Tag Archives: wlw

Babusha reviews Charming the Vicar by Jenny Frame

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Charming the Vicar is the sequel to Courting the Countess and tells the story of the ultra femme and sexy af Bridget Claremont, the vicar of Axedale. Jenny Frame has been my go-to lesbian content author since I read Royal Rebel and this is my favourite book she’s written so far.  Her characters are always adorable wholesome lesbians, which are my absolute end-all kink and their love stories never fail to induce at least a week’s “book high”.

Bridget is used to having to guide lost sheep to their flock, but this one might just be out of her reach. Finnian “Finn” Kane is a famous magician and an even more famous atheist who has spent her life exposing “fake” evangelists and psychics. A confident playboy butch if there ever was one, Finnian is hiding away in Axedale after a personal tragedy and absolutely refuses to entertain Bridget and her “collar” under any terms.

I really loved both characters and their stories. Bridget’s struggles with the church hierarchy as an openly lesbian vicar is very realistic yet it doesn’t venture into tragedy as most novels might be wont to do.  She may be almost widely accepted and loved in Axedale, barring a few, but is haunted by her previous life, even more so as her need to help Finn open up and cope with her grief becomes a lot more than just her day job. We also find out a lot more about Bridget’s history and how she came to be the person she is.

Finn starts off as this skittish, damaged  ‘deer’ who has suffered deep loss and is instantly suspicious of church figures, trying to run Bridget off many times, but Bridget is also no ordinary ‘herder’ and is up for the challenge. They slowly fall in love and embrace other sides of their relationship and personalities they’ve given up. For Frame’s characters, the struggle with their faith in love and faith in God is two sides of the same coin and hence constructs a genuinely empathetic tale of two scarred people who are facing a relatable struggle in faith in love of all kinds.

For anyone who’s read Courting the Countess, Sam, the awesome farmer butch, also makes an appearance and is funny and supportive as ever. I hope we get a book of her falling in love with a cute sweet femme soon. Also, a shout-out: for the second installment of Lady Hildegaard’s adventures. This story was especially awesome for this poor lesbian looking for a dashing knight to save her.

The ending was wrapped up in a particularly pretty little bow, but for a topic which is as sensitive as the Catholic Church’s views of LGBT vicars and priests and how easily it could have gone wrong in a different genre, that’s probably a good thing!

I give it four stars and would read again and again when I’m feeling especially ~love-lorn~.

Babusha is a 23 year old ace lesbian who loves queer love stories in every form- especially fantasy lesbian assassins who can kill her with one look. I am constantly searching for that mythical POC bookish lesbian nerd and will at some point actually start writing out of sheer desperation and boredom. I’m obsessed with mutual pining and angst with happy endings, with complex, flawed characters who are still cinnamon rolls that should be protected at all costs.

You can find her gushing about her fave gay novels and movies on Twitter @redqueensparta

 

Mars reviews Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen

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Her Name In the Sky cover

It’s her last year of high school and Hannah Eaden is just trying to finish up her senior year with a smile before she and her tight-knit group of friends scatter across the country to go to college. While she’ll miss her little sister and her goofy boyfriend, the shy nerd with the kind smile, and the non-stereotypical quarterback, the one she’ll miss most of all is her best friend Baker, senior class president and the apple of everyone’s eye. Baker understands her; knows her quirks, has a secret dedicated playlist for her on her phone, and gets the kind of milkshake she knows Hannah likes because that’s just the kind of friend she is. With Baker being as sweet as a button, how could Hannah help but fall for her?

If I’ve made you think this story is all sunshine and rainbows and Catholic school without all of the intense moral discourse, think again. Desire versus faith, fear versus love, this story does not shy away from the dark edges of what happens when a lifetime of internalized dogma grapples with feelings that ache with honesty. While there are moments of levity as readers get to know Hannah, Baker, and their close friends (the self-declared Six-Pack), be warned that there are many moments when Quindlen goes for the jugular with your feelings.  

Late at night, after her parents and Joanie have already gone to sleep, she drives to City Park and sits in her car beneath the canopy of trees. She looks up at these trees and marvels at their existence, at how they just are what they were created to be, how they tower proudly on their wooden trunks, how they sway in the breeze and move their leaves like piano keys, and she prays that she can be like them, that she can innately grasp her existence and live it out without questioning.

Am I wrong? she asks. Just tell me if I am.

She never receives an answer.

The story is told from Hannah’s perspective, and we follow with clutched pearls as her year goes from good to worse to awful to actually surprisingly okay. There are moments when the author has your eyes racing across the page, and the characters themselves are as believable as they are compelling. Kids do reckless things, and characters act out of fear in ways that make you want to shake them (as they are wont to). The story of a deep love for a best friend slipping seamlessly into something more is as natural and timeless as gay ladies themselves.

At its essence, this story is a familiar one (my running notes were filled with #relatable) so I feel like it’s really important to state this part outright: it’s going to be okay. This is not going to be another one of Those Stories, and while the adults in this story are as flawed as grown-ups in real life, they are also just as redeeming.

Her Name in the Sky deals with a lot of fear and what I’ve been told is a lot of Catholic Guilt. This book isn’t necessarily for the light-hearted. While the author does a good job of starting us out with a playful and loving friend group, there are some really heavy moments as senior year marches on and the specter of prom draws closer. We are dealing with homosexuality in a very religious context, and the author never lets us lose sight of the fact that these characters are desperate as they grapple with reconciling their earnest faith with their desires.

Overall, I would recommend this book if you’re in the mood for a cry with a happy ending. The author also has an active tumblr which includes links to HNITS fanfiction, fan art, adorable original one-shots, and a free preview of the first three chapters.