Dear Author » f/f

REVIEW: Sleeping with the Frenemy by KT Grant

Guest Reviewer — Wed, 18 May 2011 09:00:54 +0000

Dear Ms. Grant,

You are well-known in the online romance community as Katiebabs of Babbling About Books. I’m a fan of your quirky sense of humor and I appreciate your thoughtful, honest reviews. I wish I could say I enjoyed your books as much as your blog.

Since I signed on as a reviewer here at DA, I’ve received three stories to review. Two of those were submitted by you. Unfortunately, both were DNFs. Although I opted to email my thoughts on Lovestruck to you privately, I decided to post a full review of Sleeping with the Frenemy. You’ve always said that you’d rather have a negative review than none at all. I admire you for saying it, and I agree. Nothing kills a book like silence. So here goes.

Deep breath.

I think your writing style has improved since Lovestruck, but a number of mistakes caught my attention in Sleeping with the Frenemy. If I could sum up the problems in one word it would be “overdone.” The villain is over-the-top evil, there are many unnecessary scenes, and you go too far with your descriptions. The details about bodily functions and female arousal are off-putting, rather than sexy.

The story begins with Deborah and Genevieve, a “perfect” married couple. Gen is rich and powerful and dominant. Deborah is a sweet, submissive dishrag. There are hints that the relationship is abusive, along with strong indications that the women love each other deeply. The opening chapters are a nonstop sexfest.

Although Deborah seems to fear Gen, she submits to her every desire and has powerful orgasms. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about these scenes, which read like dubious-consent, degrading BDSM.

Let me give a few examples of the details I found off-putting. In the first chapter, Gen and Deborah go to the opera. They notice an overweight couple watching them and start making out. After the kiss, “Gen wiped the drool away from the corner of her mouth.” Am I supposed to find this sexy?

Gen strokes Deborah to climax at the opera and again in the limo. They proceed to their bedroom at home, where Gen brings out the sex toys. Deborah is tired and reluctant but allows Gen to penetrate her with a huge dildo. There’s a geyser of body fluids:

Deborah yelped from Gen’s talented mouth as her tongue went in deep, lapping over her swollen folds and tissues. She moaned and humped Gen’s face, dying slowly as Gen pushed her legs out wider and attacked her pussy with great intensity. Bright purple spots appeared in front of her eyes, and when Gen’s finger went between her ass cheeks, Deborah shrieked and rocked.

She was overcome with pleasure and couldn’t control the gush of her come. It shot out and covered Gen’s face.

Later, Gen transfers an anal toy from her orifice to Deborah’s, ignoring Deborah’s protests. At the end of the night, Deborah passes out cold.

The next day Gen flies into a jealous rage and beats Deborah brutally. The depiction of physical violence is well done and your portrayal of Deborah as a broken woman was the high point of the story for me. Most battered women stay with their abuser because they are in love, and Deborah is no exception. Even after she finds the strength to leave, she misses Gen.

Deborah fakes her death by pushing her car off a cliff, into a river. The car is in neutral, which seems like a giveaway, but whatever. In another improbable scene, she disguises herself as a man and visits her mother at a nursing home. They are overheard discussing Deborah’s plan to escape to Woodberry Creek and assume a new identity.

After Deborah arrives in Woodberry Creek, the story loses momentum. There are mundane descriptions of Deborah brushing her teeth and using the bathroom. She gets her period and shops for tampons. In the feminine hygiene aisle, she meets Bridgette Woodberry, who suggests that the brand of tampons Deborah is looking at might be “too bulky.”

It’s clear that Bridgette is Deborah’s new love interest, but I’m not invested enough to continue reading. Without the spectacle of degrading sex, gushing come, and crazy Gen, there’s very little “juice” to hold my attention.

I know there is an audience for this kind of material and I wish you the best of luck in finding your niche. Although I felt that Sleeping with the Frenemy was smoother and more entertaining than Lovestruck, I have to give it a DNF.

Best regards,

Jill

Book Link | Kindle | nook
| Sony| KoboBooks

REVIEW: Beguiled by Paisley Smith

Guest Reviewer — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:00:52 +0000

Dear Ms. Smith,

Thanks for submitting your work to Dear Author. I'd intended to buy this one because the cover is lovely and I was intrigued by the blurb. Cross-dressing heroines are a favorite of mine, followed closely by nursemaid heroines, and this story has both! Even the title, Beguiled, gives off good vibes. Isn't there a spooky Clint Eastwood movie by that name?

I really wanted to like this book, but I wasn't impressed by the first few pages. I gave up shortly after, so this isn't a traditional review of the story, plot, or characterization. It's a quick critique of the stumbling blocks I encountered.

In the opening scene, the heroine, Belle (as in Southern belle) is standing on her front porch, facing a troop of marauding Yankees. Her little brother shoots and kills one of the soldiers from an upstairs window and Belle's father takes responsibility for the crime. Belle is horrified:

They intended to hang my pa! This couldn't be happening.

But it was. I couldn't tear my gaze from it any more than I could have ripped my gaze from the face of a corpse at a wake. I felt as if I were somehow standing outside my body, watching instead of experiencing, observing as if it were happening to somebody else.

Like Belle, I felt removed from the action. I think there were too many filter words like "thought" and "felt," which can create distance. There's a great article on this at Let the Words Flow. Belle is screaming and pleading for her father's life, but I wasn't moved because the writing style didn't draw me in. The "telling" internal dialogue slowed the pace, giving the scene a lackluster quality.

I also noticed a lot of repetition. In the above snippet, the word gaze is used twice in the same sentence. Belle gazes two more times in the first three pages. She also burns two stares, glares, gets eyed, meets each pair of eyes, and watches her father hang before her eyes. The focus on blazing eyeballs, while common in romance, stuck out to me as excessive.

