Love Like This (Seven Shores, #4) by Melissa Brayden

Love Like This by Melissa Brayden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is an ARC I received from Bold Strokes Books & Netgalley.

It’s been a month or more (more) since I last reviewed an ARC. Various reasons, and I only make note now of this issue because this specific ARC review appears the same day the book is published. Why did I wait until this date to review anything? Simple enough – I did not have access to the book until a few days ago. And unlike a few years ago when I could easily read a book a day, sometimes three (sometimes requiring a week), I now literally live in a different state, have a different job, and have different responsibilities so I do not read as quickly as I used to. (I bore everyone with this opening paragraph because I’m like the last person to review an ARC for this book, and quite possibly there are people who have bought, read, and reviewed the book before this review appears).

This is the fourth book in this series, and I believe I saw something somewhere indicating that this is also the last book in the series. This seems reasonable since the last of the Seven Shores friends’ stories unfolds in this here book. That last friend being Hadley Cooper, bubbly, seemingly always happy, always bouncing around like a cat on catnip, and always mentioning that she believes in soul mates/true love/or however she put it – and yet her romantic story is told last (also, she hasn’t exactly been happy in love so far). Hadley also, readers may recall, is the one heavily involved in the fashion industry.

I take a moment to note: for those curious about the continuing stories of the other friends of Seven Shores: their stories are deeply intertwined with this book, and more of their life unfolds before the readers eyes over the course of this book (and even more over the course of the epilogue – which, I believe, might include more time elapsing than in the main part of the book). So Isabel & Taylor, Autumn & Kate, Gia and Elle continue to be seen and felt by the readers.

Getting back to Hadley and my mention of her lust for fashion: the main thrust of this book, the underlying connective tissue is fashion. As in, Hadley has been tasked with finding ‘new blood’ for her store, find young designers to join the group of designers who fill the high class store on Rodeo drive. Hadley has had zero success so far in finding someone her boss will accept, but has good feelings about the newest potential addition to the store: Spencer Adair (the other main point of view in the book).

The reader learns instantly certain factors during the meeting between Hadley and Spencer, which occurs at the store: the store Hadley works at has an aging vibe, one that seems to cater more to over 40 year old white women (over 45?); while Spencer herself has a much younger vibe (though she herself is in her 30s) and . . . has dark skin. Is Hadley’s store ready for a black designer?

No it is not.

Or at least that’s what Trudy (her name was Trudy, right?) tells Hadley. Now before anyone screams racism, I’m not sure Trudy has the first clue who the designer is that Hadley pushed forward – she, Trudy, just saw a few sketches, barely looked at a few samples before making a snap judgment (I can’t imagine a) working for Trudy; b) why anyone would work for her – she literally tells Hadley to fire whoever did the glove display because the colors hurt her gut . . . or something like that).

Hadley, eventually, gets Trudy to reconsider – as long as Spencer does some redesigns immediately – or, I mean, in a month. So, that happens. Over the course of the book.

I’ve yet to mention the only thing I discussed in my status updates: sexual harassment. This book really did seem to be going down a weird road: showcase everything you are not supposed to do, at least in terms of sexual harassment. Exhibit 1: during a job interview, the interviewer cups the interviewee’s hand in an attempt to ‘calm her down’ (remember sexual harassment class: don’t do this – no touching!); exhibit 2: during the same job interview, one of the women tells the other that she looks outstanding in her jeans, in a ‘your ass looks so fine in those jeans’ kind of way (here it was the job interviewee, instead of interviewer, who made the physical appearance comment so . . . ). I realize that this is an apparently acceptable thing in romantic comedies (seriously, the amount of stalking and otherwise creepy behavior that occurs in romantic comedies . . . are so extreme that to showcase that someone really is a nutball and not actually a loveable-screwed-up-socially misfit, the person has to go to the extreme of cooking the other person’s pet rabbit (you know, Fatal Attraction), and the like, but . . . eh, it annoys me personally but probably not everyone else. So, whatever. The story quickly moved from ‘two complete strangers, who might have talked briefly not face to face prior’ to ‘people dating’ so I stopped paying attention to sexual harassment no-nos.

Despite my dive into weirdness above, I actually liked both main characters (though there was a period there wherein I was finding more enjoyment watching the other people’s stories unfold, or, more accurately, watching everyone’s story unfold except when Hadley and Spencer were in the same room). Eventually the story-line that actually followed the two main characters turned neat/interesting/exciting, so I was happy and stuff.

Not sure what-all else to say. There’s lots and lots of sex. There are tender, emotional moments. I enjoyed the book.

Rating: 4.38

October 17 2018




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Chosen by Brey Willows

Chosen by Brey Willows

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from Bold Strokes Books & Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really had no idea what to expect from this specific book here. I mean, I read and enjoyed the author’s Afterlife trilogy, but that was fantasy. This is science fiction. Post-Apocalyptic science fiction. What I found? Well, there is a rough-ish start, I need to mention that, but after that rough start? I found the book very hard to put down. I inhaled the book – quite enjoyed it.

There were moments in the book that reminded me of other post-apocalyptic lesbian fiction stories I’d read, though very briefly. Like there were times when the women (well two women and one man) were bravely pushing through the wilderness that reminded me of both May Dawney’s Survival Instincts (at least, again like in Vaun’s book, the wandering around outside part – though Dawney’s series is very much a darker future for mankind book), and Missouri Vaun’s Return to Earth post-apocalyptic series (mostly the part in the prequel book when one of the main characters is wandering the post-apocalyptic USA landscape, like in this book here). I stop to mention that Vaun’s ‘Proxima Five’ is the third ARC I requested this month – and there’s this weird thing that developed from reading this book here, then immediately turning to Proxima Five . . . I kind of felt like Proxima Five could very easily have been a sequel of sorts to this book here . . . at least that was the vague vibe I had in the beginning while reading Proxima Five.

But let’s talk about this book here, Chosen.

Chosen is set in the relatively near-future (not that close in time, maybe a hundred years in the future? I think a date was given at some point, but I missed it *opens book for different reason, see that this book is set in 2100) in a world wherein the Earth has succumbed to the ravages of man-kinds impact on it and society has to live with diseases that can’t be treated by anti-biotics; with every rising sea-levels; with constant outbreaks of wildfires; with massive constant hurricanes, typhoons, tsunami’s, earthquakes, etc. etc. – basically earth is trying to shake mankind off the planet.

The book opens with two main characters - Devin Rossi and Karissa Decker. Unseen in the story, but mentioned – both women received a ‘disc’ about a year ago that indicated that the government would be collecting them . . . eventually. Well eventually is now. And both women react quite differently with the pick-up. First we see Devin Rossi calmly being picked up – even being saluted and stuff (Devin, along with being a top geologist, was also a Lieutenant in the Air Force). Then we see Karissa being picked up – Devin was picked up from a falling apart (from ‘conditions) home, by herself, Karissa has her two parents there – mother dying from ‘the fever’, and father. Karissa puts up a fight – though, since Devin was picked up first, she was able to bring the tension levels down (by reminding/stating/asking if Karissa wanted her parents last memories of her being tasered until unconsciousness and dragged away, or . . .something calmer?).

Devin and Karissa, you see, have been picked up by a government convoy – that’s been going around picking up top tier scientists (stop for a moment to inject: it’s not the only convoy for this project). They are told nothing – even though Devin is respected and stuff, they are told nothing much. Just get into the truck and sit there while the truck wanders the countryside.

Eventually a new point of view suddenly appears. Unexpectedly. *glances at book description again* Yep, unexpectedly. We move, the reader does, to the point of view of ‘Van’ – one of the leaders of a survival groups (I can be more exact, but I’ll let things unfold for the reader like they did for me). The book alternates between two plot-lines (except for moments when it splits into three – when the two lead women from the beginning, Devin and Karissa, are too far apart to keep in same line), one following the ‘top-tier scientists’ and one following ‘Van and the raiders’.

And that’s how the three women meet – while stuffed in one of the trucks, Devin and Karissa hear gunfire suddenly break out. Then a voice, and tapping. Raiders force the scientists out of the truck, then start raiding the supplies.

The two-plot lines show the diverging paths of humanity in this era (well, there are more than two paths, but these are two of them) – the attempt to ‘restart’ humanity ‘elsewhere’ (and this is why Proxima Five feels like a sequel – because that’s how the book opened, earth is ravaged, people get onto ships to try to ‘make a restarted humanity better through the experience and knowledge and mistakes from ruining Earth’ – and the book opens with one of the ships on a ‘new earth’). Distracted myself. Ah. And the other path (or another path) – those who stay behind to try to ‘save humanity’ here and not there.

