Tag: 4-star review

A Taste of Sin by Fiona Zedde

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Publisher/Date:  Kensington Publishing Corporation, July 2006
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  280
Website:  http://www.fionazedde.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Indulge yourself in A TASTE OF SIN, author Fiona Zedde’s appropriately-titled second novel, a veritable smorgasbord of sexual pleasures with protagonist Desiree Nichols as your guide through the culinary delights of women.

Since declaring herself a lesbian at 14, Dez has had them all—women of varying shades and hues, proportions and personalities. Her acquired wealth has afforded her a life of leisure, and because of it she’s treated herself to a fair share of sexual encounters throughout her college years. Everything changes, though, when Dez falls for Ruben, a man she finds absolutely irresistible, and deserts everything to follow him. Two years later, she finds herself abandoned by Ruben and facing a family emergency that calls her back home to Miami.

When she arrives in the sunny city, Dez finally confronts the people she left in her wake years ago—Claudia, a worried mother and Derrick, her twin brother—who were left to pick up the pieces she shattered with her coming out and hedonistic behavior. Though Dez’s old friends, once devastated when she took off with a man, welcome her back with open arms and help her seek other pleasures to take her mind off things.

Like her mother’s cancer scare.

And the fact that she and her brother have never really gotten along.

Both smart and attractive, Dez and Derrick could never see each other as more than rivals, especially when it came to the ladies. He doesn’t care for her self-indulgent lifestyle, and when he introduces her to his friend Victoria, he quickly declares her off limits to Dez.

That proves difficult because Dez finds Victoria so tantalizing with her gorgeous face and shapely figure. She’s never met a woman she couldn’t have, and Victoria proves to be no exception. And despite her hesitations about Dez’s love-em-and-leave-em persona, Victoria initiates a no-strings attached affair, making the sex all the more exhilarating.

It’s all fun and games for both women—romantic getaways by day and hot sex by night—until Dez finds herself caring more than she ever thought she would. This is all new for the heartbreaker who’s never found herself in anything more serious than one-night affairs. Victoria’s fallen hard as well, but doesn’t want Dez to destroy her heart.

As the title implies, A Taste of Sin is chock full of the delicious sex scenes one would expect from Ms. Zedde. After all, she gave us the debut novel Bliss, a tour de force in black lesbian literature. Sin is not as captivating as her first, but it is a page turner nonetheless. Dez, as the bad boy you always wanted in your bed, is a character that grows on you, a woman whom Zedde swiftly paints into a stud with heart finally taking a chance on love.

And don’t we femmes wish we had that?

Reviewed Aug-Sept 2006

In Fear of Losing You by Ericka K. F. Simpson (Mar-Apr. 2006 Pick of the Month)

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Publisher/Date:  Publish America, Nov. 2005
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  240
Website:  http://www.publishedauthors.net/e_factor

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Commitment-phobia never read so good as in Ericka K. F. Simpson’s IN FEAR OF LOSING YOU, where good friends Kelly “Sweets” Owens and Katrina “Kat” Stanton are two 20-something soft studs looking for love in all the wrong places and coming up empty. However their reasons why are completely different.

Sweets is the optimistic romantic, a person who falls in love with just about every woman she meets. Overcompensating for the mistakes made with her ex Lisa, Sweets’ is determined to meet the right woman who will complement her life. Instead, she runs into chickenheads who have no problem breaking her heart. After several disappointing chances at love, Sweets still thinks God will bring her the one who will truly love her.

Kat, on the other hand, won’t let love destroy her. The ambitious businesswoman finds her pleasure in as many women as possible and subjects them to her “rules before engagement” terms. She only indulges in her flings for about six weeks–her breaking point. After that she moves from the ex to the next, never getting too close to anybody. Even when she thinks she has a chance at happiness with a beautiful femme, she pushes it out of her life, refusing to show love as her weakness.

Both women are smart, successful, and charismatic, but love is not their strong suits. They have a lot to learn about being true to themselves and their hearts.