I skipped ahead a few pages to the scene in which Belle meets Alice. The Yankees had left an unconscious soldier on Belle's doorstep. Alice wakes up later and introduces herself as a woman. There is no confusion, no tension, no gradual discovery of her feminine identity.

When I read about a cross-dressing heroine in m/f romance, I look forward to the hero being perplexed or in denial about his attraction to a beautiful young "man." I picked up Beguiled with interest, wondering how this dynamic would play out between two women. Unfortunately, the early reveal gives Belle no opportunity to interact with Alice in disguise, so the concept seemed underexplored. DNF.

Best regards,

Jill

Book Link | Kindle | Loose Id

REVIEW: Starting from Scratch by Georgia Beers

Guest Reviewer — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:00:06 +0000

Dear Ms. Beers,

You were recommended to me by a friend on Goodreads, but I almost passed on this book because of the cover. It looks like it's about baking and grandmothers-’and it is. There's more to this story than the cutesy homemade image conveys, however. Starting from Scratch is a deftly written contemporary romance with strong, modern characters.

I requested this title from my local library and it's been several weeks since I returned it, so I'll do my best to get the details right. I dragged my feet on writing a review, partly because I found very little fault with your work. Glowing praise is hard to write.

The story is told in first person from Avery's point of view. She's in-advertising? and has a crush on a gorgeous lady banker named Elena. I liked Avery immediately. She's real and honest and unaffected. The way she ogles Elena from afar is very cute. Avery doubts Elena plays for her team and has no particular designs on her. It's almost as if the pleasure of seeing Elena on a regular basis is better than approaching her and ruining the fantasy.

A good friend of Avery's has knee surgery and asks her to take over as coach for a kids' baseball team. Avery feels obligated to say yes even though she doesn't like children. Or maybe she just doesn't want to like them. Avery was abandoned as a child (I think) so she has Issues. She starts coaching and grudgingly decides it's not so bad. One of the kids, Max, is Elena's son. Over the next few weeks, Avery learns that Max has two moms, and that the women are separated. Score!

There are many coincidences in this story that I should have found hard to believe. Instead I smiled and nodded all the way through, delighted by each turn of events. Max and Elena have just moved in to Avery's neighborhood, and Max wanders over to help Avery bake a lot. Avery's friends encourage her to join an online dating site, where she makes a connection with a charismatic woman. Surprise, her cyber-suitor turns out to be Elena.

Baking is Avery's favorite hobby. She learned the skill from her grandmother, who plays a pivotal role in the story and in Avery's life. This relationship is nicely done and the portrayal of baked goods made me so very, very hungry. Mmm-cookies.

Avery and Elena begin dating and encounter few obstacles. The biggest is Max's other mother (Susan?) who hangs around but shows no genuine interest in him. This character didn't make sense to me and I wasn't sure what purpose she served. According to Max, Elena and Susan fight all the time. While they argue, he walks over to Avery's for chocolate chip cookies. I don't know why Elena, who is a doting mother, allows her ex to upset and neglect Max.

I also had a problem with the chemistry between Elena and Avery. Maybe it was just me. Somewhere, something was lacking. Although I enjoyed the romance, I skimmed the sex scenes. The first person POV might have been an issue for me. I can't decide if I felt distanced from the couple or too close for comfort. I've never shied away from lesbian love scenes so I can only shrug and move on.

One last coincidence occurs, just in time to wreak havoc on Avery and Elena's relationship. Avery has never wanted children and used that as an excuse to split with her ex-girlfriend. Now that she adores Max and Elena, her outlook has changed. When the women are on a romantic dinner date, Avery's ex shows up, mentioning Avery's strong aversion to children. This leads to a painful breakup and a black moment, followed by tears and apologies and an emotionally charged happily ever after. Yay!

This story stood out from all of the other lesbian romances I've read this year. It's polished and well-edited, which isn't the norm for this subgenre (from my limited experience). I also appreciated the focus on family and children. You have a gift for creating characters that readers care about.

I really enjoyed Avery's transformation. She wants nothing to do with kids at first but is able to grow and adapt when life throws her a curveball. I can relate. B+

Best regards,

Jill

Book Link | Kindle | Amazon | BN | Borders

REVIEW: The Lovers by Eden Bradley

Guest Reviewer — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:42:00 +0000

Dear Ms. Bradley,

I registered at NetGalley for the express purpose of downloading an advanced copy of this book. I've been a fan of yours since reading your contribution to the Hot Nights, Dark Desires anthology. "The Art of Desire," featuring a tattoo artist hero and his female client, is one of my favorite erotic romance novellas of all time.

Some months ago I heard that you were writing a ménage romance for Harlequin Spice. Although I don't read much m/m/f, I die for f/fm and have trouble finding it. A full-length book in which two women and a man have a sexual relationship is unheard of in mainstream romance. To say that I eagerly anticipated The Lovers is an understatement. Brava to you for writing it, and to Harlequin for publishing it. Squee!!

Before I get into the actual review, I suppose I should disclose our publishing connections. I write for Harlequin/Silhouette (not Spice). We also used to have the same editor at Bantam Dell. I don't think this has any bearing on my review, but it seems appropriate to share. There are times when I've felt uncomfortable writing a negative review for personal or professional reasons. I probably would have declined to review The Lovers if I'd hated it.

Luckily, I didn't hate it. I didn't love it, either. Perhaps because of my giddy anticipation, I was delighted and disappointed in equal measures.

The story is written in first person, present tense from Bettina's point of view. She is an author of somber women's fiction, shy and reserved, the kind of person who feels inhibited and holds herself at a distance. Bettina has come to Santa Barbara for a two-month retreat with a group of authors she met online. These authors gather annually and it is Bettina's first time joining them. She wants to stop living like a recluse and step out of her comfort zone.

Bettina has a strange reaction to Audrey, another author who seems like her polar opposite. She's never been attracted to a woman before, but the winsome, free-spirited Audrey captivates her. Audrey flirts with everyone, male and female. Bettina falls under her spell and the two begin a torrid sexual affair.

