Nichole reviews Players by Robbi Sommers

Players by Robbi Sommers is the story of Ruby and Markie and their many other love interests. The book itself plays out quite a bit like that hit TV show we all watched and swooned over. The characters are truly relatable and Sommers is unafraid to air all their dirty laundry out for us to gawk at. Truly an enjoyable erotica novel, Ruby and Markie are a couple you root for and hate at the same time. The story follows their past together and their present as seperate entities, which can become a little confusing, but overall Sommers does a pretty decent job of guiding you through the back and forth of their thoughts, particualrly Ruby’s as she is the main character. Ruby, although no wholly inexperienced, is along for a rough ride with Markie, who prides herself on being a ladies’ woman. Ruby has her trists with other women as well, especially Valerie, a wealthy and sensual woman Ruby meets in passing.

Many other women come in and out of Ruby and Markie’s lives, but Sommers is hardly shy about the true affection Ruby has for Markie. Ruby is the kind of charcter you hate to relate to. She is flawed and hung up on an old fling – something all of us have dealt with once in a while. Within the first few pages I found myself already connected to her, but as she cleans out her closet and digs through her clothes indecively she comes across a letter she had written to Markie in anger and then I wished I hadn’t seen as much of her in myself as I had. Truly she is more relatable than any character I’d come across in quite a while.

Ruby calls Markie, “the only woman who had ever gotten in close enough to tear my heart to shreds” and that alone explains most of their relationship. Markie is a business executive with an attitude to match her job. She’s highly sexual and not shy about it in the least – the kind of woman some wish they were. She’s wealthy and is certainly the main “player” of the group, but as Ruby comes in and out of her life we begin to see that she is more than a player – although little more. She considers herself a “lover extraordinaire” and it certainly seems she was. Markie is set on playing Ruby because she recognizes Ruby herself as a player. Ruby knows that she’s in trouble as soon as she feels herself falling for Markie, but through lovers like Valerie, who spoils her senseless, Loren, Jean and Susan, we see different aspect of Ruby and even in Markie’s other love interests, Lara and Sandra, Markie takes a different tone.

Sommer’s juggles the lives of these women and their love interests with daring and heartfelt emotional text and with erotica that keeps your heart racing. I’ll leave the rest for you to find out. It’s definitely worth the read and Sommers makes sure you can’t put the book down. It will be by my nightside table for quite a while.

Nichole reviews Scarcity by Kate Genet

Scarcity by Kate Genet is the short story of a painter, Teresa, and her relationship with a much younger girl, Scarcity. Within the first few pages Genet gives a good description of the artist, but the reader still has’t really gotten a clear picture of who the main character is yet. She seems to be completely engrossed in her work and still somehow uninterested. She is obviously heckled about her orientation by the people in her community and when Scarcity becomes a part of her life her awareness of this is sure heightened. Scarcity is young and headstrong. She knows she wants to be a part of Teresa’s life and isn’t afraid to pursue the much older woman. Teresa is attracted to her and Genet makes sure her reader knows this – almost to the point of discomfort. Although Scarcity is close to eighteen and Teresa’s age is never given, the age difference inferred in Teresa’s hesitation gave me personal discomfort. The description of physical intimacy is mild when one considers the genre; however, the dialogue and body language of both characters are filled with sexual tension. This made finishing the book almost awkward.

The story, however, is not without merit. The relationship the two women share is sweet and caring, despite the awkwardness of the age gap. Scarcity is fun and lighthearted despite her rough background and she brings out in Teresa a lightness – a break from her serious demeanor. Scarcity and Teresa truly become friends and even though the girl pushes for more, Teresa maintains some distance. Scarcity is surely a shameless flirt, but Teresa is shy and unsure about her feelings. Perhaps this comes from the age difference, but it quickly becomes obvious that the hesitation Teresa has is deeper than that. For me, this is what makes the story worth reading – and perhaps a story worth continuing on the part of the author. I felt like I had just begun to understand the true dynamic of the charcaters beyond their age and the story ended. I suppose it is not for the reader to judge the choices of the characters and their relationship, but I will certainly judge the author in wishing she had written more than a scarce 42 pages (electronic) on such a potentially enthralling couple. To each her own, I found myself saying in the end and wishing Genet more inspiration concerning the story of an uninspired artist and a troubled girl.

Laura Mandanas and Nichole review Sleeping with the Frenemy by KT Grant

Nichole:

I absolutely loved this book. Deborah is possibly one of the most relatable characters I’ve come across in a long time and still she is raw and sweet and a bit of a bitch. She’s been through hell and manages to come out on top and I know I spent the entire book rooting for her success.

Deborah is the main character and from the first page I was drawn into her. She is sexy and shy and oh so sweet, but there is a darker side to Deborah’s life. Grant brings to life in raw, unyeilding terms, the horrors of abusive relationships, which stand true no matter the sex of the partners. But Deborah is not a victim, not anymore anyway.

Perhaps that’s why I clung to every page. She isn’t running, but becoming something bigger, something better and realizing she is deserving of more than the “love” she’s had for four years.

The icing on the cake came with Brigette, a fiery red head with a passion for art and Deborah. Tenderness and an ache for love pulse through her every move and Grant lets you see that in the sweetest way.

Sure there are times when the plot drags and a few choppy sentences, but overall this novel had me spell bound. (I literally read it in one sitting.) A great plot, heavy emotion and a few sweet, sultry love scenes make this book a keeper in my collection. 🙂

– Nichole

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Laura:

I had a bit of a different take on this book. While I found the sex scenes to be compelling and well written, they were the lone bright spots in a sea of mediocrity. Sleeping with the Frenemy is utterly predictable; there’s just no cleverness, no imagination, no life. The plot reads as if Lifetime fired their absolute worst scriptwriter and he or she got a $5 an hour temp job churning out cheap romance paperbacks. The villain even has a classical music soundtrack, for crying out loud.

Also? This is just a minor annoyance I had, but Sleeping with the Frenemy really doesn’t make sense as a title. Frenemy: friend + enemy. Neither of the women the protagonist sleeps with meet this description. A more appropriate title might have been “Damp: Ladies Who Need to Get It On 30+ Times A Day.” Or “J. Anistonitis: Life With Spidey-Sense Nipples.” Or possibly “Foolish: An Abused Young Woman Who Never Even Considers Calling The Police and Almost Gets Killed Because Of It.”

Beyond that, the ebook is cheap and the sex scenes are plentiful. I wouldn’t call this a bad book, but it’s certainly not a good one, either. Your call.

– Laura

Nichole reviews Unavailable by Angela Kelly

Unavailable by Angela Kelly: A collection of short fiction. A look into a woman’s heart – the strength of which comes from the experience and humorous, raw rhetoric.

I loved this book.

Right off the bat you know Kelly is going to take you some place new. She introduces “the unsures.” And then describes several of these bisexual women, and other characters, who have molded Kelly into who she is.

While the book could definitely be classified as a romance of sorts, the most relatable portion, at least from a young lesbian perspective such as my own, is the coming of age Kelly experiences throughout the book. Learning to map her way through her own heart and the LGBT dating world is something no one was ever taught in school. In that way, Kelly’s stories give me a bit of hope and a bit of insight into the way relationships, especially those that involve same-sex preferenced partners.

They can be tricky, says Kelly through her book. They can be heartbreaking and wonderful as well. Unavailable, however, goes beyond that and with humor, wit and heart pounding truth is truly a story of the redemption of coming to know yourself.

Grab some tissues. You’ll be laughing til you cry and tearing up a bit as well.

– Nichole