What Goes Around Comes Back Around by C. D. Kirven (Feb. 2009 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Outskirts Press, Nov. 2008
Genre(s):  Coming of Age, Coming Out, Identity, Self-Love
Pages:  224
Website:  http://www.cdkirven.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Karmic retribution allows the universe to make things happen the way the world intended. Yet we still have some control over our destiny, to shape the future based on our experiences and goals. C. D. Kirven’s debut novel, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES BACK AROUND, builds on this premise as we follow the coming of age of Kingsley Ross.

As the novel begins, Kingsley can be best described as passive, a 14-year-old girl who believes her grandmother’s words of what goes around comes around. She and her best friend, Tanya, spend their days doing typical teenage mischief, which returns to bite her in the ass. When it comes to getting what she wants, Kingsley doesn’t aggressively pursue her desires, and by adulthood, she’s living with glimmers of regrets.

One decision she laments is not allowing herself to fall in love. Uncomfortable with her blossoming lesbian tendencies, Kingsley fails to pursue a relationship with a woman she meets through a set-up, the drop-dead gorgeous Emery, who has the swagger to make Kingsley swoon despite her trepidation of being with a woman. They spend a glorious night together, leaving Kingsley more confused than ever. When Kingsley sees her months later – with another woman – it devastates her that she never told Emery how she felt. She let her fears prevent her from the love she could have had.

Seeing Emery moving on with her life, Kinsley vows to take charge of her own, experiencing everything the world has to offer. It helps her to see things clearly, to see that she was living by other’s standards – her family, society – instead of her own.

“I realized that all this time I had been thinking that I was no one on my own but everything with someone else. This was a lie that became my way of life. I am everything now…”

Nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, What Goes Around Comes Back Around captures a woman’s passage to herself. Through Kirven’s writing, it’s refreshing to see Kingsley grow from her antics as a teenager to a woman of her own. The transformation, described in colorful detail, is engrossing on many levels: Kingsley becoming an adult, accepting her sexuality, and discovering herself. Kirven allows you to take the ride with her character, and while a little bumpy, it leads to a place of self-fulfillment and love.

Reviewed February 2009

You Think You Know by Fina (Dec. 2008 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Seven Stages Publishing House, June 2008
Genre(s):  Erotica, Short Story
Pages:  132
Website:  http://www.finasflow.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What you don’t know about YOU THINK YOU KNOW, the debut novel from author Fina, is that you can’t possibly know just how good it is to read a work of black lesbian fiction as passionate, honest and explosive as these 15 tales of love between women.

Each story electrifies with carnal desires and insatiable lust, while caressing the heart in sincere reflections. Nothing has ever felt this easy when it comes to describing  our lives and loves.

Take for example, the confusion expressed in “The Lesbian Circle of Destruction,” which revolves around the scandalous relationships we have as women-loving  women. Monogamy is a dirty word with these women, whose almost incestuous ties can be found in any small lesbian community. For instance, your best friend is sleeping with your ex, while you’re still pining away over your first love, who’s now your best friend. Talk about complicated.

What you see is what you get in “She Finally Let Me Have a Femme All to Myself.” Who can ignore a story that begins with, “Have you ever just wanted to eat some pussy?” It gets more uninhibited from there, in a way that grabs your attention and won’t let go.

Balanced with the hardcore fantasies of You Think You Know are thoughtful works about love, expressed in “You,” pinpointing the exact moment a woman falls in love, and “Family Night,” a piece portraying the life of lesbian parents finding time for each other when the kids aren’t around.

Fina points out that you’ll wonder what happened to “good old fashioned wholesome ladies,” and it’s true when you read “An Eye for an Eye,” wherein a stud finds herself caught between a wife and a mistress. You may think you know how the story ends, but trust me, you can’t envision this ending.

The assorted tales of You Think You Know are riveting, able to draw you with their simple, sinful sentiments. Grammatical errors aside, simply put: Fina can tell a story. What she’s also able to do is depict our relationships for what they are – both beautiful and ugly at times.

And that’s what you should know about You Think You Know.

Reviewed December 2008

The Highest Price for Passion by Laurinda D. Brown (Oct. 2008 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Strebor, Aug. 2008
Genre(s):  Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages:  272
Website:  http://www.ldbrownbooks.com

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

The past comes back to haunt in Laurinda D. Brown’s fifth solo title, THE HIGHEST PRICE FOR PASSION. Beginning in the volatile pre-Civil War era, her latest novel follows illicit exploits of slaves and masters as their lives intersect in the most perilous ways. Several characters narrate the story filled with infatuations and horrors that arise during a time when blacks were no more than tortured servants for white masters.

