Book Review: Deception, by V.K. Powell

Content warning for drugs, and one case of sexual violence. Genre : F/F fiction, mystery, romance

I said it before, judging a book by its cover is a hasty mistake, and while Deception's cover doesn't seem much, the book it hides is infinitely more solid. For people like me who care very little (to say the least) about the police or the military, rest reassured: this book deals more with the toll war takes on its soldiers and the somewhat lacking way the US deals with its veterans. Homelessness, disability and PTSD are all problems they face, and today still their suicide and poverty rates are high.

Colby Vincent's first field mission as a DEA agent might be hard on her, but she's uniquely suited to the task. As a veteran, she'll be able to blend in easily in the crowd of homeless vets populating the streets of Greensborough. Someone is using them to gather large amounts of drugs illegally, so they can be sold for a hundred times their price on the streets. Very lucrative, and facing less police scrutiny than cocaine or meth deals, prescription drug dealing is often the only way to survive for vulnerable homeless vets, and someone is well aware of that fact. But when her investigation leads her to meet Adena Weber, the owner of a help center for the homeless who's conducting her own investigation into the murder of her father, heat sparks, and Colby's growing interest in the woman might well blow her cover.

Despite my initial disbelief that inserting an undercover agent into the world of the homeless would be done through drugging her, shaving her head without consent and then beating her up before leaving her stranded in a homeless refuge; it's fairly easy to see that VK Powell knows her subject. Her rendition of homelessness is honest and humane, and she easily brings us into this community of marginalized people who came back from wars with nothing to their name and no prospect of a future. Colby soon finds herself facing the challenges and dangers of a homeless person trying to survive in a society that criminalizes many of their means for survival (such as panhandling).

Adena Weber is a lawyer and a philanthropist who spends most of her time either in her practice, doing pro bono cases for clients who do not have the means to pay her, or volunteering in the management of her own center for the homeless. Ever since her dad was murdered a year ago, she's been unable to let go, and she's firmly set on finding the truth behind the murder. When the police tells her he was probably killed by a vagrant, she refuses to believe it and sets herself on the trail despite danger looming about. Someone doesn't want her to find the truth, and this person might well decide to kill another Weber to protect the secret.

Adena is also a very moral person, firmly bent on not having more than a professional relationship with guests of the center. But Colby soon catches her eyes and she cannot help but wonder what lies behind Colby's strange behavior and secrets. As both women struggle not to jeopardize their own missions, while growing fonder of each other, the weight of Colby's secret becomes heavier, and there's soon no other way for Colby but to keep up the lie, especially when Adena might well be connected to the drug traffic...

It's been a little while since I read a mystery novel and this one certainly proves to be quite enjoyable. Colby is entirely ignorant of the new terrain she finds herself in, and we learn with her how rough it can be for a woman to live on the streets. The ending felt a bit rushed, and perhaps her investigation could have been longer, and use less deus ex machinas to drive the plot. But the book is divided in equal parts romance and mystery, and I felt the balance between those two elements was to my taste. I had been trying to read something else than just romance, and it definitely did the job. 

Despite the disappointment I felt at the ending being somewhat rushed, I concede that it remains believable (at least the investigation part does). Fiction often lulls us into unbelievable endings where a main character takes on far more than a real person in her place would; as a police veteran, VK Powell knows well what police officers do or do not do, and her tight writing made me go through the book very quickly. It's a good read for someone seeking a book that lies in the middle between romance and mystery.

Deception will be published by Bold Strokes Books and can be preordered on the Publisher's website.


  Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: Backwards to Oregon, by Jae

Content warning for domestic violence & abuse

Before we start, I feel we should disclaim something very important : You should never, ever bind your breasts (which is wrap them in order to hide them) with bandages. For the purpose of the story, Luke has been binding her chest since twelve, but this is a story, and improper binding (which is anything without a binder, aka a piece of clothing specifically designed for binding) can and will cause problems such as: stunted organ growth, spine damage or warped ribs (concave ribs instead of barrel-like). Never ever bind your chest with an ace wrap. Especially if you're not fully grown yet. Buy a decent binder.

Okay, back to the story!

Our two cinnamon rolls of the day are Nora Macauley and Luke Hamilton. Luke Hamilton is a soldier who hides a terrible secret: he was actually born Lucinda, a woman. When he decides to leave the army for good and find a new life in Oregon, he realizes that a woman at his arm would kill any doubt about his gender. When Tess, a madam of a brothel,  his best friend and only confident, presents him with Nora, one of her workers who longs to leave this life for good, he jumps at the chance and asks her to marry him.

But Nora is disillusioned about love. When a playing man left her with child, she was kicked from home by her wealthy family and knows that she'll never find happiness and love as an unwed woman with a daughter. The marriage to Luke would only be a business transaction, and soon she finds herself on a six month trip to Oregon, with dangers ahead which forces her to learn some unexpected truths about herself.

I admit it, the Oregon series were the last books from Jae I had yet to read. I was scared of Luke, of how he'd be written. But I was blown away, to say the least. Our understanding of gender has evolved with time, and while we now know that people we could qualify as trans or genderqueer have existed since forever all around the world, words people have used have changed with time. Luke never really puts words on what he is, and while I wouldn't assign him an identity so pretentiously, his feelings often match closely that of a person who would define themselves genderqueer today. While the narration uses she/her pronouns for him throughout the book, Backwards to Oregon and its sequel show numerous times that he's comfortable with both, and that his identity as Luke Hamilton is the one which feels more comfortable to him. Hence my personal choice to use he/him/cinnamon roll pronouns.