In Fear of Losing You is a great book, and Simpson is a wonderful storyteller. The trials of these two women will consume you, and the colorful cast of characters adds a unique flavor to the novel. I was engaged at every page. Simpson handles the plot smoothly, and taking control of her grammatical errors would make the book better. However the story is a winner, and one every black lesbian should have on her shelf.

Reviewed March-April 2006

Between Girlfriends by Elizabeth Dean

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Publisher/Date:  Kensington Publishing Corporation, May 2004
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  264

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Elizabeth Dean has become one of my favorite authors. Her uproarious first novel, It’s in Her Kiss, paired a contemporary theme with an intelligent storyline, and created a first-rate book.

And BETWEEN GIRLFRIENDS is no different.

This story is about the lives of four lesbians who are smart, attractive and very with-it. Gracy is the narrator, a freelance writer who meets Blair, Parker, and Leslie at a New Year’s Eve Party. The four become fast friends and soon share everything – their lives, their loves, their joys, and their pains. It’s touching to find a group of hip lesbians, but I’m not quite sure how realistic.

Lesbians do bond quickly; in fact, it’s the basis of most of our relationships: quick, quick, and quicker. Yet I’m not quite sure how often a group of this make up comes together. Let’s see. There’s Gracy, a writer (white); Parker is a rich, white businesswoman with a horny appetite; Lindsey (white) is a lawyer who doesn’t take many risks in life, and Blair is a black schoolteacher who is so prudent and prissy. Could this makeup really happen? I guess. I do applaud Dean for showing and embracing diversity. Some “authors” wouldn’t dare take that chance.

Beyond that, the novel was highly entertaining. I loved the jokes, the witty banter and the discussion of today’s lesbian lifestyles. A lot of their points I agreed with wholeheartedly, like how lesbians move fast in relationships, how to find a “single” lesbian with no issues, and how lesbians never quite seem to let go of their exes. I just really had a lot of fun with this book. The story was truthful in its observations of our species, but didn’t take itself too seriously.

In fact, I could call Between Girlfriends the lesbian Sex and the City.

Oh wait, we already have The L Word.

Reviewed March-April 2006

Loving Her by Ann Allen Shockley

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Publisher/Date:  Northeastern University Press, Oct. 1994
Genre(s):  Romance, Mature Lesbians
Pages:  187

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

That which we call a rose by any other name is just as sweet, and the love between a black musician and a white writer can be just touching in LOVING HER, Ann Allen Shockley’s tragic story about an interracial romance.

When the novel begins, Renay Lee is packing her suitcase and trying quietly to escape with her daughter, Denise, to escape her abusive, alcoholic husband, Jerome. The mother and daughter run to Terry Bluvard, a wealthy white woman Renay’s fallen in love with. They live together quite nicely and Renay finally feels free from Jerome Lee’s suffocating grasp.

Renay met Terry while working as a musician in an upscale supper club, and introduces herself to the writer after she requests a song. It was something Terry that drew her to the woman so different from herself, a woman who grew up with a silver spoon her mouth, compared to Renay’s meager upbringing. Here was a woman who with one touch could make her feel things she never though possible, after years of detached feeling with Jerome Lee. Things at home with her husband are worse than ever and the last straw comes when Jerome sells her beloved piano, the one thing her hard-working mother was able to give her daughter.

So she runs to Terry, a woman who is able to give her what she’s been missing: love. They make a great home together, for themselves and Denise. Jerome Lee is a miserable mess, and tries his hardest to make life a living hell for her, terrorizing her and stalking their home at every turn. He can’t fathom that Renay can actually make it without him, and tries his hardest to get her back.

It all comes to a head when Jerome Lee discovers whom she left him for, and his outrage is evident: Renay’s left him for a woman! His anger leads to tragic events, and Renay has to figure out whether her guilt will allow her to love a woman despite the pain their relationship has caused.

Shockley makes it quite clear that love has no boundaries in Loving Her. Black or white, genuine affection is what’s most important. She doesn’t sugarcoat the romance between Renay and Terry, as they encounter many roadblocks to their love. Shockley spells out their pitfalls and outlines their sensitive love story with care. Flowery writing is still her trademark, and although it makes the story too long-winded at times, it kind of works here, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Loving Her is a great love story for anyone who believes in beating the odds.

