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




View all my reviews

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




View all my reviews

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




View all my reviews

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




View all my reviews

The Lady and the Thief (Deceived, #5) by Megan Derr

The Lady and the Thief by Megan Derr

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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

Ever read a story where fun and exciting mysteries and adventures and stuff are going on? Daring do, and all that? Like a James Bond novel or film, or even an Austen Powers film? There is a specific individual that comes to mind I wish to mention – he’s a fella that appeared in several Bond films, if I recall correctly he was a fatter man who may or may not be from either Texas or Louisiana, and may or may not be involved in law enforcement. I’m taking the time to mention him so I can note: in the films James Bond is doing these exciting things, speeding past in a boat, in a car, on a train. Texas dude watches with his mouth open clueless to what all is going on. Ah, there we go – Louisiana Sheriff J.W. Pepper, appeared in ‘Live and Let Die’ and ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’.

Adeline is the lead character in this short work, and the only one whose point of view is shown. Adeline is like Pepper in Bond. Exciting stuff is happening, but Adeline is just getting whiplash from it occurring around her, and occasionally to her, but without her knowing why.

This specific story open with Adeline seducing James Bond, saving money, and letting the individual know of her plans to run away together to ‘have a life’. The next morning Adeline wakes up to wails – ‘my jewelry!’ – the person she had expressed her love to, James Bond, had left the premise with Adeline’s money and jewels (as well as her aunt/uncles stuff). James Bond is, of course, not James Bond, but the chamber maid Lissette. Think a moment as to why I’d mention Bond here in this way. I do not wish to be too specific.

Two years later, 21 year old Adeline is finally ‘out for a season’ (and yes, this book reads like a vaguely English Regency period romance, but it is close enough to give that vibe, while also be irritating at the obvious differences between the 800,000 Regency romances I’ve read, and this story here – which, and this should be or should have been obvious, is not a Regency romance). While at a ball, Adeline spots a newcomer pop in. It’s Lizette! In a ball gown! And . . . calling herself Lady something or other!

One thing leads to another and . . . the reader follows Adeline mostly locked in her room ‘grounded’ while stuff happens. Since we, the readers, are following Adeline, ‘we’ know nothing, since Adeline knows nothing. Well, we and Adeline do know ‘something’ is going on. But not much more than ‘something’. Meanwhile, as far as the reader knows, an intricate chess match between rival spies could be occurring, or a game of poker, or high-speed . . . horse races . . . or nothing at all. That’s all the information we and Adeline have of the activities. Nothing at all.

Picture reading ‘North by Northwest’, and we are the Hitchcock character (not the director, the character – Hitchcock popped up on screen as someone at Mount Rushmore, sees ‘weird things occur’ but has no clue what’s going on). That’s us and Adeline. We are Hitchcock, or Pepper, or . . . any of a million other people who are near action, can sense something is occurring, but has no inside knowledge and is only involved indirectly (well, Adeline is involved directly, in a way, but she doesn’t know it).

Because of all of that – this is one of the most frustrating stories I’ve read. Borderline boring. Maybe more than borderline.

Adeline is a skilled and trained swords-person (fencer). Isn’t stupid. Etc. etc. But spends the majority of the story, as noted, locked in her room, or without agency – having people do things to her. Either for or against her. Sure, occasionally she gets to stab someone, but super rarely. Mostly she’s locked in a room.

I do not really like reading stories where the character has no agency, and stuff just happens to them. Especially if most of the stuff is off screen and sometime near the end the character has to be sat down and have things explained to them because . . . they both had no agency to act, and had no opportunity to observe anything.

Adeline remained true to her first love, but this is not, by any means, a romance. I can’t even call it a spy story, even though everything that occurs is spy related – Adeline just isn’t involved in it. It’s like a Sherlock Holmes story, and we the reader are following . . . the person off to the side, who is both blind and deaf, who shines shoes for a living. Hears and sees nothing. Feels only shoes and shoe cleaning stuff. Yay?

Oh, and the main character is also overly emotional and angsty. Hehehe, gah.

Rating: …. I really have no idea. 2.75

July 3 2018




View all my reviews

Heart of Chaos by Avery Stiles

Heart of Chaos by Avery Stiles

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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

First off: This is the first story I’ve read by this author. What did I know going in? Not much – something about a business partner proposing marriage to Rin, Rin not wanting to marry, turns to a Goddess for help, who tells her to marry her instead. Or . . I think that last part was something I read somewhere the story was about. Sounded interesting enough. Oh, and the cover indicated an interracial relationship of some kind.

What did I find? Well, I immediately knew my impression was off. From the ‘this is what the story is about’ I pictured some Middle Ages (knights and castles level) level fantasy world. And the story opens with Rin turning off a computer. Soooo… Oh, and the people in this world are super focused on business matters (’the Empire of Alhira was a corporate country through and through. Business was expected to be her first love’).

