Turn Me Out: The Novel by T. Ariez

Publisher/Date:  Amazon Digital Services LLC, March 2016
Genre(s):  Stud 4 Stud, Romance
Pages:  199
Website:  https://www.facebook.com/T.Ariez3

Rating: ★★★★½ 

Angel and Ace are best friends who happen to both be studs. When Angel realizes that she has developed feelings for Ace, she devises a plan that will go against everything she’s ever known and believed in. She is tired of the traditions and rules that make her feelings taboo and decides to risk everything. When she finally decides that she can’t take it anymore and throws caution in the wind, will it all be worth the risk?

In 2013, T. Ariez’s short story, Turn Me Out, introduced studs Angel and Ace who found themselves in the precarious situation of being attracted to one another. Two studs in lust? Where they do that at? Though it’s oftentimes inconceivable in our black lesbian community, Ariez made the romance between two best friends believable through her writing and characters in such a brief tale.

Fast forward to 2016, and T. Ariez has expanded her earlier quickie into TURN ME OUT: THE NOVEL, and this version is meatier than I imagined it would be. It broke me in several places. The novel pretty much follows the same basic premise as the short story, but focuses more on the “where do we go from here” aspect and explores Angel and Ace becoming a couple. This is where shit gets real.

Now I’m not a stud. So I don’t fully understand what it’s like be a masculine woman in a man’s world.

But it’s hard not to empathize with Angel as she contemplates her feelings for Ace, who’s as hard as they come. We’re in her head as Angel as she grapples with being in love with her best friend, the person who showed her the ropes of stud life and sheltered her during their teenage years. The lengths she goes through to tell Ace how she feels are real and moving and hard to read at times, but the affection they have for each other is hard-fought and raw. Their love scenes were some of the hottest because of this masculine, loving vibe between them.

My biggest concern, though, was how Angel felt she had change herself to what Ace wanted. Ace, Ace, Ace. It was all I could take not to slam her hand in a car door, mostly because of how she dealt with loving Angel. Her hangups, based on what people would think, about loving another stud were going to be the death of her friendship; I just wanted her to wake up and see what was in front of her. Ace was also spoiled, a stud used to bedding a different femme almost every night, and being in love was something she envisioned as a last resort. Until Angel.

I was so invested in Turn Me Out: The Novel. The resolution Ace comes to, and the fight Angel goes through to prove her love, is what makes this book special. I hope this book will help our community let go of the rigid stereotypes we place on each other and ourselves.

T. Ariez, I’m ready for the next one.

Reviewed March 2016

Sistahs Shop Talk – 3/27/16 – Happy Easter!

Sistahs Shop Talk is random ramblings from yours truly about books, news, and views that captivate me.

One Thought…

Happy Easter/Resurrection/New Beginnings:  Easter has, to me, always been a time of new beginnings or a reinvigoration of life. On that note, I count year 2016 as a time of renewed passion for reviewing at Sistahs on the Shelf after its dormancy in 2015. Last year I was in love with reading but not necessarily reviewing, and I have to admit, it felt good to just pick up a book and not think about how to craft my thoughts into a review post. To be honest, I was just burnt out. It happens; I’m human. But thanks to supportive people in my life, I’ve refreshed my outlook, and how I want to run this site, and have a stoked fire about sharing my thoughts with you about the great books I’ve read. So tell me: what helped you get through a rough patch in your life?

What I’m Reading Now…


A Return to Arms
by Sheree L. Greer:
  After just finished When I Was Your Girlfriend by Nikki Harmon (such a pleasant reading experience), I’m gravitating toward A Return to Arms by Sheree L. Greer. This newest book, recently published on March 15, is about activism and romance, and whether the two can co-exist. I’m excited to dig in, especially since I’ve never been disappointed by a Sheree L. Greer book.

Book Quote…

Kiana winced. She didn’t need to look into the other room to see it, the lavender wedding invitation sitting like a strong, elegant tent in the center of her wooden kitchen table. Without seeing it, she could smell it, the vanilla musk whispering from the fold; she could feel it, the heavy cardstock soft against her fingertips as she traced the gold script. She struggled to her feet, the memory of Michelle, of being in love, weighing her down. Though Michelle had been gone just over six months, Kiana ached as if she had just left, as if she just realized that her love was gone for good. “Fuck that invitation,” she said, pulling up on her baggy jeans.

– Sheree L. Greer, Let the Lover Be (2015)

Trolling for New Books…

The Wind Is Spirit: The Life, Love and Legacy of Audre Lorde – Dr. Gloria Joseph
Villarosa Media
Release Date: April 15, 2016 (pre-orders available now)

Told Griot style (a western Africa oral tradition of storytelling to maintain historical ties to the past), this combination anthology and biography brings together a wide range of prominent authors and activists, including Sonia Sanchez, Angela Y. Davis, Jewelle Gomez and Assata Shakur. These contributors have submitted essays, reflections, stories, poems, memoirs and photos that illuminate how Lorde’s literary vision and her turbulent and triumphant life continue to challenge and inspire. The book also contains conversations with Lorde, Joseph’s personal photos and travelogs, and remembrances from her three memorials, in New York, Berlin and St Croix.