But Nora isn't uninteresting either, and I loved her as a desperate woman who's had a tough life, but who won't surrender her chance at happiness. She doesn't trust Luke, and it's hard to judge her for that since Luke wasn't exactly forthcoming about his motivations, and he never truly thought about what Nora and her daughter Amy would become in Oregon after bringing them there. With work, time and hardships, both protagonists will learn to trust and care for each other. Luke in particular, who's lived most of his life on his own, learns to let people close again, especially through Amy, Nora's wonderful daughter.

This is historical fiction, so the same reserves I had in Shaken to the Core remain: this is 1851 society, and some of the most infuriating gender norms that stubbornly survive today were fully alive back then. And while our beloved characters are thankfully as progressive as they get, this is not a teeth-gritting-free read, something I found myself caring less about the more I read because frankly, after a while I was too entranced to care. Still, it remains a world where love between women is "unnatural," sex workers "sell their body," and where a woman is "property".

Anyone who's watched spaghetti westerns knows how popular stories of the Far West are in Europe, and in France, I grew up with comics like Lucky Luke or Blueberry. The research work poured into bringing back the time of the Oregon Trail is obvious and never did I feel anywhere else but on the path with Luke and Nora. The alternating viewpoints give us perspectives into the mind of the colonizers of the time: part desperation, part hope for a better future. I checked some details myself to know more about them, particularly regarding Native Americans our protagonists meet, and found them to be accurate.

As always, Jae provides wonderful writing, tight, well paced and beautifully written. I never really tire of reading her work. She writes characters so well they never feel out of place or shallow, and this book's secondary cast is just as amazing as the leads. An excellent book that ties adventure, historical fiction and romance just right.

Backwards to Oregon is published by Ylva Publishing and can be ordered on the author's website.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: Just Enough Light, by AJ Quinn

Content warning for abuse and abandonment of a child. Genre : Romance, drama, F/F Fiction, thriller.

There's something about F/F romances and the outdoors that is just so… Appealing to me. I don’t know if it’s my own choosing of books but I find myself reading a lot of romances set in rural places, especially in the mountains. It really makes me want to raise a family (of cats) somewhere high, snowy, and quiet. Kind of what Dana Kingston, one of the lead characters of this book, is doing.

This story begins, as it happens, with a flat tire. More specifically, the flat tire of a car belonging to one Dana Kingston, ex doctor in charge of the busiest Emergency Service of New York City, and now hired as the doctor in charge of a brand new medical triage center built high up in the Rockies. She’s rescued by Kellen Ryan, who happens to be the leader of the search and rescue operation attached to the clinic. Both women hit it off immediately, but Dana quickly realizes that Kellen has a troubled past, one she keeps under tight lock and won’t easily divulge. But Kellen may have to, because a deadly threat has arisen, and she’ll need all the help she can get not to slip back into the demons of her past.

This book is a lot closer to romance and drama than to thriller, and for those looking for the latter rather than the former (like I admittedly was), you will be disappointed. Kellen is a great character. She’s smart, kind, strong and will go to great lengths to protect and save lives in the pursuit of her job. She’s fearless, perhaps too much so, but she also has a heart too big for herself, one she shares with her two ‘adopted’ daughters, a couple of young girls she’s rescued from the streets. She comes from the streets herself, a flight for survival that lasted more than ten years after traumatic events that she’s still scarred and suffering from. Dana, being a medical practitioner, soon sees her PTSD symptoms, and accepts it. Her desire to be with her and help eventually intensifies with their love.

I felt that the two women, while having good chemistry and beautiful love scenes, were at the same time too perfect a couple and an unhealthy couple. Kellen is an impulsive person. Her difficult past has left her with a paradoxical combination of recklessness for her own safety in the pursuit of her job and a habit for flight-mode impulsiveness. During the book, she does at least three important things that involves other people without consulting them for their consent first. She also constantly disregards her own safety many times.

And Dana, who I felt was simply too perfect to be real, accepted all of this. She never complains, never shows any hurt or bad side— while I’ve never been in such a situation, I think that being in love with someone who constantly gets close to death must hurt. And I’m not talking about SAR (Search-And-Rescue) though it holds its own risks, but about the way she goes beyond her job (and the way the author sets her up to, of course) in order to do it better. When Kellen flees twice without telling her, leaving her working herself up in a frenzy of sadness and pain at the idea that she might be gone forever, there isn’t a single second of resentment or anger at being hurt like this. That, to me, doesn't read like a third-dimensional character, and it doesn't help that the story is all about Kellen.

I also felt the plot was a little nonsensical. The killer’s motivation is somewhat flimsy, and it never truly explains why he is a serial killer, especially since being a serial killer is absolutely counter-indicated by his motivation. In short, if you have a grudge against someone, why do you go around killing half a dozen unrelated people, to train? All it means is that you risk getting caught before you even get close to your goal. And why would he need to train in the first place, considering his background? And why would he make very specific threats and then do the exact opposite? And finally, the ending was so rushed that there’s an ellipsis spanning the final confrontation.

