Life Pushes You Along by Emma Sterner-Radley

Life Pushes You Along by Emma Sterner-Radley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I need to make one quick point at the outset before moving on to a review: I’ve had some ‘issues’ with most of the works I’ve read recently, the last, oh, 12 or 20 books/short stories, so I might have been overly impressed with this book and therefore overrated it – though not purposefully, but maybe nudged that way subconsciously. Or – I do not believe I’ve overrated this book, but there is a possibility that I might have.

Right, book.

This book alternates between three characters, though starts off mostly seeing things through the eyes of a young 26 year old named Zoe Achidi. After getting tossed out of her home when she was 17, by her very religious (Catholic) parents for ‘choosing’ to be a lesbian and therefore choosing to spite them and automatically going to hell, Zoe showed greater ability than many in her situation by getting a job and an apartment. Unfortunately she then fell into a rut – 7 or so years after getting that job at an independent bookstore, she still has that same job. And relationship-wise, she’s not had a girlfriend in years.

Somewhat shocking me, after a long large number of chapters that followed Zoe’s thoughts, ideas, and actions, suddenly the book turned to a new point of view. No no, that wasn’t the shocking part – I’ve seen that type of thing before (long periods with one character before switching). No it was who the book switched to when it finally switched point of views. Most romance books, and this is a romance book, tends to stick to solo pov, or couple point of view (as in, the two people who will become a couple get a point of view – one of the reasons I really disliked a recent Tessa Dare book was because a man suddenly got control of the POV and I groaned, for then I knew that the asshole was going to be the man in that book) – with, depending on genre, occasional snippets from others (like if mystery can have snippets from murderer/murder victim, etc.; or romantic suspense could have POV from the ‘evil fucker’). So when this book next turned to Helen to take control of the POV I was, as noted, shocked. For Helen, you see, had previously been introduced as Zoe’s best friend and Zoe’s brother’s long-term girlfriend. And nothing leading up to the POV change indicated any chance that Helen might be romantically interested in Zoe. So, as noted, shocked I was.

Of course Helen, which was rapidly confirmed, hadn’t taken over POV because she was romantically interested in Zoe. Helen took over because there were some scenes that needed to be seen that would be easier to be seen through either Helen or Jamie’s point of view (Jamie being Zoe’s brother). Why them? Because, as noted, Zoe has been in a long term rut, and the brother and best friend were determined to try to push her out of that rut. By personally introducing themselves to a stranger and asking for help from her – doing so to judge that strangers interest in Zoe. Unmentioned yet is the part wherein the stranger has already been seen by the reader in the book. As a reoccurring patron of the book store that Zoe works in – and the same patron who is lusted over by both Zoe and Darren (Zoe’s boss). That patron being Rebecca Clare.

Right, so, as far as Zoe, Jamie, and Helen know – Rebecca has something to do with recruitment (based on email address and other hints) so that was Helen and Jamie’s ‘in’ to visit Rebecca. By asking her if Rebecca could help Zoe find a better job.

Interesting dynamic in this book. Zoe and Rebecca seem, both on the surface and internally, like they’d make a quite good couple. Perfect? Eh, maybe maybe not. But possibly quite good. But neither would have gotten there without the help of this outside party – for Zoe has the self-confidence of a timid mouse, and Rebecca has the social skills of a . . . um . . cantaloupe. So neither could really tell the other was interested in them romantically.

So, right, sorry, Rebecca Clare is the third point of view in the book. She’s 40 and works in upper management at a recruitment firm, though not specifically directly with recruitment. *taps fingers* hmm, I’ve got nothing to add to this paragraph.

Going back to Jaime and Helen’s first visit with Rebecca – they did it by going directly to Rebecca’s work and asking to speak to Rebecca, dropping Zoe’s name as reference. I mention this, and go back to it, because this is the first time that I learned that: 1) Jaime is black; 2) presumably, as Jaime’s sister, Zoe is also black; 3) later Zoe’s skin color was confirmed. It came up here because Jaime was quite self-conscious about being in such a fancy place dressed like he was and being black (only to have Helen point out that one of the receptionists was also black).

So I only learned deep into the book that I was reading a person of color book. Oh, I later learned that the parents are: mother from Scotland, father from Cameroon (or the other way around). Presumably the parent from Scotland is white, while the one from Cameroon is black. Though that reminds me of when Charlize Theron won that Oscar in 2003 and an announcer loudly stated that she was an African American being that she is from South Africa – overlooking the part wherein she wasn’t American (though she’s a citizen of the USA now, since 2007). Point being that the parent from Cameroon could be among the 1% of the population who is ‘non-African’ (as that is worded on Wikipedia). Though being Catholic corresponds to the 40% of the population that is Catholic.

The demographics chart on Wikipedia is weird, but I think it is telling me that something around 0.7% of Scotland is black – so maybe the parent from Scotland is as well. Religious wise, 19% of the population is Catholic – which is a statistic that I had not known.

I got distracted by demographics and confused as to where I wished to go next. Mmphs.

Right, so, very enjoyable book – I rather liked the characters in this book, and while the book ended the way it did, I was satisfied with the somewhat casual ending (though not the part where it ended at something like 71% of the Kindle file; or before learning if (view spoiler)[Zoe even got an interview for that one bookstore, much less ever found work ever again (hide spoiler)]).

Sex: I, um . . . . quite frankly cannot recall if there was graphic sex in this book or not. I suspect that there wasn’t, though I know that sex occurred, just . . . not graphically.

Rating: 4.79

December 28 2017



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Ten Lows A-Leaping: An Imp World Story by Debra Dunbar

Ten Lows A-Leaping: An Imp World Story by Debra Dunbar

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The gate guardian most often meet in the Imp series, Beatrix, has been getting gifts. One of those 12 days of Christmas type deals, though reversed, and just one item, so not like that really. Like, the first day she got 12 donuts, and the next, she got 11 . . . um . . . somethings, then 10, etc.

She’s continuing to watch gates while getting these gifts, is bored, and suffering PTSD from the time when that huge demon busted through, pinned both of her wings with poles, and killed two higher level demons. Oh, and is constantly berated and harassed by her boss.

Eventually Beatrix learns who has been giving her gifts. The end.

Is a really short short story.

Rating: 3.3

December 28 2017



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Hereafter by Marian Snowe

Hereafter by Marian Snowe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book here is one of the reasons I try random books by random authors – occasionally you come across something that really works for a specific reader – i.e., me. Now this book here came my way slightly less randomly than I’m implying, by two factors. 1) I’d just read a short story by this author, and 2) I’d originally started putting works on and off my possible TBR shelves because they were one of the authors listed for a publisher I’d only read one author by (I forget if I’d originally first added a work by Snowe before or after I’d read something by Natalie Vivien, though know I did after having read Bridget Essex). Let’s move on from my somewhat standard ‘stop talking about yourself, doofus’ paragraph ….

This isn’t the first work I’ve read by this author, just the first one longer than a hundred-fifty pages. Actually, something that was longer than 50, to be technical. I rather liked that previously short story I’d read, but it was just a snippet, a slice of life type, with the hint of possible great romance between the two women who spent time together. Here we have a full-length, albeit short, novel.

The book opens with Detective Samantha Easton dying. Hearing her partner telling her to stay, blinking at the fading light. You know, standard dying type scene. The next time Sam opens her eyes she’s . . . in the hospital, because she had only been shot in the line of duty, not killed. She’s cranky, fidgety, and will have a longish recovery period before heading back to the police. Her partner, as in police partner, helps. Her sister and father don’t help – but then, Sam hasn’t even told them she’d been shot so …..

While exiting the hospital, Sam happens to help a rather gorgeous woman figure out how to exit said hospital. Unfortunately, the woman needed to exit a different way than Sam was going, so she couldn’t spend more time in her presence. This little snippet is of importance, because that woman keeps drifting through Sam’s thoughts – Sam’s quite dedicated to her job, not sure if the phrase was used, but basically married to her job. She’s tried relationships but she’s just horrible at them. So having a woman drift in and out of her thoughts for a week or more is unusual for her.

Time passes. Sam notices certain things during this time, but doesn’t put 2+2 together immediately. Like why the cemetery looks quite crowded (and her partner thinks she was making a joke, acting as if he didn’t see the crowd). Etc. etc. Long way around to noting: Sam sees dead people. Unlike the little boy in that long ago film (bah, that makes me feel old, to think that movie is in fact so old now, that there are people almost able to vote who weren’t alive when the movie was released – talking about Sixth Sense here), the ability to see dead people isn’t exactly new to the family. In fact, that’s one of the jobs her own mother had, beyond the day job of being a physician – she helped ghosts cross over. Of the four people in the family, Sam, sister Carina, dad, mom, two were of the more ‘ghosts’ side, two were of the more ‘ghosts, what ghosts?’ side. Or, more specifically, mom and Carina saw and interacted with the spiritual realm, while pops and Sam didn’t. At least until now that Sam sees ghosts.

