Review- The Duchess, Her Maid, the Groom and Their Lover by Victoria Janssen

The Duchess, Her Maid, the Groom & Their Lover
by Victoria Janssen
Dec. 2008
Historical fantasy
F/F, (F)/F/M
Novel (over 60 k words)
eHarlequin pub-$13.95

By Guest reviewer M. A.

Buy it Amazon, B&N, eHarlequin

Wretched be the woman of wealth and fortune who fails to produce a suitable heir….

And wretched is what Duchess Camille feels living with the cruel and debauched duke. But that soon turns to desperation when she learns her lecherous husband is plotting to have her killed to make way for a more nubile and fertile companion. Knowing she cannot sit idly by and wait for death, she flees into the night, taking with her her own young lover—the stable hand Henri—and her most loyal servants.

With a mind to finding refuge with Maxime, her first love who years ago ignited her sexuality, Camille and her servants take cover in brothels along the way and succumb to the physical delights on offer, sating their longings and fueling jealousies with one another. But the duke's men are not far behind, and Camille knows they must press on, hoping against hope that the man who has every reason to turn her away will remember the fervent passion that once coursed between them.…

If you like underwhelming action, overwhelming angst, and indifferent erotica, you will love this book.

“The Duchess…” had me mentally tearing my hair out because, numerous times, I’d stumble across some good writing and hints that good stuff was coming if I just kept reading. Payoff never occurred.

About 80% of the book is tell-y backstory and angst combined with incidental erotic scenes that did nothing to extend the plot, develop characterization, or contribute to the novel in any other meaningful way.

The remaining 20% showcases a watered-down, lukewarm plot and Janssen’s exceptional gift for beautiful description and world-building. Janssen establishes scenes and settings to involve all the senses. Lush, aromatic gardens, tasty foods, dense forests, crisp, salty seas, grand palaces, humble taverns, and exotic bagnios are all made real.

The protagonist, Camille, is what I sometimes call an “anti-Mary Sue.” She’s unlikeable and unexceptional and yet, for reasons unknown, every relevant character in the novel admires her and/or is in love with her (or, at least, wants to have sex with her.) The common people revere her. Songs and poems are published in her honor. Prostitutes imitate her looks and style to procure patrons who like the fantasy of enjoying sex with her.

The reader is repeatedly told rather than shown that Camille was a good politician who strove to govern her duchy fairly and justly but she was undermined first by her neglectful father (since he considered females unfit to rule) and later by Michel, her abusive husband, desperate to supplant her hereditary right to her duchy.

Camille does many despicable things in the name of furthering her own interests, including ordering Henri, a young stable hand, to service her sexually in hopes of conceiving a child to placate her cruel husband. In typical Mary Sue fashion, Camille does not want to do this and she knows this is wrong. She knows Henri could face exile or execution for defiling her. But all her concerned servants and concerned loyal subjects urge her on out of fear for her safety and Camille allows herself to be persuaded by their demands.

Immediately after her liaison with Henri, however, Camille decides Michel is intent upon murdering her and that she must flee the realm and seek aid with Maxime, ruler of a protectorate territory subject to her duchy. Without any practical considerations or much planning, She takes her maid/bodyguard, Sylvie, two eunuch guards, and Henri.
From here, the novel descends into a dozen chapters of meaningless sexual interludes focused more upon duty than pleasure.

(SPOILER) Examples:

1. Camille initiates a sexual relationship with Sylvie not because she desires Sylvie personally, but because Sylvie’s always been in love with her and Camille feels her loyalty deserves a reward.

2. Camille has sex with her eunuch guards. This is her “duty” as well. Part of the eunuchs’ duty in palace tradition is to provide her with sexual relief and since Camille has never had sex with them (Camille’s 40 years old, and the guards have been in her household for years) her eunuchs feel neglected and worry she finds them inadequate or that she doubts their loyalty. To prove her trust in them, Camille dutifully allows the two eunuchs to gratify her sexually.

3. One of the eunuchs dominates and disciplines a brothelkeeper boarding them. Not because he wants to, but to buy silence in case Michel’s search parties seek them out.

4. After the brothelkeeper submits voluntarily to the eunuch’s dominance and discipline, Sylvie rewards the brothelkeeper with her favors.

5. A nobleman confronts Henri and Camille, claiming to identify Camille. Camille and Henri claim Camille is actually a prostitute made up to look like Camille (ick factor – it’s fashionable in the duchy for whores to copy Camille’s style to indulge patrons desiring Camille.) The nobleman demands sex with Camille. (This scene is edited very strangely. It’s unclear to me if they actually had sex or not. If they did, the erotica was taken out of the book.)

6. When a woman working in an inn identifies Camille, Henri offers her sex for silence. (I found this scene very “icky” because Henri insisted that Camille was actually a prostitute made up to look like Camille and that they were actually fleeing a cruel master who abused them both. The “respectable” innkeeper than has sex with Henri out of sympathy for all the alleged sexual abuse he’s endured in the past. Wow. Just wow. I never imagined accepting sexual bribery from a desperate victim of sex abuse could be seen as “therapeutic” for the abuse victim, but there it is.)

And so on. You get the idea. (END SPOILER)

Most of the erotica is non-titillating in my opinion. This is partly due to the chronic sense of duty and/or obligation attached to most of the sexploits. It’s not about love or even recreational pleasure. The scenes involving Henri and/or Sylvie were the best because these two characters had some enthusiasm for sexual pleasure, at least. I didn’t get to know the characters better, or come to care about them. In fact, I liked Camille less and less the more her servants acted on her behalf for her security.

Normally when I read erotica I experience some degree of sensual titillation or sexual awareness. That never happened here in 200+ pages of near cover-to-cover erotica. I might as well have been reading an accounting textbook. No stimulation emotionally or sexually at all.
In between all the stale sex, Camille angsts about her duchy in Michel’s hands, Michel’s abuse and all her troubles related to it, and seeing Maxime again. She hasn’t seen or communicated with Maxime in two decades.

When Camille is not angsting about all her problems, Henri angsts about his relationship with Camille. He is absolutely fascinated with her and romantically attached to her. Again, she gives him no reason to be so. I did infer that she cared about Henri and felt responsible for him, but it was hard for me to like her for this since – really – she was 100% responsible for endangering him in her “pregnancy scheme” in the first place. Sorry, I don’t give snaps to people for doing what they should.

The “dealbreaker” for me occurred in Chapter 13. Here the author regaled us with yet another lengthy flashback of Camille’s lonely childhood and her first sexual attraction to Maxime. The story implies no romantic interest – not even friendship – these two are strictly interested in sex.

