Category: LGBT



Taxi - Trials (Book 2)Taxi – Trials by Sophia DeLuna

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Get ready! I got behind on my reviewing, but the reading just kept going.

This one, the second of the Taxi series by Sophia DeLuna. Remember how peeved I was that Taxi was merely a short story? Yeah, well, it seems there is more over on Smashwords. My only problem with getting it this way is that it is that each section is $.99. In the olden days that wouldn’t have been a problem but now that I am on such a tight budget. And if I didn’t like the characters and the story itself I could ignore the next parts. No cliffhanger to make me anxious between reads, but still, as I said before, I wanted to hang with my new friends and see what happens.

I don’t want to tell you much about the story. I hate spoilers as much as short stories. Needless to say, the new relationship deepens along with the insecurities we all have as it starts to take off. Hence the title, Trials, I suppose.

When I get ebooks from Smashwords, I usually download it to my MoonReader Pro. That way I can listen and read on the same reader. If I download to my Kindle, I have to listen on my older (keyboard) Kindle while reading along on the tablet. Can’t wait until I can afford the Kindle Fire DX 8.9 as it will have a better text-to-speech voice than MRP. I really need that TTS feature as my eyes can’t handle too much reading at a time, and you can tell I love my reading!

Anyway, I still have more to review. By the way, if you are into LGBT stories, especially of a romantic nature, you might like these. My only wish is that the stories were all in one book rather that $.99 a bit.

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TaxiTaxi by Sophia DeLuna

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Too short! But that is what I always say after reading a short story. It was just right for that time just before bed when I’ve just finished reading longer books. You know, not ready to go to sleep yet, and not wanting to get involved in another longer book. I hate when I start to read something and can’t remember the next day what I read so I have to start over. With a short story, you have the whole sweet tale to sleep on. So I guess I shouldn’t hate them. BUT I always want to know what happens next!

What is nice about this story is getting to be in another country in a taxi. You get to know the driver quite well during the story and learn about the passenger a bit. It was a fun read. I just wish the author, Sophia DeLuna would flesh it out into a full sized book. There is a lot here she could work with!

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Five Minutes in HeavenFive Minutes in Heaven by Lisa Alther

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a ride! Not exactly rollercoaster, but not merry-go-round either. From the beginning, I like the main character, Jude. She is one who doesn’t belong in the world, but finds her way, anyway. She is flawed and confused, with good reasons. I wanted to root for her to win each of her obstacles.

From Tennessee to New York to France and back, Jude struggles with her demons, longing for love to return to her as pure as she put it out. Rarely does it find her. Mostly because of her own insecurities and lack of role-models, love floats out as a fantasy. Never to be achieved.

I picked this version of the book up from Amazon, Kindle Unlimited (which is in fact limited, as you can only have ten ‘checked out’ at a time). I kind of wished I had the Audible version or the Whispersync to go along, but I managed okay without.

My biggest complaint is the French. Not the people. Just the use of the language with no definitions available to the reader. If you only took Latin, Spanish and German in your language classes, French isn’t a language you even have books for. At least that’s how it is in my house. So I had to ignore the language and hoped to get the gist. I hate when authors do that to the reader. It stinks of a superiority to the reader. It wasn’t necessary. If you are conveying a story to the reader. and most of the book is in English, why not continue in that language in the last third of the book?

And the ending? Wish I had been given a grown up, matured, version of Jude when she comes home at last! The last part ended in the same way, that the other two sections had ended. Wondering what next. Still, it was worth the read.

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The Erasure of Lesbians


The Erasure of Lesbians.


The Paying GuestsThe Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I have found my favorite author, Sarah Waters. I was so thrilled with Fingersmith that I couldn’t wait to read something else by her. The Paying Guest lived up to my expectations. Too bad Ms. Waters wasn’t one of the required reading homework of my high school. She is a classical writer. I think she could rewrite ANY of the old classics and make them so much more relatable.

Juliet Stevenson narrated this story with class and character. I could listen to her reading forever. She added depth to my experience; giving each character a tone and feel so you knew who was talking or whose point of view you were in.

There is so much intrigue in this book. I couldn’t stop reading. I just wanted to know what happens next. That was why I didn’t do much else yesterday but read. I want to say other things, but I don’t want to be spoiling the story for others. Just amazing! That’s all I can say. Amazing!

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Pages for YouPages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some reviews say that this book didn’t have enough character depth. I want to agree with this, yet it feels rather like a real meeting between real people. When you meet someone that has had a few year of experiences and you only know them a short time, you don’t get to know the person as well as you might like. As House used to say, “Everyone lies.” Everyone keeps secrets, too.

My kids used to tell me that I shared too much. That soon became “TMI, Mom!” Even with someone like me, there are secrets. Sometimes you just don’t want to relive certain situations, or risk hurting someone else, or live through yet another lecture, or other personal reasons. That is what happens in this book. We have a short time with these two people and they both have their own secrets. We only get to know what the characters want to share.

