A Lesbian Reads
I read books about lesbians, sometimes a few others thrown in, mostly Lesfic, F/F books. Come join me on my journey!
Saturday Deals
Every week I get in touch with a few authors that are having a deal on their book. Who doesn't love a good book for cheap right?
This week is no different.
Full Novels
Tangerine Twist
By Suzie Carr $2.99 * at time of posting *
Becca James wants to make it big. And she will, as soon as the idea of performing doesn’t scare the voice out of her. Until then she orchestrates another life…predictable, responsible, and dull. Then Kara walks on stage, a flirty goddess with long, wavy hair and sultry caramel-flecked eyes that drip with sex appeal. Inhibitions and commitments fall like shattered glass, as the duo form a musical sensation. Becca is big! But can self indulgence substitute for self respect? Can a wild ride stop at happiness? In this fast paced, sexy novel, finding out what really matters in life doesn’t always mean you get it. Or does it?
Short Stories
By Olivia Starke only $1.49 *at time of posting*
Jessica is desperate for some excitement. When she stumbles upon a spam message containing a love spell, what does she have to lose?
Toni’s SUV breaks down outside Hide Away Cabins. She’s on the lookout for some distraction and Jessica would be one hell of a tasty little distraction.
A game of Truth or Dare brings out Jessica’s adventurous side. Being bound and spanked is just the start to a night of incredible sex.
Inside Scoop: The magic contained in this love spell leads to these two lesbians exploring...
by D.K. Linda $2.99 *at time of posting*
Talia and Michele met and fell into perfect love, just like in the romance novels that inspired it all for them. There would never be enough time with each other. How do you go on when you lose the love of your life?
By Anastsia Vitsky $1.99 * at time of posting
In some countries, turning 21 means gaining the right to vote and drink alcoholic beverages. For Claire Labraun, the Christmas after her 21st birthday would be beyond her wildest imagination.
Minelle and Matthew Labraun believed in a traditional marriage. Matthew was head of their household, and Minelle was his helpmeet. When it came to raising their headstrong 21-year-old daughter, however, they found themselves at a loss.
Minelle had always taught Claire to do the right thing for right's sake. Claire, however, had different ideas. She rebelled against their rules, flaunted authority, and connived to get things she wanted.
She had never been spanked in her life; Matthew and Minelle kept that adult privilege strictly between themselves. But this year, a visit from Santa plus Claire's newly adult status would change her idea of Christmas forever.
By Jean Erhardt $2.99 at time of posting
In Small Town Trouble, the first in a series from mystery writer Jean Erhardt, we get acquainted with Kim Claypoole's irreverent and witty ways of dealing with the peculiar characters and events that she finds in her life.
Claypoole's adventure begins as she leaves her home in the Smoky Mountains to help save her kooky mother Evelyn from financial disaster. Setting off to assist Evelyn (i.e., "the other Scarlett O'Hara") with her newest personal crisis, Claypoole leaves in her wake her Gatlinburg doublewide, her restaurant, The Little Pigeon and her restaurant partner and sometimes best friend Mad Ted Weber as well as a budding secret love affair that's hotter than an Eskimo in July.
Claypoole's savior complex leads to more trouble when she bumps into an old flame in her hometown who asks for her help clearing her hapless brother of murder charges. In true Claypoole fashion, she gets more than she bargained for when she gets dragged into a complicated quest to find the true killer complete with topless tavern dancers, small town cops, a stream of backwater characters-even a meeting with the Grim Reaper. Can Claypoole muddle her way through the murky depths of this bizarre murder mystery before it's too late?
With biting humor and wit, Small Town Trouble will leave you guessing what's around the next corner in the quirky life of Kim Claypoole.
Cover Reveal & Interview with: Justine Saracen
Cover Reveal
Waiting for the Violins
Antonia Forrester, an English nurse, is nearly killed while trying to save soldiers fleeing at Dunkirk. Embittered, she returns to occupied Brussels as a British spy to foment resistance to the Nazi presence. She works with partisans who sabotage deportation efforts and murder collaborators, before résistant leader Sandrine Toussaint accepts her into an operation to rescue downed Allied pilots. Captured by the Gestapo, they escape and join the maquis in the Ardenne Forest preparing for D-Day. Passion is a tiny glowing ember amidst the carnage of war, where the brave are consumed and collaborators thrive. But finally, when the terror seems unendurable, BBC radio transmits the code phrase “the long sobs of the violins” signaling that the Allied Invasion is about to begin
Author interview with….