Written by author and activist Dr. Gloria Joseph, Lorde’s partner in life and love, the book was born from an interview conducted a few months prior to Lorde’s death. They discussed a comprehensive biography that would tell her story in full, revealing her tenacity, complexity and passion. With that mandate, Joseph sat down to the task of creating The Wind is Spirit.

Visit This Website…

The G-List Society
http://www.glistsociety.com

The G-List Society is an online media networking and entertainment group who caters to the style of life in the urban gay social scene.
The website highlights lifestyle topics and pop culture, spotlights gay personalities and events in exclusive features, and celebrates the achievements of gays and lesbians of color. The G-List publishes its annual BLACK GAYS ROCK! Power 100 list to celebrate Black same-gender-loving (SGL) achievers around the world.

Sistahs Shop Talk – 3/13/16 – A Diversity Haiku

Sistahs Shop Talk is random ramblings from yours truly about books, news, and views that captivate me.

One Thought…

Diversity – a Haiku
(to Non-POC Authors)

some things ain’t for you
if you do it, do it right
we gon’ be all right

News Snippets…

2016 Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced:  Finalists for the 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards (“Lammys”) were announced last week. The Lambda Literary Awards celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender writing. The awards ceremony will be held on June 6, 2016 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. For more information and to buy tickets, please visit www.lambdaliterary.org/awards.

Below are the finalists in the Lesbian categories:

Lesbian Fiction
Apocalypse Baby, Virginie Despentes, The Feminist Press
Blue Talk and Love, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Riverdale Avenue Books
The Cherokee Rose, Tiya Miles, John F. Blair
The First Bad Man, Miranda July, Scribner
Jam on the Vine: A Novel, LaShonda Katrice Barnett, Grove Press
Like a Woman, Debra Busman, Dzanc Books
Thérèse and Isabelle, Violette Leduc, The Feminist Press
Under the Udala Trees, Chinelo Okparanta, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Lesbian Memoir/Biography
Cooking as Fast as I Can: A Chef’s Story of Family, Food, and Forgiveness, Cat Cora, Scribner
Dirty River, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Arsenal Pulp Press
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Carrie Brownstein, Riverhead Books/Penguin Random House
Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, Kate Carroll de Gutes, Ovenbird Books
You’re Not Edith, Allison Gruber, George Braziller

Lesbian Romance
Autumn Spring, Shelley Thrasher, Bold Strokes Books
The Chameleon’s Tale, Andrea Bramhall, Bold Strokes Books
Full Circle, Dillon Watson, Bella Books
Heart of the Game, Rachel Spangler, Bold Strokes Books
Infiltration, Jackie D, Bold Strokes Books
Making A Comeback, Julie Blair, Bold Strokes Books
My Best Friend’s Girl, Blythe H. Warren, Bella Books
The Renegade, Amy Dunne, Bold Strokes Books

Lesbian Erotica
Desire Behind Bars: Lesbian Prison Erotica, Salome Wilde and Talon Rihai (editors), Hillside Press
The Muse, Meghan O’Brien, Bold Strokes Books
Sweet & Rough: Queer Kink Erotica, Sinclair Sexsmith, Maverick Press

To see the complete Award list, visit the Lambda Literary website. 

What I’m Reading Now…

Walking the Tightrope edited by Abayomi Animashaun, Irwin Iradukunda, Timothy Kimutai, Tatenda Muranda, Spectra Speaks: Walk the Tightrope: Poetry and Prose by LGBTQ Writers from Africa is an anthology featuring writers from different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa portraying gay and lesbian life. So far it is touchingly honest.


Book Quote…

I sometimes forget how well you know my heart.

If ever I get lost in the woods of pain I feel, you’d find me.

If I ever drown in the seas of sadness that often lap over me, you’d pull me out.

You know the world’s burdens weigh me down, so often you hold me up.

But even more often I forget I love you.

And you remind me.

You remind me in soft subtle hints.

I sometimes forget how well you know my heart.

How well you understand the song this broken instrument plays.

Then I remember you’re my composer.

You wrote the notes that make this song.

You know it well.

So you fill in the missing notes.

When I falter, you stand strong.

When I forget how it goes, you sing my parts.

When I forget, you remind me how well you know this heart of mine.

– a sample of “Broken Instrument” by Tsepho Jamillah Moyo
From Walking the Tightrope

Trolling for New Books…

Turn Me Out – T. Ariez
Amazon Digital Services LLC
Release Date: March 15, 2016 (pre-orders available now)

Angel and Ace are best friends who happen to both be studs. When Angel realizes that she has developed feelings for Ace, she devises a plan that will go against everything she’s ever known and believed in. She is tired of the traditions and rules that make her feelings taboo and decides to risk everything. When she finally decides that she can’t take it anymore and throws caution in the wind, will it all be worth the risk?

This is the full version of the novella previously published by T. Ariez. Read the Interview and Review Chat for Turn Me Out (the 2013 novella).