Reviewed February 2006

You Make Me Wanna by Nikki Rashan (Jan. 2006 Pick of the Month)

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Publisher/Date:  iUniverse, Nov. 2005
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  202
Website:  http://www.nikkirashan.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Kyla, Kyla, Kyla.

The naïve heroine from Nikki Rashan’s Double Pleasure Double Pain is back in YOU MAKE ME WANNA, this time armed with the truth about who she is. This sequel picks up where Kyla left off, trying to decide between the man she is to marry and the woman who stole her heart. When she finally does choose, Kyla has lost them both, and instead heads to Atlanta with out-cousin David to begin her newly-minted lesbian life.

In “the gay Mecca of the South,” Kyla throws herself in numerous sexual affairs with women, avoiding at all costs a deeper connection. She’s still holding on to the hurt she felt from her two previous relationships that went sour. It prevents her from giving herself completely to another woman, afraid to feel any type of pain again.

Until she meets Asia, the exotic beauty Kyla spies one afternoon. Enraptured by her luxurious locks and ebony complexion, Kyla wants to meet this woman and does after a set up by David’s boyfriend, Marlon. And just one meeting with Asia tells Kyla that she’s the one. They begin a courtship, and Kyla has to deal with letting go of her past to commit to her future. Their relationship is built slowly, as Asia’s been hurt, as well, but their love for each other heals the wounds.

You Make Me Wanna definitely keeps your attention. Kyla is an engaging character who has an honest voice. You will journey with her through love at first sight and on her way to happily ever after. The secondary characters — David, Marlon, and friend Nakia – added something extra to the tale, as the three characters deal with their own issues.

Rashan wraps up the Kyla saga very well, settling all unanswered questions from the first book, and manages to make Kyla a character to remember. She feels like an old friend who’s coming back to catch you up on her life…and you’re hanging on to every word.

Reviewed January 2006

Soul Kiss by Shay Youngblood

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Publisher/Date:  Riverhead Books, Feb. 2000
Genre:  Coming of Age
Pages:  207
Website:  http://www.shayyoungblood.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Shay Youngblood’s SOUL KISS is one of those books that has a mysterious air about it. You can lose yourself in its beauty, its lyricism and its poetry. Soul Kiss is also a journey through loneliness, pain and ultimately, love.

Mariah Santos grew up as the love of her mother’s life. She gave Mariah everything she needed – plenty of hugs, kisses and words. She would tell her daughter about travels taken, her dreams, and about her father, a man Mariah’s never met.

When Mariah’s mother becomes depressed, she decides to leave her seven-year-old daughter with two aunts in Georgia, promising to return soon. Mariah yearns for her mother, her best friend, to reappear. She doesn’t, and the girl is left in the care of Aunt Merleen and Aunt Faith, two elderly spinsters set in their ways.

With these two women, Mariah lives a quiet life, full of gardening, cooking, and looking after the health of her aunts. Mariah also falls in love with the cello given to her by Faith. It becomes her new best friend, its sound soothing the wounds of losing her mother.

After several years of waiting for her mother, Mariah gives up hope and begins rebelling against her aunts. They send her to Los Angeles live with her father, a virtual stranger. Mariah is sublimely happy being with Matisse, a painter. She’s only known about him through her mother’s vivid tales of how the couple met, but that good feeling soon leaves. Matisse is never home and even more distant when he is. When one of her aunts passes away, Mariah returns home to Georgia – and it finally feels like home.

Youngblood’s Soul Kiss is a story of pain is a masterpiece. It boasts lesbian undertones, as Mariah has strong bonds with female peers and shares her first kiss with a girl. Mariah’s touching journey through her childhood, losing her mother and discovering her father, is drawn perfectly through Youngblood’s words, and you really connect to Mariah’s ache. It grabs hold of your heart, and never lets go till its very end.

