Tag Archives: lesbrarians

Shana reviews Who We Could be by Chelsea Cameron

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Who We Could be by Chelsea Cameron

Who We Could Be is a fluffy, heartwarming romance about supposedly straight best friends who fall in love with each other. The story loosely reimagines two of my favorite characters, Anne Shirley and Diana Barry from Anne of Green Gables. I sometimes find coming out stories too predictable and trite. I loved this gooey, angst free story anyway, and recommend it for when you need an inclusive, low-conflict read.

Tessa is a quiet, nurturing, librarian who falls asleep most nights while giggling over the phone with her best friend Monty. She’s engaged to be married to a guy no one much likes, especially outspoken Monty. The two friends are fiercely and unapologetically each other’s most important person.

Monty works at a bookstore owned by her lesbian trans aunts, and is also engaged to her sweet friend Gilbert Gus, who she adores, but is more likely to play games with than kiss. When Tessa’s lackluster fiance cheats on her, Monty takes her on an alternate honeymoon. This leads to the two going on practice dates to help Tessa ease into dating again. Along the way these two figure out what everyone around them already knows: they’re perfect for one another.

Tessa and Monty have an intensely loving friendship, and watching them discover their romantic side left me squealing with joy. Their dynamic is a balm for every fan who sighed over two straight characters who clearly should be dating each other, whether that’s Rizzoli and Isles, or Diana and Anne.

Who We Could Be has an idyllic, fairy tale quality. It’s set in a progressive small New England town, and cocoons the characters within this supportive atmosphere. Instead of leaning into the drama of ended engagements and newfound sexuality, the story resolves potentially obstacles easily, letting Tessa and Monty’s playful relationship take center stage. I appreciated that the characters come to recognize their queer sexuality before falling in love with one another, and the role Monty’s aunts play in their drama-free coming out process.

Cameron specializes in stories about BFFs who fall in love, and after reading Who We Could Be, I devoured her backlist. This remains my favorite version of this trope. Highly recommended for fans of quiet romances.

Link Round Up: Oct 9-16

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Curve Magazine posted 24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards.

Lambda Literary posted Let’s Talk About Sex: Allison, Myles, and Woolf and Amanda Kyle Williams: Creating Kick-Ass Women.

The Outer Alliance posted OA Podcast #25: Live at Gaylaxicon!

      

“Queer Cogs: Steampunk, Gender Identity, and Sexuality” was posted at TOR.

“Keeping Up With the Gays of DC and Marvel” was posted at Out.

“Lee Lynch and Lori Lake on Lesbian Mystery, Police Raids, and Fairy Godmothers” was posted at The Advocate.

“Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite LGBTQ Authors” was posted at Bonjour, Cass!

      

Lisa Cohen was interviewed at The Hive.

Jeanne Cordova was interviewed at Ms Magazine.

Nann Dunne was interviewed by Q. Kelly.

KB Grant  (aka KT Grant) posted Why We Need More Lesbian Romance and Fiction.

Malinda Lo posted Upcoming events in Portland and Palo Alto and was interviewed at TOR.

Sassafras Lowrey posted National Coming Out Day.

      

The Raven’s Heart by Jesse Blackadder was reviewed at Piercing Fiction and Lambda Literary.

Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Landing by Emma Donoghue was reviewed by Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian.

People Who Disappear by Alex Leslie was reviewed by Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian.

The Lesbrary is looking for more Lesbrarians!

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You may have noticed that the Lesbrary hasn’t updated in a little while. At the moment, it’s just me (Danika) running the place, and to tell the truth, sometimes going to school and going to work get in the way. I’d the like the Lesbrary to be more active and have more contributors, though, so I’m looking for more Lesbrarians!

What’s a Lesbrarian?

A regular contributor to the Lesbrary (a lesbrarian, on the other hand, is a lesbian librarian and/or a bookish women-loving-woman). At the minimum, it means one scheduled post a month (the first Friday of every month, for instance), but you can have more scheduled posts (every second Tuesday or something), or have one scheduled post and more unscheduled posts when you have time. You can also just send in 12 posts in January and I can queue them for the rest of the year! It’s pretty flexible.

You can review any book with les/bi/etc content from any genre, nonfiction included. The posts don’t even have to be reviews: if you’d like to write a post about anything related to les/bi/etc books, that works too.

Posts can be posted elsewhere (such as your own blog) as well.

What are the perks?

Free les/bi/etc books! People send in electronic and physical versions of books to review, and at the moment, I have a stack that have piled up. That’s the main reason I’m looking for additional Lesbrarians. We may have to wrestle negotiate who gets to keep the physical books, but still.

What’s the difference between a Lesbrarian and a Guest Lesbrarian?

Lesbrarians post at least once a month, while guest lesbrarians send in reviews whenever they feel like it. Lesbrarians have posts on scheduled dates, while Guest Lesbrarians have their posts updated somewhat sporadically.  Lesbrarians have access to review copies of books.

What is “les/bi/etc” content?

I have yet to hit upon a succinct, accurate description of the demographic I’m aiming for with the Lesbrary. “Les/bi/etc content” is my shorthand for “content that includes or is about people who do not identify as men and are romantically and/or sexually attracted at least some of the time to other people who do not identify as men, including lesbians and bisexual/pansexual/omnisexual/some multisexual/etc women and genderqueer/agendered/bigendered/etc people, and also sexual and/or romantic content between two women regardless of their orientation, unless, of course, any of these people do not wish to be included under this umbrella,” and that’s still not including everyone who could be included under this umbrella unless they would not like to be included under this umbrella. So although “les/bi/etc” is problematic, until I can find something better, that’s the shorthand.

Anything else?

I’m looking for more than one other Lesbrarian, so there’s no competition. A romance reviewer would be especially great, because those are the ones that get sent in the most often. E-book readers would be great, too, because they’re usually digital copies.

If you’d like to be a Lesbrarian, email me at danikaellis@gmail.com!

Even if you’re not interested, consider passing on this link to other who might be interested (especially if they would appreciate having access to more les/bi/etc books).