Review- Exposure by Lisabet Sarai

Exposure
by Lisabet Sarai
Feb 2009
Contemporary/ Suspense/ Erotica
Novel- $6.00

Buy it Phaze

Stella is just minding her own business and having a bit of fun, working as an exotic dancer at the Peacock Lounge. Through no fault of her own, she witnesses a double murder and gets pulled into a shady dance of deceit with political bigwigs, mob bosses, dirty cops and scheming widows. Now she’s everyone’s target; her only chance is to sift through the lies and expose the truth.

Every once in a while a book comes along that messes with my usual trope/character trait likes and dislikes and I find that things I’ve said in a review or commented on about what I hate is not always true. I love it when an author can take those things that usually push all my buttons and make me actually enjoy them. Lisabet Sarai has done that to me with Exposure. This was such a fun, fun book, totally making me enjoy my pet peeves for a change.

Stella is a stripper. She loves what she does for real; she gets off on it. But she keeps it strictly on the dance floor and never goes with costumers or lets them touch her. She has principles and she’s in total control. Part of keeping that control is tuning into the men watching her and picking up what their personalities are like, what turns them on and manipulating them. She’s very good at what she does.

One night a man comes in who stares right back at her but she can’t read him and it pisses her off. He makes a proposition, which she goes along with out of curiosity and she end ups witnessing the murder of a very well known man, Anthony, who is running for mayor. Of course she runs. The next thing she knows, she’s being propositioned by the mayoral candidate’s wife, Francesca, who wants Stella to be her publicist because she wants to continue and run in her husband’s place. While Stella is distrustful and is wondering what the hell is going on, she goes along with it to find out who killed Anthony.

While all this is happening, she’s also being threatened on a constant basis with break-ins to her home, getting beat up on the street, being followed and she finds that she can’t trust anyone, even her cop friend whom she went to school with, is attracted to and confided in about witnessing the murder.

Stella is one of those female characters that I totally love. She’s very strong, independent and doesn’t take any crap. She’s curious and courageous but acts humanly stupid at times. And typical in erotica, she’s got the hots for everyone she comes in contact with, man or woman. She gets off on stripping, making no bones about the fact that it’s her choice and not because of the usual excuses women give like putting themselves through college to make what’s considered an unrespectable trade sound more respectable. She doesn’t care what anyone thinks. I get off on a female character who is very comfortable in her own skin and sexuality and who does things that go against the grain.

Where this story would have had me going “Oh, please, you can not be serious” and peeving me, is in the plot, but shockingly, it doesn’t. Most of what happens in the plot is fairly improbable for a contemporary and yet, I was so thoroughly enthralled that I just couldn’t get enough of it.

First pet peeve, a character acts against their own personality traits. Stella is hired to do a private dance for the mayoral candidate. She has repeated over and over that she doesn’t sleep with just anyone, especially a costumer, that she’s in total control, and yet right after the dance she gets it on with this guy. Next, she witnesses the murder and flees. She doesn’t try to hide herself or anything, just walks out the front entrance where anyone can see her, goes home, and decides to contact a friend in the police dept. the next day. This all goes against the fact that she’s portrayed as very intelligent, savvy, and in control. And yet, I enjoyed her so much that I could care less.

Pet Peeve #2 (contemporaries only), unrealistic reactions by characters or what wouldn’t really happen IRL. Her cop friend takes her story rather lightly and promises to keep her out of things and not share this with anyone else. WTH? That would never happen, ever. She would have been an automatic suspect for leaving the scene of the crime and taken into custody. Also, this is a high profile murder. Every cop would be on this, so her friend keeping that info to himself is ridiculous. And it would have been in the papers straight away. But Ok, Lisabet Sarai has me so hooked into this story and characters that I’m willing suspend disbelief and go for the ride.

Pet Peeve #3, ridiculous plots. Next, she’s propositioned by Francesca, the widow, who knows that Stella was with her husband and slept with him. She wants Stella to be her campaign spokesperson convincing her that the public would relate to her as a real person, a working girl who understands the pulse of the every day person. Then she shoves her hand down Stella’s blouse and they get it on. Again, WTH?

Really, a mayoral candidate would never choose a stripper as a campaign manager. Just wouldn’t happen. Second, a single girl with no kids who loves stripping because she just gets off on it would not be someone that the average working class citizen could relate to even though she did come from a “humble” background. JMHO. And of course, she’s so quippy with comebacks that she totally charms the press who just love her and think it’s cute that she’s a stripper. Again, not believable. And yet, I’m totally loving the writing and this story so much that all of these unbelievable situations that would normally piss me off hardly even register to me. Keep it coming!

It goes on and on with Stella getting mixed up with people trying to find out who killed the mayoral candidate and who is threatening her as well. I loved how Stella’s mind worked in this story as she works out the clues and tries to figure out who she can trust and who committed the murder. All of the characters in this story are suspect and while Stella trips through all these weird experiences, she’s also having sex, or being turned on by half of them no matter what gender they are or their age. It was just so entertaining.

One pet peeve that did happen in this book, but which I couldn’t gloss over due to the trippy non conventional entertainment value was that the relationship between Francesca and Stella was portrayed as the manipulative dysfunctional one compared to the very sweet relationship with the cop. Francesca is a person who really wants Stella but she’s not always an upstanding person, which irks Stella even though she’s attracted and wants her. But for me the way it panned out it was a subtle diss and perpetuation of the f/f story line being less desirable over the m/f story line.

For the most part though, this book was a light, juicy suspense with quite a variety of sexual situations and a fast flowing creatively written suspense plot. Mixed with an array of dodgy and or quirky characters, Exposure was a delicious read.

Sex rating: Orgasmic. m/f, f/f, rose usage (don’t ask), dildo use, public sex, elaborate masturbation and dream sex scenes, light anal and light BDSM.

