Review- Criminal Gold by Ann Aptaker

Criminal Gold
By Ann Aptaker
Nov 2014
Mystery/Era historical 1940’s/ Lesbian/ Crime/ Noir
264 pgs
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Kindle Edition

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

“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.
…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.”

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.

Almost as important as the language, characters, story, pacing, etc, Criminal Gold 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.

Will definitely pick up the next book by this author.

Heat level: 0 – no sex, but a lot of linguistic foreplay.

Grade: 5 Stars

Review--The Rules by S. Renee Bess

The Rules
By S. Renee Bess
April 7, 2014
Lesbian fiction/ Mature/ African American/ Contemporary
172 pgs
Publisher: Regal Crest Enterprises, LLC
Kindle Edition

Blackmail, murder, missing persons, and concealed identities link lives that otherwise, would have remained unconnected.

London Phillips searches for affirmation and for Milagros Farrow, a revered lesbian author who seems to have vanished.

Lenah Miller arms herself against memories of her past as well as those who dismiss her because their backgrounds differ.

Rand Carson seeks to replace one lost interracial relationship with a second one.

Candace Dickerson executes a plot to enrich herself with other peoples' earnings.
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 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.

The Rules 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I think this author's writing is getting better and better. Will definitely pick up another of her books.

Heat level: 0

Grade: 5 Stars

Review- Daughters of Buxton by Kathryn Ewers Bundy

Daughters of Buxton

By Kathryn Ewers Bundy

June 4, 2012

Period Historical (1902)/Lesbian/romance

Pgs 288

“The Black Utopia” is what it was dubbed in the papers.

Buxton, Iowa was a coal mining town in 1902. Built by a visionary businessman, it was home to black, white, immigrant and native families. Peace and cooperation reigned.

Into this unusual mix came Lucinda Vanderberg, German immigrant daughter of the new century. She was independent, self-sufficient and full of ambition. The last thing she needed was love.

Soft-spoken Vanetta Washington, born to the sons of slavery, was plucked from the Virginia hills to make a home for her husband and children in the cold Midwestern mine country.

To Lou and Netta it seemed inevitable. They were drawn together by adversity and likeness of mind, and together they made a family. But not everyone in Buxton thought they should.

This book was a nice find for me. I’m still on an early 20th century reading kick and downloaded this book really without reading the blurb; I just hoped it would be a decent book. Daughters of Buxton turned out to be one of those books that wormed its way into my psyche and I couldn’t put it down. Even when I did have to put it down for RL chores and job, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and the characters.

I’ll be honest, I’ve written and re-written the review for this book many times.I even posted one for a few days. I really wanted to give this book justice since I loved it. I finally decided to take down the review and rework it again. Almost everything about this book affected me on some level. It’s so complex and covers a lot of interesting history and issues for the time it was set in. It made me think a lot, about life then and these characters’ lives. I struggled for a few weeks to whittle down the review to a decent amount but couldn’t. After leaving it up for a few days I realized I gave away too much of the story and it’s better for everyone to experience the depth of it for themselves. So… I’m trying again.

The first thing that grabbed me about this story was the detailed description of this world of a southern Iowa mining town and its inhabitants. The language, the tone, attitudes and expressions all felt so true to the time period. This town and characters came to life for me in such a rich and vivid way that I even felt that the author must have actually lived then and was relaying personal experiences.

Most especially I was drawn to Lucinda, the character that drives this story really. Lucinda is an independent minded young woman for her time who balks at the idea that as a woman she’s expected to marry and have babies. She wants none of it. Against her parent’s wishes she goes to nursing school in Chicago where she’s exposed to a more liberal society and ideas. She lands a job in Buxton, a newly created and fast growing mining town not too far from her home, as a nurse working for the mining company to tend to the miners and their families’ medical needs. She receives a better salary than most of the miners so she’s quite capable of taking care of herself.

She’s direct, honest and has a clear and strong sense of right and wrong. And she has no qualms about expressing herself when she feels people are not acting in an upright way or if she or someone she loves is being slighted.  She’s simple, wears plain, functional clothes and works hard. She also has a strong sense of community and family even if she’s moved away from home to have her life.

Vanetta was less defined for me, but I did get a good feel for who she is. She’s a miner’s wife and was brought from Virginia to be with her husband when the mining company decided it was better in the long run for the company if the miners could have their families with them. She’s a good, soft spoken woman who tends to her family and takes care of her husband who has become injured in the mine and has become an addict of pain killers and booze, all without complaint.

At first we only get few glimpses into Lou’s growing feelings for Vanetta. As she goes about her days tending to the sick in their homes, Lou starts finding excuses to visit Vanetta, knowing she’s having a hard time. She helped deliver Vanetta’s baby and has bonded with her. She doesn’t muse about her in a sexual or romantic way; she just knows she has a strong desire to be around her.

As for Vanetta, she mentions that she appreciates Lou helping her, being there during her difficult times, and that she enjoys Lou’s company. Lou is very protective of Vanetta and sort of takes care of her in her own way, which Vanetta responds positively to.

What I liked about this relationship beginning was that it didn’t build in the way of a typical romance, but still conveyed a deep, mutual, blossoming of love for each other---(to the point that I couldn’t wait for them to get together.) There were no sexual or flirty side glances or overt expressions, no, their growing attraction for each other happens in a very subtle and natural way without any questions about what they feel for each other being outside of what would be acceptable. And it always stays on a proper level on the surface and to some degree in how they act with each other, meaning, there’s never any assumption of anything more than a close friendship filled with respect for each other.

Also, I’d like to interject that I found it refreshing that when Lou reflects on or tells Vanetta how beautiful she is, it’s never with the usual adjectives used often in books with interracial couples. She never describes her in terms of her skin color, nor does she fetishize her. She’s simply beautiful, period.

When they finally acknowledge that what’s going on is more than just a friendship, they easily slip into it without any angst or discussion that they shouldn’t feel or act upon what they feel. I liked that they seem to be innocently in love and in their own little world for the first years together, conspiratorially oblivious to any social stigma around their love.

Of course things don’t stay innocent for them. They are a lesbian and interracial couple living in the era of Jim Crow laws. Even though this little racially diverse town and close by towns in Iowa at the time didn’t suffer the extent of racism the south did, it still wasn’t a cozy love fest between races either.

Both women and their kids try to find their place in society as a couple, a family and as individuals. Of course this leads to many conflicts with some locals and family, especially in the case of Lou whose family lives close enough to hear the gossip. Both racism and homophobia get equal time in any negativity coming their way, however, the really nasty stuff is about them being lesbians. I felt the author neither skirted the realities of racism or homophobia, nor did she use them gratuitously to manipulate emotions. They are dealt with honestly and realistically. However, I will say that it was satisfying that issues along the way got resolved in positive, and I felt, believable ways.

While this story includes the everyday issues these women face, this is ultimately about a lifelong love story. The glue that holds Lou and Vanetta together through all the years is their undying love for each other and this comes through so strongly throughout the book. They support each other, they express their love often in so many ways and although not a romance per se, this is an endearing, sweet love story.

All in all this was this was an excellent read and one that I won’t forget for a long while. I still can’t get these characters and the setting out of my head.

Heat level: 0-1. Not erotically written on any level, but clear intimations about their sex life are expressed.

Grade: Loved it!