Reviewed December 2005

Where the Apple Falls by Samiya Bashir

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Publisher/Date:  RedBone Press, June 2005
Genre:  Poetry
Pages: 77
Website:  http://www.samiyabashir.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

WHERE THE APPLE FALLS is a lovely book full of poetry and prose. The book is written in a cyclical journey through seasons, femaleness and its relationship to nature. Through this style of writing, Bashir is able to impart to her readers the importance of all that she is writing about. The poems deal with elements such as sexuality, sexual perversion, love, lust, female genital cutting, and domesticity.

The book takes the reader on a journey through birth and death and back again through lyrical poetry. In the book, she writes about what it means to be female and how it relates to the environment. Using imagery of the environment and relating it to the seasons, the reader is able to see how Bashir related femaleness to nature. This is seen in the beginning poem “Moon Cycling” which sets the mood for the rest of the book.

Where the Apple Falls is broken down into three sections. With each progression of the sections, the book shows more and more raw emotion on the part of Bashir. Starting with the calm “Of Saints and Suppers” and climaxing at the titled work “Where the Apple Falls.”

Bashir’s book of poetry is a memorable read. Each of the poems in this book is poignant and powerful and fit for goddess readers.

If you enjoy reading the works of brilliant poets, this book definitely for you.

Reviewed December 2005 by Nina J. Davidson

Leave of Absence by S. Renee Bess (Nov. 2005 Pick of the Month)

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Publisher/Date:  Borders Personal Publishing, May 2005
Genre(s):  Romance, Mature Lesbians
Pages: 147
Website:  http://www.reneebess.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Who says one can’t find love in the stodgy halls of academia?

Certainly not debut author S. Renee Bess, who has crafted LEAVE OF ABSENCE, a lovely novel about a high school teacher turned college professor. Kinshasa Jordan has retreated to Allerton University after a leave of absence from her New Haven, Connecticut high school, more so to escape a chaotic relationship than to teach undergrad English. Kinshasa is still smarting from the mental and physical abuse she endured from her ex, Michael, and moves to get away from the horrible memories.

At Allerton University, Kinshasa is introduced to the English department staff she’ll be working with for the next year and a half – a staff that has few people of color.

One of them, though, happens to be Corey Lomax, a full-time professor and part-time author. She was attracted to Kinshasa when she first spied her at a local restaurant days earlier, but the two women weren’t properly introduced until that particular staff meeting.

Being a lesbian, Corey’s curious as to what Kinshasa’s tea is, but keeps her distance since Kinshasa’s sporting a “don’t mess with me” vibe. Kinshasa has been hurt so much, she’s put a wall around her heart no one can penetrate.

It’s only when the two ladies are paired on a volunteer project at an inner-city school, that Kinshasa and Corey become more acquainted. Kinshasa becomes a member of Corey’s clique, which includes Allerton professors Simone and Charlene. Despite persistent egging by Simone to pursue Kinshasa, Corey is reluctant, especially after overhearing a terse phone call between her and Michael. The name “Michael” indicates to Corey that Kinshasa is straight-and off limits.

As the days wear on, and the two spend more time together, Kinshasa finds herself falling for Corey. Only she masks her attraction with indifference. When Kinshasa confronts Corey one night, their frenzy turns into passion and they end up more than colleagues.

At this point, Kinshasa’s teaching stint is almost up, and she has a decision to make: whether to return to her New Haven high school or stay at Allerton University. It also becomes complicated when Michael comes unannounced and wants Kinshasa back.

Leave of Absence is a well-plotted novel. Bess’ writing is effortless and thoughtful, although the ending wrapped up rather quickly. The novel is a simple love story that, like real life, develops slowly but fulfills its promise.

Reviewed November 2005

He Had It Coming by Camika Spencer

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Publisher/Date: St. Martin’s Griffin, Sept. 2004
Genre:  Mainstream Fiction
Pages:  212

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Arrogant, misogynistic Marcus Brooks gets more than he bargained for in HE HAD IT COMING, Camika Spencer’s tale of sweet revenge by the hands of five fed-up women.