Oh, and that business partner who proposed marriage is male (with Rin 2being female).

So this is a ‘modern’ world with computers, technology, people living for their jobs, etc. etc., mixed with an active polytheistic religion with multiple Gods and Goddesses – who can be seen in person (‘the goddess walked the earth just as all gods did’ – so said after seeing the goddess Hina walking around picking up pastries to eat late at night).

….

Forgot to mention the Goddesses name (God/Goddess, whatever, they are/can be both, heck when first meet, they were a cat licking up milk) – that name being Vistri.

Not sure I particularly like either main character. Rather than saying no to Jarrod, the man who proposed marriage, Rin went to the Gods for help. Um, eh? Saying no is harder than making a plea for help from a trickster god? And the other, Vistri, appears to be a pompous asshole. Eh, whatever.

…

Vistri uses terms of endearment, like ‘dear’ way too much.
…
Right, so, short story read. Unfortunately I never really got into it as much as I thought I would. I was a little too detached from what was going on.

Rating: 3.44

July 2 2018



View all my reviews

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




View all my reviews

From This Window by Diana Jean

From This Window by Diana Jean

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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

Why did I decide to try this story here? Because it is by an author I’ve read and loved a book by. So much so that I’ve read that book twice (5 star reads both times). That was a female-female book, though, and this is a male-male short story. But I knew/know that going in.

This is a difficult story to review for one specific reason: I could summarize the story in a few words. It is a brief story of something around 26 to 31 pages and it would be easy accidentally say too much in a review, to spoil things.

So, what can I say? This story was originally published in 2013 at about 31 pages in length and, judging from the reviews, is similar to but not exactly the same as the story I read. There are medical conditions mentioned in those reviews not mentioned in the story I read (though I’m not sure those conditions were ever in the story, considering how they are referred to in the reviews I saw).

And the story? Two men meet, one is happy hard working type, the other is depressing and while he has his hobbies, is not the hard working type. They feel a certain attraction to each other. Oh, and this story occurs in the days before and on Christmas day.

Jeremy is the happy hard working one. Lucas the who stares at people, depressed, and jots down notes in a notebook. Both are roughly 23 to 25 years of age. I do not recall if physical characteristics were mentioned (beyond height, weight, and how strong they look). I pictured both in a way that probably doesn’t correspond to the situation at hand, at least if I look at the covers. *shrugs* eh, my imagination makes weird leaps at times.

An interesting slice of life story with a thread of romance, and a touch of family stuff. An okay story.

Rating: 3.44

June 25 2018



View all my reviews

Alchemy by Marie S. Crosswell

Alchemy by Marie S. Crosswell

My rating: 4.44 of 5 stars


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

Unlike many reviews I’ve attempted recently, the start of this one is easy: Why did I read this work here? Because it involves Sherlock Holmes, it’s a short story, it’s a mystery, and I like all three things. Plus it might be interesting to read what a female Holmes might be like, with a female Watson. I do not go in knowing if they are supposed to have a relationship or not, just that the two main characters have been ‘regendered’. The work was in the LGBT section, though.


I’ve never read the author before, though, and no one else has read and reviewed this work. So I’m a risk-taker. *nods* That’s why I requested the story, though, what I said up there. It looked interesting.

Was it?

Well the opening was weird. About a dream, the dreamer dreamed they were a stingray swimming around the ocean. At the time of reading the opening for the first time, I had had no clue who the dreamer might be, though it becomes clear later.

The second noticeable thing, after the weird dream, is that the police person Holmes tended to talk with (I’ve the vague idea this is the case) has also been regendered. Is everyone in this story female? Well the homeless woman lying dead at Lestrade’s feet is also female. So . . . yes? More information needed (ah, Holmes makes reference to an imaginary male police detective as the stand-in for the average police investigator, therefore, there be males on this world, question answered; a male in the flesh finally appears – Mycroft remains male in this universe).

Right, let’s stop with writing about each word, sentence, and paragraph.

Why was Holmes called in for the death of a homeless woman? Holmes name was carved into the body.

Holmes doesn’t seem as outwardly all-knowing in this universe.

Ah, wonder why it took me so long to realize why things felt ‘off’. Everything is from Holmes point of view, not Watson’s. It’s odd being in Holmes head, though other stories have done it.

-----

This is set in modern times, based on well-hidden clues, like mobile phones.
---
Eww, kissing.

---
That’s what my reviews become with short stories: Random thoughts with Lexxi as she reads (oops, I admit now, I’m writing this as I read).

--
There’s a nice buzz/vibe to watching Holmes investigate, but . . . I can’t say as it’d be spoiler-y.

--
The mystery plot-line was interesting, though there was that issue I can’t mention for spoiler-y reasons. The romance plot-line was . . . different. Well, not really – romance has popped up in Holmes stories before and tends to be weird/different than the norm. As it is/was here. So I guess, in that sense, the romance plot-line meshes with my idea of Holmes, for being weird. Heh.