Let me back up a minute. The women don't jump into bed immediately. Bettina spends a lot of time fantasizing about Audrey and there are multiple masturbation scenes. While this served to emphasize Bettina's loneliness and self-isolation, it felt repetitive. Perhaps deliberately so. Bettina has a touch of OCD. She doesn't like this about herself but she can't change. Her sexual behavior is obsessive, repetitive, compulsive. She seems to be in a constant state of arousal and brings herself to orgasm frequently. I was exhausted, just reading about it.

Although The Lovers doesn't become truly compelling until Bettina takes the edge off with Audrey, the writing is lovely. This California girl was in raptures over the descriptions of the Santa Barbara coast. The ocean works well as metaphor for Bettina's sexual awakening, and for female sexuality, in general.

It's low tide and seaweed lies in dark, curling strands at the edge of the water, waiting to be carried back out to float on the sea. I can smell the salt, tangy and fresh and energizing. I can feel the power of the waves as they surge in, then out.

Audrey is impulsive, charismatic, and easily distracted. Her ADD is a nice foil to Bettina's OCD. While Audrey is with Bettina, she's a loving friend and a sexual dynamo. She's not the type to settle down, but Bettina is smitten nonetheless. The contrast between Bettina's reflective, obsessive qualities and Audrey's flighty recklessness creates tension. We know Audrey will break Bettina's heart-’any second now.

The sex is hot, hot, hot. These are the most explicit f/f scenes I've ever read:

I stroke her with my fingertips, making her squirm. Then I grab her hips and pull her lower, guiding her, and let my tongue flick over her wet, pink flesh. She does taste like the ocean: dark and damp and a little salty. And she is so slick under my tongue, the taste of her, her scent, her arousal making me hot, pleasure rolling over me in undulating waves.

The relationship between Audrey and Bettina is more than just physical. Both women feel comforted and empowered by female touch. Neither seems concerned about labels or societal norms. I absolutely loved this positive, fluid portrayal of female sexuality.

She takes my hand and we climb into bed. And I am thinking vaguely how different this is, being with a woman, just as she'd said. It's softer, and perhaps I have needed this. Because I do feel healed, somehow. And it's not just Audrey's magic, but the femaleness of it. Of her, of us together.

We are curled up together, naked, on top of the blue-and-white quilt. Like a pair of kittens. That sweet. That innocent. And we sleep in the gentle afternoon sunlight, the ocean soothing us, like a mother's lullaby that neither of us can remember.

Enter Jack, brilliant author of dark thrillers, Audrey's off-again, on-again boyfriend. If Bettina was surprised by her attraction to Audrey, she's even more confused about her feelings for Jack. When Audrey and Jack kiss, Bettina doesn't know who to be jealous of. She wants them both. Bettina spends the next week fantasizing about Audrey and Jack, listening at their bedroom door, obsessing over them as a couple.

Audrey tells Jack about her affair with Bettina. He's turned on (predictably) and mentions this to Bettina when they're alone.

He smiles, all too-good looking charm, his mouth wide and soft.   He has the most incredible bone structure, his dark stubble outlining his strong jaw.   Despite myself, my confusion, my small bit of outrage, I am melting again.

"The image of you two in bed together makes a pretty picture in my mind," he says, his voice low.   "I'm sure it was even more spectacular in person."

I feel my mouth open in a small o.   I have no idea what to say to this.   The idea that he's fantasizing about Audrey and me together.   The idea that Audrey told him about us!   The still-fresh painful confusion over her leaving me in the dust for Jack.

His smile fades.   "I'm sorry.   I see that I've offended you."

At this point, Jack's character strikes a perfect balance between "horny guy who wants to go to bed with two chicks" and "respectful gentleman". Bettina can't resist Jack's pull or Audrey's magic. When Audrey crooks her finger, she comes willingly. The ménage scene is one of the hottest I've ever read. I've already given an adequate sample of your writing, so I won't smoke up my keyboard by transcribing another excerpt. Yowza!

During the encounter, which Bettina participates in with great pleasure, she realizes that Jack is the one she really wants. This progression seems organic to the story and it keeps the tension high. Who will get burned first?

The next morning, something bad happens, and The Lovers are no longer a threesome. Because this is the second half of the book, most of what follows can be considered a spoiler. I wanted to include my thoughts on this section because it really affected my overall enjoyment.

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

In the end, Bettina has grown from her experiences. She came to the writers' retreat to broaden her horizons, take emotional risks, and connect with people. Mission accomplished. She finds love, and (more importantly, perhaps) finds herself.

As I read over this review, I realize I had quite a bit to say, so cheers for writing a thought-provoking story. The Lovers is a special book and I was moved by it. The characters are deeply flawed, sometimes unsympathetic, and their relationship is a work in progress. B-

Best regards

Jill

REVIEW: Just Business by Julie Cannon

Guest Reviewer — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:00:13 +0000

Dear Ms. Cannon,

I bought your book because I liked the cover. Many of the covers this subgenre over-sexualized and off-putting (naked asses and o-faces!), or vague and flowery (Grandma is a lesbian?). This one strikes a nice balance for me. It looks modern and sexy.

The book doesn't quite live up to the cover, unfortunately. The storyline isn't fresh and the characters aren't particularly modern. I would describe Just Business as pleasant, but bland.

The blurb:

What should be just business becomes much more when two women agree to a deal that changes their lives.

Real estate tycoon Dillon Matthews, in the middle of negotiating the deal of her life, is stunned when the owner of the small parcel of land she desperately needs to complete her latest project presents the final condition she must meet to close the deal. Callie Sheffield is struggling to pay the attorney she has hired to appeal her brother’s conviction for a crime he didn’t commit. When Dillon and Callie meet by chance, they realize each has what the other needs. A simple business transaction will give them both what they need–until love threatens to derail the negotiations.