I loved watching the story unfold, the tension, the action, the moments of insanity, and the moments of sanity. Quite enjoyable book.

Of the now four books I’ve read by Brey Willows, I’d put this one at the top of the list of favorite Willows books. This one gets a full five stars. The first book in the Afterlife trilogy received 4.75 stars.

Rating: 5 stars

October 2 2018




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On the Fly by P.J. Trebelhorn

I received an ARC of this book from Bold Strokes Books & Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first of three books I requested this time, this ARC month. The story sounded quite intriguing. Sadly I misinterpreted what I was going to read, which I know played a part in my reaction to the book.

What did I think I was going to read? Well, my own fault really – the little snippet I’d read (not from the book but from the teaser) indicated that the book starred a hockey player who had always wanted to try to break into the men’s league but ‘knew’ it probably could never happen. Which lead me to wrongly conclude that I was about to read a book that involved that – a woman breaking into the men’s league. I was wrong. I wasn’t reading a sports fiction book with a strong Romance subplot, but a Lesbian Romance, with a strong sports fiction subplot. Luckily I knew immediately that I’d made a mistake – based on the age of the main character (though I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak – many have ‘broken into’ leagues they ‘didn’t belong in’ at an older age than the main character (I’m thinking of some Negro League players to transitioned over to the MLB, and did quite well, at rather advanced ages)).

Right, so. As noted this is a Lesbian Romance book with a strong Sports Fiction subplot (I stop to note: what’s the difference between the two, putting Sports first or second? Well, the emphasis – like there’s a heck of a lot more emphasis on romance in this book than I’d expected, and a heck of a lot less sports action than expected (there’s sports action, but mostly training, practice, snippets from games seen through other character’s eyes (in the stands), and watching a different team play)).

Mind you, even with my confused belief about what I was going to be reading, I did rather like the book.

This story follows two women in their mid to late thirties, one who doesn’t mind being around kids but never thought they’d have one of their own, and the other a single mother of a much older than normal child. Older than normal? Children in lesbian fiction tend to go two different directions, which has impact on the story-line. I’m talking about age. Single mother story-lines – where the lesbian (or bisexual) truly is the mother and not a sister or cousin, or the like, tend to have young children in lesbian fiction (though some can be as old as 12, most tend to be much younger), while the other kind of story-line with lesbian with ‘child’ involves much older ‘children’ – because it’s a ‘lesbian (or bisexual) who is raising their sibling, not a mother raising their child’. So the child in those stories tend to be of the older kind – 15 to 18 (occasionally the story mentions that one of the lesbians raised their sibling, and both are adults now).

Here? The kid is a sophomore in high school, roughly 16-17 years of age. Much older than the norm. Well, enough of that. . . . oops – the kid plays an important role in the book – being a hockey player himself, and being the kind of kid to try to set his mother up on dates, leads to the kid getting training and tips from Courtney Abbott (that’s the hockey player), while also leading Courtney into his mother, Lana Caruso’s orbit as a potential date. Though Lana had already meet Courtney before that moment/scene.

Lana, you see, is ‘back’ in her small town because her father had a heart attack and so she’s back to try to help. Mostly by helping her brother with the family pizza place so the father could rest. She’s back until the high school year is over . . . for reasons. There’s also the subplot of tensions between her and her parents – they want her closer to home, she works as a concert violinist and there isn’t exactly an orchestra in the tiny town (also there’s tension around Lana being a lesbian).
So going back to where I’d left off – Lana had first seen Courtney having dinner with Gail (Courtney’s coach and boss) at the family pizza parlor, and then later meet her at the real estate agent’s office – her agent was too busy so asked Courtney to fill in.

Right, so . . . tension tension tension. Two more bits of tension filter throughout this story: there’s a new ‘future star of the team’ player who has joined Courtney’s team. She’s arrogant, stubborn, and very much a bully who doesn’t like lesbians. So she’s constantly in Courtney’s face – though Courtney can stand up for herself. The other to round out that ‘two more bits’ of tension come from the dynamic of the situation – both women know that Lana’s only there temporarily, and so both ‘know’ they are ‘just having fun’ – the tension comes from neither communicating with the other about just where they see the relationship.

*looks over prior review/notes*

Oh right. Lana has a constant need to roughly slap, elbow and punch people (not lightly tap) and it is very off putting. I do not think any were 'love taps' though I'm sure she'd pretend they were. That . . . abusive behavior was very jarring and unsettling to witness. I realize it’s a ‘thing’ with certain people and they don’t mean it as ‘abuse’ or the like (see: Elaine from Seinfeld who was also always hitting people).

Lana isn’t the only aggressive person in the book – most of the other’s, though, are more ‘in the heat of the moment’ type stuff. Aggressive sports action. Except for that newcomer Hilton’s constant bullying and abuse of Courtney (which included tripping her in game time); and for Gail’s (Courtney’s coach, boss (on the Real Estate side) actions – mostly referring to how she’d constantly grab at Courtney’s arm and restrain her, keep her from leaving (and that one time Gail viciously hit Courtney in the leg – seriously enough that Courtney couldn’t get up and walk, just because she wanted Courtney to stick around longer). Bah, all this woman-on-woman violence in this book. Mmphs.

*thinks*

Yeah, so, less sports action than expected; more sex than expected; more violent (outside of sports violent) than expected. ‘Good enough’ book.

Rating: 3.75

September 2 2018

Take Your Time by V.K. Powell

Take Your Time by V.K. Powell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the conclusion of a three book series, each book written by a different author, and all three books set during the, roughly, same period of time. The difference in all three books is which specific characters are the lead characters.

The first book in the series, Take My Hand by Missouri Vaun, follows Pine Cone resident Clay Cahill, and Pine Cone visitor River Hemsworth. They meet when River accidentally drives into a hair salon while attempting to avoid driving into an illegally parked horse trailer – which I mention because the horse trailer belongs to Trip (star of book two in the series), who attempts to help her after the accident, and the police officer to talks with her is Grace Booker, star of book three. Clay is the tow-truck driver who drive up to pull the car away from the scene of the accident.

All three of the locals who match up with ‘outsiders’ are best friends. Trip and Clay are on the ‘butch’ side of things, while Grace is on the femme side.

Of the ‘outsiders’, River is also femme, and Dani is androgynous. Jaime, the ‘other’ in book 2, is in other parts of this series, both in book 1 and 3, but, as I’ve not read book 2, I cannot ‘pigeon-hole’ her.

Right, now that’s out of the way, this specific book here.

Grace Booker is a sheriff’s deputy, the . . . a . . .well, she’s also some form of Sergeant. The book opens with her having to deal with the fact that her latest roommate has fled, leaving behind a freaking out parrot. Which is how Grace and the other main point of view character meet – Grace needs help and stops by the local Vet office, expecting to talk to her friend Trip, but she’s out. She has to, instead, ‘deal’ with Dr. Dani Wingate. I say ‘deal’ with because Dani has already come to a negative view of Grace, simply because she wears a cop uniform. It is one of many things the two will have to get over, in the course of the book, for the two to have a relationship.

Dani, see, had ‘previously meet’ Grace when she was in a store. While there the store owner had grabbed and detained a youngster for shoplifting. Dani, while hiding her presence, watched as Grace handcuffed and lead the youngster away. What really happened, and yes what Dani saw wasn’t the whole story, wasn’t explained until after Dani witnessed Grace restraining a drunk man and leading him off.

A cop being a cop, negative vibes being created in the watcher? Dani grew up in a poor neighborhood – her only interaction with the police was when they would come and ‘hassle’ the residents, once even destroying her food when they raided her parents place.

The book unfolds with the two being interested in each other but having reasons to not pursue the other. Dani: Grace is a police officer and Dani doesn’t plan to stick around the small town. Grace: Grace just had one relationship (not really a relationship, but . . .) implode, and is still trying to get over a previous relationship that was an actual relationship in which Grace let her heart be open; plus Dani isn’t planning to stick around.

Somehow or another, largely due to: 1) attempting to deal with the bird issues; 2) living in the same bed & breakfast and therefore running into each other a lot – the two developed some kind of relationship.

I liked the book; though felt that there was a little too heavy focus on sex for my own enjoyment. Ended up rating this one about a half star less, not for the sex, than the first book in this series.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and now I need to check some more out by them.

Rating: 3.78

July 24 2018




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Shadow of the Phoenix (Storm's Quarry, #3) by Rebecca Harwell

Shadow of the Phoenix by Rebecca Harwell

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

When a book is released as part of a series (or, for that matter, released without mention of a series, but an unofficial series connects other books to that book . . . but that’s not what is occurring here so I’ll move on), it is important to ask and answer one simple question. How important is it to read the prior works in the series? It is prudent to ask a question like that – there are books that are officially part of a series, but there is no real connection between the books (and, sometimes, between the authors); then there are series like this one here. That builds on each additional novel. How important is it to read this series in order? Very.