Marcus is a fiction writer who’s made best-sellers lists by creating books about sistahs being the black man’s burden. Haunted by memories of his own bitter mother, he believes women are no-good, manipulative creatures. How else could one explain the title of his next book, Bitches, which is inciting women to protest?

Raylene, Naomi, Gwena, Thelma and Latice, all members of the Second Pew Book Club, planned to stand with thousands of other disgruntled women. But when a chance meeting with Marcus leads to a horrible incident involving a homeless woman, the five friends hatch a better plan: kidnap him and teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.

The ladies, who praised Marcus Brooks’ first novel, now feel his attitude has gotten out of hand and he needs to be put in check. So they subdue him and take him to Thelma’s house where they handcuff him to pipes underneath the kitchen sink. At first, their plan is to make him write another novel to replace Bitches, but that plan is quickly abandoned. The ladies realize that holding Marcus is more difficult than they imagined, especially since they have to take shifts to watch him and he’s berating them at every turn.

And along the way, each woman is dealing with her own personal issues. Raylene caught her fiancé, a preacher no less, getting busy with another church member; Naomi takes her hard-working husband for granted, while Thelma’s substituting human love with the affections of a dog; Latice can’t deal with her wanna-be-grown son; and Gwena’s hasn’t told her girls that Marcus is a man from her past.

Then the worst happens. When they finally agree to let Marcus go, he’s already freed himself by breaking the handcuffs – and all hell breaks loose.

Spencer writes an intriguing book full of humor, suspense, and plain old fun. It also brings honest conversations about women and men. He Had It Coming is not a lesbian novel, but the camaraderie of the five women is one to be admired. It proves a black man is no match for a strong black woman – especially five crazy ones.

Reviewed November 2005

Intimate Chaos by Cheril N. Clarke

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Publisher/Date:  Dodi Press, July 2005
Genre:  Romance
Pages:  219
Website:  http://www.cherilnclarke.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

We’ve all been in Sadira Cooper’s shoes – loving someone we know, deep in our hearts, is all wrong for us. But we believe beyond hope that she will become the perfect woman for us.

Sadira faced this dilemma and more in Cheril N. Clarke’s INTIMATE CHAOS.

The novel opens with a letter from Sadira’s ex, Jessie, apologizing for the mistakes made in their tumultuous relationship. Sadira’s reading of the letter takes her three years back, when she first met Jessie. Traveling on the subway, Sadira spots the dreadlocked beauty and is instantly attracted to her. She oddly asks for Jessie’s email address, and they exchange messages, getting to know each other and eventually dating.

Yet the more Sadira becomes acquainted with Jessie, the more Jessie runs away because of issues from her past. Meeting a thoughtful and romantic woman like Sadira scares her; it’s something Jessie’s never had. When things are good between them, Jessie pulls disappearing acts, going in and out of Sadira’s life without notice, hurting her in the process. She breaks dates, holds back her feelings, and doesn’t appear to genuinely care as much as Sadira does about their relationship. And every time Sadira tries to break loose from Jessie’s hold, she finds some way to come back into Sadira’s life.

Sadira knows that Jessie’s revolving door behavior and standoffish attitude is not how she wants to be treated. Even after friends and her twin sister, Khedara, all warn that Jessie is not the one, she still moves their relationship forward, and the two relocate to Miami to begin a new life.

With the move, things are good at first, and then their relationship spirals into its old patterns. Jessie still hasn’t opened up completely with Sadira and spends far too much time at work instead of being home. Things get so bad that Sadira is contemplating sleeping with her neighbor Kenya. It all comes to a head in the most dramatic fashion.

Intimate Chaos is simply that indeed. In Clarke’s novel, you’ll be exposed to Sadira’s innermost thoughts as she falls in love with a self-absorbed woman. Throughout the book, you get caught up in Sadira’s grief, almost to the point where you want to yell at her, “Wake up!” But you don’t; you simply feel her pain, as we’ve all been there before.

Clarke’s writing is enjoyable, and I look forward to other books by her. I just hope in the sequel, Sadira finds love with someone who’s emotionally available to love her in return.

Reviewed November 2005