All-in-all this was an interesting story. On one hand, making this be a Holmes story adds a certain tension to things, at least to me, to my reading of the story. Needing to watch closely at this interpretation of the character. On the other hand, this story probably works . . . better as a Holmes story, at least one set in modern times like the modern television series are. Better as there are added layers already built into the story – like I knew about Holmes drug issue, the connection to Watson, Lestrade, Moriarty, and Mycroft. And to boxing. Oh, and the vague not-clearly-stated asexual vibe of the character.

There were only two things really missing from this story: I might have preferred it set a century ago for . . . reasons; and there was no connection to music like Holmes’s love of listening to or playing music in the original stories (or was that a later addition?). At least I do not think I noticed music. Was there music? Hmms. I don’t think there was. No matter.

Rating: 4.44

June 23 2018




View all my reviews

Take My Hand by Missouri Vaun

Take My Hand by Missouri Vaun

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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

This book, the 20th work I’ve read by this author (9 using the Vaun name and 11 using the Braddock), is about Clay Cahill and River Hemsworth. Both of whom have a point of view in this book. Based off of a vague off-hand comment about a third party, there is a good chance both of the characters are near at or over 30 years of age (there was a comment about another character being ‘near us in age, thirties’ (hopefully I didn’t misread that)).

The book opens with River doing what you aren’t supposed to do – be on the phone and drive at the same time. And you know why you aren’t supposed to do that? Well River found out first hand, when she nearly rear-ended some horses (in a horse trailer), swerved to avoid the truck, and slammed into a hair-saloon. And that’s the introduction of the reader to River. That phone played a lot of key pivotal plot points in this book (seriously, first the accident, later a pivotal moment when the phone was left, unlocked, near another person as if they wanted that other person to read the phone (WTF was that about?)).

The second major character appeared when she wandered up to check on River. To provide help, and stuff. River, dazed as she was, still seemed to vaguely respond to the rather obvious (to those who knew her) flirtatious advances of . . . Dr. Trip. Dr. Trip was a major character but not the other main character.

Trip’s advances were intercepted/stopped/redirected when another major character appeared on the scene. The quite attractive woman began asking River questions about the accident. I do not recall, now, if she also flirted, but it was obvious she was also a lesbian. This would also be a major but not main character. Grace the police officer.

By the time another lesbian was introduced (after several other women bounced around asking if River needed help), I was beginning to think two things: this small town in Georgia was filled entirely with women, and there was a good possibility that all of them were lesbians. I was wrong on both counts, but that’s the impression the beginning gave me.

That ‘another lesbian’? That’d be the tow-truck driver. Who River drooled over. Considering that River was kind of out of it, dazed, had literally slammed her head into her steering wheel, and had been given a drink that had more sugar in it than liquid, it’s possible River did in fact literally drool. The tow-truck driver was Clay – the same Clay I already mentioned in the first paragraph as being the other main and point of view character.

Clay helps River – both with her car and to get her to her B’n’B (how is that worded again? I know its Bed and Breakfast, but I forget the little BnB short-cut). They seem to hit it off. Until River mentions she’s from New York, and owns a gallery there. It’s hot. It’s the deep south. A distinct chilly sensation developed, though, noticeable to River after she revealed this information.

Right, so – those are the characters. Main and major (minor would include the new vet that works at Trip’s place, Dani something; and the new police deputy who works for Grace, Jamie something; and Bo – the never-do-well who works at the place Clay works; and ‘Grandpa’ who gave Clay a job; and . . . others). But what’s going on? Why is the New Yorker in Pine Cone Georgia, and why the cold shoulder from Clay?

Well the book description, if you recalled to read it (which I hadn’t – what it’s a Vaun book, of course I was going to read it sight unseen without an idea what it was about, but I’ve read the description now that I’ve read the book) tells you the answer to both questions I ended the last paragraph with.

Clay is an artist who had a bad experience in New York. River is in Pine Cone because the aunt she never really had anything to do with (family issues) died and gave River her car, house, and art gallery. That’s why River is in Pine Cone – temporarily; and why Clay’s there (she lives there).

I had a few issues with enjoying the book: there was no separation for the point of view changes, one paragraph could follow Clay, one could follow River, and there was neither rhyme nor reason for when the change would occur – though it was always obvious a change had occurred. Problem two: occasionally I lost track of who said what, though that was probably more my fault than anything (lost track as in they would talk, and I’d miss out on which person said what when and how). Problem three: wined was used once when whined was intended (yes, I noticed that one specific mistake, heh).

The last problem is more major, but I got around it well enough. And that’s how the book ended, or near enough the end part. When the book suddenly turned into a crime drama for no explainable reason. When that crime drama started . . . well, I kind of groaned loudly and figured that I’d end up giving the book a much worse rating than I had been thinking up to that point. I liked how everything unfolded, though, so . . . it probably has some negative impact on the rating but not as severe as I’d been thinking.

