Review- The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (DVD)

The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
June 7, 2010
Historical/ Lesbian/ Biographical
DVD- BBC UK

Maxine Peake stars in a profoundly moving drama based on the real diaries of Anne Lister: a landowning woman who defied the conventions of her 19th century life to great scandal...for Anne was a lesbian. Her affair with 'soul mate' Marianna Belcombe keeps society guessing but when it is announced that Marianna is to be married to the older, corpulent and wealthy Charles Lawton, Anne is distraught.

Set in the small, elite world of high society, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister is an inspiring story of 'the first modern lesbian' - a woman who challenged convention and was determined to simply be herself.

For Americans, this DVD is unavailable in region 1 currently. I bought it from Amazon UK for a grand total of $15 including shipping. It’s in PAL and region 2 format. I hacked my cheap CyberHome DVD player to play all regions so I knew I could watch it. I just got the DVD after 3 weeks of waiting, yes, it takes more than 3 weeks for a DVD to come from England. I guess that’s the free shipping version, it came over on a boat. Snort. Anyway, I was worried about the PAL part, but I popped it into the DVD and both my much older 27 inch analogue TV plus my new HD LCD TV played it no problema. I also tried it on my computer and all I had to do was change the region settings in my computer DVD program. So…that out of the way, I sat down to finally enjoy this film, which I’ve been salivating over.

OK, the first thing I have to say is that if I or anyone else was expecting a romanticized version of Anne Lister’s life and love story a la Jane Austin because this is from the same time period, this isn’t it. Apparently, Miss Anne Lister wasn’t all that as far as being a well disposed human goes and it does show in this story. She comes through as rather ruthless, sometimes cold and cruel, and passionate but in an aggressive, masculine way often and I didn’t feel much vulnerability that would have made her a more sympathetic person. Although I think the film was trying for a more human and romantic portrayal than was actually the case.

After watching the even more interesting special section wherein actress/writer Sue Perkins talks to historians and scholars who’ve studied and decoded the diaries and talked in depth about how Anne Lister managed her lifestyle and her sexuality within the social constructs of Regency era times, I got a better picture of the real Anne Lister and where she was coming from. And while my opinion didn’t change, it was far more interesting than the movie version. I also learned a lot more about Anne’s earlier life before the time the movie picked up on her life as well as the historical ramifications of her being a lesbian who definitely took on a male persona in her social circles.

Just a brief synopsis, the movie starts with Ann already having an affair and deeply in love with Marianna Belcombe, the woman who probably most affected Anne and who was the only one to seduce the usually sexually aggressive Anne. Marianna decides to marry a much older, but very rich man and this throws Ann into a tailspin of despair.

Anne tries to deal by trying seduce another woman, but is bored with her and when things finally come to a head between Anne and Marianna, who do steal moments for brief trysts, Anne finally decides to let go of that story. She then befriends a neighbor heiress Ann Walker and seduces her much in the way a man of status would seduce a wealthy heiress for the financial gain. She takes her as her wife and this cements her position in her business endeavors and her person as an out lesbian.

Outside of the romantic angles, of course suspicions of Anne’s sexuality within her social circle and her astute business acumen, along with her willingness to go head to toe with powerful male counterparts is shown in full light and her enemies use it against her to no avail. She fights the male dominated coal mining world to stand her ground and keep her own land as well as marrying and openly living with Ann Walker, acting as Ann's husband, something unprecedented at the time.

All of this was rather fascinating. At times I was unsure of the historical accuracies of things only because Anne Lister is a formidable woman who did unbelievable things for her time and social position as a woman, however, after watching the special section, which explains a lot of how it was all possible, it became a lot more interesting for me in the historical context.

About the movie itself, I do admit that it was lacking the sweetness, passion and heart that I felt with Tipping the Velvet. This movie came across as rather dry and I really didn’t feel the emotional connections between the characters except for maybe Tibbs, Anne's friend from early childhood who was always pining after Anne but was treated like crap by her.

This lack of connectedness might have had to do with who Anne Lister was herself, her inability to empathize with people and women whom she was connected to. Or maybe it was about the lack of background of Anne’s life to give some understanding as to what shaped her that left me feeling that something was lacking in this portrayal. I didn’t really get hooked into this story, nor was I deeply affected.

It’s not a bad movie and is still worth watching. But to be honest, I found the special section with Sue Perkins to be far more interesting and for that alone it’s worth it to get this DVD.

Just on the level of the historical value of a woman having the chutzpa to do what she did and live her sexuality at that time, it’s good that this movie was done. It brings attention to a whole other world that was going on during the Regency era, which I think is valuable since it comes from her actual diaries written during that time. I guess in order to stay true and portray Anne as she was really, the movie did have to show her negative traits, which I guess is preferable to romanticizing her life. I’d still recommend this movie just because it does bring to life a woman who was quite extraordinary for her times.

Heat level: 3- there is a rating for strong sexuality. However, there was really only one semi nude scene and it was quite short. The rest is mostly kisses.

Grade: For the movie itself C, for the mini documentary by Sue Perkins, A

Review- Angel's Wish- by Kissa Starling

Angel’s Wish
by Kissa Starling
2009
Lesbian/ erotica/ time travel/ bondage/ M/s BDSM
24.5K words
Ebook- Renaissance eBooks Inc.

Buy at Fictionwise, Renaissance Books

Angel is nothing more than a two-bit mechanic. She dreams of vintage pin-up girls and old cars. Nothing else excites her. She takes a cat nap one day at work and wakes up in the 1950’s. Old cars are now new and classy women are abundant and sweet. Can she find hers before she’s yanked back to her own time? Lust, love, or luck- she’s bound to find one of the three when she wishes upon the star on a tree!

I love it when I read a book that normally I’d never choose and totally enjoy it. I got this book when there was a sale because I’ve seen the author around blog land and decided to try one of her books even though I’m not so hot on the master/slave or bondage thing. I’m glad I did though. This story is such a bizarre mix of all kinds of interesting elements but it totally worked for me.