This is the first book I read from A.J. Quinn, and it was a disappointing read. I know it wasn’t exactly what I expected at first (though I always enjoy romances). I thought it fell short on both promises of romance and thriller elements. The writing is however very fluid and easy to read, and the few detailed sex scenes we’re given are good. But in the end, I feel it would have been a lot better with some work on Dana’s characterization and on the plot.

Just Enough Light is published by Bold Strokes Books, Inc, and can be ordered on the publisher's website.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: A Love That Disturbs, by Medeia Sharif

Content warning for physical abuse, rape, emotional abuse & blackmail, sexual trafficking, and extreme violence against women. Genre : Drama, Contemporary, Romance, F/F Fiction

Before we start, I feel that we need to go back over the content warning header— because this is not an easy read at all. This book features some of the worst things human beings do to one another and some pretty gut wrenching abuse. This book is a good example of an emotional rollercoaster, with heartwarming cuteness at times and disaster at others. Despite this, the violence pictured is violence that happens every day against women in every part of the world.

I feel we should also take time to talk about Muslims— one of the lead characters of this book being a hijabi woman after all— in the LGBTQI community. In the aftermath of the Orlando massacre, it is obvious that violence and abuse will impact a community that is not responsible for the actions of the few. But we, as the non-Muslim LGBTQI community, should be even more wary of not alienating and pushing away those among us who are both Muslim and LGBTQI. Making it about “us” and “them” in regards to Muslims has always been hateful and bigoted, and disregarding Muslims LGBTQI people is just as terrible.

This is the first day for Haydee in her new school. She’s back from alternative and juvie schools after a hard life as a gang member— a life she firmly wants to leave behind. But she’s not quite out of it yet and there remains the matter of her abusive and extremely violent pimp who still maintains control over her. As a sexually trafficked minor, she doesn’t get any say at all— what had first been for her a means of survival has become a trap. But she still needs the money to get out and start anew. At school, she meets Maysa Mazari, a charming and bright hijabi student. Maysa is the first person that sees her for who she is, without judgment or prejudice about her past. However Maysa’s friends don’t like Haydee and do everything within their power to separate the two. So when their friendship turns into something more and Haydee decides to fully cut ties with her past, danger arises for both girls as violence escalates.

As I said, A Love That Disturbs elicits strong emotions. Both of these girls, who are attending the last year of high school are victims of some form of abuse. Maysa is slowly realizing how evil and mean her friend Aamal is; she’s a manipulator and an abuser with venom on her tongue and as soon as Maysa befriends Haydee,  she turns their mutual friends against her. Haydee is controlled by her pimp, Rafe, a violent and manipulating man who won’t let her stop sex work. Both of these girls are very believably written teenagers although Haydee was forced to grow up by the horrifying experiences she’s had and remains chillingly mature for her age. The experiences they face will force them to grow up further and their romance will start a journey towards independence and freedom from their respective abusers.

Their friendship builds quickly— Maysa is a kind soul who refuses to let her judgmental friends paint Haydee as a “walking STD” or a delinquent drop out. She’s more curious and interested in Haydee than anything. I liked that Haydee was initially awkward and a bit insensitive about Islam, even telling Maysa that “she has really pretty hair and shouldn’t cover it”. Her reading about Islam afterwards to get to know Maysa's religion better was a very endearing and cute move. I liked how their relationship plays out too— it’s not one saving the other from their life, it’s about each girl finding the strength and hope in their relationship to cut ties with their abusers.

Medeia Sharif's writing is tight and an easy read. Points of view alternate each chapter between the two girls and while it is sometimes a little awkward due to some chapters going backwards in time, it remains a very pleasant read. I however felt that she tells too much, which is surprising because she shows just enough— A few times the narration would repeat what I felt was obvious but that too was a minor problem.

To sum up A Love That Disturbs deals with difficult subject matter that may not be easy to read and will certainly be extremely triggering to some readers but it is still powerful and an excellent read.

A Love That Disturbs is published by Evernight Teen, and can be found on the publisher's website.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: The Beast That Never Was, by Caren J. Werlinger: A New Twist On A Tale As Old As Time

Genre : F/F Fiction, Romance, inspired by a Fairy Tale

A fantasy F/F romance that is heavily inspired by The Beauty and the Beast, without the creepy stuff from other versions like Disney’s, and with women? Count me riiiiight in. And now I want more F/F retellings of fairy tales. Why do we cater to men who think that it’s ok to stalk someone by stealing their shoes or kissing people in their sleep (don’t read the original version of that one, I warn you)? And who cares about royalty anyway? Let’s reclaim the means of production and be farmer princesses, or, I don’t know, itinerant warrior princesses.

Strange things are happening in the village’s forest— howling, sounds of a woman weeping, mysterious sightings of monsters from fairy tales. For Lise, a level-headed, hardworking girl who does most of the work in her impoverished family’s farm since her father’s death, this is nonsense. And when she heads into the forest to seek answers, she finds no monster but instead a strange woman with bottomless sadness in her eyes. She soon learns that the woman is cursed, doomed to never form any bond, forced into an endless flight for survival as the ignorance of men leads her to be hunted. Lise had always been afraid of her attraction to women, but she finds acceptance in Senna… And soon, reciprocation. As the villagers gear themselves toward a hunt for the creature that lives in the woods, and as Senna prepares herself to leave this place forever, Lise will learn she will have to fight for her love.