(SPOILER) The two schedule a tryst the evening of Camille’s seventeenth birthday ball. Concealed in the library’s window-seat, Camille witnesses Maxime confronted by an older noblewoman who accuses him of dishonoring Camille, threatens to reveal him to Camille’s evil father who’ll castrate him, and demands sex for her silence.

The situation in itself was absurd since the noblewoman had no proof of Maxime’s intentions, nor did she even know Camille was in the room. Nevertheless, Maxime proceeds to service the threatening noblewoman, clearly under duress and not enjoying himself, while the noblewoman calls him degrading names, orders him not to come, and flounces off after coming.

Sickeningly, although Camille feels outraged on Maxime's behalf that he is forced to perform against his will... she is still aroused and enjoys watching him fulfill the other woman's demands.
This disgusted me beyond measure and I lost what tenuous empathy I had for Camille up to that point.

Imagine a male protagonist getting off on watching his female interest -- even a casual sexual interest -- forced to service another man in order to avoid some unpleasant consequence. Imagine rationalizing it like so:

Camille couldn't help but be aroused now. She couldn't stop imagining herself in the other woman (rapist)'s place. Except she would be nicer to Maxime.

Once the rapist leaves, Camille ventures out of hiding to console Maxime with a blow job. (END SPOILER)

The novel goes on to reveal what is patently obvious to anyone paying attention, that Camille is a damaged woman who takes advantage of others for her own benefit (although her actions are chronically justified because she’s an aristocrat, a neglected daughter, and a battered wife.)
I found it impossible to identify with or sympathize with this character.

I continued reading because I’d been advised the story gets better. To some extent it does, but it’s too little too late. I did recognize SOME changes to Camille, but they were too minor for me to care.

I think the author wanted readers to applaud Camille for having an “epiphany” of sorts and taking responsibility for herself and for her problems. But she never comes through.

(SPOILER) In the end, after her arduous escape from her husband’s cruelty, Camille rides right back into her territory and takes over. Yes, that’s right. She never lifted a finger. The common people all loved her so much and hated Michel so much, they overthrew him and placed him under house arrest. Everyone volunteers to murder him, but Camille-Sue will have none of that. She simply exiles her ex-tormentor. Sylvie, her trusty friend/maid/bodyguard/sidekick, is turned out to indulge a female ménage a trois with some village women. The eunuchs leave to enjoy their not-so-secret homosexual relationship. Henri remains as Camille’s lover and mainstay although he understands he must share her with Maxime whom Camille still does not love. (END SPOILER)

*shudders* I’ve read worse, but not much.

Technical/mechanical: editorial was mostly clean. As mentioned earlier, there were some odd transitions and disjointedness with scenes. The narrative read to me like at least one scene was removed but the follow up writing wasn’t “smoothed over” to reflect that.

Cover Art: The cover’s gorgeous but does not relate to the novel in any way. I admit I was expecting something more “lighthearted” and “romping” because of the cover and the title.

Sex Rating: Orgasmic - for graphic sexual scenes only. I opt not to [personally] rate this book because I don’t find it sexy. The book is chock full of sexual situations, but none of them “touched” me.

Grade: D (This is a substandard work no matter how I look at it. The erotica is unexciting and the romance doesn’t get enough “spotlight” to compensate. From a literary viewpoint, Camille’s self-discovery is uninteresting.

NOTE: I’d like to add the novel has received mainly good to average reviews. Taste is subjective. I probably would have given the book a C-minus were it not for the Chapter 13 revelation. That was just too big an ick factor for me to remain neutral about.

And the book industry goes kablooie...or not

So Macmillan is moving from a "retail model"* (with a 50/50 revenue split) to an agency model (with a publisher-70/bookseller-30 split) in its relations with booksellers (and other publishers are quickly following suit), and the entire book-blogging community is flipping out. "This will mean higher ebook prices across the board," bemoans Jane of Dear Author. "But authors will earn less if their books are listed at $14 than if they're listed at $25.99 and discounted to a sawbuck by Amazon!" wail others. And dozens upon dozens of readers insist that "Macmillan just lost themselves a customer!"

*For those of you wondering, I employed quotation marks because since the 1930s, bookselling has been a gruesome marriage of retail and consignment. In a true retail model, retailers own the merchandise they buy from manufacturers and set the sale price at whatever they think the market will bear. If the merchandise doesn't sell, the retailer is stuck with it, and either shifts it to a liquidator or puts it on clearance--often for less than wholesale--because recovering some of their investment is better than nothing. In a consignment model, the providor of goods sets the consumer sale price, and if the item doesn't sell it either sits there unsold forever, or the consignment broker simply returns it to the owner, no harm no foul.

In bookselling, retailers are not stuck with unsold books. Those books are either returned to the publisher for full credit (in which case the publisher can remainder them to recover some of their losses), or stripped and pulped and the covers returned to the publisher for full credit (in which case, the publisher swallows a total loss on them). So for the retailer, bookselling embodies all the benefits of retail and none of the risks, and for the publisher, all the risks of consignment--and more, in the case of mass market paperbacks--and none of the benefits. Sweet deal for bookstores, no?

Like income tax--which was brought in to help compensate for economic stressors that were temporary--this hybrid consignment/retail model was created as an interim measure to help bookstores stay afloat in the Great Depression. And like income tax, we're still stuck with it, long after the initial conditions demanding its creation have passed. Frankly, this is not a situation that could have continued indefinitely. If publishers were to survive in an increasingly tight market, something had to give.

Like most industries undergoing a paradigm shift, there are some who will claim the sky is falling. And maybe it is.

But me? I'm not that worried. Certainly this news would dismay me more if I were a Macmillan author, but as an ebook reader and an ebook author, I'm pretty sanguine about the whole debacle. Here's why.

None of this is going to affect the way I purchase books, or negatively impact the publishers to whom I'm willing to submit my work.

With one glaring exception, I've never paid more than $8 for an ebook, and have never, ever bought an ebook that was priced higher than it's lowest-priced print version, so this move isn't going to affect my options as a reader one bit. To my knowledge, I have never bought a Macmillan ebook--if I have, it was priced under $7. The $9.99 ebook has never been an option for me, nor will it ever be one. So I couldn't care less if Macmillan books sell for $9.99 or $109.99, they weren't getting my money before, and they ain't getting it now unless the price comes down.

The publishers who got my money before will still get my money (a bigger share of it, in fact, if they also embrace the agency model with a 70/30 split), and the publishers who didn't won't unless they lower prices. And despite my strict personal policies on ebook purchases, there are plenty of ebooks available to me (and about 35 of them are sitting on my Sony right now, waiting for me to get to them). This is because no matter how bugfuck, baffled and blind most traditional publishers are about ebooks, there are a few out there (like Baen and HQN) who mostly know what they're doing and are cashing in on that knowledge.

