Sally Bend's Blog, page 11

Finding Love Without a Plan by Donna Jay

Title: Without a Plan
Author: Donna Jay
Publication Date: January 11, 2025
Genres: Romance
Representation: Lesbian

Without a Plan is a sweet and sexy romance that soars on the strength of its characters and the sincerity of their relationship. Claire and Zoe are a wonderful couple, coming into the story with some serious trust issues from their own relationships (complicated by uneven, at best, and unethical, at worst, power exchanges), and that pain is dealt with honestly and openly. As much as we want them to open their eyes, see what’s before them, and dive headlong into love, Donna Jay knows that would be a recipe for disaster.

While the two strangers quickly become fast friends, those trust issues make it difficult for them to admit their feelings for one another, especially when neither is sure the other is even interested. It makes for a slow, sweet tale, but it one that’s a joy to read. Watching the women get to know one another, come out of their respective shells, and settle into a life together is just wonderful. By the time they are ready to test the waters of love, it is already clear they are meant to be together.

There is some kink to the story (and kink behind the story), but while it’s important and very much plays into those trust issues, it’s not overwhelming. What Claire and Zoe have is a relationship enhanced by a safe, sane, consensual power exchange, not one that’s built entirely around it. It’s cute-kink, not cringe-kink, and lends itself more to blushing cheeks than reddened ass cheeks . . . but the history has a darkness to it, and that adds some drama and some doubt to a few events that test their newfound love..

By keeping the characters at the forefront, Donna Jay imbues her lesbian romance with just enough femdom to give it an erotic flair. Even if you’re just bi-curious or an erotic voyeur, you will come out of Without a Plan wanting what Claire and Zoe have.

Rating:   

My sincere thanks to the author for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

However You Got Here, Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves

Title: Welcome to Dorley Hall
Author: Alyson Greaves
Publication Date: July 25, 2024 by Neem Tree Press
Genres: Fiction| Transgender
Representation: Transgender

Welcome to Dorley Hall reminds me of a serialized story plucked from the archives of BigCloset or Fictionmania, run through a contemporary lens, and redeveloped with a professional author/editor to find the layers beneath the story. Alyson Greaves successfully captures the nostalgia of those vintage forced feminization stories perfectly, but does so with something meaningful and surprisingly deep.

On the surface, this is the story of Dorley Hall, a seemingly innocuous residence for female students, but one with a dark secret. Aunt Bea and her girls are in the business of selecting problematic young men, the kind who have demonstrated the worst traits of toxic masculinity (including violence against women), to be corrected and redeemed. They do this by keeping them captive, breaking them mentally and emotionally, and forcibly feminizing them with hormones and surgery. It’s a story with the potential for a lot of darkness, but the way in which Greaves frames it . . . transforms it.

For one, she explores this experience through a young man who allows himself to be taken under false pretenses because he wants to be there, seeing it as an express, no-cost path to transition. Two, she balances the story between the captors and the captives, showing us more of the women who have ‘happily’ graduated the program than the men who ‘resent ‘deserve’ to be there. It creates an “end justifies the means” kind of mindfuck, especially when we see how the women sympathize with their captives, despite the men’s horrendous behavior, and even feel guilt over some of their darker experiences.

On that note, I just have to say a few words about the women of Dorley Hall. Christine, Paige, Pippa, Abby, Vicky, Indira, and the rest are all well-developed, entirely likable characters with personalities, backstories, and (yes) baggage. The relationships between them, whether as friends, lovers, sponsors, or sisters, are powerful things, and the more you come to understand about them, the more you appreciate this artificial sense of community that they’ve nurtured into something more. You could remove the men from the story completely, and just read this as a what-comes-after sort of story, and still be entirely enthralled.

That, however, would be to miss the fact that, beneath the surface, there’s more going on than you might initially recognize. This is a story about gender, gender roles, and gender relationships. It’s a story about how society discriminates against transwomen and how it seeks to limit their access to gender-affirming treatment. It’s also a story about the pressure to pass and what’s commonly referred to as passing privilege, with the graduates of Dorley Hall literally ‘made’ to pass, but still suffering some of the same insecurities and anxieties of traditional transwomen.

While some readers could be forgiven for not recognizing all the layers, the themes, and the meanings, tempted to disregard it as an uncomfortable story of abuse and manipulation, key twists and revelations in the closing chapters force it all into perspective – and I’d argue that putting the women front-and-center in the narrative, making so much of this about the graduates, emphasizes the philosophical issues even more.

In so many ways, Welcome to Dorley Hall feels like a reclaiming of the gender exploration themes that underpin so much TG fiction, dressing them up and allowing them to pass for mainstream readers. It’s a great read, and I’d even argue an important read, but with 2 books to come, the story’s not yet over – much to my delight.