I'm not fond of business conflicts or tycoon heroes, so that may have played a part in my failure to warm up to this story. I also felt that Dillon Matthews, the tycoon heroine, was a little too masculine. As I write that, I'm aware that it is a straight person's criticism and might not be fair, so let me explain.

In all of the lesbian romances I've read, one character is more androgynous. She has a manly name, she's tough or misunderstood, she works with her hands, etc. Although the tomboy thing appeals to me in some respects, it also raises questions while I'm reading. Which character am I supposed to identify with? And, are all lesbian relationships so sharply defined?

In m/f romance, I know which character I relate to (the heroine) and which one I want to fall in love with (the hero). In f/f romance, I don't automatically connect with one character or the other. I'm not sure which heroine type I prefer. A certain level of androgyny is sexy, and I love to read about daring, athletic women, but I also like softness and vulnerability in women. I guess I would say that a mixture of female traits, rather than diametrically opposing ones, seems more familiar to me.

Okay, so the basic plot of Just Business is that Dillon is trying to make a lucrative real estate deal with an older gentleman, Bill. Bill wants to see Dillon settle down and get married before he signs the papers. It's a silly premise, but I've read worse. Dillon meets Callie at a gay bar and they hit it off. She brings Callie as her date to a business dinner, and then to a weekend getaway with Bill and his wife, Phyllis.

Bill and Phyllis think that Callie is "the one" for Dillon. I'm not sure about this, but I got the impression that the older couple had a gay daughter who died. They want to see Callie and Dillon live HEA. Their involvement felt a little creepy, to be honest. One night, for example, Callie gets the giggles in the adjoining bedroom. Phyllis teases her about being noisy over breakfast. The next night, when Callie and Dillon make love for the first time, I wondered if Phyllis was taking notes. Mood killer!

Speaking of sex, my favorite topic, I thought this book would be steamier. The cover quotes insist that you write hot. An Amazon reviewer complained that this was a trashy romance novel. I had higher expectations! The first sex scene fades to black (an odd choice), and although there are frequent encounters, I found them to be fairly standard.

The main fault in Just Business isn't lack of sex, but lack of sizzle. The conflict doesn't create any real emotional energy until the second half of the book. After the couple gets married, Callie finds out that Dillon used her to seal the deal with Bill. Callie agrees to continue the "happy newlyweds" ruse in exchange for legal fees for her incarcerated brother. If the story had started out this way, with mixed feelings and reluctant sparks between them, it might have had more juice. Instead, you presented a late conflict and quick resolution.

As I said earlier, I had a hard time connecting with Dillon. She isn't an alphole (TM Jane?), but she resembles a Harlequin Presents hero, rich and driven and successful. She wears mannish suits, including a tux, and isn't in touch with her emotions. At one point, Callie tells Dillon's father that Dillon is "more man than he'll ever be." I wasn't really-getting it.

Callie I liked. Her relationship with her brother is gritty and difficult, and I could sympathize with her situation.

Overall, I found the story mildly enjoyable, and your writing style is smooth. I visited your web site and was excited to see two upcoming releases with outdoor settings. Sporty heroines are more my style. Just Business, for me, was just average. C

~Jill Sorenson

Book Link (pdf link) | Amazon | BN | Borders | Bold Stroke Books

REVIEW: Tangle Girls (anthology edited by Nicole Kimberling)

Janine — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:00:31 +0000

Dear Readers,

Back in July of 2008, I reviewed Tangle XY, an anthology of short speculative m/m stories. Earlier this year, Blind Eye Books, the publisher of Tangle XY, came out with Tangle Girls, an f/f anthology. As with Tangle XY, some (not all) of the stories are multicultural, and many have fairy tale or science fiction elements, but in this anthology the commonality all the stories share is the focus on girls who love other girls. Here are my reviews of the six stories:

“Raccoon Skin” by J.D. EveryHope

In “Raccoon Skin,” Sophia, a college student, arrives at her parents’ home on a pre-dawn morning. After seeing that her parents’ trash can that has been upended by a raccoon, Sophia goes outside to put it back up, and while there, she sees crows attacking a golden eagle. The eagle falls to the snowy ground, and Sophia chases the crows away. Just as she is debating whether to take the eagle inside, the bird shifts shape and turns into a human girl — and not just any girl, but Sophia’s girlfriend, Caterina.

Caterina and Sophia met in college and began dating, but Sophia never told Caterina that she hadn’t come out to her parents. Now it seems Caterina has also been keeping secrets: not only is she a shapeshifter, she is also a princess from another realm, and her younger brothers’ lives are in danger. Caterina wants to return to her land and rescue her brothers, but her injuries are serious. Sophia convinces her to ask Sophia’s parents for shelter and help and allow Sophia to save her brothers instead.

Caterina gives Sophia a ring which will open a path to Caterina’s world when dawn arrives. Just as Sophia is about to go through the portal, a raccoon speaks and warns her that Beyond, where she is about to venture, is a dangerous place. Her odds of success will be better if she and the raccoon trade skins.

Sophia agrees. Clothed as a raccoon, she enters Beyond and it is indeed a dangerous journey. Fortunately, the raccoon skin proves very helpful.

“Raccoon Skin” is a charming quest story that reminded me a bit of some of fairy tales I read as a child. I loved the way the mundane was transformed into the magical, and enjoyed the clever ways Sophia found to see past the deceptive illusions of the Beyond. It was also neat to see the traditional gender role upended, so it was a heroine who charged to the rescue. I would have liked to see more of Sophia and Caterina’s relationship, but on the whole, I really enjoyed the story. My grade for “Raccoon Skin” is a B+.

“Amazons” by Jesse Sandoval

“Amazons” was the reason I plopped down $12.95 for Tangle Girls. I loved Sandoval’s story in Tangle XY, “Los Conversos.” The setting of “Amazons” is unnamed, although the title of course alludes to the Amazon. As the story, which appears to be historical, begins, its unnamed female narrator is rowing a boat on a jungle river. She observes the crocodile beneath the water and the black snakes hanging from the trees above with respect.