Grade: B+

Review- Jason's Reckoning by Merry Phillips

Jason’s Reckoning
by Merry Phillips
April 2007
Contemporary/ f/f/m/ erotica
Short story-12k words

Buy it Phaze- $2.50

Janice and Jason Callahan were a happy couple until her father died and she became boss. Then old fears and new pressures put a strain on their marriage.
When Janice learns about Jason's mistress she devises a plan calculated to make him pay for deceiving her.
But Sherry is more than she expected. Now all bets are off!


Jason’s Reckoning is basically a very short erotica story about two women and a man. I’m not going to say it was greatly written, there were many holes in this story, in the writing, but it was still a very cute and satisfying story of my favorite kind. It's about a f/f/m threesome who stick it out and make a life together and for that I give it more kudos than I normally would.

Janice finds a credit card receipt for a hospital bill that she knows nothing about. Convincing the hospital people to give her the name of the patient involved, she finds out that it’s a woman. Becoming suspicious she checks out this woman and finds out that there is a house for rent right next to hers and she goes there to spy on her. Of course she finds out that her husband Jason is having an affair with this woman, but she doesn’t get pissed as much as she gets curious.

One day she calls this woman, Sherry, pretending to be a marketer for her a book she has just written and they meet. As soon as Sherry shows up, Janice lays out all the paperwork and pictures proving that she is Jason’s wife and they start to chat. Instead of really getting angry though, Janice is intrigued by Sherry and wants to get it on with her to teach Jason a lesson and because she’s attracted. Sherry has been with women before but Janice hasn’t, so it’s all new and exciting to her. They all get it on and decide that they will all stick together being a committed threesome.

The bad- there are many gaps in this story. The story left out a lot of details that would have made it much smoother and not take me out of the story wondering how some of the characters got away with things without being questioned. There were also quite a few spots where the story jumps ahead, telling and info dumping more than expressing what’s going on. It felt a bit like the author got lazy and didn’t feel like really putting energy into it to make it more polished. It has great potential to be a much better book.

The good- I really liked how easy the characters take what’s going on. I know that goes against the grain, but in this case the author made me believe that all are good with actions that would normally cause anger. Janice is more curious and non-reactive to the fact that her husband is having an affair. And Jason’s not all sneaky and hiding the fact after he’s found out. He just kind acts like a little kid who got caught eating cookies when he wasn’t supposed to, no big deal. And Sherry, while appropriately stunned to find out that Jason was married, easily slips into a sexual relationship with Janice and Jason.

Since this is a story about a threesome committing to each other, I think it was good that the characters, especially Janice who is the cheated on wife, are more polyamorous, open and confident in their take on relationships and are not freaked that they might be loosing a partner, but gaining one.

Moreover, the sexual situations were really hot and juicy, which is really what made this little short story readable and fun for me. It's a nice quickie.

I’m not quite sure that it’s worth paying the $2.50 for this story, but since there’s a distinct lack of f/f/m stories in which the three partner for life, it was worth it to me to read it.

Sex rating: Orgasmic- f/f, f/f/m, m/f, females shaving each other, man scaping.

Grade: C+

Review- Zinna by Kira Chase

Zinna
by Kira Chase
2000
Contemporary/ Lesbian
360 pg. - $5.99
ebook

Buy it eXtasy books

When artist Zinna Nolan abruptly leaves Rochester, New York, and her high school sweetheart Megan O'Neil, to pursue her artistic yearnings in New Orleans, she finds more than she bargained for as she settles into the French Quarter and waits for Megan to join her.


I don’t know why I keep reading Kira Chase’s books. For some reason her voice speaks to me, but to be honest, I don’t know why. This is the third book of hers that I’ve read and like her book Destiny, this one was one long emo book about two women who are pining over each other but who are not strong or mature enough to work things out while we the reader are waiting for something interesting to happen.

Zinna and Megan found each other during high school, a time when both were silently hiding the fact that they liked girls for fear of retribution. They finally tell their parents and while Zinna’s mother accepts her and Megan, Megan’s religiously oriented family disowns her. After high school, Zinna and Megan move in together in another, more open town. To Zinna, Megan is her life, the only woman she’s ever loved and will ever love but she’s got dreams.

Zinna has been dreaming of going to New Orleans and becoming a famous artist. But Megan wants to wait until they have enough money to go there so that they will have some security. Zinna, getting fed up with waiting and feeling like Megan is not taking her seriously, just takes off to New Orleans without telling Megan or her mother where she is. She immediately meets new friends and moves in with them and her life takes off. She gets a job straight away and magically, one of her roommates is connected to an artist/gallery owner who loves her work. Although this is Zinna’s choice, she’s so lonely for Megan and wants her, but she refuses to call her and let her know what’s up.

I have to say that there is really not much to this story. I almost cannot review it because once Zinna is in New Orleans and she is finally having some success, she tries to patch things up with Megan after basically treating her with complete disrespect. Megan blows her off being really hurt of course, and she also understands that Zinna has to have her success first, so she refuses to come to Zinna. That’s it, the whole story. Zinna for some reason just can’t understand why Megan would be so resistant to coming to her until her friends and her mother tell her what a shit she’s been. Can people really be that clueless?

So for one year Megan and Zinna talk on the phone whining to each other that neither understands the other and “why can’t we be together” and on and on and on and back and forth. Seriously, if that would have been me in such a relationship I would have slit my throat. I couldn’t understand why they just couldn’t work it out and just be together already or finish it and be done. The ending does make up for some of it although by that point, I was so tired of the wa, wa, wa that I didn’t care if they got together finally.

The rest of the characters were all so very nice. Outside of the dysfunctional relationship between Zinna and Megan for most of the book, the characters: a black man, a gay queen, an older woman, and a lesbian who Zinna mixes with in New Orleans, are all kind of one dimensional having two moods. Either they are all happy, happy or are sitting around being deep and aloof with their own emo stuff, which Zinna has to coax out of them because they had to do that for her. They are all so supportive of each other, just one big happy family.