Right, so, assuming you haven’t read the first book in this series – go and do that now. I’ll patiently wait here. Now read the second book, as this here is the third.

I’m both joking and serious in the last paragraph. Serious in that you need to read this series in order, joking that you need to do it immediately.

Right, so, what’s this third book about? Well, see . . . *insert here spoiler for the series* . . . and we enter the realm of ‘how do you talk about the third book in an interconnect series that builds on itself without spoiling prior books’?

Well, let’s look at the book description. ‘Nadya and Shay have built a quiet life together away from the island city-state of Storm’s Quarry and their outlaw vigilante identities, the Iron Phoenix and the Shadow Dragon.’ Well, that’s wrong on two levels. Nadya is constantly in a state of depression and guilt at the actions of the past. Shay keeps having jealous flashes, though she keeps getting reminded that ‘I choose you’. Quiet life? Built? They live in a tent and are caravanning around with Shay’s adoptive mother, the Forgemaster. And that ‘life away from . . . Iron Phoenix and the Shadow Dragon’ is just . . . wrong. They still put on the costumes and help those around them. Heck, the book opens (at least the Nadya & Shay part) with Nadya tentatively approaching the Forgemaster to ask to have her armor dinks un-dinked. Because it got damaged. From being used, by Nadya, as the Iron Phoenix.

The only thing ‘correct’ in the part I quoted from the book description would be the ‘away from . . . Storm’s Quarry’.

Okkkay, I was going to say the second paragraph in the book description is accurate, until I read it again and . . . just don’t read that, m’okay? The paragraph. It’s too spoiler-y. Mentions stuff that occurs later in the book, and is kind of spoilery.

Right, so, the two women who, over time, have developed a relationship – Shay and Nadya, continue their relationship. Though their bonds are tested when news reaches them that call Nadya back to the city-state. Not specifically that the city is/was under invasion/attack, but there are coded parts in the message that lead Nadya to suspect something like that. So they return and do what they can to help.

A good solid book. Enjoyable. There’s both a feeling, as another review (the only other review at the moment) indicated, that the series has reached its conclusion, while at the same time there’s a tantalizing bit that could be followed in another book that’s left open by how the book ended ((view spoiler)[you know, the Lode story (hide spoiler)]).

Rating: 4.44 (of note: I rated the first book ~4.25 stars, second 4.45, and now rate the third 4.44)

July 5 2018




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truelesbianlove.com by Carsen Taite

truelesbianlove.com by Carsen Taite

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Super quick story about two long-time friends who realize they have feelings for each other. Though they take forever to reach this realization. Along the way they spend a little bit of time looking at online dating stuff - hence the title of this book.

“Handle?” Mac frowned. “It’s not like we’re truckers looking for love on our CB radios." - Setting up their online dating profile.

Dear Huge Pig letter: At first I thought you were cute, but then you ate the entire city of Dallas in one sitting. When I said I wanted to see you again, I didn’t mean you had to make yourself big enough I could see you across town.

- after a date during which Mac made it a 'working date' by doing a little taste test of a rival restaurant's menu.

Rating: 3.68

June 18 2018

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The High Priest and the Idol (Lyremouth Chronicles, #4) by Jane Fletcher

The High Priest and the Idol by Jane Fletcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I didn’t mean to read a book in-between finishing this one and attempting to write a review, but I did. Makes it harder now to write a review.

This is the final book in this particular series, and a definite let-down from the prior book in the series. This is not my least favorite book in the series, though. In fact it might even be my second favorite – the first book in the series was, I noted ‘vaguely interesting, vaguely boring’. Well I never really felt bore, per se, with this book here. Though there were certain things that frustrated me – namely how incredibly naïve Jemeryl seemed in this story (specifically with regard to her ex-lover, and the things to do or not do to ‘stop the crisis’); though the separation of Jemeryl and Tevi for a longish stretch of time, a relatively favorite tactic of this author in this series, was also frustrating.

There were some rather neat ideas explored in this book, namely regarding religion and . . . um . . . other things.

I mention a little note about the book so I’ll have an easier time remembering it later: Jemeryl and Tevi, at the end of the prior book, mentioned where they might live next. The mentioned a particular city/region/village (? – I never did get a clue the size of the place) that had petitioned to join the Protectorate near the end of that book. Well this book picks up a little bit later (I forget if it’s years later, a month, or what), with Jemeryl the local Protectorate Sorcerous in the region, and Tevi the head . . . mercenary/guard person.

Fairly rapidly, though, this changes – Jem gets a note (by bird) to return to the capital to talk with the current Protectorate Guardian. Who is new, and who despises the idea of Jem spending time with a non-magic user. Jem fears the worst.

The dude-whose-name-escapes-me does still dislike the relationship between Tevi and Jem, but, other than noting his disapproval again, that isn’t why he called Jem to him. Jem’s ex-lover, a man (a reminder to readers that it’s Tevi’s same-sex desire/feelings that’s the odd-ball in this universe; her people are MF and kill and/or expel (not sure how and/or works there, heh) FF, MM people; while everyone else on the planet, apparently, are some form of bisexual/pansexual/polysexual/whatever), has fled the Protectorate and the Guardian wants Jem to go get him. He provides reasons why he wants Jem to go instead of sending anyone else. The reasons are reasonable enough, though separating Jem and Tevi probably play some role.

Jem heads across the sea (I’ve no real map in my head to what’s going on geographically) to a land of desert like conditions. Reaches an oasis near the city the rogue magic person fled to. People with weapons approach. Jem basically faints, along with the two helper people who had come with her. The fainting spell is super brief, and when she blinks awake again, she realizes she has lost her ability to sense the higher dimensions – she has lost her ability to use magic. She and her helper people are lead to the city.

The city has historically been known as a religious city – it’s the point of its existence (I believe). There’s this temple there that houses many Gods/goddesses, open to anyone to enter and . . . stuff. Now, though, there’s a new High Priest and a new God. And the other deities have been tossed out. That new High Priest? Well, it’s not really a spoiler, is it, to note that it is the rogue sorcerer.

The High Priest has set up a device that blocks access to the higher dimensions – they still exist, which is why spells created and used before the device went online, still work, but no new spells can be released as no magic user can tap into the magic dimensions now. The High Priest sends the Protectorate people back with a message, Jem, though, elects to stay with her ex-lover.

Tevi, due to reasons (like the magpie left behind as a link to Jem going all unmoving and like), heads to Jem.

One thing leads to another and . . . um . . stuff happens. I do not wish to be too exact here. Though will note Holy War erupts; the High Priests naïve idea is to level the playing field, with the belief that if no one has the ability to control magic, then a kind of paradise would erupt. He’s flabbergasted at the idea that anything but magic user/non-magic user divide actually exists (like when he learns Tevi comes from a place without magic users, a place where men and women are treated differently, and a place where women are in ascendance – naïve dude just throws a tantrum and runs away (seriously, the ‘rogue sorcerer’ seems to have the mental abilities of Forest Gump, isn’t evil, means well, but creates a wave of death and destruction because of his naivety.))

Sex: I cannot remember now if it is this one or the prior one that had, suddenly, graphic sex erupt. I do not normally expect that in a Fletcher book, and it seemed to have occurred just the once. I just can’t recall if it was this book or the prior book.

Rating: 4.33

June 14 2018




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The Empress And the Acolyte by Jane Fletcher

The Empress And the Acolyte by Jane Fletcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book was better than expected. Mostly because I thought that the first two books in the series made a perfect duology and wasn't really interested in 'what happens next'. Yet, I fell into this story, and, when I emerged, I was quite happy I decided to try it.



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Sparks Like Ours (Seven Shores, #3) by Melissa Brayden

Sparks Like Ours by Melissa Brayden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*I received this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an honest review*

A weird thing happened when I turned to this book. I was getting flashes of the most recent previous work I’d read, unexpected as I didn’t expect any real similarity. I kind of had a ‘darn’ moment there, but the fact that both books start off with a heterosexual woman and a lesbian eyeballing each other is similar-ish, but everything else was/is different. For one, in the previous book they were eyeballing each other with lust; while here, this book here, they were eyeballing each other as rivals – enemy-like, though a few degrees back from enemies. For another, I rather liked how things unfolded here more than in the previous book. In terms of how the people involved gradually came to some realizations, dealt with some internal and external issues, and eventually came together. Instead of the insta-lust of the other book I’ve not named.