Angel is running on empty. She’s broke, just been evicted, using a car on its last legs and has no where to turn. Her parents have disowned her due to an unsavory (to her parents) incident with a teacher while she was in high school and has no other family ties. She still shows up for work and to the only person who does support her, her boss Mel. She’s a mechanic and loves cars, especially classic cars. While taking a break, she focuses on an old pin-up calendar, daydreaming about how beautiful the women were in the 50’s—it’s now 2056, and she’s suddenly transported back to the 1955.

Back in the 50’s she ends up with a life she could only dream about. By a series of events, a wealthy family takes her in and really accepts her, comes to love her, and she meets her soul mate, the house maid Mary. Unfortunately, she knows that this can’t last so she makes the best of it.

What I enjoyed most about this story was the heart in it. Angel is a person that is totally into the master/ slave dynamics as a lesbian but she does so in a deeply loving way. She oozes a warm vulnerability and sensitivity with a cocky independent strength that people are attracted to. In her own time, she’s a broken person who’s just scraping by. But being in the 50’s, in an atmosphere of simpler times where life was more like a Rockwell painting, she’s shown love and respect and blossoms in that.

Particularly what was interesting for me in this book was the juxtaposition of Angel’s dominance and crudity in seducing women and her big, warm heart. One minute she’s thinking about how she’d love to melt hot wax on Mary’s private bits and the next she’s trying to make sure an elderly women in a nursing home is loved and cared for by just going to hang out with her. For me it made Angel an interesting complex character that I could relate too and totally worked for me on accepting the master/slave hard core BDSM in this story.

And there is some really hard core BDSM in this story. Angel does some heavy duty things to Mary, some things that shocked even me in the area of pain and she talks to Mary in a very sexually blunt way. But at her core, Angel is soft, loving woman and she treats Mary with deep respect and love.

Mary was also written in such a way that I never once felt that she is a slave in any other way except that she’s really loves it. She enjoys being a sub and serving Angel and I felt how Mary feels she’s found her love in Angel. Mary is also a witch and I liked this aspect of it because it intertwined a hint of a timeless love along with a time travel story.

About the time travel and soul mate for eternity aspect of this story, I thought everything was integrated in a natural and fun way. The way it reads, I could actually almost believe that this is possible. I will admit though, that I love the concept of eternal soul mates and that we can meet up with people we love again in alternate or future lifetimes, so yeah, I enjoyed this part of it.

I don’t think there is really anything negative that came up for me about the story. The writing was kind of funky in bits, although nothing that threw me out of the story. And there was an odd bit when Angel first meets Mary and Mary calls her “mum” all the time, while Angel orders Mary around calling her “wench”. I think there were few other British words in there and that kind of confused me because I thought they were in Missouri. This kind of thing though is part of what turned me on. Contrasting elements thrown together.

I’m sure if you like BDSM on any level this story will definitely hit the spot. But I think if you’re not into BDSM at all, this story could work for you because it’s not just about the sex or lifestyle it’s more universal in its appeal as a love story. It did for me anyway.

Heat level: 5- hard core BDSM, M/s relationship. Graphically and bluntly written sexual scenarios, some minor anal, bondage.

Grade: B+

Review- A Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest

Curious Wine: A Novel
by Katherine V. Forrest
Original publication- 1983
Lesbian/ bi
200 pgs.
Alyson Books (2002)

Buy it Amazon, B&N

The intimacy of a cabin at Lake Tahoe provides the combustible setting that brings Diana Holland and Lane Christianson together in this passionate novel of first discovery. Candid in its eroticism, intensely romantic, and remarkably beautiful, Curious Wine is a love story that will remain in your memory.

Along the way in my meanderings around blog land or Amazon or somewhere, I came across this book and had to read it. I read many reviews but many said something like this; “it’s one of iconic lesbian love stories that was a precursor to today’s more erotic romances.”

Published in ’83 and taking place in 1978, yes, it is one of those books that had I come across it back in the 80’s, it would have probably turned me inside out just on the depth of this erotically charged love story alone. Today, of course, it’s more tame compared to the current trend of graphic eroticism in romance, however, the love story in this book is nicely written and timeless.

A Curious Wine is a passionate love story of two women who find themselves caught up in an intense attraction for each other that for them is illicit and shocking since they’ve only been with men. This is my favorite kind of lesbian/bi love story. Both women fall in love out of the blue and it’s each woman’s first experience with a woman bringing with it all that innocence and angst around it.

I admit, this book started out really slow for me. A bunch of women, some who don’t know each other, spend a week in a cabin in Lake Tahoe together for a ski/gambling vacation. Diana and Lane have never met each other, but they have an instant rapport with each other. Diana is the friendly, nice, girl-next-door type and Lane is an emotionally cool and distant lawyer. Both Diana and Lane end up sharing the top part of the cabin, which no one wants usually and they decide to share the bed in the room with a view even though there are two beds and two rooms up there.

It’s all innocent until the next night when the women decide to do some spur of the moment 60’s encounter group therapy and shit hits the fan with some bitch slapping and female cattiness as things go on and they express their impressions of each other. This was one of things that was hard for me to follow; I don’t do well with books that start out with the introduction of many characters. I can’t keep them straight and it’s hard for me to care who they are. Plus, it was getting a bit tedious with the constant back biting. But fortunately, the focus moves towards Diana and Lane.

After this little therapy session and everyone turns in for the night, Diana, who got upset at things that happened, falls into tears and Lane comforts her. This leads to some cuddling and then a little petting, which veers into something a bit more.

Diana freaks because she’s “not a lesbian,” and pushes Lane away. But after almost getting raped by hooking up with some strange guy to prove to herself that she’s fully het, she comes to terms that her attraction to Lane is too intense to deny and decides to open up to Lane to see what’s there.

The rest is of the story is the development of Diana and Lane’s love story. It’s very clear by how it’s it written that these two have some major hots for each other since they can’t keep their hands off each other. And it does get a wee bit like “get a room already.” Oh wait, they did and we got ring side seats! But really, this felt almost like viewing a couple’s personal, intimate moments and so there was a slightly different feel to it than reading most erotic romances.

