M+O 4EVR by Tonya Hegamin (Aug. 2010 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Houghton Mifflin, Apr. 2008
Genre(s):  Romance, Coming Of Age, Young Adult
Pages:  176
Website:  http://www.tonyacheriehegamin.com

Rating: ★★★★★ 

The dreams we have as children are very powerful, involving fearless feats and aspirations we carry to adulthood, cradled in the hope that the dreams will become reality.

That’s what Opal anticipated when she made the decision to take her best friend, Marianne, away from their small-town life in M+O 4 EVR. The novel from Tonya Marie Hegamin relates an emotional excursion of what happens when wishes are deferred by life’s disappointments.

Best friends, Marianne and Opal’s bond was an unspoken one, full of longing and hurt and not-so-unrequited love. The girls lived in their Pennsylvania town as outcasts, the only few Black faces in the mountainous county. They only had each other, as little girls who held hands on their first day of school, a shield from the world that couldn’t possibly understand them.

Home is where their hearts are. Opal is raised by sassy Gran while her parents travel to provide for her; Marianne lived with her white mother and grandfather, and never knew her black father. Their families were intertwined and nurtured the girls’ closeness. They were privy to the love Opal had for Marianne, though it was never said – even to Marianne herself.

While Marianne has some idea of Opal’s feelings for her, she can’t see past her own pain to reciprocate. Marianne felt lost in her own skin and never wanted to accept her “loser” status assigned based on her light complexion. She strived to be popular, one of the cool kids. And eventually she did attain the crown – becoming the first black homecoming queen – at the expense of leaving her best friend behind. The victory was short-lived when only hours later, a tragedy strikes Marianne, and all the dreams Opal had for them dissipate.

All Opal wanted was have Marianne to herself, in the way she did when they danced through the milkweeds, carved their names into their favorite tree, or pressed lips together under the blackberry bushes. Now all she’s left with is painful memories and theories on how things got to this point. For Opal, her ache came from knowing what they could have been. But with her future in her hands, she soon discovered things happen for a reason.

The sentiments M+O 4 EVR are sweet, raw and heartfelt. Who can’t relate to the story of innocent love and the slings and arrows of growing up? Hegamin writes about loss and love, while also tying in the spirit of a runaway slave to anchor the tale to how much we sacrifice for the love of one person.

However in the end, we and Opal learn taking care of ourselves is what’s most important.

Reviewed August 2010

Deepest Desire by Anne Shade

Publisher/Date:  Freedom of Love Press, June 2008
Genre(s):  Coming Out, Romance
Pages: 
116
Website:  http://www.folpress.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Confronting your closet after being married – and divorced – and then jumping into a new relationship is a lot for a woman to take in. So lovers Eve Monroe and Lynette Folsom proceed with caution in DEEPEST DESIRE, the first novel from Anne Shade.

Besides, being married was just a diversion Eve. She assumed being the perfect doctor’s wife would cure her appetite for women, a desire she’s had for as long as she could remember. But when the urge resurfaces, her marriage ends in a mess.

Moving forward and feeling stronger, she begins a new business venture, Details by Eve, and enjoys a life uncomplicated by longings for the same sex – and then she’s asked to plan a book release party for out lesbian writer Lynette. After reading her erotica, and meeting the attractive writer, Eve is faced with her attraction for women and nervously gives in.

And why wouldn’t she? Lynette is dreadlocked, intelligent, fun to be around, and very open about whom she is. She is very intrigued by Eve, the voluptuous beauty who seems to be strong-willed in every aspect of her life except coming out to her strictly religious family. Lynette has dealt with women not strong enough to be themselves, so being with Eve is an exercise in patience. But their heat is undeniable.

While her relationship with Lynette is the most sensuous she’s ever known, the perfect Catholic daughter of African-American and Puerto Rican heritage is nervous about telling the world. Rejection stops her every time. She has to realize that Lynette worth it – or let her fears stop her cold.

Deepest Desire boasts a simple love story. What’s most enjoyable is how the love between Eve and Lynette is extremely erotic, but not overtly so. Shade is honest about two women overcoming exes and hang-ups to obtain the love they so deserve. I’d like to know more about Shade, who exposes how to get to the deepest part of a woman – and love everything that’s beneath.

Reviewed August 2010

Erotic Escapes: Two Erotic Vignettes featuring Kenya from Intimate Chaos by Cheril N. Clarke

Publisher/Date:  Dodi Press, Feb. 2010
Genre:  Erotica
Website:  http://www.cherilnclarke.com 

Illusions of Love –

Rating: ★★★★☆ 


Ecstasy –

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Quickies have become Cheril N. Clarke’s forte as of late, with two-part e-book series for your pleasure, EROTIC ESCAPES: TWO EROTIC VIGNETTES FEATURING KENYA. The e-book includes Illusions of Love and Ecstasy, both starring the sexual debaucheries of the infamous homewrecker who stirred up things between Sadira and Jessie. She’s still up to her old tricks, this time manipulating unsuspecting women with her sensual charms and cunning.