The characterization was good, the romance was . . . solid enough, the plot was interesting. I was intrigued and entertained. Good quick easy read . . . that I found to be slightly lessor than the most recent books that I’ve read by this author. Part of that is because of the issues I had, and mentioned, part of that was the part where a few things seemed a little heavy handed (I knew instantly that trouble was going to happen when one person left their phone with the other – it’s like a blinking red light when that happens, blinking arrow, blinking obviousness – and then trouble did in fact occur).

Rating: 4.31

June 5 2018




View all my reviews

Perfect Little Worlds by Clifford Mae Henderson

Perfect Little Worlds by Clifford Mae Henderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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

This is the fifth book I’ve read by this author, one of the five I’ve read twice. Every single one of these books are oddball books that defy classification. All but one of which I’ve rated highly (2 of the 5, or 3 of the six counting rereads are marked 5 stars on Goodreads, two are marked 4 stars, and 1 is marked 3 stars). All of the books involve some bit of traveling, though I can’t really use this as a link – none of them are really what I’d call travel fiction. Several of them, three of the five if you count a prelife story, involve dealing with life – death or prelife. But enough of this rambling.

What’s this specific odd ball book about, then? A woman of 79, living in Santa Cruz California, talks into a recording device. Telling a tale that’s mostly directed to events before, during, and slightly after a specific event that occurred in 1989. 26 years ago – when she was 53 (her actual age of 53 was never given, but her age of 79 was given, the fact that she tells the story in 2015 is given, and the fact that the story she tells is mostly focused on events in 1989 lead me to an age of 53).

What specific event occurred in 1989 that she relates? Why, that’d be the time she got a call from the neighbor of her mother and sister. The neighbor indicated that there might be an issue. After a bit of back and forth, Lucy, who – in 1989 when she got the call – was/is living in Portland Oregon at the time, must attempt to help her mother and sister living in Santa Cruz California. So she does – heading down for a visit. Only to find that her mother is in horrible shape – and doesn’t have a clue who Lucy is; her mind is mostly gone. Not completely, she spends her time bouncing from on time to another, but mostly watching television, and occasionally frantically getting ready for guests to arrive (not that any guests are going to be arriving). Alice, the sister, seems somewhat stressed but also mostly handling things. There’s a little back and forth about why Alice didn’t say what was going on, whereupon Lucy realizes that Alice did, in her way, say that things were deteriorating. Mentally, for the mother.

While attempting to figure out what to do about the situation, the sisters are trapped underground during and shortly after an earthquake hit – a 7.1 one that hit October 17 1989, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (which, for whatever reason, I see Google calls a 6.9 earthquake, but whatever, it’s 7.1 in the book).

And that’s basically what the book is about. A daughter finds out her mother has mentally deteriorated, and her autistic sister is coping as best she can. Bits and pieces of other parts of the characters’ lives get mentioned – like stuff that occurred in 2015, and stuff that occurred before 1989; and stuff that occurred between 1989 and 2015. In terms of romance – there . . . the beginning stages of a romance is shown, but the book ended before anything of the relationship’s development was shown (though, since the book is actually set in 2015, not in 1989 – as in a woman of 79, in 2015, is thinking/talking about, recording the story of her life events that occurred in 1989, then the ‘what happened next’ is known by the reader, ‘what happened next’ in terms of the very brief glimpse of romance, I mean).

This is a rather sad story. I’m sure there were happy moments in Lucy’s life, but she’s examining a sad portion of her life (albeit one tied up with, presumably, a happier time – i.e. her relationship with another woman), during a period of time when she’s basically alone in the world.

I’m not really sure what all I can say about the book. I’m sure I’ve both under and over revealed stuff as it is. The book is listed as ‘General Fiction’, not ‘mystery/romance/historical/etc.’ I can’t put anything in here that reveals my feelings on the mystery/romance/etc. angle. Historically? Well, it is set in 1989, and there were some neat bits that were shown there. 1989 is too close to today, though, to call the book ‘historical fiction’. So I’m back to ‘General Fiction’. Which doesn’t give me a hook to ramble about. There’s no mystery to solve, no crime to watch unfold, no humorous caper, no ghosts to mingle with, no . . . easy hook to pin words on. It’s a ‘reflecting on life by an old woman’ type of book.

I liked the book well enough. I’ve no clue if anyone else would or wouldn’t. One of the problems with odd ball books is that it is hard to recommend or not recommend a book that falls into this category.

Rating: 4.28

May 19 2018



View all my reviews

Come to the Rocks by Christin Haws

*I received this book from NineStar Press and Netgalley for an honest review*

I recently read and reviewed a book, and my review was fixated on the abusive relationship on display in the book. That specific relationship type, abusive, wasn’t in the book description, and I could see how a reader could read the book and not see the same signs I saw. Instead of seeing and reading a love story, like the book called itself, I saw and read something else.


