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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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

Lost for Words by Andrea Bramhall

I received an ARC of this book from Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This is an odd position to find myself in . . .. I picked up two Ylva ARCs this time around and assumed I’d like/love the Jae one, and ‘enjoy’ the Bramhall one well enough but not love it. Since I tend to love Bramhall’s mysteries more than her other works, not that I’ve read everything by her yet.

As I was reading along my expectations were being mostly meet, an enjoyable enough book but not loveable. An odd thing occurred along the way, though, I began to get quite into the story, unable to stop reading, gobbling it up. There’s a certain amount of humor, but this isn’t a humor book; there’s a certain amount of tears, but it isn’t an angsty book (the tears are for . . . well, they weren’t from laughing too hard); certain amount of annoying ex, but barely – in the end this was a much deeper more enjoyable book than I expected when I started it an saw it was about a spa worker, her fellow spa worker friend, and Sasha’s ‘pothead’ mother.

Bobbi, that friend of Sasha’s, did a certain something behind Sasha’s back (and said it in a way that I knew I’d find irritating if it was repeated too much in the book, and it did seem, in the beginning, like it would be a reoccurring gag – the one friend constantly telling the other ‘I have a confession to make’ whereupon she would spill some horrible thing she just did – but for various reasons, that didn’t become an irritating reoccurring gag, though it did pop up a few more times). That certain something hinted at in prior sentence? Entered Sasha’s script into a film competition (well a script competition) being run by a film company. And Sasha’s script won.

That’s one point of view in the story – Sasha Adams, 45 year old Sasha Adams of many careers, and sometime secret scriptwriter. There are two other important people who ‘enter’ things through Sasha (well others, but two ‘main’ others) – Sasha’s mother (Fleur), and Nips, Sasha’s mother’s cat.

Pothead mother? Well, Fleur, you see, had a cancer scare about 5 years ago, a serious one. And ‘weed’ is one of the things Fleur uses to combat the still occurring pain. Also she wears tie-dye clothing and went to Woodstock.

The other point of view, meet much earlier than I’m letting on, is 50 year old Jac Kensington. Director, producer, and co-owner of the film company based in Manchester (where Sasha also lives and works) that is/was holding the scriptwriting competition.

And, unless I missed something, that’s the point of views in the book – a 45 year old and a 50 year old. Both full-fledged lesbians. Who live and work in Manchester England. I quite like the age of the main characters. *nods*

Right, so – from Jac’s side of things come: Mags & Sophie, the other two co-owners of the film company (which had a name like Keffan Media or something like that), and Vanessa – the ex-girlfriend of Jac’s (the 50 year old Jac’s 25 year old ex-girlfriend who opens the book still Jac’s girlfriend, short lived, though, that state of affairs would last (technically, to be really accurate, at that point Jac was still 49)).

The story, as maybe hinted at already, is about:
1) Sasha having yet another career change, as in becoming a paid scriptwriter;
2) Coming together of Sasha and Jac;
3) The family interactions of: a) Sasha and her mother (and to a certain extent her best friend Bobbi); and b) Jac and her chosen family, best friends Sophie and Mags;
4) Complications of aging;
5) Mean cats;
6) constant mention of both Sophie and Mags having significant others, but never actually seeing these women (like Norm’s wife in Cheers; or Frasier’s brother’s wife on Frasier – heard about, never seen), even when you’d expect them to be there (group party; occasions when people come together to help others – the kind even random strangers would show up to help at – but not the significant others for no given reason) – seriously, is this something of an attempt at a ‘hidden’ humor gag like thing, on par with Norm’s wife, Cliff’s mother, Frasier’s brother’s wife (why the heck am I channeling Cheers right now? Though technically that Frasier thing was only on Frasier)?

That’s a serious thing, by the way, that last point. If there was anything about this book that I found . . . less than excellent/perfect/whatever, it was the missing ‘significant others’ part that built and built and made me annoyed. It’s probably one of those things only I noticed (or not), and only I got annoyed about. But . . . I did notice. *shrugs*

Right, so, another enjoyable book read. Unexpectedly: loved it beyond all expectations (see: overuse of ‘unexpected’), and became teary-eyed beyond any expectations (this is not a book I expected to get teary-eyed about).

Rating: 4.8888

August 7 2018

Paper Love by Jae

Paper Love by Jae

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

While not a favorite book by one of my favorite authors, the book is still quite enjoyable – for many reasons. Possibly largely due to just what it sets out to do: tell a female-female romance set in Germany involving only Germans. It was quite fun to bump into the unknown (to me).

While I did, for the most part, like both of the main characters, neither really ‘clicked’ for me. Unfortunate, but that happens.

The main characters being: Susanne Wolff and Anja Lamm. Susanne is an aging, currently out of work (by her own choice) business consultant. Wolff also has a non-identical twin sister. Lamm is a long time employee of a stationary store, the same store owned by Wolff’s uncle. Both women, if I recall correctly, are somewhere in their thirties (Anja is somewhere around 36 or 38 and Susanne might be slightly older . . . or not, I forget now).

The book opens with Susanne dreading a question her mother always asks this time of year: New Year’s resolutions. Because she knows she’ll have to admit to quitting her job (with her resolution being finding a new job). I’m not sure why that is/was a ‘must’ thing for Susanne to admit, but it did push things along. Since that got a completely unexpected response from the mother – who said that it’s great (or something like that) because her Uncle (no not that one, the other one, the one on your father’s side of the family (being the father’s brother)) needs help trying to save his business. Serious and immediate help – as in, the place will probably close within three months without some help, any help (and so it’s great that a highly skilled, clever, etc. etc. business consultant is there available to try to help . . . for free).

Certain problems, though, to how this isn’t really ‘great’ – Susanne has a seriously bad attitude about the whole thing before anything even was learned about the situation (Susanne really didn’t want to have to be forced to go to some middle of nowhere German city to try to help; plus a) Susanne is not at all knowledge about the industry her Uncle’s shop is in (pens/stationary/etc.) and b) does nothing to learn about the industry before arriving in the city).

Right, but let’s move on, mostly because I just shook myself awake to continue typing – not a good position to be in – obviously I’m going to have to wait for night three before I fully polish an actual review (ETA: I said this jokingly, but I fell asleep two paragraphs after this one and then there’s a really long string of ‘2’s that I’m not sure how to interrupt; in other words, we are now in night 3).