Once I saw one of those snakes lift a grown man off his feet and swallow him whole. The man pissed himself as the snake wrapped herself around him as if she were falling in love. She opened her thin mouth and took him in a deep kiss. I watched her eyes the entire time. She had the mesmerized gaze of utter adoration, as if this man’s form, his meat and muscle, had entranced her and drawn her into an unthinkable action.

I remember seeing that same unflinching stare long ago, looking back at me from a silver mirror. My hands trembled as I tried to load the pistol, the slender bullets wavered and slipped between my fingers. Then I caught sight of myself in a mirror. I gazed into my own eyes, the wide pupils dilated, entranced with desire. My reflection knew that I was a murderess before I did. She passed that assurance to me in a glance. My fingers have never trembled since.

How did the narrator come to look in the mirror and see a murderess? Since this story is only six pages long, I don’t want to give it away, but the story begins in Europe, where the main character met a woman named Maria, with whom she shared slices of cake and stories about the New World.

The imagery in “Amazons” has a hallucinatory beauty that captures what it is like to be drunk on love, willing to do anything for the other person. The story is haunting and powerful, though I wish it were longer so that I could feel I really knew Maria. I can’t wait for Jesse Sandoval to write a novel or a short story collection so that I can drown in his gorgeous prose. Ms. Kimerbling, if you’re reading this, can you do anything about that? My grade for “Amazons” is a B+/A-.

“The Conclave” by Trent Roman

Tanya Drake has been dating Erin, a centuries-old fey, but the relationship is becoming frustrating for her. The two met at the private Catholic school in which Tanya was enrolled. It wasn’t long before they became lovers. But Erin has a habit of comparing Tanya’s lovemaking to that of lovers from her past, lovers as famous as Sappho and Gengis Khan’s concubines. Erin also disappears for days on end only to reappear expecting the relationship to resume as though she’d never left.

After one such disappearance, Tanya tries to question Erin and find out how serious she is about their relationship. To make it up to Tanya, Erin offers to sneak her mortal lover into “the biggest bash in two worlds,” a party for immortal beings known as the Conclave. What kind of adventures will Tanya have at the Conclave, and how will they affect her relationship with Erin?

“The Conclave” is written in a crisp, snappy style I enjoyed. I liked the way Tanya and Erin arrived at the Conclave, too. But though Tanya is said to be a high school student, the character comes across as older. Erin is jaded and doesn’t treat Tanya that well, taking their relationship very lightly, so it’s hard to care about her, but Tanya isn’t sure if she’s serious in her feelings for Erin, either, so it’s also hard to care about how the relationship will change.

I felt that essentially, nothing that is deeply important to the characters happened in the story, so nothing that happened was all that important to me as a reader, either. After “Raccoon Skin” and “Amazons,” it was hard not to be disappointed in this one. My grade for “The Conclave” is a C-.

“Under Suspicion” by Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon

Set on the spaceship Mastodon, “Under Suspicion” begins when a shipwide alarm sounds, alerting United Star Fleet Ensign Lily Branoch and her fellow crewmembers to an accident in the main hanger. In the process of helping to rescue people trapped under “cargotainers,” Lily encounters a beautiful marine whose name she doesn’t catch. She glimpses the woman again before she learns that she is Lt. Cruz-Ortega.

Lily is powerfully attracted to the woman, so much so that she can’t get the lieutenant out of her mind. But this distraction becomes a problem when Lily begins to suspect that the beautiful Daniella may be involved in a plot to smuggle weapons off the Mastodon. Could Daniella Cruz-Ortega’s lovely face be hiding treachery? And even if not, will Lily ever get up the gumption to ask her out?

“Under Suspicion” was an enjoyable story and it probably had the most relationship focus of any of the stories in this collection. Lily was likable and the enigmatic Daniella was compelling. The worldbuilding was solid and I liked the military atmosphere. My main complaint is that due to the nature of the plot, the relationship between the two women did not develop that much. Nonetheless it was fun, though I would have liked it to be a bit more substantial. C+/B- for “Under Suspicion.”

“Cupcake” by Erin MacKay

Erin MacKay’s “Cupcake” takes place in the future, on a colonized world. The viewpoint character is Stasya, a professional assassin. As the story opens, Stasya receives an assignment from Rupi, a man who has hired her to kill in the past. This time Stasya is astonished at the target, whom she describes as “just a…a cupcake.”

Mitusko Jennings-Villega’s husband wants to collect on his wife’s life insurance policy, but Mitsuko is constantly watched by her wealthy father’s guards. To kill her, Stasya has to infiltrate “High Street,” Mitusko’s rarified world of corporate celebrities. Yet once she meets Mitusko, Stasya is in for a surprise. Mitusko realizes she is an assassin, and she is willing– no, ready — to die. Will Stasya be able to kill the woman she is beginning to admire and care for?

“Cupcake” is written in clean, straightforward prose and while the worldbuilding isn’t completely fresh, it’s well-executed. The story felt a little oppressive to me (though not nearly as much as MacKay’s story in Tangle XY, “Crossing the Distance”), but on the whole I liked it.

Stasya is a compelling character, though I wish her past, and especially her reason for becoming an assassin for hire, had made her more sympathetic. Mitsuko isn’t as morally ambiguous, but her life hasn’t been very meaningful. Though neither character is always likable, the story still kept me involved, probably because of the danger and high stakes. My grade for “Cupcake” is a B.

“Dead and the President” by Tenea D. Johnson

Set in a dystopian future, Tenea De. Johnson’s “Dead and the President” begins when the consciousness of the main character, a young black woman named Dead, is inhabiting the body of the President. Dead intends to speak to the world from within his body, but the President pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head.