Justine Saracen
Of course we with any season we all start out talking about the weather, this day was no different. It is is quite cold out where I am this day it is -5 when we started talking which made the time great because I love to be in the warm house when it is that cold.
Me: How is the weather there?
Justine: Raining. The French say "comme la vache qui pisse' (translated: to rain like a pissing cow)
Me: haha, I so wish I could have taken french in school. That is like a dream of mine! What other hobbies do you have?
Justine: The big one is scuba diving. Since I am over 60, this is a significant achievement. I can barely walk with the wetsuit, air cylinder and weights, but as soon as I get in the water, I'm in heaven. The diving here in Belgium is nothing, but I go every year to the Red Sea.
Me: Oh wow! That sounds exciting! Have you ever found anything cool? A Ship or a Mermaid?
Justine: Well, no mermaids, but I have been down to several wrecks. The most famous one is the Thistegorme about 100 feet down and chocablock full of war material. Tanks, trucks, airplane parts, unexploded munitions. You really feel like Jacques Coustea.
Me: How do you get so deep lol, I feel as if I want to cry when I am swimming in a pool and try to go to 12 feet. Do you train?
Justine: Well, you DO have to overcome a natural claustrophobia, but that is what training is all about. Plus, you come to trust your equipment and your safety training and,most important, your colleagues.
Me:I was a lifeguard lol.. I think I am more of a saver not a go under person ;) lol.
But it does sound amazing and probably the closest I'd ever come to a mermaid
Justine: Good for you. We need savers too.
Me: Tell me about your writing. What started your love for writing?
Justine:I don't suppose I’m much different from most other published writers. I wrote always.
Me: What was your first story about? * not book just story* that you can remember?
Justine: After seeing a movie about Hannibal (with Esther Williams as the love interest) I wrote a cartoon book with a similar story, only the woman was the heroine.
And I started lots of little stories throughout childhood. I grew up in the tenements of NYC and lived in my imagination.
But I am not so vain that I think my life was exceptional. I think most people who end up as writers (and who keep on writing) also live and lived a great deal in the mind.
Me: What was your first book? And what did you feel when you finished it?
Justine: I was a prof of literature for about 17 years, and had to write to keep my job. My first book was a scholarly treatise called "Salvation in the Secular." A dreary analysis is modern German literature that was read by perhaps 20 graduate students. But writing it DID teach me how to discipline my thinking. So, 30 years later, when I wrote The 100th Generation, I knew how to put down a string of ideas and scenes and keep the reader's attention.
Keeping the reader's attention is sort of what popular fiction writing is all about.
It's entertainment, pure and simple. It can be simple and trashy, or a bit more elaborate and thoughtful, but still a bit trashy.It MUST entertain, or you're out of the business.
Me: How do you feel about your latest book?
Do you feel everything went the way you wanted it to go or will there be a squeal?
Justine: That one was an emotional one. It was based on the actual tragedies of the relatives (parents in one case, aunt in the other) during the Belgian resistance in WWII. I set about fictionalizing the events while keeping as close as possible to the real story and using real names. No, I don't want to write a sequel, but my current work (since the Resistance book is with the printer now) is about women in the Soviet Air Force. Another kind of Resistance, of course although I should add, both books have lesbian romances as subplots.
Me: What are you currently working on and when can we expect it out?
Justine: I hope people will first pay attention to "Waiting for the Violins" which is due out in March. That is the one about the Belgian resistance fighters. I've only recently started doing research and rough scribbling on the next one, called "The Witch of Stalingrad" about an American journalist going to Russia and falling in love with a Soviet Pilot (based on Liliia Litviak, a real heroine pilot in WWII) The research is riveting and I have just spent all of today reading about my own father who was a radio operator in the Merchant Marines during WWII.
