Bare Necessities: Sensuous Tales of Passion by Hazel Mills

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Publisher/Date:  Xpress Yourself Publishing, LLC , Feb. 2008
Genre(s):  Erotica, Short Story, Bisexual
Pages:  112
Website:  http://www.hazelmillsstories.com

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

When passions are laid bare, it can be sensual, exciting and worth every minute.

The same can be said about BARE NECESSITIES: SENSUOUS TALES OF PASSION, the collection of naughty gems and poems written by Hazel Mills. Containing 11 stories of sexual candor, Bare Necessities combines a little bit of romance and a little bit of sin to create a short-but-sweet romp worth reading.

Bare Necessities begins with “A Lover is Born,” where Laila is introduced to Gabe at her book club meeting and is instantly entranced. She wants to get to know Gabe better, and what better way than to host the next gathering at her place. The bash is a success in more ways than one, as the two ladies manage to get their own party started.

In “Surrender,” a workaholic husband and wife put the spice back into their marriage by attending a couple’s retreat. Yet, this isn’t just a boring therapy session; it’s an experience that allows them to seek unknown pleasures, and from it the married lovers learn that it’s okay to let go and explore their freaky sides.

Then in the most poignant tale of Bare Necessities, “Sweet Home Alabama,” a Philadelphia transplant returns for her family reunion in Sweet Home, a small town with even smaller dreams. Despite escaping, Tracy has only one regret after leaving her hometown: abandoning her childhood sweetheart, Monica. She vows to find her – and finally be with the woman she never stopped loving.

There more treasures in Bare Necessities, and Mills doesn’t hesitate to give them to you. Her stories are funny, warm, and hot in just the right places. Even though the book has a mere hundred or so pages, it doesn’t fail to get you fired up. I look forward to reading more from Mills – hopefully in a book with a much higher page count.

Reviewed August 2008

Lookin’ For a Lover by Zaria

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Publisher/Date:  New World Publishing, May 2008
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  30
Website:  http://www.freewebs.com/zariajones

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If that’s true, the characters in LOOKIN’ FOR A LOVER are sure to have a spot saved just for them.

Lookin’ For a Lover, the debut novel from author Zaria, follows the path leading to love, one that had such high hopes but doesn’t necessarily end on that street. The main character, Zaria Jones, thought her long-desired dreams of being with a woman were finally fulfilled, but, like life, doesn’t always work out as planned.

Zaria is a thoughtful, no-nonsense day care director by day, and a true freak at night. Her fantasies are of the woman variety, and are so vivid that she begins to question her sexuality. Despite what her dreams suggest, Zaria denies her passion, believing that it’s just because she hasn’t found “a good man” yet. She’s looking but hasn’t had any luck, except for her maintenance man, Blade.

Her luck changes when she discovers her perfect mate is a woman, whom she meets by chance at a local bookstore. Zaria is instantly entranced by Charmaine’s hazel eyes and bodacious frame. They hit it off and soon begin seeing a lot more of each other. It gets real serious real fast. Zaria couldn’t have imagined her all dreams could have come true with her first lesbian relationship.

From there, Zaria’s ready to tell the world how happy she is. Everyone’s not exactly thrilled with the couple’s new-found love. It takes a strength Zaria’s never known to face the fact that she’s in love, and to get past the rejection from her family and friends. Zaria knows her relationship with Charmaine is worth the pain – or is it?

Lookin’ For a Lover is an intense but enjoyable novel. The book is filled with Zaria’s sugar-filled fantasies taken to the next level. Those moments alone will keep you enthralled, but the novel’s supporting characters and their storylines take the cake, as well. I definitely plan to read the sequel. With that being said, some of the book’s more outrageous situations will lead one to believe being gay is a catalyst to being crazy.

This makes for a more exciting read, but a sad one, nonetheless.

Reviewed August 2008

Love & Money Don’t Mix by KoKo B

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Publisher/Date:  Angel Pearl Publishing, Dec. 2007
Genre(s):  Contemporary Romance, Intrigue
Pages:  220
Website:  http://www.appublishing.net

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

If money can buy love, then it can never be true. This is the case in LOVE & MONEY DON’T MIX, the debut novel authored by KoKo B.