This is the third book in Brayden’s California based Seven Shores series that follows four friends as they find love and happiness. Book one, ‘Eyes Like Those’, followed Isabel Chase, writer, and Taylor Andrews, producer (with Isabel being the ‘Seven Shores’ friend, though she’s newly arrived in California at the start of the book). Book two, ‘Hearts Like Hers’, finds Autumn Primm, Venice Beach coffee shop owner (‘The Cat’s Pajamas’), hooking up with a vacationing firefighter (Kate Carpenter). Kate’s the Seven Shores person in that she lives in that apartment complex, though it’s Autumn who is the Seven Shores friend (the difference being that Autumn was friends of the Seven Shores people but didn’t live there). And then we come to this book here, where the woman who intrigued me from the beginning, the one who I was curious about from the beginning, gets her story told.

Gia Malone is a young woman who has spent her life surfing. Professionally. She might have liked to go to college, maybe, but she wasn’t in the situation to do both – financially. So, immediately after high school, she entered the qualifying tour. Eventually she rose up to the top tier pro tour and a year before this book opens, she was number 7 in the world (I do not recall if ‘in the world’ is mentioned, but, since the events that occur in this story take place around the world, I assume ‘in the world’ is accurate), and by the time this book here starts, she’s number 2.

Occupying the number one slot at top of the pro surfing leader board is Elle Britton. Gia’s rival and something like but not exactly enemy. Part of Gia’s dislike of Elle is the part wherein Elle is number one; mostly, though, it seems that Gia’s dislike stems from how she views Elle’s personality. In that, Elle seems too perky to be real. A fake plastic Barbie type.

Several complicating matters turn up – a year before this story opens, a photo was released that made it look like Gia was lustfully gazing upon Elle in her swimsuit (it’s never firmly dealt with, but the impression given is that both parties know that Gia wasn’t actually doing that, it just looked that way). It’s an issue because it gets brought up every once in a while. Then there’s the part where the happily partnered up Seven Shores people begin talking about ‘sparks’ and how Gia and Elle seem to have some – a theory begun before either party seemed to actually desire the other (we are still in rivals zone; also, one of the main people talking about Gia’s love life is her fellow single Seven Shores friend Hadley, so I’m not sure why I worded things the way I did). Then a specific sponsor wants to pair the number 1 (Elle) and number 2 (Gia) in an advertisement campaign – so both would have to work together, interact a lot more than they normally do when on tour. The, how to word this, the romance angle of the book doesn’t really start, though, until another event occurs – on the same day two articles appear, one strongly indicating that Elle and Gia are bitter rivals; other strongly indicating that Elle and Gia are lovers. Elle has an odd reaction to the stories, Gia doesn’t even know those stories exist. Oh, and somewhere along the line Elle picked up a boyfriend who she likes and who likes her, and who both like spending time with each other – a boyfriend kind of adds a complication layer to a female-female romance, eh?

Wow that’s a huge paragraph, I should break that down somehow. Nah.

One of the problems with a many friends type book is trying to remember who everyone is and how they fit in. I found it easier to remember everyone without thinking too hard with Brayden’s prior series, though I mostly kept up with the character list with this series. There are just many side characters, some of whom already appeared in the story (both mains and side characters). *shrugs, moving on*

I liked the two main characters well-enough, and their eventual connection seemed well developed, but I unexpectedly kind of disliked some of the stuff I was seeing with Gia. Mostly in her thoughts and actions regarding Elle. Seeing perkiness as fake and plastic-y. But that, obviously or not, went away as the story progressed.

There are issues that pop up as the story unfolds, both foreseeable, and not. Family related, relationships related, and sports related. Everything seemed naturally occurring and not artificially created to add layers of problem issues to overcome.

Let’s see, what else is there to say – I liked the characters, main and side. The story was interesting and good. Flowed naturally.

Well, just one friend left without a partner (even if you pulled in Elle’s friend Holly it’d still be just one friend, since Holly has Dash, and is straight (though Elle started this book straight so…). Hadley the one connected somehow or another to fashion and a specific store. I’ve tended to like her in the series, so far, with my favorite scene with her being the one where she’s dressed up like a cow. Tail and all.

Rating: 4.65

May 18 2018




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Playing in Shadow by Lesley Davis

Playing in Shadow by Lesley Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I do not remember now what caused me the double desire to read this book and . . . reluctance to start this book. I messed up, I did, though. I should have read this a lot closer to the end of the previous book in the series. Not because the previous book was incomplete or anything. No, both books are self-contained entities. No, I mention what I mention because this really is a book following two couples, not a book wherein the couple from the first book just make cameos or are important side characters. No, a lot of the story follows the couple from the first book (Trent and Juliet), and it is almost, but not quite, as if Bryce and Scarlet are the side couple in this story instead of the budding romance couple.

Right, so. This book follows the further adventures of Trent and Juliet about . . . if I recall correctly, 2 years after the end of the previous book. Plus the coming together of Bryce and Scarlet. A bank executive tired of her career in the first book (will at the start of the first book at least), Juliet now works in landscaping for Tweedy Contractors – and is ‘heavily pregnant’. Trent still works at the gaming story she was at in the previous book. Monica and her boyfriend Elton continue to be involved and continue to be important side characters. And I mention them before the other main point of view characters to round out the characters from the previous book.

Monica and Juliet were roommates in the first book. Now it’s Monica and Scarlet Tweedy who are roommates. And as the last name indicates, Scarlet is connected to Tweedy Contractors – as both the daughter of the owner, and worker at the company (though she’d just recently moved back home from Chicago working in a completely different field (which she continues on the weekends) involving being a painter and photographer – for Tweedy Contractors she works as a house painter (there’s a different skill set between a house painter and an artist painter – though one of the paintings at the Whitney that I liked the most involved an artist ‘making a statement’ about abstract art by following his house painting skills to slap some lines on an unprimed canvas and . . . well, basically I’m saying there’s different skill sets involved). Two important things to know about Scarlet (well beyond being short-ish, pale, and having flaming red hair): 1) her father wants her to take over the company – she has no desire for that; 2) she develops a fascination towards a coworker – the only other woman who works for the company (that’s not right, there’s at least one more, um, the only other woman who goes to job sites?) but that wasn’t what I was going to mention – no, I was going to mention that is that Scarlet is bold and not afraid to take the steps needed to get what she wants. This helps here because the other main character, the coworker, is Bryce Donovan. Who is a fragile fragile woman.

As the book opens, Bryce is being examined by a doctor. Bryce wants to get back to work as soon as possible. The doctor agrees, but only limited duty. Bryce works as a . . . um, I forget the words used, she prepares walls to be painted. Bryce is still in pain, but she needs to get away from her empty apartment. And her bed. Where she doesn’t spend much time anyway – not for reasons some might leap to expect, but because she can’t sleep. Every time she does she’s back in the car – the one she was in – the one where everyone but her died in.

Right, so, Trent and Juliet continue their happy lives, awaiting the birth of Newt, while Scarlet and Bryce work through issues to get to couple hood.

There is also a ton of sex.

Rating: … I didn’t realize until I came to write this review, but I apparently rated this book higher than the previous book. Who-would-have-thought, eh? 4.45

ETA: odd, took 4 days to write review for first book in series; and took 4 days to write review for this book here.

April 18 2018



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Spanking New by Clifford Henderson

This is the second time I’ve read this book. It’s an odd ball kind of book, and as I noted in the start of my previous review – somewhat impossible to pin down genre-wise. Previous review is probably good enough ‘what this book is about’, so I just ramble here, yes? No? Well, I’ll think of something.

Bare bones: the main character is someone who is quite knowledgeable about certain things, not so knowledgeable about other things. They are a spirit like entity – pre-birth. And that’s their mission in this book – find parents, be born. Once born, they’ll lose their memories – a barrier would be passed and they’ll enter the ‘land of forgetting’ (or however that was worded). The book follows the spirit entity on this journey.

I liked the humor on display in this book (though a lot of it is ‘in context’ vaguely humorous, not out of context humorous). Like when the entity (later named Spanky by parents unsure of what name to pick, so I use Spanky from now on) spots potential father for first time and has certain thoughts:

Surely I’m not going to take just any dad, one who would lie to a best friend, a soldier about to risk his life for his country. Then again, I really like his hair.

Hmm. I only have one other highlighted bit of humor and it is even less easy to see the humor in it out of context so I move on.

