My Woman His Wife 3 by Anna J.

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Publisher/Date:  Urban Books, Oct. 2012
Genre:  Erotica
Pages:  288
Website:  http://www.allthingsannaj.com

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

You would think four years was long enough to get over a threesome almost ruining your marriage, but not so for Jasmine and James Cinque. They lived through Monica’s games in My Woman His Wife and The Aftermath, and four years later, Monica’s mischievous ass has returned to Philly with a purpose in MY WOMAN HIS WIFE 3 by Anna J.

After she wreaked havoc on James and Jasmine’s household, became pregnant by James, and left the child with the couple to raise, Monica relocated to Atlanta to start fresh. Launching a few companies and a career as a successful artist, something still nags at her, and she decides to visit Philly to check in on things, most especially her son.

Monica arrives in the nick of time, because just as her plane touches down, tragedy has struck the Cinques. In a weird sort of way, she might be just what the Cinques need to put their marriage back on track – despite the temptation she poses to them.

But Monica has more than just lingering feelings to worry about. All the dirt she’s done in the past is catching up with her. Her enemies know she’s in town, and some of them want vengeance.

Can Monica handle her business and escape back to the ATL? Or does life have other plans for her?

If you enjoyed Anna J.’s first two novels about Monica, you’ll enjoy My Woman His Wife 3. It stays true to the previous novels, adding a few twists, and the sex is just like Anna J. knows how to do.

Reviewed December 2012

Rumors Ring True (Maxi’s Place) by Literary Stud

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Publisher/Date:  Amazon Digital Services, Inc., Aug. 2012
Genre: Romance
Pages:  47
Website:  http://twitter.com/literarystud

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

The Plot: RUMORS RING TRUE, the first in the Maxi’s Place series, promises “drama, deceit, and maybe a little love.” Maxi’s Place electrifies with great food, ambiance, and music. Behind the scenes, a romance steams between hostess Ava Russell and saxophonist Bailey Thompson. Because restaurant owner Cole Washington frowns against workplace romances, Ava and Bailey hide their budding attraction. Yet it’s unmistakable. The question is: what they are going to do about it?

The Good: A quick read, Rumors sets up a good story you could see yourself reading more of. Ava and Bailey play a cat-and-mouse game that some may find appealing.

The Not-So-Good: The cat-and-mouse game. Will they or won’t they? That’s mostly what this first installment was about. It would have been nice had Rumors incorporated other characters a little more.

The Bottom Line:Rumors Ring True is one of those Kindle stories to read on a lazy afternoon. I’m just curious enough to see what happens next.

Reviewed December 2012

She Wants Her by Tasha C. Miller

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Publisher/Date:  Creative Afflictions Press, Apr. 2012
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  336
Website:  http://www.tashacmiller.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Jacqueline Tripp knows exactly what she wants: Cleopatra Giovanni.

You’ll see just how far – and it’s far – she’ll go to capture this stud’s heart in SHE WANTS HER, the captivating debut novel by Tasha C. Miller.

Cleopatra is unquestionably a catch. The successful New York City real estate executive is brilliant, ambitions and gorgeous. She enchants almost every woman that crosses her path, from straight to lesbian. Not to mention her sexual prowess is legendary from borough to borough; what woman hasn’t heard about the “snake.”

Jacqueline has heard all about Cleo’s sexploits – and is determined to be the one femme who can make Cleo fall in love. Surprisingly, she does. Jacqueline turns on her feminine wiles and engages her like no other woman before her, an impossibility for someone like Cleo.

Women were disposable to Cleo. If they weren’t up to her standards mentally, or had no interest beyond her lovemaking skills, time was up. Jacqueline was the first to truly learn whom she was underneath her hard edges and love her from the inside out. Cleo appreciated and needed that in her life, considering her rough upbringing. She trusts Jacqueline with her heart – something she’s never given to any woman.

Soon after their honeymoon phase ends is when Cleo realizes Jacqueline has secrets. Secrets that she uncovers from someone else other than Jacqueline. Cleo doesn’t want to believe that the first woman to ever break down her walls is a liar. It can’t be true…can it? What if there’s some reasonable explanation?

