-12-07T21:07:00.000-08:002014-12-07T21:13:59.600-08:00Movie Reviews: An Unexpected Love and Tru Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>An Unexpected Love </i></b></span><br />March 2003<br />Lesbian/ bi?<br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>An unhappily married housewife and mother of two children (Leslie Hope) separates from her husband and gets a new job where she develops a mutual attraction to her female boss (Wendy Crewson)</i></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Whole movie is on youtube if you don’t mind Danish subtitles. </i></span><br />This movie apparently was produced and written for Lifetime TV. I don’t know if it ever showed on TV but if so, kudos to them. I don’t think I’ve seen a made for TV movie that specifically dealt with a lesbian relationship. <br /><br />So… I really liked this story. Both actresses did a great job and it felt believable. Yes, it is the cliché of the unhappily married woman who unexpectedly finds herself attracted to a woman for the first time, but it was well written. <br /><br />What I liked about it was that all the characters involved act how one would expect they’d act in this situation. Kate and her husband are mutually OK with splitting up, although her husband would be fine keeping the status quo. Kate has always wanted to be a wife and mother and that’s what she went for. They have a nice upper middle class existence, but Kate is just not happy and decides that she wants a more fulfilling life. <br /><br />She ends up working for Mac at Mac’s real-estate agency. Mac is an out lesbian. Both women get closer as they work together and Kate finds herself attracted as more than a friend to Mac. Mac is very leery when Kate professes that attraction because, um, Kate is straight and Mac doesn’t want to be some straight woman’s experiment and she doesn’t want to be a straight women’s secret lover. Mac has lost the love of her life and is also reluctant to find someone knew.<br /><br />While they dance around each other trying to work out both an attraction and mixed feelings about that attraction, Kate gets the guts up to tell her husband, children and best friend about her attraction to Mac, which goes over…not well…at first.<br /><br />This movie is a kind of a sweet romance, but it also deals realistically with all the issues around homophobia, possible “gay for you” as Kate can’t really say she’s now a lesbian, and fear for glbt person being used as a fling. It also addresses certain stereotypes of what straight people think about gay relationships. I liked that it wasn’t cheesy, nor was this movie melodramatic. In fact, all the characters act rather maturely for this kind of situation, considering.<br /><br />The only negative thing I will say is that it did come across as too insta love for me at first on Kate’s side. There is a nice build-up of a friendship between Kate and Mac, but those special things that would occur between two characters falling in love seemed missing. They are just normal, good friends one min and suddenly Kate is kissing Mac out of nowhere. I would have loved to see more sexual/ romantic nuance between the women before that first kiss. However, it is an HEA and still an enjoyable movie. <br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 2-- semi naked, sweet sex scene<br /><b>Grade: 4 stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Tru Love (Canadian)</b></i></span><br />2013<br />May/ Dec- lesbian/straight<br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A widow, recovering from the death of her husband, comes to the big city to spend time with her busy professional daughter. Instead, she forges an unlikely relationship with a commitment-phobic lesbian who has a past with her daughter.</i></span></span><br /><br />I had watched <i>A Perfect Ending</i>, which I loved, about an older / younger women relationship. So I was attracted to Tru Love, hoping it would be as good for me as the other because it’s also is about an May/ Dec female relationship. Tru Love, while compared often to <i>A Perfect Ending</i>, is a very different film though, and can’t be compared really. Well not in story. I will compare it when it comes to personal feelings about May/ Dec love representations.<br /><br />Maybe it was just my mood, but for most of it I felt a bit uncomfortable watching this. And while I just said Tru Love should not be compared to <i>A Perfect Ending</i>, what made that less uncomfortable for me was the fact that that relationship started out and is based on a business deal, so the lines are clear at the beginning and age difference wouldn’t be a factor in it. In this movie, it’s really about a love that develops between a 60 something woman with a late 30’s something woman. <br /><br />For some reason, I felt a kind of dread throughout most of the film mainly because I wasn’t sure I wanted to see these two characters actually fall in love and be intimate. And I’ll be honest in that probably my discomfort is that I’m an older woman myself and would feel weird being with a much younger woman like the one in this film. Although, actually, if I would put myself in the position of a younger woman attracted to an older one, that wouldn’t have made me feel uneasy at all. <br /><br />Tru is a lesbian who seems to be fairly callous in her relationships with other women. She won’t commit to anyone and seems to have one night stands and brief relationships one after another, not even bothering to remember their names. Suzanne, one of those past women, asks Tru, who still has the key to that Suzanne’s house (side bar- I wonder how real it is that lesbians having brief affairs give each other keys to their houses after a few nights, which seemed to be the case in this movie), to let her visiting mom in. Suzanne is a lawyer and a workaholic. <br /><br />Due to Suzanne never being home, Tru sort of entertains Alice, Suzanne’s mom. They like each other right away and start getting very close to the discomfort of Suzanne. On the one hand Suzanne is feeling a bit jealous of time her mom is spending with Tru, but on the other she won’t stop working. When she sees that Tru and her mom are getting a little too close she tries to thwart their relationship, which upsets both Tru and Alice, who think the other is avoiding. <br /><br />As for Alice, her husband has died and for the first time she feels free to let go and enjoy life. The ghost of her husband is there and talks to her when she’s musing, so we get some background on what Alice’s life has been about. <br /><br />Alice’s zest for life and enjoyment of Tru, and maybe also because she is an older woman who Tru relates differently to than women her own age, makes it easier for Tru to open up about her painful past. So we get to see why Tru is a commitment-phobe.<br /><br />This story is just as much about a mother/ daughter relationship as an f/f relationship as tensions rise up between Alice and Suzanne about Tru. It also makes Suzanne confront her avoidance of any kind of a life outside of work. She’s very uptight and this cracks her shell. <br /><br />So the crux of my discomfort is that I felt Tru and Alice connecting as two people might with that kind of age difference, but couldn’t see it entering into a more intimate thing, which it did. On the other hand, truly, I think I ended up liking this film because it does show that love and relationships between people can go beyond what society might deem appropriate or not. (between consenting adults) And I appreciate stories like this that go outside the box. <br /><br />I’d definitely recommend this story if you’d be open to a May/Dec story with a much older woman.<br /><br /><b>Heat Level:</b> 0 implied sex, no nudity<br /><br /><b>Grade: 4 Stars</b></span><br />
<br />LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-59797517631812032202014-12-07T20:54:00.000-08:002014-12-07T20:55:19.181-08:00Movie Reviews: Desert Hearts and Purple Sea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLb2wvaTzLpLIUGSf7CC-ihN4EKiLimEdXk5_tkLv_Rxe8-PapQQvXX5MyzXKiVzPGND0GpzqZBMAmYDyIXA7h2jHfrZHk2qxwHMbQHMP7a048H96PmjD37FcVFrpOXgBGKIoH8u_l5Y7t/s1600/Desert+Hearts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLb2wvaTzLpLIUGSf7CC-ihN4EKiLimEdXk5_tkLv_Rxe8-PapQQvXX5MyzXKiVzPGND0GpzqZBMAmYDyIXA7h2jHfrZHk2qxwHMbQHMP7a048H96PmjD37FcVFrpOXgBGKIoH8u_l5Y7t/s1600/Desert+Hearts.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Desert Hearts</i></b></span><br />1985<br />Lesbian/ bi?/ May-Dec</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>It is 1950s Nevada, and Professor Vivian Bell arrives to get a divorce. She's unsatisfied with her marriage, and feels out of place at the ranch she stays on, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Cay Rivers, an open and self-assured lesbian, and the ranch owner's daughter. The emotions released by their developing intimacy, and Vivian's insecurities about her feelings towards Cay, are played out against a backdrop of rocky landscapes and country and western songs. </i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />- Written by Neil Lewis <njl cix.compulink.co.uk=""></njl></i></span></span><br /><br />This is a very sweet and touching love story and I loved this film. It’s also totally offbeat and not the usual kind of story outside of it being a lesbian story. For the time period it’s set in, it’s rather incredible that it was made as is. It doesn’t shy away from or act like being a lesbian is anything out of the norm, which I loved. I also thought it interesting to have an out lesbian in a story set in the 50’s. I guess if there was any place in the US that a woman could be somewhat open about being a lesbian in the 50’s, it could be Reno.<br /><br />Vivien ends up on a ranch in Nevada, staying there until she can get a quickie divorce. It seems her lawyer has a package deal and this is why she’s there vs. a hotel in town. She’s a professor at Columbia University and doesn’t quite click with people at the ranch. She’s older, prim, quiet, rather uptight, thoughtful, and doesn’t really engage too much with the others. I didn’t blame her, they get on her case for putting on airs as it were.<br /><br />She explains to her lawyer that while her marriage to another professor is OK and they get along, she feels something is missing and wants more out of life. She has no children and states he would not contest the divorce. It seems contradictory to her character as normally it’s a more passionate personality that would go to such huge lengths for a change. So she’s in a transition in her life although not really looking for any kind of excitement.<br /><br />Cay is a young woman living on the ranch that her father’s long-time lover owns. She’s an out lesbian and is very outgoing. She works in a casino and is just living life, having brief affairs until “the one” shows up. She and Vivien start talking here and there and slowly they form a friendship. Vivien, while a bit embarrassed when she finds out Cay is a lesbian, surprisingly, doesn’t really judge her. And she’s curious about Cay and her life.<br /><br />Other stuff going on is that the owner of the ranch, Frances, is a tough woman who feels threatened by Vivien and Cay’s relationship. Even though Cay is not her biological daughter, she thinks of her as such and as she sees Cay falling for Vivien, she gets jealous and causes problems. She sees Vivien as an interloper who’s trying to break up her only family.<br /><br />What’s so lovely about this story is how actress Helen Shaver’s played Vivien. Cay, being young and brash, openly hits on Vivien. She’s attracted to Vivien in a way she’s not been with the others and feels Vivien could be “the one.” Vivien is a bit freaked out by it and keeps Cay at arm’s length even as she starts feeling something for her. Helen Shaver’s portrayal of a woman falling in love with another woman for the first time is amazing. She shows a deeply nuanced vulnerability and shyness when her character finally allows herself to be intimate with Cay. Both actresses made this story so believable and I felt they fell in love in a very natural, deep, and honest way. <br /><br />One really good thing about this film is that it’s left off with a definite HFN. So often these lesbian movies leave off with some tragedy and sometimes you just want that the couple you rooted for to get together does and you’re left feeling good. And I liked that Vivien is the one who earnestly wants to keep exploring what they have together. So this is not a straight woman briefly falls for a lesbian then goes back to her life. <br /><br />Definite recommend. <br /><br /><b>Heat level-</b> 3-4 nude sex scene, beautifully done. <br /><br /><b>Grade: 5 Stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>"Viola di mare" Purple Sea (Italian)</b></i></span><br />2009<br />Lesbian/ historical<br /><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />Set in 19th century Sicily, Angela and Sara have been friends all their lives. But Angela isn't like other girls, she's fearless, and when she develops feeling for Sara she won't hide them. To maintain the forbidden relationship that blossoms between the two women, Angela disguise herself as a man. The two women challenge the rules of society in order to be together in this lush period romance.</i></span></span><br /><br /><b>Based on a true story</b><br /><br />This was an amazing film. Loved it! It’s just gorgeous all around, with the setting and the women and how their love story develops. <br /><br />I can’t speak for the truth in historical value, but it seemed spot on. The film starts out with the main characters as children, growing up on a small island in which the only industry is rock mining. Angela’s father is the foreman for all the workers on the Island and he’s a cruel, hard man who rules everyone, including his family, with an iron fist. Her father was pissed off that she was born a girl and has never forgiven her mother or her for that. <br /><br />Sara is the daughter of a maid for the Baron who owns most of what’s on the island. They grow up playing with each other and the other kids of the quarry workers. Sara and Angela are best friends, always together, but Sara has to go to the mainland with her mother with the Baroness. Angela is shown waiting faithfully for Sara to come back.<br /><br />Fast forward many years and both women are in their early 20’s. Sara comes back and they start their friendship up again. Only this time, Angela makes it clear pretty quickly that she’s in love with Sara and tells her she will marry her. At first Sara is a bit shocked, but quickly warms to that idea and falls in love with Angela as well. <br /><br />I have to say that I really felt these two were in love. They have so much passion for each other, particularly Angela, who never wavers for a second. <br /><br />Unfortunately, these two women are living in a place and time when their love is absolutely unacceptable. When Angela’s father tells her she will be married soon, she confesses she loves Sara and is locked up. <br /><br />What happens after that is such a twist and I’m not sure it could have actually happened as it did, but the idea that it could and they could get away with it is interesting to think about. <br /><br />Angela’s mother comes up with the idea to call in a favor from the priest and have Angela’s name changed on her birth certificate to say she’s a male. This allows her and Sara to marry. Although her father goes along with it and makes her now the foreman in his place because she is now a man, of course, many in the village don’t accept it and problems do arise, but they manage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />This is such a passionate story of love between two women. And even though not traditionally having an HEA, it’s still a beautiful, satisfying love story. <br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 4- full on naked sex scenes – not done salaciously though<br /><br /><b>Rating: 5 Stars</b></span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-48366325401429530852014-12-07T20:42:00.001-08:002014-12-07T20:42:57.599-08:00Movie Reviews: Stud Life, Blue is the Warmest Color, Cloudburst<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Stud Life (British)</b></i></span><br />2013 <br />Lesbian Stud-Femme/ Gay<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>JJ is a hot black British 'Stud' Lesbian. Together with her best friend Seb, a white gay pretty boy, they work as wedding photographers and run around the urban London LGBT scene. When JJ falls in love with a beautiful and mysterious woman, JJ and Seb's friendship is tested. JJ is forced to choose between her hot new lover and her best friend.</i></span></span><br /><br />This was a really good film. I think it’s not easy to find a lesbian film with black characters, but even more so, harder to find a film about a sub group within the lesbian community. I enjoyed it on every level and thought it an interesting mash up of types of characters. <br /><br />So the blurb for this film is pretty much what the movie is about. It’s basically about these characters going through life as GLBT persons and trying to find love. <br /><br />JJ and Seb make and interesting friendship. Both get on great and I felt the writers, filmmakers, and actors did an amazing job of making me believe that these two unlikely friends really do love each other and have each other’s backs. <br /><br />Both JJ and Seb are having short, non-serious flings with others but no one is really sticking for either of them. And for Seb, a dorky, sensitive drug dealer, Smack Jack, keeps hitting on him, but Seb can’t stand him. Since they all hang out in the same circles they keep coming across each other and Seb finds there’s more to him than he first judged. In the meantime, Seb is sexting through the internet with other gay guys. He is rather a romantic though and wants to find a keeper. <br /><br />JJ is a stud lesbian who finds herself attracted to a femme lesbian she met at that bar they all hang out in. What I loved here is that she is a stone butch/ stud and the movie really shows the relationship/sexual dynamics of a stone butch/femme relationship. Her girlfriend Elle wants to have sex and touch JJ but JJ really does keep in control. I liked that contrary to the “stud” reputation of being tough, she shows vulnerability when expressing to Elle that she will not allow sexual touching. She’s worried that Elle will not accept that. They do hug and cuddle a lot, which showed how they feel for each other. They both accept the conditions just to be close to each other. However, Elle has a secret that derails their relationship for a while. And it’s something that I felt made Elle a lot more human and vulnerable. <br /><br />As the story progresses, the average day in these characters’ lives is expressed in all facets, including homophobic attacks on them, back biting within the GLBT community and the use of GLBT by straight people for kicks. And it also shows JJ and Seb just being friends going through issues with each other as lovers enter the picture. <br /><br />It also has an assortment of entertaining, colorful side characters as JJ and Seb are shown photographing all kinds of events with all kinds of straight/ GLBT people. <br /><br />Finally, there is a happy ending for both JJ and Seb and it’s a really sweet, satisfying, romantic movie. It’s definitely a movie for anyone who wants to watch something a bit different in GLBT. All the actors in this film make it worthwhile to watch. <br /><br /><b>Heat Level </b>2: some sex scenes, some nudity, but nothing graphic. <br /><br /><b>Grade: 4 ½ Stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>La vie d'Adèle (French)<br />Blue is the Warmest Color</b></i></span><br />2013<br />Lesbian/ bi/ YA<br /><br /><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Adele's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.