If ever there were a lesson to be learned in distinguishing between the intentions of the author and those of her protagonist, it would be within Jae’s short story, “The Morning After,” which recounts the Valentine’s Day misadventures of actress Amanda Clark. Whereas I assumed the role of the indignant reader on my first pass,Read More
Kalyanii reviews Slow Burn by Marlene Leach
If truth be told, very little offends me. After all, I spent several years reviewing erotica back in the 1990’s, before the genre assumed any sense of responsibility with regard to consent, transparency or human dignity. However, in spite of all that fell short within Slow Burn, author Marlene Leach succeeded in utterly sickeningRead More
Kalyanii reviews One Hundred Days of Rain by Carellin Brooks
In honor of Carellin Brooks’s latest release, One Hundred Days of Rain, I chose an overcast weekend for which drizzle as well as thunderstorms were predicted to cozy up with my e-reader. I considered myself fortunate to have no pressing time commitments or obligations and donned my most comfortable pair of jeans so that IRead More
Kalyanii reviews Pissing in a River by Lorrie Sprecher
Throughout my reading of Lorrie Sprecher’s latest release, there was no denying the frustration — in fact, near torment — I endured in witnessing the chasm between what Pissing in a River is and what it could have been. One might equate the experience to an encounter with a woman who inspires boundless passion andRead More
Kalyanii reviewed Fly and Other Stories by Anneliese Poelsma
Among our most memorable literary experiences, can any truly compare to the excitement of discovering a new voice, most notably one that is capable of surprising, enlightening and toying with her reader to the extent that we are left to teeter on the cusp, craving each successive insight, nuance and twist in the plot? HavingRead More
Kalyanii reviews Chamber Music by Doris Grumbach
Whether it be within the epochs of our lives or the novels that engage us, we tend to so desperately seek resolution. Uncomfortable sitting with our emotions as they are, we placate ourselves with baseless assurances that at some point an outcome will be reached, allowing the experience to be neatly tucked away within theRead More
Kalyanii reviews The First Person and Other Stories by Ali Smith
My journey through The First Person and Other Stories, a collection by British writer Ali Smith, manifested as a perpetual pendulum swing between rapt attention to the tales’ unfolding and an uncomfortable sense of groundlessness mingled with a fair degree of alienation. I’ll admit, at several points along the way, I entertained the idea ofRead More
Kalyanii reviews Don’t Bang the Barista by Leigh Matthews
If truth be told, my initial interest in Don’t Bang the Barista probably had something to do with my long-held crush on the red-headed, fresh-faced beauty who works the morning shift at the coffee shop a couple of blocks from my office. However, with the turn of the first few pages, it became clear thatRead More
Kalyanii posted Her Name by Alicia Joseph
There is a good chance that any woman who has experienced the sense that hers is not the life she was destined to live will find something of a kindred spirit in Madison Andrews, the protagonist of Alicia Joseph’s novella, Her Name. Especially for those of us who have heard the not-so-distant ticking of the biologicalRead More
Kalyanii reviews Tangerine Twist by Suzie Carr
I’ll admit that I’ve never quite understood the draw of a character who one “loves to hate,” and I’m even more baffled by a character who one “hates to hate” as I did the protagonist of Tangerine Twist. Willing to give virtually anyone a pass for their idiosyncrasies, poor judgement or blatant stupidity, I foundRead More