As I’ve mentioned before on this site, I’ve read pretty much everything written by Karin Kallmaker, and I am pleased to report that Roller Coaster is her best effort in years. The novel is almost twice as long as her usual work (according to her blog it’s the longest book of her career), and her deliberate approach pays off asRead More
Maryam reviews Scandal in the Wind by KT Grant
I had the recent pleasure of seeing the musical Wicked, and though I enjoyed it, I complained about the ridiculously short development of Elphaba and Fiero’s romance. When I would do this, I would inevitably get a response of “OMG, have you read the book?” “No,” I would say, thinking to myself: I don’t readRead More
Danika reviewed Maye’s Request by Clifford Henderson
In some ways, Maye’s Request seems like a very small story. It takes place in a short period of time, maybe a week or so. It revolved around the main character’s mother, father, and aunt, with her romance taking a definite backseat. At the same time, the characters and interactions between these four are soRead More
Danika reviews Love Spell by Karen Williams
Okay, so it may be a little late to pick this up for Halloween, but still! I’ll admit, I picked up this book entirely because of Rie (Friend of Dorothy Wilde)’s review, so you should probably check that out. I’m going to go with the negatives first, in a convenient bulleted list There definitely isRead More
Danika reviews 18th & Castro by Karin Kallmaker
18th & Castro by Karin Kallmaker is a collection of stories set on Halloween in the Castro. It’s part of the “Bella After Dark” (erotica) collection of Bella Books, which I wasn’t aware of when I picked it up. It’s still not entirely erotica, though. The emphasis is more on the characters and relationships thanRead More
Anna reviews Storms by Gerri Hill
I’ve read almost all of the books Gerri Hill has written. I’ve enjoyed romances like Behind the Pine Curtain and Love Waits and been more skeptical of recent “action-romance” pieces like The Scorpion. Thankfully, Storms (2011) falls more into the mold of the engaging romances I favor, in both good and bad ways. Carson CartwrightRead More
Danika reviews Call Me Softly D. Jackson Leigh
I’ve got to tell you, I am perhaps unreasonably impressed by this book. I’ve been reading a lot of self-published lesbian fiction, and I’m sorry to say that that often lowers the bar. Besides, Call Me Softly even corrects some common published lesfic annoyances, in that it has a plot unrelated to the romance. ARead More
Laura Mandanas reviews “Gigglepuss” by Giselle Renarde
I have to say: I was a bit concerned when, four paragraphs in, the main love interest was characterized as a “Japanese anime schoolgirl.” (Like, really people. Can we just stop with the racist Asian exotification and extraordinarily sleazy fetishization of teenage girls? That would be great.) Normally I would have stopped reading there, butRead More
Kristi reviewed “Better With Age” by Beth Wylde
Olivia just went to pick up a birthday cake for her daughter Felicity, not to revisit the past. Yet when she discovers the shop owner is none other than her first — and last — love, Aleesha, everything comes back. As a kiss has Olivia thinking about her own mother’s actions which resulted in theirRead More
Kristi reviews Firestorm by Radclyffe
Mallory James is a cool-headed firefighter paramedic (aptly nicknamed Ice) who leads a band of smokejumpers six months out of the year in Montana. Training rookies in thirty days takes all her time and attention, but when Jac Russo shows up unexpectedly to fill a slot, Mallory finds herself fighting an attraction she hasn’t feltRead More