</i></span></span><br /><br />This movie was hyped up the wazoo as you all know. I usually head the other direction of anything this hyped and talked about, and luckily I did, because I could watch it without everyone’s opinions in my head about it. <br /><br />So right to the point, it didn’t do as much for me as I’ve read it did for others. Maybe it’s more due to my age. This is really a YA story and it’s mainly about the passion and pain of a first love. On that level it’s quite good and I can see how this film would hit all the spots for a young person. I probably would have loved this in my 20’s. <br /><br />I almost didn’t finish it as well. This is a 3 hour movie and I had the feeling the director or camera person must be in love with the lead actress who played Adele because it seemed the camera was on her all. the. time, in every scene and with non-stop shots of her just staring blankly or expressing with her face. To be fair, I think the actress who played Adele did a great job. But I felt about maybe an hour of the film could have been cut because endless scenes of her crying or looking blank seemed too much. <br /><br />Also, one of the reasons this film was so talked about is that it has one of the longest sex scenes ever in a regular (non porn) movie. For me, it was way too much because it wasn’t the only sex scene. Compared to other sex scenes I saw between women in the few lesbian films I watched before this one, I felt these were just one step below porn, which isn’t bad per se, if you want to watch porn. And while the sex scenes expressed the passion and intensity of the physical attraction between these two women, it didn’t express any of what might have been true love between them. <br /><br />The other negative; I get tired of “lesbians fuck around and can’t commit for a long time” kind of thing I see and read so often. Emma is living with someone when she meets and has sex with Adele. Emma then starts hanging out with an old girlfriend while living with Adele. Adele cheats on Emma with a guy. I mean seriously, can’t anyone stay together? <br /><br />On to what I loved. I loved that at least before the women get physical, there is a relationship build-up. They don’t just meet and suddenly they’re in-love, like some of the other films I watched. And the film did make an interesting statement about the difference between passion and love. What Adele and Emma have is a sexually passionate relationship. In the end it makes a statement that sexual passion doesn’t always equal long term love or that it’s enough to sustain a long term relationship.<br /><br />It’s also a movie that shows the growth of Adele as she goes through all this pain of a first love and then moving beyond, learning and growing up. So this was a positive. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Even though this movie didn’t float my boat as much as other people, I would still definitely recommend it. It is intense and show sexual passion in all it’s facets. <br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 5+ -numerous, fairly graphic sex scenes with full nudity.<br /><br /><b>Grade: 3 1/2 Stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Cloudburst</i></b></span> <br />2011<br />Lesbian<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The best geriatric lesbian road movie you have ever seen. Thelma and Louise eat your heart out.</i></span></span><br /><br />I watched about the first 20 or so mins of this film and stopped. DNF. I had high hopes for this film. I love Olympia Dukakis and thought this would be a great lesbian film about older lesbians trying to stick together as they age. <br /><br />Unfortunately, I felt it was off. Dukakis’ character Stella is rather crass from the get-go. I could see where she was coming from, but it was a bit over the top and off-putting. She’s gruff, but not in that older woman give a shit, cute and amusing way, no, she fights and argues with most everyone with lots of over the top cursing, and needlessly I felt. She pretty much alienates everyone except of course, those that accept her as she is.<br /><br />It starts out with Dot, Stella’s partner for over 30’s years, breaking a bone after a fall and needing full care for a few weeks. She’s also almost totally blind. Dot’s granddaughter, who unbelievably is totally clueless that her grandmother is a lesbian and who has no real idea about what her grandmother is about, insists it’s time for her to go into an assisted living facility. This enrages Stella who feels she can still take care of her. And also it will mean they cannot be together. The granddaughter also tells Stella she may stay in their house for a little while, until she finds another place (the house was Dot’s mother’s house and so legally, hers), which of course pisses Stella off because it’s THEIR house. <br /><br />Where I stopped watching was when the granddaughter tricked Dot into signing some papers giving up her house and getting into the assisted living facility under the guise of keeping Stella from getting charged with any negligence in Dot’s fall. Dot is smiling as she gets into the car with her granddaughter, while Stella is bangs on the car window screaming. <br /><br />The level of cluelessness all around is also what bugged me. Dot has been with Stella for 30 years and yet she trusts her granddaughter over Stella and doesn’t even try to stop the granddaughter from driving away, wondering why Stella is screaming.<br /><br />Then, again, Stella’s personality is off-putting to me. As the granddaughter is driving away, she’s calling her a bitch and a fucking cunt, etc. No. Seriously, I have the mouth of a sailor, I drop the f word all the time. But there’s constant cursing with antagonistic personality type and then there’s just cursing here and there. <br /><br />Maybe if I would have kept watching I might have loved it, but I just couldn’t. I think it probably told the story of many older lesbians who have no legal rights with each other and also who have no place to be together like assisted living, or nursing homes or such, which I think is an important story to tell. I just wish it was told a bit differently or that the beginning didn’t put me off too much to finish it.<br /><br />Grade: DNF</span><br />LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-66543990708796816412014-12-07T20:28:00.000-08:002014-12-07T21:15:15.074-08:00Movie reviews: A Perfect Ending, I Can't Think Straight, Kiss Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>A Perfect Ending</b></i></span><br />2012<br />F/f-/ May-Dec/ Interracial<br /><br /><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Rebecca has a very unusual secret, one that not even her best friends know about. The last person on earth she expects to reveal it to is a high priced escort named Paris. What starts as a comedy of errors ends up a uniquely erotic journey. Rebecca's unconventional efforts to find herself are raw, evocative, and often times humorous, but always very real, very human. Sometimes a perfect ending is not what you expect it to be. </i></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>- Written by Soul Kiss Films </i></span></span><br /><br />You know how you read a book or watch a movie and the story stays with you for days and days and you realize it affected you on a really deep level, this is what A Perfect Ending was for me. It’s gorgeous story both on a human level and on an aesthetic level in how it’s expressed. <br /><br />There are a crap ton of reviews for this movie, so what I’m going to say about it is how and why it affected me so deeply. The main thing about this movie for me was how beautifully and lovingly it shows human vulnerability and the growth that can happen from a relationship, even a relationship with a complete stranger, and also almost strictly a sexual relationship, in which two people feel totally safe to let themselves open up and heal from personal wounds. It’s also about how we come to terms with what’s important when faced with mortality.<br /><br />On more practical levels, I love that it featured a middle aged women and a sex worker who is empowered by her choice to be a call girl. <br /><br />Just for edification, this is not a romance. Nor is it really a lesbian story. Neither of the main characters are lesbians. It’s not about sexual passion either. I do feel this is a love story though and definitely it’s a story about connecting deeply on a human level. But also a warning, ending might disappoint. For me it was more about the ride, the here and now vs forever in what I felt this story was meant to portray. <br /><br />Rebecca is wealthy middle aged woman who on the surface seems to have it all. And she does-- on the surface. She’s not that unhappy or miserable in general, she just seems to accept the status quo and doesn’t think about her needs or wants too much. There is though, a family secret that has caused her a lot of pain and she cannot get passed it at times.<br /><br />While out with her best friends, a lesbian couple, she confesses that she’s never felt passion. Nor has she never had an orgasm. This of course shocks her friends who cannot believe it. She further confesses that her marriage is not that great and she rarely has sex. Her friends suggest that maybe she needs a woman to show her what she and her body can feel. They know a madam who runs an agency for call girls and think maybe it would be easier for her if she hired one of those girls to help her with that. She decides to go for it but under the condition that the woman be her own age. <br /><br />Paris is a young woman who is grieving the loss of her fiancé. She is a call girl by night but an artist by day and she’s definitely not in it for the money only, she’s working out her grief by being a call girl. Maybe it’s her way feel some control about her life during this process. When her older colleague, the one who was supposed to go to Rebecca, asks her to meet Rebecca because she has an emergency, she agrees. When she gets there though, Rebecca is shocked that she ended up with a younger woman, freaks out, and decides not to go through with it. But Paris is very intense and open and accepting and seems to know exactly what Rebecca is about. And Rebecca picks that up. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Rebecca tries a few more times- getting the older woman second time, whom she decides is so not for her, then asks for Paris again. In 3rd meeting, Paris again tries to seduce her but puts no pressure on Rebecca. Finally, Rebecca decides to go for it and it’s amazing for her. <br /><br />Here I want to interject that actress Barbara Niven did an amazing job of expressing all those fears of not being appealing or desirable being an older woman with older women body flaws. And kudos to her as an actress, who is a very nice looking woman and has an image to maintain, that she showed her actual physical flaws in this movie. I think that took a lot of courage and added to her actual vulnerability as a character.<br /><br />The first sex scene is really about Rebecca letting go and trusting. Paris being a much younger, very gorgeous woman has the power in this, but she’s portrayed as sort of an experienced, wise, old soul who really is accepting and understanding. She does feel a connection with Rebecca that is beyond their “business” arrangement, so it’s more for her as well. This connection she feels, maybe because Rebecca is also in a very vulnerable space, helps Paris also let go of her grief in a very intimate way. <br /><br />In case anyone is wondering—although you can see most of the sex scenes are on youtube—the sex between the women is very loving, soft and even though both are naked- it’s not salacious in any way. In fact, there were moments I felt I didn’t want to watch because it felt like I was intruding on some deeply intimate moments. Not the intimacy of sex alone, but the intimacy of being emotionally raw and open during sex. So if you’d watch for some hot girl on girl sex, this is not the movie. <br /><br />Other than this, I love how this film was filmed. It has almost a Zen-like feel to it. There are lots of fade in and out scenes with action but no words. Since the two women only meet in the hotel room and don’t talk about their lives with each other, the back story of both women, where they are coming from, is told through most of those silent or brief snippets in between them meeting. <br /><br />The other characters also added a lot to this film. It’s much more than two women connecting, it’s also about life and love and family from and what that all means for a woman. <br /><br />All in all this movie grabbed me and I’d definitely recommend it, especially if you’re about two people connecting beyond a sexual orientation or if you’re an older woman who would love a story about having courage to experience new things. <br /><br />Bonus for this movie is that the actress who played Paris is an out lesbian. Something you don’t see hardly ever in lesbian movies. Mostly it’s straight women playing lesbians. So kudos for getting an actual GLBT person to play that role. <br /><br /><b>Heat level</b>: 3-4- full nudity and sex scenes, very beautifully and aesthetically filmed. Not salacious in any way. <br /><br /><b>Grade:</b> <b>5 Stars</b></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmYpVGMZoVe3UOJSwhI0_gdHNmwh7UvDfiZblxDTKxHxcyzqXhwQu1Ew0yfIN8_8KvY0ggh7j_AuZyZE6eNj-NJOaRqucj9Z91Cm2euaAKlKZqH5qapVs0HmVQE0w8tgQ7HrZ4o5YOfCY/s1600/I-Cant-Think-Straight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmYpVGMZoVe3UOJSwhI0_gdHNmwh7UvDfiZblxDTKxHxcyzqXhwQu1Ew0yfIN8_8KvY0ggh7j_AuZyZE6eNj-NJOaRqucj9Z91Cm2euaAKlKZqH5qapVs0HmVQE0w8tgQ7HrZ4o5YOfCY/s1600/I-Cant-Think-Straight.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>I Can’t Think Straight (British)</i></b></span> <br />2008<br />Lesbian/ Multicultural</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Adaptation of book by Shamim Sarif<br />A 2008 romance film adapted from a same name novel about a London-based Jordanian of Palestinian descent, Tala, who is preparing for an elaborate wedding. A turn of events causes her to have an affair and subsequently fall in love with another woman, Leyla, a British Indian. </i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />- Written by Shamim Sarif</i></span></span><br /><br />I have another book written by this author of the book this story is based off of that I’ve yet to read, so I decided to watch this film instead of that one. <br /><br />What I loved about this film is that this is a love story that happens between two people from very different backgrounds that happens despite familial, cultural, political and generational conflicts.<br /><br />Both Tala and Leyla are young women caught between two worlds. They are both living in England, although Tala goes back and forth between Jordan and England. They’ve been brought up exposed to western culture, but both have homes and parents that try to keep their own traditional homeland culture alive. This is one of the main conflicts for both of them and also maybe what helps them understand each other even though of different cultural backgrounds.<br /><br />They meet just by chance as Leyla’s boyfriend is a friend of Tala. Tala is on her 4th wedding planning, having walked out on the first 3 fiancés just before the wedding. Tala is rather rebellious and being from a wealthy family, her whims and flightiness are somewhat tolerated. <br /><br />Leyla is a lot more deep and serious about life. She’s a Muslim in her heart, mind and belief, but she doesn’t always go to prayer with her family. She’s also struggling with the contradictions of being a woman growing up in a western culture while dealing with her mother who is very strong in trying to keep their Indian culture alive. This especially becomes an issue when she comes out to her family. <br /><br />Both women clash at first as Tala, who grew up as a Palestinian Christian Arab, argues that religion and belief are bogus, which kind of pisses Leyla off. But slowly they come together and become good friends and find themselves attracted to each other both romantically and sexually. <br /><br />Of course, as with many romances between women when one is currently with a man, the main problem between them becomes that Tala is getting married. In this case, I was rather surprised that Tala, who seems to be the more open as one who bucks the system in many ways, feels very strongly about not coming out and won’t defy her family’s culture. She argues with Leyla that Leyla doesn’t get how hard it would be to do that with her family and in Jordan, where the man she’s to marry is from. <br /><br />On the other hand, this affair pushes Leyla internally to decide that she can’t or won’t hide who she is to her family and friends anymore. So until Tala is willing to accept who she is, Leyla will not see her. <br /><br />I’ll be honest, I wasn’t feeling the romance so much between these two women even though it’s shown they have had attractions to women in the past. Somehow it felt a bit too insta-love for me, which is maybe why this film didn’t affect me other than I love stories that include characters of other cultures and in which those cultures are part of the story. I think maybe it’s also because I wasn’t feeling Tala as a character. She was a little too superficial and a bit cocky for me for most of the film and I felt her not really that serious about Leyla.<br /><br />But I did feel that Leyla is really in love with Tala and she, as a character, made the film for me. <br /><br />Other than that, I felt the film didn’t shy away from the truths or realities of cultural and political clashes. I feel some people might be offended by some of what is expressed, however, I took all at face value and as a true portrayal of what is real for people of those cultures. <br /><br />I’d definitely recommend this if you’re looking for something a bit different culturally. But as a romance goes, it was just OK. <br /><b><br />Heat level:</b> 2 – some sex, no nudity<br /><br /><b>Grade: 3 ½ Stars</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kyss Mig -Kiss Me (Swedish)</span><br />2011<br />Lesbian/ bi?<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Young woman engaged to be married finds herself in an affair with her stepmother's lesbian daughter.</i></span></span><br /><br />This was one of the better lesbian movies I saw during my marathon. And I guess from others in the lesbian community they think it’s one of the better ones as well. <br /><br />Elizabeth and Lassa are an older couple who are about to be married. Both have older, independent children. Lasse had a contentious divorce and his daughter Mia still feels angry with him about what happened. Consequently, she hasn’t visited often. Elizabeth has a grown daughter who is an out lesbian and in a relationship and lives nearby.<br /><br />At the pre-wedding party, all of them meet for the first time and family drama ensues. <br /><br />Mia (played by Ruth Vega Fernandez) is sulky and cranky because her father isn’t spending the time with her that she wants. He’s always busy with some job thing. She also shows a pissed/sad face whenever she sees Frida, Elizabeth’s daughter. Frida is light and fun and both Mia’s brother and fiancé are enjoying with Frida. I will say that actress Ruth Vega Fernandez has the perfect sad/pissed off look that worked here. <br /><br />Anyway, as the days go on, Mia, who is an architect with her fiancé, is to design and extension on a lake house that Lasse and Elizabeth have bought. Lasse was supposed to meet them, but leaves Mia alone with both Elizabeth and Frida, which pisses her off and freaks her out. All of her interactions with Frida show she’s not too happy with this. <br /><br />However, one night at the cabin, she follows Frida who is out walking in the woods. They barely talk, but then she suddenly kisses Frida. She acts freaked that she did that, but at the same time both women get sexual fairly quickly after that. Of course, as the days go on and they start really falling in love, Frida basically states she will not be a fling for Mia and cuts it off. This forces Mia to confront what she really feels and how far she’s willing to go to be with Frida.