Which brings us back to that gorgeous woman spotted in the hospital. Sam sees her several more times (well, at least once more) before realizing what’s going on – she’s seeing a ghost. Who she has the ability to talk with. One thing leads to another, and the two have an actual conversation – and Sam agrees to help Mae figure out what the heck is going on (Mae’s kind of a ghost with amnesia – remembers certain things, doesn’t remember 95% of the rest).

I quite enjoyed this book. Quite riveting. Quite fun. Quite satisfying short novel. I enjoyed all parts of it – beginning, middle, and end.

Rating: 5

December 29 2017



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Flashbang by Lee Winter

Flashbang by Lee Winter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I had been reluctant to read this short story because it had been a longish while since I read the book the couple was from, and I had this vague idea that this was just going to be a sex story - this short story I mean. Then the story opened, and it seemed interesting - people at a party doing weird and odd things and . . wait, no, this is just a sex story. Right, so, I've now read this snippet and can close the story on this couple.



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Saving Her Skin (Shifter Shield, #2.5) by Margo Bond Collins

Saving Her Skin by Margo Bond Collins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The author has some quite interesting ideas – ideas I’d like to explore, examine, and roll around in. One problem, huge huge problem – the author also seems to like only dripping out tiny snippets of the story. Here, there, everywhere. When I ended this specific story I saw reference to two other stories – one in some collection. So I’m supposed to go find some collection somewhere and read one story in it just to learn more about this universe I’ve invested time in? mmphs.

I’ve no idea, now, why I had thought it, but I’d really thought that this was going to be a full length novel. I saw the release date. I saw the length of the story. Then I saw two things – the release date got pushed back, the length of the story got increased. But that’s okay, I can wait longer for more story. Then the next thing I knew, the page count had dropped to about a 1/3rd, and I can’t recall if the release date changed, was moved. So, a tiny morsel. Again. With more ‘learn more about these specific characters over here *points* in [insert story title] instead of here, because it’s a lot more fun to jump around and wiggle through hoops instead of reading everything in one place at once, yay!’ Pfft.

Course, to add to the annoyance, I don’t think those other two stories I was told to look for if I wanted to also learn more about these other characters actually exist. That sentence got away from me. I was directed to two other stories. I don’t think they actually exist. There’s about 800 trillion ‘things’ either with the author’s name on them, or including a story by the author, so I’ve no clue, maybe those two other stories do in fact exist somewhere.

I’ve enjoyed this series, for the most part (that sudden ‘attack of sexually graphic sex’ was alarming and unneeded), but it’s killing me. It’s a death by a thousand mini-cuts. Still kills, still annoys, looks stupid on a grave-stone and in bard stories (‘And she rested lightly onto a bed, not noticing the papers residing there, and was cut 1000 times by those papers and bleed to death’).

Right. So. This story told nothing really. Even more baby llamas were in the process of being born, even more people were attempting to kidnap them, even more political crap going on, even more douchbag werewolf action. The end. Oh, except for the ‘other worlds’ part. That’s new. Oh, right, sorry, I still keep reading lamia as llama as I read the story. No idea why. I really want to read about a werellama now though.

Rating: fuck if I know – 3.4

December 28 2017




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Love Birds by Marian Snowe

Love Birds by Marian Snowe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After becoming captivated by a bird outside her office window, a woman begins a new adventure into learning more about nature, the outdoors, and, specifically, birds. The story unfolds as Alexandria Dunn heads to a nature preserve to hear an expert give a talk about a specific type of bird while, at the same time, giving a nature walk to point out said bird (and point out other birds along the way).

Alexandria heads off on her adventure without checking the weather – the nature preserve is about an hour or so away by car drive, and more than halfway there the sky opens up and rain starts hitting her wind shield . . . more in a drizzle than I’m implying. Though eventually heavier rain will appear before she actually gets to her destination. Once there Alexandria finds an empty parking lot, a locked visitor’s center, and pouring rain.

Eventually a woman rides up on a bicycle – unlocks the visitor center, and lets Alexandria in. Even more eventually – a ton more people show up for this birding expedition. Unfortunately, though, the expert can’t show up due to plane issues. So everyone but the two initial first arrivals to the visitor center depart. Nell, the woman who had arrived on the bike and who works there, is about to give Alexandria a refund but Alexandria talks Nell into giving her the tour.

The two go birding.

Everything is from Alexandria’s point of view, though aspects of both characters shine through. Both seem to be great characters, and a warm fuzzy time was had by the reader. Well, I mean specifically me, I don’t mean all readers will react the same as me. That’d be silly to imply.

I rather liked this first glimpse into a new to me author. As in, less vaguely, this is the first story I’ve read by Marian Snowe.

Rating: 3.88

December 27 2017




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How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare

How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I disliked the vast majority of this book. Largely due to the angsty whimpery asshole main male character that the main female character 'loved'.

Right, so, two people met while young. They talked, rode horses, etc. etc., kissed. Then the man went off to war. While the woman waited for him. For four years. They meet again at a relative of the woman's house (some type of cousin) during some kind of group gathering.

The man alternates giving the silent treatment with being a condescending evil bastard. One of the good things about the book is that the woman doesn't swoon in joy at this treatment, nor find it in any way acceptable. She still finds herself attracted to him, ‘in love’ with him, but, bah, no one’s perfect.

I’m quite tired of reading books with moody moody evil bastards which might include a dose of misogynism as well in their personality. But, alas, that character seems popular in romance books.

Right, so, this is my third Dare book. I appear to be going rapidly backwards. 5 stars for the first book I read by Dare, then 3.88, and now a 2.50 rating for this book here. I’m also going the wrong direction, in a way, in that the first book I had read was Dare’s most recently published book, while this third book here is the first thing Dare published. I’m obviously not done with Dare yet, but I’ll need to be more careful about what I pick up to read. I’d say the next one I read would be the next published, but that seems to be coming out in August 2018, so maybe I’ll next read that second book in that 2nd series I’d started, the one I gave the first book a rating of 3.88.

I'd like to note again: I'm super tired of angsty he-man asshole male characters.

Rating: 2.50

December 27 2017




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My Forever Hero by Karen Legasy

My Forever Hero by Karen Legasy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book started off interesting and strong – from first meeting, to . . . well continuation of that first meeting, extended to shore. Then got annoying.

Right, so the book opens with one of the lead characters, Marlee Nevins, surfing. Or, more accurately, in the process of dying because she went out surfing without a surf buddy, got caught by the waves or something (rip-tide?), and is now drifting off shore as the book opens. Something like six hours later. No one around. Nothing around. Drifting. But then something appears! An angry looking shark. Which proceeds to eat her surf-board while Marlee tries to dissuade the shark’s advances by way of hitting it with her shoe. She’s saved from certain death by the arrival of a woman on a jet ski, Abigail Taylor, and her son in the massively large sail boat – Josh (the son is named Josh, not the boat, the boat is named ‘The Cavity’).

Abigail’s first words to Marlee was something like ’stupid tourist’ (or, perhaps, ‘Stupid Canadian tourist’), and their relationship builds from there.

Bah, I wish I wasn’t still suffering and ill. I’d write something grand, I’m sure. Mmphs.

My biggest problem with this book was the romance. As in – everything about it. Marlee found herself attracted to Abigail. Abigail both gave off every signal that she wasn’t interested, and bluntly told Marlee that she wasn’t interested – Marlee still forced herself onto her and kissed her, forcing her tongue down her throat. I mean, what the fuck? Abigail eventually comes around to the idea that maybe she is not actually straight, but that whole ‘lesbian converts straight woman’ story line reads like something anti-lesbians would put out as a scare story/tactic. ‘See! See, this is what lesbians do! *clutches pearls* They . . . *sobs* they force themselves onto good heterosexual women and . . . and . . . *sobs*’ Seriously, that’s the way the romance read. All the way up to Abigail suddenly switching to ‘oh, well, I do find you sexually desirable, what was I thinking, come here and insert your fingers into my vagina now please’ (not a line that actually occurs in the book, but there was a rapid switch). I mean, what the fuck? Marlee and Abigail displayed no chemistry. And their romance really just got in the way of what had started off seeming like an interesting book.

Oh, and remember how I noted that Marlee was also saved by Josh? The son of Abigail? While I had no desire to spend pages after pages with him, I still expected something a little more – he, conveniently, spent most of the book off with the father.