As an ebook author published with a house that understands the market and the consumers who drive it, this shift in the marketplace is a net gain for me. The traditional publishers (like Baen and HQN) who understand their readers, will thrive. Those who don't and continue to refuse to learn, will falter. If, as Jane insists, ebooks from trad-pubs will only go up in price, well, the more $15 ebooks there are out there, the more attractive my own publisher's books will be to readers. I certainly can't see publishers like Samhain suddenly raising cover prices to $15. Just because Macmillan jumps off a bridge doesn't mean publishers with brains will join them.

Amazon's insane discounting of insanely priced ebooks from insanely clueless publishers has only subsidized their insanity and cluelessness and allowed it to perpetuate. It helped publishers like Macmillan with their ludicrous $25.99 ebooks to compete effectively in a market filled to brimming with smaller, smarter publishers who actually know what the fuck they're doing. Those smaller, smarter publishers have suffered because Amazon's deep discounting was making the biggies' products more attractive to consumers than they should have been. By discounting those Macmillan ebooks, Amazon was both subsidizing their stupidity, and making it harder for the good guys to get the attention they deserve.

Without Amazon absorbing losses that should have been borne by publishers and their dumb-assed pricing strategies, the products of publishers like Baen, HQN, Loose Id, Samhain, and others will have a better chance to shine, and idiots like Macmillan will either wise up or their ebooks will fail.

This system will benefit the publishers who get it right, and penalize those who willfully continue to get it all wrong.

And me, I'm just sitting back and smiling at the thought of walnut-brained, traditional publishing dinosaurs either evolving or going extinct, while the small, agile mammals of the epublishing age flourish. And I'm thanking my lucky stars I'm with a publisher who has eyes to see and a brain to think with when it comes to the digital market.

I don't have to boycott Macmillan. No one does. Just keep on keeping on, insisting on value before you hand over your money, and it will all come out in the wash.

Review- The Loveliest Butterfly by A. Mistory

The Loveliest Butterfly
by A. Mistory
Contemporary/ Lesbian/ f/f/f
58K words- $5.99
Ebook- Excessica Publishing

Buy it ARe, Fictionwise ($3.29), Excessica

It was love at first sight, at least for Tess. The moment she laid eyes on Maeve, she knew she would move heaven and earth to make friends-and more-with the reluctant redheaded beauty. But in spite of Tess’ success in winning the new girl over-at least as good friends if not fulfilling Tess’ hidden wish for more-she is unable to fully protect her new friend from the continued high school teasing and humiliation which has made her so reluctant to make connections in the first place.

Even though Maeve has transferred schools to escape the truth of her secret, rumors continue to follow her, and it’s only through her newfound friendship with Tess that she finds true happiness. But in spite of her probing, Tess learns no more about the mystery surrounding her new friend, although she continues to valiantly protect Maeve against the gossiping onslaught.

After graduation, the two young women move in together as roommates, and Maeve is exposed much more fully to Tess’ lifestyle choice. Tess begins to go out alone to lesbian bars to meet women, and Maeve feels both curious and left out. When Tess meets Marsha, a saucy, sexy, spunky siren, a torrid affair ensues that threatens Marsha’s sanity and Tess’ protective friendship with Maeve.

Will Maeve’s continuing journey of self-discovery allow her to fully blossom, even in the midst of the tangled jealousy, passion, and hidden desires of the three young women? Will her secret, finally revealed, bring them together or tear them apart?

When I read a book and I’ve bookmarked and highlighted every three to four pages on my eBookwise, it’s not a good sign. My immediate take on this story was that probably 20K could have been cut from this book and still there would have been issues.

The blurb pretty much sums up the basic story, so I’ll go from there.

I guess I’ll get to what didn’t work for me first.

1.) Tell, tell, tell. Unfortunately this book was mostly a narrative of the characters’ lives. The first part of the story is told from Tess’s POV. She basically starts from when she first saw Maeve in high school up until they move in together, telling us her/their story~~ and then this happened, and then that happened and I felt this and I felt that. There’s hardly any dialogue and other than constant hints that Maeve has some big secret and that she’s very private, we don’t know anything about Maeve.

2.) POV switching. This story is told in first person. However, half way through, the first person POV switches to Maeve telling the story from her POV, but not any of her back story. She starts talking from the point after she and Tess finally get together. So I still got no insight as to where she was coming from during her years just being friends with Tess.

At first I really liked it as it picked up what was a dragging story for me because I was curious about the very private Maeve. And that would have been fine if the author would have stuck with two people on that. But then there’s a third character, Marsha, who plays a big role in this story and who also tells some of the story from her first person POV. By the end, I was so confused as to who’s talking and I found it irritating.

3.) There were way too many repetitive sentences and expressions. It was overkill. For example:

"I still want to hate you and make love to you. Why are you here? What do you want?...

A few sentences later:

"God, I'd love to fuck you, to see your eyes watching me watch you as you orgasm and maybe scream and tell me to fuck you some more," Marsha softly but passionately told me.

A few paragraphs later:

All I know is I love Tess like I can't believe, and...and I love you too. Damn it, I want to hate you so bad, but I love you, girl. Come home with me, and let me show you what's in you, what you are...how you love Tess too."

A few paragraphs later:

“…but you're so sweet, and God, I do love you. I hate that you came here, but like with Tess, I'm glad, and I do love you. It's crazy, isn't it?"

Another section of the book:

"I—I love you too, Tess," Maeve whispered, but positively. "I do love you. I love you so much, my wonderful, sweet Tess. Please forgive me. Please, Tess," she said with an urgency in her voice.

A few sentences later:

"I do love you, Tess. I think I've always loved you. I'm sorry I didn't let you know it, but I don't think I dared to even tell it to myself. I'm so sorry I didn't. Please forgive me, Tess."

A few paragraphs later:

"You're beautiful, Maeve. God, you're so lovely. You've got the most beautiful butterfly.

A few sentences later:

I laughed quietly, softly. "Never, Maeve. You can't make me quit looking at you, at your lovely butterfly, it's so marvelous, so beautiful. Don't you know how beautiful it is, how beautiful you are?

You get the picture.

4.) This story was way too long for the lack of tension or conflict. I’m not sure if it’s a romance per se, but for more than half the book, Tess is pining over Maeve. While there was some tension in the fact that it’s unresolved and there’s some big mystery that Maeve is hiding, once they get together, there’s nothing to keep any tension up to carry the story. Even then, I felt no sexual/romantic tension between Tess and Maeve. They were just two good friends, one wanting the other and the other being clueless.

After they do get together, it became like one long run-on sex scene with repetitive expressions of “I love you” and “you’re so beautiful.” When Marsha is brought back into the story, I felt it was like an addition to a story that had ended already. It seemed to have no bearing on the story but to make it a threesome. I really had to force myself to read the last quarter of the book.