<br /><br />Of course, this new development messes with Mia’s plans for marriage and a lot of pain for all characters in this story happens due to this new love between these women. I felt it was dealt with in a realistic way. I guess there is no easy way to follow your heart when it’s going against everyone you love and the convenience of life at times. But this was one of the better parts of the film. <br /><br />The only negative thing I will say is that like so many of the lesbian movies I watched these last few weeks, insta-love seemed to be a thing here. I wish there was more of a build-up to why Mia would be attracted to Frida and why Frida would fall so madly in love with Mia that she leaves her long-time girlfriend. There really wasn’t much between them that did show that. <br /><br />However, what saves this movie is that in the end, I really believed these women want each other badly. Enough that both risk so much to go for it. <br /><br />For those wondering, this is not really a straight girl falls for a girl and discovers she’s a lesbian. Mia did have a love affair with a woman in the past but felt it freaked her out. So it’s more like lesbian in the closet finally having the guts to be true to herself. <br /><br />Anyway… this is a definite recommend to watch. I can’t really believe this is the first Swedish lesbian film. Seems like the stereotype that Europeans are more open about stuff like this is not always true. <br /><br /><b>Heat level: </b>3-4 Nude sex scene, done showing lots of passion.<br /><br /><b>Grade: 4 ½ Stars</b></span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-27902565685907820032014-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:002014-09-24T20:15:04.395-07:00Blog Name Change<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As you can see, if you've been following my blog for a while, I've changed the name. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I been wanting to change the name for some time now as what I read and review has changed over the years and I wanted a name that more accurately reflects that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When we first started this blog, we more wanted to give a voice to bi and curious women, which is where we were at that time. So what we reviewed or talked about was geared more towards what we wanted to read and that type of reader. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Author Kirsten Saell with whom I started the blog, has moved on to other pastures and it's been mainly me reviewing and keeping the blog going, even if only posting here and there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Over the years, my tastes, opinions, feelings, and how I identify have changed and I'm now, and have been for a long time, reading more lesbian romance with a smattering of f/f/m or bi oriented stories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I still wanted to keep the title inclusive of bi readers as I still enjoy reading a f/f/m, but felt <i>Loving Venus Loving Mars</i> was more indicative of strictly bi oriented content, which this blog is not right now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I haven't changed the web address, even though I hate bicurious...blogspot.. at this point, because I know there are many links to this blog and some reviews as well as all the links I did to my sister review index blog, which is an index of all the books so people could get to reviews quicker. (sorry it's currently not up to date, but I'll get to it.) So that will stay the same. </span><br />
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<br />LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-80537248804193719352014-09-22T20:20:00.000-07:002015-01-24T20:09:03.593-08:00Gay Romance Meet Up in Seattle 2014- Recap<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So, last weekend I attended the <a href="http://gayromancenorthwest.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Gay Romance NW meet up in Seattle</a>. I know they had this event last year for the first time, but to be honest, “Gay” romance suggested to me that it was more for authors and readers of m/m, which I no longer read. So I basically ignored it even though I’ve really enjoyed the books of some of the authors of m/m that live in the area and attended last year. Since I pretty much only read f/f/m and lesbian, I didn’t see the point to go last year. <br /><br />This year I saw that Len Barot/ Radclyffe/ L.L. Raand, president of <a href="http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/" target="_blank">Bold Strokes Books</a> and an author herself, was attending and I felt that that might be a good sign that there would be more authors and readers of lesbian attending, making it more interesting to me. <br /><br />I really didn’t know what to expect, but I had a good time and felt that all the authors, publishers and coordinators of this event did an amazing job and offered a lot of interesting panels and discussion. I resonated with a lot of the issues brought up. <br /><br />Anything I say below is paraphrasing what I heard people say, not necessarily what they actually said or meant. Also not including everything they talked about but more or less what I found interesting, or more to the point, remembered. <br /><br />Also, just for edification, I was tweeting during the event and my phone went dead a few times so I charged in my car between panels and missed some parts of them. So if I don’t mention something, I probably wasn’t there for that part. <br /><br /><b>1st up was Tracy Timmons-Gray –the event coordinator. </b><br /><br />She talked about the event and how it came about and what they are doing in the community. She also spoke about the hardship of finding LGBT romance books on Amazon and her experience with Amazon’s algorithm of suggesting material based on 1 purchase. For instance, she had bought many LGBT books but the one time she bought a m/f, Amazon suggested tons of m/f without remembering all the LGBT books. <br /><br />She actually wrote to Jeff Bezos and her asking about it did change things. Still a work in progress, she said that readers and writers can make a difference by asking for what they want. Asking in libraries and non-profits as well can keep exposure and ease of getting LGBT books in mainstream markets. I found her talk passionate, informative and she was very amusing. <br /><br /><b>Next was Key Note: Write with Pride- </b><br /><br />This was interesting because the authors on this panel wrote a letter from past to current or future self and many were very touching and beautiful. Many included their struggles to come to this point of being who they are now. I thought it an interesting thing to do. <br /><br />Next up was Writing the Rainbow-Exploring Queer Romance Writing <br /><br />I appreciate that there were 2 authors of lesbian on that panel and not all m/m.<br /><br />Several topics came up that were very interesting. They talked about addressing, or not, homophobia in their books. Author Jove Belle mentioned something interesting that she doesn’t often include it because it’s not her personal experience. Others stated they do include it but don’t like to make it the main conflict or focus too much on it. <br /><br />They were asked the hardest part of writing romance and sex. Many agreed or stated that trying to remember all those amazing, tingling feelings one has when falling in love are hard to bring up when most of them have been in long term relationships and love at that point is all about the day to day stuff. <br /><br />After a discussion about what was hardest for each to write, talk segued into reviews. Each gave an interesting and sometimes wrenching story of writing a book just after or during a trying time like death or long illness of a loved one and how reading a review that doesn’t fit their experience of writing the book can be hard. <br /><br />On the whole, the authors on the panel were very amusing and joked a lot and spoke honestly and from the heart and it was a good panel for me to attend. <br /><br /><b>Next: Printed Love: A Discussion with LGBTQ Publishers: </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> </b><br />Represented was: Len Barot (Bold Strokes Books), Laura Baumbach (MLR Press), Megan Derr (Less than Three Press), Tina Haveman (eXtasy Books) and Anne Regan (Dreamspinner Press/Harmony Ink Press)<br /><br />Most of them talked about marketing, submitting, what they publish, etc. Everyone resounded, “if you want to read it, write it, and then buy it.” While they do want to publish a variety of genres and such, they are a business and have to accept submissions of stories that will sell. <br /><br />Outside of Len Barot, all said they were not getting very many submissions in other genres than m/m. <br /><br />I’m going to side eye that, but keep that long and tiring discussion for another time. <br /><br />I admire that Len Barot just came out and said that she didn’t think straight women liked to read lesbian, but that straight women were the main audience for m/m, which has been a contentious discussion over the years. <br /><br />Then they talked about how authors should or could better market themselves. I thought it interesting that one or two said skip the blogs and go straight to social media. Blogs are quickly becoming the past, whereas Twitter and FB are it right now. But also don’t be an ass, you will alienate readers, so beware when using social media. <br /><br /><i>*cough* </i><br /><br />There was also mention that each publisher should have a website where people can buy books direct from them, giving more money to authors. <br /><br /><i>I would say to that, that I recently went through my blog and culled links to a crap ton of small publishers that are now gone, some of which I bought books directly from. Also, having to set up accounts and give personal info to smaller publishers that have had bad reputations in the past of screwing authors and or being unethical, don’t make buyers like me feel comfortable doing so. Maybe if they all offered a Paypal option? </i><br /><b><br />Next up: The Evolving LGBTQ Romance Genre. </b><br /><br />I liked that this panel, much about diversity in romance, was diverse in authors on it. I probably would have sat through the whole panel, phone be damned, if I knew this would be the topic. <br /><br />At any rate, what I did get out of it was that authors on the panel wanted there to be more diversity. The topic if white authors writing characters of color came up and that it’s understood that many white authors fear doing it wrong, but they stated that doing some good research and asking many persons of color their experience is fine and so it shouldn’t be a deterrent. <br /><br />Alex Powell stated that her publisher had a diversity team whom authors could run things by to make sure they are getting it right, which I thought was interesting. <br /><br />I loved that author Pearl Love stated that the word diversity was a problem in itself in that it makes it not the norm. <br /><br />They all agreed and stated that it would be nice to make their stories more inclusive of all kinds of people. <br /><br />Loud applause broke out when one audience member stated she wanted to kill forever the disabled as not norm trope as well as the miraculous healing trope. <br /><br />The authors also talked about labels, some saying they are good and some saying that it could be a deterrent to people discovering new things they might like. Pearl Love stated that she hates that AA is put in its own section. Again, I think she’s right. Lori L. Lake told a story that an author friend got slammed on Amazon in reviews because there was a lesbian in the story, not the main character, and people were pissed off to read that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then Dave Matthew-Barns told that one of his stories had lesbians in it but because he’s a male, his book was marketed is m/m. So he felt he might have missed out on some readership due to this. <i>(Yes, Dave you are correct. I have read a m/m that had a lesbian couple prominently placed in the story and I loved it. Had it not been mentioned in a review, I would have missed.)</i><br /><br /><b>After this was the meet and greet book signing at the Hotel Monoco across from Seattle library. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b> Swag!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Now, I skipped the Friday night reading at the University Book store because I really do get hives in social settings. Especially if they are more intimate, unlike the huge auditorium at the library where I could hide in the back. And I almost went home at that point when I saw how small and intimate the signing room was at the hotel.<br /><br />But I pushed myself. To be honest, I went to support the 7 authors of lesbian that attended. Yes, I actually printed out the list of attending authors and Googled each one. I even bought one book of each author of lesbian before the event, hoping to read one or two. So I marked who the authors of lesbian were and went to talk to them during the signing/meet greet. <br /><br />I’m so not the fan girl type. And the fact that I almost went home not caring about meeting the authors says something, but the highlight of the day for me was having a brief chat with <a href="http://www.radfic.com/" target="_blank">Radclyffe</a>. I’ve read a few of her books and really enjoyed them. But I know of her more for her work in promoting and giving a voice to lesbian fiction through Bold Strokes Books. I found her to be a very down to earth, open and intelligent woman on the panels so while I did stress a bit, I managed to get the guts to talk to her. <br /><br />I mentioned her comment about straight women not being the audience for lesbian books. I told her that there was a contingent of us (well, I wouldn’t call myself straight at this point, but still) that loved to read lesbian. That we’ve been trying to promote it within the straight romance reading community and that while many of my straight romance reading friends don’t glom onto lesbian, they do read it and support it here and there. She mentioned that they were always trying to find ways to market to straight women. She was very gracious even though I probably babbled a lot. Heh, I’m sure authors that attend signings are used to crazy ass babbling readers. <br /><br />Next, I spoke with author <a href="http://www.katemclachlan.com/" target="_blank">Kate McLachlan</a>. It was very easy speaking with her as I kept sitting way up in the back and she and her wife were in the back also, just in front of me. We had chatted briefly and I thought them very open and friendly. I didn’t know she was an author and was surprised to see her sitting there with her books. <br /><br />Then I spoke briefly with <a href="http://www.lorillake.com/books.html" target="_blank">Lori L. Lake</a>. I’m currently reading one of her books and like it very much. She also was very open.<br /><br />I couldn’t find the others or they didn’t show up, but I felt very satisfied. And I bought a few lesbian books to donate to the LGBT library. <br /><br />Finally, yes this has been a long post and if you’ve made it this far, you need a drink I’m sure, I just wanted to say that I’m happy I went to this event. I was worried. Being in the romance community for a long time now, and reading lesbian, I have been a bit pissed off and jaded that since the explosion of m/m, the term LGBT romance has equaled m/m, with f/f, lesbian, trans*, bi, queer not being promoted or having as much exposure or representation. <br /><br />But I felt that this event was inclusive and will be more and more inclusive of the whole LGBTQ spectrum in the future. <br /><br />Will be back in 2015!</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-15320625002596516962014-08-31T09:07:00.001-07:002014-08-31T09:07:25.645-07:00Review--The Rules by S. Renee Bess<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>The Rules</b></i></span></span><br />By <b>S. Renee Bess</b><br />April 7, 2014<br />Lesbian fiction/ Mature/ African American/ Contemporary<br />172 pgs<br />Publisher: Regal Crest Enterprises, LLC<br />Kindle Edition<br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Blackmail, murder, missing persons, and concealed identities link lives that otherwise, would have remained unconnected.<br /><br />London Phillips searches for affirmation and for Milagros Farrow, a revered lesbian author who seems to have vanished.<br /><br />Lenah Miller arms herself against memories of her past as well as those who dismiss her because their backgrounds differ.<br /><br />Rand Carson seeks to replace one lost interracial relationship with a second one.<br /><br />Candace Dickerson executes a plot to enrich herself with other peoples' earnings.<br />The threads entwined around London's desire for connection with a kindred spirit, Lenah's wary skepticism, Rand's misguided ardor, and Candace's greed come undone when three fall victim to blackmail, one reappears from the ethers of the past, and another succumbs to murder.</i></span></span><br /><br />I loved, loved this book. I wrote part of this review and posted it on Goodreads not really ready to fully express what I felt about this book. It's so deep and nuanced and maybe too hard for me to articulate everything I felt about it. It left me feeling like I had made a new friend who intimately shared an interesting life with me. <br /><br /><i>The Rules </i>touches on so many different issues. Most particularly issues around being an African American and a lesbian and dealing with the expectations of both the white and black community both culturally and on a personal level. The way the characters experience their lives is expressed with a lot of insight into those issues. It's also about the importance of shared experiences in making relationships work and also the comfort involved in that even if a relationship doesn't flourish.<br /><br />That this story is about mature women was another huge plus. It's fairly rare to read about women who are at a stage in their lives when experience has taught them that they don't have to rush into anything and can make decisions on who they are vs what’s expected in furthering their careers and in relating. <br /><br />Author S. Renee Bess excels at in-depth characterizations and weaving a good story. Each of the characters in this story have distinct personalities and we get to see how each change slightly depending on who they are relating to. They are all connected even if they are unaware of how. And I particularly respect that all of the characters have flaws. Just when I'd think, oh I like this character and hope it works out for them, they do something kind of crappy and then I’d think, oh this is an interesting twist. However, their vulnerabilities were shown as well so it was easy to see their point of view even with negative traits at times.