I guess if you like sugary nice mixed with major angst then this book is for you. What I would have liked was to get more of Megan’s feelings in all of this. It’s basically all about Zinna and her side of the story although not told in first person. I think this book would have been so much better with a clearer picture of both the women trying to work out being together while having different dreams in life. Although that was done in Destiny and it went nowhere as well.

Knock off at least 100 pages of the back and forth phone whining between Megan and Zinna and this book would have been a good one for me. Once again though, and I really don’t know why, I will read some more of Kira Chase’s books. I think there is potential there but these stories, the second one now for me, of a character deliberately walking away from a love and then having all these expectations of being understood and being clueless about the other’s feelings, gets on my nerves.

Sex rating: Dry panties. There’s no sex in this book except some minor fondling.

Grade: C-

Review- Coming Together: Special Memorial Edition: Colleen Thomas by Alessia Brio

Coming Together: An Erotic Cocktail
Special Memorial Edition: Colleen Thomas
Edited by Alessia Brio
July 31, 2006
Anthology/ Lesbian/ bisexual
Novel length

Buy it Amazon, Fictionwise (ebook)

A collection of lesbian erotica by the late Colleen Thomas, edited by EPPIE Award-winning author, Alessia Brio. Each short story is introduced by one of Colleen's peers. Proceeds from the sale of this edition of Coming Together will be donated to the Kaplan Family Hospice Residence in her memory.

This volume of the Coming Together series is a nice eclectic mix of lesbian erotic stories. While a few are strictly lesbian stories, there are a few first timer or coming out stories as well, which I enjoyed. The flavor of each story is so different and unique and I found them all to be nicely written and highly erotic. I think Alessia Brio did a great job in putting together this anthology, which offers so much. I've never read anything by Colleen Thomas, so this is a nice intro to her work.

A Separate Peace- I really enjoyed this story a lot. It was very different. Sarah is working for the US gov. as a spy in Israel in search of a most wanted Palestinian terrorist known as the Jackal. She is captured during a bombing by some Palestinians and wakes up tied up in a room, with a woman, Ablaa, talking to her. To Sarah’s surprise Ablaa just happens to be the Jackal. This woman is very intense with her, talking to her about how the US gov is the real terrorist and goes on to describe the horrendous life she’s had to lead, while at the same time she seduces Sarah sexually. Sarah starts to see that all is not so black and white. The Jackal lets Sarah escape and it’s years later…

What I enjoyed about this story is that it’s a story about how people can connect on a very basic human level regardless of beliefs and ideological differences. These two women are very sweet and intense together and I really got off on that. (A)

The Run- This was a very interesting sci-fi story about a woman who is a “runner,” a person who is basically a hired body guard/ assassin. Margo is a huge, formidable woman and one of the best runners out there. She’s hired by a cosmetic company to be a body guard for the head of the company, a woman with a hit out on her. Margo brings in another woman who is a computer geek to take care of the tech side of what’s needed. This woman, Lana, is very attracted to Margo, and Margo, while having some attractions for women, has never been with a woman. As they work together, they both explore each other sexually as well. What I liked here is that both are sexually inexperienced with women and it was very hot and kind of innocent how they get together.

The sci-fi part of the story was very intricate and kind of riveting on its own as well. Many interesting concepts were introduced. (A-)

Just Like That- this is a purely erotic fantasy and not really my cuppa due to the “doing it for men” part of the story, but the sex was pretty hot. A woman is in a bar and notices three woman hanging together and dancing, one having a camera. She chats with one of them and it turns out they run a website showing real life girl-on-girl action to whoever pays to watch. What they do is try to find a regular, non pro, woman who wants to have sex on camera.

First, this woman has never had sex with a woman nor does she want to, but the girls convince her to go along and the smexing with the camera rolling starts straight away in the car. That’s all. All three women do her on film and she gets off on it. (B)

Latin I and Latin II- Oh I totally loved this story. It’s a story of revenge, but done in a way that the recipients of the revenge learn something about themselves and how horrid they were acting. Mandy is a high school student who is ridiculed on a regular basis because she’s out as a lesbian. One of her teachers routinely picks on her for no reason and the “cool” girls not only mess with her but push others to ride her as well. She gets a hold of a book of spells and goes to a well known empty, haunted house and does a spell to conjure up a malevolent spirit to help her get revenge.

This was so deliciously hot. Mandy’s nasty teacher just happens to be a preacher’s wife who thinks sex is just for procreation. Mandy puts a spell on her having her do all kinds of things, completely controlling her, making her want sex with Mandy only. Then she seduces the mean girl and does the same. What I thought was interesting in these two stories is that while Mandy is getting her revenge she’s never cruel and those women, while hating that they are having sex with Mandy, also come to really want it. Great story. (A-)

Quality of Life- This was a strange story. Another sci-fi/ futuristic story about a satellite prison in space where gays and lesbians are sent because they are an abomination to the current society. This was a total downer with a lot of social statement about how gays and lesbians are treated and the prejudice they have to deal with. Basically this prison is purposely destroyed by the powers that be locking out air, with a few survivors left, but not for long. There isn’t any sex in this story, which was OK, but the ending is just kind of rough. Like I said, downer. But it was uniquely written. (C+)

Picture Perfect- Oh yeah, this was such a hot story. And it’s a May/Dec, teacher/student story, which I get off on. Dana is a student in University who keeps taking Dr. Helen Smith’s classes because she’s attracted to her. Dana is a newbie at being with women, so she gets constant advice from her butch friend who is sleeping with everyone, including a few professors. For a paper Dana has to do for Dr. Smith’s class, she goes to get some books for her topic and one book she needs hasn’t been taken out for 20 years, so its in a special room. In this book she finds a pin-up semi nudie photo of a woman from the 40’s and becomes obsessed with finding out who it is. When she finds out that Dr. Smith was the last person to take out the book, things get interesting.