Other point of view character is the quite short (it’s important¬) Anja Lamm (Wolf & Lamb, get it get it? (it is, like, one of the first comments that pop up . . . uh, somewhere in the book)). Lamm has spent the last, oh, . . . darn, I can’t remember. Spent the last ‘really long time’ being an employee at Uncle Nobby’s store (I do not recall if that’s actually the guy’s name, but that’s what I read every time his name came up, so that’s the name I stuck on him (which, for all I recall, might actually be his name in the book)). Lamm’s late thirties and really, and I mean really into pens, and stationary, and all that (seriously, she is, to the point she’s super giddy and bouncing around like a ferret on sugar when she learns she gets to go to the Paper . . . um, convention).

As expected, there are other minor characters, though the ‘most important’ other characters are Miri (sp?), Anja’s lesbian friend (which I mention because I forgot to mention that Anja is bisexual); ……… (ETA: and here’s where I fell asleep. Um, let’s try to reconstruct this now?).

I’m not sure why I said it was expected. Mmphs. Stupid need to sleep.

Right, so, there are some good minor/side characters in this book – characters that help push the story along. Including Miri, Lamm’s best friend, and Frenzi (seriously I cannot recall the non-identical sister’s name, but it . . . wasn’t that, I think I started with an F though). Oh, and I suppose I should include Uncle Nobby (may or may not be his name) since that’s the person who owns the store to which Wolff went to try to save, and Lamm works at.

Also important is a small cat. Lovely cat. Lovely interaction with cat. Though there were times I was sad when Wolff kept tossing the cat outside and/or not letting the cat inside (it’s not her cat, but a neighbor’s cat – said neighbor just gave birth and the cat and the child are not getting along).

*looks at notes* Right right, there’s a ton of kissing in this book – either a tease or a warning, depending on if you like or care to not involve yourself with graphic depictions of wet germ filled mouths interacting with each other (‘Scientists at Harvard School of Dental Medicine have discovered more than 615 different types of bacteria that can live in the mouth, tongue and throat making it the dirtiest place in the human body.’ – what, the sister is a dentist, I figured I could pull up a quote from dentists)

*goes back to looking at notes, realizes other tab is still locked in on germs, flees screaming; goes back to notes* In addition to the many sloppy graphic kissing scenes, there are also many scenes of a graphically sexual nature.

Right. So. I enjoyed the book, but I find that it is the second favorite of the new Ylva books I’ve read. I’ve read two new Ylva books.

Rating: 4.37

August 8 2018


Behind the spoiler tag are my notes I wrote three nights ago after I finished the book. (view spoiler)[
NOTES:
1) I rather enjoyed reading a
---a) non USA based f/f story that
---b) contained no USA citizens (everyone in the story was/is German)
2) for the most part I rather liked both main characters but, admittedly, until something ' 'clicked' in me, i found myself somewhat distant from the characters and action.

This is a work place romance,,but with a twist - more on that later.

3) I really like the cat, though there were moments when I was sad, but more on that later
4) this book deeply dove into the power and lure of kissing- not really what I like reading but I'm weird and stuff
5) there was a lot of graphic depictions of a sexual nature ...
6) I liked the brief flashes seen of the nonidentical twin sister and Miri, Annie's BF

Rating; up in air at moment. Leaning towards 4.37 (hide spoiler)]



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Take a Chance (A Pine Cone Romance #2) by D. Jackson Leigh

Take a Chance by D. Jackson Leigh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Just a quick note: This is the second book in the trilogy. A trilogy set in the same small village in ... why can I never remember if this is in South Carolina or Georgia? *reads book description* Right, Georgia (there were several mentions, in the book, about South Carolina, which is why that state was also lodged in my brain).

Right, so - the first book involved someone from 'out of town', a 'yankee' at that, who was brought to the small town through inheritance. An aunt she didn't really know left the woman, River, her belongings, which included an art galley, a car, and a . . . I think a house though I do not recall now. River, being all femme like and stuff, 'fell for' Clay upon first sight; Clay, 'all butch like' (or was she sporty? eh, all three books made a point of pointing these specific things out so I include them in the reviews) also was 'struck' upon seeing River, hurdles had to be overcome . . . . etc. etc.

Second book, this book here, included a book involving a 'person of color', though, despite seeing this character in two other books (book 1 and 3), this is the first time I learned of this specific issue. I'm either not very observant, or it wasn't an issue that was brought up, much, in the other two books (and here, while it was brought up several times, it was somewhat lightly brought up). I forget if Jaime is also described as a 'yankee', though Dani certainly is (Dani being the 'outsider' in book 3). Regardless, Jaime is 'different' in being an outsider, and 'from the projects', oh and having, as the book notes 'caramel skin'. But let's get into book 2 later.

Third book also includes an outsider mixing it up with an insider - Dani the zoo vet from Baltimore. Who, like in book 2, also hooks up with a police officer. Or, in other words, both of the books involves a police officer hooking up with an animal doctor. Difference being which individual is the 'outsider' and which is the 'insider'.

Right, that's kind of boring and I already did that three book description thingie elsewhere, so back to book 2.

Book 2 stars Trip, the money conscious animal doctor (well she did seem constantly aware of money, how much certain things pull in money wise, etc. etc.), who, 'despite' that money comment, is from an 'ultra rich' local family and living in a massive mansion like place. Before I move onto the second main character, I'd like to note: there were many comments about Trip and her mother, all made in passing, all vague, all seeming to indicate that they do not have a great relationship but . . . the Beaumont family, Trip being in that family, is the 'top tier' family in the small town and I've read enough books involving such descriptions so . . . where was the 'forced' interactions with the mother? Or was she dead? I became confused somewhere along the line if the mother was dead (just like Trip became confused, every once in a while, as to whether she had living siblings (she does, though, apparently, she has nothing to do with them, preferring to see her friends Clay and Grace as her family; along with the people who live/work on her estate).

mmphs. That paragraph got away from me. So let's retry that, eh?

Trip is the ultra-player in the group of three Pine Cove friends. The kind who has no problem sleeping with her vet practice clients . . . and . . . um . . stuff, you know, she's a 'real player'. As cliche as it might be, there was someone who 'stole her heart' long ago which 'turned' Trip in this player direction (though she had that reputation way back then as well). She's from a rich family, is an animal doctor, played college basketball, and . . . hmms.