<br /><br />London is sort of the main character and whenever she’s on screen, the story is written in first person. The other characters get a lot of page time as well so each reader might relate to any of them. Due to starting the book at the point of London’s childhood and upbringing, we get to see some of the experiences that helped shape who she is now in time. She’s an older woman who is at a point in her life when she wants to advance her career and maybe find love, but is in many ways accepting of where she’s at as well. There’s a certain assuredness and quietness about her, which seems to come from age and experience. She’s a very likable character and it’s through her we see the issues she and others face as an African Americans, women, and lesbians. We get to see her come to terms with her decisions about her life that are at times in conflict with the expectations of her community and how she’s been brought up. <br /><br />Lenah, one of the other main characters, is portrayed as having both positive and negative qualities, as are most of the characters What I found intriguing about her is that the demise of her last relationship is about her not being ambitious enough for her partner, but when she meets London, she gets on her case about her career choices. Her role in this story is more about the shared experiences I mentioned up stream. She and London have a rocky start in their relationship, but in the end, it’s their shared commonality of being African American and lesbians and having similar cultural experiences even though they come from different social statuses. What I liked about her is that once a huge weight is lifted from her shoulders she becomes more open and honest with London, when she had been more critical of her initially. She changes and grows and I liked that. <br /><br />It’s through both of these women that we also get to experience the everyday racism they experience in the form of “good intentions” from white people who think they are allies. This leads me to another thing I loved about this book; this is the first story really in which I’ve read a racist, appropriator white character who isn’t the overt, easy to hate racists. <br /><br />Rand is an interesting character in that she thinks she’s standing up for, fighting for and supporting African Americans, but is really a fetishizer of black women and an appropriator of black culture. She is the typical white person who thinks they are progressive and open minded, but who are so totally clueless in how racist they really are. Renee Bess did an amazing job of showing vs telling, making the impact of that dichotomy more potent. <br /><br />Candace is an easily dislikable character and maybe the only one who the author really didn’t go into what makes her tick. However, she’s kind of the catalyst for events that affect all the characters in both good and bad ways so maybe her being less explained was good. <br /><br />I’d also like to point out that Renee Bess offers incredible insight into how we make judgments based on race and how our social upbringing affects our choices. Normally I’m not really for reading stories that are not clearly romance or suspense like this story is, however, Renee Bess totally sucked me in with her writing and her ability to articulate these issues and made me think about a lot about my own attitudes and what are the everyday experiences of African Americans and lesbians. <br /><br />I think this author's writing is getting better and better. Will definitely pick up another of her books.<br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 0 <br /><br /><b>Grade: </b>5 Stars</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-37065463559115239972014-07-04T19:15:00.001-07:002014-08-02T17:56:59.676-07:00Review- Backwards to Oregon by Jae<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Backwards to Oregon</i></b></span><br />By <b>Jae</b><br />April 6, 2013<br />Era Historical 1850’s/ Lesbian /Bisexual <br />542 pgs<br />Publisher: Ylva Verlag; 2 edition <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>"Luke" Hamilton has always been sure that she'd never marry. She accepted that she would spend her life alone when she chose to live her life disguised as a man. <br /><br />After working in a brothel for three years, Nora Macauley has lost all illusions about love. She no longer hopes for a man who will sweep her off her feet and take her away to begin a new, respectable life. <br /><br />But now they find themselves married and on the way to Oregon in a covered wagon, with two thousand miles ahead of them.</i></span></span><br /><br /><i>Backwards to Oregon</i> is one of those stories that shined in both the detail of the time period it’s set in and the slow burn of a romance build up. Clearly it’s a long book, but author Jae managed to write about every day minutia and issues the characters dealt with as they made their way from Missouri to Oregon in the mid 1800’s in a way that kept my interest. I actually read this book fairly quickly due to it. <br /><br /><i>Backwards to Oregon </i>also featured two tropes that are a favorite of mine: a female passing as a male, and marriage of convenience. <br /><br />So let’s talk about Luke. Since the author uses the pronoun <i>she</i> when talking about Luke, I will stick with that as well. Luke is, to everyone she has contact with, a stand up, conscientious, and courageous man. She been in the army and fought bravely as a leader in the Mexican-American War and has returned to Missouri to head west to start a farm raising horses in Oregon. She’s worked hard to keep her identity as a woman a secret all this time and for the most part manages it. <br /><br />Really, there is nary a hint of anyone questioning her gender throughout the whole book, which did make me wonder. But I’ve known and read about women passing as men and living as men during and long after a war, so suspension of disbelief was possible here. <br /><br />Luke decides that to keep her identity and keep people from wondering about her while on her way to Oregon that she should find a wife. She chooses Nora, a prostitute in the local brothel. Nora, already having a child and no prospects other than being a prostitute, readily agrees, hoping to start a new life. <br /><br />As they move their way across the land, Nora questions why Luke doesn’t want her sexually as this is what she expects he’d want as part of the arrangement. She thinks it’s really weird that he keeps his distance and often feels he doesn’t like her. For at least ¾ of the book Nora goes in and out of respecting how Luke is taking care of her and her daughter and how honorable he is, and wondering what’s wrong with him or her that he doesn’t desire her sexually. It does cause a lot of tension at times, both for her and Luke. <br /><br />Throughout most of the trip, Luke feels inwardly, and even expresses outwardly, that Nora should find another husband when they get to Oregon. She knows that if Nora finds out she’s a woman, she will want to leave. This perplexes and freaks Nora out. Nora inwardly worries that Luke, not wanting her, will dump her as soon as they get there and then she might get stuck with a man like one on the trail who beats his wife constantly. Or even worse, that she will find no one and not be able to take care of herself and daughter. <br /><br />What’s kind of interesting about this relationship is that due to the fact that Luke is hiding her identity, it really is a marriage of convenience. Luke steps up and takes full care of Nora and Nora learns to be a good wife, working hard to play her part and help Luke. This is where having to work together as a team to get to Oregon works in their favor. They both have to ignore their personal fears about their possible future without each other and in doing so learn to appreciate and respect, and…slowly come to love each other.<br /><br />While neither Nora nor Luke talk about each other’s past, I liked that the author did eventually give some insight into how each character ended up where they were. They both come from vastly different worlds. <br /><br />Outside of that slow dance that they do, the author went into incredible detail of life on the trail. I kind of actually felt like I was on that journey, with clear and intricate descriptions of the landscape, clothing, accoutrements used, and issues faced by pioneers sucking me in. It did feel like the author did extensive research. And since the book is long, the long journey between Missouri and Oregon, the ups and downs made me feel by the end that I was as tired as the characters were and couldn’t wait for them to get there. The main reason that I kept reading though was to find out what would happen once Nora would find out that Luke was a woman. <br /><br /><b>Spoiler***************************************************************</b><br /><br /><span style="color: #fff2cc;">For me, to some degree, the story became a bit more interesting once she did find out. This is because until that point, Luke is like this perfect, can do no wrong, highly respected person in EVERYONE’S eyes. Once Nora and one other finds out, suddenly Luke doesn’t seem so honorable and her imperfections start coming through. I felt she became a more vulnerable and human person at that point. She also has to confront the “female” part of her that she’s denied due to acting and living like a man. <br /><br />Nora is confronted by mixed feelings as well. One is that she’s lived an immoral life in the eyes of society and yet she has her own moral judgments about Luke and that Luke is living a sin by going against nature. This made her character a bit more interesting as well because she’s also fallen in love with Luke and tries to come to terms with those conflicting feelings. </span><br /><br /><b>End spoiler**************************************************************</b><br /><br />There are a bunch of other clearly defined characters involved as well that also add a lot of drama. Bernice, a “respectable” woman, befriends Nora and helps her out, teaching her what is expected of her as a good wife and woman in society. I liked that she didn’t judge Nora when she finds out about her past, but she’s also a mixed bag of morality, having her own lines because she finds out about Luke. And then there were a few bad guys who added some tension to what was mainly a drama free drama. <br /><br />As an historical set in the west, <i>Backwards to Oregon</i> is an excellent read. While not a gripping story as in full of tension, I still recommend as an entertaining one. Also, there is an extension to the story after the end, which I felt added a lot as well; an extension on their life after settling in Oregon. <br /><br /><b>Heat level: </b>1-2- some sex, but nothing graphically written or extensive. <br /><br /><b>Grade:</b> 4 ½ Stars</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-68125157840728382272014-06-25T19:49:00.001-07:002014-07-04T19:16:14.794-07:00Review- Bailey's Run by Ali Spooner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sBhoCYrZZRk7wCX-RDbkH_R9j6srZPk3LgDbqNB5mAlZS_8NIO0RkMVS0d7awFt32uPqPUrHmgi0mpcf0tsnRYzyKWEqLpmObsiT3f1qsZFrlyUe_iPmlVm4MRLxmv9NCNsyiVtXbtKk/s1600/Bailey's+Run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sBhoCYrZZRk7wCX-RDbkH_R9j6srZPk3LgDbqNB5mAlZS_8NIO0RkMVS0d7awFt32uPqPUrHmgi0mpcf0tsnRYzyKWEqLpmObsiT3f1qsZFrlyUe_iPmlVm4MRLxmv9NCNsyiVtXbtKk/s1600/Bailey's+Run.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Bailey’s Run</b></i></span></span><br />By Ali Spooner<br />Jan 2, 2014<br />Contemporary/ Lesbian/ Mystery/ Paranormal<br />358 pgs<br />Publisher: Affinity Ebook Press NZ LTD<br />Kindle Edition<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Bailey Chambers mourns the loss of her lover, Nessa, in an unsolved carjacking. When Tommy, Bailey’s brother becomes a victim of a gay bashing, Bailey assumes his case will be handled the same way as her lover’s—lackadaisically. <br /><br />Desi Dexter assigned to Tommy’s case, feels Bailey’s disdain toward her and her partner. Through tenacious police work, Desi, is able to uncover the reason for Bailey’s attitude, and convinces her that she is sincere in solving the case. <br /><br />Mutual attraction sparks, and before they can move forward with their fledging romance, Desi, and her partner Braxton, uncover the presence of a serial killer. <br />What will happen to Bailey, when, Desi, becomes engrossed in another case, can their relationship survive?</i></span></span><br /><br />This is one of those stories that was quick to read and was entertaining with a lot of fun characters, but which didn’t really excel in one area. It’s both a romance and a mystery of sorts, however, the romance developed fairly quickly without too much ado and the mystery didn’t have enough tension or mystery actually. <i>Bailey’s Run </i>is carried mainly by a gaggle of characters interacting and several random events happening, which was fine as is. <br /><br />The two main characters, Bailey and Desi, are very likable characters. Bailey is a truck driver during the week, but works in her Aunt’s bar on the weekends. Many women have been trying to catch Bailey’s eye, but since the murder of her partner, she’s not been interested in dating. For her, her partner was perfect and she has no desire to find a replacement. She’s also still grieving as there was no closure in that her partner’s killer was never found. <br /><br />Desi is a detective who’s just trying to do the right thing in life. She’s a tough but warm woman and has a good working relationship with her partner who is supportive and doesn’t have judgments that she’s a lesbian. She meets Bailey when she’s called on the case of Bailey’s brother Tommy being severely beaten outside her aunt’s bar. Although Bailey is very cold and snippy with her, she feels a spark between them. Something about Bailey attracts her. <br /><br />For Bailey it’s the same, but her anger over the police not doing anything about her partner’s death has left a bad taste in her mouth and she blows Desi off. On her own, Desi checks out what happened to Bailey’s partner and totally gets Bailey’s anger since the investigation was shoddy to non-existent. Between working on Bailey’s brother’s case and deciding to work behind the scenes to reopen her partner’s murder case, she manages to become closer to Bailey. Bailey slowly opens up to Desi, feeling attracted to someone for the first time since her partner’s death, and feeling also that Desi is on the up and up with her.<br /><br />They are very cute and sweet together and the romance develops easily, quickly and nicely without too much conflict once Bailey is on board. While there’s a pretense of staying apart for ethical reasons, they don’t pay too much attention to that on a personal level. <br /><br />Outside of the romance, there are several plot lines. Desi and her partner Dexter, besides going after the men who jumped and beat up Tommy, get reassigned to cold case after they solve who killed Bailey’s partner. Desi discovers a pattern of killings and they realize that they might have a serial killer on the loose. They also figure that the killings happen around the same date every year and that date is coming up soon.<br /><br />The author goes back and forth between them and the serial killer, giving us insight into who the killer is and their investigative process. I felt this part was not really that well developed as there was no tension built up in finally finding the killer really. I kept expecting more tension or maybe more danger for certain characters, but that never happened. This part of the story felt more like a reason to bring in more characters and keep the story going. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Spoiler*************************************************************</b>*******<br /><span style="color: #fff2cc;"><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Also, and this is something that bugged me, an FBI profiler is brought in. Her father was FBI and she’s allegedly some kind of serial killer expert. She works with a partner, also her life partner outside of the job, who is a psychic. Unfortunately, this part of the story was off to me. Basically, all the FBI profiler does is have her partner do her thing while she does zero investigating. They felt rather like unnecessary and extraneous characters thrown in there to add more character interaction even though as characters go they are likable. And about the psychic thing, well, I think I would have been on board with that if the psychic didn’t come up with all the answers right away versus having an actual investigation, which included some psychic help. Due to that it went into hokeyville for me at times. </span></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">End Spoiler*************************************************</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What does work in this story is the connection between all the characters. The characters get together a lot for fun, food, home cooking and entertainment while they deal with what seems like non-stop issues. They have a great camaraderie and all support each other. I loved that Fubar, Bailey’s aunt’s bar, is one of the central places they meet up and that it features drag queen shows. Most of the characters are either gay or supportive of the gay community and that was rather nice to read as well. <br /><br />And, well, this is stupid and most people won’t care, but there was a rescued kitten. Desi finds it in an alley and brings it home. The kitten actually gets a fair amount of detail and attention and I found myself worrying about it when both Desi and Bailey can’t get home and loving that it was part of the story.<br /><br />So, while there were some issues for me in this book, overall it’s a good read. <br /><br /><b>Heat Level: </b>2 – sex mostly implied not graphically written<br /><br /><b>Grade</b>: 4 Stars</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-61410133773033694342014-05-26T17:57:00.001-07:002014-05-26T17:57:35.361-07:00Review- Cream by Christiana Harrell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Cream</b></i></span></span><br />By <b>Christiana Harrell</b><br />Aug 31, 2013<br />Contemporary/Lesbian/Stud/Romance/Erotica/African American<br />230 Pgs<br />Pub-Self<br />Kindle Edition</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Cream, an androgynous beauty, knows what it’s like to be abandoned, broke, and used. Left to the state by her parents and taken under the wing of her selfish foster mother, Cream sets her focus on one thing: money. She dives head first into the exotic lifestyle of stripping. Starting out in gentlemen clubs, drama seems to follow her wherever she goes. Instead of facing the turmoil, she moves on to the next city, causing more chaos than what she left behind.<br /><br />She thinks she has life all figured out until she crosses paths with Payton, a daddy’s girl with lots of cash and a lust for women. Payton makes her learn things about herself that she never saw possible and with her new discovery comes a big change in her look and personality.<br /><br />Cream is at the top of her game, surrounded by money and beautiful women. Then, one wild night forces her to discover yet another truth about herself and face the reality of her lifestyle. Will she continue to dwell in her unstable comfort zone? Or, will she finally open her eyes?</i></span></span><br /><br />If I could ever call a book a reader whisperer, this would be it for me. Cream spoke to me in so many awesome and amazing ways. It’s such a raw and powerfully positive story of growth and acceptance. Cream as a character is also one of the most intense, real and dynamic female leads I’ve read in a long time.