Similar thing happened here. Though here the short story description plainly admits to including an abusive relationship story line. And yet, like before, I became fixated on something not listed in the description or book genres. No, not the love story part, that was there in the description, no the potential unreliable narrator story line.

I’m not really sure how to react to this story, and/or how I am supposed to react to this story. There were some massive hints that I was reading a story that included both an abusive relationship (main POV character with the stalker ex-boyfriend) and a budding love story (main POV character with the mermaid). On the other hand there were hints, less massive, that I was reading an unreliable narrator story. Like the part wherein the narrator stated several times that their mental process was broken (not in those words), and they weren’t always 100% sure of what was going on around them. Like how Linnea found it more unbelievable that Mren, the mermaid, found Lin attractive, than the part where Mren was a mermaid; or the part wherein Mren tells Lin a story that is directly on point – a solution to Lin’s problems, before Mren learned what Lin’s problems actually were; or the part wherein Linnea was 100% convinced her stalker ex-boyfriend was inside her house – to the point she got up, went to her car, and drove to his house and was only reassured that he wasn’t inside because she saw his distinctive truck in his own driveway (though ‘reassured’ puts it strongly); or the part wherein Linnea had become numb to the idea that it was a question of when, not if, her ex-boyfriend Mikey would kill her and her story would appear on the news (which is one of the reasons she kept calling the police on ‘the stuff’ that was going on – so there would be a paper trail on him).

Bah, I’m going too long down that particular path. Point is: I’m not sure if I should read this as a story of Linnea, the main character and only point of view; her abusive stalker ex-boyfriend; or read this as a story about Linnea, her stalker ex-boyfriend, and her ingenious solution to the problem – and the mermaid was just a figment of her imagination (there are even hints, beyond the ‘found it more unbelievable that the mermaid was interested in her, than that she was spending time with a mermaid’ that the main character wasn’t even certain the mermaid was real).

Alas – there is no big reveal indicating one or the other plot-line is the ‘real’ one. And since I’m seeing the ‘unreliable narrator’ hints without a ‘big reveal’, and note of such in book description, I assume I should not read that specific plot-line into the story. Or something like that.

On the other hand – I’m not sure it matters. I’ve had to think long and hard on what I actually read, which genre I was actually in, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter. At least in the sense that I’d end up at the same rating for either: love story with background stalker/ex-boyfriend; or unreliable narrator murder mystery. The same high rating.

It’s strange how I find myself where I find myself. To think I was going to do my normal ‘this is the first story I’ve read by this author’; ‘I became interested in reading this story because I had just recently started watching a television series called ‘Siren’ that involves a mermaid, though a different type of mermaid than appears in this story here’. But, alas, my review went off on a weird ‘other’ direction.

Stalker ex-boyfriend/abusive relationship: This is the story of a woman named Linnea. She’s chubby (self-aware comment on herself), and bisexual. She entered into a ‘not serious’ relationship with a guy named Mikey. When he started acting ‘weird’, and/or like he wanted more out of the relationship, she dumped him. He, in turn, could not accept that and the two of them have now spent more time in this ex-boyfriend/abusive/stalker situation than they did in their actual relationship. She has a restraining order on him. He ignores it. Does stuff that causes her to call the police. Adds to the paper trail, but he hadn’t, by the start of this story, done anything that would allow the police to actually do anything. The stalker/abusive asshole situation builds exponentially in this story.

Love Story: There’s one specific spot Linnea finds peace, comfort, safety. Everywhere else she finds herself in fear. Afraid that Mikey will show up there. ‘Her place’ is a specific spot on the coastline. A very rocky place next to a, normally, angry ocean. Very slippery and wet rocky place, with an ocean that would be super pleased to reach out, grab whoever is stupid enough to be on the rocks, and bash the person to death against the rocks. But Linnea can read the ocean. And knows when it is safe enough to be there.

During one of her times resting in her spot, she spots a glimmer on the water too quick to know if she actually saw something or not. Then it’s there longer – she’s spotted something. Then . . . there’s the face of a beautiful woman looking up at her, who Linnea later learns is Mren.

And that is the love story on display – the story of the budding romance between Linnea – human, and Mren – mermaid.

Unreliable Narrator: There are hints that I might have spotted incorrectly. If spotted correctly, this is something of a psychological horror – with a woman breaking (and she admits to herself that she is breaking – in the story line) to the point where she begins to have delusions/illusions, and ends up committing ‘the perfect murder’.