The story revolves around Amanda and Shaun, a seemingly perfect couple who first meet a party. Becoming inseparable almost immediately, the two grow together through the years, sharing their lives. There are things that bother Amanda, the narrator of this tale, such as Shaun’s uncomfortable distance from her family and her overly ambitious nature. However, Shaun is a go-getter in every sense of the word, and only wants to make a better life for herself and Amanda.

So when she takes a job with a dubious businessman, Russo Tolentino, the money is flowing and Shaun is thrilled to have such a high-powered post. In fact, the money’s so good, it blinds Shaun to the fact that there might be more than meets the eye with her boss. It’s only when employees come up dead that the couple realizes this job is placing their own lives in danger.

Someone is after them, and with crooked cops in the mix, Amanda and Shaun only have each other to lean on. Can their love be enough to get them through this unsavory situation?

Love & Money Don’t Mix is an intriguing book, one you could easily sit down and breeze through in an afternoon. While there are some interesting plot twists, the story doesn’t live up to its premise of a lesbian couple on the run. I felt Amanda and Shaun’s characters weren’t as fleshed out as they should have been, and therefore I wasn’t as invested in the couple’s struggles. The excessive grammatical errors don’t help either. With that being said, Love & Money is still a story that can hold your attention.

Reviewed August 2008

Visions of a Cryptic Mystery: Volume One by Eternity Philops (June 2008 Pick of the Month)

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Publisher/Date:  Black Tygre Publications, Apr. 2008
Genre(s):  Poetry, Short-Story
Pages:  126
Website:  http://www.eternity-philops.com

Rating: ★★★★★ 

A sweet feeling washes over you when reading VISIONS OF A CRYPTIC MYSTERY: VOLUME ONE, a vibe of spiritual and sexual serenity.

Author Eternity Philops’ Visions is a beautiful view from which readers won’t be able to tear their eyes away. Excellent in its form, approach and creativity, Visions captures your senses. Both poetry and prose encompass this brilliant array of work that speaks to black lesbians everywhere. Its unique charm lies in Philops’ poems that clinch the mind with a metaphysical theme and her short stories that engage the heart.

Visions is categorized by three fragments titled Love, Loss and Life. The first, Love, captures the emotion and physical aspects of affection, with stories concerning unrequited love in “Almost First Kiss” and love beyond time in “Black Lace.” The poems in this section compliment these stories with an air of “Cosmic Intimacy.”

“Come soar with me
Be my love
We will stroll across a plateau of clouds,
Bathed in iridescent rays of sunlight
We shall picnic on the billowed hills of heaven,
As the soft rustle of God’s whispers blows gently
in our ears.”

The next section deals with the facet of Loss, as evidenced by the stories “Other Side of the Moon,” a tale of two women in love who never quite become one, and in “A Luncheon Scorned,” where a woman finally gives a former lover her just desserts. In this section, the poems underscore the feeling losing the most important thing in your life, as evidenced in “A Slight Wind.”

“Her whispered nothings are sweet
their smog a pollution
of my atmosphere
I’ve inhaled to deeply
the toxins of her tongue
Lungs full of a lover’s lies
I asphyxiate
for lack of pure clean truth”

In the final part of Visions, Philops writes about Life in its candor. In “Bait and Switch,” a con-woman finally meets her match and a workaholic learns there’s more to life than business in “An Affirmative Action.” The remainder of her poems in this section vary in themes from creation to dreams.

“Can I be your poet?
Can I write your journey
upon the eclipse of your soul
along the shadow of your benighted thoughts”

Philops’ Visions is a delight to read. It swiftly grabs you from page one, enveloping the reader in colorful and sensuous expressions that you won’t find in most Black lesbian novels. The poems are concise, inspired works of art that Philops has clearly mastered. The prose is mired in its every-woman appeal, making the reader both laugh and long for love. Philops, who wrote the first volume of over an extensive period and has plans for more, compares writing to opening the soul’s window, inviting you to see the view.

From reading Visions, the sight is quite exquisite.