So . . . I didn’t particularly like the romance.

The best part of this book, if I were to insert something like that into all the reviews I wrote, would be the few pages wherein the two women played with kittens. I like kittens.

Rating: 2.8

December 27 2017



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As Years Go By by Harper Bliss

As Years Go By by Harper Bliss

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


1) I don't like empty review boxes but,
2) I'm currently suffering from a less than optimal brain so this will probably just be incoherent thoughts that will hopefully be readable by me later to update this box thingie here.

I picked up a bunch of free Bliss awhile ago but didn't get around to reading most of them. Though I've read Bliss before.

This story involves two women in their mid to late forties - one is, based on quick calculations done when brain still worked - 47, other is 45. They meet at the 4... and brain died. They meet at the graduation from college of Troy, the lead character's son (I have strong recollection that this is a single point of view story). Though it's complicated because Troy also knows that other woman - as both ... this is where knowing their names would help. Why do I only remember the men's names? The ex-husband is named Gerald and is also at the graduation, and is Troy's father. Right, there we go, Jodie and Leigh.

Jodie and Leigh had had a relationship 11 years ago. A six year relationship. That ended, for many reasons I'm sure, but connected to the desire of one, Jodie, to have another child, and the desire of the other, Leigh, to not have another child enter the picture (Leigh and Jodie became a couple when Troy was 5 and Leigh left when Troy was 11, so Leigh was able to block her 'not want child' desires for six years).

It is unclear what either of their sexual orientations are, though it is mentioned that: Jodie has an ex-husband, and had three girlfriends between the time Leigh and her dated and Leigh's reappearance. Both are single at the start of this story though. It is unclear how many relationships Leigh had, though some indication that she was not celibate.

Jodie and Leigh missed each other. More than just because of their specific sexual dynamic, but there's that of importance - never did Jodie find anyone else to engage in activties that she engaged in with Leigh. Power-play, with spanking and some form of bondage.

This story is sexually explicit and does contain some of that more kinky stuff mentioned above.

I do not remember what initially rated story, though see it on 3.75 shelf. Assume that's somewhat accurate. Hope brain working better and can give more accurate rating later.

Rating: ~3.75

December 24 2017

eta: oh, one thought I had while reading hit me before I clicked save - there's a moment when a line like 'mid-life crisis' came up and it confused me as it was a present day comment. Made about a woman in her late forties. I do not remember what I was or wasn't going to say about that issue.




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Trim my Tree by RJ Layer

Trim My Tree by R.J. Layer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Of note: there's a reason why I haven't been reviewing lately (I'm not sure it is overly obvious that there's some issue going on), but have been overally distracted by pain since about Dec. 20th. I only mention because the following ramblings will probably be even more incoherent than normal.

Holiday themed story. Maggie is throwing a Christmas party but doesnt' want to do so. Friend Carla tells her she can't cancel.

'They gave a hearty laugh in unison.' - pet peeve of mine, I don't like when things are described as being done 'in unison' like they preprogrammed androids (or gynoids) and their programing has synched up. On other hand, laughing at same time a lot less annoying that spontaneously saying, in unison, 'I love you' during sex - like in something recent I read.

Ah. Weird. So - apparently long-time partner of Maggie's cheated on her last year at this time. So, that why she not party-desireous. But Maggie has been throwing the party at least 14 years so . . ..

Things kind of run together in this story, as in the timing is hard to determine and there are no breaks between one time period and the next (as in, story starts some time pre-Thanksgiving; then Thanksgiving is mentioned ot have occurred, then. ...etc).

Oh right, that's why I wandered over mid-reading - it's a 'triming the tree party', hence the title of the story. I mention because I do not recall if I've heard of that before (this goes back to me having limited connections to my brain at moment due to either pain or fuzzy fuzzy pain meds). This will be weird if I actually remember to include the end part of the () thingie when I normally forget.

hmm, don't think my brain is sufficiently activated to write. Maggie is school principal; Jo, I think, works in construction (since she came to town to work for Carla who is a master carpenter, but then she could be an accountant or anything really - Jo I mean; well, I could always read then review, but I need to write now because brain not function well - Jo also master carpenter).

---
This is a very short competently written story about two women who meet each other and begin exploring the possiblity of dating, and becoming closer. Hmm, I'm wording that wrong since one date is in the story - but just trying to convey that the story is just the very tip, the very start of a relationship.

Perfect story for me to read right at this moment, not sure how everyone else might feel about it - probably too short, but, I ill and nice simple, albeit well written story best for me at moment. For those who care - this is neither a sexually explicit story nor a story that faded to black. I did say they only had one date in the story.

I liked the story. I've never read anything by this author, I don't think, before. I desire to now examine more of their stuff.

Rating: 3.89

December 24 2017



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Winter Calling by Lynn Galli

Winter Calling by Lynn Galli

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


As noted in one or 3 other reviews, due to week-long illness brain not functioning correctly at moment. But need something in box. Will be notes. Hope to add later stuff to here.

The book alternates between Tru and Renska. I am unsure if I'm spelling Renska's name correctly. Tru has a close sister that she spends a lot of time with, while Renska is more of a loner - who likes being a loner. Both meet through work - Tru is in the human resources department (not sure exact title, I'd initially thought she headed it but then the head turned up so . . . somewhere below HR head), while Renska is CFO - chief operating officer. Newly hired CFO. The company they work at is a somewhat struggling, financially (largely due to the incompentence of the two company founders still in control of the place) ski resort.

Over a period of time Tru and Renska develop a friendship/relationship/then become a couple. There are some rather neat scenes in this book. I especially like the interactions between the characters - Tru, Renska and Tru's sister. I'd provide more detail, like say the sister's name, but barely operating here.

While I enjoyed this book, and was excited when I saw it suddenly appear to be bought immediately by me, I also found the connection between myself as reader and the characters to be .. . fuzzy. Unfortuant brain nor working or I'd be less fuzzy about the fuzziness.

After a brief moment wherein I was asleep between the last paragraph and this one, I realize that I need to push save or lose what I've written so far.

Rating: darn, I didn't put this one on rating shelf - well, something around 4 something.

December 24 2017



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1636: Mission to the Mughals (Ring of Fire Book 23) by Eric Flint, Griffin Barber

1636: Mission to the Mughals by Eric Flint

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This entry in the series starts nearish the beginning, oh, maybe a year after the beginning of the series (as in, roughly 1633 - with the series starting in 1632 with the arrival of 20th Century Grantsville West Virginia in the middle of the Germanies trapped in the 30 years war), when Mike Stearns and various other people are setting up a group of people to head off to India on a trading mission. Mostly to get gunpowder and opium. Sent on the trip are some railroad people, an EMT, a con-man, and a con-woman. Oh, and a spy. The book then makes snippet jumps up to 1636.

The book is not just from the European perspective, though, no there are many Indians who get a turn at the POV wheel. Many of whom share variations of the name ‘Johan’. And are related to people with a name like that. (Not to be confused with John, the lead European dude (well, he's from Granstville West VA USA, but that's in Europe now)).

The book is an interesting look inside Mughal India. My only real problem with the book was the part where I didn’t really like any of the characters. I didn’t dislike them, per se, I just didn’t like any of them. Oh, and then there’s the problem wherein I looked up the historical characters – a good portion of the Indians – so that I’d have a better understanding of the place and time – which is a problem only in the part where I lost myself reading about them, learning about them, then trying to forget all I learned because I didn’t want to apply that to these characters. Or, I should say, want to remember their real life histories, and let that bias me in what I was reading.

Right. So. Europeans head to India and wander around. Indians intriguing as they apparently do, wandering around fighting each other, and attempting to mourn and build the Taj Mahal. There was an abundance of weepy emotional men in this book – from the lead European (by way of Grantville West VA) who kept whimpering from being forced to kill a kid (then whimpering over people dying near him; then whimpering about other things), to various Indians – the hot-headed Muslim leader, the Emperor guy alternating mourning for his dead wife (sorry, for his favorite wife – who died, he both has other wives and has concubines - and there's talk of him constantly 'using' them, carnally) with bouts of anger, to . . . um, well, others were overly emotional as well.

Bah, I fought to find something to write, but I’m not really getting anywhere. Interesting enough book. Set in India (mostly), and involving no character who has ever been seen before in this series (at least the full-length books I’ve read) except for Sterns (or was that Stearns?) and Nasi (or whatever that fella's name was). Oh, and like many of the books in this series, there are many plot-lines that remain unresolved by the time the book ended.