Katherine Forrest wrote those scenes in realistic, nice way though. Without using really graphic language, she managed to capture the essence of how deeply Diana and Lane need and desire each other and I found them highly sensual and full of heart, even if they did go over the top at times. It read more like a deep let go into something overwhelming for the characters than the usual frustrations of fits and starts that go on in romance often. This made this book a bit more gratifying.

For the record, this story is basically the beginnings of their love story and there’s not too much character background or development. Nor is there much interaction outside of the bedroom for the last half of the book. It focuses mainly on the first few days of their getting together.

There were some tedious bits though where I felt that when Diana and Lane did talk it was constant expressions of feelings…nothing more than feelings, which did get on my nerves sometimes. I’ve come to accept though that many f/f or lesbian romances are going to have a fair amount of what women like to do with each other, talk about what they feel. IRL it’s fine, in books, it’s glaringly annoying at times.

This book is dated to some degree due to when it was written and the attitudes around being gay was somewhat of an issue, amongst other dated ideas in this book. On the plus side it’s kind of interesting to see how things have changed. But maybe because it’s set in California it wasn’t made to be a big deal where people and attitudes were more liberal even in the 70’s. And my usual negative feelings around characters who angst about suddenly discovering or fearing they are a lesbian didn’t come up for me with this story because it was a time when realizing you’re in love with someone of your own sex was illicit and scary and carried ramifications way harder to deal with than today.

I think if you’re into reading any kind of lesbian romance, A Curious Wine is a must read, especially for those, I think, who like a more bi or first experience feeling in their story preferences. Or if you like reading historicals (the 70’s). Heh.

Heat level: 4- Sensually written in language sexual scenarios. But there’s lots of them.

Grade: B

Review- Clicking Stones by Nancy Tyler Glenn

Clicking Stones
by Nancy Tyler Glenn
Original pub- 1989
Fantasy/ New age/ Lesbian- 1930’s- 2023
76K words
Ebook version- Artemis Press

Buy it Amazon (paper,Kindle), Fictionwise, Artemis Press

Seven-year-old Erica stumbles into a mystical place where a mysterious old woman gives her a stone. A very special stone. A Clicking Stone. Striking it against any other stone causes both to flare into incredible brilliance. Except, not everyone can see the brilliance. And Erica does not yet know the power of her Stone...

Morgan moves in next door. The girls grow up together and one day, the two click stones...

Knowledge of Erica-s gift spreads, creating a worldwide movement of adherents to the illumination power of Clicking Stones. Still, the question remains: why do some people see the brilliance and gain energy from it, and some do not? There is no discernible pattern or reason...

Throughout all these evolutionary events there is the love between Erica and Morgan -- a love that survives separation, and their loving of other women. A love of extraordinary intensity and eroticism... a love that transcends the passing years... and, finally, astonishingly, time itself.

I bought this book because I’m kind of tired of lesbian contemporary and this book seemed like it would be a good fantasy story. It is…kind of… a fantasy. What this book really is, is the chronological biography of a woman’s life from when she is 7 years old in 1945 until the year 2033. Yes, that is part of where the fantasy comes in, that she can live so long.

I can’t classify this is as a romance, although it has romantic elements to it. And there are some sexual bits that are written erotically, but again, this is more or less a biographical type story.

If you read the blurb, that pretty much tells the whole story. Most of this story revolves around Erica being able to see light when clicking stones. Only some people can see the light when they click stones although others pretend to. For some reason this ability becomes a major spiritual or new age organized movement in which centers spring up all over in which people gather to click stones. Not only that, but they also become centers for all kinds of groups to meet based on ethnicity, sexual identity, feminism, etc.

Frankly, I didn’t get it. Or the final reason why some can click and others was not a big deal to me. The only ability of clickers was maybe to see light if they clicked their stones, but this didn’t translate into any kind of special spiritual experience. Like no one became enlightened or turned into Yoda, Miyagi or Gandalf. They are all still their regular old selves with no special understanding of the cosmos. So I couldn’t get why a whole new age movement would spring up around this.

Moreover, Erica, after a while, would only click with her lovers, as if denying clicking with anyone else gave some specialness to her lovers. It’s not like clicking gave them some deep spiritual connection over and above just being in love. So really that whole aspect of the book was rather lame to me.

To be honest, because of it, I kept trying to read it as some metaphor for things like that; movements or organizations that spring up around spirituality and or special abilities like that, just to make some sense of why it was a big deal. I'm an old new age hippy chick myself and I guess I was trying to read into it some Jonathan Livingston Seagull type thing, which I didn't find.

Other than the clicking, there are a hodgepodge of other new age ideas involved like: communicating telepathically, passing through worlds, meeting another who has passed on, reincarnation, seeing dead beings, Indian swami's, meditation, etc. It was kind of all over the place on that level.

The main story though was basically Erica being in love with Morgan. They met as children and Erica had special feelings for Morgan. Morgan though, kind of blew off Erica for another, more aggressive girl, whom Erica stayed jealous of most of her life.

Erica moves on with her life and has a few affairs, but is mainly involved with running her Clicking Stones movement. And Morgan goes off to Europe to become a sculptress. They really don’t have much contact at all for like 20 years, at which point, Morgan comes back and decides to be with Erica.

Ok, this I didn’t get either. Morgan seemed to not be too interested in Erica the few times they met after growing up, so why she suddenly decided it’s time to be with Erica, I don’t know. At least there is a HEA in this.

Then there’s the whole fantasy element outside of the clicking stones and other sundry new age concepts, which kind of didn’t work for me because it was too close to reality and contemporary times. And also, it wasn’t a pure fantasy, but was reality with added fantasy elements.

For example, this book was written in the late 80’s. There were computers then, but not really personal computers. Erica gets a computer to help run her business, which talks to her and can interact with her and she can interact with her center leaders from all over through this computer. In the book, she got it during the 80’s.