Reviewed June 2008

Hersband by Christina Batista

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Publisher/Date:  BookSurge Publishing, Dec. 2006
Genre(s): Romance, Hispanic Fiction
Pages:  254
Website:  http://www.hersband.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What starts in the 1960s and ends in the 1990s is the basis for HERSBAND, the semi-autobiographical, debut novel from Christina Batista. Protagonist Dena Vargas is a Brooklyn-born lesbian searching for true love, but instead discovers all kinds of misadventures with women.

With her light skin, curly hair and green eyes, Dena endured being a tomboy and having crushes on girls. She had always been honest with herself and her family about her sexuality, but finding someone to love proved to be the harder task.

After coming out at 20, she begins her foray into the gay world, along with her lesbian cousin Hilda. The women share the experiences and drama of falling and out of in love. Dena’s first encounter occurs when she becomes enamored of Marcy, a woman she meets at a party. Like the story of Cinderella, the pair share one dance, but due to unforeseen circumstances, don’t cross paths again. Dena spends months trying to find Marcy, turning down other available women to find the one she’s meant to be with.

And they do finally come together. And fall in love. And break up. And get back together. And break up yet again. Two years of this leads to the demise of their relationship, and dumps Dena back into the dating pool. This time though, she finds only quick or dead-end flings – and Dena never settles for the status quo.

Yet Dena’s story is far more than just her journey to love. It’s also about parties, dildos, fights, family, and simply a typical coming of age for a lesbian. Dena’s saga culminates when she realizes it’s time to settle down and become an adult – a transition we all have to make one way or another.

Hersband is an amiable novel, written by Batista with a flair for chronicling the life of a Hispanic lesbian. Here’s a character you’ll follow in her passage from a child and to a grown woman. Though slow at first, Hersband builds to a satisfying, cliffhanging finale.

What happens next with Dena, you never know – but you’ll want to find out.

Reviewed June 2008

Hungry For It by Fiona Zedde

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Publisher/Date:  Kensington, June 2008
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  288
Website:  http://www.fionazedde.com

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Yes, Fiona’s back.

Or Ms. Zedde, if you’re nasty. And boy, HUNGRY FOR IT is plenty scandalous.

Her fourth solo novel, Hungry begins where a Taste of Sin leaves off, the sweltering novel set in Miami where Dez and best friend Rémi used to run wild through scores of women, always in search of a new delicacy. When Dez finally settles down and marries Victoria, it leaves Rémi to comb the balmy city in search of new fun without her running buddy.

And that she does. From têtê-à-têtês in her popular nightclub to entertaining sexy triplets, Rémi could never deny her decadent sexual appetite – until she finally gets the chance to sample a dish she’s been craving her whole life: Claudia, Dez’s mother.

Forbidden, yes. Off limits, yes. Yet feels so right, yes.

In all actuality, Rémi’s heart has belonged to Claudia since the day she eyed the maternal beautiful outside her school, marveling the enigmatic woman. It later works in Remi’s favor that she and Dez become close friends and she’s introduced to her dream woman. In time, Rémi grew into a member of Dez’s family, but she doesn’t outgrow her crush on Claudia, despite the many women she encounters.

When it happens one night that the two are left to their own devices after Dez’s wedding, they find their attraction palpable but try to fight it. Rémi’s reserved because of her friendship with Dez, and Claudia struggles with the age and sexual differences between them.

One thing they can’t deny, though, is the heat simmering when they touch. The only thing that impedes their passion is the one person that means the most to them.

Zedde is one of the black lesbian community’s most dependable writers, her vivid storytelling brought to life in her characters. Hungry is no different. It’s just the kind of fast-paced, meaty read one needs for the summer. While the novel’s side plots move quickly, the main course is Rémi and Claudia, two women discovering that love is dish best served hot.

Reviewed June 2008

Purple Panties: An Eroticanoir.com Anthology edited by Zane

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Publisher/Date:  Strebor Books, May 2008
Genre(s):  Erotica, Short Story
Pages:  320
Website:  http://www.eroticanoir.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Doesn’t matter what the color, all undergarments come off just as easily in PURPLE PANTIES, the newest book from renowned erotica writer Zane, author of best-selling books Addicted and Chocolate Flava. This time, she focuses her view strictly on the ladies in this anthology of 26 lesbian tales of passion.

