Monique S.'s Blog, page 7

Highly recommended

Until There Was You by Nancy Ann Healy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a very unusual romance novel and that already drew me in from the start. First of all it is character driven, what I love, and it is also dialogue driven and to top it the dialogues are quirky, serious or funny depending on who is talking. The whole dynamics here are so incredibly well worked and the plot is absolutely fabulous.

For once there is only one trope that could be classed as, slow moving age gap romance, and that develops in a straight line without any serious drawbacks other than the characters hesitation due to overthinking. But, and that is the greatest plus of this novel, there is always one of the involved characters, who sees through the others and gives valuable and helpful advice.

The whole story is really sweet and straightforward, an unusual family dynamic between Macie, Emma, Hayley and finally Ryan as Macie’s love interest and ends with happiness for all involved without a black moment. Fantastic and I think very courageous of Nancy Ann Healy to break the, I am tempted to say pretty much obligatory, wlw romance mould.

So, taking all that into consideration this for me is much better than five stars and I highly recommend reading it.




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Breathtaking

Of Light and Love by E.V. Bancroft

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


From the start I experienced E.V. Bancroft’s writing as breathtaking. Caro’s grief and depression got through straight to my emotions. Laura’s personality, though comes through as a true sunshine and here lies my one criticism of this book. While everything going on in both characters is well defined and clearly comes to life, when Laura’s family appears and her background and youth get clearer, there is no reason for her blatant lack of self esteem, the betrayal of Valentina certainly is a cause for pain, but nowhere near a credible reason for her to feel NEVER to be enough. Yes, both her and Caro are highly sensitive and creative personalities and deeply affected by their experiences.

But my experience as a counsellor has taught me, that mechanisms like Laura’s avoidance strategy are, as I used to call them in my professional counselling, mechanisms to clean your psyche from never digested emotional pain dating either in your childhood or early adolescence. They lead time and time again into situations, that produce exactly that same pain, until the individual finally deals with it, in this case until Laura overcomes her fear and mental block for trust, into herself and others.

Even though that was a major stumbling block for me for a moment, I still enjoyed the plot and writing a lot and therefore still rate this book a five star, rounded up from 4.6 stars. It also joins my top favourite shelf.



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An other for the top favourite shelf

Lucky Louk by Natalie Debrabandere

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Maritima was the first and possibly still my most favourite book of hers until I read this one. It was absolutely lovely to come back and find Ky, Jessie and my mos favourite side character Manon again and how they are faring. Even better to find both, Elisabeth and Louka making friends with them, especially Louka, who is wonderfully attentive to Manon.

With Louk and her job this picks up a line, kind off, from "One Fine Morn", but this I fell for even more. Louka's work adds the adventure and danger, thus spice to the romance in the plot plot, that is pretty cute in a lot of respects, even though the immediate sexual tension between Elisabth and Louk is more than just hot.

I read this intentionally slowly, wanting to savour every step of the wonderful development of the increasingly sweet romance between Elisabeth and Louk. The writing is really, really great and the characters come to life beautifully, even the side ones. Definitely a new addition to my top favourite shelf.



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Best YA novel I read so far.

The Artemis Adventure by Dorothy Rice Bennett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Well, even though the author seems to be in doubt about this being a youg adult romance, I think it is the best I have read so far, as it concentrates on the personal development of Kiki, who, unknowingly incorporates everything the professors at Montrose College should want their students to achieve, even befor she made her unconventional way into their student body.

Kiki's development on one side and the wonderful side characters, she meets on the road to her goal, truly make this novel a great and encouraging read for adolescent or young women, to listen to their intuition (or whatever you'd prefer to call emotional insight) as to where they feel they need to go to be their true selves. We are al born the way we are and our social environment or education can hinder or help us to get there. Nevertheless with what we come into this world in terms of abilities or personal preferences cannot be changed, only perverted by external influences. It is up to the individual person to take resonsibility for her or his life, even against what "general opinion" deems "proper"!



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Just perfectly what I really like

Cherry on Top by Georgia Beers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the first book by Georgia Beers I have read and honestly I cannot get over the fact, that her books never ever apperad in my Goodreads recommenations. What people write those algorithms and why have they no clue, what I really like? I mean I mainly read and review sapphic romance and Georgia Beers writes exactly what I like most! Light hearted, humorous yet spellbinding tales about characters that are easy to fall in love with. At least that is what this one is, anyway.

What I paticularly liked here is the fact, that even the obligatory "black moment" isn't overly dramatised: nobody gets run over by a bus, shot by a villain, kidnapped or otherwise tortured. Georgia Beers is kind with her character but doesn't let them get off free with their errors of judgement either.

I find her writing very much to my liking. Both heroines here, Cherry and Ellis keep hiding a certain "grey area" of their lives, which doen't really help building a base for mutual trust and that - of course - comes back to bite both in the ass. The plot twist that follows is absolutely ingenious, as it involves several side character, that are written and built just as well as the two heroines.