That, at least, is what I thought while reading the story. I’d not have even admitted seeing that in my review, though, if I hadn’t read the section after the story, about the author. I repeat, before I mention what I saw, that I thought of this unreliable narrator/psychological horror before reading that ‘about the author’ section. I did not get the idea from the fact that the author notes that they normally write horror stories, with occasional jumps into other stuff. *shrugs* It’s possible that what I saw was what I was supposed to see. It’s possible what I saw snuck in via an author who normally writes horror. It’s also possible that I, myself, am just insane and nothing I spotted was there.

(hehe – as I write this I keep remembering things that reinforce the ‘unreliable narrator’ thingie. My review could probably end up longer than the short story itself if I continued to note down these sudden remembrances – so I won’t – though I know I’m going to forget them as time passes (like the narrator noting how ‘magically modest’ the mermaid was – in that her hair, or the ocean itself, always covered her breasts – except for one very specific moment).

Rating: 4.77

April 6 2018

The Princess Deception by Nell Stark

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

This book is about a con artist and an abusive relationship (and no, I’m not talking about Maria and Sebastian).  Part of that is seen by the reader immediately. Part takes longer to come into focus, though it does by at least the 39% mark (more the potential, not the confirmation of an abusive relationship).

A con artist, by the way, who became violently enraged when her con was detected and broadcast to the world. The other party involved, the one who didn’t broadcast the information to the world, but was perceived to have done so – and even if the con artist (she thought to herself) believed this other party, this other woman’s words, that they didn’t tell the world about the con – she still . . . . lied about . . . the con artists identity (this is also part of the abusive relationship – getting enraged at the other party for your own actions.  Getting enraged that the other woman didn’t immediately, and I mean immediately, tell the other woman her suspicions concerning the long-con Viola was running).

A long con?  The book doesn’t seem to indicate some kind of criminal caper is going to be involved. No, it implies something like a retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night would occur.   Sure, the book is titled ‘Princess Deception’, so the reader knows going in that the princess is a lying deceiving type, but I’m wording things too harshly, yes?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.

Twelfth Night is about a young woman named Viola who shipwrecks on an island and, to protect herself (history isn’t exactly kind to random wandering single unprotected women), she pretends to be a man named Cesario.  There’s a weird love . . . mess that occurs. With Viola (as Cesario) falling in love with Duke Orsino; but Orsino is in love with Countess Olivia; and Olivia herself falls for Viola . . . as Cesario.   Confusion galore.

Princess Deception?  Well, it isn’t an exact retelling, of course.  With one story set long long ago, and the other set . . . roughly around now.  Viola and Sebastian are the twins of Deception and Viola plays Sebastian.  There’s even a Duke for Viola to fall for, here a Missy ‘I don’t like my first name’ Duke (former soccer star).  I suppose it would be pushing things to have the other ‘love interest’ in the story, Sebastian’s girlfriend I mean, be named Olivia – instead she’s named Maria in Deception (though one of Olivia’s servants in the play is named Maria; hmm, and Olivia’s uncle is named Toby – and Toby has a big-ish role in the Deception book).

As noted – Viola pretended to be a man in 12th Night (Cesario, though I’d originally misremembered and thought she played Sebastian).  And in Princess Deception Viola plays Sebastian, or pretends to be him in certain circumstances.  She’s doing this long con in Deception because Sebastian has a drug problem and Viola believes the best thing to do is to pretend to be Sebastian so that people wouldn’t hound him, and therefore allow him to recover in peace and quiet. 

They can’t all just go ‘into hiding’, or the like, because Sebastian had been the front person for the effort to land . . . um, the World Cup? Something like that, to Belgium and the Netherlands (a joint bid), and the month long celebration of this bid was just about to kick off when Sebastian landed in the hospital.  So – Viola gets a haircut, gets some masculine looking clothing, clothing that looks like Sebastian’s, cut to her own proportions, puts on a breast binder, and struts around as Sebastian.  She just doesn’t wear his clothing because they aren’t actually the same height/shape.

Duke, the other main point of view character in this story, starts off the book deeply depressed about her place in life.  For, you see, she had been a high rising, hard charging, and popular, wealthy soccer/football player.  Until an injury ended her career.  Through a teammate’s brother, she landed a job as a journalist (apparently, no one wanted to hire her on her own merits). Duke has been tasked with writing a story or stories, about the FIFA World Cup bid process.

Due to the fact that Duke had, in fact, once been famous, she’s recognized when she attends a particular event. Recognized by a young Princess.  Of the Netherlands.  Who invites Duke to get close, then watch a soccer match up in the VIP area.  Before that, though, Duke had seen a speech given by Prince Sebastian – a welcoming to the festivities type speech. And Duke immediately knew, knew, that Sebastian was actually . . . . Princess Viola.  Despite never having meet either, and the fact that her entire knowledge of Viola comes from some research conducted, while distracted, on the train up to the soccer match (research study needed for many reasons, including the part wherein she never before paid attention to royal types).   Part of the ‘oh my god that’s Viola!’ is from phrases, and moves Sebastian does/says while giving the speech. Which I’d normally leave for the reader to find, but I need to say that so I can say – part of the OMG is the part where Sebastian has to be Viola because . . . of certain feminine aspects detected by Duke (I mean, seriously? In this day and age we are going to play the ‘men are men, which means super macho manly men, while women are feminine, and effeminate men either don’t exist or are actually women in disguise’ game? Seriously?, pfft).