In the first installment, Illusions of Love, readers are treated to Kenya seducing Angela, an older woman with money and a body that rivals young girls. Kenya has told the Ivy League professor what she wants to hear to be taken care of in her usual spoiled fashion and lands on a Caribbean cruise. Yet, vacations aren’t enough for the lesbian vixen, and while on the way home, she’s already searching for her next score. She finds it with, Deb, but will it give her what she truly needs?

Ecstasy, the second round of Kenya’s games, continues where Illusions left off and is only a little naughtier than the first. Deb is sexually adventurous and introduces her to a new kind of high. The pair is wrapped up in their sensual cocktail – beginning with a swinging escapade in Illusions – and Kenya almost forgets what she came here for. Has she finally met her match?

Clarke’s down-and-dirty mission was accomplished with these e-books. There’s few flowery phrases, no professions of love — just romps with a woman who’s hedonism rivals that of Karrine Steffans (well, not that bad). Take it for what it is: a one-night stand you might want more of.

Reviewed August 2010

The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin

Publisher/Date:  Scribner, Feb. 2010
Genre(s):  Coming of Age, Lesbian Real Life
Pages:  261
Website:  http://www.staceyannchin.com

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Staceyann Chin – writer, prolific poet, political activist and purveyor of knowing your pussy – never had life easy. Growing up in Jamaica without a father and being abandoned by her mother almost promised her future would end up a tragic story. Yet, out the rubble of her childhood grew the unwavering spirit that turned her into the courageous woman you see on stage belting out her poems with such fervor.

In THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE, the reader gets to see the upbringing that birthed an artist. After being brought into the world Christmas Day, she is left behind with her brother, Delano, in the care of her grandmother. There, in the town of Lottery, Staceyann’s inquisitive and highly imaginative mind got her into adventures in school and at home, and allowed her to fill in the gaps of her mother’s whereabouts and her father’s identity. There, she also blossomed thanks to her grandmother’s nurturing, despite longing for her mother’s return.

When her mother does come back for them, it was clear to the nine-year-old that her mother is unfit to raise two young children. The siblings were quickly separated when their mother sent Delano to his father and left Staceyann with her auntie in an area called Paradise. What she experienced is anything but. The crowded, run down house of horrors was Staceyann’s nightmare. Abusive hands, harsh rules and unbearable conditions plagued her, but also helped her to protect and save herself.

From there, Staceyann’s quest for stability led to the discovery of her sexuality. After finally freeing from her auntie, she can be without the fear of punishment. She flourished at school, and later college, where she fell in love with a girl. Unafraid, Staceyann made this pronouncement to her classmates in her usual vociferous fashion. In Jamaica. Where violent homophobia runs rampant. But that’s of no matter to Staceyann Chin. She’s who she is, and makes no apologies.

That’s the heart of This Side of Paradise. While the seeds of neglect were planted with her mother’s disappearance, Staceyann cultivated this angst into the fruit of hope and fortitude. It helped that she had a wicked sense of humor and quick wits to match. Paradise is hard to swallow at times. Knowing she’s survived is the all the happy ending you need.

Reviewed August 2010

Pulling Me Back by GStarr

Publisher/Date:  UrbanL Publishing LLC, Aug. 2009
Genre(s):  Romance, Drama
Pages:  261
Website:  http://www.urbanlpublishing.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

There’s always a fine line in friendships between women, a boundary that when crossed the pair is never the same again. That’s the invisible line Bre Morgan and Jordan Powers find themselves straddling when they become lovers in GStarr’s PULLING ME BACK.

The debut novel from UrbanL Publishing, run by authors V. Bella and GStarr, is a dramatic page-turner. Bre and Jordan never thought they’d end up with each other, especially since Bre is in love with a man at the start of the novel. Spoiled and sheltered, Bre oversees her father’s successful real estate firm and pretty much gets whatever she wants – except a commitment from her always-absent boyfriend, Sean. Dating for four years, they only see each other three times a month supposedly because of his job. Their fly-by-night relationship doesn’t exactly fit into Bre’s plans of being married with kids – she’s 33 – and his infrequent visits make her wonder what Sean is up to when he’s not with her.

Jordan, on the other hand, is 35 and avoids commitment like a trip to the gynecologist. While she doesn’t call herself a playa per se, her motto is “to satisfy yourself…first.” She can pull just about any woman, but when the thrill is gone, Jordan simply moves on to the next. Mya is her latest conquest, but the long-distance nature of their relationship is tedious, especially when she has eye candy like Bre to hang out with: perfect petite figure, long luxurious hair, small apple bottom ass.