Dead then begins recounting her history to the reader. She was born in the Basin, where many people have inherited the special abilities given to blacks by a doctor who believed he was making genetic reparations. Dead’s talent is “phasing” into other people and controlling their actions.

Dead is a motherless twelve year old when she is tagged by the Internal Processing Department, which tracks those with unusual abilities, and uses her talent to escape. She ends up Topside, where life is much nicer and safer, but she can’t forget about the hungry kids she left behind in the Basin, and eventually, she hatches a plan to help them.

Dead has the potential to be a sympathetic character, and there were a number of relationships that could have been involving in this story, not just the sexual one Dead eventually has with another young woman, but also her friendships with a girl named Nina in the Basin, and with an elderly woman named Cecilia in Topside. But these pass by the reader quickly, like houses glimpsed briefly from the window of a moving car. It is hard to get invested in these people, even when they mean a lot to Dead, because we readers hardly get to spend time with them.

What gets the most attention in “Dead and the President” is the setting. Dead’s world is an interesting place, but I almost stopped reading a few pages in, when the unfamiliar terms became difficult to decipher. I still don’t understand exactly what a couple of them mean, even after reading certain paragraphs three or four times. Johnson has a nice writing style, and another thing I liked about the story was the way the futuristic setting reflected social and political injustice. This aspect of the worldbuilding was well handled and thought-provoking, but for me, it’s not enough to make up for what’s missing. C- for “Dead and the President.”

Overall, the anthology was a bit uneven, but still worth reading in my opinion, with four enjoyable stories and two weaker ones. I want to reiterate my plea for more fiction from Jesse Sandoval, who writes so beautifully. I will be keeping my eye out on future offerings from Blind Eye Books, too. My overall grade for Tangle Girls is a B-.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook.

REVIEW: Naamah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey

Jia — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:07:57 +0000

Dear Ms. Carey,

I think it’s no secret that you’re one of my favorite authors. Even though the Sundering duology didn’t do much for me, I loved the original Kushiel trilogy featuring Phedre and Joscelin. I’ve also been in something of a reading funk, finding myself unable to finish any book at all. I don’t think this is necessarily due to the much-dreaded paranormal malaise we’ve talked about in the past here at Dear Author, but I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t part of it. Thankfully, your latest book in the Kushiel universe came out recently and I knew that’d be guaranteed to kick me out of my funk. And what do you know, I was right.

Set over a century after the second Kushiel trilogy about Imriel and Sidonie, Naamah’s Kiss is about Moirin, a member of the Maghuin Dhonn from Alba. Readers familiar with Imriel’s trilogy will recognize the Maghuin Dhonn as being the principle antagonists from the second book, Kushiel’s Justice. In that book, the tribe committed a grave atrocity in order to preserve the continued survival of their people. In their eyes, it was necessary crime because if they hadn’t, their tribe would have been destroyed. Even so, it was a deed that resulted in repercussions. The Maghuin Dhonn were once powerful sorcerers and shapechangers. (They worship a goddess that takes the form of a giant bear.) But for the actions they took in Kushiel’s Justice, their goddess punished them — taking away their magic and shapeshifting ability.

Moirin comes from the era of diminished Maghuin Dhonn. She lives in the wild with her mother, learning the small magics that are still available to them: talking to animals, cloaking herself in twilight (making herself invisible to other’s eyes provided they weren’t looking at her when she did so), and listening to the voice of trees. But when she undergoes the rite of passage that marks her as an adult, Moirin discovers her destiny lies across the sea. For while her mother is a member of the Maghuin Dhonn, the father she’s never known is none other than a D’Angeline priest who serves Naamah, the goddess of desire.

What follows is a coming of age story that takes Moirin from her home in the Alban wilderness to the intrigue-filled courts of Terre d’Ange and then finally, to the faraway lands of Ch’in. And through it all, she learns there might be a reason why a D’Angeline priest would be called by his goddess to sleep with a woman from the Maghuin Dhonn, and vice versa. From the time Moirin was a child, she’s been touched by gods. Not only the great bear her people worship, but also by a bright lady and a man holding a seedling in his palm. I don’t want to go into much detail about the cosmology of this series’ world, but people who’ve read the other books set in this world will likely recognize who these people are.

There is much to like about this book. It’s very sex-positive. Moirin is very much in control of her own sexuality and being touched by Naamah, that’s a good thing. Having grown up in the wilderness with only her mother to keep her company, Moirin has lived a very solitary existence and it’s not until she befriends another boy her age that she realizes how isolated her life has been. But when that friendship turns to something more, she soon realizes she can never be the prim and proper wife her lover wants to be and finds his proprietary attitude towards her body stifling and unattractive. So I did like that aspect — it is Moirin’s body and sexuality and there’s absolutely no reason why she must conform to someone else’s ideas of what she should do with them. She’s not an object to belong to only one man without having any say in the matter.

I also enjoyed the relationships between the women in this book. I think readers who remember the relationship between Phedre and Melisande from the original Kushiel trilogy will find much to like in the relationship between Moirin and Jehanne, a former courtesan and the young second wife of the D’Angeline monarch. I also liked the relationship between Moirin and Snow Tiger, the Ch’in princess she later meets, but it’s the one with the young queen that really shines in all its complicated glory.

Speaking of the Ch’in princess, can I just say she’s awesome? Because Snow Tiger is so unbelievably awesome, I cannot emphasize this enough. I would read an entire book about her alone. I know the chances of her getting her own book aren’t very high but at the very least, there were enough spaces in the narrative to let me imagine there could be.

On the other hand, I think the relationships Moirin has with women sometimes overshadow those she has with men. A lot of the time, I didn’t find them very interesting because they followed some very standard, well-used storylines and I tend not to be as vested in plotlines whose resolutions I can predict far ahead of time, especially in fantasy novels.