5.) Some things were off for me on the characterizations. Tess is a lesbian. She’s always been a lesbian. She has an instant attraction to Maeve and befriends her. From that moment on, she decides that she wants whatever relationship she can have with Maeve.

Maeve is very shy and doesn’t seem too forthcoming with Tess keeping things private. Tess often wonders out loud what Maeve is thinking or feeling, which made me wonder how close they really were. When Tess finally shares that she is a lesbian, Maeve insists she’s not, but doesn’t mind about Tess. They go on being very close friends for years until they sort of move in together still as friends only, with Maeve not really showing any curiosity about Tess’ love/sex life all that time.

When Tess finally decides that she needs sex, she goes to a club for lesbians and hooks up with Marsha, who falls madly in love with Tess. This somehow makes Maeve finally curious.

OK, even though it’s explained at the end, I still never got why Maeve decided to have sex with Tess. She didn’t come across as the jealous type that all the sudden she would lose Tess’s friendship if she didn’t have sex with her. It just felt off to me since until that point, she showed not one ounce of romantic/sexual attraction to Tess. Not even any slight hints to it.

Then there’s Tess’s relationship with Marsha. Marsha was a fun character even if totally neurotic. She’s right on the surface with everything and expresses exactly what she’s feeling. Tess only wants Maeve, but keeps having sex with Marsha even knowing that Marsha was falling hard for her and also knowing she was never going to stay with Marsha. She then seems so surprised that Marsha would crash and burn after meeting Maeve and knowing that she would never have a chance with Tess. Huh? I hate clueless, selfish characters.

Marsha, she's madly in love with Tess, but the very minute she meets Maeve, she's madly in love with Maeve too. Really, I don't get these people.

Tess, not loving Marsha but loving the hot sex they have, feels no jealousy of Maeve reaching out to Marsha and wanting to bring her into their relationship. She just kind of goes, OK and she all of the sudden really loves Marsha too. What? This whole thing was so off to me and rather unbelievable.

Now that I’ve pretty much bashed this book, there are one or two good things. I’ve never read in any book such an ode to doing oral sex on a woman. And I don’t say that facetiously. Really, the descriptions of oral sex were in intricate, loving detail and written as if female genitalia were the goddess herself to be knelt at, bowed down to and worshipped. These characters can’t get enough of giving oral sex, relishing everything little thing about it. I admit, I rather enjoyed that.

Spoiler****

And this story does go into, without giving away the big secret, issues that some women have physically with their genitalia. I’ve never heard of it and after researching it online, found that it’s a turn on for many partners and shouldn’t be an embarrassing issue, but is, and is cause for major angst in women who have this issue. So I thought it nice to have a character with a supposed flaw that was treated in a good way.

I also liked that the “lesbian club” the girls went to was written in a positive light. All the women who frequented it were actually really nice and caring with each other. No backstabbing or snipping bitches and so on even though many were sleeping with each other on a friends with benefits bases.

I’d say that unless you’re into lots of sex and emo drama, this book might put you to sleep.

Sex rating: Orgasmic- very graphic sex. Strap-on, f/f/f/-ménage, frequent sexual situations

Grade: C-

Review- Glory and the Clever Cat by Carol Storm

Glory and the Clever Cat
by Carol Storm
Historical/ f/f
Less than 8K words- $1.50
Ebook- Noble Romance

By Guest Reviewer- M.A.

Buy Noble Romance Publishing

Queen Catharine of Echosea will do anything to save her country. Queen Gloriana of Albion leads her people with the strength of a man. Two warrior queens, imperious and beautiful. Destiny made them rivals . . . passion made them lovers!


Glory and the Clever Cat is a good short story. If you’re looking for the elements of a novel condensed into a paltry word count, don’t bother. If you appreciate well-crafted short stories, this is a good one. Storm’s compelling prose unfolds into a precious adult bedtime fantasy, short and sweet, comforting as French hot chocolate.

For better understanding of my criteria in evaluating short stories, please read Elements of Short Stories languagearts9.pbworks.com/.../ELEMENTS+OF+SHORT+STORIES+NOTES.doc

Noble Romance classifies “Glory and the Clever Cat” in the historical genre. A more accurate designation would be Alternate Historical. The main characters stand out to any history fan as creative reinventions of prominent figures in Tudor England, and the events portrayed in the book have no basis in historical fact.

Nicely done romance and romantica focuses upon potent sexual attraction between two queens, Gloriana of Albion and Catherine of Echosea, whose neighboring nations are at war. When Catherine’s defeated forces are reduced to hiding in freezing winter bogs and facing starvation, Catherine approaches Gloriana to talk truce.

Catherine claims to be a noblewoman and offers her services as a guide through the bogs to negotiate Cat’s surrender with the intent of leading Gloriana’s forces into an ambush. Since neither Gloriana nor any of her glittering court has ever seen Cat, her true identity remains a secret.

The two women are taken with each other instantly. Flame-haired Gloriana is vividly, deliciously androgynous. Feminine in looks and dress, masculine in manner and taste, the voluptuous queen declares her interest in Cat’s blonde ladylike delicacy. Cat is no less fascinated, but political anxieties prevent the younger queen from examining her attraction to Gloriana too closely.

The affair continues another two days on a journey through Albion. Gloriana introduces Cat to various experiences, transforms the beautiful young woman to an enchanting gamine, and puts her to work as a pageboy. As their travel and love-play progresses, Gloriana opens her heart further to Catherine, inciting Cat’s respect, admiration and empathy. The romance transitions well, albeit hastily.

“Glory and the Clever Cat” has several strong points. It contains all the proper elements characteristic of a short story. So many short epublished works read more like a novel or a novella “cut down” into a shorter work, resulting in awkward execution and inconsistency. Not the case here. The story has a beginning, a middle, and an ending, and it revolves around a specific theme. Setting and exposition are well-established without info-dumping.

The protagonist is well-drawn with believable motivations and goals. With one exception I’ll mention later, Cat’s changes in the story harmonize with the plot and Cat’s own characterization.

Gloriana, Cat’s love interest, is depicted with virtues and flaws, indomitable fearlessness and tender vulnerability. Ironically, I did not “see” Gloriana as particularly attractive, but her sex appeal and confidence radiated through the prose and I found myself interested in her even when I did not like her arrogance and egoism.

Conflict and tension cook the love story through and through, ever interesting, never predictable.

In addition to well-crafted structure the ebook boasts good, even pacing and smooth flow. This book was a true pleasure to read.

After three reads and skimming once, I didn’t find any glaring typos or editorial errors. This was my first Noble Romance purchase and has instilled confidence in me that I might expect professional quality editorial in future purchases. (Disclaimer: I make no claim the book is error-free, but if errors are present they didn’t distract from my reading enjoyment.)