Senna suffers from a terrible curse. Once the object of many people’s envy, she was cursed to become what they loathe and fear the most. Living in a house that provides to all her needs and keeps her alive, she is drawn to face those who enter the woods and reveal them the extent of their fear, their guilt, their shame. The spell, like all curses, is bound to conditions and can only be broken two ways— one is the easier way, to cut the white rose the curse is bound to and disappear forever. The other, well, she's lost hope of that happening years ago...

It’s a surprisingly cruel spell to have innocent people be subjected to (although it soon becomes clear that not everyone is innocent), considering why it was cast in the first place, but it’s suitably terrifying alright. It reveals the pain of others, make it impossible to ever be accepted or loved. It's especially hard on Senna, who feels and sees everything they feel. She knows and understands people's fear, and the disgust they feel when they gaze upon her.

But the spell doesn’t work on Lise. Her family has fallen on hard times. They used to be the family of the King’s Hunstman, and as such, they were never in need of anything. But when their father was killed by wolves, they had to sell what they have and become cheesemakers. Lise works hard, and while her mother would have her wed to the current Huntsman’s son so as to secure their future, she prefers the work of the farm and her freedom to staying at home and raising children. She obstinately refuses the boy’s advances but cannot help falling head over heels for Senna.

True to the material its inspired from, The Beast That Never Was deals with complex ideas such as self-empowerment, economic and social independence from men, what we think is best for us versus what people think is best for us… I also believe it acts as a metaphor for bigotry and more specifically, lesbophobia. Everyone who sees Senna will see what they fear and hate the most, but Lise sees the real woman underneath. Their relationship starts free of bigotry and prejudice, and the bond they form is true despite each of the protagonist’s fear that their difference (being interested in women for Lise, and being a “monster” for Senna) will repulse the other. On the other hand, other villagers will be unable to see beyond the curse and their fear and violence will escalate.

Caren J. Werlinger writes beautifully and this book was an extremely enjoyable read that makes me want to see more works inspired of old fairy tales; works that remove the twisted and outdated morals these fairy tales still carry to this day. Perhaps the only problem I had with this book however, was that it uses the “Gypsy” slur at one point, something I feel should definitely be changed in a future edition.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: Shaken to the Core by Jae: A Slow Building Historical Romance

Genre : Hystorical fiction, Adventure, Romance, F/F Fiction

Wow, have I been waiting for that one! Shaken to the Core actually started as a small tease in Damage Control, the second book in Jae’s Hollywood series. Back then it was a script one of its main characters, Lauren, had written in her free time. Then the third book of that series, Just Physical, starred two characters that were actually filming the movie adaptation of the script. Of course, Shaken to the Core stands entirely on its own, but I did cheer like the total fangirl I am when I recognized a scene from Shaken to the Core that we’d seen the characters from Just Physical shoot.

Shaken to the Core tells the story of two women who were caught in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and the subsequent fires that ravaged eighty percent of the city. One is Giuliana Russo, a Sicilian immigrant looking for a job after the death of her brother, her only family in the city. The other is Kate Winthrop, the only child of a rich family. When Giuliana is hired as the Winthrop’s maid, both women quickly become friends despite the rigid ruling of the class and gender norms of the time. Kate’s parents would see her a «proper» woman, married and with a child in each arm, but not only does Kate not care about men, she’s also more interested in becoming a news photographer than in being a stay-at-home wife. So when unprecedented disaster strikes the city, she sees her chance to take her independence.

I don’t usually read historical fiction. I don’t like rampant misogyny and infuriating bourgeois norms, and since I tend to be interested in lesbian fiction… Well, let’s say historical fiction isn’t really the best place for me. So I was kind of gritting my teeth during the first quarter of the book. I cannot judge for historical accuracy, since I know very little about US history, but Jae's rendition of 1906 San Francisco feels vivid and rings true. Jae uses many topographic elements that ground us into the city, and it’s clear she takes accuracy at heart. It’s hard to imagine what it must have been to see your entire city go into flames before your eyes, but Kate and Giuliana’s breathtaking adventure puts us right in the middle of the inferno.

It’s hard not to love both of our main characters and together they make a fantastic pair, though Dr. Lucy Sharpe sometimes steals the show with her top-notch badassery. Both Katie and Giuliana are visibly changed by their experiences and their growth of character between the beginning and the end cannot be doubted— I can only hope that we’ll get to see more of them in the future. Theirs is a slow romance, and since neither of them has any experience with attraction, we get to see them struggle for a good while about their feelings. However, I must admit that it personally feels a little sad to see Jae go back to the more classic form of denial of one’s romantic feelings, especially after the poignant Just Physical. While it’s true that we’re less likely to see women secure in their affection for other women in 1906 San Francisco, their romance feels a little too safe in its way to stay on the beaten path, especially for such a well-established writer as Jae.