This is a very engrossing story with a bit of a mystery involved and a sweet coming together of two women sexually. I liked that Helen is 45 and has as much or little experience as Dana who is in her early 20’s. So the sex is more exploratory in nature than experienced seduction, which I enjoyed. (A-)

Football Widow- this is a story about a woman who marries her high school sweetheart, but after they had split up and she had a lesbian affair with a Haitian professor at her college. She’s been married now for 10 years and is basically ignored by her husband during the whole football season. At a kickoff party that she and her husband have, a lesbian co-worker of her husband seduces her. She realizes how much she’s missed being with women and this woman turns her on totally.

This is a typical neglected housewife story, which kind of made it OK for me that she has sex with this other woman. What I didn’t like is how aggressive the lesbian is. She’s definitely the butch one and comes on very strong and pushy with the housewife. But I think in this case lesbians who like the butch/femme dynamics will like this story.

I also didn’t like that the lesbian woman in this case is thinking about making this affair long-term not by breaking up the marriage, but having the affair on the side without the husband’s knowledge. Not my thing that kind of idea really. Still though, the sex in this story is very steamy. (B)

The Last Goodbye Fuck- This is another kind of sad story. Two lesbians are having their last goodbye sex, which is very intense and lasts for hours. This is because one works on a fishing boat and goes out to sea for months at a time. What I liked about this story is that the women are so different. The butch one is big, fleshy and hairy, while the other one is tiny and thin. They both really love each other and really only have each other as both families have cut them off for being lesbians. The little details are what made this story for me. They are poor and make do with so little and it had a good feeling for me in that, like two people working against the odds. The sex is amazing in this story, but then ending really sucks. I guess that’s what you get when it’s not romance but erotica. (B+)

As a book of lesbian erotica, I think this collection is well done and offers a lot. But what I really enjoyed is that it’s also got many different kinds of sexual scenarios, something for everyone and especially something for those of us who like to read stories that are more interesting for the bi curious reader.

Sex rating: Orgasmic- f/f, ménage, strap-ons, anal,

Grade: B+

Review- Playing With Trouble by Keziah Hill

Playing With Trouble
by Keziah Hill
2006
Erotica/Contemporary/GLBT
Short Story
62 pgs. $2.09
E-book

Buy it eXtasy Books

What do you get when Jake Horsley, Australia’s richest man, marries Chrissy, a hooker forty years his junior? Trouble. Especially when she also loves another woman. Honest and straight forward, Chrissy won’t lie about how she feels about Jen. But Jake isn’t worried. Chrissy is everything he’s always wanted, wild and unconventional. He knows he can’t limit her and doesn’t want to. Trouble however, has other plans. Jake’s son David, appalled by his father’s marriage, plots to hurt Chrissy. Protecting herself and those she loves will challenge everything she’s ever believed about herself and what she’s capable of.

I really enjoyed this short story. Chrissy is such a fun, in-your-face, unapologetic, snarky kind of character and I really liked her. She’s a whore who makes no bones about what she does and the fact that she’s popular because she insists on having her orgasm with her clients. She’s overjoyed though when Jake, a very wealthy dude, wants to marry her because she’s getting older and being in the business is getting old.

Jake has his own reasons to marry Chrissy, which aren’t the greatest. While Jake really does love Chrissy and Chrissy really does love Jake, it is a marriage on Jake’s side mainly for the purpose of sticking it to the world, his business associates, the snooty society in which he is a part of, but mostly, his son, whom he wants to mess with.

On her first outing in high society, Chrissy meets Jen, a much older woman and artist who comes from “old money” and who’s the hostess of this event. Chrissy feels a bit intimidated by Jen, but Jen acts very classy and doesn’t judge Chrissy. She is, in fact, very curious about Chrissy. Jen is a bit frosty and uptight, but when she asks Chrissy to pose for her, she feels very attracted to Chrissy and goes for it with gusto.

Playing With Trouble reads like a mini soap opera. The whore, the upper class cool society woman, the wealthy ruthless business man, May/Dec relationship, and the jealous and spiteful son all come together to create a fun little story with some interesting devious plotting and actions by the characters. For a short story, the characters are clearly and colorfully defined, and there’s an actual plot. Plus, the sex was really good.

Sex rating: Orgasmic: m/f, f/f,

Grade: B+

What women want?

According to this NY Times article, it isn't what most people think. For those of you too lazy-- *ahem* I mean busy to click the link, I'll boil it down to the bare bones for ya. When it comes to erotic material, women want pretty much anything: man, woman, men, women, sex in any gender combination or permutation as long as those portrayed are having a good time. I can't say I'm particularly surprised, since the research findings in the Times article dovetail nicely with another article I linked to awhile back in this here edumicational post, which lays out the not insignificant differences between men and women regarding what gets them off.

I'm not sure whether this means women are more open than men to actually experimenting with their own sex, or whether they're just merely interested in watching/reading about it. Either way, it makes me wonder what's holding the f/f and f/f/m romance subgenres back.

I find it curious, especially considering the fairly mainstream popularity of shows like The L-Word, that even the mildest girl-on-girl content in ebooks is often viewed with dismissal and disdain.

Is it that women who are members of the typical romance ebook reading demographic are not as open to the idea of fluid sexuality as younger women seem to be? And will those women who are now in their late teens and early twenties be the f/f/m romance readers of the next decade? Are we poised on the edge of a new trend?

Or is it, as Emily Veinglory suggested, that women looking for f/f and f/f/m simply can't find the kind of stories they like? Is it that publishers aren't putting the right books in front of the right eyes?

Is it that many straight women have never given the idea much thought, or have just never tried it and don't know what they're missing? That is not to say that every woman will enjoy a lesbian or f/f/m menage romance. I just wonder why so many insist they don't, or wouldn't, or can't, or couldn't, when current research finds this simply not to be the case most of the time.

Is the prevailing sentiment that f/f is a tough sell actually true, or is it just that those on the extreme hetero end of the sexual continuum are the most vocal in their disapproval, while all those millions upon millions of middle-of-the-Kinsey-scale, potential girl-on-girl readers are just not quite curious enough to bother seeking it out?

What do you all think?