Jaime is the other main character. The story starts with her already living and working inside Pine Cove, as the newest police officer. She's a military veteran with PTSD issues. She comes with a trained drug dog, though the dog has a gas problem (is important issue). Something like, hmm, 15 years ago, Jaime left the projects and went to college - played basketball there. Became best friends with a fellow teammate, only to catch that teammate doing something horrifying and betraying, and responding by fleeing into the military. One thing lead to another and Jaime is where she is now - a police officer in the same town as that former college friend/teammate who betrayed her.

To a certain extent this specific book might be best read third instead of second, and definitely not as a stand-alone. Not as a stand-alone - there are many plot lines mentioned, shown, and very much not followed in this book that would be frustrating for anyone trying to read this book without knowledge of how those plot lines were resolved - those plot lines that intersected with the Grace & Dani storyline, and the plot lines involving River & Clay. Entire scenes are recreated in this book that occurred in the other two books, mostly from new viewpoints, but there are scenes that just can't be included because they weren't seen from either Jaime or Trip's point of view. Though I had expected the epilogue to fill in some of the blanks, maybe not all of them, but enough to give a satisfying enough 'closure' to those plotlines followed in the other books (obviously enough some things couldn't be mentioned, shown, etc., but we are talking about three books set at the same time, following connected people, so no matter how the three books ended, they would cause issues - either because they revealed too much about the other books/plot lines, or not enough).

I liked the depth found in this book, and I liked what was revealed. Especially as neither of the two leads were characters I was especially interested in when they appeared in the other books (one of the reasons it took me a while to read this one). Though I liked them well-enough in this book here. Mostly better than expected.

Rating: 4.15

August 4 2018



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Once Upon a Princess by Clare Lydon and Harper Bliss

Once Upon a Princess by Clare Lydon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A princess (or should that be Princess?), fourth in line the English (and other) throne, is weeks away from marrying an ex . . . she's been pushed into this position by her mother, the Queen. The, as in the Princess - Olivia, and Jem dated when both were in their twenties, roughly 9 years before the start of this story, but their time had come and gone. They weren't actually in a relationship when the Queen arranged this situation, and that is what this is about - an arranged marriage.

Instead of tackling what an arranged marriage might look like, the book instead follows the princess as she flees to Cornwall, to 'breathe'. I've read pretend/fake/marriages of convenience, but I do not think I've read an arranged marriage book. I've even read books where the two parties are 'compromised' into a 'forced' marriage - but none of those correspond to an arranged marriage (as in, even in the 'forced marriage' something of the marrying people's own will brought them to that position; not all arranged marriage involves parents putting the marriage together, but that's what I was driving towards, since that is what happened here - the mother arranging both Olivia's sister's marriage (to a man named Miles - years before), and Olivia's marriage, or, at this point, engagement to Jem. Because, you see, Jem is 'the right sort').

Right, so, instead of following a relationship between Jem and Olivia, we follow Olivia 'breathing' in Cornwall, a small town there to be exact, something called, if I recall correctly, Otter Bay. Where she meets the other POV character in the story, Rosie Perkins.

Rosie, roughly 28 years of age (or exactly that age?), has run the family cafe for about 8 years now - after her parents died in a plane crash; and has raised her sister during that same period of time. The cafe looks kind of run down, and is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, but Rosie is still trying to keep things together. Helping her is the chef, Gina, who is trying (and failing) to become a citizen, and Rosie's aunt, Hilly (I've actually forgotten the aunt's name, I think it's something like that). At home in her tiny apartment is Paige, the sister about to head off to college, and Cher - yes, the famous singer. heh, no, that's the cat's name. Oh, and, to round this out, Amy, Rosie's ex, keeps popping up and hounding Rosie into taking her back - to restart their relationship (she, Amy, also has a pet, a dog named Biscuit, to really round things out).

So, that's the situation that Olivia finds when she wanders into town, flees an overly aggressive shop-owner (Connie, who wants to sell Olivia a hideous blouse) and into Rosie's cafe. It is not clear if Olivia remembers their earlier collusion, but Rosie and Olivia actually meet before - when Olivia arrived on the same train Paige came in on, and Olivia accidentally walked through Rosie. Rosie recognized her when she sat down - to a large extent because of the fancy expensive jacket.

Right, so, Olivia, wishing to keep people from gazing upon her, taking pictures of her, hounding her, etc., for being a princess, says that her name is Charlie - which is what her fellow military called her (that's another thing the mother controlled, no not being in the military - that Olivia is no longer in it; pulled out when she was 30, three years before the start of this book, because it was time for her to follow her royal duties, or something like that).

Olivia and Rosie flirt. Come close to dating. Actually go on a date. Etc. etc. Then the truth comes out and . . . . stuff.

Sexually explicit.

Interesting book.

Weirdly reminded me of another book I'd read, though that one didn't include a princess, just someone that was kind of posh coming into a small village and 'wooing' the local favored lesbian woman (both books the small village knew the local woman was a lesbian). That other book was set in Wales, though, not Cornwall. And, as already noted, didn't involve a Princess - and that other woman, the posher one, actually was also from that village, she'd just left to make her money in . . . London? before returning. Thought this book here, the Princess one, was better than 'Poppy Jenkins' - though my feeling about the book was something of a minority view.

Rating: 3.75

July 29 2018



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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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Magnetic by Robin Alexander

Magnetic by Robin Alexander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In my most recent Alexander review, I noted that this specific book was tied for fourth favorite Alexander book. Mostly because it was originally rated, on first read, 5+ stars and because I'd only read it once.

Well, the book was not as fun this time around and I'm tentatively rating the reread 4.25 stars.

Here's where I'd list/remark upon/note why I might have found myself rating this book lower than my first read. Harder to do now, unfortunately, because I'm in a transition situation in which I moved from a barely habitable super hot apartment to a hotel to a really long car ride of a thousand or more miles to a temporary home and eventually to a new apartment (though that won't be until sometime in September). So . . . it's hard to focus my energy on things like why I feel certain ways about certain issues - book-wise.

I know I didn't find the interactions between the friends, girlfriend/one-night-stand/love-interest to be as interesting as in my first read.