Me:What is your new book about and when/where can we buy it?
Justine: All my books are available through Bold Strokes Books or through my website.
Thank you Justine for taking the time to chat with me. It was a great experience to learn about your books. I am looking forward to picking up your book coming out in March.
Find Justine here: http://justinesaracen.com/
Check out her Awesome books here: http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/Author-Justine-Saracen.html
Reminders I needed (and you might too)
Being a book blogger is tough sometimes. It's true. You read for the love of it, you review to promote the books you adore, that's the good part. Then there are times when you have to write that review. The one of the book you didn't like. The one of the book you may have nearly despised. The one that you're afraid other people will berate you for.
After almost four years of being a book blogger, I still get peeved sometimes. I just have to remind myself that it's all good. Go with the flow and all that.
Here are things I needed to be reminded of, that you might too:
* It's totally okay to love a book everyone else doesn't.
I'm not kidding when I say that I often pick up books simply because everyone else didn't like them. I've found a few hidden gems in that pile. Others I've given up on and wholeheartedly agreed with everyone else. Even my best reading friends, the ones who have the same tastes as me, find books now and then that they love and I don't. It's natural. Don't let what others say put you off from picking up a book you might love. Give it a chapter or two. Why not?
* It's equally okay to dislike a book everyone else loves.
Again my friends, it's all about opinions. That's what reviews are. Opinions. Don't bash someone else for not clicking with a book you loved. Accept that it's nothing against you, and let it go. Chances are you'll agree on a book or two in the near future and can rally or rant against it as the need calls for :).
That's it. Thanks for listening.
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Review: Ask The Passengers By: A.S. King
A while back I read this book it was foumd in the teen section of my local library. So I decided to give it a chance.
Title: Ask The Passengers
Author: A. S. King
Pages: 293
Publisher: little, brown and company
Genre: YA fiction
Description:
Astrid Jones desperately wants to confide in someone, but her mother's pushiness and her father's lack of interest tell her they're the last people she can trust. Instead, Astrid spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table watching airplanes fly overhead. She doesn't know the passengers inside, but they're the only people who won't judge her when she asks them her most personal questions . . . like what it means that she's falling in love with a girl.
As her secret relationship becomes more intense and her friends demand answers, Astrid has nowhere left to turn. She can't share the truth with anyone except the people at thirty thousand feet, and they don't even know she's there. But little does Astrid know just how much even the tiniest connection will affect these strangers' lives--and her own--for the better.
In this truly original portrayal of a girl struggling to break free of society's definitions, Printz Honor author A.S. King asks readers to question everything--and offers hope to those who will never stop seeking real love.
Review:
I can feel the love shooting right through the body of the plane from some lonely girl layin on a picnic table in a small town no one has ever heard of before.
The journey of a girl trying to come out of the "closet" its all on its random little path. Many people have problems telling other people and I think this story is a good example of everything that could go wrong all at once. It makes me wonder if this was someones story if it was I feel for them. Someday I hope that people don't have to worry about what other people think. This book is a 4. It leaves me a little bit sad. There are a few other things that I do love about this book in total though. I do love the cover and the sun flare it sets off. Sun flare photography has to be one of my favorite types of photography.
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?
December Release!
The Other Me
by Suzanne van Rooyen
Title: The Other Me
Author: Suzanne van Rooyen
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Release Date: 19 Dec, 2013
Length: 216 pages
Genre: YA, LGBT, contemporary
Blurb:
Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott thinks she’s an alien. She doesn’t fit in with the preppy South African private school crowd and feels claustrophobic in her own skin. Treasa is worried she might spend life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du Preez. Gabriel plays the piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in karate, and would look good wearing a garbage bag. Treasa thinks he’s perfect. It might even be love, as long as Gabriel doesn’t find out she’s a freak.
As Treasa spends time with Gabriel, she realizes she might not love him as much as she wants to be him, and that the reason she feels uncomfortable in her skin might have less to do with extra-terrestrial origins and more to do with being born in the wrong body.