As Zane says in her introduction, “You might need a few drinks when you read this book, definitely a sex toy or lover, but you are in for one hell of a ride.” Truer words were never written as you peruse story after story varying from tender romance to rip-your-bra-off sex. Not one author fails to ignite a spark with each page.

Take for instance Laurinda D. Brown’s “It’s All or Nothing,” which finds housewife Meena realizing she gave up too much for her husband, and it took another woman’s kiss to cut the apron strings. Then a pleasure-seeking vacationer looks for “Island Goddess” at a paradise resort, and toy-shopping takes on a whole new meaning at with an adult store proprietor taking advantage of her own products in “Miss Julidene’s Sexy Items.”

One of the highlights of Purple Panties is women discovering the delights of the female sex for the first time. This is portrayed in stories such as “The Finest Man,” wherein a feminine security guard is tantalized by the masculine individual at her workplace, even after realizing he’s really a she. Syreeta then ponders what her attraction to the stud says about herself, because she’s ready to give it up – no matter what the gender.

As expected, Purple Panties has the no-holds barred escapades that blaze with undeniable chemistry. That’s provided courtesy of “The Purple Panty Revue,” as Jay meets the faceless neighbor that’s haunted her fantasies for the past few weeks; the surprise is where they finally encounter one another – and what happens next.

Zane’s own novella is saved for last with “In My Mind,” a tale of a nude art model who poses at local university. One particular co-ed catches Emile’s eye, and she wishes to depict her feelings with the shy undergraduate – if only she could break the student’s aloof exterior.

Purple Panties proves more than provocative, worthy of getting your underwear damp. The only objection is that some stories seem to stop abruptly, and I was left wanting more. Yet I love the fact Zane is bringing lesbian literature to a mainstream black audience; in fact, she’s planning to publish a sequel to Panties early next year.

And I, for one, will be happily waiting – because Zane always knows how to put it down.

Reviewed June 2008

When Love Aint Enough by Vivian M. Kelly (May 2008 Pick of the Month)

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Publisher/Date:  Gritz N Eggs Production, Apr. 2006
Genre:  Romance
Pages: 488
Website:  http://www.vivianmkelly.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

We’ve all suffered through the media’s obsession with black men on the DL, but what about sistahs on the down low, keeping their lesbian affairs hush-hush while using their heterosexual relationships as a cover?

That’s what Casey Banks contends with as you read WHEN LOVE AINT ENOUGH, the debut novel from writer Vivian M. Kelly. When we first meet Casey, she’s strung out over her longtime-lover Jade, who left to her marry a NBA superstar. Devastation overtakes her heart – along with glasses of Cognac and the sounds of Luther Vandross – and drowns her in despair. In her heartbroken haze, Casey recalls the road that led her to this low in her life.

A childhood filled with hidden desires, Casey always felt she could never act on her feelings for women. She carried her longing in a secret place, until she fell in love with her college sweetheart Nahdia, and knew she had to be herself. Yet, as quickly as love came, it faded as tragedy struck the happy couple.

Afterward Casey became emotionally numb, and time passes before she can open herself up again. She believes she could never find the connection she had with Nahdia, and it’s proven when she puts herself in trifling situations to have someone in her life. No one values her sensitive side, the one that will do anything for the right woman.

Now a promising new attorney at prestigious Norfolk law firm, Casey believes she’s found the perfect partner in Jade. A TV executive, Jade is everything Casey’s been looking for: beautiful, smart, and seemingly together. They truly enjoy each other’s company, whenever Jade can spare it. Jade doesn’t acknowledge their relationship publicly, and won’t admit that she’s gay – except when Casey’s between her legs.

To make matters worse, Jade doesn’t bother to let go her ex-boyfriend b-ball player, and doesn’t make any apologies for it to Casey. For Jade to treat their relationship like a dirty little secret leads to Casey’s depression and loss of self-esteem. She can’t handle it seeing the woman she loves in the arms of someone else. Can she pull herself together to see the writing on the wall?

Kelly’s novel proves love is definitely not enough to keep someone who doesn’t want to be kept. Jade strung Casey to the point that I was sick of her. Grammatical errors aside, you’ll get more involved with every page, and there are almost 500 pages to get through. When Love Aint Enough effectively demonstrates the expression love is blind, but anyone who’s been in Casey’s shoes will realize that your own sanity is more important than believing in empty promises.