Back in the 80’s our ideas of computers were that you could interact and talk with them based on movies. But the internet was already happening in the early 90’s. So not that futuristic of an idea. But how it was written in this book, the technology was still 70’s sci-fi. Also, Erica is still using the same computer well into 2009 and up until 2023 recognizing that most likely the interface would not be supported anymore. Umm… yeah.

It’s just too close to home to accept such a thing as fantasy. If the book had been written in the 50’s or 60’s I wouldn’t have bothered about it. But it would have gone over a lot better if the concept was vastly different from reality or if this was a pure fantasy and the world Erica is in is something completely different from current reality.

Thy main reason I did like the book and kept reading was that since it was a chronological story of a Erica’s life, we get to see the social and political changes and issues from the 40’s and on. I rather liked this part because Erica being a lesbian through that time period gave insight into that world through the 50’s, 60’s, 70's +.

Erica writes to her friend through the whole book with the date on it, so we get to see what she was doing at different time periods. A kind of open minded hippy way of thinking does permeate the story, which I thought was interesting since I think as a lesbian, she would have had to be part of that world to fit in on any level or be accepted. And frankly, it was kind of like reminiscing about my teen years as she got into the 60’s- 70’s, which was fun.

This is definitely a different kind of book. I read it more as a biography of a lesbian during times when it wasn’t OK to be out and found it interesting on that level alone.

Heat level: 4 – There are some pretty graphically written sexual scenarios, but only a few scenes for the length of the book, which is long.

Grade: B-

Review- Lovestruck by KT Grant

Lovestruck
by KT Grant
June 1, 2010
Contemporary/ Lesbian
53K words
Ebook- Noble Romance pub

Buy it Noble Romance

CEO hotel mogul Barbara Jennings has three months to decide whether to close her Manhattan hotel or cut costs by firing some of her employees. She meets her much-younger employee, Jennifer Caffey and is instantly smitten. Now Barbara has another mission, and that is to seduce the innocent Jenny.

Jenny is also attracted to the powerful and beautiful Barbara, but has never really had a steamy love affair with another woman. Unwittingly, she allows herself to be swept away by her passion for this older woman who may ruin her life.

Lovestruck is one of those cute, fresh, contemporary love stories that was nicely written and a lot of fun to read.

This is the first novel of from this author, and I commend her on starting out with a genre that’s not exactly leading in the must read charts. She did a great job, not only in her writing style but in capturing sweet romance in all of its elements.

Barbara and Jenny are two characters who really stand out and are very much their own person. What I liked especially was that the dynamics between both women kept shifting, which gave it a kick that’s hard to achieve in a love story between two women.

Barbara, at first, is the dominant one. She’s much older than Jenny and she’s a powerful, rich CEO of a major hotel chain who’s used to getting what she wants. She’s immediately smitten by Jenny and wastes no time in seducing her even though Jenny is younger, and her employee. It would seem then that this is how it will be between her and Jenny, Barbara controlling the relationship. But Jenny shows Barbara that Barbara is more vulnerable and not as in control as she thinks.

At first I was a bit worried about how things would go between these two. Jenny does act a bit childish at times and there is a stark contrast between Barbara’s maturity and Jenny’s youth in their initial interactions both sexually and outside of that. However, as things progress, Jenny steps up to the plate and makes it clear that she won’t be coddled, nor will she be taken advantage of because of the disparity in their ages, life experience or social status.

This made both women a bit more complex and well rounded as characters, which I felt made this story. The only complaint I did have about how the women interact is that Barbara calls Jenny kiddo and kid all the time. I felt that even though it’s clear that Barbara has full on fallen for Jenny and thinks of her as her equal, the use of kiddo kept giving it the feel of an older sister type thing. It didn’t cloud the feeling of the actual type of relationship they had, but that was one thing about how they interacted that bothered me a bit.

Outside of that, all of the characters come across as genuine and real and it had the feel of hanging out with your best buddies.

The story itself was not farfetched and I could see it actually happening. And the writing flow was just right, with clean dialogue that was snappy and natural at the same time.

For those who want to know, there’s lots and lots of steamy sex. Depending on your mood or preference in reading erotic sex, it could be a bit over the top, especially in the beginning where it seemed fairly non-stop. However, the requisite romantic and relationship foil enters in soon and there was a nice period of time getting to know the characters and getting more story development. The timing of it was just right.

And speaking of the foil, Ms Grant kept it at the perfect balance so that it was clear that these two really want each other, but not so angsty that you’re like OK already, let them get together. Moreover, it didn’t come across as contrived, but a perfectly reasonable reason for some problem in two people getting together.

All in all, this was a juicy, light read and sweet love story. I’m quite impressed with Ms Grant’s first published book and look forward to some more. I definitely recommend Lovestruck for a satisfying, erotic romance.

Heat level 5- F/f, dildo, minor anal. Graphically written, frequent sexual scenarios.

Grade: B+

Review- Last Flight of the Ark- by D.L. Jackson

Last Flight of the Ark
by D.L. Jackson
March 2010
Sci-fi/ Paranormal/ f/f/m- ménage
Novel- 45-80K
Ebook- Liquid Silver Books

Buy it Liquid Silver

Evolution never happened so fast.

Twelve hours outside of Terra II, Colonel Kaleb Titan, a molecular geneticist and commander of the Ark, faces a life or death choice that could change the fate of mankind.

The Genesis I, aka the Ark, travels with a hold full of wildlife and three crew members. When a wolf bite and genetically-altering gamma radiation transform Kaleb, he notices his senses have been heightened, his libido has gone haywire and he can’t keep his hands off his crew. Worse yet, they don't seem inclined to stop him.

When their sister ship, the Genesis II arrives early, Kaleb’s problems compound. As soon as the command crew of the Genesis II boards, one whiff tells Kaleb they’re not from Earth or who they appear to be.

When he discovers that they’ve kept the Genesis II’s crew of over two thousand alive, he begins to believe their reasons may be far more ominous than anyone could have imagined. However, he also discovers what’s holding them back. The hijackers seem to be allergic to canines.