Fistful of Love – Renee Cronin
Release Date: April 1, 2016 (pre-orders available now)

At the age of 23, social worker, Jeya Wellington was pretty much on her own. The devastating loss of her parents left her bereft and alone. Her best friend, Roman and his family have been like surrogates, but they could never replace what she lost. She needed a different connection. Shortly after losing her parents, she finds love and comfort in the arms of Rayne Watson, a correctional officer.

Rayne was exactly what she needed at the time, but now, two years later, Jeya wants out. She never expected love to come with bruises. She didn’t anticipate losing friends and living in fear. This was not her idea of true love. With the support of Roman, Jeya finds a way to leave. But Rayne isn’t letting go that easily. They made a commitment to each, and she has the tattoo to prove it – ‘Til Death Do Us Part.

Torn between the love she has for Rayne and the instinct to protect herself, is Jeya’s will stronger than her vow?

She’s Just Not That Into You – Aryka Randall
Dragon Fruit
Release Date:  April 5, 2016

As Editor-in-Chief at TheFabFemme.com, Aryka Randall has become the authority on Girl+Girl love, especially for women of color. Now in her first book, She’s Just Not That Into You, Randall tells her story and gets the conversation heated up on queer dating, relationships, open commitments, living arrangements, work, money, love, sex and lust.

She’s Just Not That Into You covers everything from reality checks your friends won’t give you and learning to love yourself to avoiding toxic relationships and why serial dating often leads to disaster – the kind of advice any young woman in love or looking for love needs.

Enter a giveaway for Aryka Randall’s She’s Just Not That Into You at The Fab Femme website.

Visit This Website…

WOC In Romance
http://www.wocinromance.com/

WOC In Romance celebrates and promotes Women of Color who write romance novels. Operated by author Rebekah Weatherspoon, this blog features new release and backlist promotions, as well as weekly recaps. The site is a beautiful mélange of colorful book selections, and is trans inclusive and open to gender fluid and non-binary authors of color as well. Follow WOC In Romance on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.

Goslyn County by A.M. McKnight

Publisher/Date:  CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Nov. 2015
Genre(s):  Mystery, Romance, Crime
Pages:  320
Website: https://ammcknight.wordpress.com/

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

 

A mostly black community with its roots in farming, Goslyn, Virginia lay just south of the State’s Capital. The once small, close-knit county had grown rapidly in the past two decades and boasted a population of just over fifty thousand. But the county’s crime stats had grown as well, and the latest offenses included several break-ins and rumors of a meth lab. Time had brought many changes, and many of the longtime folks of Goslyn no longer recognized their community and longed for days gone by. Goslyn PD Detective Olivia “Ollie” Winston loves her family and friends and shows it through her sense of humor. Just like her neighbors, she too worries about the recent events, and it’s her job to find out who’s behind the crime spree. While investigating three burglaries, Olivia meets IRS Special Agent Maureen Jeffries who is pursuing a tax fraud suspect. Their cases are connected, and both soon discover they have much in common, personally and professionally. 

Last year, I was really into cozy mysteries. Quick and satisfying reads, I was enamored by the kind of mysteries set in sleepy towns where everyone knows your name, and the crimes always wrapped up nicely.

That’s why I was so drawn to GOSLYN COUNTY by A.M. McKnight, a story set in a predominantly black community in Virginia. This mystery-romance featuring detective Olivia “Ollie” Winston finds her trying to unravel the recent break-in of a local tax filing office and the theft of its customers’ personal information. Ollie is good at what she does – rising from beat officer to detective within 10 years – but her small town’s department doesn’t have the technological capability to track down the offenders; that’s where Ollie depends on best friend, Pat Henley-Rice, owner of an IT service provider, to assist in the case. Down with each other like four flat tires since elementary school, Ollie and Pat have this friendship that’s more like sisters, and Pat is refreshingly funny.

Ollie also has help from the feds in this criminal matter, namely IRS special agent Maureen Jeffries, who is investigating a tax fraud case in nearby Atlanta that could be related to Ollie’s break-in. When the two begin comparing information is when *ta-da* sparks begin to fly. Shy around each other at first, the professionals slowly cultivate a relationship with lunches and long conversations. Everything about it is old-fashioned, but not stuffy, and it’s a grown-woman romance.

To tell the truth, the entirety of Goslyn County is grown-folk relating to each other. The richness of the town and the characters are what really drew me in. Every chapter is a revolving look into why people do what they do, including the criminals themselves. We get to know why Ollie and Maureen are hesitant about love, and why Ollie should really watch her back when it comes to her job. That’s one of the things what A.M. McKnight does best with this novel.

Like with any mystery revolving around detectives, the behind-the-scenes of an investigation is important. I got that message clearly in Goslyn County. McKnight places you there, right along with Ollie and Maureen as they both chases leads separately and together. While I think the ending did wrap up a little too quickly, the ride – and the exciting car chase – is what’s important.

I’m glad McKnight is planning a sequel, because I’m raring to see what else little ole Goslyn County can cook up next.

Reviewed March 2016