So, in a nutshell: Woman A gets dumped via email (or was it a text?) while on a business trip to another city. Woman A gets some heavy flirtation from Woman B - Woman A calls herself Chloe, though lied. Woman B only called herself Stacy, as in only gave first name. Woman A & B have amazing sex together. Then A leaves before B wakes up the next morning. Neither has the ability to contact the other. Both have developed certain feelings for the other based on this one night stand.

Layne, aka Chloe, is forced by her boss, I-do-not-care-about-his-name, to go on vacation. Immediately (basically he is an asshole, majorly). Layne turns over plans for the vacation to Molly - a friend who is recovering from cancer (if I recall correctly). Molly, Molly's significant other (whose name now escapes me), Layne, and their fourth friend, fourth-friend (unfortunately the friends names are not in the book description and I did not name them in my previous review). Fourth-friend (Rhonda? Rachel? Rebecca? Monique? bah, let's not even try to remember, mmphs) brings along her new girlfriend - though she's already broken some records in how long she's been around - since fourth-friend is a serious player type who runs when things get boring.

That new girlfriend? Well Layne and her friends meet up at the airport. While there Layne meets the new girlfriend - the same woman she slept with a month or so back. Naturally a bad situation all around. Compounding the bad situation: Molly chose a vacation almost guaranteed to be the opposite of what Layne might have liked on a vacation (lazy cruise ship) - a vacation at a horse ranch type place in Florida in nature.

Stuff happens. There's some humor. The end.

Rating: 4.25

July 19 2018



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Fearless by Robin Alexander

Fearless by Robin Alexander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


You know the previous book I read to this one? That’s right, Soulshift. Wait… heh, oopsie. I thought the previous book I read was the newest Alexander book. See, now that just blows away my planned opening to this review. pfft.

Right, so, I was in the middle of reading a book (literally), when I just couldn’t take it any longer and had to jump to a different book to read. I had been reading the second book in Missouri Vaun’s ‘Return to Earth’ series, though it was the third I’d tried in that series (since there’s a prequel I also read). I generally enjoy Vaun’s works, so I’ve not put this one on my DNF shelf yet, but I needed something else to read.

Having recently read a new Alexander book, yay new book!, and having recently been glancing at quotes and reviews for other Alexander books, I figured I’d do something I rarely did in the past but is a frequent go to now – do a reread.

Fearless is a book I loved so much after I read it that I wanted to do an immediate reread. But I somehow held back. As each new Alexander book popped up, and was instantly read by me, I’d turn to this book again to see if now was the time, but no . . . not yet. I had ‘just’ read it in September 2017, I needed to give myself some room.

So, needing a book to read, I gave myself the green light and dove in.

It shows me taking two days to read, though that’s more because I keep having to break away to clean and box stuff (I cleaned 7 hours today, I very tired).

Fearless is the story, for those yet to try it, of two opposites who bump into each other on a cruise ship and immediately . . . hate each other. Literally bump into each other.

The book opens with Falon Whyte having an argument with her girlfriend (Leanne (sp?)). Leanne’s pissed because the cruise isn’t a lesbian cruise; Falon counters with 1) scheduling didn’t work out for that one and work; 2) there are a ton of lesbians around – it is a LGBT cruise. One thing quickly leads to another and before you can sing that famous song ‘Toot Toot’, the two year relationship was over. Falon leaves the ship cabin to do stuff like eat a mound of onion rings (which she couldn’t while dating Leanne), and drink.

Meanwhile, Haley’s pissed off that her roommate, her best friend’s cousin, has once again locked her out of the cabin. She’ll have to spend something like her third night out on the deck sleeping in a chair (luckily she meet a nice man she likes; both of them are not sexually interested in the other, by the way).

While heading to her sleeping spot, Haley angrily rushes through a door and a drink gets spilled on her. She immediately demands that the other woman tell her her room number so that she can send a laundry bill. The other woman asks for a new drink since this one cost $12 and it was that other woman who walked into her. Haley rushes away.

Falon, it just so happens, was that other woman.

The second time the two meet, Falon has the word ‘Ass’ written on her forehead. Haley gives her thumbs up in approval of her self-awareness of her nature.

The third time they meet, Haley is kind of having an out of body experience – she’s been talked into going on a zip line experience and Haley is in a fog, a horrified fog. She misunderstands what people are saying around her, and she ends up riding with Falon (there are in separate ‘chairs’ but the zip line sends people down two at a time). Haley, to show how out of it she is, was supposed to go with her new male friend, but couldn’t be coherent enough when questions were asked and accidentally said she was a single rider.

The two, once on the ground, continue to argue and march around. Then a man asks for stuff (in a 'my hand is in my pocket, pretend it's a gun' way) – in the middle of the two arguing with each other. One thing leads to another and . . . . the cruise ship leaves without them and now they are stranded.

Eventually the two end up at a hotel/inn/bungalow type place with a mobster looking guy in charge. A sweet mobster with a NY accent.

Any other set of circumstances and the two women probably wouldn’t have given the other the time of day (well not literally, but . . . bah). But they were forced together, they learned about each other, and they grew closer.

I once again rather enjoyed the two main characters, and their friends (well, Haley’s best friend is a bitch to Falon but . . . reasons and stuff).

Great book. Lots of great humor.

I’d originally listed this, seconds after reading this book the first time, as being in the top three of the books written by Alexander that I’d read. I was wrong at the time (as my comments show me) as this was in the top 4 of the books I’d read – at that time.

If I was to make that list again today, it’d be:
1) Patty’s Potent Potion
1) Next Time

Gave both of these six stars on reread.

3rd) Fearless
This one ends up ahead of a few others rated the same because I’ve read it twice (and gave it a 5+ rating both times) while similar rated books have only been read once.

4th) Temporary Girl
4th) Kellen’s Moment
4th) Dear Me
4th) Magnetic

All read once, all rated 5+.

I’ve reread 4 Alexander books by this point. The fourth, first that I actually reread, isn’t on this list. I’d rated it 4 stars on the reread, which is actually an improvement on original 3.5 star rating. Pitifully Ugly isn’t 8th on the list of favorite Alexander books, as there are other once-only reads rated higher than it.

Rating: 5+

July 15 2018



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Temporary Girl by Robin Alexander

Temporary Girl by Robin Alexander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is yet another Alexander book I read and loved. Though I was worried there when I found that the book existed, had been read by others, and that the average rating was at 4 stars (it's since gone to something like 4.7, and is now back down to 4.5). I was worried because, while I say 'yet another . . .' that's more recent Alexander books that I've read and loved, there have been that I didn't love, some I didn't like, and at least one I loathed (unfortunately that one was the start of a three book series, and I'd already bought book 2 and three, still haven't read book 2 & 3 in that series).