With so much good about Glory and the Clever Cat, I hate addressing the bad. Most of my “issues” with the book are related to personal taste and not toward technical or structural problems that can frustrate a reader expecting a professionally written book. I want to reiterate that this is a well-written short story that should satisfy lovers of short romantic fiction.

Dialogue struck me as unnatural at times. Dialogue is a useful tool in establishing plot and moving the story forward, but if used ineffectively it can sound contrived and unconvincing.
Here’s an example:

"Thank you, great queen." The girl dropped a curtsy. "If you will but hear me, I have news that may please you. Your hated enemy, Queen Catherine, is not far away."

The clause your hated enemy is intended more to establish plot to the reader than it is for Catherine to communicate information to Gloriana. Gloriana already knows Catherine is her enemy, and Catherine knows (or should know) Gloriana knows. Their respective countries are at war. Good dialogue should not only convey information, it should make sense and sound like natural conversation.

Consider this alternative:

"Thank you, great queen." The girl dropped a curtsy. "If you will but hear me, I have news that may please you. Queen Catherine and her troops are in retreat, not far away."

I found this story a little “naked” in places. Ms. Storm doesn’t overwrite a thing. Usually “less is more,” but I felt Glory and the Clever Cat could have benefitted from a little extra fleshing out without impacting the story’s integrity or significantly expanding word count.

Some of the things I wanted to know:

1. Why were Albion and Echosea at war? Trade agreements? Boundary disputes? Succession disputes? Religious conflicts? Obligations to other allies? Broken betrothal? (Reminiscent of England’s “rough wooing” of Scotland? Imagine how intriguing if Gloriana, considered a “man at heart,” had demanded Catherine as a bride in order to assert control over Echosea and been refused?) It’s a small thing, would not have taken much time to discuss, and might have had some bearing on negotiations for peace. It is strange to me, as a lover of historical fiction, that the two queens spent several days together and barely discussed their respective politics.

2. How was it possible for Gloriana to have no idea what Catherine looked like? Although they’d never met, they were neighboring sovereigns. If the story represents Renaissance history, it was quite common for rulers to exchange portraits as a goodwill gesture. Even without a portrait, ambassadors might have relayed each queen’s looks to the other. I get that Gloriana’s ignorance of Catherine’s looks was vital to Catherine’s anonymity when they met which brings me to my next question:

3. What was the point in Catherine’s anonymous “surrender” to Gloriana? It made sense at first as part of the “ambush plot.” But afterwards it would have benefitted Catherine to identify herself and demand the treatment and respect due a royal hostage. Why would Gloriana agree to spare a nation based on her fancy for a pretty face? Successful monarchs don’t wage expensive wars on enemies and then agree to spare them because of infatuation with a politically worthless lover. On the other hand, had Queen Catherine agreed to attend Gloriana and negotiate with her, that would have made much more sense because it was productive. Gloriana would have her royal hostage as well as a lover.

Small details like that would have given the story greater depth in my opinion.

The love scenes are nicely written, but I found them a tad short and underdeveloped. Narrative conveyed powerful sexual desire and romantic interest between the two women, I would have liked to see a little more of their lovemaking. That said, I appreciate Storm’s even-paced storytelling and that the love scenes did not overwhelm the book.

SPOILER ALERT: I was “thrown out of the story” by this comment from Gloriana in one of the love scenes: “Or imagine having another chance to feel my beautiful body, rubbing me all over, holding my great big boobies in your slim white hands.” This dialogue struck me as unnatural and the language not particularly sexy. Even taking into account that “boobies” (“bubbies”) was in common usage in Renaissance English, the comment made me perceive Gloriana almost as a comic cartoon caricature of the historical figure she represents. I laughed and not in a good way.

The story’s theme is trust. Plotting remains true to the theme as various revelations indicate the value of trustworthy people, the danger of untrustworthy people, and how both can surprise you when you least expect it.

The author “flubs” at the climax, however, when Catherine lectures Gloriana about the importance of trust. Catherine herself obviously distrusted Gloriana and abused Gloriana’s trust throughout the story. This disharmony in theme and plot could have been avoided had Catherine revealed her identity to Glory (or had been identified by Glory or Glory’s troops) earlier in the tale. I liked and empathized with Cat as Glory’s hostage and willing sexual plaything up to that point. Her lecture, so out of sync with her actions and coupled with a demand for restitution to boot, made me like her less and perceive her as a hypocrite.

The book’s blurb refers to Catherine and Gloriana as “fierce warrior queens.” When trapped and in danger of their lives, however, neither queen struck me as fierce, warlike, or even willing to fight for their own lives. A lucky break saves them, not their own prowess or ingenuity as warriors. This is not particularly inappropriate for a Renaissance female monarch, but it is very inappropriate for characters dubbed “fierce warrior queens.”

The cover art is beautiful and eye-catching. It does not entirely “work” for me as a cover for a historical romance, it looks more like a paranormal or fantasy book to me. However, I think this may work in the story’s favor since it is not a period accurate historical romance. The cover caught my eye first and after skimming the blurb and excerpt, I bought the ebook expecting a fantasy story. If I’d expected a more authentic historical I would have been put off by the discrepancy.

Again, many of these caveats are based upon my personal tastes. I admit I’m a tough customer when it comes to critiquing books. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Glory and the Clever Cat. I will enjoy reading it again and should Miss Storm pen a sequel I will buy it without hesitation. I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys good, romantic short stories.

Sex rating: Damp panties. There are several love scenes in the book featuring mild explicit description; allusion to sex toys. Reads more like a “spicy” traditional romance.

Grade: B-

Why Vagina Owners Need Romance Books

You know, the other day I was thinking that my poor old, tired, sucky, smelly, faded, dirty, stretched vagina needs a pick me up. I mean, it's all the rage now, isn't it? Completely changing your vagina to fit some advertiser's or someone else's ideal of it. And my own now, of course, cause they are right. Right?

And having been told over and over by advertisers who want to cash in on my feminine insecurities and the nasty age old fish jokes, I do realize that my vagina is some freak of nature that needs major fixing. And if I don't do it, then gosh, how will I ever get a man and keep him interested in my vagina? And how can I ever look at myself in the mirror? I'm the owner of something just above a garbage dump in ick factors. Oh the horrors!

Won't someone please help the poor vaginas? This is a link to an article called

The 6 Weirdest Things Women Do to Their Vaginas

Well, some women and men have stepped up to the plate and given poor vaginas a break. And for all you vagina owners, it's a lot cheaper than all those chemicals and costly operations. What is it? Why it's the erotic romance book.