<br /><br />What I loved so much about Cream is that she’s written as someone having a nice combination of savvy, rough street smarts and innocence. It’s that underlying innocent part of her, the part she’s managed to keep even with all the negative obstacles she’s had to deal with that helps her change and grow once she allows that part of her to emerge. That’s not to say she doesn’t have a lot of flaws and isn’t a nasty shit at times. But this is what makes her an interesting, complex character. <br /><br />I also got off on how the author wrote this book. The way this story is written: language (colloquial), pacing, character development, were all spot on for me. The growth of Cream is slowly done and we get to see her change as she learns from her relationships and experiences. It’s a natural progression and I liked that it wasn’t rushed or that she suddenly had an epiphany that wasn’t natural to her character. <br /><br />That the author wrote a character who works in the sex industry but isn’t being controlled, or doing it for “good” reasons, was a huge plus for me. Cream chooses it after that first night. She did have a crappy childhood. And she ends up stripping because she was pimped out by someone who should have protected her. But she embraces it, becomes the best stripper, and uses it to her advantage. She also enjoys it and makes no excuses, nor does she blame the world for it. And shockingly, she stays unaffected by the sexual nature of it, never having any attractions or sexual encounters. <br /><br />One of Cream’s worst characteristics is being unable to get close to people and running all the time. She seemed to be missing the empathy chip for a good part of this book and I wondered if she’s actually just out of touch with her feelings, or if she really feels as emotionally cold towards others as she acts. But it’s clear after a while it’s a survival technique. It’s also what throws her into meeting new people and having experiences that push her out of that. <br /><br />Of course, both good and unsavory characters enter her life. And I will say that what was appealing to me was that there were no stereotypical characters. People who you’d think would try and take advantage of Cream don’t and those who you’d think would normally be nice, aren’t. I loved that. <br /><br />This story is about Cream, but several other characters are very compelling as well. Payton is an interesting character in that she starts Cream on the road to growth, albeit, unknowingly. She’s the impetus for Cream to see that she has a lot of talent and helps her career flourish. She’s also the one who turns Cream on to women, suggesting she’s not just a lesbian, but a stud. At first it felt like Payton would be a very positive influence on Cream in all aspects, not just her career, but things didn’t go as I thought.<br /><br />Then there is Tasia. Tasia is the antithesis of pretty much everyone Cream has met. Tasia, like Cream, has been abused on several levels, but has kept her heart, hope and humanity. Even when she’s so clearly treated like shit from her fiancé and by her best friend, she still manages to keep hope that one day she will find love. This is not to say she’s a doormat. Like Cream though, she’s managed to keep some innocence locked away but it’s more on the surface for her. <br /><br />Tasia and Cream meet mainly due to a betrayal, but more so because Tasia looks very much like the only “friend” Cream had ever had and probably the only person she had any feelings of love towards. Although Cream tries her usual shtick with Tasia, keeping things at a distance, something about Tasia’s vulnerability and positivity worms its way into Cream’s psyche and slowly breaks down her hard core emotional wall. Tasia also has an easy going, loving, but non-threatening or needy way about her that sparks something in Cream wherein for the first time in her life she finds herself opening up to another person and caring about their well-being. <br /><br />I know there are some negative aspects to this book. There were some editing issues and well, I know intellectually it’s not subject matter for everyone; it represents a fairly specific world. Also, some (lesbians) might not like that Tasia’s sexual orientation is not really clear and it’s written more as she loves Cream vs being attracted to women. And also for my taste, even Cream, while clearly into women and not ever having an attraction to men, won’t commit to stating she’s a lesbian. However, I got so sucked into the story and the characters, I didn’t notice those things or they didn’t bother me. <br /><br />I would love to read another book by this author. <br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 4-5- some graphic sexual situations, but more tell than show. But graphic language used. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Grade:</b> <b><span style="color: #e69138;">5 Stars</span></b></span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-3729648238348523062014-05-25T14:33:00.001-07:002014-05-25T14:33:53.861-07:00Review- The View from 16 Podwale Street by Paul Alan Fahey <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>The View from 16 Podwale Street</b></i></span><br />By<b> Paul Alan Fahey</b><br />July 8th 2012<br />Era Historical 1930’s/ Lesbian<br />48 pages<br />Publisher: JMS Books LLC <br />Kindle Edition<br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />April 1939. Warsaw, Poland. To the casual observer, the houses on Podwale Street look very much alike. Yet at 16 Podwale, nothing is as it seems. Within, the walls hold many secrets that could destroy the lives of its inhabitants as they witness the city’s ever-mounting tide of Nazism.<br /><br />Wealthy recluse Elwira Malinowska is more an observer than participant in life. In her seclusion at 16 Podwale, she watches the world pass her by. Then Raz Zielinsky comes to work as a housemaid for her father, and Elwira’s life is suddenly divisible by two -- the time before Raz and the time after.<br /><br />Years pass, and the women become lovers. They depend on each other. Elwira is Raz’s protector, and Raz is Elwira’s conduit to the outside world, where people speak of nothing but the continual threat of war with Germany.<br /><br />Elwira, a steadfast Catholic, believes Pope Pius XII will intervene to save Poland from the rumblings of a maniac and an imminent invasion. But when the Pope fails to mediate peace and the political situation worsens, Elwira and Raz plan their escape to freedom.<br /><br />Will their plan succeed? Or is it already too late?</i></span></span><br /><br />This was a very unique and different story for me. I loved the writing, the flow of it, the descriptions of WWII Poland---pre-German invasion, and the characters. It’s not the usual fare. And although not overtly expressed, I enjoyed the subtle way both characters were shown to have a lesbian relationship. It actually fit the characters, who they are, and the time period. <br /><br />The blurb pretty much expresses what the story is about so I’ll go from there. I thought Elwira and Raz have an interesting relationship. On the surface, and to some degree in their day to day life, they don’t have equal standing in the relationship. Raz often reminds Elwira that her status is that of house servant even though in private they are lovers. Although Elwira disputes it all the time, she’s still a very proper woman of her station and still treats Raz as a servant, at least on the surface. Part of it is appearances for when she has callers, but mainly it’s because she’s totally dependent on Raz for various reasons, including having a disability that keeps her from going outside during the day. <br /><br />This is an interesting dynamic to me because emotionally, physically, and probably even financially, Raz could survive without being dependent on Elwira for a roof over her head and a job. However, she feels loyalty towards her and will not leave even though Elwira’s not wanting to face reality might ultimately cause her great harm. They’ve just established a working relationship in which they have a loving, supportive relationship but within those parameters. <br /><br />While I felt the relationship was a good part of the story, much of it is also about the time period and how Elwira and Raz try to keep functioning in a politically turbulent and quite dangerous time. One of the strong themes is Elwira’s total belief in the Pope and that he will save Poland from an invasion by Hitler and the Germans. She’s very innocent and somewhat naïve as she disputes warnings from outside callers and Raz that the Pope really has no ability to affect the political scene. Her Catholic faith is strong and very important to her and she feels her belief will save them. <br /><br />Raz is not as believing as she goes out daily for shopping and other errands and hears the constant gossip and chatter of impending war. She’s also well aware that she and Elwira, but particularly Elwira due to her “disability,” will be subject to a particularly bad fate if Poland falls to the Germans and Hitler. People like them, who love the way they do will not be spared. Much of the story is Raz trying to convince Elwira that maybe they should think about leaving before any invasion, while Elwira stalls, holding on to her tradition, family home, and religious belief. It did create a great tension and impetus to keep reading to see the outcome. <br /><br />Then there are the two regular gentleman callers who don’t exactly try to woo Elwira, but visit with her and talk in a “gentile” way about the current events. One of them has told Elwira that he is very concerned and has a contact who he can pay to get him and his pregnant wife out. They gain her confidence and she starts believing in their concerns for her welfare. What happens ultimately is not what one would expect. <br /><br />The only thing about this story that I felt was not explained was how the two gentlemen even knew Elwira and why she would allow them to visit when she clearly was in love with Raz and felt she could not live a normal life. Other than that…<br /><br />This is well worth the read. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for an ambient period historical from an interesting time and place. <br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 0 <br /><br /><b>Grade: </b>4 ½ Stars</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-77727821618880696552014-05-22T19:54:00.001-07:002014-05-22T19:54:32.706-07:00Review- Business with Pleasure by Keziah Hill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCS2F5s7C0ylp1DQHOvXq0iqsREuYMpzweNbau-gdKATzMK0xrHsRaePQG9AT1831tYf_ueIdU0DPHN7oF19DUW3SupXlY_ZTnPt5Zwc7nOcnZ2DmJ0xYpYk88jN4CReDoQvkrAb07fov/s1600/Business+with+pleasure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCS2F5s7C0ylp1DQHOvXq0iqsREuYMpzweNbau-gdKATzMK0xrHsRaePQG9AT1831tYf_ueIdU0DPHN7oF19DUW3SupXlY_ZTnPt5Zwc7nOcnZ2DmJ0xYpYk88jN4CReDoQvkrAb07fov/s1600/Business+with+pleasure.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Business with Pleasure: Hot Down Under</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">By <b>Keziah Hill</b><br />Jan 1, 2013<br />Contemporary/ Erotica/ f-f-m<br />48 pgs<br />Publisher: Momentum<br /><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />For sculptor Lottie Williams, entering her sculpture, Triumvirate, in the Carve the Wind exhibition is the culmination of her career.<br /><br />What she doesn’t count on is the incendiary lust between her and the curators, James and Magda. While she’s at first happy to play, she rapidly gets out of her depth when she confuses business with pleasure. Against the wild backdrop of the Pacific Ocean her work is displayed to great acclaim.<br /><br />But all she wants, all she can think about is being back in the bed of the two people who have laid claim to her heart and soul.</i></span></span><br /><br />I’m going to come right out with it, this is a short, hawt and juicy piece of stroke fiction. It’s really basically one long sex scene, but wow, what a sex (string of scene/s)!<br /><br />I thought the set-up was good. While on the beach working on an art piece that she wants to enter into an exhibition, Lottie keeps seeing a man who intrigues her. She doesn’t know he’s the owner of the gallery that is sponsoring this event, she only notices how buff and nice looking he is. <br /><br />When she goes to the gallery to present her piece to the owners, a husband and wife team --James and Magda, she’s shocked to see it’s the guy she’s been eying on the beach. After a discussion reveals that both Magda and James have been admiring Lottie’s work for a long time and were hoping she would enter a piece, the conversation starts turning sexual as Lottie’s piece is quite erotic. Magda and James overtly try to seduce Lottie and she easily goes along with it. There is a brief blip in this love fest though when Lottie suddenly feels unsure of their intentions as she’s heard rumors about them, but the author managed to infuse a fair amount of real warmth and genuine feelings of attraction between all three.<br /><br />What is most enjoyable about this story is that all three click sexually without any hang-ups or hesitations. You know that feeling when you can just be yourself and feel free to get your freak on without judgments or fears of being rejected? That’s the kind of feeling this story evoked in me. <br /><br />Moreover, there was no feeling of one of the parties being left out or any two having a better connection. This is something that I’ve read in threesomes and not liked. No, Magda and James are both equally attracted to Lottie and she to both of them and they all mix it up without any angst. And it’s all left off with them deciding to keep it going. <br /><br />The only negative thing I’ll say about this is that the author used the word “savage” to describe James way too many times. It felt like it was on every page, although realistically I’m sure it wasn’t. <br /><br />If you’re in the mood to read a short, erotic f/f/m, I definitely recommend <i>Business with Pleasure</i>. <br /><br /><b>Heat Level: </b>5- pretty much the whole story is sex and it’s written graphically with strong, blunt sexual language. <br /><br /><b>Grade</b>: 4 Stars</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-18058787755169171802014-05-17T20:13:00.000-07:002014-05-17T20:13:37.710-07:00Review- Love and Devotion by Jove Belle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHB6JXzbyaiiMeCsbau71KrGDRdYLjLdZuVcWG9i3vXg5IkEofKoj20bKKV2quCTooWar0bLVbipq4uTu2xII6LNPxRgZW_DP_QnUzodmAOdmRAC5B1craqHopnaaBHBuo3tUC5fz6xlE/s1600/love+and+devotion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHB6JXzbyaiiMeCsbau71KrGDRdYLjLdZuVcWG9i3vXg5IkEofKoj20bKKV2quCTooWar0bLVbipq4uTu2xII6LNPxRgZW_DP_QnUzodmAOdmRAC5B1craqHopnaaBHBuo3tUC5fz6xlE/s1600/love+and+devotion.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Love and Devotion</i></b></span></span><br />By <b>Jove Belle</b><br />Dec 17, 2013<br />Lesbian/Contemporary/Romance/Friends to lovers/Small town<br />240 pgs<br />Publisher: Bold Strokes Books<br />Kindle Edition<br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>KC Hall loves her family, her small East Texas town, and her best friend, Emma Reynolds. All of that takes a backseat when her lover beckons. Lonnie is blond, beautiful, and willing. She’s also married and a lifelong friend of KC’s mama.<br /><br />KC knows the affair is a bad idea, but she just can’t help herself. When presented with the lush landscape of Lonnie’s body, KC subscribes to the philosophy of “orgasm first, think later.” Unfortunately, a secret that big is impossible to keep in a close-knit community where everybody knows everybody else’s business. The scandal would hurt her entire family.<br /><br />Emma is KC’s exception, the one woman she loves enough to not have sex with. When Emma confesses that she’s loved KC since high school, KC is terrified. One wrong move and she could lose Emma completely.<br /><br />Is she willing to let her family pay the price for her good time? Or will she turn to Emma to discover the true meaning of love and devotion?</i></span></span><br /><br />I have read several of Jove Belle’s books and I’ve enjoyed them. This one looked appealing to me so I went for it. It’s a good story. Definitely a good friends to lovers story. However, even though I enjoyed it for the most part, it seemed to drag and felt like it went on and on forever. I feel that it was mostly due to how drawn out this story was from the time Emma lets it be known she has more than “just friends” feelings for KC and KC realizing that she’s always loved Emma. <br /><br />For some, how this book starts out might be off-putting. KC is having an affair with her mother’s married best friend Lonnie. That’s a no-no for several obvious reasons. But the way it’s written, I was intrigued and not really bothered because as the story progresses there is character growth and understanding of the negative consequences to everyone involved. And also, this is a more complex story involving several characters; it’s not just about those two and the sneaking around.<br /><br />I’ll start with KC. In her career life she’s totally together and on top of things. She got her master’s degree and has a great job that offers her a good living with a flexible schedule. She lives with Emma, her best friend from high school, and as far as their relationship goes, they are very close friends only. From KC’s side, Emma is the one person who grounds her and she feels comfort with when they are together. They actually sleep in the same bed together and cuddle, which I thought kind of weird if they are trying to keep things platonic, but manage to keep things from going further.<br /><br />KC is also very close to her family and takes care when issues happen with her younger sister. She’s community oriented in that she goes to church with her family every Sunday and follows all the rules and expectations of being in a small community where everyone knows each other…on the surface. Her main flaw though, and it’s one that is cause for a lot of grief between her, Emma, her sisters, and Lonnie, is that she’s flighty and irresponsible when it comes to her love life and sexual desires. This is where she has no scruples, nor any common sense. And the fact that she’s having an affair with her mother’s friend and a married woman is not sitting well with anyone. However, Lonnie has her hooked and KC finds it hard to break away from her even though she knows it’s wrong. <br /><br />As this story is mostly about KC, meaning she’s the center of it, Emma is not really as developed or shown to the reader. All we get to know about Emma is that she’s always loved KC as more than just a friend and that she is will not agree to be with KC until KC gets really clear she wants to be with Emma. This, even though she wants KC more than anything. I have to respect her on that. She knows what’s been going on between KC and Lonnie and she knows that even though KC is professing her love and desire to be with her, KC will still not commit totally. <br /><br />And this is the crux of why this story dragged. KC admits to herself that she wants Emma and she gets possessive and jealous when Emma meets up with a former lover, but she’s unwilling to completely break it with Lonnie even though she knows for Lonnie she is only desired for booty call. Even at that, it’s never a sharing or exchange of giving. Lonnie never satisfies KC, it’s only about her, which kind of pisses KC off. She’s also not clear that she can commit given her history. What I felt could have been cleared up fairly quickly got drawn out due to KC’s being wishy-washy. <br /><br />On the plus side of that, it’s good to show the natural progression of character growth and love in a relationship, which the author did superbly here. We get to see KC’s process and how she goes from existing for lust to discovering that love is more worthy of her energy. <br /><br />Other than that, there are a lot of interesting characters and I did enjoy the small town feel even if I don’t believe a small Texas town or church in a small town would be so accepting of the gay population like they are in the one portrayed here. But I did like that KC’s and Emma’s families accepted them as lesbians and as a couple. <br /><br />I definitely recommend <i>Love and Devotion</i> if you’re really into the small town, church going, family oriented type of story in which everyone has a happy ending. And also if you like the friends to lovers story. It excelled on that point. <br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 3 – some graphic sex, but scattered throughout the story. <br /><br /><b>Grade:</b> 3 ½ Stars </span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-11447019800632890122014-05-07T19:18:00.001-07:002014-05-07T19:18:25.007-07:00Review-Little Black Dress by Scarlet Chastain <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Little Black Dress</b></i></span></span><br />By <b>Scarlet Chastain </b><br />August 12, 2013<br />Lesbian/Contemporary<br />70 pages<br />Published by Evernight Publishing </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Kindle Edition<br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />Paris: The romance and fashion capital of the world. So what the hell makes Jamie Scotts, an IT geek from New York, think the city of lights holds the answers? Driven by need for change, she lies to her boss about her fluency in French and becomes the company’s first international sales person. Fluent? She can barely ask for directions to the ladies’ room.