I think I've used this phrase, or words similar, when mentioning an Alexander book: this book stars two people that have issues. Both have been working on them, and both might want to start work on the next phase of their lives, which may or may not involve a significant other (though one is more in that direction than the other; the other is still dodging the texts of her latest 'relationship' while going to a wedding, more on that later). One has commitment issues - in that they do not like being alone, hook up with someone, and use the love word way too quickly and easily (though, as noted, they know this issue and have been working on it), the other has the opposite commitment issue - one one commits too easily, this other can't commit at all (or, well, runs the other direction – away – from a woman if they start to express relationship type comments).

The commitment-phobe, Jodi, has ‘reasons’ for being what and who she is, though she can fake it. Which is where the book starts, with …. (dang, I can’t remember if it’s Jodi who is 37 or 40, or if it’s Val who is 37 or 40, one, I mean, is one age, the other is the other (though both are described as having the bodies of 20 year olds – said after seeing through lust filled eyes)). Right, let’s start that sentence again. 37 or 40 year old Jodi opens the book driving to a wedding – a ‘forced’ week long vacation. Next to her is Vince, her ‘pretend’ boyfriend (he’s gay and not out to his family). Vince, to note how the trip occurred, mentions something to his mother, after they arrive, that the trip normally takes an hour and a half but they did it in only 15 minutes, because of how Jodi drives.

Vince’s brother, by the way, is the groom. Jodi is there because of Vince. To round things out, Vince owns and operates an expensive car dealership, while Jodi owns and operates a furniture store (though it’s connected to the family store-chain).

While at the wedding, the only other lesbian in attendance takes one look at Jodi and drools. That’d be Val. Who works for a potty manufacturer (there’s a lot of good humor in this book, there’s also a lot of humor connected to Val’s job of being a potty seller that didn’t really work for me). Val’s at the wedding because she’s friends (from college) with the bride-to-be, whose name Everly. It’s important to note that another college friend is there as well – Renee, and . . . I cannot recall but I think the other two young women who pop up in the story are sisters of Everly and not Rene, though there’s a ton of people in this story and some do not even have accurate names (mostly because the others seem them as snooty and call them something like snooty one and two). I mention these two others, specifically, because of their impact on the story – Kara being the youngest at 21, though she’s much more ‘mature’ than her sister Riley (who is first seen by the reader wearing a very small barely there swimsuit that she keeps popping out of it – which is important to mention . . . for reasons).

So then: time is spent on the week-long wedding festivities (that’s about the first, oh, 50 to 55% of the book, I think), then later back in their home locations (I forget now, did they life in Baton Rouge or was the week long vacation in Baton Rouge?). Val and Jodi date. Have fun together. And stuff.

Quite fun hilarious book.

Rating: 5+

July 12 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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The Road Ahead by A.E. Radley

The Road Ahead by A.E. Radley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was a quick easy read, though it falls inside my ‘novel’ length shelf … by two pages (works of 260 to 519 pages).

There are several things happening in this book – the first half is a road trip, the second half is something of a . . . recovery from that road trip.

The book opens with twenty-something Rebecca Edwards arriving, late, at an airport in Portugal. It’s the day before the day before Christmas. Or Christmas Eve Eve – the eve of Christmas Eve. It’s the 23rd of December. Rebecca is rushing to get back to her mum, but finds the airport packed with wandering confused humans. Luckily they are not muttering things about ‘brains’ and attempting to bite people, no that isn’t this type of book. No, see, ‘there’s something wrong with the computers’ and no flight can land or leave Portugal or Spain. It’s been that way for about 2 hours now.

One thing leads to another, and Rebecca arrives at a car rental desk. But they want a fortune to rent her a car. A fortune she doesn’t have. It’s the last car they have, she’s put down a 100 pounds to hold it to see if she could get money from others.

While frantically sending text messages to her poor financially impoverished friends, another woman appears and demands a car. She’s dressed like the kind of woman who has money. Loads of it. As opposed to Rebecca who looks like she . . . well, the 100 pounds appearing surprised me considering how she is described. She looks dirty and dirt poor.

That other woman, Arabella Henley has a few ice queen like traits. Don’t be fooled, she’s more of a selfish bitch (and yes, there is a difference). Arabella is moments away from handing over her credit card and getting the keys to the ‘one remaining car’ when Rebecca puts a stop to it. She mentions several things – the part where she points out that Arabella is stumbling around on a crutch and has a foot in a cast finally works. So now neither of them have the car. Rebecca doesn’t have the money, while Arabella’s injury has insurance coverage issues that keep her from the car.

Naturally . . . well, it takes a while, mostly the arrival of more desperate looking people, but they agree to drive together. From Portugal to London (well, near London, Putney and Croydon, wherever the heck that is; I know Croydon has been ‘absorbed’ into London suburbs, while Putney is an hour away from Croydon).

Its 22 hours and 46 minutes driving between Faro Airport (the airport I think they are at in Portugal) and Croydon UK (1,478 miles). 23 hours and 23 minutes between Faro Airport and Putney UK. 1,491 miles. A roadtrip that includes the countries: Portugal, Spain, France, and England.

I fluctuated in how much I liked or not liked the main characters, but in the end I tended to like them well enough. There was a good mix of humor to help matters along. I suppose if I was to point to one thing I disliked, I’d point to how often Arabella referred to Rebecca as ‘the girl’.

For those who care about such things: there was no graphic depictions of a sexual nature in this work.

Enjoyable book.

Rating: 4.88

July 4 2018




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Orbiting Bodies by Diana Jean

Orbiting Bodies by Diana Jean

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from Less Than Three Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well this is a somewhat strange position I find myself in. In 2016 I read and loved a book by this author. In 2018 I reread that book and loved it again. I’ve now read two more works – both of which I read today. Didn’t love the short story, but it was a good enough way to pass the time. This brings us to this novel here – which I somewhat unexpectedly find that I also loved.