Yes, in romance, vaginas don't smell like fish or of something half dead dragged out of the garbage, nope, they smell like misty seas and citrus and floral gardens. Not only that, they stretch enough to fit the super sized largest cock out there while being tight as a drum and sucking up the tiniest of fingers. They are wondrous caverns flowing with sweetest tasting nectar that lovers cannot lick and get enough of. Nor is it possible for lovers to stay away; they come from far and wide and do crazy things to willingly and at every moment suckle and partake of the wonders of the beautiful, warm vagina.

Vagina owners, skip all that crap and major cost of what advertisers are telling you and listen to the call of the erotic romance and nature. For mere dollars you can read what you really want to hear and know that your vagina is not some icky orifice, but a wondrous ocean of magic that is adored for it's natural ability to give and receive the most pleasurable of pleasures.

Review- First Blood by Bryn Colvin

First Blood
by Bryn Colvin
Contemporary/ Lesbian
13K words- $3.50
Ebook- Loveyoudevine

Buy it ARe, Loveyoudivine, Fictionwise

Cassy is in love with an older woman – the boss of a company she delivers to, who probably doesn’t even know she exists. Totally inexperienced, she has no idea how to express her desire and win the attention of this strong, high powered woman. When the chance arises for her to learn about love, Cassy takes it only to find nothing works for her. If she can’t have Velvet Aston, she doesn’t want anyone else.

Oh, where to begin. First, I got this book on sale when Fictionwise was having its holiday sale or I wouldn’t have bought it since it’s a Loveyoudivine pubbed book, which are outrageously priced for content. As per my past experience with Loveyoudevine books, the writing quality is not that great. I do have a lot of mixed feelings about this book though.

Cassy is a young woman who’s totally inexperienced in sex. She’s a simple person that seems to be socially awkward with one on one, but gets on OK in general. She delivers food daily to an office near the bakery where she works and one woman has caught her eye. Being shy, she manages one day to get noticed by offering a menu and daily delivery to this woman.

Velvet is a high powered, workaholic career woman and completely stressed out. She’s also socially dysfunctional having no life outside of work. It takes her a while, but she does start to respond to Cassy and they go out for a date.

The trouble is that events, and the fact that both women are so out of touch with each other, could mean that having a future together might not be on the plate.

Unfortunately, this story fell way short for me. The stilted and disconnected ways in which the characters communicate with each other left me wondering if they are really into each other. It read to me like thoughts uttered with no connection to actions, kind of like a foreign film that’s been dubbed with all characters speaking different languages. There was also a lot of telling, which came across as if the author just didn’t want to deal with expanding or having the characters actually interact.

This is the first story I’ve ever read in which a character cannot have an orgasm and it’s a huge deal in this story. Cassy has never had one. Seriously though, she’s never had sex, nor has she ever masturbated, so it is kind of hard to have one in that case. But she’s sure it’s because she’s incapable. Velvet disappears after their first date leaving Cassy feeling like a sexual/ social misfit, so she gets with this woman who tries to teach her about her body.

The magic G-spot gets mentioned over and over as if it was equal to having an orgasm and I suppose that’s so for Cassy since she can’t have one. No matter what this woman does, Cassy cannot let go and feels inadequate.

The way these two women related though, came across as very clinical to me and I could see why Cassy would not have an orgasm; there’s no emotional connection between these two women. Plus, Cassy’s just too self conscious during sex. She does learn how to please a woman though, which she enjoys, and she accepts that this might be all she will have in sex. Of course, this other woman gets tired of an unresponsive Cassy and that story goes south really quickly.

Enter Velvet again. She just shows up apologizing for not being in contact but doesn’t seem to be really concerned about what Cassy might have been feeling. But then again, Velvet is a bit out of touch.

On that one date they went on before she left and not knowing Cassy too well, Velvet took Cassy to an adult video/ bar/ gaming place to watch lesbian porn and drink cocktails. Ok, that was a bit odd for me. Cassy describes that the only other occupants are men sitting randomly around, but not together. Oh really, you don’t say? Even more odd was that after this date of watching porn, Velvet offers Cassy a ride home as an after thought because she doesn’t want to leave her in a sketchy neighborhood at night. Huh? Then she just kisses her goodnight and leaves. Yes, definitely out of touch. Next…

Velvet and Cassy both establish that they are social loner types and end up spending days together getting to know each other. Velvet does tell Cassy that an orgasm isn’t everything and whatever they do is fine, which relives Cassy. On this point I will say that Velvet is kind of cool. She doesn’t push anything, giving Cassy a relaxed atmosphere during sex.

It’s easy to see what’s coming though, the magic vagina cock trope in which finally, being with the woman she loves, Cassy will have the big O. But you’d be wrong. Cassy still cannot have her big O moment because there is yet one more kink to their HEA. You’d think at this point that these two women, being dysfunctional, would have realized that they’ve both found a kindred spirit to get on in life with, but no. Once again, Velvet’s complete and utter lack of connectedness and ability to empathize interferes.

Velvet gets flaky again and acts rather ambivalent to Cassy when a new situation comes up and at this point, I felt these two are doomed. Even though, yes, it all gets worked out, she’s just way too flaky for me to believe these two will make a go of it. I know how I’d feel if someone I really loved just kind of agreed to be with me as an after thought. Uh… no. Sorry. Where’s the passion and intense need to really be together?

And then there’s this, the reason for the title: a spoiler

Yes, Cassy does get her orgasm. She not only gets her orgasm, she’s also gets marked on the forehead by Velvet with her own blood from her broken hymen. See, she was a virgin and her hymen never broke even though this other women Cassy was with fingered her as well. But magically, it’s only Velvet who deflowers her with her fingers. To say this was a bit weird is an understatement. I have read other blood ceremonies in lesbian erotica but I must say, this kind of takes the cake.

Bottom line, this was too weird a book for me. It did inspire in me though some feelings of pity and empathy for these two characters who seem like they are working against huge odds of being inherently socially awkward. It also gave me a softer feeling toward this book as if it, by itself, were some unfortunate being having no fault in its execution. Weird, huh?

Sex rating: wet panties- vanilla sex written in semi graphic terms. Low sexual activity.

Grade: C-

Review- Beyond Curious by Paisley Smith

Beyond Curious
by Paisley Smith
Jan 8, 2010
Contemporary/ bi- lesbian
Quickie- up to 15K--$2.49
Ebook- Ellora’s Cave

Buy it Ellora’s Cave

Annie’s dreading the piano lessons that her grandmother’s will demanded she take…until she meets her teacher, Emily. Far from the elderly cat lady Annie had envisioned, Emily is sexy, blonde and completely irresistible.

Emily has never been with a woman, but Annie attracts her in a way that no one else has. Despite Emily’s initial misgivings, it doesn’t take long for their relationship to move from teacher and student to something much more than either of them expected—something that might lead to the love of a lifetime.

