Kalyanii reviews Too Late… I Love You by Kiki Archer

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Danika Ellis

It takes something special to soften the heart of a woman as jaded as myself who also has a notoriously difficult time suspending her disbelief; yet, on a snowy Tuesday afternoon, yours truly turned the final page of Kiki Archer’s latest novel and sighed. Bringing the coffee mug to my lips and gazing upon the flakes falling outside my window, there was no denying it. I had been touched.

Connie Parker tells herself she has the life of her dreams. After all, she is the mother of an adorable three-year-old son, Noah, who provides her with boundless love and gives her days meaning. So what if his father, Karl, has chosen to stay with her out of a sense of duty and obligation? Though he remains more committed to his work than either Connie or Noah, Karl has made it clear that she should be grateful for the roof over her head and the opportunity to tend to her son as a stay-at-home mom.

Yet, it is within the under-stairs cupboard where she writes that Connie finds solace and glimmers of possibility, for, through the journey of her protagonist, Bonnie Blythe, she stumbles upon her own personal truth and takes to penning a precedent for the unfolding of all for which she yearns, which comes to manifest alongside her burgeoning friendship with Maria, the mocha-eyed single mother who shows up one morning at playgroup.

Too Late… I Love You is nothing if not a page-turner. In spite of all attempts to set the book aside in order to tend to my to-do list, I couldn’t help but surrender to my need to discover what happens next, abandoning my best intentions for the hours that lay ahead. Not an inkling of the formulaic or predictable finds its way into Archer’s tale. Thus, my every expectation was shattered with each new twist and revelation. My attention remained rapt throughout, though I found a rather overdone thread of banter and innuendo toward the beginning to grow old quick.

Yet, not all of the humor was lost on me. The descriptions of Earth Mother’s pendulous breasts, unabashedly displayed at playgroup, had me laughing out loud; and, Connie’s visit to the sex shop provided some pretty interesting visuals, to say the least. Connie’s best friend, Ryan, contributes a hearty dose of campness to the tale, which truly wouldn’t be the same without him.

In spite of its impressive entertainment value, Too Late… I Love You addresses important topics such as same-sex parenthood, bisexual stigma and closeting in a tone that is affirming without being victimizing and courageous without coming across as preachy. Each occasion is handled without a break in the humor or pause in the plot, propelling the story’s momentum and subtly foreshadowing some of the most memorable scenes.

In truth, I’m incredibly grateful to have encountered Archer’s writing and will be exploring her earlier works as well, for there is something tremendously freeing in laughing out loud while allowing yourself, in the moment, to believe in fairytales, even if not your own.

Danika reviews Rescued Heart by Georgia Beers

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Danika Ellis

I’ve been wanting to get into the romance genre lately, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I enjoyed Fresh Tracks several years ago, so I knew I liked Georgia Beers’s writing style, and that combined with the premise made for a book I couldn’t resist. A lesbian romance centred around a rescue shelter? Lesbians and puppies??

Rescued Heart is told in dual perspectives: Lisa’s and Ashley’s. Ashley is a cute-as-a-button cookie baker who volunteers at the shelter and has spent her life passively going with the flow of things. Lisa works at the shelter and comes across as uptight. She is determined to not have to take care of anyone (anymore), though she’s also reluctant to give up control.

Ashley and Lisa are obviously drawn towards each other, and both find themselves acting in surprising ways with the other’s influence. They have good chemistry, but it’s the setting and background characters that really make the novel for me. Junebug shelter seems like a real place, and it’s populated with a whole host of characters. Beers is obviously setting up for a series, but it also gives the whole story more depth. Characters weave in and out of their story without being essential to it.

The tension is also not just between the main characters. Ashley is contemplating her role at the bakery, and she’s let herself get stuck in a tepid romance. Lisa is struggling to avoid the mother that walked out on her as a teen and is now trying to establish a relationship with her decades later. And, of course, dogs and cats are prominent on the page, both at Junebug and in Lisa’s home.

I did have one cringing moment while reading this, however. [Spoilers] Ashley and Lisa agree at one point that they should go on a date without sleeping together, in order to deal with their issues. At the end of the date, Lisa pins her against a wall and they have sex anyway, even as Ashley feebly reminds her that they weren’t supposed to. They are both happy and satisfied during and after, and Ashley clearly doesn’t feel like Lisa went too far or that she was not consenting, but it still threw me out of the story. [End Spoilers]

Overall, Rescued Heart lived up to its premise, and I’m excited to read more in the Puppy Love series as they come out. Junebug is definitely a place I want to revisit.

Link Round Up: March 14 – 25

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Danika Ellis

AfterEllen posted The Lesbians Don’t Die: An Interview with Kaitlin Ward, Author of YA Horror Novel “Bleeding Earth”.

Autostraddle posted

On Book Riot, I posted It’s Time To Use the B(isexual) Word.

Lambda Literary posted Kaitlyn Greenidge: On Her New Novel ‘We Love You, Charlie Freeman’ and Writing Fully Realized Characters.