Unexpectedly? Well . . . there’s like 80 (no, there’s just 4) point of view main characters in this book. All of them young adult college students. It is somewhat harder for me to love a multiple cast point of view book. Not impossible, just harder. Plus – I had been eyeballing this book for a while now, and kept not getting it because of the sample – Caleb, the star of the beginning chapter, seems a pain to be around – a super hyper super-selfish extrovert type who has great trouble sitting still for longer than three minutes, and brings unrelated books to tutor sessions in case he gets bored. He seemed . . . annoying when I first glimpsed him in the sample. Then he made me laugh a few times in that sample, so I got the book.

So that’s Caleb – super hyper short slim dude who is an extreme extrovert, wants to be friends with everyone, and is quite pushy in getting people to do his thing – oh and he can be quite . . . dramatic. He is also 18 and a college freshman and the roommate of another main point of view character, Andrew.

Andrew, also a freshman, is also probably 18, though the one and only time his age was given, it was 15 – but that was also an unexpected flashback.

That happens a lot in this book, by the way, flashbacks. Also – merged . . . um sessions. There were times when a character, in the present, would be doing something and have thoughts of the past – detailed thoughts. There were also times when a flashback would occur – and then there would be italicized text – thoughts from the present. That was . . . different.

But I was on Andrew and got distracted.
Andrew, when he first appeared, was dressed all depressing like and .. . well, I forget the exact words Caleb used. Emo? Goth punk? Something in that range. Andrew’s life is art, and that’s why he’s at college – to get an art degree and do art. He is also, unlike Caleb, gay. And a little bit (or more) lusting after Caleb, who reminds him, personality wise, of his great lust-person of high school years (Daniel, the name was Daniel, right?). Andrew kind of became the fifth well in this book, even though there were only four points of view. But, eh, whatever.

As I mentioned, Caleb is quite pushy and gets his way a lot. I mention this because, the first day Caleb and Andrew move in on campus – Caleb drags Andrew to a club mixer thingie. Which I mention less to mention Caleb being pushy, but so I could mention that that is where the two meet Jun. Sitting at one of the club tables (Astronomy).

Jun, unlike freshman Caleb and Andrew, is a junior – studying for a bio-chem degree (degrees?, I forget if that was described as ‘bio chem pre med degree’, or bio chem degree and pre med degree or . . something). Jun is the third point of view character in the book. He is very studious to the point he rarely does anything else. When he was 7 his family moved from Japan to the USA, which I mention because the transition was such that he lost the ability to make friends, or something like that, and so went a different direction – taking on a persona of hiding, and being studious and not pursing friendships and social interactions.

Jun is roommates with the final point of view character, Piper. Who pulls in Lizzy, though Lizzy, oddly, doesn’t get a point of view in this book. Lizzy and Pipper are seniors and girlfriends. Jun was a last minute addition to their apartment, as they figured that having another person in the application would increase their chances of getting the apartment. Piper is into Computer Science, while Lizzy is into dance. Piper’s the one who pulls in the family (though Caleb’s mother is mentioned and very briefly seen in the opening chapter) – for the mother, Piper’s that is, keeps opening stating things like how Piper’s going through a phase and stuff, by dating women (though . . . eh, let’s not give everything away).

There’s a slight disconnect between me and the characters involved. Possibly due to there being so many to follow, possibly for other reasons. That doesn’t mean I didn’t feel them at times – like, again unexpectedly, there were moments when Piper and Lizzy’s story-line made me vaguely teary eyed.

Right.

So, young adult book. Many characters. Three men, two women. Mix of LGBT characters. Multiple LGBT couples in the same book. Mix of MM and FF in same book. Lastly: the only thing graphic was kissing.

Enjoyable book.

Rating: 4.78

June 25 2018




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Wildrose by Max Ellendale and R.M. Bruce

Wildrose by Max Ellendale

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I’ve started this review something like twelve times now.

Eve Grant works as a homicide detective in Seattle. There are investigations she is shown investigating, but the main point of the book is not to follow and/or unravel mysteries, but to watch Eve’s love life. She’s both not the kind to have relationships (more of a one-night stand type of person), and hasn’t been on a one night stand type event in months (six?). So, naturally, there’d be some changes in store for Eve in this book.

Her first potential love interest is the somewhat vaguely ice queen like Ainsley Monson, the medical examiner. I’m not actually sure if she has that reputation so much as she kind of acts that way in the book.

I’d like to say ‘various other people weave in and out as potentials’, but that’s hard to have happen, what with Eve mostly just hanging out with straight people, and in straight bars. Another potential love interest does pop up, though, through the means of visiting that gay friendly bar that shares the same name as this book
(Ciara is meet there, and a tiny bit of time is spent here otherwise, but . . . I’m not sure why this specific book is named after that bar).

An interesting dynamic breaks out that I rarely see in books like this one, though it might be obvious from what I’ve written up to this point – Eve starts dating two people at the same time (one knows the name of the other; the other knows that Eve is dating someone else, but not her name). The three woman love triangle actually, and somewhat unexpectedly, seems to flow naturally for the people involved, and the situation(s) encountered. Or, in other word, there are reasons for why things developed the way they developed, for how Eve ended up dating two people at the same time, who are aware of the situation and vaguely accepting of it.

Fire and ice. I’ve mentioned Ainsley, she’d fall on the ice side of things. On the fire side is Ciara. Using the ‘fire and ice’ as opposite extremes is a nice motif for me to use, eh? But doesn’t really apply, and was never used in the book. Ainsley has elements of being closed off emotionally, being something of an ice queen; while Ciara, with her flaming red hair, and ability to openly express her wants and desires would fall inside . . . whatever category that would imply. Fire seems to imply someone who becomes enraged easily or something like that, which is not Ciara. Or someone controlled by their emotions, again not her. I need a new motif.

You know, writing a review for this book should probably be easy. I’m not sure why it took me twelve times to get to this point, or why I’m ham-fistedly going about things as I am.

I probably should have just gone with the thought I’d had while reading the book, and seen if there was something I could have built off of it, review-wise. That thought being: ice-queens are popular in lesbian fiction, off the top of my head I can think of three fanfiction universes that use that dynamic and in turn get used for inspiration for fanfiction, and published work (Cat Grant from Supergirl; whoever the ice queen is from: Devil Wears Prada, and, in addition, the one from Once Upon a Time (that’s the one that’s called Swanqueen, right?); a fourth could be Janeway from Star Trek Voyager, though I rarely see fanfictions from that universe, and when I do, they tend to attempt to show what would have happened if Janeway hadn’t made the decision to not pursue romantic interests while in the Delta quadrant – she has more of the ‘stand-offishness’ vibe more from circumstances than actual traits (at least there were hints she wasn’t that way when she wasn’t cut off from the Alpha Quadrant)).