Now they're forced to employ biological warfare against their own, but will it be enough to save humanity?
History is about to repeat and only one species will survive.

Contains: Menage (M/F/F), Lesbian sex (F/F), intercom sex

I wanted to like this book, I really did. There are so few f/f/m ménages out there that I wanted this to be really good. And for the most part it was fairly entertaining. However, right from the get-go there were some things that pushed my buttons and I’ll say they probably colored my whole view of the book.

The blurb is pretty accurate so on with my take.

Right in the beginning we are introduced to all three main characters. They are the only three manning a ship bringing in animals to start a new earth colony called Terra II. They've been stuck together for 8 months on this journey and of course all of three of them are harboring major hots for each other.

What bothered me straight away was how Kaleb muses about the two women. He’s either complaining about them in his mind calling them bitchy and hormonal females, or he’s thinking about how stacked they are with the double D boobs and cute ass cheeks that keep making him horny. And he is in his 50’s. It felt more like he was a teenage boy. And I’m really put off when men talk like that about women. You know, better behave or they’ll nag, nag you to death those bitches! Ugh. So this put me off right away.

I will say that it did change over the course of the book after they all get together. In fact, he has to put up with them running over him at times and disobeying orders to do what I thought were some TSTL things. But there was still this overall quality in the writing that came across more as a young boy getting a hold of a Playboy mag in the way that Kaleb thinks often.

Next up in what didn’t work for me was the flow of the writing. The story was disjointed in the telling and I was often confused as to what was actually going on. It jumps around in a way that I often had to go back and see if I missed something and after a while I couldn’t be bothered. There are gaps and things got glossed over for convenience I thought. And again, there was a certain quality about it that felt a bit cheesy in the way the characters act, think and speak.

What worked for me was that after the characters do get their freak on with each other, there is a cohesiveness about them and the way they relate that was very appealing. Both Jessica and Melissa were lovers before they got on the ship, with Melissa only being into women. However, they both have it bad for Kaleb and decide that neither one will be with him without the other, all unbeknownst to Kaleb.

Kaleb of course, being a full blooded teenage boy in a 50 year old’s body, has been salivating over the girls since they left earth. I will give Kaleb credit though for being a gentleman and not sexually harassing the women with lots of sexual innuendo since they were doing whatever they could to try and get his attention in the sexual arena, including wearing very skimpy clothing.

They are all quite juicy together and there were some interesting moments of jealousy when one of the women are with him without the other. But by the end it’s clear they are a threesome and that’s the way it’s going to be.

About the premise of the story, I really liked it. I thought it was pretty creative and unique in that it mixed the shape shifting paranormal genre with sci-fi. I am pretty tired of the whole fated sexual/romantic attraction thing that is caused by the animal nature in a shifter, but it worked here for me because of the intricate sci-fi element and the fact that the three characters were hot for each other before the “mutation” happens. The mutation just becomes the impetus for all three to finally let loose their pent up sexual energy with each other.

The author also focused a lot on the story and less on non-stop sex, which is something I liked. I picked this book up for the f/f/m ménage element, but also because f/f and f/f/m are usually contemporaries and it’s nice to read something a bit different for a change. So not making this about a menage with an added sci-fi element, but this being sci-fi with a menage, added to my enjoyment.

So, I have mixed feelings about the book. I think if the story telling was a bit more cohesive and the characters were a bit less horn-doggy, this would have been a hit for me. As it stands, it was entertaining and fairly easy to read even if I did roll my eyes here and there and got lost in confusion.

Heat level: 4- f/f, f/f/m, m/f. Some nicely written graphic sex, but not overbearing to the story.

Grade C+

Review- Innocent Hearts by Radclyffe

Innocent Hearts
by Radclyffe
Oct 2005
Historical/ Lesbian
200 pgs (61K words)
Bold Strokes Books

Buy it BSB (ebook, paper), Amazon (paper), ARe (ebook)

By Guest Reviewer- Jill Sorenson

In 1860's Montana Territory, Kate Beecher, a young woman from Boston, faces the hardships and hard choices of life on the frontier. Just eighteen and quietly struggling against the social constraints of the era, Kate meets a woman who fires first her imagination, and then her dreams. Jessie Forbes, a fiercely independent rancher, finds in Kate the passion she never knew she had been missing.

This is the story of their struggle to love in a land, and time, as cruel as it was beautiful.

Since my last review, I’ve been on a mission to find a good f/f romance. I’ve spent hours browsing ebooks online, but the offerings are meager and I’m picky about my purchases. Bad covers and awkwardly written blurbs are common. Most of the excerpts I read (if I get that far) don’t sell me on the book. It’s frustrating.

So I decided to look elsewhere: the library. In the comments thread at Dear Author, LVLM mentioned Bold Strokes Books and Mfred recommended an author named Radclyffe. I was able to request several of her titles, including Tomorrow’s Promise and Innocent Hearts.

I liked Tomorrow’s Promise, a contemporary romance set in a sleepy coastal town, but it wasn’t a homerun for me. Innocent Hearts was. I really, really loved it.

This historical romance, set in the Montana territory in the 1860s, opens with Kate Beecher, an 18-year-old girl from Boston. She moves to the wild frontier with her parents and finds it breathtaking. Even more breathtaking is Jessie Forbes, a young female rancher she meets at a round-up. Kate has never been interested in her male suitors, and neither has Jessie, but they don’t know why. The women are confused and exhilarated by their mutual attraction. They fall in love before they even share a kiss; this is very much an affair of the heart.

When Kate and Jessie finally realize what they are feeling, they express it physically and emotionally, exploring their newfound sexuality. The love scenes are sweet and sensual. Although Kate and Jessie want to be together forever, they have to keep the relationship a secret, and face many hardships. Kate’s parents want her to marry a man, naturally. These struggles are dealt with in a way that seemed true to the time period and to Radclyffe’s style, which relies heavily on passionate declarations and near-tragic occurrences.