Social Media Lesbrarian posted Networking with LGBTQ+ Librarians, Authors, and Other Queer Bookish Folks on Social Media.

“Lesbian Authors Have Typically Been Excluded From Mainstream Success. Can Sarah Schulman Change That?” was posted at Slate.

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis was reviewed at Disability in Kidlit.

Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis was reviewed at BCLA LGBTQ Interest Group.

Confucius Jane by Katie Lynch was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

The Right Time by Susan Meagher was reviewed at Lesbian Reading Room.

Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology edited by Sfé R. Monster was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Queer: A Reader for Writers edited by Jason Schneiderman was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Blurred Lines by K.D. Williamson was reviewed at C-Spot Reviews.

This post, and all posts at the Lesbrary, have the covers linked to their Amazon pages. If you click through and buy something, I might get a small referral fee. For even more links, check out the Lesbrary’s twitter! We’re also on Facebook, Goodreads, Youtube and Tumblr.

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Marthese reviews The Housing Crisis by Kate McLay

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Danika Ellis

“She transformed from sullen hipster to beautiful girl”

I don’t tend to read many contemporaries but the plot in this novella sounded interesting. The Housing Crisis is set in Chicago and follows Alyssa, who’s suddenly one roommate short and Hannah, who needs to find alternative lodging soon after a break-up. Hannah is sure of her sexuality and queerness, Alyssa never questioned her sexuality.

From the very first time they meet, they click and soon move in together and thus the housing crisis for both is resolved. What isn’t resolved is the growing tension between the two. Hannah has a crush on Alyssa and this is made clear from the beginning, however, Alyssa’s feelings aren’t to be discarded.

Alyssa comes from a very conservative background. Despite this, even before meeting Hannah, Alyssa made her own choices and formed her own believes which were not always in line with her family’s. I think that this independent thinking that does not arise from co-dependency is great. I was pleasantly surprised with Alyssa’s character and behavior. She isn’t the catholic-girl-from-a-small-town that you would expect her to be. She has guts, is spunky and although she is afraid, she fights for what she wants.

Hannah has had a bad experience with being in a relationship with a ‘straight’ girl but although she thinks she should knows better, her feelings for Alyssa cannot be ignored. She is honest about her past relationship from the beginning, in fact in this novella there wasn’t drama based on misunderstandings that is often used to create tension.

In the story, there is also a trans character. This character was not there simply for tokenism but plays a key part in a plot twist that is a bit far-fetched but not unrealistic.

The only thing that I did not like in the story was the implications on sexuality. Granted, this is something that most people think but as someone that identifies on the ace spectrum, it irked me that when it was clear that Alyssa had a lack of experience in sexual history, there was the implication that she is missing out on a lot and that everyone wants sex.

Alyssa’s and Hannah’s interactions are honest, emotional and mature but still gleeful. They do not beat around the bush and although there is some tension, there is no drama.

The story was not just about their relationship but also on their work careers, they are both having break through and want success while supporting each other.

All these elements make this short story very refreshing. It’s a quick read and their relationship progress was cute and not boring.

I would recommend this to people that enjoy contemporary and romance books or wish to read a drama free (or less dramatic) story about two people in love.

Danika reviews Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Danika Ellis

I feel completely unqualified to talk about this book. After reading (and falling in love with) Piepzna-Samarasinha’s book of poetry Bodymap, I knew I had to read her memoir. The things I loved about Bodymap are present in Dirty River as well: Piepzna-Samarasinha’s strong voice, her sharp and precise words, and the deep dive into disability, queerness, poverty, abuse, and survival. Although this is prose, it’s clearly written by a poet: the imagery and language are evocative and precise.

This is a story that lays it all out on the table. It’s vulnerable and resilient. She explores what it means to survive. What constitutes healing or “getting out”. Dirty River tackles a lot, but it’s accessible and engrossing. I don’t have the words to contain Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha’s writing. Pick it up. These are the stories that nourish.

Danika reviews My Year Zero by Rachel Gold

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Danika Ellis

When I met Blake, I had no idea that she would destroy my life.

My Year Zero makes for a great addition to the lesbian YA genre. In a lot of ways, it’s a refreshing change from the standard lesbian YA narrative. Lauren is a Jewish teenager with an emotionally neglectful father. One of the other major characters is bipolar. Add into this mix an unhealthy first relationship, a group storytelling/roleplaying website, and an enthusiasm for math, and you have a lot more to juggle than most queer YA I’ve read attempt to do.

This also isn’t a coming out story. The first page includes the paragraph

A few months after I turned sixteen, I figured it was time to have sex. Almost half of American teens have had sex before they turn seventeen, so if I could get laid this year I’d be a little ahead of the curve. And I’m talking girl-girl sex here, so it wasn’t like I had to worry about getting her pregnant.

One of my favourite parts about My Year Zero is the strong voice. Lauren sounds like a teenager. She’s funny, relateable, and sometimes in way over her head. I was hooked from that first sentence, and the more I learned about Blake, the more intrigued I was. As a personal preference, I loved the focus on the collaborative storytelling group that Lauren joins. I was part of a similar community when I was a teenager (though it was more roleplaying than original storytelling), and it was partly how I began my first relationship.