Get your fans and cold showers ready ladies; Paisley Smith has done it again! This is one really hot story. Not only is this story as sexually delicious as deep fried ice cream, it’s also a beautiful love story. Somehow, Paisley Smith, as before, managed to write a well-rounded short story that from beginning to end left no gaps, lingering questions, and made me feel like these two women will only have eyes for each other forever.

Annie is a 29 year old student going for her veterinary degree. To honor her grandmother’s memory, the only family member who totally accepted her being a lesbian and loving her, she’s decided take the piano lessons her grandmother wished her to.

Annie’s dreading her first lesson and walks up to the old Victorian house thinking for sure the widow Granger is probably some old hag with a hundred cats, but finds herself lost for words and immediately smitten when she sees that her teacher is a woman not much older than herself and drop dead gorgeous.

Emily is a young widow whose husband came from a traditional, wealthy, influential family. She’s still grieving his death by cancer while trying to live up to the family name and reputation by doing all things proper. When she sees Annie for the first time, she finds herself strangely attracted to this unusual but appealing androgynous woman dressed like a man and starts to fantasize about what it would be like to be with a woman.

Over the next few weeks, at every lesson, Annie and Emily get it on in every which way possible both starting with the idea that this is just sex since Emily is not gay and Annie is taking off for school in a few weeks. What really happens is that both their hearts start to open and they have to decide to go for broke or not.

Wow, just wow. I just loved everything about this book. The first thing that got me was the atmosphere that Paisley set up in which the girls first meet. The old Victorian house in the middle of two frat houses, the ambience of old family money with a beautiful young widow. I kept picturing Emily as a Catherine Deneuve character, cool, distant, elegantly beautiful and yet vulnerably sensual. That piqued my interest straight away.

Then there’s Annie who knows what she wants, doesn’t care what people think and she dresses and looks androgynous. The contrast between the two women is very dynamic. Again, something very appealing to me.

Annie’s also a bit of a dom and an alpha. As the sexual relationship develops between her and Emily and she feels a mix of hesitancy and attraction from Emily she starts acting like this:

Brazenly, Annie’s eyes held hers as she stepped over the threshold and pushed the door closed behind her. “Take your panties off.”

At first, Emily thought she had not heard her correctly. “Pardon me?”

“Take ’em off,” Annie said, unsmiling.

Emily swallowed thickly. She gaped.

“I want you to teach my lesson without any panties on,” Annie said, and blithely moved toward the piano.

Damn but that is so hot. What’s really nice about the way this book is written is that it creates an interesting power dynamic in which the women don’t go the way of being egalitarian. Clearly Annie is in control of the sexual encounters but isn’t overbearing. She acts with just the right amount of assertiveness to keep the tension and excitement up, while still being soft enough that Emily feels OK to explore. And Emily is so turned on for the first time in her life that she gets off on it, doing things she never would have thought she’d ever do, totally in awe of discovering amazing sex for the first time.

This, of course, is a story about a lesbian and a woman who’s never been with a woman before, so there are some issues that come up for the characters about their intense attraction and budding love.

I thought the development of Emily’s feelings over the weeks is so beautifully done. She questions herself, if she’s really a lesbian, and what that would mean to her and her uptight in-laws if she openly has a relationship with Annie. And there are a few instances in which her immediate reaction to going public with their relationship is fear and resistance, which I thought only natural. But she also doesn’t deny herself what she really feels and I liked that.

Even though hurt at those flinch reactions of Emily, Annie always come back with an I love you and am not leaving attitude, which wakes Emily up making her realize how much she’s loved and wanted and how deeply she loves Annie. I totally love Annie’s energy here as her desire and frustration mounts:

“Goddammit,” Annie said and tossed her rolled-up piano book to the floor. She stalked across the carpet, hauled Emily against her and before Emily could utter a sound, Annie’s mouth claimed hers.

The best part of this story is that at its core, it’s a love story. Yes, it starts out with incredible sexual chemistry and the book has a fair amount of sex in it, but when the women start falling love it’s so clear and profound; I felt these two women really adore each other outside of the sexual realm.

Like the last two stories I’ve read of Paisley Smith’s, the pacing, character portrayals and general plot came together so smoothly. And of course, the sexual scenarios are so intense and juicy. For me, at this point, Paisley Smith can’t write fast enough. I want more!

Sex rating: Orgasmic- yes, there’s graphic sex, very light D/s, butt plugs but no anal sex, dildo. Mostly it’s vanilla sex though.

Grade: A-

Review- Windrow Garden by Janet McClellan

Windrow Garden
by Janet McClellan
1998
Contemporary/ Lesbian
45K- $5.95
Ebook version- ArtemisPress

Buy it OmniLit, Fictionwise, Amazon-Kindle/ paperback

As a bitter, January wind whips through Leavenworth County, Kansas, Sally Windrow prepares for another hectic year of farming on the five-acre spread that has been in her family for seventy-five years. Unfortunately, her hired hand and chief mechanic is seriously injured in an accident. Frantic because all the skilled labor in the area has already been hired at neighboring farms, Sally puts an ad in the local paper, hoping a good man will turn up.

To Sally's surprise, her ad is answered quickly... by a woman. Forced out of the Army by an anti-gay witchhunt, Master Sergeant Nicole Jaeger is a trained mechanic and at a crossroads in her life, trying to find a place to start over. New to the area, and with no ties to bind her, Nicole convinces Sally she will be a loyal and hard-working employee. As Sally and Nicole work side-by-side to make the farm and roadside restaurant successful, the women develop a strong and trusted friendship that soon blossoms into romance.

Windrow Garden was an odd book for me. I don’t even know quite how to classify it or even describe it. It had its good points and did appeal to me in some strange way but I think the way it was written and presented might bore people who like a bit more action and character interaction.

The blurb is fairly accurate for this story, so onwards and upwards.

Right out of the gate, this story started out with a few pages of actual gardening techniques. I mean, it literally read like a Gardening for Dummies how to, giving explicit instructions for building a cold frame.

I feel this will be a matter of taste and or what turns you on whether or not this will bother you. Personally, gardening and everything around it is, for me, about as fun as getting a tooth pulled. I hate gardening actually, so I was kind of bored straight away. What kept me reading was the unusualness of starting a book or supposed romance with a step-by-step guide to gardening and wondering how it would proceed from there.

Just for reader edification, the author interwove pages of different gardening instructions and information throughout the book as what I supposed were metaphors or correlations for the actual process of the relationship growth between the two women. Surprisingly, sometimes I found them kind of interesting. Especially the section on pruning trees, since I know next to nothing about pruning and my rhododendrons need some major help. Mostly though, I skipped through them.