Another thing I regret is that Jae didn't take the time to tackle other subjects like racial inequality. 1906 San Francisco had a thriving Chinese community of about 20,000 souls and a lot of heated debates took place on the subject of rebuilding the Chinese district after the disaster. At some point, Kate muses on the fact that the fire made rich and poor people equal in pain, and I felt that was a very naive and privileged idea. While dirt and soot may have temporarily blurred class differences a bit (and even then, her rich parents bounced back immediately after the disaster), one cannot say the same about race and I would have liked to see what happened to the many people of color of San Francisco. The subject wouldn't have stood out of place either, as Giuliana's identity as a Sicilian woman would have made her a target for her contemporaries' bigotry towards poor European immigrants... A bigotry often rooted in racism.

Still, Shaken to the Core definitely holds more adrenaline than her previous books, and her efficient and tight way of writing definitely proves up to the challenge it poses. It was a pleasant read that kept me up far too late than I should have let it— a great page turner indeed.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: Love's Redemption, by Donna K. Ford

Trigger warnings for off-page child abuse & pedophilia, lesbophobia, victim blaming and abuse enabling. Genres : Romance, F/F Fiction, thriller

There are some books you just know are going to grip your heart the whole time you read them. There’s not many subjects that produce such strong emotions in me as much as victim blaming and abuse do, and this book immediately brought to mind the Jacqueline Sauvage case and the big headlines it had made here in France. Jacqueline was tried and sentenced earlier this year to ten years of prison for the murder of her husband after 47 years of abuse and the rape of her children. The story had brought the vilest and most disgusting victim blaming to the surface and it still stands as one of the most terrifying example of the utter failure of our justice & social systems.

Rhea Daniels has a similar story : she murdered her father after years and years of abuse, and she paid for it with fifteen long years of jail when everyone turned against her. She arrives back to her family’s farm— not quite home anymore— after her term, and she knows she has no place here. Her mother hates her, nobody in town believes her, and everyone thinks she’s a disgusting murderer. When her probation worker gets her a job in another town, she takes her chance at a new beginning away from her past. Morgan Scott, her new boss, doesn’t really like her at first. She’s a very private woman, and she thinks she knows Rhea's type— a murderer. A troublemaker. It takes work, but they soon learn to trust each other, and when both of them are targeted by an unknown assailant with a grudge, they’ll have to work together even if it takes facing their worst fears, because who would believe an ex-con?

It's impossible not to feel for Rhea— she has an utterly gut wrenching story. She was abused most of her childhood, and she’d learn to pretend that every thing was alright— all while silently counting the days until her freedom. But one day, when she was 18, she was faced with an impossible choice, one that would bring pain and disaster either way, and one that had no good option. Her choice cost her dearly : fifteen long years of jail, when everyone she knew turned against her and called her a liar. I cannot imagine what it must do to somebody to be wrenched away from childhood like this, and then sequestered in jail during the most important part of one’s life. Donna K. Ford uses her experience of abuse both as a counselor and a victim; she knows what abuse does to the mind. Rhea’s story brings every emotion to mind: anger, bitterness, fear, pity, desire to act against abuse. She’s a survivor— mistrustful, unsure, ignorant of a world that moved without her for half of her life, and her prison years taught her not to back down and to fight for her place... But at the same time she's still a child, vulnerable and with wonder in her eyes.

Morgan isn't without her own baggage either. She’s an ex-priest, expelled from the church when she had a relationship with another woman. That relationship ended the worst way it could have, and she’s still filled with guilt about it. She has a certain religious naiveté to her. In her world, there’s a clear line between right and wrong, and ex-cons like Rhea are often more in the wrong than in the right. Her relationship with Rhea, and the experiences they face together, will change them— will make them grow.

One particular and almost omnipresent element of the book is how claustrophobic and oppressive the setting feels. We know from the beginning that most people would rather hang than forget Rhea for what she’s done, because nobody believes that a "good man" like her father would be a pedophile rapist. And we know that homophobia runs rampant too, if Morgan’s fall from grace and the behavior of some of the town residents is any indication. Friendly secondary characters are very rare, and the police officers don’t hide their prejudice and hostility against Rhea. The threat they face is introduced later in the book, and its slow escalation in violence gears the book towards a gripping settling of scores.

This is not, however, a mystery novel. There aren’t a lot of possible suspects for our villain, and our main characters can do little more than stand their ground against the onslaught. Taking a step back, I felt that particular element of the novel could have used a little more work. The plot is somewhat predictable, and while the ending is suitably climactic in intensity, I felt our villain was… not very smart, to say the least. But it’s a minor issue, and while the setting of the ending is a classic of such fiction, the way both our characters handle it is powerful and perhaps a bit unusual. Holy Batwoman Morgan, you’re an complete badass when you put your heart to it.

This is Donna K. Ford’s third novel, and the first one I've read from her. While reviews for her previous works were a mixed bag, this particular book is to me a solid romance with thriller elements, and I’m certainly looking forward for what she’ll write in the future.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: The Open Window, by Eve Francis

Trigger warning for one page-long case of a casually fatphobic comment that's quickly called out by one of the characters. Genre : F/F fiction, romance

It’s no use fighting against it, I knew I was going to read this book the moment I saw the cat on the cover. Women who love women and cats, what else does my heart need? (More cats?) Well, let me tell you, this cat only appears towards the last chapters of the book, and that’s a SHAME. But if punk-rock music (and, I guess, Dolly Parton) holds a cherished place in your heart, well, I guess it’ll compensate the near-lack of cat.