The friends both believe they shouldn’t cross that line, but it happens one night not so unexpectedly. The sexual tension building between Bre and Jordan came together so smoothly that it scares both women. Jordan feels herself falling in love, and Bre is just trying to deal with being intimate with a woman for the first time. Is she a lesbian? What does all this mean? She already has enough to worry about with her family falling apart at the seams.

While it was inevitable that their friendship could translate into a romance, no one but GStarr could have predicted how volatile it would become. Secondary characters weave their way into Pulling Me Back in the most interesting fashion, and drama ensues. That alone makes GStarr’s first novel unforgettable.  I was drawn into the “will-they or won’t they” commotion between Jordan and Bre, and the sex scenes are sizzling.

Pulling Me Back will reel you in – and keep you hooked for pages on end.

Reviewed August 2010

Strapped by Sharon D. Smith

Publisher/Date:  Lulu.com, June 2010
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  126
Website(s):  http://www.strapped2009.ning.com, http://7stagespublishing.com/

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

If you’re a stud, you’re not supposed to fall in love with another stud – right?

Who says? This is the premise of Sharon D. Smith’s STRAPPED, a fast-paced novel following the attraction between masculine-appearing women, Silk and Taz. The pair have well-worn identities as dominant females, and typically date feminine women accordingly. This stud-femme dynamic is turned on its head when Silk – rocking baggy jeans and a Black and Mild between her lips – moves into Taz’s neighborhood.

Taz notices her next-door neighbor’s swagger, and they quickly become hanging buddies. While they watch sports and hit the clubs, their friendship grows despite not knowing that much about each other’s pasts. It all comes out in a game of basketball when Silk reveals her true feelings. Taz is taken aback by this admission of affection. She can’t believe her homeboy is attracted to her. Silk knows she has a girlfriend — a curvaceous beauty at that — and that their friendship is simply platonic.

Silk feels differently, though. She has always had a thing for butch women. And while Taz tries to understand her friend’s seemingly-odd attraction, she eventually succumbs to it when the pair is thrown into a crisis situation.

Taz and Silk find themselves in love and in trouble. Taz believes she’s losing her edge and doesn’t  know if she can handle the type of love that dare not speak its name in the lesbian community, while Silk’s past comes back to haunt her new relationship with Taz.

Smith’s Strapped shows the conflict some black lesbians experience with labels. Femme, stud, stem, bisexual – it all means nothing when it comes to how one feels inside.  Taz and Silk had to leave the pressures of sexual roles behind to discover a comfortable home in each other. Their affair is unpeeled layer by layer, realistically so. With that being said, while Strapped does a good job getting in Taz’s head, but doesn’t delve enough into why Silk loves studs. I guess that will be explained further in Smith’s next novel.

So get ready because Strapped will challenge all your perceptions of what love and labels really mean.

Reviewed August 2010

Tongue Love by Ebony Reese

Genre(s):  Romance, Crime
Pages:  92
Website:  http://tonguelove.me/site.htm

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Some people take that Bonnie and Clyde kind of love way too seriously.

If you read TONGUE LOVE, the debut novella from Ebony Reese, you’d understand what I’m talking about.

This  ride-or-die story begins with Jersey, a bartender extraordinaire tired of meeting the same old females in the club. You know the types: the stuck-up sistahs; the desperate types; the every-week attendees; the “I-got-a-man-at-home-but-I-like-a-female-on-the-side” women. It bothered Jersey that couldn’t find a decent love of her own, someone bringing just as much to the table as she would.

Yet, looking out her window was all it took to find this perfect woman when she catches sight of Tropicana. A hairstylist in the salon across the street, the dimepiece enthralls Jersey with her not-so-subtle curves, but she’s too shy to make a move.

The time comes when they meet, and Tropicana is everything Jersey wants: smart, ambitious and ready for a serious relationship. More importantly, Tropicana is fiercely loyal. Considering Jersey’s track record of betrayal from her ex and her recent one-night stand, this is what attracts her to Trop.

Jersey even likes the dark, jealous side of Tropicana – who’s willing to fight anybody getting to close her lover. Especially this one chick, Kim, who doesn’t want to let Jersey go.

When Kim goes missing, Jersey is curious and concerned. Could Trop – who has serious legal and underground connections – have something to do with Kim’s disappearance? How much does Jersey really know about this beauty she intends to wife?

In a small amount of pages, Reese packs a lot of drama and suspense in Tongue Love. Is it believable? I guess, if one could accept that true love can overcome criminal acts that are Law & Order worthy.

Reviewed August 2010