Review - Burn by Anne Rainey

Burn
by Anne Rainey
Jan. 6, 2009
Contemporary
Short Story
Ebook

Buy it Samhain

A woman scorned…can be damned delicious!

Ally Ryanaldo and Blake Steele were high school sweethearts, in love and inseparable. Ally always assumed she’d be his wife, raise his babies and live happily ever after. Those dreams were shattered the day Blake left her and his small town life for the bright lights of New York City.

Now, ten years later, Blake is back—and wants to pick up where they left off. Ally has other ideas. Naughty ideas. With the help of her kinky girlfriend, Heather, Ally shows Blake her wild side.

When her little plan backfires, though, Ally’s very much afraid she may lose the only man she’s ever loved—for good.

Burn is one of those short, sexy stories that are good for a quick pick me up. It’s also one of those few books out there that have a ménage between two women and a man, one of my favorite scenarios and it was pretty hotly written.

Ally lost her virginity to her high school sweetheart, the only guy she’s ever loved, and then he dumped her without a word, going to NY. Even though it really hurt her, she got on with her life and has become a famous, successful writer.

Blake seduced and sweet talked Ally as teenagers into having sex, telling her how special she was and how much he cared for her, then he took off to make something of himself. Now that he’s successful, he’s come back home and wants Ally back.

At first Ally is all pissed off with him and tries to act all nonchalant about the fact that all those old feelings have come up and she still wants him, and she does manage to hold him off briefly. In the meantime, her best friend is visiting from Florida and she cooks up a scheme to get back at Blake by having a threesome, which includes her friend. Her friend Heather is bisexual and they did have a sexual encounter years ago, so Heather readily agrees to it.

This is a short story, but it did manage to affect me on quite a few levels. Ally is very interesting to me in that because Blake really did treat her like crap, she’s trying to be strong and fight off all those old feelings that never went away, but doesn’t quite make it. I had all these mixed feelings about how she reacts. I wanted to tell her to just be done with him. He doesn’t really apologize to her or even act that contrite, but comes back expecting, hoping to some degree that she will still want him just because he loves her.

Ally does vacillate quite a bit both fighting and giving into her desires, still feeling like she’d do anything for him and yet trying to let him know that she won’t tolerate him hurting her again. I finally did believe that maybe she could be strong enough to not let him get away with more disrespectful treatment in the future. Yet at the same time, I felt on some level that if he really pushed it, she would let him walk all over her again once she really opens up to him again.

Blake got on my nerves a bit as well. Ultimately he does come across as someone who really does love Ally and really wants to settle down with her. But his actions were a bit contradictory to me at times. He’s made something of himself and now he’s ready to be with her. What really pissed me off here is that he’s that typical high school guy who promises all kinds of crap to a girl to get laid and then blows her off after getting it. And then, although after getting back he tells her that he’s always loved her and such, because HE is ready, then she should give him a second chance. He doesn’t come off as apologetic enough for me as I think he was a real ass to her and really thinks all is OK now that she’ll see him again.

I kept thinking that if he really cared about her, the least he could have done was to contact her at some point and tell her that he loved her but that he really needed to make something of himself so he’d have something to offer her when they did get together. That would have endeared him to me a bit more.

The scheme that Ally cooks up to get back at Blake on their first date again seemed a bit odd and a bit childish to me as well. What I did like about that part is that Ally has a nice, easy relationship with Heather in which they can be sexual together without any big emotional issues or complications between them. Heather is bisexual and Ally really isn’t but it came across as very sweet between them. I was actually a bit disappointed that Blake was there because then it got a bit weird, even though the sex was pretty hot. What I didn’t understand really was why Ally thought this would be something to get back at Blake with. But that’s what it is and I enjoyed reading that particular scene at any rate.

In the end though, Anne Rainey did manage to convey and make me believe that both Ally and Blake could make it as a couple and that they would have a fairly equal relationship without Blake thinking he can get away with everything by sweet talking or having expectations that she will be his doormat, and that Ally wouldn’t be giving up her self worth to be with him, which saved this book for me in the end. Besides which, Anne Rainey writes really smoking hawt sex and that was a huge part the story.

Sex rating: Orgasmic. f/f/m, m/f, toys, food, anal

Grade: C+

A Heaping Dish of Guest Blog!

...with side of contest!

Anne Rainey's latest book, Burn, was released on Tuesday from Samhain, and contains one scorching hot menage scene--so hot she had to set it in a swimming pool to avoid the horrifying and potentially tragic spontaneous combustion of her characters. A week ago, I emailed Anne and asked her if she'd like to do a post for LVLM, telling us why she chose to write a story containing f/f/m.

Here's what she had to say:

Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece. ~Author Unknown

Is that a great quote or what? I’ve always thought women were beautiful, mysterious and just downright intoxicating. To clear one thing up, I’m 100% heterosexual and I have a husband and two daughters. I’m quite happily married. So when I wrote Haley’s Cabin awhile back, I knew folks were going to be shocked at the f/f/m ‘dream’ scene at the beginning of it. I was nervous about how my family and friends would react. I wanted them to see the beauty in the scene, not turn it into something dirty and bad.

At first, I bit the bullet and sent the scene to a few close friends, a group of ladies I knew I could count on to tell me the truth. Imagine my surprise when these heterosexual ladies emailed me saying they thought it was one of the hottest scenes they’d ever read. Wow, okay, so I’m NOT the only woman who finds that type of scene sexy. Good to know! LOL Haley’s Cabin sold like hotcakes. It still blows me away when I think about how well it was received by readers.

Since that story released, I’ve wanted to do more books with scenes like that one. I just didn’t have the right story. Have you ever wanted to write something so bad, but you just couldn’t quite find the story to fit the idea? That’s what I was going through. But I wasn’t ready to give up on the idea yet. I guess I just really like the thought of writing about a straight woman who receives pleasure at the hands and lips of another woman. To me, it’s incredibly sexy and just downright delicious!