Rating: 3.6

December 22 2017



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Delicious: A New Year's Eve Short Story by Niamh Murphy

Delicious: A New Year's Eve Short Story by Niamh Murphy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Quick short story about a woman who reluctantly goes to a New Year's Eve party. She's only there because she's spent the past year lusting, strongly, after the woman hosting the party. But that's the only person she'll know at the party, and she's very much thinking that she should just cut all ties to that woman, because it's hurting to keep lusting after her - a New Year's resolution should be made on that subject.

The story starts with the woman outside not getting any answer to her attempts to let anyone know she's there, she's decided to just leave but that other woman opens the door and pulls her in. The one in lust is tingling and on edge, but continues to want to just leave. She briefly gets into a conversation with some man, whereupon the reader learns that the lustful one works in information technology, she's a computer technician. Working herself up to leave (and yes, I've said that a lot - it's said a lot in the short story), she exists a small bathroom only to run directly into that other woman. Who kisses her. Then they have sex. Afterwards the lustful one feels vaguely used, because the other one just 'got her off' (stripped her, pleasured her, then left) without ever taking her own clothing off, and with a quick 'must get back to the party' comment before leaving her there in the bed. And, um, more stuff happens. I've just suddenly lost the ability to continue typing so, um, that happened.

Story was interesting enough for what it is - a quick little snippet, a test of writing more graphically (as the author notes in her afterward). Even though it's just a snapshot scene, the people felt real enough, especially the lead character, and I've a vague desire to read more about the cooking student (the lustful one) and the cook.

Rating: 3.55

December 20 2017



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Romancing the Duke (Castles Ever After, #1) by Tessa Dare

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the second Tessa Dare book I’ve read. This one stars Isolde Ophelia Goodnight & Duke Ransom Rothbury and is set in Gostley Castle in Northumberland England. On the border with Scotland. The story opens with the meeting of Izzy and Ransom at the castle. Izzy’s there because she’s received a letter about some inheritance – whatever it might be, however small or large, is very much needed by Izzy who is down to a very small amount of money and has been bouncing around as a guest here and there with no home of her own. Ransom is there because he lives there.

This book is from both of their point of views, Ransom and Izzy being the ‘both’.

Duke Rothbury, a widely known rake, hasn’t been seen . . . well, anywhere, in about seven months. There are reasons for that. Izzy, despite the image presented of being near penniless, and homeless, is also widely known in England. Because she’s the, let me rework that, she’s the Izzy Goodnight of a long-running, now stopped due to author death, Izzy Goodnight adventures. Written by her father.

There are two reasons why the duke hasn’t been seen in roughly seven months: 1) he had been on the verge of marrying, but his intended eloped with ‘her love’ (another man, if that isn't clear enough - a lower class one at that) – and there are always issues when something like that occur; 2) though normally those issues are fairly easily waved away when one is a Duke, harder when said duke chased after the eloping party and ended up injured for his trouble. This is yet another ‘hero’ (‘I’m no hero’) who has facial scars. In addition to that damage to his good looks, he’s also blind.

Right, so, Izzy and the Duke circle each other in this book. Izzy has inherited the castle and refuses to leave – she needs the place. The Duke alternates attempting to force Izzy from the building, and thinking about, or acting upon, certain carnal desires – it has been a long while since he’s ‘gotten any’. Izzy, for her part, is a twenty-six year old virgin (don’t worry those historical fiction lovers who like a good age difference, and/or expect it, the duke, whose age escapes me at the moment, is past thirty - his exact age may or may actually be referenced in the book, what is said, though, is that once he reached the age of thirty, he went about the task of doing his 'duty', i.e., finding a woman to impregnate so the family line can continue; and he went about it with the same level of emotion and caring for others as might be expected from the wording used, as in he was a cold bastard looking for a woman to plant his seed in).

As mentioned above, carnal desires are felt – and acted upon. This is one of those quite sexually charged books. No no, I don’t mean sex erupts every three pages, or desires for sex, just that sexually graphic ‘stuff’ occurs frequently.

Also there’s a fair bit of humor involved in the book. Much less, though, than in the prior book I read by Dare.

And interesting and good way to pass the time, not the best I’ve read, but definitely not the worst.

Rating: 3.88

December 22 2017



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Rich Girl by Joan Arling

Rich Girl by Joan Arling

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I’m sure that this was originally written in a language other than English (and rather hope it was; actually, not all of it is actually in English – random words, phrases, and occasionally whole sentences are in some other language). The wording was just slightly off throughout – stilted, weirdly stilted. Plus, what the heck century is this story supposed to be set in? I’m referring to several things, including the part where the rich girl actually has money but is being blocked from getting to it by her family. Eh? Mmphs. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

So – the main character, Dawn, is at a charity event dancing and looking around. She’s there because that’s her payment for helping set up the place. She dances with Ric – the Rich Girl of the title. One thing leads to another and . . . Ric decides to come out as a lesbian. Which gets her kicked out of her house and so now she lives with Dawn. Most of which is in the story description, I’m sure.

This is a difficult short story for me to read for the reasons mentioned in the first paragraph – I found it hard to get into the story because of how stiff everything was worded.

”Bren, you cannot just blow through here like a hurricane! We only just discovered that we both like making music as well as listening to it.”

I understand what is being conveyed, but is this story supposed to be set in the 1970s or something? ‘Blow through here like a hurricane’? – eh?

Right, so, as I noted, Rich girl kicked out, moves in with just meet fellow lesbian, Dawn, gets job as a cashier for ‘4 quid an hour’, or something like that, then spots a guitar, plays it – apparently beautifully, is heard playing it with Dawn singing along, gets a duo gig for an hour of music for 50 quid and and and . . my head exploded somewhere along the way. What the heck am I reading here? (I ask that both in the stiff parts and the parts only written in Latin).

I’d like to fill the rest of my review with quotes from the story, all as they appear in the story, as in weirdly formatted . . . but won’t. Though I’ll note that having one of the characters scream ‘Whassup’ was . . . odd.

Father: I call that irresponsibility
Irresponsibility? Wha? Bah. (the word exists, it's real, I know that, I'd have used 'irresponsible' though in this situation)
Daughter: So now I am to blame for the consequences of your bigotry?
Father: Language, Missy!
I, what, I . . . um. Language?

While looking around Ric’s room at her family home, Dawn gazes around and thinks about how none of Ric’s personality appeared to be reflected by the room or its contents. This concept is given to the reader through the words ‘I could not find a trace of her self in it’.

What does this even mean? - ‘I laved her nipples with my saliva’? And eww. Hehehehe – the words . . hehehe during the sex act . . hehehehehe oh shesh. The fragrance she emanated? Mentioning the muscles moving beneath the skin just then and there in the story suddenly had me picturing the insides of humans, you know, those real life humans in museums without skin? Well, suddenly I’m now picturing two skin-less women fucking. Thanks.

I . . . what . . I . . for fuck sake. The very first time they fuck, they, right as one pushes the other into orgasmic release, both say at the exact same time, in unison, ‘I love you’. What. The. Fuck.

(Of note: weirdly, the stiffness and weirdness to the wording and word choices seemed to leave starting in chapter 4; though the plot line was weird. Seriously, what the fuck is up with basically every rich girl poor girl storyline including a part where the poor girl is just too fucking stubborn to allow herself to be ‘dirtied’ by the rich girl’s money. Sure, there are women out there like that (I think?), but . . . every fucking story has this story line. Though here we have the poor girl calmly state ‘no, you are rich’, and without any other words the rich girl storms away and slams her door. What the fuck to both responses? And there are pieces missing I see – the slammed door was because the rich girl thinks poor girl wants nothing to do with her now that rich girl has access to her money – and poor girl has to make much amends for this thought . . . um, what? That foundation hasn’t been laid. All we had was one woman tell the other that the other had money. And the rich one reacted as if the poor one told her, in strong unforgivable language, that the poor one wanted the rich one to leave and never return and die a horrible death. Um, again, the foundation for that reaction is sorely lacking from this story. And then the make-up is super easy. Pfft. The story just isn’t clicking. Things are just so weird. Over the top reactions, and under . . um . . . too restrained ‘fixes’. )

Oh bloody hell, the endless story had an epilogue, then another one and . . . mmphs.

Rating: um, uh, um . . . 1.5

December 20 2017



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First Time for Everything (Inamorata, #3) by Vivian Sage

First Time for Everything by Vivian Sage

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A good quick short story. I seem to be going up and down my ratings for the series, first one was something nearish 4 stars, second nearish 5 stars, and now this one is back to being nearish 4 stars.

This story here involves Lucy frantically calling on her friends to help her in an emergency, on a Friday morning, naturally all of her friends (the three others in the 4 woman group) take the day off from work to go help Lucy. Only to find that Lucy's 'emergency' is . . . the need to build a structure in her backyard – it would appear that Lucy is in competition with her next door neighbor – constantly trying to one up each other with new ‘stuff’ in their backyards, the latest emergency was touched off when Lucy noticed that Luke, the next door neighbor, had put in a koi pond.