One thing that will be of interest to people — and was in the fact the first question Jane asked me when she heard I’d read the book — is that there is no BDSM in this book. The lack of Kushiel is probably a hint about that, but I wanted to toss that out since I know that can make a difference in whether or not a person will pick up this title. And while I know I should find it refreshing that we’re exploring another aspect of the cosmology and expanding the existing world, I actually kind of miss the BDSM aspect. Without it, the book felt a little vanilla to me.

And finally, we come to the one thing that annoyed me. I realize Phedre and Joscelin were the heroes of their time, and I also know that Imriel played a role in some adventures too. But did every story about a famous hero or adventure be related to them? It’s unavoidable because as I said, they were the heroes of their time but honestly, I find it hard to believe that every single story told would be about them. Surely there are other famous heroes to tell stories about?

Overall, I did like this book and found it immensely readable, which considering my recent reading blues is one of the highest compliments I can give. But at the same time, I find myself relatively neutral about Moirin’s relationship with the character who becomes the love of her life because the story dynamics surrounding their romance are ones that don’t particularly excite me. The specific details about the romance dynamics are spoilers for the end of the book so I’ll hide them (highlight to read): There aren’t any substantial obstacles in the path leading towards Moirin getting together with her hero but she loses him at the end and the set-up for the next book is her going after him to get him back. Even so, I am looking forward to the next book and seeing what’s in store for Moirin. B

My regards,
Jia

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

REVIEW: Jessie’s Girl by Amber Scott

Jayne — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:00:17 +0000

Dear Ms. Scott,

I’m so glad that The Powers That Be at Liquid Silver offered me a chance to read your novel. And so sorry it took me seemingly ages to get to it. But the book is more than worth it to read. I only wish the title didn’t bring to mind 80s heart throb Rick Springfield’s first hit song.

Jessie Hayes feels like she’s been hit by a thunderbolt when her twin brother Kyle introduces his new girlfriend at their older brother’s wedding. Sabrina French is hawt and most definitely not the wholesome girl Kyle seems to think she is. But Jessie fights her attraction for the slightly older girl since 1) she’s Kyle’s girlfriend and 2) Jessie assumes by that that Sabrina doesn’t bat for the same team as Jessie.

Turns out on her last night there, that Sabrina turns the tables on Jessie and initiates an encounter that will haunt both women for the next six years. Jessie still keeps quiet the next day but feels like shit when she learns that Sabrina has broken off with Kyle. She feels worse when Sabrina won’t answer her phone calls and sends Jessie a letter ending their relationship before it’s even begun.

Now it’s six years later and the two meet while Sabrina is having the final fitting for her wedding gown. It’s obvious that feelings still run deep but is Sabrina any more ready to accept the truth about her sexuality and her feelings for Jessie than she was then?

First off, the book is hot. The sex is hot and the feelings these two have for each other jump off the page. Some of my questions about why Sabrina turned tail and fled, then didn’t contact Jessie for so long were answered in her “appearances are everything” family. Plus, from what I gathered, Sabrina had never thought she might be a lesbian so the reality of her first encounter must have thrown her for a loop. But…she then had some experimentation with women so why did she never attempt to get in touch with Jessie?

Jessie, thank goodness, picks herself up and tries again for love in the intervening time though, of course, never finds anyone quite as good as Sabrina. I liked that she has the manners to quickly tell her current girlfriend that things just won’t work out. And that she’s still torn about her twin, and best friend, brother finding out the truth. She loves Sabrina but doesn’t want to hurt him.

The scenes with her sister-in-law and her brother Lawrence in the hospital for the birth of their child were a hoot. Birth plans, smurth plans – nothing stays the same once those labor pains really kick in. Plus I was relieved that at least some of them had suspected all along and were ready to help true love out.

Having read this f/f story, I find it hard to believe that this aspect of the GLBT genre hasn’t taken off as much as m/m. I very much enjoyed this one and hope to see far more. B

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in ebook format from Liquid Silver.

REVIEW: I Do, Anthology

Jayne — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:00:19 +0000

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I think I’ve mentioned before that anthologies usually make me twitch. I know I’m usually looking at a few great stories, some good ones, a few ‘meh’ ones and a couple that make me shudder. Depending on how many are in the collection. It’s rare that I read an entire anthology. It’s even rarer when every one of the entries is good. Congratulations.

I won’t discuss every story – for that I’ll say people should check out Elisa Rolle’s review – but I will talk about why I like them. Because the writing is good, the characters are people I could walk down the street and see at any street corner. Okay, maybe not the historical molly house party goers, the men in the French Foreign Legion or the Prince from the fairy tale but most of the rest are just ordinary people, living their lives, trying to do what we all attempt in life.

Some have found that special someone and have relationships that have lasted for years or mere days. Others are still searching. Some have experienced loss, either through death, divorce or social pressure. They’re having problems with their families, their jobs, the movers, the studio execs and their fans, the cops, their students, and their exes.

Some have been rejected by those who should be closest to them. Others have found acceptance when they never expected it. They are fathers and mothers, they are younger and older, they are black and white, they are everyone.

You tell their stories in first person, in alternate POVs, in third person and third person present tense. The stories are mainly contemporaries though I really enjoyed the two historicals and the opening fairy tale. Some stories are funny, some sad, some bittersweet, some violent.

But I finished each story, whether it was long or short, feeling that I’d just gotten a vivid glimpse into someone else’s life. And I found myself pulling for all of them to be able just to live an ordinary life, like everyone else, with no fingers pointed, no judgments made, no fanfare or hoopla. Just to be accepted. Maybe one day. Good job, one and all. B+

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in ebook format from AllRomanceEbooks and other etailers.

REVIEW: Apache Eyes by Yeva Wiest

Jayne — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:00:23 +0000

Dear Ms. Wiest,

“Apache Eyes” is the second novella from you I’ve read. And it’s totally different from the first one. Not just because it’s a f/f historical but because it lacks the black humor that made “Practical Purposes” such a joy to read. But that’s okay, as it shows that you’re not just a one note author.