Then one day, Ally sprang to mind. After being dumped by her high school sweetheart, Ally sort of sinks herself into her writing. She’s strong, independent, and doesn’t need a man to complete her. Until said sweetheart comes back to town and turns her world upside down. Then Heather, Ally’s best friend, slipped into my head like the naughty minx she is. She’s bi-sexual, bold as hell and nearly stole the show. I love Heather! But this couldn’t be like my other stories. I don’t know, I guess I just wanted readers to feel as if they were in Ally’s head, to fully experience the f/f/m pool scene from a heterosexual point of view.

I really worried when I sent it off to Samhain, let me tell ya. One, first person point of view doesn’t always go over well. Two, they may not be okay with the f/f aspect of the story, considering it’s pretty erotic and all. Imagine my surprise when not one but two Samhain editors emailed to tell me how much they loved Burn. Yes!

But what do you, the reader, think? Does a m/f romance that features a scorching f/f/m scene appeal to you?

If Burn does well and readers enjoy it, then Heather gets a story, if not...poor Heather, lol. Leave me a comment and your name goes into a hat for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Amazon!

Thanks for the thoughtful post, Anne, as well as your offer of a GC! (And for letting me know about that scene in Haley's Cabin. *ahem*) Allow me to be the first to answer your question. Does a m/f romance that features a scorching f/f/m scene appeal to you? Hot holy damn, does it ever! But I can't imagine you'll find many dissenters around this neck of the woods, either, LOL.

And all of you all out there--you need to buy Burn right now. Because I totally, totally need Anne to write Heather's story, and I need her to do it posthaste! And don't forget to leave a comment for that chance to win a $10 Amazon GC!

*sneaks off to buy Haley's Cabin*

Review- Total Eclipse of the Heart by Crystal Jordan

Total Eclipse of the Heart: In the Heat of the Night, Book I

by Crystal Jordan

Oct 3, 2008

Contemporary/ Paranormal

Short Story

E-Book

Buy it Samhain

What’s a werewolf to do when she finds her soulmate twice? It’s a total eclipse of the heart.

In the Heat of the Night, Book One

It was only a few years ago that humans found out magical creatures existed. Now, they’re all out of the closet and leading their lives freely when they once used to hide their true identity. Werewolves, vampires, fairies and everything else that goes bump in the night.

When Lena walks into the Eclipse bar, she turns Rachel’s world inside out. She’s a werewolf who scents her mate, and nothing will stop her from claiming what’s hers.

Rachel has always assumed that when she mated with Jerrod she’d never know another lover, despite her longing for both men and women. No werewolf would be unfaithful. Ever. She’s heard of werewolves having two mates in one lifetime, but after the first one died, not at the same time. She’s terrified of how the man she loves will react when he finds out the instincts that drew her to him five years ago now pull her to another woman.

Right off the bat, I’m going to admit that I bought Total Eclipse of the Heart because it’s a f/f/m story and it didn’t disappoint on that level at all. It’s a very well written story about three weres who are mated, which I found to be a unique take in the were paranormal genre. What also intrigued me was that there is a female were character who is bisexual, a rarity in a werewolf paranormal where nature, meaning fated mates, and biology play huge role.

Rachel and Jerrod are mated for life. They run a bar that caters to all species, including vampires, which the were pack that they belong to isn’t happy about. So they are already treading on shaky ground when Lena, a were from another pack, shows up and it’s apparent that she is both Rachel and Jarrod’s mate as well. This throws a huge wrench into Rachel’s safe and comfortable world and she accidentally insults Lena as she struggles to deal with it. She’s bisexual and wants Lena, however, Lena’s presence in their life can now get them kicked out of the pack and they could loose the secure life that Rachel has desperately worked hard towards and which is very important to her. They are mated though, so they have to work it out.

Total Eclipse of the Heart was a very quick read and for the most part I liked it even though I’m kind of off on the whole “mine” thing, which I think has been done to death. Or at least for me it has. That said, Crystal Jordan has a yummy way of writing and the characters in this story are developed enough to get who they are and how they relate to each other. While short, the story still cruised along at a nice pace and the sex, which was quite a bit for the length, was smokin hot and completely relevant to the story.

What turned me on about this story is that all three: Rachel, Jerrod and Lena are into each other and no jealousy comes up, which I liked. Of course they are mated, which is a nice excuse to get three characters together in a monogamous, polyamorous relationship. However, outside of that fact, they just seem to really enjoy each other as a threesome, which felt good. It’s definitely one of the more satisfying f/f/m threesomes that I’ve come across.

While this story satisfied on many levels, there are a few things that I got stuck on, but I believe that it was more an issue of trying to confine what I think should have been at least a novella into the small space of a short story. The big problem for me was that there wasn’t enough relationship/ emotional development between the three characters to warrant some of their reactions to each other.

Mated or not, they only have one night together and outside of a biological need for each other, which would be instantaneous in that situation, I really couldn’t see why Lena got so insulted when Rachel freaks out on her when they are caught and might get thrown out of the pack. There was really no build up of an emotional connection to warrant that. It created a nice tension in this story, but it felt a bit unbelievable. Also a bit unbelievable is that before their one night is over they’ve been outted to the Alpha by the evil pack control freak when they’ve done nothing in the open.

While these issues did have me going huh, they are minor. And as I said, I think they would have been alleviated with a longer book giving more time for relationship and story development. For what it is though, it’s a nicely written short story with juicy characters. I hope the “Book I” tag implies that this world will be more developed in another, longer book as I think a series has a lot of potential at Crystal Jordan’s hands.

Sex rating: Orgasmic- the f/f in this is very hot. f/f, f/f/m.

Grade: B

Review- Edge of Darkness by Jove Belle

Edge of Darkness
by Jove Belle
May, 2008
Suspense/ Lesbian
Novel

Buy it Amazon, Bold Stroke Books

Diana Collins charges at life with an irreverent comment and a right hook, but even her hard-headed attitude may not be enough to protect her heart…or her life.