Well, as might be expected from prior knowledge of the series and the friends, Reagan is useless in this specific task – she spends most of the time there reapplying polish to her nails; Ginger, also an ultra-femme, is almost as useless – she isn’t as much help as someone who knows how to use tools would be, but at least she didn’t immediately sit in a chair and start painting her nails; it’s unclear how useful or useless Lucy would have been since this is her project – she directs the one tool user in the group – Charlie, in where to put and construct the ‘structure’.

While figuring out what, where, and how to build the ‘thing’ Lucy wants, Charlie finds that she needs ‘things’. The only one free to go to the store is Ginger (see: Charlie doing construction stuff; Lucy directing; Reagan has wet nails). So off she goes. She spends the majority of her time in the home improvement store muttering to herself (literally, she has an issue where she talks to herself), glaring at the mostly illegible handwriting on Charlie’s note, and then gets distracted by a shiny – doorknobs and the like. Whereupon she accidentally gets stuck – mentioning all of this because a new character to the series, Winnie, turns up and catches Ginger being all caught and stuff. Untangles her, and flirts with her.

Not to reveal everything I move to saying: Winnie and Ginger then proceed to have a story together. Meanwhile Charlie and AJ continue their very melodramatic relationship; Reagan finally goes on a date with Sloan; and Lucy continues her interactions with Doe (or Dee, my eyes are playing games and I can’t tell if what I’m reading is Doe or Dee).

Short, interesting, sexually graphic story that at times was humorous (though some of the humor occasionally seemed forced), serious, fun, dramatic/angsty, etc. Things to note: I don’t like any of the relationships the women find themselves in with the possible exception of Winnie and Ginger (the overly melodramatic relationship AJ and Charlie have is tiring to read – and the catty way the rest of the gang talk about AJ is also tiring; I’d liked the concept of Sloan and Reagan in prior works, and wanted to see them together, but something about the dynamic edged into annoying and boring (not a good combination); Doe and Lucy continued to look interesting . . . until Lucy started making some comments about Doe (like: even if she thinks she wants a long-term relationship, Doe is lying to herself – she’s straight . . .blah blah blah, my head exploded; course then more explanation then came up – much later in the story, but by that point I was super annoyed at Lucy’s comments/thoughts/etc.))

Despite how and what I said in the prior paragraph, the series continues to interest, and I look forward to story four, coming in 2018.

Rating: 3.89

December 20 2017



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Pitifully Ugly by Robin Alexander

Pitifully Ugly by Robin Alexander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This specific book here is both the second book I read by Robin Alexander, back in February 27 2014, and the second book I’ve successfully reread by Alexander.

When I started the book, I was somewhat uncertain what kind of reaction I might have, what I might find – for, you see, while Robin Alexander has become one of the top lesbian fiction authors I read (somewhere, without thinking too hard about it, within the top three), Alexander was also the author I read three books by in 2014, then didn’t read another until 2016. It’s also one of the four Alexander books I’ve read and not yet written a review for, but that’s neither here nor there. Let’s move on.

At the beginning, not sure how far along I’d put the change point, but at the beginning I was confused by my original 2014 rating of 3.5 stars. Because this was one damn funny book. And then . . . I recalled why I had rated the book ‘so low’, well low for an Alexander book. This is a one person point of view book – and it somewhat suffers because of that issue. For, unfortunately, the main character really started to annoy me.

Before I mention the main character, I feel the need to reference my most recent prior Alexander review – all about humor and stuff like humor. A lot of the humor in this book really seemed like it was/would be better with these specific characters (like, say, that vibrating strap-on on-going scene); while others were . . . kind of meh – possibly because of the characters involved. Which, in its way, added a layer of knowledge and appreciation to the humor and characters in the other books – for, I realized, some of the humor was meh because I didn’t really care that much about the characters by the time the event took place (thinking here, as an example, the time a goose attacked Shannon – it’s vaguely humorous moment, but more of a weak smile; oddly enough the prior book I read by Alexander, the prior reread, had a swan attack the main character – and there I found the entire scene much more satisfying – to a large extent because I much more preferred spending time with the characters in ‘Next Time’. Right, let’s move on again.

Shannon Brycen, like Ryann from ‘Next Time’, has an important to the story straight sister (here Kalen, there Shelly). Their family dynamic is otherwise quite different, and I only mentioned because both books had that situation of a straight sister being something of a best friend to one of the main lesbian leads. Right, so, Kalen is described as being quite charming and extroverted – quite capable of being a people person. She’s older than Shannon and married to a man called Todd. I mention all of that to then say that Shannon is basically the opposite (though her looks are supposedly similar) – she’s a lesbian, introverted (a shy introvert), and very much a back-office non-people pleasing, non-charming woman with no real skills at picking up women (all of this is learned by the reader very quickly at a meal shared between Shannon and Kalen at the start of the book; for someone quite bad at picking up women, Shannon sure did end up in a lot more situations with woman than that would imply – see above where I made mention of a humor gag that involved a vibrating strap-on, I won’t elaborate more on that specific scene). And by back-office, I mean that Shannon is the hair salon business accountant (they have four . . . um . . whatever you call an outlet in the hair business).

In an attempt to change her position in life, Shannon does two things: 1) create a profile on a dating website (which meets stiff opposition and outright derision from Kalen); 2) attempt to become fitter, or at least have a make-over. The dating profile lead to several run ins with various lesbians, some online, some in person; while the make-over lead to getting a hair-cut at a rival hair salon and finding someone there to hire for her own hair place. Which is important to note because the gay man who cut her hair, it’s important to note he is gay, becomes a strong side character in this story.

Right, so, that’s the story – a thirty-something woman living in New Orleans who’d prefer to spend all her time in her apartment, is forced to get out and attempt to upgrade her life (part of the ‘forced to get out’ is the part where the sister and brother-in-law go on vacation, and Shannon will be forced to step in, if called upon, as the boss – in person). Some humor is had along the way.

There are, as would be expected, several other characters of importance – there’d have to be, no?, since I haven’t even mentioned a potential love interest yet. Right, so – sister Kalen, several potential dates, gay hairdresser (I’d use his name, but I forget it, Marion or something like that, Marvin?) and the combo of new next door neighbor Hailey and her dog Fuzzy. There are some great scenes involving Fuzzy. And Hailey’s the love interest who is seen almost exclusively through the eyes of Shannon.

There is a lot of miscommunication, disinformation, and outright lying in this story that adds obstacles to love (and detract from my ability to enjoy this book). There is also graphic sex, humor, and . . . um . . . other stuff.

I’m not really sure how or why, but the characters in this book just seem to be of a lesser quality than others created by Alexander. And by ‘lesser quality’, I’m specifically referring to their creation, there ‘there-ness’. The connection between the reader and them. I might be talking gibberish so I’ll, once again, move on.

Rating: 4.12

December 19 2017




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Feedback (Newsflesh, #4) by Mira Grant

Feedback by Mira Grant

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


My status updates seem to indicate I’m all excited and stuff about reading a zombie book starring, as main character (a non-zombie), a lesbian. And how I felt sad about avoiding this book because I thought it was a repeat of a book I’d already read. So how’d we end up here? At a rating of 3.somethingthatputsitonthe3.5shelf?

The book started off strong – the book opens, if I recall correctly, with the lead character perched on top of a statue like a bird – for a really long time. She was waiting for her friend/fellow co-worker/husband to exit from his mother’s funeral. The police kept driving by while Ash, that woman on the statue, was sitting on the statue. Eventually the police stop to question her, and she uses her press badge to make them continue on their way – for, you see, the press have certain privileges not seen by the common man (it is otherwise illegal to loiter, and while that type of thing is on many law statutes today, it tends to only be used in certain circumstances –it really gets used here, though, because this is a world filled with zombies. It is just too dangerous to loiter).

Eventually the funeral guests leave, get in their cars, and rush out. And, even more eventually, that husband fella, Ben, comes out. He stops to banter with Ash, then make a call. All the while I’m kind of alternating screaming at him to stop being an ass and actually get in a car, and confusion (alternating screaming and confusion). As might be expected in this type of situation, Ben and Ash get swarmed by mobs of zombies because Ben is too stupid to get into cars and pay attention to the world around him. Luckily for him, Ash is there to save him. See, beginning starts off strong.