The novella starts strongly with intense descriptions that put me in the heart of the action. Jenny Barden is alone, in the heat of a blazing Arizona day, burying her slime of a husband who was killed during an Apache raid on the Barden homestead. Jenny, raised in the area, had been aware of the fact that an Apache band was watching the place and had hidden, thus escaping her husband’s fate. But she knows she’s still being watched and senses it’s a woman doing the watching.

Miakoda, daughter of Cochise, saves Jenny a second time by tending to her heatstroke before both yield to the intense attraction between them. But they have to overcome many barriers to their long-term future since there’s no love lost between the Apaches fighting to retain their homeland in the face of White aggression to wrest it from them.

“Apache Eyes” formatted to 103 pages on my ebook reader (Microsoft Lit 128 kb), so you don’t have a lot of space to work with in which to deal with the complexities of the plot. And thus, though I was disappointed that you resorted to a number of tried and true Romance cliches/stock characters, it’s understandable.

1) Jenny’s husband is a no good slime. He courted her for her homestead then treated her like dirt. Thus when we learn the Apaches tortured and killed him, he’s no great loss and no impediment to Jenny falling for one of his killers.

2) In most of the Native American historical romances I’ve ever tried to read, the white heroine (and I see Jenny as the heroine and Miakoda more as the hero) is treated badly by her own people and, after an initial getting-to-know-you period when she learns all about her new Indian people and maybe is tested by them, well by the Indians. Jenny’s lived a lot of her life in the Arizona Territory, seems to have always lived among white people and never even had any Indian acquaintances much less BFFs but within a few days, she’s batting for the other team. In fact, she makes it her goal to wreak havoc on an Army fort by allowing her new lover and Miakoda’s Apache band access.

3) Of course this isn’t supposed to bother the reader since you’ve painted most of the white people as mean, greedy, savage bastards and the Indians as pure defenders of their Homeland. I suspect the truth lies somewhere between these extremes but with the exception of one bad Injun and two nice white women, we see little of that.

4) Everybody loves Jenny – or at least wants to shag her. Her no good husband shagged her – with little thought for her pleasure, the bad Injun wanted to rape her, two bad white men wanted to rape her, the hero(ine) Miakoda wants to shag her, and another white woman wants to shag her too. Gosh, everyone wants in Jenny’s knickers and how many times should the heroine avoid rape in one story?

5) Most of the men in the story are terrible. The one exception is the store owner who helped Jenny after the death of her husband. The rest? Cruel bastards. Yeah, I know this is a f/f story but not all men are Evil.

I also noticed some historical details that made me pause and consider whether or not they were correct. The army fort sounds like something out of a John Ford western movie. My impression is that most western army forts, and especially those in Arizona where there aren’t that many trees, didn’t have stockade walls so Jenny’s whole “sneak in the fort to open the gates” plan was unnecessary. Second, why would a General be in charge of a frontier fort? And why would you say a Colonel is his superior officer? Not in any army I’ve ever read about.

Fictionwise lists “Apache Eyes” as erotica instead of romance and I tend to agree with that. Most of the f/f scenes are hawt erotica. You make the effort to incorporate a HEA and show that Miakoda and Jenny genuinely love each other. Yet, since for most of the novella they can barely communicate vocally, by necessity it becomes a case of actions needing to speak louder than words. As I said in my other GLBT reviews, erotica generally doesn’t work as well for me as romance and since in this case you don’t supply Miakoda’s POV even to Jenny, it’s hard for me to see as much romance as erotica in the story. But the novella is clearly labeled as erotica so I’m not taking off points for this.

Finally, I wasn’t impressed with the deus ex machina aspect of the supernatural elements. Jenny can’t speak to Miakoda to convey some plot point? Just sprinkle magic dust on a fire and it’s better than a cell phone. Jenny is gravely injured? No worries since Miakoda is some kind of a moon witch and can call on magical snakes to heal her.

And thus, the book is going to get a D grade. It’s not because it’s a lesbian story or erotica, since it is clearly that way and I knew it going into the story, but mainly due to the cardboard secondary characters, historical details that I question and contrived magical stuff. I’m still interested in trying more f/f books but except for the romance aspect, I can’t recommend this one.

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at Books on Board (or other etailers).

REVIEW: CB: Dare Me by Leigh Ellwood

Jane — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:00:17 +0000

Dear Ms. Ellwood:

You have a fun sense of humor and your prose is quite readable. The romance, however, seemed rushed and pushed aside for the sake of the explicit sexual content. I had trouble believing that this couple truly loved each other or whether they just enjoyed the sex.

Cal Briscoe is a studio musician who struggles with the fact that at the age of fifty-one, he is unmarried and essentially alone. This loneliness is punctuated by the imminent marriage of his best friend, Brady, the hero in Truth or Dare, to a woman that Cal fancies himself with, Ellie. Much of the beginning half of the story is spent on the poignant feelings Cal exhibits when he longs for Ellie and his unrequited love for her.

Upon the urging of Brady, Cal decides to take refuge in Ellie’s hometown of Dareville, Virginia. There he meets Sue Carmichael, a photographer. Sue and Cal are opposites (the contest entry said think the Odd Couple) and often rub each other the wrong way.

The story is about taking chances and moving outside of one’s comfort zone for both Sue and Cal which is an excellent theme for a romance story (or any story). The problem lies in the fact that while there are a plethora of sex scenes (both fantasies and real acts), the romance story is left behind. The character growth is rushed. One minute Cal is a pot smoking slacker in love with his best friend’s fiancee and the next, Sue is his lastest crush and he is a work out fiend devoted to living better. The transformation lacked believability.

I can’t help but feel disappointed as you clearly have a good voice that is humorous and smooth. I’d certainly try you again but hope that next time a better balance is struck between the hot parts and the story. C for you. Take heart, though, Keishon liked this much better than I and just goes to show how subject reviews are.

Best regards,

Jane