Melting the ice queen’s heart, especially since she tends to be shown as much older than the other individual involved in the romance, has never really been my thing to enjoy. I prefer the more nurturing, emotionally stable . . etc. etc. There’s probably a term for that type of character, eludes me (not 'mothering' type, that's going too far in a different direction, I'm not looking 'mother and little girl' stories either, more equal partners type stories). I’m referring here to what I like to read, not real life situations (*shrugs*, I can't really say I'm not into that in real life since my longest term relationship, roughly 7 to 8 years, was with someone with a vaguely ice queen vibe, though I only really noticed after the fact when watching her interact with others who were not me).

Nope, that thought experiment to create a review didn’t work. Ah well.

I liked what I saw unfold in this book. For the most part I liked the sole point of view character, Eve, and her best friend Ang. I liked the personality shown with Ciara, though we, the reader, didn’t really get to dig deep into her character. We learn a little bit more about Ainsley, but, due to her character, there are walls around her that weren’t breached.

Hmm. I now fall into an odd problem. Since I wrote, then discarded a dozen reviews, I’m not sure what all I actually have and haven’t written. Since I feel like I’ve written everything now, but probably have discarded most. Pfft, having to reread my own review… mmphs.

Right. There are two things left I wanted to mention. Or, at least, two things I thought of mentioning.

Nah, I just deleted the paragraph(s) I wrote that rambled about this being the sixth book I’ve read by one of the two authors listed on this book’s cover, and I’ll just move to the next topic.

There’s graphic sex in this book. I, somewhat unexpectedly, liked it more than I figured I would.

Some quotes:

"Nice sunglasses," . . .
"Shut up."
"I thought you weren't drunk."
"Wasn't drunk. Totally no drunkness occurred."
"Uh huh. So you normally wear sunglasses in the rain?"
"I do. Don't judge me."
"Idiot."

"Hey, don't discount the awesomeness that is my firearm. It's saved your life a time or two."
"Yeah, but what happens when you're disarmed? You scream 'I beat terrorists!' while waving your arms in the air?" I laughed at him. "That'll work."

"Prude." Now I laughed at her. "I was kidding. I'm thirty-six years old. I have no gaydar. I'm broken."

If I was any less of a person, I'd deny the deflated feeling inside when I heard the dreaded heterosexuality pour from her lips. My inclinations were, no doubt, wrong.

"Thanks for the drink."
"Anytime." I smiled, half-heartedly at the sexy woman who I would now only get to ogle at until I shriveled up and died.

"Worst lesbian ever. Most U-Haul. You Fed Ex."
I laughed hard at the unusual statement. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"U-Haul, love 'em and married by the third date. Fed Ex, love 'em and ship 'em out next day air."

"Are you aware that we're both in our mid-thirties and behaving like bi-curious teenagers?"

"I've also never kissed two women at the same time." I looked at her. "Wait, that sounded odd."

"I don't care if we eat in the middle of the road, as long as we get to spend time together," I told her because that's how I felt.

I lost my fingers in her hair but she pulled back suddenly.
"Did I give you a boner?" She grined down at me, biting her bottom lip in the way that made me want to bit it for her.
"I think you might've." I reached under my shirt and tugged my sidearm free, shoving it into my purse a few inches away.

"Dating," I said. "We're dating. Poorly, at the moment."
She laughed, genuinely. So much so that her eyes lit up with it. "Very."
"Just relax a little, okay?"
"You too then. Sometimes you look about ready to regurgitate a meal."
"Ainsley!" I laughed, swatting her arm without thinking. "That's gross. You say weird shit."

Nothing brought me more joy than spending this time with Angelina. She was my best friend, my sister, my person, and no matter what, that wouldn't ever change. I was lucky to have her, to call her my family.

ETA: by the way - if the relationship had ended up the way I thought it might, I'd probably have rated this book way differently. Like, a lot.

Rating: 5.0

June 21 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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Love on the Red Rocks by Lisa Moreau

Love on the Red Rocks by Lisa Moreau

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is both the first book I’ve read by this author, and the author’s first work published (which isn’t always something that happens with me and authors). The author has published two books and one short story (in a short story collection) since this book appeared.

I’d been intrigued by this book since it appeared, but I just never pulled the trigger on purchasing the book. And I still haven’t – at some point this year (last month? This month?) Bold Strokes Books started putting some of their books into the Kindle Unlimited program – which is how I read this book. The book wasn’t free to me, since KU isn’t a free program, but it’s near enough if you read enough books a month (heck, read two full length works that normally cost about $9.99, and it’s like you read one for free and one at full price, and I read a heck of a lot more books than 2 a month – though how many a month are KU depends on the month).

This book stares one Malley . . . oh, darn; the book description doesn’t have last names. Mmphs. Well, the book stares Malley as solo point of view character. She’s 30 (though I’m going more by remembering that she hiked a certain trail 15 years before the start of the story, and she was 15 at the time), and works a ‘steady, stable, and dependable job’ in some form of sales analyst position. She keeps dreaming about opening a bakery, but it’s risky. That’s what her love interest always says, at least. Opening a bakery being risky (‘businesses are closing all the time’).

That’s right, this book opens, well after the prologue, with the lead character having a love interest – and a plan to announce her love to this individual before a certain event occurs (the end of a lesbian retreat vacation).

Let’s back up as that’s vaguely confusing: There’s a prologue involving the lead character, Malley, hiking a particular trail with her dad. She has a moving experience visiting ‘the woman’ (I forget the exact title of the rock formation). 15 years later she returns to Sedona Arizona on a ‘lesbian retreat’, mentioned to her by her next door neighbor Jessie.

So Malley heads to Sedona with a plan – spend time with Lizzie, who she’s spent a year waiting to detach herself from her girlfriend (I want to say Heather?), and this is her chance. Except things start going wrong immediately – while heading towards the resort, Malley and Lizzie – driving together, crash. Not as important as it might seem, no the important part is a motorcyclist stops to offer assistance – the already mentioned Jessie. A problem for several reasons, well three specific reasons: 1) Lizzie makes comments about being interested in Jessie; 2) Malley thought Jessie, who she tries to avoid at all costs, despite being next door neighbors, wasn’t going to attend the retreat; 3) Malley always thought Jesse was gorgeous, and wouldn’t have been all over her if not for her profession (police officer), and she’s distracted on her mission to pursue Lizzie by her own random thoughts about Jessie.