Husband? Lesbian main character? Something doesn’t seem to compute, eh? Ireland, apparently, has rocketed back from any progressive stances it has taken in our world to one of ultra-conservativism, ultra-religious, ultra-women-are-for-making-babies. And Ash wants nothing to do with that world. But, see, she’s Irish. Long story short (and really, there is a long story here I’m cutting short), Ash and Ben hook up in an arrangement so that Ash could get to the USA and become a citizen. 1) Ash is still a lesbian despite being married to a man; 2) technically it’d be somewhat easier for Ash and Ben to get an annulment than others since they’ve never consummated their marriage; 3) and Ash & Ben happen to live with a woman named Audrey who is Ash’s long-time girlfriend (meet in USA). So Ash is more than just a ‘lesbian in name only’.

Right, so, strong beginning, interesting characters, interesting enough plot – so how’d I end up giving a rating of only 3.5? Simple enough: somewhere along the line the book took an odd turn, well two actually – one involved the group going down the same path the Masons went down (the Masons being the main characters in the main Newsflesh series); and two – the odd turn I specifically was going to mention was the part where some really stupid, cliché, and ‘Walking Dead’ type stuff started to happen to the Ash team ((view spoiler)[including getting captured by an evil warlord type (hide spoiler)]). Before that, though, right before the team – like the Masons – went on the run, there’s this extra special moment wherein the group, who up to that point had learned nothing super bad or overly suspicious, get loaded down with lots of stuff they shouldn’t know, and therefore have to run for their lives because they know it (seriously, one second the team knows basically nothing that’d get anyone into trouble, the next some dick doctor is there to tell them all the super-secret stuff going on in the world for . . . no known reason; after which their life is worth less than a paper bag and they have to go on the run.

From that moment on – being told stuff – to everything that came after that point – everything just became too absurd to be acceptable or readable. I literally had to start skimming there near the end, and when I had hit the wrong button and accidentally thought the next-to-last chapter was the last chapter I didn’t even really blink. That would have been a crap ending, but by that point I was ready for things to be over. Then, of course, I realized I’d clicked a link by accident on my book reader and gone to the afterward part, backed up to read the actual ending and realized – this book really does just kind of die. Just . . . pfft, fuck it – book over now ‘the end’.

Rating: 3.5

December 18 2017



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Next Time by Robin Alexander

Next Time by Robin Alexander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Humor is tricky to pull off well for many reasons – chief among them the relatively simple fact that there’s no form of humor that appeals to everyone (and I mean 100% of all people), and the more you drive to reach a large significant portion of the audience, the more likely the humor will end up being super mild and would likely, at best, generate just a weak smile. Not only is it super easy to offend with humor, it is, in some ways even worse, very easy to bore with humor.

And here I thought of putting in a bunch of stuff about different types of humor, like: satire/parody, broad humor, low humor, high humor, word play humor, domestic humor, etc. etc. And mention how one of the types of humor I like best is the kind somewhat rarely actually seen, at least by me, in prose novels – the quick-witted sharp dialogue that seems more easily shown, in example form, in plays by Noël Coward (who, largely, seemed to like the comedy of manners type of humor (at least his popular early work) – married couples (Private Lives, Blythe Spirit), families (Hay Fever), etc. I rarely see it in prose novels as, as noted, it tended to involve married couples, not something that’s hugely popular, it appears, with what I personally read. But all of this is beside the point: the point being that humor is difficult to do well, and even when it is done well – 50% of your intended audience might still be bored (at best), or disgusted (at worst).

I specifically mentioned Coward above so I’d mention married couples – so I’d note that this book here involves a married couple. In snippets, at least, in the ‘present’. They, Payton Foret & Ryann Seely, technically aren’t married since, at the time this book was published and set, lesbian marriage was not yet legal in Louisiana, but the two are a long term couple who see themselves, basically, as married. But that’s the ‘present’. And most of the story consists of what happened in the past, when Payton & Ryann first meet, entangled with others, and then finally come together in coupledom. So it’s a variation that both allows the reader to see a ‘married’ couple long after they got together, and see what is normally shown in romance books – a couple coming together.

Payton and Ryann first meet in a bar – as ‘wingwomen’ for Jana and … um, I’m going to say Melena, but could be Melissa, or Melina, or . . . well, doesn’t really matter. Jana and Payton are best friends, while Ryann and M are friends – though, as is both seen throughout the book, and stated at the upfront – M would rather have had Ryann’s significant other there as the wingwoman, as Leigh is more of M’s friend. Leigh being Ryann’s long-term partner of roughly 8 years (several years go by in the telling of this story, and the number 8 got tossed out there at some point, not sure when the number was used, so I’m going with 8).

Payton and Ryann meet well – they have an instant spark, but they also have no obligation to like/dislike/or go through the ‘game’ of romancing – since they are there for their friends, not for themselves. Though Payton does mention that she might have made some kind of play for Ryann but for the fact that she knew that Ryann had a long term girlfriend.

The two meet again about … oh, several months later when M and J have a BBQ. By this point Ryann is still dating Leigh, and Payton is dating ‘squirrel-woman’ (a successful voice actor who specializes in ‘funny voices’ who doesn’t have good control over the ‘on/off’ switch). Squirrel-woman is in and out so quickly from Payton’s life that I didn’t really catch her name (but, then again, I couldn’t recall M’s name and she’s there throughout the book so . . . ). Payton and Ryann reconnect at this party and continue their liking of each other, and their witty banter. For reasons this is only the second time they both have meet, months after first meeting, largely due to how easily Leigh falls into jealous rages at the slightest opportunity, and how little Ryann does to fight this impulse of Leigh’s (beyond basically never going anywhere but for work and home – at least not without Leigh).

Payton and Ryann meet for the third time on J & M’s anniversary – Payton, by this point, is by herself, while Ryann is still with Leigh. Throughout all this time Ryann has made noises that indicate that she doesn’t really want to still be with Leigh, and is ‘just about’ to break up with her. For roughly a year or more. And so the two still don’t date, or cheat with each other, for neither are the cheating type and Ryann is still with Leigh.

Payton works as a ‘children’s educational music jingle writer’, or something like that. She writes children’s show/commercial/film songs. Ryann works as a teacher, I believe a high school teacher though I might have that part wrong.

Of importance: the woman whose name I can’t remember, Melena or whatever, is in the book throughout but mostly on the side as she’s the lover/girlfriend of Jana (not a main character) and more friends with Leigh (not a main character) than with Ryann (main character). Jana is best friends with Payton and therefore pops up whenever the book needed someone like her to pop up (you know, to say things like ‘I know you aren’t the cheating kind’ and stuff like that). Shelly is Ryann’s straight sister, and seems very much her close friend (mom Carol and the two named sisters, and two (or was it three?) unnamed brothers play little part in this story, at least until near the end when the sisters and Carol pops up – for reasons). Shelly’s kids and husband are there when needed for excuses for certain things – like why Shelly’s suddenly over at Ryann’s place (Evan, the husband, tried to burn down the house making food), or why there’s a ‘rat’ running around (Brody, Shelly’s son, got a ferret without asking permission) – but are not otherwise of any real importance to the plot.

Beyond everything else, like say romance and humor, there are two things Alexander likes including in her books: travel and ‘old people’. Here, in this specific book, the travel is covered by several impromptu car trips, while the ‘old person’ is covered by Grace, Payton’s next door neighbor of advanced age. The old people tend to be sources of amusement and be quite wacky, here, though, the wackiest thing about Grace is her weird food combinations.

This is the first book by Alexander that I have successfully reread. I’d previously attempted to listen to the audio for one prior book, without success, which is why I worded the first sentence the way I did. As I somewhat expected/suspected, rereading a book I’d previously rated 5+ stars by Alexander ends up with me pushing this book onto the exclusive ‘reread only’ six star shelf.

Right, so, great bits of humor that I personally found quite good and others might find boring; great romance that others, not me, might find vaguely lacking something (in terms of the potential angst/drama of one woman already in a relationship when she meets her ‘soulmate’ – tension somewhat lessoned by the fact that the story is being told by a happy long term couple about how they meet). Oh, and there’s some graphic sex that occurred. Lovely top tier book.

Rating: 6.0

December 18 2017



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Port in a Storm by K.L. Noone

Book received from both Netgalley and Less than Three Press for an honest review

This is a quick short story of roughly 28 pages about a kitten and a man. And the relationship they have together. It's cute, sweet, about what you'd expect in such a situation. Oh, and the kitten is something like a 26 year old, in human years, cat shifter - the natural kind not the 'magician using temporary magic' kind. 'Natural shifters' are super rare.