Like Just Girls, I thought My Year Zero managed to weave all these aspects together smoothly. This actually reminds me of the requests I often see on tumblr about the kinds of stories they want to be reading. It’s intersectional and doesn’t just focus on coming out. I can’t speak to the portrayal of mental health or Lauren’s Jewish identity–though I have seen some criticism of both from reviewers who are better informed–but on the whole I think this is a very necessary addition to the canon. In fact, Rachel Gold seems to be doing now what Julie Anne Peters did ten years ago: pushing LGBT representation in YA forward, one book at a time, making room for even more representative and authentic stories to come.

Megan Casey Reviews In the Game by Nikki Baker

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Danika Ellis

Virginia Kelly is black. This is significant because it makes her the first African-American sleuth in lesbian fiction. Likewise, Nikki Baker is the first African-American author of lesbian mysteries. This makes In the Game an important literary event. At a mere 171 pages, this is one of Naiad’s shortest books, and it is also one of their sweetest.

Living in Chicago, where she got her MBA, Virginia Kelly has a well-paying job, an intelligent lover, and two good friends in Bev and Naomi. She certainly seems to have a good life going, but when Bev’s lover Kelsey is murdered near a lesbian bar, a pall is cast over them all. Naomi is worried about being outed if it becomes known that she associated with lesbian Kelsey. Ginny is worried that Bev will be charged with the murder and hires a lawyer to defend her. I guess that’s enough plot, because, although it is a good one, that’s not what makes this book outstanding.

Nikki Baker is one of the few authors who can outwrite her editor Katherine V. Forrest (Kate Allen is another). There is little poetic language or ethereal descriptions here; rather it is Ginny’s internal thought processes that put Baker in a class by herself. She waxes almost philosophical in almost everything she thinks about—from the presence of black women in high finance to love. And add chaos to that list: “Maybe craziness and order chase each other through our lives like seasons.” Ginny’s girlfriend Emily, like Gianna Maglione in Penny Mickelbury’s fine series of novels, is a white woman, so In the Game has another important racial element to it as well. In fact, black woman/white woman couplings seem to be a motif in Baker’s fiction. Another motif is that Ginny works in finance, an unusual profession for a black woman in the early 1990s—and don’t think that Ginny doesn’t obsess about that choice and about how she actually fits into a white, straight, world.

It is interesting that Ginny’s friend Naomi Wolf has the same name as the feminist author of The Beauty Myth, which came out in the same year as this book. Coincidence?

The only nitpick I can find in this book is that Ginny’s actions sometimes don’t live up to her thoughts. Not only does Ginny’s friend Naomi guess who the murderer is way before Ginny, but most readers will probably guess as well. A slight fault, and the only one this nitpicker can come up with.

Truthfully, it is hard to find a rating high enough for this book. Certainly it is as good as anything Naiad put out. And for it to be one of the first 50 or so lesbian mystery novels ever to be published speaks highly of the author and her editors.

For 200 other Lesbian Mystery reviews by Megan Casey, see her website at http://sites.google.com/site/theartofthelesbianmysterynovel/ or join her Goodreads Lesbian Mystery group at http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/116660-lesbian-mysteries

Anna M. reviews Ready or Not by Melissa Brayden

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Danika Ellis

Ready or Not is the third and final book in Melissa Brayden’s Soho Loft series of romances (previous titles: Kiss the Girl and Just Three Words) about a group of four women who run an advertising agency named Savvy. Having successfully paired off everyone but the firm’s go-getting leader, Mallory Spencer, Brayden turns to her remaining task with zeal, pairing Mallory with the equally driven Hope Sanders.

As Savvy’s public face, Mallory draws upon her upper-crust background, killer instincts, and impeccable taste to make the business successful. Lately, she’s been feeling a little left out, given that all her friends have found romantic partners. Brooklyn and Jessica, who were featured in Kiss the Girl, are even relying on her to help plan their wedding. She is definitely not interested in the hot bartender, Hope, who always sends her free drinks at her favorite bar.

Hope Sanders is an entrepreneur whose bar, Showplace, has been a regular setting throughout Brayden’s series. She’s always been attracted to Mallory, despite the fact that she considers her a snob. She’s got an identical twin sister who’s been in her fair share of trouble but is trying to start her life over. After Mallory’s friends engineer an encounter between her and Hope during one of Mallory’s Hamptons house parties, the pair realize they have amazing chemistry despite the difference in their financial backgrounds. When Hope’s sister and business end up in trouble, will their chemistry and fledgling bond be enough to keep them together?

I enjoyed the emphasis on real problems–moneylending between partners is always a thorny question–but I was never quite clear on why Mallory resisted Hope for so long. Mallory is really made of stern stuff, which probably contributes to her appeal. I also appreciated the way Brayden continued plotlines from the first two books, wrapping up neatly with a wedding for her first pair. The trilogy was enjoyable and definitely worth a read if you’re looking for solid romance or interconnected stories about a group of friends.