The setting details are well done, and that Radclyffe’s portrayal of a tight-knit ranching community seems authentic, if a bit idyllic. Kate and Jessie are strong, likeable characters. Their love for each other is so powerful it’s almost overwhelming. They will do anything, risk anything, to be together. While some readers might consider this aspect melodramatic, or find the innocence of the characters unrealistic, I ate it up with a spoon. If I had one nitpick, it would be that the sex scenes weren’t quite explicit enough. *blush*

I feel a glom coming on.

Grade: A

Review- Dancing with Venus by Roscoe James

Dancing with Venus
by Roscoe James
May 2010
Contemporary/ Lesbian
64K
Ebook- Loose-Id

Buy it Loose-Id

Blues is Jessica Butler’s life. No performer romances the audience better. Unfortunately the audience is the only thing twenty-eight-year-old Jessie is romancing these days. Her life is an endless string of club dates with the occasional male groupie thrown in to stave off complete isolation. Careful to never surrender more than her body, matters of her heart remain a mystery, even to her.

On the outs with her family, she’s been running from gig to gig for over a year. When her little sister’s wedding invitation finds her in Chicago Jessie realizes it’s time to stop running. Unwittingly she starts a pilgrimage that turns the ever elusive matters of her heart into a train wreck.

Marcella Dionysius keeps company with the dead Europeans. Instead of bars and clubs, Marci’s venues are concert halls and recording studios. She’s a world-class cello player, a woman that loves women, and the only daughter of a very powerful man who wants just one thing before he dies. An heir.

Marci is an exotic Greek goddess next to Jessie’s pale, lanky, Midwestern form, and Jessie hates her sister’s best friend immediately. She hates her even more after their first kiss. Because this time running isn’t an option.

Dancing with Venus is one of those books that based on the first few pages, I expected to have issues with. However, this turned out to be one the better reads of this year not only in writing quality but amazing character depth portrayal that I don’t read too often. Roscoe James captured and created a character in Jessie that crawled under my skin and made a home.

At first I had a hard time with Jessie. She’s jaded to the max, going through life with a huge chip on her shoulder. She’s done whatever she could, to the point of being cruel, to piss her mother off at every turn, and she fucks guys she meets at her gigs just to add a notch to her little “pink” book. There’s something really hard about her, and yet, of course we see further on that it’s a cover up for something painful in her past and some deep vulnerability.

Now typically, I start to roll my eyes at the tortured, self destructive character who has a heart of gold really. It’s so stereotypical and kind of boring. Yet, surprisingly, the author took this to a different level and added some real depth to Jessie as a character.

As the story progresses, Jessie learns things about why she acts like she does that shock even her. Things that she completely blocked and forgotten because they were too painful. I felt this was very realistically portrayed and I thought myself that Jessie really had no idea of those things that were haunting her psyche and causing her to act in self destructive ways.

Marci was more of a catalyst character in this story. She’s not as well developed, but in a way, it doesn’t matter because this is more or less Jessie’s story and her growth. What I liked about Marci is that in contrast to Jessie, she’s very stable about what she feels and knows what she wants. She bee-lines it to Jessie and pushes her way into Jessie’s heart, which is something that obviously Jessie needed. She never wavers, even when Jessie goes in and out with her flakiness about what she wants or feels.

There were times in this story that I felt it could easily go the way of the “oh my god I’m a lesbian,” but it never did even though Jessie does freak at first. Jessie finds herself shocked that she likes being with a woman and does fight it on some level, but it goes deeper than the whole fear of what people will think. It touches a deep nerve inside of her that brings up stuff that have to do with who she really is, her core, her security, relationship with her parents, her childhood and so on. I liked this because so many times an initially non gay character that ends up in a gay situation screams that “oh my god I’m a lesbian” is used more as a cheap way to show inner conflict than as part a complex character issue. So kudos to Mr. James for that.

The next issue that almost derailed this story for me was the push-pull thing that goes on quite often as a conflict device. In this case, Jessie opens up to Marci but then freaks and pulls back. Not once, but twice. When they finally get together again half way through the story and again Marci wants some kind of commitment or declaration and acknowledgment of Jessie’s love, Jessie can quite bring herself to it and again, they go on their separate ways.

I was thinking at that point, ugh, really, I hate this back and forth indecisiveness of characters. But then Mr. James took that and didn’t keep it frustrating, but ran in a different and interesting direction. I think it’s very hard to keep a contemporary love story interesting without a side theme like suspense or some other plot device to keep the characters distracted enough to build up tension. But I will say that the story line went in a direction that did that in a way that was able to showcase Jessie’s internal growth and desperate need to get Marci back without pissing me off.

Instead of a constant back and forth, both go on with their lives, especially Jessie who has a booming personal life outside of her love of Marci. But all the while, she’s trying to find and get back with Marci. This puts the focus on the story back into creating enough tension that I was aching for these two to get together again without getting pissed off by the drama of it. By the time they do meet up again, it’s so clear that Jessie will do anything for that love even sacrificing the other most important thing in her life, her music.

For those who are wondering, there isn’t that much sex in this book. Much of the story takes place with both Jessie and Marci being apart, with just enough scenes of them together to establish what they feel and the crisis they go through to end up together. But I liked this. For once in a long time, sex wasn’t thrown in there to show a relationship between the couple at the expense of character development and plot.

And I wasn’t going to mention this because really, it doesn’t matter the sex of the writer. A good story is a good story and this was a well written story. However, something that struck me here was that Mr. James had more insight into a woman’s character than many of the female writers of the same genre I've read. And I dare say, that Jessie as a character does have an edge and vulnerability to her that made her more real for me than many female protagonists that I read in these types of stories.

So, bottom line, I highly recommend this book. While it does have some issues, and maybe some of the story could have been cut in parts where Marci and Jesse are apart and doing their own thing, I’m still left with thoughts of this book in my head and wanting to continue on with the characters, to see how they made out with their HEA. And I was quite impressed with the writing quality

Heat level: 3- there are some, short, somewhat graphically written sex scenes, but they are few and I didn’t find them over the top but more about expressing what the characters feel for each other.