Right, so, Viola-as-Sebastian and Duke interact.  Duke doing things like interviewing Viola, Viola doing things like flirting outrageously and trying really hard to kiss Duke.  Despite, you know, that not really being Sebastian’s style.

Life continues. The month long celebration continues. Duke continues studying the situation and building a story about the matches/bid; plus another story about Viola-as-Sebastian.  Viola continues doing the long-con, and continues flirting hard with Duke.  And playing power games (‘close your eyes, do you trust me? Close your eyes and let me slip you a drink . . .’).

One thing leads to another, and as you would expect, the truth comes out.  As I said in the beginning of this review - this is a book about an abusive relationship.  Because, really, it is. Viola plays power trips and does abusive-like moves throughout the book.  Including the part where she becomes enraged by her lies being seen by Duke – turning it around and calling it Duke’s lies (somehow).   Did I mention yet that Viola, as Sebastian, kept trying to kiss and seduce Duke? Yes? Well, it’s important to keep mentioning. Then, even though Duke is looking horrible – lost weight, bags under her eyes, Viola keeps up the abuse by hate fucking her – sure, she demands consent first, but still – hate fucking her – and continuing to play power control games during this hate fucking.

Viola is one of those ‘I’m doing the right thing! I’m helping my brother! All that you mention is just . . . what had to be done for the greater good!’ types.  The ‘I’m a good girl’ type who gets enraged at others for doing much less …. Um . . . fuckery to her.  I’m not wording this right. Ironically Viola is probably making things harder for Sebastian, even though she’s ‘trying to help him’, but, meh.  She’s ‘doing the right thing, even if that means lying and deceiving the world’ then getting angry at anyone who calls her on her deceit and lies. Viola is a horrible human being.

Duke?  Eh – oddly, I had to stop reading the book originally because of Duke.  Part of it was because of her hyper-conscious about gender roles (aka – the person calling ‘himself’ Sebastian has to be Viola because . . . of the feminine traits Duke sees).  Part is because of the ‘journalists and photographers, who I despise, were horrible when I was a famous athlete’; ‘I need a job, I despise journalists, I’ll do that’ vibe.  Oh – and later it turns out she didn’t really need a job, despite the vague ‘must find work, must keep working, must . . . do my best!’ vibe.  Because of reasons.  Like the various sponsorships she was able to retain through not revealing that she was a lesbian. So, initially, I disliked the book because I disliked the Duke character. Then the nastiness that is Viola became revealed, and so that’s two main POV character to dislike.  Oops, there are only two in the book.

Weird.  First 39% of the book, I was thinking that this was the best of the Princess books.  But . . . alas . . ..

As an aside, and I’m sure it doesn’t matter in any real way, but, of the roughly 15 plays I’ve read by Shakespeare, Twelfth Night is nowhere near the top of the list of favorite plays.  No, it’s one of those that I didn’t really like when I read it decades ago.  I didn’t enter this book expecting to dislike the book because of that, though. Nor did I enter expecting to like it because it’s a retelling of a Shakespeare play.  So, just an aside of no importance.

Rating: 2.67

April 3 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


View all my reviews

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


View all my reviews

Kill Chain by Andy Diggle

James Bond: Kill Chain by Andy Diggle

My rating: 3.68 of 5 stars


*I received this book from Dynamite Entertainment and Netgalley for an honest review*

I have something of a kind of love/hate relationship going on with the Bond franchise. I got hooked on watching John Wayne films shown late at night or during the day by my grandfather. I got hooked on watching Bond films by way of marathons via my father. Though it was my mother who had collected the books as they were published – the original books – that I found in the basement and read (the Ian Fleming ones, I had to get the others myself). This was back when I was like ten (13? I forget now). Watched and loved the films. Read and mostly enjoyed the books. This was back when Timothy Dalton was Bond, at least on the big screen, my first Bond experience was with the original Connery, though – see: movie marathons), and my first Bond film in the theater was License to Kill.

I just loved watching Bond films. Reading the continuation novels. Then there was a six year gap (something like that) do to legal issues (what I was told at the time, I’ve never looked it up to see if accurate). And I kind of fell away from Bond while he was off the big screen. Oh, sure, I continued reading Benson Bond books, but . . . they lacked something. So I drifted away.