More broadly: this is a story about a young man who had fallen into a life of enjoying being petted, likes sex, and likes the easy party life. But that leads him to the situation that opens this story, or, more exactly, leads to the picture on the cover. That of a drenched kitty in pouring rain. For, you see, Colin, the shifter, had gone home with the wrong man one night (oh, this is a m/m story, by the way), and ended up wearing a collar. A compulsion collar. And he was trapped in that situation for about 8 months - that is until the start of this story when he is making his escape. In the form of a kitten (he shifts between kitten and human).

Somewhere along the way he spots a nice looking car to huddle underneath. And does so. The owner of the car spots the kitten, and rescues said cat. Brings cat home. Tries to comfort cat. Naturally . . . . well, let's not tell the whole story, eh?

As I noted, short sweet cute story about a cat shifter.

Rating: 3.95

December 13 2017

All the Pretty Little Horses by Mira Grant

All the Pretty Little Horses by Mira Grant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The series main character's adoptive parents take center stage in this series prequel. The year is 2018, while the main series starts off in the year 2039. The 'uprising' or 'zombification' occurred in 2016, so this is two years after the start of the zombie uprising.

This is an interesting enough story but not as riveting as prior short story additions to the series. Part of my problem is the part wherein the story is from Michael Mason's point of view and his constant thinking to himself about 'my god, my wife is so beautiful' over and over and overfuckingoverandfucking over again was fucking driving me up the fucking blood coated wall. WE FUCKING GET IT!!!!!

The story follows Stacey and Michael Mason weeks after Stacey was cleared for the killing, by Stacey, of Phillip Mason - their child. That, which was seen as murder in Stacey's eyes, event took place right at the start of the zombification, but Stacey held things together with Michael and the two had held a portion of Berkeley together during the uprising, and helped many outside their reach by way of the radio program Michael conducted that included survival snippets from his wife (it was never clear if Michael just faked Stacey's input or actually asked her to add some stuff).

The government has returned, though, and so Stacey is allowed to think about what had happened - no longer has to hold herself together. Naturally she falls to pieces and hardly ever moves from the bed. Michael, meanwhile, alternates thinking thoughts like 'my wife is so beautiful' with thoughts about how he has to, somehow, shake Stacey 'free' of her PTSD.

Somewhere along the way Michael gets Stacey barely moving. Which leads to an encounter with another surviver - who gushes about Stacey's tips. Which leads to Stacey actually perking up a little and acting alive. Which leads to Michael noticing and realizing that there might be some way to jump-start some kind of recovery. So he starts a blog, or joins a blog that part is confusing, and he and Stacey wander around taking pictures and writing stories about various locations, like a zoo, and a nearby city, and two different adoption centers.

Then, while Stacey is still deep deep into PTSD land and barely functioning, the two adopt two children.

The end.

That's the entirety of the story.

Rating: 3.89

December 13 2017



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The Last First Time by Andrea Bramhall

The Last First Time by Andrea Bramhall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Book received from Ylva Publishing for an honest review

The Last First Time is the third book in the Norfolk Coast Investigation series.

POV
Both Gina and Kate have point of views on this book, and there’s a third point of view in the prologue.

Characters
In a book like this characters both matter more and matter less than in a pure romance. There is a romance-plot-line here, but it’s subservient to the thriller/mystery plot-line.

On the Romance side of things, the main characters of importance are Gina Temple and Kate Brannon.

On the Mystery/Thriller side of things, the main characters are Kate Brannon, Stella, Clare, Jimmy, Tom, Timmons, Gareth and the rest of the police force. Plus the victims and near victims, like Gina & Stella, Pat O’Shea, and others, like the baby in the baby carriage, in the first explosion; police and innocent bystanders in the second explosion.

On the family side of things we include the growing closer to being a single whole family of Gina, Kate, and Sammy (Gina’s kid); plus Gina’s mum Alison.

Setting
King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England. 98 miles north of London, 36 miles north-east of Peterborough, 44 miles north north-east of Cambridge and 44 miles west of Norwich.

The story takes place around Christmas time.

Story
Gina and Stella are in a sex shop buying a present for Kate. Stella’s there to help Gina, though Stella isn’t really sure why. While in that shop, two teenagers wearing explosives explode.

The story proceeds from there, following several plot-lines:
Plot-line 1: Police investigate terrorists.
Plot-line 2: Gina and Kate’s relationship advances.
Plot-line 3: Gina meets a woman in that sex shop and makes a specific promise, to track down a lost love of that woman.
Plot-line 4: Two police officers from Kate’s past turn up – one an older mentor type, someone Kate thought of in a ‘sister’ type way; other ex-girlfriend of Kate’s. Both betrayed Kate.
Plot-Line 5: Someone is stalking Gina – sending her flowers, cards, letters, indicating that Gina is theirs and that Gina just doesn’t see them.

Review
Before I jump to ‘one specific problem’ (which is what I actually wrote first), I insert this part here: I realized, suddenly, what type of book I got myself into when I started to read from the beginning – the pre-beginning. When the author started to list all the terror attacks that had happened in the UK in the preceding year. Then turned to a prologue that show-cased two women getting ready to explode themselves. This is the third book in the series, I didn’t expect that this was what would pop-up, a terror plot-line. I don’t know what the book’s description says, as I said, this is the third in a series, of course I was going to read this book, no questions asked, no desire to look at the book description in that situation as it might reveal stuff I don’t want to have revealed. It’s like when you are about to watch a show, and three seconds before it starts there’s a preview . . . for that show. Pfft, no want to watch that preview (or read book description)!

I’ve one specific problem right at the start of the book, something immediately let me know that this was not going to be a five star book (or, at least, not a 5+ star book). And that’s the way the prologue and opening chapter merged – no no, not the prologue itself. It was neat that the prologue showed two young women outside a particular shop, showed them entering a shop . . . moved to chapter one, with Gina and Stella both noticing the young women right as the two older women enter the shop. That’s neat and thrilling. It’s the part where the reader knows that the two young women are wearing explosives, and that they are seconds away from detonating them. And that two people who have been in the series from the beginning are, seemingly, inches from them. And then . . . . paragraph after paragraph, word after word . . . way too much in between that, forgive me the use of this phrase, that ‘oh my god’ moment and . . . the actual explosion. I, even though I really really didn’t want to do so – found myself starting to skim. I knew an explosion was just about to happen, I couldn’t read all that crap right then and there. I needed to know what happened next! Yes yes, it builds things up to have these two women acting all human like but . . .. That happens more than I’d like in this book – not really padding, the ‘stuff’ had its use, but it wasn’t ‘stuff’ I really wanted to read right then and there. Elongated the book beyond what it could have been. But, bah. Choices and stuff.

Beyond that specific ‘problematic’ issue, the book was quite riveting, exciting, interesting to read. All aspects of the story. The horror of terrorism, of being in a blast; the bone-wearying investigations; the constant bumping up against ‘need to know’ issues that hamper investigations; the further joining together of two families; the further lives of three women (Kate, Gina, Sammy).

Rating: 4.68

December 13 2017



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Charming the Vicar by Jenny Frame

Charming the Vicar by Jenny Frame

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


Book received from both Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review

The POV:
There are two main point of views, both of the main characters, plus a few occasions when minor characters take over for a moment or three.

The Characters:
Main Characters:
Bridget Claremont is a 37 year old vicar in Axedale, a village in Kent England. Bridget keeps telling herself and others (mostly Quade) that she wished to have someone to love in her life. That is until someone does enter her life, whereupon Bridget remembers that her bishop is an asshole and having a relationship would possibly cost her her job/position/life.

Finnian ‘Finn’ Kane, aka another name to be learned by the reader later: A 27 year old stage magician and entertainer who is quite famous and has done shows all over the world. When the book opens Finn is in the middle of an act. Immediately afterwards she’s to have dinner with ‘the woman who has her heart’ (or however that was worded) – Finn’s sister. Whereupon Finn’s world and existence is shocked out of alignment when she learns about an illness.

Minor Characters:
This is by no means an exhaustive list of all minor characters in the book, just a few of importance: Archie Winchester is the grumpy old man who is super conservative and hates having the local titled person, the Earl, be a woman (Harry), and definitely can’t stand that his vicar is a woman (Bridget) – both lesbians at that! Quade McQuade, or ‘call me Quade’, is a ‘local farmer’ who also works as an estate manager at Axedale (the name of Harry and Annie’s house – the Earl . . . residence and land) – Quade is one of the only other single lesbian in Axedale when the story opens. Harry and Annie (with Riley) were the stars of the prior book and are newly married lesbians (with Riley being Annie’s kid).

The Story:
Bridget attempts to welcome the newest ‘sheep’ to her village/parish and is constantly rebuffed – sometimes angrily, by this ‘sheep’ aka Finn. In her thoughts Bridget already calls Finn by a word that will later escape into conversation – boy.