Rating:

My sincere thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Stacking The Shelves (Reading Reality) and The Sunday Post (Caffeinated Reviewer) are both blog memes about sharing the books we’re adding to the shelves and sharing news of the week ahead.

New Purchases

A few purchases again this week, starting with a small stack of overstock and remainder books from BookOutlet including:

Meg & Meg 2 (giant prehistoric sharks!) by Steve AltenDiablo Mesa (archaeological dig at the Roswell site) by Preston & ChildThe Paleontologist (grown-up Night At the Museum horror) by Luke DumasShadows Have Offended (Dr Crusher led TNG adventure) by Cassandra Rose ClareCradle of Ice (the 2nd Moonfall book) by James Rollins.

In terms of new releases, my preorder of From The Inside by Sophia Turner was delivered, so I’m looking forward to enjoying her ten funny, emotional, intimate tales of trans lesbian goodness.

For Review

First up on the review front, the good folks at Tor were kind enough to send me a finished hardcover copy of Wind and Truth, book 5 of the Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson, which I’ll likely crack the spine on as my next read.

On top of that, the lovely and amazing B.J. Frazier was kind enough to send me copies of episodes 14, 15, and 16 of The Dominion and the Sugilite, her erotic sci-fi soap opera.

Currently Reading

Between a terminally ill dog (who is at least happy and comfortable now for whatever time he has left) and a nasty cold/flu going through the house, my attention span has been as thin as my patience. After 3 DNF titles from the review pile, I’ve settled for hibernating with transgender nostalgia and WLW romance.

On the nostalgia front, it’s Breaking Cover by Jenny Walker, a spy thriller about an MI6 analyst who finally gets his chance to go into the field, but must do so as the out-of-action supermodel colleague a computer says he most closely resembles, and Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves, which explores a underground organization that redeems toxic masculinity by turning it into femininity, but through the eyes of a young man who doesn’t ‘deserve’ it . . . but wants it.

On the romance front, it’s Seducing the Widow by Jane Walsh, who is right up there with Barbara Ann Wright and Olivia Waite as must-read authors, and Without a Plan by Donna Jay, a rewrite of a book I enjoyed almost a decade ago and am excited to revisit.

Taking it Easy on All for Her by Brooke, Hale, and Aurora Rey

Title: All for Her: Forbidden Romance Novellas
Author: Gun Brooke, J. J. Hale, Aurora Rey
Publication Date: January 14, 2025 by Bold Strokes Books
Genres: Romance| LGBT
Representation: Lesbian

Although this fell short for me on the “angst and excitement of forbidden love few would dare,” All for Her was still a solid collection of well-written, enjoyable tales of women-loving-women romance. The boundaries being tested here are a mix of professional and personal, and while none of them are truly forbidden, there’s just enough tension and guilt to carry them through.

Her Boss’s Wife by Gun Brooke tells the story of a woman, her tyrannical jerk of a boss, and his very soon-to-be ex-wife. This probably felt the most forbidden of the trio, with January risking the good word of her boss (and potentially her future) by chasing the woman who’s captured her imagination. It’s one of those trope-filled stories that relies on coincidence to enable the romance, but there’s a sweetness and a vulnerability to it that I enjoyed.

Her Therapist’s Daughter by J.J. Hale is more quietly forbidden, with Freya and Blake getting together without knowing they share a connection. They’re a fun couple with an instant connection, and I loved how the story moved from cute to lusty while playing with some awkward moments along the way.

Her Brother’s Girlfriend by Aurora Rey didn’t connect with me as well as the other two. It felt less forbidden and more heartbreaking, and I think that was the issue for me. The jump from boyfriend to sister felt rushed, and the story didn’t allow space for the emotions of that to be fully explored.

What all three stories had in common is one, likable characters with personalities, and two, romances that are sweet and satisfying.

Rating:

My sincere thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Exquisite Ruin by AdriAnne May

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.

My choice this week is a dark fantasy monster romance with a witch, a demon, a labyrinth, BDSM kink, and a killer twist.

Exquisite Ruin

by Adrianne May
Fantasy } Romance
March 25, 2025 by Gallery Books

In this darkly romantic reimagining of the Minotaur myth, a sorceress and a demon are entwined in sensual battle to escape a deadly maze and reclaim their freedom.

In this deadly maze, the most dangerous thing may be the passion between them.

Sadaré wakes in a labyrinth, remembering nothing except that she is a powerful sorceress. Her only companion is a hostile immortal named Daesra–beautiful, dangerous, and demonic–who bound his divine soul for power and revenge.