I really like the characters on display here. Most of them would not normally be my type of character I’d want to spend time with, but, in this book, they work quite well. From the somewhat ditzy, flighty ‘mom’ character with her fixation/obsession on one of her male friends and her ability to ‘forget’ that he’s gay; to the ‘dad’ character who still lives at home, works in a car shop, and has a music degree; to the borderline-but-not-stereotype gay best friend; to the ‘refusing to accept the fact that she’s a lesbian’ other best friend; to the gang of friends the ‘mom’ type was friends with; to the incredibly socially awkward, nervous sister, who is quite selfish and stubborn, but shows hints of many great traits hidden beneath; to . . . well, many more great characters who, on a surface glance, fall into a category of ‘nooo’, but aren’t what they seem.

It’d be neat to see the ‘next’ part. As in, this book shows an individual ‘pre-birth’, to humanization, to birth. Then ends. It’d be neat to see what happened next in their life. And no, they didn’t end up getting ‘Spanky’ as a name – well, I didn’t see a birth certificate or anything, but the parents did agree, eventually, on the name Lucy. (note to self: the action in this book takes place in 2007. The next book by this author, not yet published, involves a Lucy character - but includes action from 1989, so, different Lucy)

Great book.

Rating: 5+

April 4 2018

Berlin Hungers by Justine Saracen

Berlin Hungers by Justine Saracen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*I received this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an honest review*



This is a good solid story set mostly just before and during the Berlin airlift operation in 1948-1949. Actually, it starts on VE day (victory in Europe), which occurred three years earlier in 1945. And the book ends slightly after. So – mid-20th century book with most of the action taking place in Berlin (with moments here or there elsewhere, like various places in England for training and the like).


Gillian Somerville is happy enough that the war in Europe is over, but not about two things in particular (well three tings) – men keep trying to kiss her (or do), she’s still trying to ‘get over’ the fact that her parents died in the blitz, and her job kind of went away. Her job as a pilot with the ATA – her only way to fly during the war was with the Air Transport Axillary, which, as the afterword put it, had the pilots who were unsuited for the RAF (for various reasons, including, most importantly for Gillian – gender). Gillian had been one of the 168 female pilots (vs 1,152 male pilots), but the service was being disbanded. In November 1945. Hold on, it’s May 1945. Hmms. Well, I assume VE day lead to a winding up of operations, though I do not specifically see anything on-line about it.


Right, sorry, got distracted. Gillian had been a pilot with the ATA, ferrying planes around – sometimes into Germany, sometimes with bullets and stuff in the air, but was not a member of the RAF (which she gets reminded when she boasted of her service to an actual RAF fighter pilot). But her time with the ATA ended when the war ended, and she needed work. So, looking around, she decided to join the WAAF as there was a chance she’d still get to be near planes. And she was right – after training, she finds herself in Germany working as an air traffic controller – guiding planes by way of radar.


Before turning to the other point of view in this novel, I insert the part where several characters are included in this book because of Gillian. Betsey – meet in WAAF training, seemingly constant companion there and then in Germany; Mrs. Base Commander (Mrs. Horwick), who had a rather direct and intimate impact on Gillian’s life; various pilots, like Jack Higgins, Nigel Katz, and Dickie Collins; and . . . um . . random other military personnel.


So – that’s one of the main points of view. Gillian is British, in the female version of the military, spent the war ferrying planes, has no living relatives due mostly to the actions of the Germans, and now works as an air traffic controller in Germany. But Gillian isn’t the only point of view the book – no, there’s also Erika.


Like Gillian, Erika has lost most of her family. And, just like Gillian, Erika’s parents died as a direct result of German action (Gillian’s parents died in the bombing of London; Erika’s parents died before the war in a concentration camp – because they were not the right kind politically, as in, they were Social Democrats). Unlike Gillian, Erika had been married at some point, though her husband also is dead now. He was a pilot for the German air force. As the action in the book starts – the Russians move in and occupy Berlin. With drastic and horrible results. Especially after Erika moved out of hiding for reasons I don’t recall now and was spotted by Russians, and raped. Not all of Erika’s interactions with the Russians were so violent and disgusting; several even helped her at various times in the book.

Erika spent the book attempting to survive. Working whatever jobs she could find. Doing whatever it took to survive. And her sections pulls into the storyline several important side characters: Hanno the son of Gerda (her friend and her husband’s former lover), Gerda, Wilhelm, Henrich, and Charlotte (oh, and a bunch of people here and there with some importance – like the two Russians, one of whom was in the Sniper book, at least I think she was, though not a main character in that book, who were friendly with Erika and – at different times and occasions, interacted with both Erika and Gillian as the book unfolded). Immediately after the war ended, Erika, Gerda, Hanno, and Wilhelm lived in the same apartment building and in the nicest apartment (eventually); later Erika, Gerda and Hanno moved from the Russian sector to the British and moved into Charlotte and Henrich’s apartment. I know I’m forgetting people. Hmms. I mention all of that more for my own memory purposes, to remind myself who is who, and how they know each other.


Right, so, the book follows along as Gillian lives her life in the WAAF and Erika struggles to survive as a starving German in Berlin. Eventually the two meet. I’m digging deep into my brain, but I just can’t recall how they meet. Shesh. I’m recalling scenes from the book – Gillian says she’ll put in a word with the base to help Erika get a job; Gillian, Nigel, and either Dickie or Betsey run into Erika cowering in a doorway but that was after Gillian helped Erika. Oh, right – if I recall correctly, Gillian, while still stationed somewhere else in Germany (not Berlin), took a trip to Berlin to visit. She went with Nigel on one of his flights into Berlin. While there the two wander and visit the black market. Whereupon the two unconnected story lines merged . . . for roughly 3 seconds (heh, slightly more, but roughly that), when Gillian bought a plane Erika was selling. Neither expected to see the other again, but they did keep bumping into each other – first with Gillian running into Erika again at the Berlin airport, after Gillian transferred there. At that time Erika was working as a runway . . . um . . paver/constructor/digger person.


That’s how the book bounced. A lot of action from one or the other point of view, and the two women rarely saw each other. Just occasionally bumping into each other – that is until they became friends . . . then more. Whereupon . .. they continued rarely seeing each other. They didn’t keep away from each other by choice, just the circumstances of the situation. So this was a slow burn because of circumstances romance. Though, being the 1940s, the fraternization policy, the homosexuals being illegal issue (lesbians less so, though not exactly acceptable I the military), there would have been a need to take things slow anyway (counter to this: the other female-female relationship in this book (I’ve rewritten this review so many times I don’t even remember now if the hints I dropped are even still in this review: Gillian learned why she had issues getting romantic with men from her time spent at that other German airport, the non-Berlin one (she learned she liked kissing women more than kissing men)), that was entirely sexual, and by no means slow burn; course, it also wasn’t a romance so . . ..).


Books like this have a tendency to think that the need to include everything. Like, there’s a trial going on in Nuremberg where Germans were being tried at the same time the action in this book took place. Some books would think – ooh, I need to include that. In person. Is Important Historical Fact. And there was a way that the author could have had a character there in person to get a front row seat. I liked how the author didn’t take that approach though. It was an important moment in history, and it was mentioned, even debated, but the book didn’t take a long-winded detour with some random unknown person suddenly ‘in on the action’ (unlike, say, ‘The Sniper’s Kiss’ book, where a random unknown to history person seemed to run into every one of importance during her time on earth). Right, concept badly worded by me. Hopefully coherent enough. Oh – there was two points strenuously pointed out in this book: the trials were multilinguistic and required translators; Erika, who actually came from a location much closer to Russia than Berlin, specifically Russia. Heh. They were ‘Volga Germans’ – ‘ethnic Germans who colonized and historically lived along the Volga River … southeastern . . . Russia. And therefore could have worked as a translator between Russians and Germans at the trial. Instead she ‘just’ used her Russian knowledge with Russians in Berlin.


Solid book, though there was at least one issue I found vaguely confusing: Gillian mentioned that she made 2/3rds of her male co-workers in her post-war job, and her response to the situation was just a shrug, and a comment that that was just the way it was. That’s life. Which I just nodded at, because, sure, 1940s . . . that’s the way it was. Then I read the afterward, and later looked up some stuff and reminded myself of what I’d read in the afterword. Gillian made the same amount of money when she worked for the ATA (at least since 1943, I forget if there was a mention of when Gillian started working with them). Sure, she made less than men when she transferred to the WAAF, but she did have experience ‘being equal’ for at least 2 years. Just shrugging at the situation and saying ‘it is what it is’ or words to that effect, seemed . . . out of character somehow.


Right, so, likeable book. Enjoyable. Readable.


Rating: 4.33


March 20 2019


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Rocks and Stars by Sam Ledel

Rocks and Stars by Sam Ledel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

*I received this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an honest review*

I start off noting what this book is, and, later, something that it isn’t. What this book is: a young adult coming of age story told through one person’s eyes over a period of two years. What it is not is a romance with a capital R. There are several relationships on display in this book, and many different characters, and personalities to tangle with, but capital R Romance? No.