The fiery tale begins from the eyes of Amelia, a slave who recounts her life and the terror she endured escaping her master. Amelia, born from a white mother and slave, grew up knowing she wasn’t like the other workers around her. Yet because of the time and place she inhabited, she had to keep the appearance of being like the other black folks around her. One night her lineage is discovered, and it eventually leads to her disappearance.

But Amelia’s roots trace back far before her birth, tied to a shaky family tree with unspeakable secrets. Passion explores her heritage from her descendents and to a host of other characters from three generations ago – ones whose desires lead them to destructive behavior. There’s Massa Gray, who after years of rumors, can’t deny his attraction to the male form, including his own slaves; McKinley Wellsworth, whose notoriety as a hard-nosed master, is essentially a product of his tortured upbringing; and then there’s her own father, Josiah, whose attraction for Amelia’s mother couldn’t be contained and produced a love child he had to abandon.

Amelia, as she tells her life story, is aware of the passions that consume those around her, including her master and mistress. Both have strong connections to the beautiful slave, and she’s treated somewhat better than other blacks on the plantation. But Amelia knows her destiny and that there’s something more out there for her than a life of servitude.

Brown has a tackled a novel with historical significance with Passion, a book worlds apart from the contemporary novels she’s written such as Fire & Brimstone, UnderCover,Walk Like a Man and Strapped. The drama is still there, only from an earlier time and place. Brown has done her research with this story, and offers something different for black lesbian readers with Passion, a tale we should read not only for its compelling subject matter, but so that we can gain perspective with how far our race has come.

Reviewed October 2008

Passing for Black by Linda Villarosa (Aug. 2008 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Dafina, June 2008
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  262
Website:  http://www.lindavillarosa.com

Rating: ★★★★½ 

We’ve all dealt, in some form or fashion, with the issue of being black, being a woman, and being gay – at times feeling as if you don’t really fit on any side, but having to stay true to both aspects of yourself. In PASSING FOR BLACK, the first foray into fiction by renowned journalist Linda Villarosa, this entanglement is experienced by Angela Wright, a buppie struggling with both her sexual and racial identities.

By outside appearances, Angela’s life is seamless in her middle-class world, where she’s an editor at Désire magazine, engaged to a history professor at a prominent university and mingles with a Black elite inner circle. Yet it’s simply a facade. Angela has never felt secure with herself, and “passing” is simply her coping mechanism to deal with never feeling “black enough.” With her mother, Janice, considered a local heroine in the black female community, she always felt tragically compelled to live up to her mother’s roots. And at 29, she should be ready to be married after a six-year relationship with Keith, but something always holds her back. Namely, her attraction to women, a temptation she forbade herself from having for so many years.

But it’s one she can’t resist with Cait Getty, one of Keith’s colleagues at Amsterdam University. After spying the woman hanging posters for a lesbian sex conference, all pretenses of a white picket fence life fade away. Instead, she finds herself drawn to the androgynous vibe of this white woman, an activist whose fervor for women’s issues is only matched by her passion for Angela. With sandy brown hair, boyish good looks and British accent, Cait is nothing Angela expected to be infatuated with. In fact, she’s everything opposite of what her family and friends would see her with.

It leaves Angela, who’s normally indecisive and non-confrontational, torn as to whom she should be with. Her head tells her to do the right thing and stay with her “good black man,” while her heart demands she face her fears and be with the one person who makes her feel true to herself. It’s a hard decision, with consequences that will manage to hurt anyone involved.

And while Angela’s living an illusion, others in her life are also passing. Cait focuses so much lesbian rights that she ignores the plight of anyone else that doesn’t fit in her box. Keith feigns a “good Negro” veneer to his white superiors while alienating his own people. Even her best friend, Mae, learns to leave her Southern roots behind to be accepted in the workplace.

Yet Angela is the center of this provocative tale. When Angela decides her future much later, she satisfies her craving to be true to herself, and passing just isn’t good enough anymore. Because of Cait, everything she never thought she wanted turns out to be everything she needs.

Passing for Black makes for a challenging read. Villarosa tackles the subject of racial and sexual identity with class and a sense of humor. It’s down-to-earth enough for the casual reader, and speak to any black lesbian feeling out of step with their two worlds. Passing conveys that every woman’s journey to herself is never easy, but one she shouldn’t spend passing by.

Reviewed August 2008

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

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

My Secrets Your Lies by N’Tyse (Mar. 2008 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  A Million Thoughts Publishing, Mar. 2007
Genre(s):  Romance, Street Life
Pages:  229
Website:  http://www.ntyse.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

If you’re looking for a dramatic tale about two scandalous females, then MY SECRETS YOUR LIES will definitely fit the bill.