But Gabriel is not the perfect boy Treasa imagines. He harbors dark secrets and self-destructive tendencies. Still, Treasa might be able to accept Gabriel’s baggage if he can accept who she longs to be.
About the Author:
Suzanne is an author and peanut-butter addict from South Africa. She currently lives in Finland and finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When not writing you can find her teaching dance and music to middle-schoolers or playing in the snow with her shiba inu. She is rep'd by Jordy Albertof the Booker Albert Agency.
Author Links:
Website – http://suzannevanrooyen.com
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Suzanne_Writer
Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/SuzanneAuthor/
New Release!
New Release January 2014...
Get It here!
Book Description:
Leisa Yeats has always defined herself by the things that are important to her – a good family, a loving relationship and a meaningful job working with kids. Life is good. But within a span of a few weeks, all of that changes. She’s always known she was adopted, but newly-revealed lies and secrets kept by her parents make her question everything she thought she knew about her beginnings. Her ten-year relationship with her partner, Nan, is unexpectedly on shaky ground when she discovers that Nan, too, has kept a secret from her all these years.
Suddenly, everything Leisa believed – about her life, about the people around her, about herself – everything is turned upside down and nothing is as she thought it was. Pulling away to try and sort things out, Leisa reaches out to the wrong people, and in the process, nearly loses herself. Buffeted at every turn by storms that shake the very foundation of her world, Leisa must figure out whom and what she can hold onto as the winds of change blow.
My current thoughts: This book sounds amazing I can't wait to get my little greedy fingers on it lol. :)
Jen-
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Review: Oh my Gods by Tera lynn Childs
I love to read. I didn't always love it to be honest in school I hated it I thought only weird people read books or old people... well then there became me a bored out of my mind person who bought a book for no reason other than the whole freaking world wouldn't stop talking about it and I couldn't figure out why... What was the name of that book?? The Da Vinci Code. OH yes I read it couldn't put it down went crazy after I finished it.. then I found this place called a Library.. they exist outside of high schools they don't all have massive amounts of computers in them and you know what librarians are VERY useful and kind.. lol. So that is what started my love affair with books.. But.. to be honest it wasn't that book it was a type of book that got me hooked and then writers who wrote books about things that interest me and well I could probably go on about this forever..
One day I was strolling along in Barnes and Noble when I came across a book that was misplaced. Who ever did thank you! Oh. My. Gods.
Who doesn't love books about Greek mythology??? um well I can't answer that cause personally I love them!!! I couldn't put it down I spent like 14.00 or so on this book and read it in 7 hours. Disappointed it ended I ended up sneaking back to Barnes and Noble and found that there was a second book in the series. My opinion of this book, well when I was younger I wished my parents would move me anywhere other than where we lived. I have to say I am sure every child wishes this every now and then that they could move some where else. Then the typical new kids stuff making fun picking on each other and then the boy crush. Me I do not go that direction but sometimes a crush is a crush :)
Opinion (for adults) if you have an afternoon grab this book the only disappointment will be is when you finish the book. It will feel like the book ends too soon. It is a Young Adult book so it is an easy read for some people. But I loved it none the less.
Book Description:
What If The Greek Gods Were More Than Myth?
If Phoebe Castro can keep her grades up and have another stellar cross-country season, her dream of attending USC with her best friends is only a track scholarship away. She’s made all her plans, so it’s a complete shock when her mom announces she’s marrying a mysterious stranger and moving them half-way around the world—to Greece.
What If Their Descendants Lived Among Us?
Phoebe’s stuck on a secret island in the Aegean attending the super-exclusive Academy, where her new stepfather is the headmaster and the kids are anything but your average students—they are descendants of the Greek gods, super powers included. That’s right, Greek gods are no myth! If Phoebe thought high school was hard, she knows this is going to be mortal misery.
What If You Had To Go To High School With Them?
Securing that scholarship seems like Phoebe’s only ticket out of Greece, but training and maintaining her grades will be grueling, even without a sabotaging stepsister from Hades and a gorgeous guy—what a god!—who just might be her Achilles heel. One thing is for sure—summoning the will to win and find her place among the gods could be Phoebe’s toughest course yet.