Morgan O’Brian is a comic artist who’s trying to get her first big proposal published. A comfortable inheritance from her mother’s passing allows her time to concentrate on her art and on reading books, but when she meets Val (that’s short for Valentina) Lyall, a bassist for an electro-punk band called The Asexual Kinks, the coup de foudre is instantaneous, mutual, and liable to mess with her concentration a bit. When Val goes on a five weeks tour with her band just at the beginning of their relationship, they’ll have to ask themselves how a relationship spent with someone who's often on the road might work.

Eve Francis writes colorful characters that feel like people we know (or would know, for those like me who don’t go out much). Val has just left behind a relationship that would never have worked and she wants to take back the lost time with her band and finally be who she wants to be: a pretty cool punk-rock star. Morgan is a comic artist who draws occult and pagan stuff as well as F/F erotica— while listening to Dolly Parton. Speaking of Dolly Parton, this book has a great soundtrack, with absolutely zero songs I recognized because I have no musical culture beyond what little I know about early 90s hip hop (though I did search the songs, and I like them). Next time I’m reading this book, I’ll try to play the songs as they’re quoted.

I really enjoyed two things about our characters that isn’t that common in F/F fiction : Val identifies clearly as bisexual, and Morgan is fat— there’s a lot of fat positivity in this book, and it’s the first I’ve read in a very long time that has an unapologetically fat character. When you're reading an endless litany of thin and buff characters, it’s so refreshing to see one that isn’t like that at all. It adds realism and body (I’m sorry) to the narrative.

Be warned however that the book features quite a few detailed sex scenes, so if erotica isn’t your taste, this is probably not the book for you. Sex doesn’t usually catch my eyes but I have to say this book has some pretty hot sex. It’s dirty, full of f-words, sometimes on the phone, with talks of bottoming, and, you know, stuff.

All in all, there’s one problem I had with the book—and perhaps the only one I had with it—and it’s that I felt it sometimes lacked focus on where it was trying to go. Their romance is settled very early: by the first quarter of the book, it’s already kind of agreed that they’re attracted to each other and almost had sex. But we have to wait until the last third of the book for problems to actually arise, in a surprising way that felt a bit out-of-character to me. I think one particular scene (the one with a psychic—cookies to the author for not using the G slur!) could have been placed earlier in the book, perhaps only with Morgan as a protagonist.

Still, Eve Francis’s tight prose makes for a very pleasant read and her colorful characters have a fun and sweet romance that I definitely enjoyed despite my nitpicking about the plot.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: Dreamsnare by Althea Claire Duffy

Genre : Fantasy, F/F fiction

I don't often read stories shorter than a full-length novel. If you follow my reviews, you’ll notice that I read a lot, and nothing feels long enough for me (it’s a curse, I tell you). I tend to prefer more drawn out stories, which I find can offer more complexity and at the same time more room to process what you read.

But I do make exceptions, and the 15,000 words novelette Dreamsnare by Althea Claire Duffy is one that I don’t regret. I believe it’s only the second novelette she’s written, so not quite a debut work, but definitely a work of fiction from a new author.

Kereda is a broken woman. She’s lost everything: the right to ply her trade as a shoemaker, her unborn child, her husband, her home, and to top it all, her family won’t talk to her anymore.

So when her roommate tells her that the very best pair of shoes she’s ever made might be cursed and the cause of all her pain, she knows that she doesn’t have anything left to lose anymore. She sets out to find Serin, the dreamworker, and ask her to remove the curse and free her from this seemingly unending string of failures. But the curse is not what it seems, and both women get more than they had bargained for when it traps them in the dreamworld.

Dreamsnare introduces us to a complex but enticing form of magic that’s somewhere between spiritual healing, with an strong emphasis on emotions, and more classic enchantment, all woven into one craft. It did take me two readings to understand it better, and perhaps the limitations of a novelette made the medium not well suited to the task.  I felt there was too much telling and not enough showing, and some elements were still left a bit unexplained. Serin still does a good job of explaining to us how her craft works, but you’ll need to concentrate to make sure you don’t miss anything— this is not a story for us to relax into.

Still, I really liked the dreamwork, and I enjoyed the way it dealt with emotions, such as Kereda’s strong self-loathing and depressed thoughts coating the fabric of her shoes. It was an unusual, more abstract way to depict depression, and it spoke to me.

Strong emotions are the key element of the story— guilt, self loathing, depression and failure all weigh heavily on the hearts of our characters. But it is also a story about healing, about opening old wounds that never quite healed properly. It is about taking a glance back in order to set out forward again. Definitely a good short read from a promising new author.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: Molly: House on Fire by R.E. Bradshaw

Trigger warnings for domestic violence, abuse, one case of off-screen rape and one case of cruelty against an animal. Genre : Mystery, Thriller, F/F fiction

There's something to be said about the expression “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and the self-published Molly: House on Fire, by R.E. Bradshaw, is one of those books that require us to go beyond the cover to get a measure of how good they are. And frankly, with the somewhat uninspired title and a cover that pains the eyes, I didn’t go into the book with good expectations. It turned out, however, to be a solid mystery novel.