This delicious novel, written by author N’Tyse, is off the chain. It begins with Sand, a hustla willing to do anything to keep her lady Rene satisfied. Both hitting the streets as teens, out in the cruel world, the two became inseparable. Sand was attracted to Rene’s natural good looks and banging body, while Rene was drawn into the security her stud offered. With a little ingenuity, they manage to hold each other down for the long haul.

Everything changes one day for Rene, though. She feels stifled in her relationship and is tired of being treated differently for being gay. She begins seeing someone new (gasp, a man) behind Sand’s back, spitting more lies than President Bush at a FEMA press conference. Yet, Rene is sure her life would be better with a man as her partner than a woman.

Predictably, Rene soon learns that the grass isn’t greener on the other side. Despite her issues with being gay, she realizes where her heart truly is – with Sand – although it might be too little, too late. Too much has happened between them to go back: infidelity, kidnapping, a baby. Will there be enough love to bring them together?

N’Tyse kept me mesmerized with the love affair between Sand and Rene. My Secrets, while it has some exaggerated drama, is true to the life of some black lesbians. Urban lesbian novels are on the rise in the literary world, and N’Tyse has created one of the better ones. It’s a story I would recommend to both women in the life and straight folks who want to understand what the lifestyle is all about.

You will undoubtedly be schooled.

Reviewed March 2008

Choices by Skyy (Feb. 2008 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Kings Crossing Publishing, Aug. 2007
Genre(s):  Romance, College Life
Pages:  255
Website:  http://www.simplyskyy.com

Rating: ★★★★★ 

It truly is a “different world” from where you come from – nothing is more evident than in author Skyy’s debut novel, CHOICES, a spellbinding story of four friends at a HBCU navigating lesbian life.

Hearts are broken, friendships are tested, and lessons are learned by the richly-drawn characters who come to life from the very first chapter. More like family, Denise, Cooley and Carmen are out lesbians on campus and best friends aiding each other through love and life; adding Lena, the sexy new roommate of Denise, only enhances their friendships.

Lena is the new girl on campus. Her heart belongs to Brandon, the star of the men’s basketball team. That, combined with her wealthy background, makes her the most envied girl on campus, especially since she’s set to be the wife of a future NBA superstar. Despite that, Lena finds something intriguing about the tomboy she shares a room with – and her curiosity about Denise begins to get the better of her.

Denise is the unattainable stud athlete, with mad skills on and off the court. Her heart has been closed since her last failed relationship – until she walks into her dorm room the first day of school and discovers Lena unpacking. While noticing her curvaceous form, Denise soon realizes Lena is a remarkable woman with a good heart, and can’t help but fall hard for the beauty. It’s a move she’s not sure she wants to make.

Completely opposite of Denise is Cooley, the smooth player of the bunch, the stud who’s managed to have any woman – gay or straight – that she sets her sights on. Christened as “Killa Cap” for her sexual prowess, Cooley has played more games with females than Milton Bradley. One woman, however, doesn’t seem to take no for an answer and makes her life a living hell, possibly ruining Cooley’s one chance at a real relationship.

Tired of the “big girl” blues, Carmen takes hold of her life and drops enough dress sizes to be a dime. Carmen figures losing the weight will help her ex see her in a new light, but she still can’t shed the self-esteem issues that plague her. Will Carmen finally find someone to accept her for whom she is, and even better, learn to love herself?

Skyy’s Choices amounts to a story with heart. The author has taken the black college experience and made it her own – lesbian style. Classes, parties, sororities…all of it creates a fresh story that hasn’t been done this well in black lesbian novels. Bravo, Skyy!

Now where’s the sequel – cause you can’t leave me hangin’.

Reviewed February 2008

Longing Lust and Love: Black Lesbian Stories edited by Shonia L. Brown (Dec. 2007 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Nghosi Books, Jan. 2007
Genre(s):  Short Story, Romance, Erotica
Pages:  300
Website:  http://www.nghosibooks.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

First comes longing, the wishing for that special woman to come into your life.

When she arrives, then comes lust, that craving to express your feelings to her with more than words.

Finally, love takes hold, deepening with every passing moment in her presence.

Ladies and Studs seeking pleasures between the covers can look no further than LONGING, LUST AND LOVE: BLACK LESBIAN STORIES.

Written by 25 new and established writers, this collection of 28 sultry tales, edited by Nghosi Books founder Shonia L. Brown, traces the varying stages of black lesbian relationships – from the art of tease to tying the knot. Every story finds women in various forms of infatuation, pursuit and devotion.

Take for instance, in “Heartfelt” by Nikki Rose, longing is shown through the eyes of Taris, who immediately becomes attracted to a co-worker’s sister, Kai, who doesn’t give her the time of day. Taris, an aggressive businesswoman, isn’t used to getting the cold shoulder and determines to break down Kai’s icy demeanor – and manages to do it one rainy night.