Grade: B+, A-

BBC movie: The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister

I saw this on AfterEllen.com blog which has an exclusive trailer for a film coming out about an actual historical figure Ann Lister, who was a lesbian and chronicled her life in a series of diaries.

This looks like it's going to be really good. Unfortunately, I don't get the BBC so I will have to wait until it's out on DVD. The DVD is coming out on June 14 according to Amazon UK. But could be a while for it in the US. I do have a code free DVD player though.

After watching Tipping the Velvet, I have a craving for historical lesbian stories. What's especially interesting is that she was a real person. Hats off to the BBC who has the guts to make these films.

You can watch the Trailer here for The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister

From the BBC site:

Maxine Peake stars in The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, a bold and passionate new drama for BBC Two, written by Jane English and directed by James Kent.

Anne Lister, 1791–1840, was a Yorkshire landowner, industrialist, traveller and diarist. She was also a lesbian who, despite needing to keep her orientation secret from society at large, defied the conventions of her times by living with her female lover.

Anne kept a detailed account of her life, loves and emotions in a fascinating and painfully honest four million word journal. A sizeable portion of the journal was written in code and the recent deciphering of these diaries provides an astonishing insight into the life of the woman who has been called Britain’s first modern lesbian.

Anne Lister's remarkable diary and her truly extraordinary life form the basis of The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne Lister.

This one-off 90-minute drama features a stellar cast, including Anna Madeley; Susan Lynch; Christine Bottomley; Gemma Jones; Dean Lennox Kelly and Tina O'Brien.

An accompanying documentary presented by comedy writer and presenter Sue Perkins tells the story of Anne Lister and the decoding of her diaries.

Janice Hadlow, Controller of BBC Two, says: "This is the world of the Brontes, with an unexpected twist.

"These remarkable diaries have shown that life and love in 19th century Yorkshire was more varied and surprising than you might think from reading the great novels."

Review- Tipping the Velvet (DVD) by Sarah Waters

Tipping the Velvet (DVD)
2004- BBC mini series

Smitten by music hall life, and by the beautiful male impersonator Kitty Butler (Keeley Hawes), Nan Astley (Rachael Stirling) leaves her family’s Whitstable oyster parlor and follows her heart to London. There she finds unimaginable joy—and misery—as she explores the secret side of fin de siècle life.

Based on the acclaimed novel by Sarah Waters and adapted by Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Doctor Zhivago), this powerful BBC drama is both a frank depiction of lesbianism and a witty and moving account of a young woman who will win your heart while searching for her own. Also starring Anna Chancellor (Pride and Prejudice), Jodhi May (The Last of the Mohicans), Hugh Bonneville (Iris) and John Bowe (Poldark). "Provocative and uplifting" ––The Baltimore Sun. "Flat-out sublime" ––The Seattle Times.



There are 103 reviews of this film on Amazon, so I think if you want a full spectrum of reviews you can go there. I thought I’d just give a few impressions of how I experienced the movie.

I haven’t read the book. Nor have I read any other of Sarah Waters’ books, so I really can’t compare it to the original story or her other stories. However, from what I gleaned over at Amazon, the movie version is pretty close.

I also can’t compare this to Fingersmith, which I read in several reviews is way better. So this is a first time impression based on nothing really except my personal experience with this film.

I loved it. Really loved it. There are very few films, or books for that matter, in which when it’s over I feel really sad. I didn’t want to let go of the world I’d just been in for a few hours, I wanted to hang out with the characters just a bit more.

Tipping the Velvet affected me on so many levels and I’ll admit that it did break my heart in a few places and I did get a bit emotional and cry a few times.

The first thing that hit me was how the relationship between Nan and Kitty develop. It’s a slow build up and Nan’s longing for Kitty palpable and extremely passionate. She’s only 18 and has no idea really that she’s in love with a woman as opposed to what she’s supposed to feel with a man, but is so smitten that she only knows she will do anything to be around Kitty.

This for me was the best part of the film, how they start relating and how slowly Kitty opens up to Nan and seduces her in a way. It’s sweet, it’s very romantic, poignant, innocent and it’s heartbreaking in a way. It brings up all those feelings of longing you’ve ever had a for anyone plus all that vulnerability when falling in love, and brings them to the front of your psyche. So this was very well done and rather emotional and touching for me.

Of course, things hit the skids because that’s what makes for good drama, and Kitty blows off Nan to marry their theatrical manager. This throws Nan into a tailspin of emotional anguish, which sets her off on a different journey than she would have thought for herself as a simple country girl.

I’ve read a few reviews of the book at Goodreads and quite a few mentioned that Nan seemed to drift aimlessly, having no backbone or ability to stand up for herself. I don’t know if the book portrays her like that, but in this story she does have backbone. It’s just strength to do what she has to do to survive. In that process, she uses and embraces this world she was in of dressing like a man to get what she needs and she grows from her experiences of selling herself in different ways to get on.

I will admit, that once Kitty was out of the picture it’s more of a somber drama without that inner feeling of joy that two people who love each other will be together and some of the passion of it was gone, with reality setting in. I kept wishing Kitty would somehow come back into the story, that it couldn’t be true that two people who loved each other like Kitty and Nan would not survive. But I admit this desire in me that they get back together kept up the tension and desire to watch this movie.

The scenery and imagery of Victorian life was very well done in this story. Especially the world of vaudeville or stage performers. I wasn’t so much hot over the singing and dancing numbers in the movie, but was intrigued to know that during this time period many women dressed as men and did stage performances as men. There was a whole underground world of performers that crossed dressed and were gay and lesbian that was well known about in certain circles and it seems that it was quite accepted amongst those people, even if against the law at that time. It also portrayed the ugly side of this world as well, which was quite fascinating.