For me this was a very enjoyable read and my favourite line: "Sweet baby Jesus on a skateboard" still makes my smile at random moments during my day :) I will certainly look at more of her work and Cherry on Top, that I read as paperback, has now joined my top favourite shelf.



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Four stars for this one.

Veritas by M.J. Duncan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Veritas is a tale about two women who have lost themselves: Lauren, who sacrificed everything that isn't her idea of the perfect work goal, to become a star among chefs. Every minute, every ounce of her energy went into striving for that goal, only to realise after ten years without a holiday and no emotional life at all, that she has exhausted and pretty much lost herself to that.

Grey, on the other hand, has lost the love of her life to cancer and herself to her giref, that she tries to drown in alcohol and as much sex she can get with - in a lot of cases - nameless women. When she asks the only real friend she has, Kelly, to find her a chef for the next cruise she has booked on her catamaran Veritas, it is Lauren, whom Kelly interviews. Lauren, who desperately looks for a break from her routine and a "working holiday".

When Grey meets Lauren for the first time, she is thrown for a loop by the physical similarities to the wife she lost. She hates Lauren for reminding her of her loss. Lauren, on the other, finds Grey incredibly attractive. As they try to work together to actually give the family who booked the Veritas for a week a good time, they cannot help to start seeing behind each others game-face.

For both it is a similar struggle, to fight the ideas they have of themselves that keep them from living an authentic life in the present. When they finally find one another and fall in love, Lauren's life plan forces them apart. Back in her life as a chef in New York she tries to loose herself in the "normality" of her professional routine and almost breaks her own heart and with it that of Grey, until at an unexpected encouter she is asked the one question, the answer to which finally makes her realise her mistake.

After just having re-read "Unadulterated Something"I was surprised by the lot of sizzeling hot sex in this story, I actually skipped some of it waiting for the moments of tenderness, that I was hoping for to teach the two ladies to listen to their hearts speaking through their bodies. Unexpectedly it was Grey, who listened first. As in "Unadulterated Something" they are the lovely side characters, who make this story special and the dialogues are witty and funny. I would have preferred a bit more space for the charcter development of Grey and Lauren, hence only four stars.



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An enjoyable read.

Haute Editor's Choice by Bet Milner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a slow burn age gap romance that could just as easily be classed as second chance, too. Amy has had a crush on the woman she worked for as a nanny during her studies, but lost her job a while ago for no reason she understood.

Maria is the editor for a fashion magazin, that she almost owns, but there are the founders, who don't like her at all and try to sabotage her at every turn. Now divorced it gets even worse for Maria, her son hates the divorce and has become almost unmanageable and runs away to their former nanny, Amy, whom he loves and respects, even when she takes him straight back to his mother. The encounter revives her old crush for Amy as well as for Maria, but Maria is not out as a lesbian, her mariage was nothing but a beard for both, husband and wife. The fact, that Amy is sort of bisexual and in a relationship with the son of Maria's enemies in the board of Haute isn't helpful either.

Nevertheless the mutual attraction becomes more and more unberable for both, until Maria's ex husband offers her a solution, that makes Amy's relationship impossible and the resulting war for the editorship of Haute finally forces them both to make up their minds, whether there truly is love between them, that warrants the risk of coming out for Maria.

The final solution needs the help of an old friend of Maria but is entirely satisfying for Amy, Maria, her son and even her ex husband.

In all a well enjoyable read.



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Now among my favourite authors

In Her Arms by Melissa Tereze

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After Behind her eyes and The Stepmother this is my third book of Melissa Tereze's and confims her as on of my favourite authors. I really like her writing and the way she juggles the tropes and never falls into any likeness to the general execution of them by lots of other writers. Her drama well and truly is dramatic without trying to be excessively so, there are always her characters who realise it is of their own making as a result of past injuries.

Awareness of ones actions is essential to find solutions for problems, to avoid keeping on repeating old mistakes, and that is, what usually saves her characters from themselves, one of the traits I love most about her books. I am certainly looking forward to her next one!



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A nice read.

Wind and Dreams by Linda North

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I don't know all that much about ancient Egyptian religion(s?) other than what I got to know through some spiritual teachings I studied, which made me assume, that Neit might be a different name or spelling for Nuit, but the whole idea of the plot is absolutely fascinating and the execution of good quality.

The story is captivating as a slow burn, enemies to lovers trope with some supernatural elements added. I enjoyed the read a lot and can wholeheartedly recommend this.



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An intriguing title ...

Lie With Me by Patricia Spencer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The idea of a woman posing as male to secure an inheritance for herself has been explored before, Georgette Heyer put an extra twist on it with two siblings male and female exchanging roles in "Masqueraders" and I am sure there is one by Barbara cartland, too. "Mascarade" by Lena Clarke so far was my favourite along pretty much the same lines as here, because it is in French. Yet the difference here is, that the charater development of Lady Maryam Wyndham is very well worked as is the one of 'Marquis' D'Avenant.

The romance is slow and the plot not overly complicated but character driven, what I like a lot, and very sweet, when it finally comes to a head. Therefore it certainly warrants 4.5 stars rounded up. It really is a must read for lovers of historical sapphic fiction.



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