Molly Kincaid is a hot-shot defense attorney. In fact, she’s one of the best there is, but when a call from her past disrupts her steady lifestyle, her childhood comes crashing back down on her. At home, there aren’t many people who really know about her— That she was born Molly Harris, a poor child in the South, she was “white trash” as they call it, and that she killed her father at a young age to stop his abuse on her mother. Given up for adoption at the age of ten by a mother who could no longer take care of her, she vowed to make a new life and hadn’t looked back once. But Joe, the police officer who had helped Molly and her mother back then, is dying, and he needs her help in a case fraught with danger. There’s a murderer on the loose, and he seems keenly interested in an old legend about lost Confederate gold… Soon, questions arise and the very things Molly had believed to be true for thirty years crumble under her.

Going back to her birth town is difficult for Molly, and she soon realizes nobody really forgot the kid she was, and it’ll prove to be to her advantage as she crashes into town to bring justice. The story reminds me of a spaghetti western movie, down to a colorful and solid secondary cast who rises to her side. And help she will need as she works to prove that Joey, Joe’s autistic grandson, didn’t kill his mother, especially if it means finding who the real killer might be. Bradshaw’s portrayal of Joey and of autism is excellent and I deeply enjoyed seeing an autistic individual that for once didn’t fall into the well-worn category of Sherlock-type quirky geniuses. Working with Joey brings Molly to meet Leslie, a psychologist and Joey’s teacher, and she soon finds that she cannot keep her mind (and her eyes) off the woman. She’ll have to do just that however, because her father’s family is still around, and they’re every bit as vile and dangerous as he was.

The mystery elements occupy most of the story and while the book takes time to introduce us to side characters from Bradshaw’s previous novels, it doesn't stray too far. The mystery starts slowly and Bradshaw is good at pacing the rise of tension throughout the book. By the time the pieces started all falling into place, I was anxious to see the story reach its climax. One of the things I especially liked about this book, was that the main character isn’t alone against those who would do her harm. A lot of books pit their hero against impossible odds but Bradshaw is good at introducing helpful side characters without clogging the narrative.

I also thought that the romance elements were a tad too awkward. I didn’t feel much chemistry between Leslie and Molly despite their occasional friendly banter. Leslie probably would have benefited from being more closely tied to the plot, but as it stands, she hovers on the edge of the narrative without real use beyond being here for Molly’s character development. Perhaps it is because I’m more accustomed to romance taking a bigger place than it does in this book, but I also found her to be somewhat shallowly written, and we never learn much about her. We know she shares Molly’s love of ridiculously high-priced fast cars, and is a caring person toward her protégé, but… that’s about it. I’m not usually picky when it comes to lesbian romance, but I felt very unsatisfied with this one.

Molly: House on Fire may not be a groundbreaking read, but it is a solid mystery novel that doesn’t lack suspense and that has the merit of tackling difficult subjects like domestic violence and what happens when people close their eyes on the suffering of victims: a downward spiral of more violence and pain.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: Glove of Satin, Glove of Bone by Rachel White

Genre : Fantasy, Romance, F/F fiction


I have to admit it, I really like witches. There’s something that I really enjoy about witchcraft and it’s how authors portray it beyond the horrifying wicked depictions fraught with political and moral implications that we usually see in mainstream medias. Witches are a complicated subject at the intersection of cultural and religious imperialism, aggressive and misogynistic gender politics, and antisemitism. While there aren’t many books that expand on this particular subject, I’m always curious to see how authors go beyond these traditional images. So needless to say, I was thrilled when Less Than Three Press approved my request for an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review on Netgalley.

Muriel vas Veldina and Enne Datchery have a somewhat complicated relationship. They’ve lived together for eight years now, two witches well known for their skills at restoring old books and grimoires. They used to love each other deeply, and they both care for their shared live-in apprentice as they would their daughter, but something snapped some time ago, and it’s safe to say there’s nothing but hostility between them now. They’ve drifted apart, and distance turned into hatred, but neither of them has had the will to end it definitely yet. One day, an insufferable employee of the High Circle lands on their doorstep and tasks them with a job they would be unwise to refuse : to restore and repair an old grimoire that doesn’t have a name. And when said grimoire is stolen before they can even begin to work on it, they’re going to have to work together to take it back.

Glove of Satin, Glove of Bone by Rachel White takes romance from the opposite angle— Both characters already know each other, and their romance is a thing of the past. Now Muriel and Enne have only bickering and mean words for each other. Theirs is a sad relationship, where pride, lack of communication and prejudice have become so great that they formed a seemingly uncrossable rift between them. Their couple seemed doomed to break apart, and the link between the witches is all but ready to snap as we meet them. I felt really sad for those two. As we progress through the story, it’s obvious they still care for each other, and if only they were to admit it to each other and to themselves, they would realize that their flame isn’t dead just yet. But they lost their path somewhere along the way, and the events unfolding in the book will prove decisive for their shared (or separate) future.