With 323 pages of She Wants Her, Miller creates a multi-layered drama with sex, intrigue, and love in a deceitful place. The secondary characters add an extra spice to the tale. While I do have some questions and some side-eyes at how Jacqueline’s lies played out, I like a femme who will do anything to get her stud.

Reviewed December 2012

Still Strapped by Sharon D. Smith

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Publisher/Date: Lulu.com, Dec. 2011
Genre(s): Romance, Suspense
Pages: 160
Website: http://www.facebook.com/authorsharondsmith

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

The Plot: It’s Silk’s turn to narrate the story, STILL STRAPPED, about her relationship with fellow stud, Taz. Lovers from the previous Strapped, Silk and Taz’s bond has grown and become more organic, but it doesn’t sit well with others. All the couple wants is to share their lives, and interlopers from Silk and Taz’s past want to do them dirty – Zodiac, Silk’s former pimp; Reece, Taz’s femme ex who’s still irked she was left for a stud; and Nic, a relic from Silk’s gang-banging days she’d rather forget. Can’t they just let these studs be great and in love?

The Good: The plot moves swiftly. It’s a good portrayal of stud-4-stud love. I enjoy Taz and Silk’s interaction. I hope their portrayal helps to break down the negativity surrounding this type of relationship.

The Not-So-Good: There are a few twists that come off implausible, like the revenge scheme against Silk and Taz, but it’s easy to roll with the story.

The Bottom Line: Read Still Strapped for Taz and Silk’s love story and allow it to show you another side of black lesbian love. And another installment, Strapless, is soon on its way.

Reviewed December 2012

Meet the Girl in the Mirror Contest Winner!

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The winner of Sistahs on the Shelf’s Girl in the Mirror Contest is:

SapphicBeauty

When I look in the mirror I see a mother, daughter, sister, aunt & friend.  I see a professional woman who enjoys educating and advocating for children.  I see a woman who has loved, been loved, lost love and still believes that there is someone out there who is THAT ONE and is waiting for me.  There are times when I look in the mirror blink and look away, I see a woman who once believed she had been broken.  But, when I look back again, I see a woman who understands that life’s adversities have made her stronger and continue to build her into someone of greatness.  A role model for the young ladies following in her footsteps.  That mirror reveals a woman of depth and strength, built upon the highs, lows on the back of this thing called Life.  I’m not skinny or built to a supermodel’s size.  I have curvy hips and thick thighs.  And when I turn to the side there’s a pronounced fullness to my backside.  My eyes glisten, my hair shines. My lips beckon others with sweet, sultry smiles.  Don’t look into my eyes unless you want to be mesmerized.  Yes, I have a tremendous view of my fantastic self.  But the one image the mirror doesn’t reflect, is hidden within the walls of my chest.  My heart is bigger than any vast sea and completely open and welcoming to someone who is worthy.  This is the total picture my mirror reveals to me.

As the winner, she receives an autographed copy of Alix B. Golden’s Girl in the Mirror!

Congratulations to SapphicBeauty!

Alix B. Golden’s Girl in the Mirror is available now on Amazon.

Girl in the Mirror by Alix B. Golden (Aug. 2012 Pick of the Month)

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Publisher/Date:  I Bleed Ink Publishing, Aug. 2012
Genre:  Romance
Pages:   204
Website:  http://www.alixbgolden.com

Rating: ★★★★½ 

You can’t run from your past, and you certainly can’t run from the GIRL IN THE MIRROR.

While the prequel to this novel, Girl, Shattered, is available now, Mirror is its full-length story from blogger turned book author Alix B. Golden with many layers – a surprise love, suspense, drama, parental woes – yet the center of them is Christen Calhoun. The by-day bank teller is uninspired by her job and only finds comfort in her camera; it doesn’t pay the bills, and it doesn’t suit her father’s dreams for her.

Neither does dating women. Especially the ones Christen involves herself with. Still reeling from her last burn with thieving ass Alicia, she decides a no-strings attached relationship is exactly what she needs in Kam, a writer she meets online with a girlfriend. Christen sees nothing wrong with the two having a fling. At least that’s how it begins. It ends just as badly.