Finn, for her part, is quite taken with Bridget’s legs, but wants nothing to do with the ‘dog collar’ wearing woman, for religion is bad and dumb. For, you see, Finn has made her life escaping from her father and his horrible work, and made something of a career debunking frauds of all colors – including religious. Finn is the ‘newest sheep’ because she’s just now arrived in Axedale to take a breather and try to grieve after the death of her sister.

Bridget and Finn circle each other – both interested and not interested in the other. Complicating matters is the part where Bridget keeps noting that Finn isn’t her type – and the part where vicars are supposed to be celibate and her boss, the bishop, is a massive bigot.

The Sex:
Sex occurs. Power games break out.

The Review:
I’d like to leave a review that says, in its entirety: The word ‘boy’ is used 103 times in this book, once in the acknowledgement section, once for boyfriend, but most of the time to refer to Finn. But, alas, that’s not fair to myself or the book and so more must be said. I recognize that boi can used by some lesbians in a certain way - specifically referring to the younger person in a age-gap relationship, but boi wasn't used, boy was.

Bridget is 37 to Finn’s 27. Ten years isn’t a huge age gap, though someone of 37 and someone of 27 are normally at different points in their life. Then again, someone of 37 and someone else of 37 could very well also be at different points in their lives so . . bah. I’m not huge on age gap type stories so I had to overcome that specific aspect.

Harder to overcome, though, was the constant use of ‘boy’ and Bridget’s constant condescending and degrading actions/attitude toward Finn. Sure, Finn literally has the thought to herself that she’s massively turned on by the condescension and degrading methods of the vicar, but it isn’t easy, for me, to read. To the point that I almost had to just stop reading the book. But, beyond that boy thing, and my constant wonderment at whether I had missed something and Finn was actually either a male and/or transgender in some way, I found the story interesting enough to continue. Though, admittedly, that boy thing kept constantly coming up in ‘good’ scenes and each use of the word would instantly pull me out, shake me like a rapid dog, and beat me with a stick. Needless to say, I did not like that aspect.

This is the third book that I have read by Jenny Frame, and, unfortunately, this specific book ends up being my least favorite by Frame (though not my least favorite among the 169 Bold Strokes Books I’ve read).

Rating: 3.50

December 12 2017



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That Old Emerald Mountain Magic by Cara Malone

That Old Emerald Mountain Magic by Cara Malone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The good: This was a very readable book - hard to put down in fact.
The bad: The conflict point and separately the ending.

Emerald Mountain is in Colorado and operates as a ski resort. Two worlds will collide when a 'townie', who works at a resort there, and a 'rich family' interact with each other. Interact in the normal resort employee/resort guest way until the worlds literally collide more than the figurative suggested in the last sentence - when Joy, the resort shift supervisor, glides on a snow board hard and fast into Carmen, the rich resort guest, who had been stupidly standing in the middle of the ski slope (she wanted to get a selfie without actually having to ski.

Carmen (one of the two point of view characters), her father, and mother lived poor - the needing to use the homeless shelter food pantry kind of poor (though I don't think they ever lost their home) until Carmen was around 10 to 13 when one of the father's 'crazy' inventions took off and made the family rich. Carmen's twin sisters were born nine months after the windfall, and so never knew a life outside the wealthy cocoon. They, the twins, also never new a white Christmas and the parents, more the father, wants to give them a white Christmas before they grow too jaded to appreciate it (their Christmases up to this point have involved going to warm locations, mostly to Cancun (I suppose here I could insert something like 'my family spent Christmas in Cancun once, I remember Christmas church service in some temporary room at the hotel with like 10 others with the Spanish speaking priest, but this isn't about me'). At the time the family head to Emerald Mountain, Cameron is 22, and the twins are around the age of 13.

Meanwhile, the other point of view character Joy grew up in and has spent her whole life in Emerald Mountain village - and started working at the ski resort after high school. Right before the current season started, her roommate left the town to go join a rock band - her last local friend. Her family, in the form of her mother, now lives in Florida, so Joy's there in Emerald by herself and is wondering what next to do with her life - take up her manager's offer to get trained to move further up the resort job hierarchy, or move somewhere else (here's where I insert the part where Joy only has a high school education and has a good steady job that has massive advancement potentialagainst . . . whatever she could do elsewhere).

Right, so, amongst the Carmen family attempting to stick close to the massively huge itinerary put together by papa (and that also reminds me of my father), the family does snow related stuff - like taking the limo into Denver to shop for the day (wait, that's not snow related; well the did do some snow related stuff . . . eventually) some 'feelings' and stuff are felt between Carmen and Joy. Though they'll 'only' have a week to have their fling - since that's how long the family will be there.

Nice enough story. Kind of thin. Open-ended ending. The conflict point is because both main characters have the maturity of goldfish, and the story/book is open-ended because it isn't resolved before the end of the book.

Sex did occur. Certain amount of graphicness to the sex description but . . . how to put this . . . somewhat lacking in heat and stuff.

Rating: 3.85

December 11 2017



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Run in the Blood by A.E. Ross

Book received from Netgalley and NineStar Press for an honest review

I hate when I start off a review this way but . . . I've no real clue how to write a review for this book. Most of what I could say would probably be spoiler. So . . . I'll try to weave my way to something approaching a review.

One of the first things I need to mention, and I'm not sure if it is a spoiler or not, I assume it isn't considering how the book flows from beginning to end, but it is something that was hidden from readers in the book description. And that is the part where I thought I was going to read one of the quite rare FFF books. I mean, the description certainly lead me to a reasonable belief. Perhaps. Maybe. Maybe not. The words around one of the characters - describing all but that character, are loaded with female gender terms. I suppose it could be said that having two of the three characters be overloaded with female pronoun words, while leaving the third suspiciously pronoun free should have been a hint at something or other. Well, I didn't notice - I just saw all the female pronouns, saw that the book involved three main characters, and assumed stuff.

The book alternates point of views - having Aela, Del, and Brynne get turns at the POV controls. I mention this specifically so that I can continue the above paragraph. The first time I got to Del's POV section (Aela leads off the book, Del came second), things were worded a particular way. Well, one, I knew immediately that Del thought of himself as male. But there were these hints being dropped that made me vaguely suspicious. Del was described as soft, and as someone the other soldiers were protective towards. Should I be reading anything into that, I thought to myself as I read? Yes . . yes I should. But I'll leave that specific detail of why be found out by the reader. I will say, though, that as far as I know, this book involves two women and one man.

Aela is a pirate, a corsair (I think I spelled that right). Her entire life, at least as per her own memories, has consisted of being a pirate. She leads off the book and POV. And there's this quite exciting, thrilling pirate action scenes where a pirate ship chases down another ship. Aela is dark skinned, heavily scarred, and there's something . . . different about her that gets revealed relatively quickly. Something I'll let the reader learn, though they don't have to wait long to learn. Aela, from everything 'dropped' in the book, is, at my best guess, a lesbian. A woman who enjoys the sexual company of other women.

Del takes over control of the book second. He, when first seen by the reader, is a solider whistling happily as he wanders with his fella soldiers, and the fiery other, on a quest. And yes, he. While there's these 'soft' impressions heavily laid down, he is a man. It is never really confirmed, but it appears that Del might very well be heterosexual.

Brynne takes over third. Three things to know about her immediately: 1) she has a connection to Aela - they are lovers; 2) she's a crofter's daughter (I've no clue what a crofter is - her mother sells fruit from a stand while her father is a merchant ship captain; I just made myself giggle after looking up the word crofter - 'crofter: a person who farms a croft' . . . um, wha? croft: small scale food production); 3) her first appearance introduces her as the newly engaged bride to the prince of the kingdom - which is both in the book description (well that she needs to learn to be a princess) and the first thing the reader sees from her point of view. She has red hair . . . I think I remember that. bah, I bad at noticing things. She's the kind of person who normally lived a life of walking barefoot, and speaking crudely. Already noted: Brynne and Aela are lovers. Both are female. She's engaged to a prince and seems determined to be a good princess and seems to have no 'issues' with marrying a man. Weakly I use this evidence to come to the conclusion that Brynne might be bisexual.

The book includes some interesting, fun, pirate action, a mini-quest, wandering underground, dragons, learning to be a princess, learning to read, learning about the past, both the past of the land the kingdom sits on, and Aela's past that she otherwise doesn't remember.

There's some exciting stuff in this book, but there's also a longish period in the middle where nothing much happens (stuff happens, just not the kind of stuff expected after pulse pounding opening action bit), but excitement returns to finish off the book. There are some obviously plot-lines, though, that are not wrapped up by the time the book is concluded.

Rating: 3.82

December 8 2017