As a senior investigator for a high-end insurance company, Diana needs to find the person responsible for the theft of a rare sword. While Diana struggles to protect her burgeoning relationship with kindergarten teacher, Cami Michaelson, the investigation leads her into a bitter world of rage and revenge. Diana uncovers one damning piece of evidence after another that challenges everything she knows about right and wrong. She finds her hard-driving work ethic, which demands the thief be held accountable, at odds with the desire to protect her new friend, Ali Sandoval, who is caught in the center of the conflict. As she draws Diana deeper into a dark subculture of sex, power, and death, Ali must choose between vengeance and peace if she hopes to escape with her sanity intact.

I never would have known about author Jove Belle if a friend hadn’t mentioned her to me, but I’m so glad I’ve found her. Edge of Darkness is one of those books that really popped for me. Its edgy, dark suspenseful story line combined with a juicy love story made it one of the best reads in while for me. And I must admit, that cover totally grabbed me.

Diana is an investigator for an insurance company who’s been asked to do an interview because she’s a dyke and her bosses feel that the person they need to interview will be more open with her. There is a claim on a very valuable Katana sword that disappeared after the murder of its owner, so Diana and her mentor/friend, Braxton, who is an expert at interviewing, go to question the step-daughter of the murdered man. While Diana and Braxton search for the Katana, they find out that they might actually be in search of a serial killer, and get embroiled into a dark, twisted world.

While this is going on, Diana’s love life also picks up when she meets Cami, a kindergarten teacher, and finds herself falling in love again after a failed relationship and a string of one-night-stands.

There is absolutely nothing bad I can say about this book. I was just so impressed by all of it: the complex character development, the slow build up of a suspenseful investigation, and a realistically and honestly written love story, which all came together in a flawless, enthralling way for me. I really can’t say enough about how positively affected I was by the writing and story telling in this book.

The characters: Diana—is the main character and it’s through her eyes that this story is told. She’s a tough scrapper type who is not afraid to get into it with people to do the right thing. She’s also got a huge heart and takes her Irish Catholic upbringing, including being family oriented, very seriously. She’s still getting over a failed relationship and has been sticking to having one-night-stands even though she dreams of having the white picket fence and living in domestic bliss forever with someone someday. At the moment though, she’s mostly focusing on her career as an insurance investigator. She’s such a complex and interesting character whose mix of contradicting qualities really turned me on.

Cami- is Diana’s new love interest. What I really got off on in this story is how realistically the love story develops between Cami and Diana. Cami is a real sweetheart of a woman, who, like Diana, feels so attracted but also has all the usual doubts and insecurities that goes with falling in love and getting to know someone knew. The interactions between her and Diana came across as very authentic and it’s the first time for me read a lesbian love story that expressed how I imagine it would really be between two women.

I will also say on that front, that reading this book and trying to put together my thoughts for this review I finally realized why I enjoy reading f/f love. Based on this love story and how it developed, it’s the raw emotional communicating between the characters I get off on. Because both parties are women, the thoughts and feelings going on internally were openly expressed between these two women. It’s something I don’t get in a m/f romance, or at least not to this degree and it came across as extremely intimate.

Braxton- is Diana’s mentor at work and she is also a well written character. She a tough, straight forward, take no prisoners type of woman who’s extremely intelligent and a pro at interviewing and psychologically breaking down people to get info. She and Diana have this playful but respectful rapport between them, which I really liked. And even though she’s a straight, married woman, she flirts with Diana with lots of subtle sexual innuendo, which Diana doesn’t quite no how to take at times. I got the impression that she did have a thing for Diana in some way and it was interesting to me that Jove Belle kept what’s going on between them ambiguous because that felt more real to me.

Ali- is the serial killer. I can say that because it’s revealed right in the beginning. She’s a refreshingly written damaged character and I felt so much for her. She was kidnapped and abused for most of her youth by a tyrant of a man and basically kept prisoner until she managed to escape one day. Consequently, she is trying to save other helpless women by trying to rid the world of abusing men. What I loved about the way Jove Belle wrote her is that even though she’s become this cold blooded killer, when Diana shows her real love and compassion, that part of her that she’s forgotten that needs to be loved and accepted makes her feel more vulnerable than she was as a kidnapped victim because she actually opens up and reaches out for the first time. It was heartbreaking.

Other than those main characters, I felt the interactions between the office men and Diana were very interesting as well. The men joke about her being a lesbian and show their ignorance and sexism on a regular basis to the degree that it borders on sexual harassment, and yet, Diana’s sarcastic and humorous reactions to it, easily deflecting it back to them, and the fact that the men actually respect her and Braxton, didn’t turn all of that into a male bashing fest, which it could have easily happened to add more unnecessary tension or drama to the story and I liked that.

The suspense plot is also very well written. We know who the killer is straight away, but like a Columbo story, it’s the detailed and logical way in which Diana goes about investigating and the conclusions she comes to along the way, plus the unpredictable reactions of Ali, that kept the interest up in this story.

Reading Edge of Darkness was a thrilling, fascinating way to spend a couple of hours. It’s a book that really has me wishing that having a lesbian as a main character wouldn’t be cause for lack of interest or automatic dismissal of reading an author, because this book is so worth reading. I can’t wait to read Jove Belle’s other books, if only on the level that she’s such a good story teller.

Sex rating: Wet panties. f/f. This is not an erotic romance, but it’s very sensually written. So no real graphic language or situations, but just enough description to get worked up.

Grade: A

Shantage by N

Shantage
by N
July 2007
Contemporary/ Erotica
Short Novella- 12,000 words
E-Book

Translated by Nelli Rees

Buy it Phaze-$2.00

When Zina Pavlovna, the youngest Leitenant in the Moscow Police Investigation Bureau, is handed a case of sexual blackmail--shantage--involving an air-headed member of Russia's detested nouveau riche, Zina is less than impressed. But as she discovers, shantage can be a rewarding experience. Translated by Nelli Rees.