The next issue I had, and maybe you’ll all have noticed that I haven’t talked about the characters yet, is that this book is 90% telling. Where’s the dialogue you ask? MIA. I’d say about 1/5 of this whole book included dialogue and didn't happen until about a third of the way in. Ergo, I didn’t get intimate knowledge of either of the two women, what they are feeling inside, what they are thinking, or how their relationship affected them on a visceral level; it's all told.

This is supposedly a romance. Again, when there is no dialogue really, I’m just being told that a character feels this, and the other feels that. The actual romance part, the part that should have been the most important as far as development, got glossed over by telling the reader that they like each other. No action really, nothing except that they meet for private liaisons. For those of you who don’t like explicit sexual scenarios, you might like this book, since only one sexual encounter is expressed and in the vaguest of terms. There was just no real heat between these two women.

Ok, for the characters. What did come across about Nicole is that she’s one of these types of people who just goes along with the program. She likes the comfort, routine, rigidness, no need to think for oneself quality of the military and wanted to spend her whole life in it. However, she’s a lesbian. She knew she was a lesbian when she joined at 18 years of age, so there was never going to be the ability to have a long term romance with a woman.

The trouble with the character of Nicole is that while I really get off on a character like her in general, she spends her whole life having fuck buddies. It seems that she’s never really cared about anyone and came across as almost bragging that she loves them and leaves them. Not really a quality that I can warm up to in a character.

This would be fine if her growth, due to her love of Sally, would have been developed. But it’s not. She just seems to go from being a love’em and leave’em type to suddenly wanting a long-term deal with Sally without much internal reflection about that. Yes she does freak a little bit about the thought of a long-term deal, but I wanted to know how she got from point A to B in her being.

And Sally. I kind of liked Sally as a character, but understood her even less than Nicole. She was married and lost her husband, but there was an incident with a girl when in her teens. She’s a straight up person and good business woman and falls for Nicole. However, she was so easily influenced against Nicole and treats her like she’s never met her after they've fallen in love. What the hell? That was kind of flaky to me. Then without any explanation she’s suddenly coming to Nicole as if she hadn’t ignored her for a while. Missing information? You betcha.

There was also a plot to this story, which stood out more than the romance. Some bad guys trying to ruin Sally and so on. I think it was more interesting than the love story, but didn't have too much depth to it.

For those who dislike the stereotypical portrayal of gay haters, this story does have some of that. Realistic for sure, but I didn’t feel it went into that political area too much, which was a blessing. Still though, it was used as antagonistic foil for the women getting together.

I will admit though, that I get off on a style of writing that is very logical and precise, which is how the writing/ story telling felt in this story. Even with all the telling, there was something very smooth about Janet McClellan’s writing that turned me on. When there was dialogue, it was very nice and clean and real. Her how to’s were very easy to understand and kind of interesting if you like that. It did have the comfortable feeling of being a child while having an adult read to you, which I liked.

I would recommend this book to someone who wants to read something just out of the ordinary in presentation. Or someone who wants to read about lesbian women without the explicit sex or eroticism. Or, if you’re really into gardening.

Sex rating: Dry panties- no real sexual situations.

Grade: C+

Beyond Curious by Paisley Smith is out today!

Paisley Smith's Beyond Curious is out today- you can get it here.

The Blurb:

Annie’s dreading the piano lessons that her grandmother’s will demanded she take…until she meets her teacher, Emily. Far from the elderly cat lady Annie had envisioned, Emily is sexy, blonde and completely irresistible.

Emily has never been with a woman, but Annie attracts her in a way that no one else has. Despite Emily’s initial misgivings, it doesn’t take long for their relationship to move from teacher and student to something much more than either of them expected—something that might lead to the love of a lifetime.

Review- For the Love of Laura by Cassidy Ryan

For the Love of Laura
by Cassidy Ryan
2008
Contemporary/ Lesbian
10K+ words- $2.49
Ebook- Torquere Press

Buy it ARe, Fictionwise

Grace, from the popular Sip, What the Heart Wants, and Laura are in a loving and committed long-term relationship. As Laura’s thirtieth birthday approaches, her beloved god-mother Sarah arrives to help her celebrate. Grace is nervous about meeting the other most important woman in her lover’s life, but her concerns are quickly swept aside when she realizes that they have a lot in common -- not least of all, their love of Laura.

Unfortunately, Sarah brings with her a secret that will test the strength of Grace and Laura’s relationship. Grace finds herself placed in the impossible situation of having to keep that secret from Laura. Will Laura understand that Grace acted out of love, or will the magnitude of the lie tear them apart?

This is the second book of Cassidy Ryan’s that I’ve read and I really enjoy the way she writes. While this story wasn’t as satisfying to me as her other book, mainly due to subject mater, I was still happy with it because of the writing and characters.

The blurb is pretty much just about what this book is about, so I’ll go from there.

For the Love of Laura is basically about a brief time period in the relationship between Laura and Grace. They’re already an established couple, so this isn’t a budding love story really. It’s more about the testing of Grace and Laura’s relationship from an outside force.

Right from the beginning, although it’s not shared until further in the book, I guessed what’s going on and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go there. I kept reading with some trepidation because it’s not a subject matter or plot device that floats my boat really. There is a happy, although poignant, ending in case anyone is starting to wonder at this point, so no worries there.

The one thing that did save this for me is that this is a short story so things aren’t too developed. Or more to the point, not talked to death enough to break your heart. I know I gripe like hell about short stories that aren’t developed. However, in this case, due to what could be a downer plot device, I was happy that Cassidy Ryan stuck mainly with the positive side of it for the characters, leaving out details that might have disturbed me.

What is clear is that both Grace and Laura really love each other and although Grace is forced to make a lose-lose decision that could jeopardize them as a couple, she does so and faces the consequences. The situation that is going on this book, and what Grace is asked to do, made me think a lot about what I’d do in the same situation. So this is a story in which some deep thought might occur for the reader.

As in In My Skin, I had the same feeling of deep intimacy with the characters; they are very comfortable in their own skins and with each other. I find there’s something really pleasurable and comforting about reading or hanging out with characters that I could be good friends with. Cassidy Ryan does have a way of writing that is very easy and pleasing and for this I kept reading even knowing where the story was going and not really wanting to go there.

For the Love of Laura is ultimately a sweet story about love and being there for a partner through thick and thin. And I actually liked that it’s not one of the more common plot foils to love in a contemporary since lately all the contemps I’ve been reading have been sexual run-ons with no focused plot. And speaking of contemporaries, this book was just the right length for that to keep it interesting and on track without superfluous sex or long, drawn out emo discussions.

Sex rating: Wet panties- semi graphic sexual scenarios, mostly vanilla.

Grade: B