Reviewed May 2008

Down Low Sistahs by Wakiem Freeman

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Publisher/Date:  Apricot Books International, Feb. 2008
Genre(s):  Contemporary Fiction, Bisexual
Pages:  224

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

If you pick up DOWN LOW SISTAHS, here’s a warning: Read at your own risk.

Urban author Wakiem Freeman’s tale of sistahs gone wild is blunt in its approach, to the point that it might offend the delicate black lesbian reader. The eye-opening plot centers around a dude named Nicor, who can’t seem to find a straight sistah to save his life. He tells the story in the most graphic fashion, his exploits downright dirty.

How it all begins is with the surprise his girlfriend Tamar drops on his 25th birthday: she has a girlfriend. This comes after dating him for six months and seeing future with the tall beauty. While he imagined they’d be married and having babies, she was slipping out her female lover. Nicor is incensed, hating the fact he was played like a fiddle.

Nicor is determined to find an honest woman with no lesbian tendencies. Instead he runs into female after female with a scandalous past of licking the cat. Either they’re straight forward with it (no pun intended) or play it off by claiming “that’s just my cousin.” Nicor gets fed up with lies and decides to expose these down low sistahs for what they are. He’s tired of men getting browbeaten about having DL inclinations, when women are out here wilin’ out.

His revenge occurs when Nicor writes a song about these women and catches superstar media attention. It all comes together for the befuddled brotha – until Tamar attempts to re-enter his life.

Freeman, to his credit, does give a candid male perspective to women living double lives, unbeknownst to their male partners. This behavior does happen, but is it possible that every woman he dates has a female lover? What I also didn’t care for was the explicit sex scenes Nicor had with different (read: a lot) women that didn’t add much value to the story. It offended me that he can denounce down low sistahs for their callousness, but he could sleep with woman after woman with little regard. The disrespect surely goes both ways.

The author does grab your attention – even if it’s the wrong kind.

Reviewed May 2008

Grace After Midnight by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson

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Publisher/Date:  Grand Central Publishing, Nov. 2007
Genre(s): Lesbian Real Life, Street Life
Pages:  240
Website:  http://www.myspace.com/bmoresnoop

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

“I’m not making excuses and I’m not feeling sorry for myself. Don’t expect you to feel sorry for me either. Just want to tell my story while it’s fresh.”

And so begins GRACE AFTER MIDNIGHT, the striking autobiography of Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, star of the critically acclaimed HBO series, The Wire. In the short but poignant memoir written with David Ritz, Snoop recants her upbringing in the tough streets of Baltimore, the place that both raised and almost killed her.

Born with cross-eyes and crack in her system thanks to a drug-addicted mother, Snoop had much to overcome in the first moments of her life. She was no more than three pounds at birth, but surpassed the grim expectations placed on her. After years in foster care, she was taken in by a loving older couple, Cora and Levi Pearson. They offered her a good home with Christian values and worked to make sure Snoop had a better life.

Yet it didn’t stop her from taking on the streets. By her pre-teens, Snoop had her first taste as runner whose quiet strength took her far in the game. At 12 years old, she was witnessing murders, drug deals, shakedowns, and way too much for a girl her age. One of her mentors, a man known as “Uncle,” took Snoop under his wing and tried to get her abandon her dangerous behavior, but it was too little too late when Snoop ended in the Jessup State Penitentiary at 14 for murder.

Snoop recalls this night in third person and tells the story of how she ended up killing a girl in self-defense. It landed her a six-year sentence for second-degree murder, but ultimately saved her. While there she turned her life around, gaining a new appreciation for doing the right thing. With Uncle’s help, she left there feeling like she could do anything – and quickly found her good intentions weren’t worth much. That is, until she met Michael K. Williams from The Wire, landing the role of a lifetime with no acting experience.

The rest is history.

Snoop’s story is compelling and heart wrenching. You see the innocence of a child wanting her mother and a heart growing cold from rejection. You also glimpse a woman truly turning her life around, trying to obtain the grace after midnight she found in prison. And you also witness a woman true to her sexuality, being openly gay all her life.

For that, she should be applauded. Bravo, Snoop, bravo.

Reviewed May 2008