*girl in the mirror shakes her head*

Christen could never tell her Pops about these dead-end hookups. Since a young girl, it’s always been just the two of them after her mother’s passing. He never understood her decisions – staying in Savannah after graduation instead of returning to Atlanta, why she couldn’t find a man and make him a “Grandpappy” – nevertheless he did want to see her happy.

The problem is Christen can’t please herself. She suits her personality to the women she dates, and every bad romance she gets her further away from whom she is. When she looks in the mirror, the truth stares back, but then loneliness sets in and fools her heart into thinking it’s love.

It’s only when the worst imaginable happens that Christen returns home to find the love she needs – and makes the girl in mirror finally smile back.

Golden’s Girl in the Mirror shines. What I liked most about Mirror is its dimensionality. The storyline took several twists and turns, tying nicely to make an enjoyable novel. In Christen, you see a woman with so much potential go from settling to avoid being alone to realizing her true reflection is what’s important.

Reviewed August 2012

Fantasies, Sex, Lies, & Love… Chronicles of the Heart and Mind by Harmonie Reigns

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Publisher/Date:  CreateSpace, Feb. 2012
Genre(s):  Romance, Erotica, Poetry, Short Story
Pages:  212
Website:  http://harmoniereigns.wix.com/harmonie#!info

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

The Plot: In most cases, relationships usually include FANTASIES, SEX, LIES & LOVE…CHRONICLES OF THE HEART AND MIND in some fashion. That’s what Harmonie Reigns asserts in her collection of dramatic short stories and corresponding poems. Love can be reunited in (“The Encounter”) or reassuring (“In the Blink of an Eye”) or life-changing (“The Librarian”). On the other hand, it can also be deceitful (“The Office”) or simply about the panties (“The Truck Stop”). With Reigns, you never know what you’re gonna get.

The Good: Reigns delves into hearty plots with each tale. She draws you into the characters, allowing you to care about the two (or sometimes three) people in the relationship that matter the most. And the sex found between the pages is scorching.

The Bad: Although the stories were hot, the excessive grammatical errors were not. It did slow me down at times. Also, some of her poems I couldn’t quite get into.

The Bottom Line: Read Fantasies for the love and the lust, and you won’t be disappointed.

Reviewed August 2012

Fantasies, Sex, Lies, & Love… Chronicles of the Heart and Mind by Harmonie Reigns
CreateSpace, Feb. 2012
212 pages
Contemporary Romance/Erotica/Poetry/Short Story
http://harmoniereigns.wix.com/harmonie#!infoRating: 3 out of 5

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

The Plot: In most cases, relationships usually include FANTASIES, SEX, LIES & LOVE…CHRONICLES OF THE HEART AND MIND in some fashion. That’s what Harmonie Reigns asserts in her collection of dramatic short stories and corresponding poems. Love can be reunited in (“The Encounter”) or reassuring (“In the Blink of an Eye”) or life-changing (“The Librarian”). On the other hand, it can also be deceitful (“The Office”) or simply about the panties (“The Truck Stop”). With Reigns, you never know what you’re gonna get.

The Good: Reigns delves into hearty plots with each tale. She draws you into the characters, allowing you to care about the two (or sometimes three) people in the relationship that matter the most. And the sex found between the pages is scorching.

The Bad: Although the stories were hot, the excessive grammatical errors were not. It did slow me down at times. Also, some of her poems I couldn’t quite get into.

The Bottom Line: Read Fantasies for the love and the lust, and you won’t be disappointed.

Reviewed August 2012

The Other Side of Joy by April Joy Bowden

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Publisher/Date:  AuthorHouse, May 2012
Genre(s): Poetry, Romance
Pages: 100
Website:  http://www.apriljoybowden.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Since elementary school, April Joy Bowden has nurtured her love of poetry. It was her release, her connection to the world, her first love.

Bowden’s long-time courtship with verses birthed THE OTHER SIDE OF JOY, a moving work of poems about the emotions and passions manifested by love.

The North Carolina resident and full-time photographer breaks her book into four sections: joy, pain, intimacy and ecstasy. With each, she supplies the rules, and the words she utilizes to describe each facet are truthful and familiar. It’s evident she’s lived it.