Lust becomes desperate in “Look at Me When You Come” by Tasha C. Miller, as Alexis falls for an extremely sexy stud who grants her every bedroom desire. Married and miserable, Alexis abandons her unsatisfying relationship for a few gratifying hours with Taylor – but eventually Alexis wants something more than just passionate exchanges. Is her stud charming willing to give her what she wants?

Finding and sustaining love are two different things, but Brown’s own tale, “From Friends to Lovers” makes it look effortless between acquaintances Erin and Serita. Meeting at a party two years prior, the pair never quite found their way to one another. A brazen phone call one night unlocks the mystery of where their attraction could lead – from being distant to being together – without any distractions.

Longing, Lust, and Love takes women there and still keeps a realistic tone with every word. Brown has chosen a well-rounded concoction sure to have you melting, laughing and yearning for love, lust and longing – everything a woman wants.

Reviewed December 2007

Tainted Destiny by Cheril N. Clarke (Aug. 2007 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Dodi Press, Oct. 2006
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  254
Website:  http://www.cherilnclarke.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Face it—you’ve been Sadira before: a woman with a deep obsession for someone else. You’ve experienced it at least once, maybe twice in your lifetime.

That’s what makes TAINTED DESTINY, Cheril N. Clarke’s sequel to Intimate Chaos, so compelling. It’s the fact that as women we can relate so well to having that one person in our lives we can’t shake.

For Sadira, that person is her former lover, Jessie. Where things ended horribly between them in Chaos—complete with heartbreak and scandal—Destiny picks up with Sadira still nursing her wounds, but realizing that she has to get over the woman who could never completely offer her heart even after their many years together. Leaving their home in Miami to move back to New York, Sadira plans to rid herself of the pain, and finds she has many distractions to do so.

One is Brianna, a college student who offers Sadira a new outlook on life. Another is Olivia, a strong-willed chick who won’t take no for an answer. And another is Tricia, an old flame that becomes rekindled over time. It’s Tricia whom Sadira falls for, but memories of Jessie still plague her.

Sadira can’t let go of the past she shared with Jessie, even with a good woman like Tricia by her side. When she discovers Jessie is back in New York, it’s only a matter of time before they reach out again. Soon Sadira is torn—between the reciprocated of Tricia and the unrequited love of Jessie—and it’s up to her to figure out which one is her true destiny.

Tainted Destiny, simply put, is gripping. Clarke manages to unearth emotions that ring true and paints a true picture of a woman in love turmoil. With every page, you sink deeper into her despair. Just like with Intimate Chaos, you want smack some sense into her, while at the same time hug her when her pain gets unbearable. Though sometimes a bit wordy, Clarke is a writer who pulls you in and takes you there.

Cause love is a truly a battlefield—with complete with wounds to show for it.

Reviewed August 2007

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson (Aug-Sept. 2006 Pick of the Month)

Publisher/Date:  Puffin, July 2010
Genre(s):  Young Adult, Family, Lesbian Parents
Pages:  160
Website:  http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Black lesbians with children take note: FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF MELANIN SUN is a must-read book. The compelling novel follows Melanin Sun, a 13-year-old dealing with the complexities of adolescence and his mother’s newfound sexuality.

It’s summertime, and Melanin is looking forward to the finer things in life: hanging with friends Ralphael and Sean, pursuing his crush on Angie, and writing his innermost thoughts in his treasured notebooks.

But what he looks forward to and treasures most is spending time with his mother Encanta, a single mother working hard to make a living for her child. The two are inseparable, leaning on each other through the best and worst of times and having a mother-son bond so deep they know each other’s moods and the simplest of facial expressions.

Melanin’s perfect relationship is demolished, though, when day at the beach ends with Encanta revealing she’s gay—and in love with a white woman. This piece of earth-shattering news devastates Melanin to no end. He can’t imagine that his mother could ever fall in love with a woman, and a white woman at that.

The one thing that helps him is his notebook. There Melanin pours out his heart, recording every emotion he’s feeling: from anger to shame, from frustration to understanding. It helps him slowly work out the issues with his Encanta, the shyness he feels over approaching Angie, and the ruined friendship with Sean once he finds out his mother’s a lesbian. As the story concludes, Melanin realizes that life doesn’t get easier as you grow up, only more complicated as the days go by.

Woodson approaches From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun with a great understanding of what it’s like to be a young black male and the sentiments of dealing with a gay parent. She makes you see the issues a child can have with your coming out, and how to survive it. As always with Woodson, the writing is superb, and the novel is heartwarming and real, a story with even a small page number manages to have an impact. Children and parents alike should read this with open eyes and an open heart – they both could learn more than they realize.

Reviewed Aug-Sept 2006