I had no real idea what I was getting into when I decided to request this book. I mean, yes, I read the description. I knew the book was about a young woman who is, or very recently had come to the realization that she had particular feelings that mean that she might or might not be a lesbian. And that the book would ‘deal with that’. In the sense that that means this is a coming of age story, yes, that’s what this book is about. In the sense of ‘dealing with being a lesbian’? Well . . . yes, but I worded that wrong since that isn’t what I said before. What it isn’t is a struggle to determine if the main point of view character might or might not be a lesbian. No, despite how the book description is worded, she knows at the start of the book that she’s a lesbian. She admits it to herself. In the prologue. This occurs two months before the start of the book and consists of her playing with herself. Hehe, I worded that sentence that way on purpose – she was ‘playing with herself’ in that she was playing soccer. While thinking about the various people she’s lusted after. Mainly Beth, a fellow soccer player, but also other women.

Then chapter one rolls around – starts I mean, and it’s a high school graduation party. So – that’s another thing that may or may be different than what I thought the book would be about – since I do not recall if I thought more time would be spent in high school. No, looking at the book description, I ‘knew’ the book would be focused on college.

So, I mentioned some of the things the book is not, and some of the genres the book does fall into. But what exactly is the book? Well, as I said, a coming of age story about a young woman – specifically one who plays soccer at the college level (has a full scholarship to college by way of her soccer talents) who struggles less about the fact that she is a lesbian, and more with acting on the fact she’s a lesbian. And the book unfolds from there – watching her descend into madness for two years before attempting a recovery. Okay, not that, but . . . that.

There are three people of major importance in this book who are not named Kyle Lindsay (Kyle being the main character and only POV). There’s Emily, Kyle’s best friend since forever, and the same person who talked her own college coach to watch Kyle play high school soccer (Emily is a year older), thereby helping Kyle get that scholarship. Emily is also the only person, in the beginning, Kyle has told about her ‘situation’. Then there’s Jax – a soccer teammate who flusters Kyle immediately, and who she wants to hump. Jax is also a year older than Kyle. Then there’s Joey, a fellow freshman, who is one of the goalies on the soccer team. Kyle has . . . weird disjointed thoughts about Joey.

There’s massive amounts of drinking in this book. I do not know what it is about soccer books, but the last one I read, that one involving professional soccer/football players in Scotland, did something this book really dove into with a lot of enthusiasm – weirdly inappropriate hazing of new teammates, and including lots and lots of alcohol drinking. I recall a comment about that other book – that they didn’t know how the main character was able to do what they did – being as old as she was, and drinking so much. Well, that’s one thing here, eh? How’d they be able to drink so much and still walk? They didn’t. But when they did, it was because they were kids. Or something like that – able to overcome their self-created attempts at destroying their own talents.

Sorry, dwelt a little long on that. There really was a ton of drinking in this book. A ton. I don’t want to play with spoilers, but will say – I know some people, who would read this, would point towards Jax for Kyle’s drinking, but the first bits were inspired by Emily – she was the team captain, after all, who lead the hazing/initiation drinking thingie.

Right, sorry. Moving on.

What else to say. The book was interesting in the beginning, and I was really gulping it down as I went along. Until I came to the words ‘Part Two’. And started into that section. And, before I even read a page, I had to stop reading for 4 to 6 hours. I just . . . I couldn’t . . .. Disappointment overwhelmed me. This is where we get to ‘this is a coming of age story, not a Romance’. You know what you get in coming of age stories, in growing up? Massive mistakes. Well, the vast majority of this book shows Kyle make mistake after mistake. Then ends (view spoiler)[with some of the same hints and teasing that were in Part One (so no you can’t just assume things by how the book ended – you really shouldn’t). (hide spoiler)]

Readable book. I look forward to more work by this author. I believe this is the author’s first published work, though the copyright page gave me pause in that thought.

Rating: 3.23

ETA: Of note (maybe): I read, reviewed, and rated this book before I realized that someone had beaten me to first rating/review.

March 14 2018


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Fury's Death by Brey Willows

Fury's Death by Brey Willows

My rating: 4.26 of 5 stars


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

This is the third book in this Afterlife series. I shall immediately note: yes, you should read books 1 and 2 before reading this book here. All three books tell the story that unfolded after a scholar is confronted with the truth about Gods, Goddesses, and the like. All three books feature one of three ‘Fury’ sisters. First book starred Avenging fury Alectho (Alec) Graves and Selene Perkton (that scholar); book 2 starred Alec’s sister Tisera Graves (and Kera Espinosa). And book three? Why, that stars that third fury sister, Megara Graves.

It’s interesting the things that you spot when you do a tiny bit of research. Like, this series is about the three fury sisters. Does that align with the mythology? Are Furies three sisters?

Greek Mythology
a spirit of punishment, often represented as one of three goddesses who executed the curses pronounced upon criminals, tortured the guilty with stings of conscience, and inflicted famines and pestilences. The Furies were identified at an early date with the Eumenides.

Well. That answered that question. ‘one of three goddesses’ (though this series keeps noting that the furies are different and not gods or goddesses but something else. Course, before I spotted that ‘three goddesses’ thing, I spotted the synonyms: ‘virago (domineering, violent, or bad-tempered woman), hellcat (spiteful violent woman), termagant (harsh tempered or overbearing woman), spitfire, vixen, shrew, harridan, dragon, gorgon; Eumenides’. Dragon, eh?


Well, that’s fun, let’s move on.


As noted, well two things to bring things back into focus: read the prior books before reading this book; this book stars two characters previously seen in this series - Megara Graves (the fun loving one who would prefer fucking to . . . um, no, she also likes fighting, prefers fucking to reading a book – throws a lot of parties that break down into orgies), and Dani Morana, aka death.


The actions, events, results of the prior book continue to unfold here (as in, the Gods continue to attempt to ‘walk among humans’ while the Afterlife company (which most Gods/Goddesses are members of) attempts to deal with ‘complications’ like Humanity First (anti-gods/goddesses), and people randomly ending up slaughtered. This paragraph was specifically going to be about how Dis, that Chaos goddess, was running around doing discordant stuff, but paragraph got away from me.


Like her sisters, Megara is having something like a crisis enveloping her, unlike her sisters, it isn’t about her work as a Fury, but her . . . stuff she does when not a fury. The constant partying and stuff. Mixed in is the part where she a) doesn’t want a committed relationship; b) wants Dani but doesn’t think Dani would go for a non-committed type fling.


Dani, meanwhile, is dealing with weird changes she’s noticing like with certain souls, and her own weird tinge of something or other I can’t be more elaborate about without spoiling. Also – she’s lusted after (loved?) Megara for centuries but isn’t the kind of person to make her thoughts known. Or something like that. Well, no, there are instances when I spotted an ‘issue’ a mile off that would be based on miscommunication but . . . didn’t happen because people communicated with each other.

Right, I probably have a temperature of around 105 degrees, or something like that, so my brain is boiling. Hopefully whatever I’ve written here is coherent enough to be read.


Did I like the story? Yes. Did I like the characters? Yes. Was I blown away by the graphic depictions of sex? No.

One last thought that I had while playing with my shelves/tags for the book: While Meg has been with women, she's not a lesbian, but more of a . . . well no word was used. I imagine something like 'Pansexual' would apply. It is not clear if Dani is a lesbian or not, though her one mentioned relationship, prior to Meg, was with a woman.

Rating: 4.26

February 1 2018




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Cut to the Chase by Lisa Girolami

Cut to the Chase by Lisa Girolami

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A good solid book involving an A list actress and someone somewhat on the fringes - a woman who puts together photo books based on photographs they've taken on set.

Her latest book, 'her' being the photographer character, is called 'Cut to the Chase'. The book is designed to show pictures from action movies - or, more exactly, photos from action scenes. For various reasons, when she gets the project, there apparently are only two action films currently in production. And it would be hard to put together a book based on two films (apparently, it'd even be hard to put together one based on just three films). But Paige Cornish keeps digging and is told about a film in production that is keeping a somewhat low profile. Potentially because the costars a woman not known for action (an top tier actress, but known for comedy roles, not action). So Paige pulls some strings and adds that film to her project.

That 'not an action actress' would be Avalon Randolph. A woman that Paige has lusted after since she first saw her on the screen. Some unknown time ago.

That's one of the issues I had with the book - I've no real clue how old people are. I've a greater idea of the length of the book - the length of time that the book encapsulates, but not how old the people at the start. I know that the book is roughly three months long because the project that Paige embarks upon has a three month deadline. And starts at the beginning of the book, and is being released at the end of the book. So, three months.