There were some minor instances that portrayed that being gay during these times was wholly unacceptable and apparently, in the book Kitty rejects Nan due to some inner homophobic conflict, I don’t know. However, in this story that is not the case. Although we really don’t know why Kitty rejects Nan, but that she does pay for it emotionally.

One thing I must bring up is that there were quite a few nude scenes as well as sex between Nan and several women during her journey. I thought they were beautifully and tastefully done, very erotic but not in a gaudy, titillating way. I felt that these women really want and have deep need for each other during those scenes. And there is one fascinating nude scene in which Nan is dressed as Hermaphrodites, naked and painted in gold and wearing a strap on as entertainment for her mistress’ party. I thought that the BBC allowing this to be in a TV film was quite bold.

All in all this was a good movie. I’d definitely recommend it to any woman who is lurking about some inner openness to women on a romantic level. It portrays the passion that women can feel for each other in a rather beautiful and erotic way.

I’ll probably get a hold of some other Sarah Water’s books or DVD’s, especially if they are as intense as this story was. Oh and that was another bonus, this DVD had a short interview with Sarah Waters, which was kind of interesting.

Heat level: 3- tastefully done sex with some nudity

Grade: Between A- and B+

Here's a montage of scenes from the movie that show the most poignant moments. Just so you know, it does give away some of the best parts, although it's done to music and it's well worth not watching this if you intend to watch the movie at some point. There are lots of vids of this movie on youtube in case you want more.

It's a Non review week

This week has kind of sucked book wise. I've read two shorty's, started a longer book was a DNF, and started another book that I couldn't even get past the first chapter due to major info dump and boring writing that didn't hook me in. *sigh*

The first shorty is:

Enchanted Waters
by Bryn Colvin
Fantasy/lesbian
4.6K
Loveyoudevine

Fate brings Catherine and Bracken to the healing spring at two critical moments in their lives. Encountering each other and sharing tears sparks passion and wild possibility.

Perhaps the old Gods were watching over Bracken and Catherine, sending them to the same healing spring at two critical points in their lives. In the spell of this magical place, the two women forge a deep connection and awaken a magical passion within each other.

Unfortunately this story didn't do it for me. I bought this book thinking it might be in interesting fantasy.

What didn't work for me was the incongruity in the ambiance.

It starts out all kind of new agey and spiritual with flowery and poetic language. The dialogue in the beginning was a bit stilted and off with the characters seemingly talking at each other without a connection. Then when the women get together, the language suddenly gets quite sexually graphic but mixed with with comparing the sex to the elements and the stars and so on. It came off to me like when a religious person talks all spiritial as they're taking advantage of someone sexually. It was weird for me.

Some parts of the story were OK, but it was too short for any other development outside of establishing some karmic meeting and spiritual sex. C-

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The next book was a DNF.

Lavender Excursions
by Danielle Engle
2000
Erotica/ contemporary/ Lesbian/ some-m/f
67K
ebook

A self-styled entrepreneur, whose good looks and reputation precede her, Taryn Williams operates a business catering exclusively to women.

Lavender Excursions is her dream child, a place where women play out their deepest and darkest sexual fantasies. When Pat Brooks buys her best friend, Kimberly Justin, an excursion for a Christmas present, she sets off a chain of events that change not only Kimberly's life but Taryn's life as well. As past and present collide, these two women discover that love is a truly splendid thing.

Ok, this was erotica, so my standards are a bit less. But I just couldn't finish it. The whole premise was dumb and it's mostly hard core BDSM and non-stop sex with barely a story line. Now I wasn't so bothered by the BDSM and some of the sex was pretty hot. And I did manage to read about one third of the book. But when the main character started flogging one character with a shovel from the fireplace, that was it for me, I'm done.

I think if you're up for some hard core rough sex, with some serious flogging and strong D/s dynamic, you'll have a great couple of hours. It just wasn't for me.

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The last book, unfortunately is not for sale anymore. I wasn't going to review it, but dang-it, it was the best group of little short stories.


Taste Test: Learning Curve
2008
by C. B. Potts, Jodi Payne, and Elisa Viperas Anthology/Contemporary/Erotica/ Lesbian
ebook
Short

Advanced Studies by CB Potts

Hot for Teacher by Jodi Payne

Do it With Class by Elisa Viperas

I must say, although very short altogether, and having three short stories within that, this is a juicy book. If you like the school, teacher/student- older/younger dynamic- fantasy, I'd totally recommend it. All three stories focus on a school setting.

The first, Advanced Studies, is a quick yummy between a Dept. head prof and a not yet tenured instructor who is feeling a bit rebellious. I liked the dynamics in this story, older women, younger woman tight tension. Very hot.

The next story, Hot For Teacher, is about a TA and a prof. The prof is the one in control here and *coughsurreptitiouslycough* seduces the TA, who is secretly lusting after the prof. Again, nicely written with those titillating differential power dynamics.

The third story, Do it with Class, is about two teachers teaching kids in a Catholic school. Again, this one is between older/younger in that the younger teacher is just out of college, and the older one is a former fitness instructor turned gym teacher. I'm kind of partial to the juxtaposition of sex within religious type setting. The little rebel in me rather enjoys it. But this was kind of cute because these women are so different. The younger woman is kind of straight laced even though she's a lesbian and the older one is pretty bawdy and outrageous. Plus, the writing and dialogue in this story was witty and fun.

Grade: B+

It was originally published by Torquere Press, but I can't find a copy of it anywhere even though it was pubbed in 2008. Don't know why it's gone, but it is.

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I'm not going to comment on the last DNS (Barely started) book because what's the point? I tried. I skipped ahead, hoping that the prologue only was a huge info dump, but the first chapter read the same way, and a few chapters in read the same way. I don't know who these characters are and unfortunately for the author, I don't care.

Authors, please, do NOT start your books with info dump and back story. It confuses and bores the hell out of readers. If we can't get past the first few pages, then even if the rest of book is brilliant, no one will know.

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All is not lost this week though because the library finally came through with my hold of a few weeks, the DVD version of Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters.

I'm going to try and watch it tomorrow and get a review up of it in the next few days. Woot!