<br /><br />Jamie’s a duck out of water with her low maintenance style and New York accent. Her unsuccessful sales pitch almost sends her home, until she meets the epitome of elegance, Giselle Bianchi. An unlikely relationship blossoms as the dress designer takes Jamie under her wing. Giselle’s guidance not only reveals Jamie’s missing je ne sais quoi, but also unlocks repressed passion with the help of a little black dress.</i></span></span><br />I read Scarlet Chastain’s <i>Bella Key</i> and really liked it, so when I was in the mood for something short, sexy and emotionally satisfying, I picked up this story. It totally hit the spot and was exactly what I wanted. <br /><br />Jamie is a smart woman on the fast track in her company. She’s been the top sales person and convinces her boss that she can get the company’s product into the European market. The chutzpah and sales skills that got her where she is in the US doesn’t exactly translate in France, where she’s lacking language skills, sophistication and cultural nuance to open the doors. In a moment of serendipity, Giselle enters her life and things change drastically. <br /><br />Giselle is an elegant but down to earth woman who has built her own business in the fashion world. She sees Jamie having a hard time at a café and decides to step in to help. They start up a friendship as Giselle helps Jamie navigate the world of doing business in France. <br /><br />This is a short, but sweet and complete, nothing left hanging or short-changed, story of two women who hit it off and open up to each other without too much ado. Both characters are nicely written and they just click with each other. The setting felt real and added a lot to the feeling that these two are on a romantic adventure and falling in love.<br /><br />I like these stories by Scarlet Chastain. They are great for a quicky feel good romance with some juicy sex. <br /><br /><b>Heat level: </b>3</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Grade:</b> 4 stars </span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-8140535382860765972014-04-28T18:53:00.003-07:002014-05-07T19:25:30.909-07:00Review- Safe Passage by Kate Owen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNpcQtYQOQ9UAbNkJjIjLoSQfsLVVe9dRa4Kv719T0TDuEhPdRQyliozpFeazlZH1hORy8IFSmPVb51gY1pl0I4u2Hpi02-SSCnrg5lmnz7DfPiJYpcSfVjRswJX8Nqfd_oJObnCr6BKL/s1600/Safe+passage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNpcQtYQOQ9UAbNkJjIjLoSQfsLVVe9dRa4Kv719T0TDuEhPdRQyliozpFeazlZH1hORy8IFSmPVb51gY1pl0I4u2Hpi02-SSCnrg5lmnz7DfPiJYpcSfVjRswJX8Nqfd_oJObnCr6BKL/s1600/Safe+passage.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Safe Passage</span></i></b></span><br />By <b>Kate Owen</b><br />Feb 5, 2014<br />Contemporary/Lesbian/Romance/Mystery<br />116 pages<br />Pub: Less Than Three Press<br />Kindle Edition<br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>While doing renovation on the old New Orleans home inherited from her great aunt, Jules discovers an old safe filled with letters written in French—and code. Enlisting the aid of a local French teacher, the beautiful Gen, Jules slowly begins to learn the truth of her great grandfather's death …</i></span></span><br /><br /><i>Safe Passage </i>is a cute, fun story with very likable characters who gel nicely. It’s also a mystery of sorts. <br /><br />Both Jules and Gen are instructors at a school for girls. Both have been eying each other but have kept quiet about it. Jules is an out lesbian at the school, but Gen is more mysterious and doesn’t give away that she’s into women. <br /><br />They both come together when Jules needs Gen to translate some old documents she’s found that are written in French. Of course, it comes out fairly quickly that Gen is into women and they get together without too much ado. <br /><br />Both characters are fun and interesting. The author infused a lot of humor and light banter between them, adding to my enjoyment of the book. <br /><br />To be honest, it’s an easy going love story with no real drama, which is kind of refreshing. I wouldn’t want to read books like this all the time because a little tension and drama is good. However, it’s a welcome change once in a while to have two people click and go for it without constant issues coming in that drag a story just to create faux obstacles for the couple to face and get over. <br /><br />As far as the mystery part goes, I think I was expecting a bit more on it. It’s really not that developed and the reveal wasn’t a big wow. What was more important I guess is that the women have something to work on together or have an excuse to interact with an outside objective so they can get to know each other. <br /><br />But I did like that part of the mystery involved her aunt who was an interesting character, and also, that she was involved in a mix race love story, something scandalous for her time. <br /><br />What I ultimately felt about this story was that it could be the precursor to these two characters being in a detective series. They work well together, they are great at digging up clues and have good chemistry. <br /><br />Bottom line, <i>Safe Passage</i> is the perfect, light feel good book to read between two weightier and more serious books.<br /><br /><b>Heat level</b>: 2- some sex, nothing too graphically written<br /><br /><b>Grade: <span style="color: #bf9000;">4 stars</span></b> for emotional, entertainment value<br /> <b><span style="color: #bf9000;">3 ½ Stars</span></b> for lack of development in either romance or mystery</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-21832284889646090942014-03-30T19:11:00.000-07:002014-04-28T19:11:27.109-07:00Review- Love Relived by Monique Thomas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Love Relived</b></i></span></span><br />By <b>Monique Thomas</b><br />Feb 4, 2013<br />Contemporary/Lesbian/Romance/AA<br />198 pgs<br />Kindle version<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photographer Mahogany Williams has beauty, brains and success in San Francisco. California. Knowing the right people had launched her career into the limelight and she was enjoying the benefits of it all. When her Nana beomes confined to a wheel chair, Mahogany goes back home (New York) to care for her . While doing so she also tries to undo the pain that caused her to leave so many years ago. Cheryl James is a quiet sensible and known to be "too serious" woman. She enjoys her job working as a head educator at the famed Museum of Natural history. It is the theme of history, however that caused old feelings to resurface when she finds out that Mahogany is coming back into town. Will she be able to handle it after the bitter way things were left between them? Can forgiveness be enough? Can love be revisited?</i></span></span><br /><br />I wanted to love this book. I had a good feeling going in to it that I would love it. I like the idea that two people who’ve shared a lot between them, but who for various reasons could not be together, get a second chance to explore what’s between them. So I was hoping this would be a warm, loving story about two people that meet up after years apart and fall in love all over again. Unfortunately there were several issues with this story that made it a less than positive reading experience for me.<br /><br />I’ll start with the most glaring thing about this book that agitated me. This is just a badly edited book. I think I’m more forgiving of bad editing with self-published books than many readers. But by midway into this book I found myself focusing more on the mistakes than the story, which tells me this was worse than the usual. Or maybe I’ve just read too many crappily edited self-pubbed books these days and this was the needle that broke the camel’s back. Whatever the reason, it had a HUGELY negative impact on how I felt about this book because my bad mood about it amplified other issues that might not have bothered me as much if I wasn’t irritated by technical issues. <br /><br />Just a few Examples. (I bolded or added missing words or punctuation in brackets to show mistakes: <br /><br />Periods in speech quotes:<br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i><br />“She is fine baby, just fine.” Mamma Hanna interjected.<br /><br />“I wasn’t being sarcastic. I have been hun gry for a long time and I am starving.” Cheryl replied nonchalantly.<br /><br />I wanted to tell you one more time so you could understand.” Mahogany admitted.<br /><br />“Just tell her that you don’t like it that way Mama Hanna. She is there to help you.” Cheryl pleaded</i></span><br /><br />Comma issues:<br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>Mahogany turned around<b>, </b>to see that her Nanna had come into the dining room. “ Nana did you need something?”<br /><br />When they did <b>[,]</b>she realized that there hadn’t been wearing much underneath her clothes.</i></span><br /><br /><br />Missing words, wrong words, other missing punctuation: <br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /><i>“The last time we were in this parking lot I told you that I love <b>[you]</b> and left it up to you what we should do. <br /><br />“What do we do <b>know</b>? <br /><br />“I want you <b>to</b>.”<br /><br />Thinking about her was the reason that she could not concentrate<b>d </b>on her job.<br /><br />Mahogany tried to shut her brain <b>of </b>but she found it difficult.<br /><br />Cheryl opened it <b>[. , or and]</b> she stepped to the side so that Mahogany could enter first. A light came on in automatically in the small hallway. <br /><br />“Where are you going?” Cheryl asked. “I was just trying to give you some room.” Mahogany managed to stammer out. “Don’t you think that you have put enough space between us?” “I’m sorry Cheryl. I never meant to…” “Shhh,<b>[”] </b>Cheryl silenced her, “<b>W</b>e will talk but right now that is not what I want to do.”<br /><br />“Is the water <b>to </b>hot?” Cheryl asked.</i></span><br /><br />Funky sentences, writing or wording: <br /><i><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br />She let her hands explore Mahogany’s back and they found their way to the ass that was being sculpted by the fabric of the skirt. <br /><br />She brushed her teeth and entered the shower in the homemade sauna, she let the water run over her head. </span></i><br /><br /><br />Next up, and this is rather unfortunate and a matter of personal taste that maybe won’t affect many readers, this story features a push-pull relationship. Push-pull relationships drive me insane and I don’t find them entertaining IRL or in reading. I also don’t believe in the long term viability of them unless both parties make a drastic change because I feel they are more about obsession than true love. I guess it can happen, but I find the interim so annoying. This is pretty much most of the book. <br /><br />Cheryl has wanted Mahogany since they were teens. They got together when they were very young before they each had a chance to know who they were as individuals and how they each felt about their own sexuality. It’s understandable that both had a lot to learn. The main issue is that Cheryl has understood that she’s a lesbian, whereas Mahogany is not that clear and is unwilling to really look it for various reasons.<br /><br />Most of the rest of the story, including flashbacks, is about Cheryl being hurt and angry that Mahogany can’t or won’t be what she needs and getting on her case about it every time they have some communication, and Mahogany making excuses or ignoring or telling Cheryl to leave it be. <br /><br />That they finally work it out is great. After all that they went through, to finally reach that point where they’re both on the same page should be very satisfying. However, for me, the author didn’t quite make me believe these two will manage long term. And this is mainly because there was no real explanation as to why Mahogany finally came around to really getting that she loves Cheryl as more than just a friend. <br /><br />Having sex when you’ve been close friends doesn’t exactly turn a relationship into a love story. Mahogany has a great career and is content in that, but no one has really sparked her interest romantically. And she’s going home out of familial duty. None of those are reasons to come to understand finally, after years, that you’re in love someone vs just loving them from having a shared history. She didn’t even go back to specifically work it out with Cheryl, when, if really she loved her, that should have been one of the main reasons. Even after figuring out she loves Cheryl, she’s rather reticent, giving up easily when Cheryl rebukes her. So I wasn’t feeling her in a strong way where Cheryl was concerned. Away from Cheryl though, she’s a likable, dynamic character.<br /><br />And I was bothered a bit by Cheryl seemingly coming from a place of “you owe me for all that pain and I deserve to control how this relationship is going to work now” feeling. I get that, I really do. After years of being put off she doesn’t like that she’s expected to just let Mahogany walk back into her life without some kind of proof that Mahogany is not just coming around because it’s convenient. But it doesn’t exactly inspire the warm, fuzzy feelings of falling in love all over again. <br /><br />Mama Hanna is really the best part of this book. She’s that wise family matriarch that that understands that life isn’t always perfect but that love is worth fighting for. Really, if it wasn’t for her, Cheryl and Mahogany would probably still be going back and forth or avoiding.<br /><br />So bottom line, I think I could have looked at this story in a more positive light had there not been so many grammatical and writing errors, which set me off right away. Also, if the author somehow would have focused more on what was positive between the characters vs the constant negative drama I think I might have had a better feeling overall. <br /><br /><b>Heat level: </b>3 some graphically written sexual scenarios<br /><br /><b>Grade: </b>2 ½ Stars</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-43251136170455966492014-02-25T19:08:00.001-08:002014-04-28T19:23:24.854-07:00Review- The Artist's Muse by Alyssa Linn Palmer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsoyKdYCrs5hIhQPC7T8MeagSBPQT2AQS-xS4ctVbxubCR8Ah026ttn4k6sWpXu54L8ORcolpRcaUzynkbJcAUW_KFvRGt9WCa1CMGTj2RnJNdEb5rMEPvaWTSqAlVrw_oUWrHWe8-WW4u/s1600/The+artist%27s+muse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsoyKdYCrs5hIhQPC7T8MeagSBPQT2AQS-xS4ctVbxubCR8Ah026ttn4k6sWpXu54L8ORcolpRcaUzynkbJcAUW_KFvRGt9WCa1CMGTj2RnJNdEb5rMEPvaWTSqAlVrw_oUWrHWe8-WW4u/s1600/The+artist's+muse.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>The Artist’s Muse</b></i></span></span><br />By <b>Alyssa Linn Palmer</b><br />Oct 13, 2013<br />Lesbian/ Romance<br />57 pgs<br />Pub: Bold Stroke Books<br />Kindle version<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Broke and desperate after her girlfriend leaves her for a man, Colette finds a job as an artist’s model. When she arrives for an interview, she’s surprised to meet a striking young woman, Lise Beauclerc. Her relief at not having to pose for a man turns to infatuation as she observes Lise during their sessions, creating fantasies in her mind during the hours she poses.<br /><br />Colette has no idea if Lise would return her affections, and when she finally gets up the courage to ask her out, their connection is more than she’d ever hoped for. However, a few days later, Lise introduces her to Marcel, her former fiancé. They seem intimately involved, and Colette is devastated. Will her dreams of Lise be unrequited?</i></span></span><br /><br />I’ll be honest, it took me a while to decide to buy this book. The blurb attracted me but the only other book I read from this author also had a triangle that was hard for me to understand and frankly didn’t work out that great. Then there’s the price, it’s almost $5 for 57 pages. That in itself was a huge deterrent. I think that price point for that amount of words is insanely ridiculous. But I justified it in my mind with it being published by Bold Strokes Books, which has a good reputation and who charge more because they’re a niche publisher. I accept that. That’s still a lot of money for such a short book, but… I bought it. <br /><br />I say all that because in the end I’m glad I didn’t go with my hesitations. This turned out to be a really good story even with some issues. I was left feeling good and that I had read yummy, erotic beginning to a love story. <br /><br />The blurb pretty much expresses what the story is actually about so I’ll go from there. <br /><br />Who made this story for me was Lise. Since we don’t get her POV, we have to see her through Colette’s lens and any response through action and dialogue from her. Lise seems to be in her own little world while drawing as Colette poses. She doesn’t act like Colette is any more interesting to her than as a prop and inspiration for her art work. I liked that because it was a nice contrast to Colette’s constant inner sexual fantasy musings about Lise, which seemed to go on and on and got a little boring. The mystery of Lise and her indifferent demeanor was what grabbed my attention. <br /><br />At first I thought the first person present POV from Collette was not going to be interesting because I didn’t find her to be a character that appealing. As the story progresses though, we do get to see more about what Lise is like from her interactions. Unlike Colette, she has a quiet outer reservedness that belies her passionate and maybe slightly kinky personality. She seems much more mature than Collette in how she acts, but is maybe younger? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is one thing I kept trying to figure out. Both have graduated college already but Lise mentions that she chose Colette to model because she’s older. However, the vibe around Lise is that she’s the older one. She’s very grounded and self-assured about her work. She also has the money to pay for a model, something I wouldn’t expect of a young, struggling artist. I pictured her at first to be in her 40’s, which as I read on, was not the case. <br /><br />She also quietly takes the lead in an interesting and fairly erotic way after she accepts an invitation from Colette. It’s something that says a lot about who Lise is, maybe the most telling thing about her and it was nothing she said. <br /><br />Then there’s Colette. Compared to Lise, she seems to be somewhat immature even though maybe older. She’s instantly smitten by Lise and falls in love with her in like a day. This is something that bothered me about this story. Colette has only posed for Lise maybe 3 times. They spend one night together and Colette talks and acts like they’ve known each other for months and has an expectation of Lise and of a romantic relationship that seemed out of step with the actual amount of time they’ve known each other. It fits her personality as this is how she’s described, that she falls quickly and easily, but for me her attraction was mostly from her own inner fantasies vs any real connection at that point in time. <br /><br />However, what I did like about her is that she does act on her attraction and gets the guts up to ask Lise out even though Lise has not shown any particular interest and Colette has no idea if she’s into girls. I also liked that she was willing to risk stepping out again after a major heartbreak. <br /><br />It’s a short novella so there’s not too much depth to this story, however, it was left on a positive note for me. And it was a fairly sensuous story. <br /><br />The other thing that I enjoyed and which also added to my final positive feeling for the book was the setting. I felt the author really captured the feel of the women living in Paris. At times I wasn’t even sure what time period this is set in. It could be any time since there was no mention of modern technology like cell phones or such. But the women wearing chignons and going to old movies did give it somewhat retro, European feel. Also the world in which they live of artists and theater people also added to the non- contemporary ambiance of this book. <br /><br />I do kind of wish the <i>That Artist’s Muse</i> was more drawn out and or we could have gotten Lise’s POV as I think it would have added a lot more depth to this story. However, in and of itself it is a good read. I’d recommend it. <br /><br /><b>Heat level</b>: 2-3- not too racy but not too bland either<br /><br /><b>Grade:</b> Really liked </span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-61885424842921826052014-01-29T19:47:00.000-08:002014-04-28T19:24:08.455-07:00Review- The Messenger by KC Blake, Lavinia Marksman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbkbkitK7y0PPQVsGP_DQ2sg_hwhFeE41P0fxqXbpvqQKoRJzqnwqx9ROcXGsoGIHaLf-_d19EPPyohmnBRrT3dyyBPMxzPsBhpgNl6gMgU5Uxce9ztVx0fFXDD_ECfOGnhklPV6w5K9v/s1600/the+messenger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbkbkitK7y0PPQVsGP_DQ2sg_hwhFeE41P0fxqXbpvqQKoRJzqnwqx9ROcXGsoGIHaLf-_d19EPPyohmnBRrT3dyyBPMxzPsBhpgNl6gMgU5Uxce9ztVx0fFXDD_ECfOGnhklPV6w5K9v/s1600/the+messenger.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>The Messenger (A Lesbian Romance)</b></i></span></span><br /><b>KC Blake, Lavinia Marksman</b><br />Jan 5, 2014<br />F-f/ erotica/Contemporary/Romance/Interracial/ May-Dec<br />54 Pgs<br />Pub-Self<br />Kindle Edition<br /><br /><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A refreshingly new take on modern lesbian romance! <br />Lucy Murphy is a corporate shark. She’s a master of the deal and a force not to be reckoned with. For all her power and expertise, however, she lives in a self-imposed bubble. When her work life isn’t as satisfying as it once was, she begins to doubt her powers and wonders if there could be something more.</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />One day, a tough young messenger comes into the office, who entrances Lucy with her shockingly white hair and her “don’t mess with me” attitude. One gaze from this young woman divides Lucy’s life into before and after. Could this be the beginning of something wonderful, or just another sign that Lucy’s losing it? </i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />Romantic and deeply moving, "The Messenger" is an unconventional love story that will stay with you long after the final page. </i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />This was an amazing, lucky find for me. I was buying another book and Amazon had this on that page as a--you may like this one too. I liked the cover and the blurb grabbed me so I took the chance. And it was well worth it. <br /><br />As the blurb says, Lucy is a corporate shark. Characters like this can rub me the wrong way depending on how they’re written. You know they can be too hard-nosed with no conscience, cruel and hard to sympathize with. Lucy walked that fine line but was very appealing because while she does have those characteristics, she’s extremely self-aware. And that was the main appeal of this story for me because it’s told from her POV. <br /><br />Self-aware characters are my favorite. I love a character who is flawed, is maybe not very nice at times, but who becomes aware of it and is very perceptive about how people around them experience that. Maybe they don’t make excuses for their behavior or they even use it to their advantage, like Lucy does for her job. But they have the ability to learn, grow and change from having that innate understanding of themselves and others and that spurs character growth. <br /><br />Lucy is also willing to let go of what’s she’s been and has felt who she is to break out of a mold she’s starting to feel trapped in. And damn, but I love the idea of saying screw it to all one’s responsibilities and doing something so crazy and off the wall, damn the consequences. It’s a nice fantasy and fun to read since it’s often a dream of many of us. <br /><br />So, “Rabbit” as she calls herself, is the cause for Lucy’s sudden self-reflection. Rabbit demands that Lucy come out and sign for a package she’s delivering. Lucy doesn’t have to sign herself, but Rabbit forces her by acting as if she gives a crap about the consequences to her job if she walks away with the package without delivering it. The gall of that piques Lucy; she doesn’t do the bidding of others, they do it for her. But being the first and really only person to ever stand up to Lucy grabs Lucy’s attention. <br /><br />Lucy finds herself obsessed with finding Rabbit. She can’t stop thinking about her and goes looking for her. She finds her but she’s got a lot of judgments that she unconsciously expresses that she needs look at in order to get Rabbit’s respect. <br /><br />Rabbit is just as turned on by Lucy and while being just as proud and resolute, she doesn’t resist when Lucy finds her and they hook up. Like Lucy, Rabbit is written is such a way that she has a lot of pride, and although she wants to have something with Lucy she will not let Lucy get away with disparaging remarks about her and puts Lucy in her place.<br /><br />The sex is no holds barred hot. While it’s Lucy’s first time with a woman, and she muses that she’s never been attracted to a woman before, she also muses that men and sex in general haven’t been an issue at all, not until she met Rabbit. <br /><br />Just an FYI, Rabbit is probably almost half Lucy’s age. So there is a bit of the May/Dec thing going on. However, that didn’t seem to be an issue with either and it didn’t come across as squicky in any way. To me at least.<br /><br />Although a short novella and technically not really a “lesbian romance” as part of the title suggests, it is a provocative and juicy story that hints at a future for these two characters. I would scoop up any other lesbian story this author writes in a heartbeat. I loved the straightforwardness of the characters and the writing. <br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 3-4- one semi graphically written sex scene<br /><br /><b>Grade:</b> Loved it</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-54283907560975241802014-01-26T07:59:00.000-08:002014-04-28T19:21:14.770-07:00Review- Imperial Hotel by Diane Marina<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Imperial Hotel</i></b></span></span><br />By <b>Diane Marina</b><br />Jan 1, 2014<br />Lesbian/Era Historical 1940’s/Romance<br />32 pgs<br />Kindle Edition<br /><br /><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>In a posh hotel in New York City in 1948, two young socialites are introduced by their mothers. As their friendship grows, so does love. Will Lily and Joan's love prevail? Are they brave enough to stand up against the social standards of the time, or will their love simply become part of the history of the Imperial Hotel?</i></span></span><br /><br />I saw that the author posted this book on Goodreads and I bought it mainly due to the mention of the time period and that it’s set in NYC. Ultimately, I liked this story. It’s short but expresses enough to get hooked into the characters. And while not erotically written in language, what the two young women experience together is erotic and deeply passionate. <br /><br />At first I thought there was too much tell and was fearful that the whole story would be told in such a way. It’s told from Joan’s POV and she gives the background on how she first met Lily and what she felt. They’ve met through their mothers’ introduction. Lily is engaged to be married, but this doesn’t sit well with Joan as both women start to get close. And while Joan doesn’t really get why she feels this way, she doesn’t question it too much either. <br /><br />At the point that both women understand that they have special feelings for each other, there is a nice shift in the story in that there’s enough dialogue to start getting a good feel for where both women are coming from. Their first sexual interaction is sweet and shows the intensity of their feelings. This is probably what turned me on most about this book. <br /><br />What was missing for me is that this book didn’t have a strong feeling of being in the 1940’s. Maybe it was because both women are from upper class families and the way they speak didn’t include much slang or colloquial speech of that era. Outside of having to hide what they feel due to an unaccepting society, there really was nothing that made this story stand out as a retro story. Would have been nice if there were some cultural references to the era in the form of clothing style or music, etc. <br /><br />The ending was also wrapped up a little too perfectly for me. But overall this is a sweet, feel good love story and I would highly recommend it. I’m pretty sure I will read another of Diane Marina’s books. She does have a pleasing writing style. <br /><br /><b>Heat level: </b>2- one sex scene, not graphically written. More suggestive.<br /><b><br />Grade</b>- Really liked it. </span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-7414732481989952392014-01-25T09:58:00.001-08:002014-01-25T10:15:48.582-08:00Review- Castle of Dark Shadows by Patty G. Henderson<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Castle of Dark Shadows</b></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">By <b>Patty G. Henderson</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">July 1, 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Historical/Lesbian/Gothic</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">164 pgs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Publisher: Blanca Rosa Publishing </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Kindle edition</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Olivia Hampton's lifelong love of dark literature led her to
accept a job as a cataloger for Julian Dunraven's extensive but extremely
disorderly library. The only problem is that the position requires her to work
at Dunraven Castle, the remote and mysterious home of the Dunraven family. In
Victorian America, a young lady had to either earn her keep or be married off
to the best man for her hand. Olivia accepted the position at Dunraven Castle.</i></span></span></span>
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Olivia could not have guessed the dangers that awaited her in the exotic but
darkly menacing castle. When there is an accident on the road to Dunraven, she
wonders: Are the broken carriage wheels mere random misfortune or a sign
foretelling doom? Olivia's fears soon turn to mortal terror after a subsequent
encounter with a terrifying faceless phantom disabuses her of the 'random
misfortune' theory. Frightened but undaunted, she decides to put the nightmare
behind her and throw herself into cataloging the enormous Dunraven library.</i></span></span></span>
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What Olivia could not have foreseen was the devastatingly beautiful Marion
Dunraven's effect on her heart. But the madness that seemed to curse the rest
of the Dunraven family makes Olivia realize she must find a way to escape
Dunraven Castle with her life and the woman she loves before they both become
victims</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I read <i>Passion For Vengeance</i> by this author and totally
loved it. I like gothics so it was a no brainer to buy some more of this
author’s books. What I enjoyed about this book is how quirky it is even as a
mystery and an historical. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Right from the beginning, on her way to her new position as
a library cataloger for a private residence, Olivia experiences what she feels
is an evil being in her coach driver. It’s nighttime and they are pushing
through to get to Dunraven Castle. It scares her but she chalks it up to her
overactive imagination. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Marion Dunraven has hired Olivia to catalog her father’s
extensive, but disorganized, library. Marion is warm and friendly to Olivia but
keeps things formal between them, not really trying to interact outside of what
they need to discuss. Olivia is immediately attracted to Marion and can’t stop
thinking about her. Unfortunately her job in the house as well as her status
more as part of the staff offers her little contact with Marion. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As the days go by, in brief meetings, Marion expresses her
romantic interest in Olivia. However, it never leaves Olivia feeling confident
about what Marion actually feels. This plus the odd things going on all have
Olivia feeling somewhat out of place even if she’s in awe that she’s
temporarily living in such a beautiful place. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">While this story does have a romantic element, this is more
about the mystery of what’s going on in the house. Strange things keep
happening to Olivia specifically and she and she’s reluctant to discuss them
with others. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has been introduced to
Cora, Marion’s sister, who is off. Meaning, everyone quietly suggests she’s
mentally unstable even if they don’t contradict her and actually let her do her
thing. Cora seems to vacillate between being very friendly and nice and at
other times cross and caustic to Olivia. Olivia can’t figure her out but is
leery of her. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then there is Marion’s father, Julian. She meets him totally
by accident and he chastises her for interrupting him. His manner is in direct opposition
to what he’s really like. He seems to be in control of the house and yet he’s
very elusive and almost a recluse. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, most of the characters are not what they seem at first except for Olivia.
But the story is told through her voice. Then there is this book in the library
that everyone is focused on, a book written by Julian’s long ago ancestor that
might be worth a lot of money for the information it contains. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So here’s the thing, while this is a quick and easy read
that does capture the essence of a gothic mystery, it didn’t really stand out
as a huge wow for me. It’s a decent mystery, although the author did give away
too much in the beginning, taking away from what I though was supposed to be a
big reveal in the end? Not sure. But the ending is not that surprising. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then there’s the romantic angle, which was also written in a
reserved way. Olivia pines over Marion. Marion does come to Olivia and they get
together. But there wasn’t much focus on it; it was more a side bar, which is
not a bad thing. But combined with the mystery that didn’t really have depth to
it, I felt nothing stood out particularly. Also, the epilogue wrapped things up
in a way that didn’t fit with the on page development of the relationship
between the two ladies. Meaning, the epilogue focused more on their
relationship than the rest of the story did. Or so it seemed to me. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What did totally float my boat in this, and what saved this
story for me, is how totally quirky it is. Reading this was rather like hanging
out in a carnival combination fun/horror/mirror house in which you feel a bit
disoriented, but in a good way. The women speak of love to each other in over
the top flowery and dramatic ways that don’t match how they act, which I kind
of liked because it seems so unexpected. The characters are all a bit askew in
how they act on the surface but not on a one on one basis. And it does have the
traditional gothic setting; a quirkily built castle (a la Winchester Mansion), but
one that stands out of place to the rest of its environment. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So while individual aspects of this book were lacking,
overall, it’s a good, entertaining read. I’d recommend it if you like gothics
and or if you’re in the mood for something offbeat. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Heat level:</b> 1-2</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Grade:</b> Liked it</span></div>
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<![endif]-->LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-31988765012247615962014-01-24T19:03:00.003-08:002014-04-28T19:24:46.100-07:00Review- Silver Wings by H.P. Munro<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7wTazfR8k2kD0yn_pPIE2VzpB9xR5eECJnOKgEC6RtwhnDc5Fp2YyJWePz26TyO7J09kHARXgR97_wUwKbYi9B7KJ1dXxLL9qGS5KNMClCxAQBZ7F47PV9gGJ6n4VNDF3s2oCyQmDkGD/s1600/silver+wings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7wTazfR8k2kD0yn_pPIE2VzpB9xR5eECJnOKgEC6RtwhnDc5Fp2YyJWePz26TyO7J09kHARXgR97_wUwKbYi9B7KJ1dXxLL9qGS5KNMClCxAQBZ7F47PV9gGJ6n4VNDF3s2oCyQmDkGD/s1600/silver+wings.jpg" height="320" width="199" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Silver Wings</b></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">By<b> H. P. Munro</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Oct 15, 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lesbian/Era Historical 1940’s/Romance/Multicultural </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">251 Pgs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Pub: self? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Kindle Edition</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>When in 1943, twenty-five-year-old Lily Rivera is widowed,
she finally feels able to step out of the shadows of an unhappy marriage. Her
love of flying leads her to join the Womens Airforce Service Pilots, determined
to regain her passion and spread her wings, not suspecting that she would
experience more than just flying.</i></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />
Helen Richmond, a Hollywood stunt pilot, has never experienced a love that
lifted her as high as the aircraft she flew…until she meets Lily.</i></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />
Both women join the W.A.S.P. program to serve their country and instead find
that they are on a collision course towards each other, but can it last?</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This book was a lucky find for me. In fact, I don’t remember
how or where I heard about it, but I’m glad I bought it. It’s one of those
stories that crept up on me and left me feeling a bittersweet sadness. Not that
this is a sad book, not in the least. It’s an upbeat and beautiful love story
as well as an accurate depiction of the time period and history of the W.A.S.Ps.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lily has lost her husband in the war, and being a pilot,
decides to join the W.A.S.P program to help out her country. Coming out of her
interview she passes Helen, a beautiful blond woman who somehow attracts her attention.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Helen notices Lily right away and feels the same immediate attraction.