Then, once the two crashed women traveling together finally reach the retreat, they learn that the retreat has a ‘random draw’ pairing random lesbians together to room together. For . . . reasons of experience and stuff.

Malley’s plans are unraveling. Then she learns, horrors, she’s going to be rooming with Jessie.
The book was a lot more interesting than I expected, and, while Malley is a hard character to like in the beginning, the reader both learns why Malley is the way she is – in certain aspects – and watches as Malley grows as a person (which includes her being bitchy (mostly mentally) about other lesbians at the retreat, only to later grow to realize what she was doing).

What else to say . . . good story, good romance. Sex occurred, I do not recall how graphically (don’t read too much into that lack of remembrance; I pay attention sometimes, I don’t sometimes, and when I pay attention does not always correspond to how well written things are or aren’t).

Rating: 4.60 (I originally marked this book 5 stars on GoodReads, putting it on my 4.75 star shelf, but have moved it down to 4.50 shelf and 4 stars on GoodReads. I might adjust again later, but this is probably where the book should rest).

June 11 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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Code of Conduct by Cheyenne Blue

Code of Conduct by Cheyenne Blue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

This, my second full length work I’ve read by this author, is a sports story. Mixed in are several other things, like family, aging, and, most importantly, romance.

Genevieve ‘Viva’ Jones is a thirty-two year old professional tennis star from Australia. She’s spent most of her life, all of her adult life, living, and breathing, and consumed with tennis. Certain issues turn up, though, that causes her problems. Namely: professional athletes age rapidly, or, more exact, the ability for their bodies to remain at peak physical performance tends to rapidly lesson as they age. Or, more specifically in this case, Viva has a tendon issue in one of her arms which makes it very painful for her to continue being a professional tennis star. Or continue performing on the top tier, at least.

That’s not exactly how the book opens, though. No, the book opens roughly 2 years earlier with Viva playing in the US Open. Attempting to once again win that specific tournament. But a line judge makes certain calls, good or bad calls, which lead to Viva getting distracted and losing.

Then the book jumps to two years later with Viva diving back to her parents’ pub in Queensland Australia. Along the way she spots a car by the side of the road (actually, partially in the road), and a woman waving. Being that it’s dangerous to leave someone just stuck there like that, Viva stops to help. Gives a lift to her parents’ pub. Strange things happen in life, eh? That stranded woman is none other than that line judge who Viva blames for her losing the US Open. Gabriela . . . um, hmm, the book description doesn’t give her last name.

Gabriela Mendaro is a silver badge umpire. Second highest level umpire. She’s 37 (if I recall correctly), Spanish, and quite determined to follow the rules and regulations of her profession (which includes not getting involved with tennis players), and get to the next level, the gold badge level.

Both characters have point of views in this book.

The book follows Viva as she attempts to figure out if her career is over due to injury; while at the same time following the potential romance involving Gabriela and Viva. Though no romance can occur while Viva is still a player, an active player (to the extent that Gabriela sleeps outside and gets eaten by mosquitos instead of sleeping in Viva’s room on a cot).

One thing leads to another, and Viva finally accepts what several doctors tell her. She’s done. She has to retire. Which she tells Gabriela. So, with a great deal of reluctance on Gabriela’s part, they date.

Oopsie – Viva hadn’t told her agent about her retirement, the agent, informed by other means, sets up a ‘farewell tour’ kind of deal; Viva thinks hard about it and . . . .

The following, what, 75%? of the book follows Viva as she attempts to play in a few more tournaments, while still lusting after Gabriela; and follows Gabriela as she suffers from having been with Viva (professionally suffers), and suffers emotionally from not being with her now.

Main characters: Gabriela and Viva.

Side characters: Viva’s parents (Lindy and . . . whatever the father’s name was) & brother (Jack). Viva’s doubles partner (Michi). Derek (I’m not 100% certain I have his name right), her coach. Viva’s agent also has a few important scenes, but I forget her name now.

Long and short: I rather enjoyed this book and am quite happy I read it.

The romance story line was good and solid – I especially like the part where both parties realize that they might have something special, but don’t immediately assume love. The sports story-line was fun to see unfold.

Rating: 4.5

June 8 2018




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Outside the Lines (Girls of Summer, #3) by Kate Christie

Outside the Lines by Kate Christie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I’ve very rarely read everything an author has written. Even when I love/favorite/whatever an author, there tends to be something I haven’t read (like, for example, I’ve read the most lesbian fiction books by Jae, yet there are still stuff I’ve not read by that author (rereading, that might be confusing. On the ‘Most Read Author’ list, Jae is on there at second place with 42 books read; actually, looking at the top ten, I haven’t read everything by any of those authors, heh.)).

Well, I’ve read everything by this author here. Not sure how that happened. Just did. 11 books read.

Well, I’m already on page 2 (I’m blind, I’m typing this in Microsoft Word with the font at size 28, so it’s page 2. Heh, mmphs), and have said nothing much. Mmphs.

This is the third book in an ongoing series about two soccer/football players. The series started as a young adult series, following two teenagers, but as the series advanced, so did the age of the main characters, and now both are closer to 27 than 17. As in, at least one mentioned turning 27.

The series has followed the two young women as they: 1) tried hard to make a living as professional soccer players; 2) make and stay on the National team; 3) date . . . others, though the reader ‘knew’ that the two mains were ‘fated’ to be together.

Well, this specific book has the two mains, Jamie Maxwell & Emma Blakeley, are finally a couple. A specific issue, though, test their relationship (well, in theory): distance and time together. Jamie plays for an English team & a USA team (I forget if she’s Portland or Seattle, but I believe she’s Portland as I recall Emma’s condo is in Seattle), while Emma plays for Seattle and the USA team. And, it appears, soccer is played 10 months out of the year (though that seems to be under-counting), so the two women rarely have much time together in the same city.

So – that’s the story. What, I haven’t said anything? Mmphs. You know, the part where two young women compete in sports, professionally, while attempting to have a relationship? Yeah, that’s the story here.

Enjoyable story. Fun. I look forward to book 4.

Rating: 4.75

June 7 2018




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