And though I couldn’t relate, age-wise with either of the characters, I’ve never had those experiences, and as ‘old’ as the older one was supposed to be, to me, she was just a child, too. But I think everyone could relate to new romance and the complications of that first love. And that is what makes the story come alive. Watching this young girl come to terms with her first crush and her own sexuality. It is fun to travel within the university and then around the US with these two women.

I believe that many high school or college age, female students, might like this book. They could relate much better than this old lady. Just enjoy the ride.

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Other WomenOther Women by Lisa Alther

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading Original Sin by Lisa Alther and having a hard time liking it in any way, I had a decision to make. You see I got both of these books through Kindle Unlimited which means they were free to borrow. I thought about returning this one, Other Women, and not reading it at all. Thank goodness I didn’t. I loved this book!

If you have had a good experience with a counselor, dealing with problems of the past or current ones, this will feel familiar. I think everyone should have a good counselor once in a while to air the mental stuff that you might not want to weigh down your friends and family with. And here in Other Women there were plots and characters that felt so real that I was sorry the book ended. I think I might read it again, sometime.

Though this book ended quite well, all threads neatly sewn up, I still wish there was more. I want to see what happens next. We are left with ideas as to how life might continue, but I knew I would miss all these people as much as the real people in my life. I like when an author can do that. She created a reality that felt real.

Just saying that made me smile. Wasn’t it because Original Sins felt so real that I hated it? I think I could relate more with the characters in Other Women much more deeply than I could with the characters in Original Sins. So maybe that is why the reviews on both books had such a variety of ranks. I guess it has to do with your own viewpoint of the world.

This is one book I will have to buy someday. I think many will love it as much as I did.

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Original SinsOriginal Sins by Lisa Alther

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First of all, let me tell you, I read books for escape. But sometimes, I might learn a thing or two. And it is with a humble acknowledgement that I gave this book three stars.

Look, I lived through the 1960s and feel that nowadays we have reverted back to the 1860s so revisiting all the bigotry and misogyny of the country through this book during a time when cops shoot kids because of their menacing faces in real life, and reading this nonsense as my escape–well, let’s just say the truth. I nearly threw this book away for most of the first 40%. Then at 43-46% I was ready to be finished as the pages were repeated and out of order. But somehow I was drawn in like vampire to a train wreck??? So much was wrong I hoped there was a single drop I could glean from it.

Okay, this should be required reading for everyone in high school. It could be used to teach English. Look, I understand making the characters sound a certain way but to continue beyond the dialogue was horrid! Then you could use the book to teach patience and tolerance about people who may seem like they are different. Then use it in a Sex Ed. class to show what not to do. Then for a feminism classes to show men and women what not to expect.

I am so glad I didn’t buy this book. I picked it up through Kindle Unlimited. I know a lot of people loved this book. It was through a book group who recommended this to me that I read it. I feel no closer to a truth or an escape having gone through this. And that makes me feel horrid. Sorry.

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Light, Coming BackLight, Coming Back by Ann Wadsworth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For once, I was glad that the font was too small for me. It meant that I had to savor my moments with the story. This was like the fine wine, dark chocolate, aged cheese kind of book. I cherished every moment with it. It wasn’t the kind of book that left you tense or anxious in any way. In fact, I felt very little tension in the book. That goes against what I have been taught about writing.

The main character, Mrs. Mercedes Medina, is in her sixties. Her husband is 20 years her senior. I love the depth of relationship they have. The author, Ann Wadsworth, did a wonderful job creating the couple and each individual. They were wonderfully human characters with faults and follies of their own and a comfortable chemistry between them. But as life is changing and Patrick, the husband, starts failing in health, Mercedes, is trying to figure out her own life.

Since I am in my sixties, I found her life to be interesting. It is far from my own life. I felt like I moved in with this couple and lived a different life for a while. Isn’t that the best part about books? You can step into someone else’s life, their cities, their adventures, their music. Mrs. Medina’s life is rich while she is searching.

I have been thinking about what I would write about this book since I started it. There are no words I can come up with to do it justice. I wish everyone could read it. I don’t want to let it go. That’s how much I loved it. I registered the book on BookCrossing. BCID: 71813027955  Please read it if you get the chance.

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Alien Within (Sandi Nuolla Book 1)Alien Within by Karen Forrester

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay. This was more like it. A sci-fi with strong female leads. Other planets and peoples. Bad people that want to take over the Earth. All happening while we get to know a nice main character, Sandi.

I am having trouble avoiding spoilers. I guess all I can say is read it for yourself. Especially if you love sci-fi with strong females. Warning: there are LGBTQ themes, but not in ways that are overwhelming. Just the right amount for folks that are more advanced than our current population in ways of love.

This edition was given to me during an author giveaway for free-4-reviews. I feel so lucky that I was able to read it. It was fun. I miss it already! I look forward to a possible book two, please, please, please. I will read Karen Forrester’s book Inner Mind/Outer Space, just to keep the good feelings alive that I got from Alien Within.

By the way, these two books I placed in my Moon Reader Pro so that my tablet could use its text-to-speech. I do love that program. It makes reading faster and easier for me.

So, sci-fi friends, please seek these books out and enjoy!

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