In my quest to review as many f/f books that are out there for those of us who like to read it, I’ve decided that I won’t be discriminatory about what I read, but to put out as much info through reviews no matter what the quality of story telling and writing is. With that in mind, I picked up Shantage because it’s one of the few books on Phaze with f/f in it. For what it is, it’s a pretty good story.

Zina, a police investigator, is stuck getting all the crappy assignments those with more experience the men don’t want. The latest case she has to deal got dumped with is a seemingly high class rich woman, Irina, who’s being blackmailed.

Irina is being blackmailed by someone who took a video of her giving a blow job to a bartender at her wealthy and influential husband’s birthday party. Zinna being a bit pissed an bored at having to deal with these kind of petty cases, listens with all the interest of a dead fish to Irina’s tales of what she’s been requested to do by the blackmailer, which includes being instructed to go to certain people and service them sexually, like a prostitute.

When Zinna finds out who is blackmailing Irina, tired of slaving for low wages and being treated like a second class citizen in the police dept., she makes a deal of her own with the blackmailer, getting to stick it to everyone, including the smug Irina in the bargain.

Shantage is mostly a pure erotica story as it’s basically one sexual account after another as told to Zinna by Irina of the jobs she’s been forced to go on from the blackmailer. All include f/f, in case you wish to know. What is interesting about this book is that even though I’d classify it as erotica, there is a story, which had a rather unique and intriguing twist to it. I kind of liked that Zinna manages to get some satisfaction over those who’ve looked down on her.

The sex is written fairly hotly, including the f/f bits. Although due to the fact that this story is very short, I felt some of the sexual escapades of Irina to be stilted and abrupt in the telling, which frustrated me. Or maybe it was because none of the characters, except for Zinna, really get satisfied except at the basest of levels. It’s not something to really complain about in erotica where emotions can’t be expected to come into play though.

Shantage is one of those books that are good for a quick f/f to read in between more substantial and sexually satisfying stories. I enjoyed N’s style of writing although it is a bit choppy in parts. But that could be from the translation as the author is Russian and it was written originally in Russian. Still though, for what it is, it’s a decent read. I’d still be willing to check out some more of N’s work.

Sex rating: Damp panties. Erotically written, but didn’t really get me going that much.

Grade: C-

Review- Jesse's Homecoming by Jude Mason

Jesse’s Homecoming

by Jude Mason
2007
Western historical/ Lesbian
Short Novella-12,000 words
E-Book

Buy it Phaze- $3.00

When Jesse returns from a weekend of wandering in the hills to find her lover, Meg, being brutally raped by an ex-husband she'd escaped from years ago, Jesse fires her gun, wounding the man. Battered and bruised, Meg is sure she's unlovable. It's up to Jesse to prove her wrong and to get the monster she'd married sent to prison.

What a sweet little short story Jesse’s Homecoming is. Despite the subject matter, Jude Mason managed to create a beautiful love story between two women that totally expressed how touching and deep a woman’s love for another woman can be.

Jesse and Meg are in love and share a good life together on a ranch. Jesse, being the younger one, goes out for a couple of days to check on things around the land. When she gets back, it's too quiet and the normal things that should be happening aren’t, telling Jesse that something is drastically wrong.

When she enters the cabin with her gun drawn, she finds Meg bruised and bloodied, pinned to the bed with a disgusting looking man on top of her and she shoots him when he tries to get his gun. He claims that Meg is his wife and that he has a right to do what he wants with her, which of course doesn’t sit well with Jesse and she rips him a new one.

Normally I don’t like to read stories when rape or the after effects are so graphically described, however, I feel that Jude Mason handled this with a lot of sensitivity and in a way that I didn’t feel overwhelmed with those feelings of rage that come up when I do read about or watch a rape in film. But just for clarification for those who do have issues with reading it, the rape itself is not described; the story takes place just after.

Meg is in an awful state when Jesse gets to her, but Jesse’s soft, loving energy towards Meg and Meg’s strength and fortitude shine through, making that part easier to read and take in. Right from the get-go Jesse doesn’t pity Meg, but reminds her how much she loves her over and over as she lovingly washes her and reassures her that she will be there for her and will not leave her no matter what. Plus there are some nice revenge moments.

The sexual scene between these two was done with a lot of thoughtfulness as well, I thought. Considering the subject matter in this story, even though the sex was written in very graphic and erotic terms, it comes off more as tender and affectionate and not salacious as it would in a normal situation, which I really appreciated in this case.

One thing that did come up for me was that I felt it was a bit too much for Jesse to try and have sex with Meg just after she’s been raped even though she did it to prove to Meg that she was still wanted and desirable after being defiled like that. I got the feeling that it wasn’t only for Meg that Jesse did that, but because she needed it as well, which did feel a bit off for me.

I would think that even with the most sensitive of love making, getting turned on sexually right after a rape would not be a typical or even remotely possible response normally, as Meg did. In this case though, Jesse really is so gentle and loving with Meg, so it's possible to see that having a positive, nurturing sexual experience could help heal those wounds.

Moreover, I think Jude Mason got around this issue by the rapist being Meg’s ex-husband who had abused her non-stop when they were married. So while rape is rape, I could see how Meg might be able to compartmentalize that since she’s experienced his abuse so much in the past and therefore it might not have been as shocking to her as it would have been had it been the first time being raped or being raped by a stranger. But maybe that’s just my own justification here because I was left with such a warm and fuzzy feeling about these two characters and the way they are together.

Those issues aside, I was surprised at how much I did enjoy reading this story. I felt the deep emotional bond between Meg and Jesse was prominently and beautifully expressed throughout this story, so I would recommend it even though the subject matter might be difficult for some to deal with. Jude Mason has a nice easy flow to her writing that I found very pleasing. And I liked that Jesse’s Homecoming evoked many feelings in me, most especially positive feelings about women in love.

Sex rating: I’m not going to rate it. Technically the sex written here would be Orgasmic because it’s very erotic, however, due to the story content it’s more about the emotion.

Grade: B+