This book in my eyes receives a 4 I think young adult books are great and I am the person who reads all of the sweet Greek mythology books, or the ones that include a little bit of magic. This book doesn't disappoint.
-Jen
Review: Pyramid Waltz by Barbara Ann Wright
Paperback: 275 pages
Published by: Bold Stroke Books
Year Published: 2012
Author: Barbara Ann Wright
Book Blurb: (from Amazon)
To most, Princess Katya Nar Umbriel is a rogue and a layabout; she parties, she hunts and she breaks women’s hearts. But when the festival lights go down and the palace slumbers, Katya chases traitors to the crown and protects the kingdom’s greatest secret: the royal Umbriels are part Fiend. When Katya thwarts an attempt to expose the king’s monstrous side, she uncovers a plot to let the Fiends out to play.
Starbride has no interest in being a courtier. Ignoring her mother’s order to snare an influential spouse, she comes to court only to study law. But a flirtatious rake of a princess proves hard to resist, and Starbride is pulled into a world of secrets that leaves little room for honesty or love, a world neither woman may survive.
Did you know this book won the title: Best Lesbian Fantasy and 2nd Runner up in Best Lesbian Debut for 2013?
Did you know that this is the first book in what will end up being 4 books in total?
This series includes:
The Pyramid Waltz
For Want of a Fiend
A Kingdom Lost
(coming soon)
The Fiend Queen
My thoughts on this book: This book in my eyes is a 5 all the way around. It does deserve the rainbow awards it won. Right from the beginning this book is a catcher. The details of things are so good that it made me feel like I was actually living in that day and age. I am a sucker for fantasy books but this one has to be a favorite. The writing is all around solid. It kept my attention from start to finish. I have to give it to Barbara, I love that it's set in the mid-evil days so to feel almost (that is how it felt to me) but then you have an "out" princess that no one questions. Right from the beginning of the book there is no question of her sexuality. I like that we didn't have to guess all the way through out the book on what was going to happen. I also love the twist and turns, the emotional feelings that suck you in and the shocking "oh noes that are displayed through the book.
Don't stop reading until the end... You will be sorry you did!
Check out her other amazing books in this series and her website to see what else she might be working on!
Jen-
The Real Blog!
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Mistletoe
I really liked this story, with the holidays being in swing it made me think happier thoughts. I loved that Santa was included, the mistletoe was just a great touch. It is a short story so parts of it made me wonder if I forgot a page but then again, it was a well written story and one I wouldn't mind reading again. This book is sweet and cute. No large thrills until the end of the book and well lets just say you should read it. This book gets a 4 rating from me. 
The Pyramid Waltz
his book in my eyes is a 5 all the way around. It does deserve the rainbow awards it won. Right from the beginning this book is a catcher. The details of things are so good that it made me feel like I was actually living in that day and age. I am a sucker for fantasy books but this one has to be a favorite. The writing is all around solid. It kept my attention from start to finish. I have to give it to Barbara, I love that it's set in the mid-evil days so to feel almost (that is how it felt to me) but then you have an "out" princess that no one questions. Right from the beginning of the book there is no question of her sexuality. I like that we didn't have to guess all the way through out the book on what was going to happen. I also love the twist and turns, the emotional feelings that suck you in and the shocking "oh noes that are displayed through the book.
How Sweet It Is
I finished this amazing heart string pulling romance loving book and I wish I didn't have to say I finished it. Melissa did a very good job writing this book. I have to say from the characters to the sweet little miss Jordana it was all set in motion to become a romantic read. This book receives a 5 from me. :)
A New Leash on Life
Where does one begin with this book? WOW! So I felt for Olivia the whole time. Chloe did her wrong doings in life did some stuff to make her life better but then Olivia needed help. Chloe just about throws Olivia off the deep end making her unhappy and ever so happy. Just so many new plot stickers and amazing writing in this book. Yes, this book is one I would recommend to anyone! This book is a 5 in my book!As of this posting Suzie was having a sale on this book via Amazon! So check it out to see if it is still going strong!
Thank you Suzie for an amazing book! I look forward to the rest of your books in the near future!