Despite their animosity, the two have no choice but to work together to reach the center and defeat the monster who prevents their escape. But the longer they wander, the more deadly and alive the maze becomes–and the more Sadaré finds herself drawn to Daesra in ways she can’t explain.

As sorceress and demon develop a tenuous truce, the labyrinth gives Sadaré glimpses of their shared history of passion and pain that make her question everything she knows. Unlocking the secrets of her past may be the only way to survive and heal their entwined fates–but as she learns more about the betrayals that brought them to the labyrinth, Sadaré begins to fear that the monster at the center could be Daesra…or even herself.

Problematic Authors: The More You Know, The Less You Wish You Knew

And so, yet another beloved, admired, well-respected author is exposed as (probably) a total piece of trash. I say probably because, even in the face of damning accusations, we’re only hearing one (albeit horrific) side of the story and we’re all innocent until proven guilty (even when it seems he’s pretty fucking guilty).

Anyway, I’m not here to accuse or defend Neil Gaiman because I’ve never met the man (or any of his accusers) and know nothing about his private life. For me, he’s always been the British dude who wrote a cool novel with Terry Pratchett, the comic books that inspired Lucifer and The Sandman, and Homer Simpson’s YA cash-grab fantasy, The Troll Twins of Underbridge Academy.

And you know what? I was entirely fine with that. I was good with him being no more than a name, a face, and a short bio between the covers of a book. I didn’t need to know his politics, his religion, his sexual preferences, his favorite sports team, his take on the moon landing conspiracy theory, or whether he prefers Coke or Pepsi. His friends, his lovers, his children, his enemies, his fans? I could enjoy (or not enjoy) a book just fine without knowing any of that.

For all that social media has done to create communities and introduce me to like-minded authors, I find myself increasingly nostalgic for the days when they were just a name on a cover. I miss the days when I could find a book, be drawn in by the cover or the blurb, and not have to second-guess reading it because of something I read about the author. I miss when I could just read a book, enjoy it, and put that author on my must-read-more-of list, never knowing if they were secretly a Baptist preacher, a serial rapist, or an aficionado of red baseball caps.

There’s a whole philosophical dilemma around whether you can (or should) separate the art from the artist, but I think it’s the false familiarity of social media that makes it such a dilemma. It’s one thing to go into a classic novel knowing the author was a racist, a Marxist, an anti-Semite, or a homophobe, and to be able to put that aside in favor of the text. Whether it’s being able to make excuses for them (different people, different times, different morals, different values) or just having no emotional ties to them, we can acknowledge that they were an asshole even as we admit the book deserves to be considered a classic.

With contemporary authors, it’s so much harder because we feel like we know them. What’s more, we’ve formed an emotional attachment that creates a sense of betrayal when they’re exposed for having said or done something horrible. There’s a sense of shock there. A sense of loss. A loss of respect and a loss of enjoyment. But the thing is, we don’t really know them. We’re not friends, even if we have exchanged a DM or two. Those interactions may be meaningful or memorable to us, but they’re not coming to our birthday, our wedding, or our baby shower.

For that reason, I struggled with the art/artist dilemma for quite some time. The first big one to really hit me was JK Rowling. Now, I was never a raving fan of Harry Potter, not one to line up at midnight for the next book or anything like that, but they’re among the very few books I’ve read alongside my spouse, and I admired this single mom who made such an impact on pop culture. Until, that is, she revealed herself to be an unapologetically hateful TERF, and that betrayal set in – betrayal of the memories with my spouse and betrayal of my respect for her as a woman.

The thing is, it seems like the list of authors behaving badly, the ones we shouldn’t be reading anymore, grows by the month. There’s always something being done or said that makes us see these authors in a new light, and pretty soon your treasured TBR pile threatens to be a mountain of trash for the garbage man to pick up. As a neurodivergent reader, I feel like making the distinction was even more difficult for me, but since I’ve begun managing my anxiety, I’ve found it easier to separate the art from the artist. Not foolproof, not by any means, but I can draw those lines a bit easier.

Does that mean you should do the same? Of course not. We’re diverse individuals, as different from one another as our reading tastes may be similar. If you can successfully separate the art from the artist, good for you! If you feel the need to throw them both out, that’s fine. If you choose to censor your shelves going forward, but continue to remember past reads fondly, that’s fine too. Perhaps you draw the line at hate speech, or maybe it’s at violence. It could be that, unless you feel personally attacked, you can put the author aside. That’s your right and there’s nothing wrong with it.

At the end of the day, the way I see it, art is a cooperative effort. It’s a give-and-take between the author and the reader. I don’t know who originally said it, but I love the “staring at marked slices of tree for hours on end, hallucinating vividly” analogy. Great books are as much what we bring to them as what the author put into them. I enjoyed them just fine when I didn’t even know if the author was a man or a woman, much less how they behaved behind closed doors, and I’m going to take advantage of the Twitter/Facebook exodus to be far more selective in my social media following to recapture that innocence/ignorance.

