Monique S.'s Blog, page 9

Top of the list.

The Duet by Harper Bliss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


And with just one read this has jumped to the top of my most favourite reads list!

Yes, as an old roadie I am biased, but honestly, a romance on tour as singers of two bands, opening act an headliner, but equally powerful each in their own right, can it get any better? Put on top of that the incredibly off the charts chemistry between Lana and Cleo and add the incredible mix of raw sexual attraction temperd by beautiful tenderness and sweet feelings bordering love in their physical contact, this is top of the class writing for lesbian romance.

Harper Bliss has outdone herself with this one!



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Not quite a top favourite, but pretty good.

Vagabond by Natalie Debrabandere

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am really fond of Natalies writing and this one is another example of its excellent quality, only in my opinion this plot isn't quite as brilliant as Maririma.

Morgan and Jo Ann are very likeable chracters, even their romance is well written, but not qute as natural as the one I read in Maritima, so unfortunately this is just a favourite with 4.4 stars. But that should not discourqge you, as always, personal tastes are differnt. With all the developments in the UK and my moving to France in 2000, the fact that I much prefer Maritima might tell you a lot about my reasons.



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De Fleurs et des Mensonges

De Fleurs et des Mensonges by Mónica Benítez

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Tout en Cochant les Jours" était le premier roman de Mónica Benitez j’ai lu avec plaisir et donc ceci m’a intéressé avec son intrigue un peu drôle. Les dialogues entre Miriam et Leni sont parfois à rigoler et toujours empreint d’une tension sexuelle avec leur sous entendus.

La relation amoureuse est, pour tout et chacun sauf les deux femmes, évidente et vraiment très douce mais aussi passionnante. En tout, c’est une lecture amusante et aussi touchante et m’a laissé avec un sourire.



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A friendly rant

Subtitle: why I’ll probably leave Goodreads.
A rant by Monique S

OK. Five years ago I was an aspiring writer looking for a site to have a profile on as a writer. Stupid Google of course came up with Goodreads; I liked the concept, the features, the community.

All that has been ruined bit by bit and just not for me, following the take-over by Amazon.

I am écrivaine, the proper English term would be author, someone, who writes BOOKS, things made of paper with properly spelt words on the pages and impeccable grammar, typesetting that pleases the eye and not a norm set by illiterate programmers, who don’t read anything properly spelt anyway, because they just spell anything like they think it should be spelt according to how it sounds!

That way a story told (a tale) becomes a furry appendage (yes, guys that is a proper English word for tail) and there are just too many of these idiocies, to actually write them all down here. To reinforce my point let me just quote the difference between there, they’re and their as well as the bastardized version of the exclamation from members of the UK parliament during confrontational sessions: “ hear, hear!”

You may think me a dinosaur (yes, I am almost aged 69 years old), but I speak two still reasonably precise languages, German and French as well as (UK) English and I value precision in communication!

I am going to be blunt here. What happens here seems to be the attempt of some illiterate programmers to “renovate” something valuable, proper writing. Guys, let me remind you of the most basic law of IT: “Shit in = shit out”. If you are programming for something you really don’t understand, writing, because you are lacking knowledge about the subject, the language and what it’s virtues and drawbacks are, your ‘input’ is going to produce mega shit as ‘output’.

Another feel-good read by Lise Gold

Western Shores by Lise Gold

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another romance by Lise Gold that captured my heart.

Both the characters are well defined, their relationship and personal journey credible and cute, the storyline is great and, last but not least, there is no black moment at the 80% mark, one of the things that Lise does a lot better than most. That is what makes her one of the top five in my favourite authors list. Having read this on KU, its hard copy will soon be joining five others of her work in my favourite shelf, to be re-read to lighten my mood when I need it.



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My top twenty all time favourite lesbian reads.

Here's the list:
1) Qui est Florence Vermeer ?

2) Elodie

3) Escorte-Moi

4) Fire and Water

5) Not in the Script

6) The Clinch

7) The Scent of Rome

8) Rencontre accidentielle: Roman lesbien

9) Delilah Green Doesn't Care

10) Some Part of Me Is You

11) Accord Parfait

12) Maritima

13) Un Noël inattendu

14) Crash Dance

15) Un parfum de scandale: Roman lesbien

16) Forbidden Melody

17) Behind Her Eyes

18) The Delicate Things We Make

19) Cinderella Is Dead

20) Night and Daye

All those have a prime place as hard-copies in my bookshelf.

Not for the squeamish.

Let Love Be Enough by Robyn Nyx

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


As Thrillers go this is a great one, but I cannot help to add a warning here.