While I initially needed some time to adapt to Muriel and Enne’s uncommon relationship (at least when it comes to romance), I quickly grew to love the pair. They’re both wonderful, caring persons, but they’re both imperfect and flawed, just like real people are. Enne is stern, studious and brutally honest, to the point of rudeness. She’s also not always in tune with the emotions of others, which can sometimes lead her to hurt those around her inadvertently. Muriel is more outgoing and naive but she’s judgmental, quick to react harshly, and her past as a wicked witch still weighs on her. And of course, neither of them is short on misplaced pride. Despite those flaws, both are caring persons and their love for their apprentice Kylia is obvious— it’s quite clear that she’s the link that makes the whole family stand.

White is good at the 'show, don’t tell' rule and she doesn’t say much on the universe before us, to the point that I was originally a bit miffed at Muriel and Enne’s insistence that thirty years old is “ancient” and “near-death already”, before I realized that it’s probably because people don’t live quite as long as we do nowadays. The time period is never really explained, and White doesn’t spend much time describing our surroundings, but she does leave clues here and there that allow us to infer on how this fantasy world works. And needless to say, I want more. I don’t know if White wants to expand the universe she’s created here, but I do hope she will write more— I would especially enjoy a prequel where our protagonists meet and fall in love and where Muriel reflects on her vulnerabilities and on wickedness.

Still, the book is short— too short, and while I enjoyed its total 53, 000 words length, I felt the story could have been stronger with more work on the plot and on the setting. Indeed, the weak point of the book definitely seems to be its plot, particularly towards the end where important confrontations are brought by  simplistic twists. The behavior of our main villain is careless and puzzling towards the end, and to be honest she doesn’t seem to have much motivation beyond having power in order to have power. Sure, it’s often the underlying goal of many villains, but I’d have wanted something more, if at least to make her more believable.

Thus Glove of Satin, Glove of Bone by Rachel White is a good read, but it feels like a tentative step in a new direction, something I suspect it is since this is, to my knowledge, her first published full-length F/F work of fiction. Beyond a sweet romance between two relatable protagonists, it looks like a sketch of an interesting world that has yet to be fleshed out, and it really left me still hungry for more. As it stands, it is a good book, but I still feel it misses the opportunity to be a great book. Still, I’ll keep an eye on Rachel White’s next forays into F/F fiction, and hopefully, for a sequel.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.

Book Review: At the Water's Edge by Harper Bliss

Trigger warning for depression and suicide

While At The Water’s Edge is one of the most well known works of lesbian romance & erotica writer Harper Bliss, it’s perhaps one of those that stand out the most in her bibliography (at least in my opinion). For starters it is, by the author’s own admission, one of her tamer books, though be warned that there’s no fade to black when sex starts and Harper Bliss is very good at making you blush furiously and give furtive glance behind your shoulder to make sure nobody’s reading over it. It’s also a very personal work of fiction, for her and for those who’ve shared her experience with depression. 

Ella Goodman returns to her birth town of Oregon a deeply wounded woman— years after fleeing it, and not long after a break-up that saw her land in the hospital in the wake of a failed attempt at ending her own life. Now she’s back in the town that saw her grow up, and she has two things on her mind : healing the wounds of her soul and coming to terms with her dysfunctional, broken and scattered family. Staying alone at her family’s cabin in the nearby resort, she meets and finds friendship in Kay Brody, the owner. Kay is a confident, steady and quite perceptive woman who soon proves adept at tearing the armor around Ella’s heart, forcing her to see herself and her wounds.

At The Water’s Edge was quite possibly one of the more difficult read I’ve come across lately. Not because of how it was written, but because of the difficult subjects it touched. There is no doubt in my mind that Harper Bliss drew from her own experience with depression, and Ella’s struggles resonated deeply with my own. I found myself often brought to tears as the book bared my soul as well as Ella’s while on the difficult path of her healing. Perhaps that is why this book stands out to me: it speaks to me in a manner not a lot of stories do.

Harper Bliss writes compelling characters that feel all too real, like people we’ve probably known at some point of our life. Her judgmental mother, bitter and mean after spending an unhappy marriage with her husband who lost himself in shame and guilt after getting caught red handed with a mistress. Her sister, Nina, who fled to the other side of the world without a word, full of anger and resentment. Ella, who went on to Boston to become a biologist, losing herself in work and the ruins of failed relationships, depression slowly chipping away at her energy until she could not bear living another day. It is a story about Ella and the Goodman family, and it’s true Kay may seem lacking a little depth beside them— but we quickly grow fond of the pair as they get closer and sometimes stumble on the rough edges of Ella’s heart. 

Harper Bliss has a very tight way of writing and she doesn’t lose time on secondary plots or characters, which does account for the relative shortness of the story (221 pages). I tried to slow my reading towards the end, wishing for more despite the bruises it awakened, and I do feel the book could have used a few more dozen pages without diluting its strength, particularly with Kay, who I did find to be too perfect to be true. Bliss does a very good job at writing in the first person, present tense; so good in fact that I actually did not notice it before it was brought up to me. The few sex scenes we’re treated with are furiously blush-inducing, and they tread the edge of soft domination.

Despite those few small flaws, At The Water’s Edge remains a solid and thoroughly enjoyable book that I’ll probably enjoy reading again soon, at least to remember that sometimes, it gets better.

Rachel Vigo is a would-be critical geographer from Paris (the one in France, not the one in Texas). She is an avid devourer of books and plays video-games far too much.