Unlike some books I've read lately, there's some obvious chemistry between Avalon and Paige. Despite the fact they don't really fit together well. Paige is the more shy, reserved, let's have an evening at home watching B-film horror films; while Avalon is more of the 'let's go places with 800,000 people also there, where the noise is too loud to hear anyone talk, and there's a good chance people with cameras will take our picture' type of woman. They both see something desirable in the other, though, despite their personalities not really matching up well.

That's an interesting dynamic that unfolded in this book. I've read several celebrity books, some may or may no have traveled similar roads as this book here, but this one still seems different than the norm. For many reasons. Not the least of which is the part where one of the characters is shown falling apart over the course of the book; the conflict point is quite reasonable; but then so is the reconciliation. Bah, I'm not really saying why I think the book is different. Other books have had actresses who have found themselves in trouble. This is one of the few where the trouble isn't 'straight A list Actress trouble is trying to hide being a lesbian (or bisexual' for Avalon is already an out A list lesbian, nor is it a 'allowing trouble to act as a smoke-screen to hide something else that might hurt the ability to keep acting (i.e., illness; see: Jae's Hollywood series)'. Instead, here, Avalon actually is a wild bitchy woman on a collusion course with trouble.

It's also interesting to watch Avalon grow. Taking little steps, 'is this the issue?' 'No, you arrogant bitch, you still haven't reached the real issue', to finally actually move from vaguely dislikable character to vaguely . . . redeemable character.

I haven't really mentioned Paige - she also has her POV expressed, but is like-able from beginning to end. But? bah.

Turning to my status updates to draw things to mention: there are at least two sexually graphic scenes that occur in this book, one of which is quite erotic (I've no real idea what I mean by that, neither is fade to black so . . ..).

Rating: 4.45

January 25 2018



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Love at Cooper's Creek by Missouri Vaun

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

This book has two main point of view/main characters. Shaw Daily, and Kate Elkins.

Shaw Daily is five feet ten inches, 38, has short hair, and is constantly confused by others on whether they are looking at a man or woman. She is also an executive vice president over international marketing and sales. The book opens with Shaw on a business trip to Japan but, during a meeting, she has something like a panic attack and has to exit before the meeting was over. Before she was supposed to return, she finds herself back in the San Francisco airport having reached a specific decision – she’s going to take some time off and return to the place she considers home – Cooper’s Creek North Carolina (even though she and her mother seemed to be constantly on the move and rarely actually lived in Cooper’s Creek – it’s actually those occasions when Shaw was dumped with the grandparents in Cooper’s Creek that Shaw is remembering as home, not her time with her mother). On the family front: Shaw is alone now, she never knew her father, her mother is dead, and her grandparents passed long ago. On the friend front . . . I’m not sure it’d be fair to say she has none, because we never actually see Shaw in her ‘normal’ life, just ‘off finding herself’, though it is possible her boss is her friend. She’s friendly enough, though, since there’s mention of her being friends with Miriam, Kate’s sister, back when the two were growing up (though, as a show of this being her past not present – Shaw didn’t even know Miriam’s children status); and Shaw . . . continues whatever odd relationship/friendship she has with Jimmy (he looks over her place (well her grandparent’s old place that Shaw now owns), but you can tell the closeness by how Jimmy didn’t even know Shaw would be around the first time they bumped into each other in Cooper’s Creek.

Kate Elkins is 34 and an elementary school teacher. The book opens with her disengaging from her current life – living in her apartment, being a teacher, to take a year off to take care of her mother who had recently suffered a stroke and is suffering from a certain frailty and memory loss, a certain dementia. Kate, unlike Shaw, has several living relatives – in addition to her mother, there’s her sister Miriam and her husband Greg, and their children. On the friend font, a large cast of people were seen eating with Kate after the school year ended, and it was implied that they were all friends with Kate. Most aren’t actually seen much in this story, though. Her ex-girlfriend Karen, though, was spotted along the way.

One of the problems of reading a lot of books by the same author was experienced, somewhat briefly, in this book here. And that’s the part wherein one of the main characters physical aspects, as described in the book, seemed to match up with another prominent and important character in the author’s inventory of characters. There was enough there from the beginning for me to know that this wasn’t a repeat of a character, or that character under a different name. Still, the knowledge of that other character was impacting my interpretation of this current character. All because of physical description – the short hair, men’s cut clothing, being confused for a man, etc. Mind, it wasn’t just one story I’d previously encountered this character, but 12 previous works – and a still on-going series. Of course I’m thinking of Jane of Jane’s world – though, as quickly experienced, while there are some similarities in appearance and personality, Jane and Shaw are by no means the same or, really, similar characters (beyond just the fact that Jane likes dressing causally, seems shorter than Shaw, and less confident, etc. than Shaw).

The story: Kate has had a crush on Shaw for years – ever since both were kids, though she’d never before been able to act on it – for reasons, including the age difference and the part where Shaw had been more of Miriam’s friend than Kate’s. Now, though, both are in their thirties and literally live right next door to each other – though there’s a hill and stream between them. Still, it’s hard to act on these old feelings when Kate doesn’t believe she is in any position to get into any kind of relationship - as she has to take care of her ill mother; plus, Kate is unsure of how long Shaw will even be around. Despite desires one way or another, or maybe I should say because of desires, a relationship begins between Shaw and Kate, though Shaw upfront noted that she doesn’t know how long she’ll be around, and isn’t the best at relationships (I’m wording this a lot worse than Shaw did, mmphs, the point is that Kate and Shaw enter a relationship with both having their eyes wide open).

Family is a big part of this book – both Kate’s, and, surprisingly, Shaw’s. For, recall, Kate’s mother has certain ‘issues’ with memory – and people have a tendency to take a glance at Shaw and see a man. Well, fairly early on, Kate’s mother took her first look, I believe, at Shaw and called her ‘Charlie’. Confused and intrigued, Shaw spends part of the book investigating this mystery – is Charlie related to her? Are they actually that similar in appearance?

Good solid interesting story. I might be getting emotional as I get up there in age, as this is another of those books that forced me to ‘feel’ things.

On the sex front: occurred, is graphically detailed.

On the characters front: I liked both main characters, and, somewhat abnormal for me, liked the side-family characters. I will note, though, that the two main characters are more developed, more solid, than the others.

I feel like making some comment like ‘unexpectedly, this author sits fifth on my list of authors ranked by total number of works read’, but bah, I do not really have anywhere to go with a comment like that one.

Rating: 4.65

January 13 2018

Embracing the Dawn by Jeannie Levig

Embracing the Dawn by Jeannie Levig

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the first book I’ve read by this author. And third book I’ve rated five stars this year. And one of those three books was a short story I’d previously read. And second book in a row I’ve rated 5 stars (I’ve already read two short stories since I read this book which I did not rate 5 stars, the short stories I mean, so this isn’t a new trend where everything I read is 5 star quality).

This is one of those rare books that do not focus on characters from their teens or 20s wandering around being all . . . I’ve no idea where I’m going with this sentence. This is not one of those . . crap. This is one of those relatively rare books wherein the major characters are not teens or in their 20s, or even, for that matter, in their 30s. No, this is one of those books where the main characters are 40+. And they need to be – for all the life experience they’ve packed into their characters.

Right, so – the book opens with two women waking up after a one-night stand. One is E. J. Bastien, 50-something, and a regional director for a chain store (or, as the book description puts it ‘a business executive’). E.J. is not one of those types of women who only do relationships (neither woman fits that profile), in fact, for the most part she never does relationships (with women) – she’s a one night at a time type of woman.

The other woman in this book, Jinx Tanner, is a 40-something dog washer and ex-con. Three years ago she exited from prison (I was going to say ‘federal prison’ but I forget if ‘federal’ was part of the phrase or not). She had been inside the prison for 25 years (which reminds me that she’s 45, I think E.J. is closer to something like 52). And while Jinx has had ‘relationships’ in the past, they were the . . . non-normal kind, and, to complicate matters further, she hasn’t been with anyone in a sexual way for the past 10 years. She did have a relationship in prison but . . . well, you know prison relationships (yes? No? eh, I’m trying to be vague while giving details).