When I looked again, I was smacked in the face, so to speak, by certain aspects of Bond that were despicable (like how Connery’s Bond doesn’t like being told ‘no’ when it comes to sex; and, weirdly, just hates when the woman is all over him (see: Goldfinger for both – with lesbian Pussy Galore being forced by Bond, and apparently liking it so well that she turned on her boss; and … okay, I can’t find which woman I mean here for the other, was she not in Goldfinger? I recall a hotel room, the woman comes on to Bond, he pushes her away, because ?, film continued). So I had that to deal with. And I still watched the films, read the books, and stuff. But it was always there in the back of my mind – the male-thing (saw Lasenby’s film again the other day – weird dynamic there, Bond in that film didn’t force himself onto women, and actually seemed happier when the woman wanted him – the women at the institute he was undercover at; sure there was the ‘bribed to date gangster’s daughter’ part, but he didn’t force himself onto her).

All that just to note that I’ve mostly steered clear of the comic series. But hey, might as well try, eh?

James Bond in ‘Kill Chain’. As the book description notes: the spy world is in massive conflict, there’s a plot against NATO, MI6 and the CIA are in conflict, and the Russian SMERSH (seen a few times in the films, a lot more often in the books) is plotting against . . . well, the West. SMERSH being the Soviet Union spy service in WWII in real life, which was either disbanded or absorbed by the KGB after the war (I forget which), though found extended life in Fleming’s books and the Bond films. The book opens in Russia. Where some unknown man is talking to another unknown man – while that second man literally uses his fists on rocks (okay, not really, he slams two rocks together in his fists).

After unknown man 2 makes an arrow head, the scene shifts to two people fighting – a man and a woman. Presumably the man is James Bond, though, eh, I mostly say that because: 1) of the three men seen so far, he’s the closest to Bond’s looks; 2) he almost immediately gets sexual with the woman. You know, like Bond does. It’s his thing. Afterwards, and I’m only continuing this so I can mention – the woman takes a shower while wearing her clothing? I think? While she does that Bond robs the place. Because, hey, he’s a spy. All of this, by the way, the two men in Russia, and Bond & blonde woman in some undisclosed location – are the ‘precredits’ action. The after title credits action shifts ‘stuff’ to Rottendam. Which I mention because the book description notes that ‘operation in Rottendam goes catastrophically wrong’ so I guess I get to see that now. (Whereupon we learn that Bond and the blonde woman, later called ‘Rika’, were actually already in Rottendam).

Oh bloody hell – so action finally occurs and . .. Bond drives his car through a crowd? Seriously? After everything we’ve had happen lately with so many terrorists driving cars through crowds, the first actual action in this comic shows Bond driving a car through a crowd? Pfft. (counter: he’s trying to get away from a gunman in a boat; counter-counter – so? Just don’t show him driving the car through a crowd, but just along the road, racing away from the boat, while the boat fires at him, showing Bond drive through a crowd just seemed needless; wait, he was chasing the guy in the boat, not racing away . . crap, trying to figure out action in graphic comic form isn’t always easy, hehe).

Right, so, as said, conflict in the spy world – and that’s what the reader reads.

Oh, wait, what the heck is this book doing with SMERSH in it? If it’s set in modern times? At least that’s what I assume when Bond is given a cell phone. Gah – it’s not always easy to tell, some ‘continuation’ novels are set back in Fleming’s time period, some are set in ‘modern’ time periods (most recent ‘continuation’ book I read was set in Flemings time – 1969 – William Boyd’s Solo). Having SMERSH involved made me think this had to be set before the Soviet Union fell, but cell phone. You know what would have helped? Dates. What graphic novel forgets to include dates when giving location data? Pfft.

I’ll devote a second paragraph to this issue: not knowing the date is seriously annoying when trying to read a book. The world changes to bloody fast to be ‘generic 20th to 21st century Earth’. Mmphs. Though the evidence, including Leiter missing an arm, lost in that first Bond film I saw at a movie theatre, plus the cell phone, makes me think this really is 21st century ‘current present time’. Also Leiter mentions that the current administration hates things like NATO and the world. And England’s mentioned to be getting ‘out of Europe’. And Stuff. So, yes, modern times. Mention of SMERSH in book description, plus lack of dates really messed me up here.

Right so – one specific problem mentioned: the lack of dates and the mention of SMERSH without mention of the current date from beginning of book (you know, have ‘present day’ or ‘2018’ listed next to ‘Russia’ as every other graphic novel would do it), caused me issues. SMERSH being mentioned can be and was explained in the book. And I did eventually pick up that this was ‘present day’. The fact that I had to spend so much time thinking about it, though, is a major issue. Heh, I didn’t mean to have a third paragraph on dates. I meant this to be my: beyond that one specific problem, already mentioned, the book was interesting and good, paragraph.

Good strong story. The ‘forcing himself onto women’ didn’t come up, though he did avoid the advances of one woman who was quite clearly desirous of spending ‘quality time’ with Bond. Course it wasn’t the right time – but with Bond, when is it ever the right time?

Rating: 3.68

March 11 2018




View all my reviews