I have been a paramedic and I have seen some rather gruesome sights during my training and my time in charge of an ambulance in the emergency services of my home town Hamburg in Germany. Nevertheless some of the violence described here was hard to take.

That said, the plot is captivating and the romance between Madison and Elodie is slow, but very well written and believable and hot, when if finally hits home.

Unfortunately the crime this story is centered around is much too close to reality today, given the way governments are cutting money spent on hospitals and medical staff and the way healthcare has become a gold mine for pharmaceutical companies. If a gang like this doesn’t already exist it is only a question of when, not if those things are going to happen.

This is not for sensitive souls.



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A nice new discovery.

Treasured by Poppy Woods

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you like fantasy and dragons this is for you. I went through it in one sitting and was spellbound all the way through. The romance is slow and sweet as the adventure part picks up speed and the climax one can safely class as epic.

I had never heard of Poppy Woods before but the cover and the synopsis had me hooked. A quick satisfying read that warrants a sequel in my opinion.



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Lu un deuxième fois avec même plus de plaisir.

Escorte-Moi by Lena Clarke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Escorte moi au premier vue est un roman qui j’ai cru plutôt comme quelques autres sur des gens faisant faux semblant d’être en couple, mais ici l’histoire est beaucoup mieux que les autres de ce genre j’ai lu.

L’auteure touche sur une nombre de « tropes » avec ce livre, mais elle ne tombe nulle part dans la piège tentante en suivre. Plutôt elle décrit les troubles d’une jeune femme, qui a réussi créer des jeux vidéo, mais n’arrive pas être détendu avec plus que une ou deux personnes. Sa meilleure ami, Olivia, qui est aussi sa partenaire dans l’entreprise force une Escorte professionnelle sur elle, pour un événement social. La Pauvre June ne sait pas sur quel pied danser, mais ne peut pas éviter tomber sous le charme de Sasha.

[spoiler]
Forcé par une serie de rencontres pas bienvenu du tout, June se trouve obligé de encore se fier a Sasha pour la mariage de deux de ses amis et de la semaine, qui se déroulera autour à la Ferme des ses grand parents. Elle tombe amoureuse de Sasha contre sa volonté et le refus de Sasha admettre que c’est réciproque finalement fait June sortir de la prison, dans laquelle elle s’est mis elle même, pour poursuivre ses efforts convaincre Sasha de son amour.
[end spoiler]

Les changements, au début subtiles en June, quand elle réalise, que elle est en train tomber amoureuse de Sasha vers une personnalité plus adulte et moins timide, avec ses hésitations et troubles sentimentales sont fait avec réalisme et on ne peut que souffrir avec elle, jusque à June trouve la vraie raison du refus de Sasha se commettre dans une vraie relation avec June. La courage de June ne fait que croître.

Au début les petites escarmouches verbales entre June et Sasha paraissent drôles au début, et il prend un temps pour eux de trouver une sorte de paix, qui leur permette finalement parler honnêtement sur leur vraies sentiments.

Ce que j’aime le plus de cette histoire est, que pas un des deux n’est victime de leur peurs et vraiment s’enfuit en face des difficultés. Pas un seul fois.

Lu deux fois, même avec plus plaisir le deuxième.



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I changed my mind.

Love Off Limits: A Lesbian Mother's Best Friend Romance by Alexa Woods

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I did not review this at first, because it needded to sink in for a moment to get a clear idea what to say.

In actual fact I want to change my rating to five stars for the following reasons. This book puts the finger on so many bigotries, I can hardly cope.

As a transgender woman I would have been subjected to the general conscription in Germany, had I not become a conscietious objector, which was hard enough in itself. For my service I opted for the Red Cross Ambulance Service in Hamburg, which means I went through a training similar to that of Neera, with the difference, that at the age of nineteen I actually was in charge of peoples lives in my ambulance, something that only may happen to an emergeny room nurse in a dire emergency, when no more doctors are available.

Any woman trained and experienced like Neera, I swear, is more mature through her experiences than any other woman twice her age or more! Been there, done that.

The next thing? Which "normal" heterosexual parents would think it strange, if their 23 year old daughter confessed to have fallen in love with a 38 year old man, even if he was their recently divorced neighbour? Nobody would comment negatively on that, so why, if the lady in question is lesbian and in love with a fifteen years older woman? Bigotry at its finest, I say.

Even if I did not like other of this authors works, this is a courageous and valid effort to describe something controversial but at the same time absolutely natural. For that alone I am willing to give five stars, but I also very much enjoyed the perfectly credible romance between Neera and Scarlet a lot.





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