The glass remains shattered on the floor
Life’s little remainder that this was the last time the Storm would walk through my door
The broken pieces of my soul, my life, my heart
A subtle hint, a blatant call that we are truly apart
No time, no reason
To mend, fix or repair
Four long years to love, to laugh, to care

What’s also interesting about Joy is the storytelling found in her poems. Bowden is vivid in her depiction of desire.

I awake prior to the sunrise
As my eyes open
Behold the beautiful caramel kissed woman who lay beside me
In the moonlight
Her bosom glistens
And every curve has a story to tell
A story that because I’ve listened
I know so well

In a small amount of pages, Bowden says and expresses a lot in The Other Side of Joy. You can also check out Bowden’s co-authored memoir, High: On Love & Addiction, revealing the ordeals in loving a woman consumed by drugs, which is just as genuine and heartfelt as Joy.

Reviewed August 2012

She Say, She Say by Olivia Renee Wallace

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Publisher/Date:  Olivia Renee Wallace, May 2012
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  215

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

It’s amazing how two women in love can see their relationship so differently, as in the alternating narration of SHE SAY, SHE SAY by Olivia Renee Wallace.

Coeds Shanelle Carter and J.B. Donovan, by all appearances, seem to be total opposites. Shanelle is the big woman on campus: sorority president, hottie with a body and all-around good girl.

J.B., in her own words, is a “big ol’ studdin’-ass mofo,” but don’t let that fool you. She’s editor of the campus newspaper, a conscientious student, and a hard worker.

Shanelle has always kept her distance from J.B., yet feels as if she knows the writer through her articles and editorials. The gap between them is narrowed one day when J.B. catches “Miss Popularity” staring at her, and they hit it off from there.

Both J.B. and Shanelle slowly let their guards down, but Shanelle is the one who figures she has more to lose by dating someone so different from her well-to-do family, friends and sorors. Though their passion is unlike any she’s ever experienced, she can’t – or won’t – allow herself to be seen with J.B.

J.B. has too much pride to take occupancy in Shanelle’s closet. Though it’s the hardest thing to let Shanelle go, she has to. She’s not ashamed of who she is. If only Shanelle could be the same way.

Through a series of missteps and second chances, who’s to say these two won’t finally see eye to eye?

Wallace’s She Say, She Say has a great connection in Shanelle and J.B. These two were fire together, both out the bedroom, but most especially when they touch. When reading, it’s as if they’re in their own cocoon, blissfully oblivious everyone but each other. With that being said, it’s a shame that most other details – like the name of the school, what the women’s majors are – are completely left out. If Wallace had expanded the background of the characters and the world around them, it could have made a much better book.

As it stands, though, She Say, She Say is speaking pretty well for itself.

Reviewed August 2012

Midtown by Alix B. Golden

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Publisher/Date:  I Bleed Ink Publishing, June 2012
Genre:  Romance
Website:  http://www.alixbgolden.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

MIDTOWN, ATLANTA — Four friends sharing a house in the gay-friendly, upwardly mobile area of downtown Atlanta contend with love and life and drama in this entertaining book by popular blogger Alix B. Golden.

You should know Golden from A Brown Girl Gone Gay (and if you haven’t, you should). There, she writes about her Southern lesbian lifestyle with humor and flair, and her first novel is no different.

Midtown follows four lesbians under one roof, so you know that means — drama.

But not in a scandalous way (well, a little scandal). Ed, Ash, Ki and Brie became best friends while attending Florida A&M University, better known as FAMU, who got into plenty of mischief at the school.

Now as cohabitating adults, the four are living, working, and sleeping together (literally and figuratively). That’s where the drama comes in.

Ed can’t stop her woman, Taylor, from being unfaithful, despite giving her a manager’s position in her bookstore.  Ki and Brie can’t seem to settle down and find the right women, but decide to gain a cuddle buddy in each other. Rounding out the crew is Ash, the straight friend, back into town and ready to declare her newfound sexuality, and hopes they accept her.

Between these women is an unbreakable friendship, but their romantic connections are definitely complicated.

Golden’s Midtown is a crazy ride in a fast car — in a good way. The characters are appealing, and feel like women you might have known during your undergrad years — and you’d still hang out with them now.

Reviewed July 2012