She is a lesbian however, so it’s not a strange feeling for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily for them, they end up being assigned
the same living quarters at the training camp. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The two women become fast friends during their training and
slowly little glances and innocent touches start happening between them. They
both feel an energy between each other, but circumstances don’t allow them to
explore or acknowledge it. It’s especially uncomfortable for Lily because she’s
aware of an attraction but doesn’t completely understand the nature of it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Even though the 40’s was not a time period where same sex
couples could be open, and especially it was illegal in many places and
particularly the military, it wasn’t that odd if women cuddled or slept in the
same bed or comforted each other. This is exactly the situation that Lily and
Helen end up in and living and working together in a close atmosphere gives
them a chance to get closer and have little touches without attracting
suspicion. At the same time, it created more sexual tension between them until
they were able to finally express their true feelings. What’s nice about how
their romance developed was the fact that their relationship as friends had
time to grow as well. So it’s totally believable that they would invest in a
future relationship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">While the romance is in the foreground, there are a lot of other
aspects to this story that made it a fun and gratifying read to me. First are
the other characters who stand out in their own right. The women assigned to
bay four are an eclectic mix of women who all have distinct personalities and
all come from completely different backgrounds. As the women slowly get to know
each other secrets that some are hiding come out. Secrets that could
potentially be harmful. But they all accept and stick up for each other and I
liked this. It’s actually kind of refreshing to read a story with a bunch of
female characters in which at some point it doesn’t turn into a catty bitch
fest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Also on characters, the author doesn’t go for the default,
which was also refreshing. Lily is Hispanic and shares an apartment in NYC with
an African American woman, both working in night clubs as a musician and singer.
Lily, besides being a great pilot, is also a concert violinist in the NY
Philharmonic. One of the other women is married to a black man, who is a lawyer
but serving in war. She hides that she’s married because her marriage is
illegal in Texas but not in her state of MA. So I loved that the author didn’t
go with stereotypes, which actually made it more realistic and appealing due to
that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Other issues of the time were addressed as well. A local
Texas dept. store wouldn’t serve Lily because they “don’t serve Mexicans.”
Racism and sexism of the time are realistically shown but are tempered by the
women themselves standing up against it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The other interesting part is the actual history of what the
W.A.S.P.s did. While they didn’t fight in the war and weren’t part of the
military, their contribution was great. The author really got the historical
facts correct and the small, intricate details accentuated and created an
authentic feel that this was set in 1943 and that the women were pilots. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ultimately though, it’s about two women who fall in love and
try to navigate how to be together during this time period and being separated
due to their service and social mores of the time. I liked that the author did
both a prologue and an epilogue from current time. It gave a strong feeling of
a life- long interesting history of a woman, her love, and other women who had
guts and lived what they wanted to. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Heat level</b>: 3- not very graphic written, but several sex
scenes. Also, first time to read very erotic foreplay and sex in terms of how
one starts and preps a plane for take- off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Grade:</b> Really liked it</span></div>
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<![endif]-->LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-63725191033559608822013-12-28T11:24:00.002-08:002014-04-28T19:13:42.363-07:00Review- Turn Me Out by T. Ariez<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Turn Me Out</b></i></span></span><br />By <b>T. Ariez</b><br />June 17, 2013<br />Contemporary/Lesbian/Erotica/Stud4Stud/ AA<br />16 pgs<br />Kindle edition<br /><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />Angel and Ace are best friends who happen to both be studs. When Angel realizes that she has developed feelings for Ace, she devises a plan that will go against everything she's ever known and believed. She is tired of the traditions and rules that make her feelings taboo and decides to risk everything. Will it all be worth the risk?</i></span></span><br /><br />This is a short, quicky story, but I loved it. The author has a fresh, straightforward voice but one which is also infused with a lot of heart.<br /><br />I have little to vague knowledge of the sub groups that are part of the lesbian community. I have read some butch/femme and stone butch stuff, so it’s not unfamiliar. But this is the first time I’ve read about stud and boi relationships. So part of my turn-on in reading this was being introduced into this world. T. Ariez did a great job of giving an explanation for anyone not familiar with this that was integrated well with the flow of the story and didn’t feel like a wiki side bar. I did google some things though to get a better idea of some of the slang.<br /><br />As a character, Angel is that person I’d love to know IRL. She’s going through a transformation of her identity and risks a lot to go with feelings that defy everything she feels she is and has represented until this point. She’s become attracted to another stud, Ace, whom she’s buds with, a taboo in her world. Not only that, she finds these new feelings also include wanting to be touched and be more feminine, which are diametrically opposite to her stone stud identity.<br /><br />While Angel goes about getting with Ace in a way that some might feel wrong, she’s so open and vulnerable and humble as she goes for it in the only way she can think of to get Ace to see her as a potential partner. Even Ace, who reacts in the way Angel almost knew she would, feels Angel’s openness and it affects her way of thinking even though her initial reaction was pretty negative.<br /><br />That this is a story of being fluid vs. fixed is a huge plus for me. I love characters that act outside “their” box. I especially enjoy characters that are willing to look at the status-quo and change if that’s what’s happening to them.<br /><br />I also want to point out that this is perfect in the way it’s written, meaning the set-up, pacing, and how it ends. It leaves the door open for some more exploration of Angel and Ace’s relationship, which is kind of juicy. But it’s very satisfying in and of itself.<br /><br />I definitely recommend Turn Me Out even if you’re not into the specifics of sexual/relationship constructs of various sub groups within the lesbian world. It’s an honest and sexy story that everyone can relate to. I can’t wait to read more of these two characters. Or anything by this author.<br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> 4-5. Graphic sexual language and scenarios.<br /><br /><b>Grade: </b>Loved it</span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-6829385563820706912013-12-15T08:21:00.000-08:002014-04-28T19:32:56.876-07:00Review- Dysphoria, The Admirer by Karelia Stetz-Waters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Dysphoria</b></i></span><br /><br />Title Has been changed to:<br /><br /><span style="color: #351c75;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Admirer</span></b></i></span><br />By Karelia Stetz-Waters<br />January 24, 2013<br />Lesbian/Contemporary/Mystery-Suspense<br />Pgs 252<br />Publisher: Artema Press Incorporated<br />Kindle version<br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Helen Ivers is running from a horrific past to what she hopes will be the safety of a small New England town. As the president of Pittock College, another tragedy explodes into her life soon after her arrival. Besieged by memories of her mentally ill sister, which refuse to let her rest, she must face an abomination even as her mind begins to unravel. A young woman died on the train tracks in a shockingly brutal manner.<br /><br />Reeling from the murder and the threat to her students, Helen is approached by professor Adair Wilson, who draws her into her life and her confidence amid a web of swirling deception.<br /><br />Ivers and Wilson are as desperate to know the identities of the victim and killer as the killer and the police are to hide them. Whether Adair is Helen’s savior and can be trusted as a lover becomes increasingly unclear as Helen becomes a target.<br /><br />In a crisis with no clear allies, Helen must not only learn the truth but fight to stay alive. The killer is watching and she has been chosen. Every hour of doubt, fear, and hopeless investigation brings the bone saw closer.</i></span></span><br /><br /><i>Dysphoria/ The Admirer </i>is an extremely taut, well-written psychological thriller. Karelia Stetz-Waters, did an amazing job of getting not only into the main characters’ heads, but the killer’s and his victims as well. The setting is also perfect: a small New England college town, located next to an abandoned asylum. It offers the perfect backdrop for chilling serial killings and main characters who have their own dark psychological issues.<br /><br />Helen is a fascinating character even if she borders slightly on being a cliché as a mark/ victim common to psychological thrillers. She’s suffered and is still suffering over the death of her sister, a mentally ill woman who died in a horrific way. As with many people who deal with a loved one on a regular basis who has a mental illness, she feels a lot of pain that she wasn’t able to help or save her sister as well as feeling guilt that on some level she wanted to have her own life and not have to deal with it.<br /><br />Like many other people who suffer a major tragedy they feel guilt for, she acts out in ways that are self-destructive to her being as well as her reputation. On the surface, she’s cool and collected and professional as the head of a college. However, she also has a deep vulnerability and teeters on the edge of a nervous breakdown. This helps her feel a close kinship with the victims and helps her push the police and others who seem not willing to really look into what’s going on.<br /><br />While this is not really a romance, there is a slight romantic angle to this story. Adair is a young professor who is stirring up the students, creating more energy around the alleged murder to the chagrin of the school establishment. Even though she’s fighting for justice for the victim, she’s rather like a loose cannon in her manner. She’s rebellious and brash and very passionate. She also goes for what she wants and she wants Helen. In her own way, she acts in ways that push Helen’s mental state into more chaos because she’s got her own issues that challenge Helen.<br /><br />Also to comment on the romantic angle, I rather liked how it didn’t develop in the usual way. In fact, Helen and Adair’s first sexual encounter is quite bizarre and definitely fits with the dark theme of the story. But I also liked how Helen, who seems locked up emotionally, also accepts the fact that she’s being seduced by a woman and goes with it.<br /><br />The killer: to be honest, I guessed who it was fairly early on, but did love that I couldn’t really know for sure until the end. The author really gets into his head, his past, where he’s coming from in lots of detail. I say “his” because that’s the pronoun the author used when describing him and his past. However, the way this story is written, it could be anyone, including a woman who has pretended to be a man. Of course he has his own psychological issues even if a straight up sociopath.<br /><br />I thought the pacing of this story was perfect. The author drops clues along the way as the investigation goes on. Helen and Adair start working in tandem, even if being at odds, to prove that there is a killer. The story goes back and forth between different character points of view (not head hopping), which made this a well-rounded story. And while not suspenseful in an intense way, it is a quick page turner.<br /><br />I see that the author has titled this as the first in a series. I will totally snatch up the next book as soon as it comes out.<br /><br /><b>Heat level: </b>2-3- one or two semi graphic sexual scenarios<br /><br /><b>Grade: <span style="color: #783f04;">5 Stars</span></b></span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2987282986651733585.post-78738448940238404202013-12-08T11:40:00.000-08:002014-04-28T19:36:09.503-07:00Review- SBF Seeking- by LaToya Hankins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ZMp7caHD8Kt_n1cb7CwsCJD5fyPwyJYMWTGamYyPEQ_j9m41U4oxgsQ4Y1JymqnnBPfeeS4Cp-FXnj8wqB4gJXZQmtiIypNfIxqW5vjaRqFH8fCHAHGvJuUd18WxksxtaH_TcxgOLNI7/s1600/SBF+Seeking....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ZMp7caHD8Kt_n1cb7CwsCJD5fyPwyJYMWTGamYyPEQ_j9m41U4oxgsQ4Y1JymqnnBPfeeS4Cp-FXnj8wqB4gJXZQmtiIypNfIxqW5vjaRqFH8fCHAHGvJuUd18WxksxtaH_TcxgOLNI7/s320/SBF+Seeking....jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /><br /><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>SBF Seeking</b></i></span></span><br />By <b>LaToya Hankins</b><br />Contemporary/ Lesbian/ Chick lit/Coming out/AA<br />January 22, 2012<br />Pgs 234<br />Pub: JMS Books, LLC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Kindle edition<br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />Four months before her wedding, Yvette Thurman realizes this might be her last chance to have a sexual fling with a white man. But she never thought placing a personal ad would lead her to discover she was a lesbian.<br /><br />Yvette's small town life in eastern North Carolina never prepared her for the personal journey she undertakes as she struggles to find her heart's path.</i></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Through personal ads and late night visits to an adult bookstore, Yvette learns more about her own personal desires than she ever did when she was engaged to be married. If she embraces her true self, can she find acceptance and love from her family and friends? Or will she be forced to hide who she really is from those she cares about the most?</i></span></span><br /><br />So this is not really a book I normally read; I usually stick to romances or erotica. I often find chick lit too close to IRL-- been there done that--want to read something different that doesn’t represent my experiences. This is a book written by an African American woman about African American lesbians. I’m neither of those, so I took a risk and bought this one. The blurb both intrigued me and pushed my buttons—starts out with cheating, a usual “oh hell no” for me. But I was curious to see where the author would go with this since it so brazenly sets up what seems like an unrealistic or over-the-top story line.<br /><br />Yvette is the main protagonist and this story is told by her. It’s basically a telling of her experience as she semi-consciously (in awareness) creates a catalyst for her own growth. Her life is going perfectly, or so it seems. She has a good job that she enjoys and is engaged to Martin, a man who’s madly in love with her. They’ve been together for a long time and are about to be married. For some reason, and I probably have an opinion that differs from other readers, she jeopardizes her relationship by having a fling with a random white guy because it could be her last chance. <br /><br />The cheating with a white guy thing is interesting to me because there is no set up for the reader that she’s ever been curious or aching or craved to know what it’s like to be with a “white” guy specifically. It’s kind of odd, I think, to wake up one day and decide you want to have an affair with someone of another race you have no connection with just to experience it specifically. I felt she chose that, maybe unconsciously, because it was a way to be forced to look at some dissatisfaction with her relationship with Martin, but in a non-threatening way. It clearly wasn’t a serious attempt at a possible new relationship even though her decision was one she was willing to follow through on if it worked out.<br /><br />Lots of people do dumb ass things to jeopardize the “perfect” status quo when they are not conscious of their dissatisfaction. Or if they are conscious of it, they don’t have the courage to do something about it. I think she already knew, deep down, it wasn’t going to affect her at her core as maybe having an affair with a black man might have. However, doing so did make her question what she actually feels towards Martin and it’s the cause for a huge change in her life.<br /><br />As is common with stories more focused on growth, a series of events catapult Yvette into learning different things about herself, especially one that will cause conflict for those who love her. Through a coworker asking, Yvette ends up helping out a lesbian couple move into her apartment building and becomes friends with them. She ends up going out with them to a gay bar and becomes attracted to a girl who keeps looking at her. There’s a lot in between, but after a while, she feels she’s a lesbian and enters that world 150 %. Meaning, she comes out to everyone without too much angst, and studies everything about being a lesbian: how they dress, what they read, music they listen to, etc. <br /><br />In some ways I read it as Yvette telling the story from outside herself and I didn’t really get a good feel for what all of this means to her, inside her being. She came across to me as too easy going about cheating on Martin and breaking up, and easy about realizing she’s a lesbian and telling everyone. And she didn’t seem too bothered or freaked about the downfall of her first lesbian love. It felt like her story was kept on the surface as maybe it would if retelling and having emotional distance from it.<br /><br />I’ll be honest, maybe my impression of her is more about me being an older woman. It’s a story that I think in many ways would be much more interesting to a younger woman who can identify with her growth and the coming out process.<br /><br />Who was an interesting character for me is Linda. I loved Linda. She’s a warm, juicy, real, down to earth woman who helps Yvette navigate being a new lesbian and coming out process as well as guiding her in a more realistic and practical way about the realities of being a lesbian. I loved her advice to Yvette to just be and let it all happen naturally. And while she’s going through her own issues, being part of an interracial couple and that falling apart, she’s real even in that, expressing her hurt and anger. Her vulnerability comes through even though not her story. I also got a better feel for her emotional state than I did for Yvette’s, making her easier for me to relate to. I would love to read a story with her as the main character.<br /><br />Throughout the story, the importance of having family and good friends to support you through life is a strong theme.<br /><br />The main negative thing I’d say about this book is the editing. There are numerous typos. Enough that I noticed them throughout the book. It didn’t bother me too much but it some readers might find it an issue.<br /><br />At any rate, this was a good read. I think this is the author’s first published book? Not sure. But I’d read more books from this author. I felt it’s a true and interesting depiction of someone coming out as a lesbian with all the nuances and issues come up.<br /><br />Heat level: 2<br /><br /><b>Grade:</b> 3-1/2 stars </span>LVLM(Leah)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02967270446547400006noreply@blogger.com0