Neither woman expects to see the other again (back to ‘this book opened with two women waking up in bed’) but both really enjoyed their time with the other, and if they were different people, they might have tried for more. But they aren’t – for one: they don’t even live in the same city. For, you see, both are ‘there’ (wherever ‘there’ is), because E.J.’s son is marrying a nice young woman from a rich family (E.J. and her husband, or ex-husband I should say, are also rich). Unbeknownst to either woman prior to getting into bed together: that young woman? Jinx’s niece. Course the happy little afterglow immediately evaporated when this is learned by E.J., who proceeds to have a panic attack (though is calmed down from it). For, you see, E.J. is not out to her family, and . . . there are reasons she can’t be out. (one of the weird things about this book – every time I wanted to yell at it, at E.J. . . . someone yelled what I wanted to yell at E.J. and her stupid reasoning, mmphs, heh).

Jinx, by the way, is the black sheep of the family – she’s not been in regular contact with any of them for . . . oh . . . something like 28 years. Since she ran away from home. Though her best friend, her sister, ‘separated’ from her, emotionally, about 5 or six years before that – though Jinx hasn’t a clue what happened to change Andi’s personality ((view spoiler)[it is only revealed just what caused the change very late in the book . . . and the explanation was . . . not so much stupid, since that kind of thing can happen, especially when young children are involved but . . . leagues below what got built up in my mind – I mean, Andi acted as if she loathed Jinx with every fiber of her being. And Jinx had no clue why. (view spoiler)[it got to the point, especially considering some of the words Andi used when mentioning pops, that I expected to find out that Jinx’s father had raped Andi when she was about 12, and – because of reasons – she took out her horror and anger on Jinx, her step-sister (they had the same father though so . . . ) . . yeah, no, that’s not it. That’s not the big reveal. (view spoiler)[the big reveal? Andi was too frightened of her mother to go against her, and the mother loathed Jinx . . . except Nora (it was Nora right?) loathed Jinx to the extreme for years before Andi’s personality changed, it wasn’t a secret, and nothing really seems to have happened at age 12 that increased the loathing (except words about how Nora was going to start treating Andi like Jinx if she didn’t get away from her, stop being her friend (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]).

Got distracted by spoilers.

Right, so – both E.J. and Jinx know they can’t be together . . . differing reasons, but have a good time together. Then ignore the other’s existence at the wedding. Weeks go by. Both have these feelings. E.J. finally breaks down and goes to the same club she picked Jinx at the first time – to try to find her (there are reasons more than ‘wants some sexual action’ but that’s important to). It’s kind of a dump, a dive bar – but that’s the kind of place E.J. looks going anyway so . . . . but the clientele, at least one of them, puts on the super mean face. But let’s not reveal every plot point – long and short – E.J. and Jinx hook up again . . . and then E.J. leaves again. Because.

This is one of those angsty, drama-filled, super complicated (relationship/family-wise) type of stories I do not look for to read. Not that I specifically hate them when I stumble across them, obviously, but I’m not really an angsty reading type of person. But . . . works here.

There’s several interesting dynamics at play here. More than I’ll mention. But, for one example of what I mean, there’s several shelves I like using. Yet ‘rich/poor’ isn’t clicked. Nor is ‘cultural clash (or however I worded that shelf)’. Why? Because both women have had stages in their lives when they had money – lots and lots of money; and stages where they were poor . . . ish. One a lot more than the other. And my brain just stopped working so I can’t recall the other examples I was going to give.

Jinx has two lesbian friends who play big roles in this book – Sparkle and Reggie. And several neighbors who she interacts with – like the next-door gangster teenager, and his sister, and their mother. Though the young man is the only one who has much in the way of lines in the book. On the family side we get Tiffany, Jinx’s niece, and Andrea, Jinx’s sister. On E.J.’s side we get her assistant and her non-assistant friend Taylor. Man these people’s names fled from my mind. Well, Sparkle and . . . the assistant’s name did. Had to look hard to find Sparkle. I think I’ll skip trying to locate the assistant’s name, though both she and Taylor play important roles in the book. On the family side we get Jacob and Mandy – E.J.’s children. Somewhere along the way (I know where, I’m being vague) we get Pete the puppy dog.

I liked both main characters, oh and both had points of view. One, E.J., is the kind I’d probably hate otherwise, though. Especially her constant running away and ‘I don’t do relationships’, and her ‘It’s all for Jacob!!!!!’ (as for why she can’t come out as a lesbian, there’re reasons ((view spoiler)[there was an incident when Jacob was about 10, which lead him to say, when he was about 14, that he hates gays (hide spoiler)])).

Lots of feelings, humor, stuff going on in this book which I enjoyed. Re: humor: for reasons, Jinx was constantly telling joke’s – partially because that helped calm E.J. at times, partially because . . . um . . she’s a joke teller? There was another thing I was going to mention, lost it. The jokes are on a certain level, on purpose, like so – (using, as an example, one of the less elaborate jokes for room sake)

Why can’t you hear a psychiatrist using the bathroom? Because the P is silent.

- eh, stupid, but works in context.

Let’s see . . . there was sex, it was graphic . . . what else to note . . what else . . . eh, I liked the book. Yay me.

Rating: 4.69

January 10 2018



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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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The 100th Generation by Justine Saracen

The 100th Generation by Justine Saracen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Drat, I forgot to write a review for this book. mmphs. Right, let's do a quick recap for when I glance at the book later and wonder what the fuck the book is about.

Archaeologist Valerie Foret is working on a dig site in Egypt. Close enough to the giant pyramids to occasionally wander by, far enough away that she has to ride a long distance on camel. Which is where the book opens –Valerie on camel riding in out of the desert to get supplies, watch an opera, and fuck the local archaeologist council’s wife (you know, just to throw a bit of cheating in there right away). Valerie has just recently found what appears to be the entrance to a tomb, but hasn’t dig too much yet – doesn’t know if it really is anything yet (though big expectations that she’s found what she was looking for). While fucking the wife of that important dude whose name I forget, Valerie learns that a despised rival is in Egypt and Valerie realizes she needs to flee back into the desert again before they bump into each other (see, the cheating helped! . . . or something).

Before fleeing into the desert, Valerie watches an opera being performed by a very good friend of hers, a very gay man who constantly bordered on stereotypical gay attitudes and comments. Again, still before she flees, she and that gay opera dude wander around the city. Eventually bumping into three specifically important to the story people: a woman who gives Valerie some kind of super important … um . . box thing, scroll . . . scholar . . thingie box; another woman who is half Islamic (through father . ., I think), and half Jewish (through mother, again I think I have the parents correct) turns up as opera dude’s friend (see, this is what happens when I forget to write reviews, I barely recall anyone’s names, and there’s no way I’d have gotten most correct anyway) . . . and very pregnant – apparently by the very flaming homosexual opera singer (as in, he, apparently, impregnated her, and no, he isn’t bisexual, apparently though both got drunk one night (without drinking any alcohol) and stuff happened); and the third person they run into is a man like person – that despised evil misogynistic asshole person – who happens to also be Valerie’s boss. Valerie and bossman settle on both heading to the dug very shortly – Valerie’s going to be displaced and bossman is going to take over (bossman is in many ways: 1) super evil with no redeeming qualities; 2) super misogynistic; 3) super . . . dimwitted; and, inexplicably, and never explained, 4) slowly turning into a woman with breasts and womanly hips and all the rest – never ever explained – what the fuck was up with that anyway? – it was later explained that an ancient Egyptian who he kind of resembles also looked like that, but both were also still men . . . really confusing).

Right, sorry. So. Valerie, not wanting to give up the find, decides to flee into the desert before bossman can get on a camel, gay opera dude follows along with Valerie . . . well still wearing inappropriate clothing (like dress shoes, gay men don’t know how to dress to go on an archaeological dig? I mean, he knew that was what he was going to be doing so . . . . what the fuck?).

Right, so, apparently while Valerie was away her workers had been continuing on the dig. Found doors. Once Valerie arrives, they break in. Wander, an untouched tomb! A very weird looking bird is flying around! A ghost is talking to them!

Right, so, fairly quickly this moves from a vaguely incompetent archaeologist digging in Egypt (incompetent – she moved the dig site from where they were supposed to be digging ‘on a hunch’, but told none of her superiors – and, in fact, one of the reasons why despised evil man is even in Egypt is because incompetent Valerie failed to make the minimum required reports, what the fuck is about that either?) to a bizarre magical realm of weirdness that includes ghosts, birds with human faces, various gods/goddesses/giant vultures/and prophesized stuff.

Enjoyable in its way. Interesting. Completely wacky and insane, but interesting none-the-less.

And I forgot to put this on a rating shelf, bah. Now I’ll have to play spin around and dart toss to see which rating shelf to put this on. *spins*

Right, so, certain amount of sex occurred – cheating sex; certain amount of sexual assault occurred (it’s there, maybe I wouldn’t see it exactly in that light if I’d read it in any other current real world environment).

Rating: 4.25

December 1 2017



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