Weekend Freebies – Paranormal, Monster, & Fantasy Romance

Well, if it’s another weekend, then it must be time to bend our hearts and minds around preparing for the week ahead, and how better to do that than with some Weekend Freebies!

Every weekend I search through the free titles on Amazon, looking for those that might interest visitors to the ruins. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can still download the titles through one of Amazon’s free reading applications.

Please do be sure to check the price before downloading anything, as most freebies are limited time offers, and some are specific to certain regions.

Enjoy!

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Stacking The Shelves (Reading Reality) and The Sunday Post (Caffeinated Reviewer) are both blog memes about sharing the books we’re adding to the shelves and sharing news of the week ahead.

New Purchases

A few purchases, some new, some used, this week. Mistress of Lies by K. M. Enright was first in the door, followed by Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana. The World Within by Dani Finn arrived mid-week, while Linda Howard’s Heart of Fire was waiting when I came home on Friday.

For Review

Nothing new on the review front this week, which is just as well since I went hard on the review requests all month and have a few stacks of books to be read over the next few months,

Currently Reading

It’s been a long hard week dealing with a terminally ill dog, so I’ve hardly had the patience or attention span to read, but Crown of Vengeance by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory is the paperback I’ve been carrying around while Spyder’s Trouble by Korin I. Dushayl sits open on my Kindle.

Weekend Freebies – Transformation & Domination

Well, if it’s another weekend, then it must be time to bend our hearts and minds around preparing for the week ahead, and how better to do that than with some Weekend Freebies!

Every weekend I search through the free titles on Amazon, looking for those that might interest visitors to the ruins. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can still download the titles through one of Amazon’s free reading applications.

Please do be sure to check the price before downloading anything, as most freebies are limited time offers, and some are specific to certain regions.

Enjoy!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Most Anticipated Reads of 2025 (So Far)

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.

To kick off the new year in style, here is everything I’m waiting on, begging for, and eagerly anticipating – with the caveat that I’m sure to add more as I find them

January

Lightfall by Ed Crocker
St. Martin’s Press | Fantasy – Epic | January 14, 2025

All for Her: Forbidden Romance Novellas by Gun Brooke, J. J. Hale, and Aurora Rey
Bold Strokes Books | Romance – LGBT | January 14, 2025

Seducing the Widow by Jane Walsh
Bold Strokes Books | Romance – LGBT | January 14, 2025

Tarnished by Erica Rose Eberhart
Creative James Media | Fantasy – Romantic| January 21, 2025

February

Sanctum of the Soul by Kel Kade
Tor Books | Fantasy – Epic | February 11, 2025

Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
Bramble| Fantasy – Romance | February 18, 2025

March

The Warbler by Sarah Beth Durst
Lake Union Publishing | Fantasy | March 1, 2025

Emberclaw by L. R. Lam
DAW Books | Fantasy – Epic | March 4, 2025

Idolfire by Grace Curtis
DAW Books | Fantasy – Romance | March 11, 2025

Exquisite Ruin by Adrianne May
Gallery Books | Fantasy – Romance | March 25, 2025

April

A/S/L by Jeanne Thornton
Soho Press | LGBT – Transgender | April 1, 2025

Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff
DAW Books | Horror – Cozy | April 1, 2025

May

Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang
Tordotcom | Fantasy – Epic | May 6, 2025

Daughter of Tides by Kit Rocha
Montlake| Fantasy – Romance | May 6, 2025

The Vengeance by Emma Newman
Solaris| Fantasy – Action & Adventure| May 6, 2025

Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam
Tor Books| Fantasy – Epic | May 13, 2025

To Please Her by Elena Abbott
Bold Strokes Books | Romance – LGBT | May 13, 2025

Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay
Ace Books| Fantasy – Historical | May 27, 2025

Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity by Lee Mandelo
Erewhon Books| Fantasy – LGBT | May 27, 2025

Deliverance of Dragons by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory
Tor Books| Fantasy – Epic | May 27, 2025

June

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Tor Books| Fantasy – Epic | June 10, 2025

If I Told You, I’d Have to Kiss You by Mae Marvel
St. Martin’s Griffin| Romance – LGBT | June 10, 2025

Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race
Orbit | Fantasy – Historical | June 10, 2025

The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott
Tor Books| Fantasy – Epic | June 10, 2025

I Think I’m in Love with an Alien by Ann Aguirre
Sourcebooks Casablanca| Romance – Science Fiction| June 17, 2025

The Mercy Makers by Tessa Gratton
Orbit | Fantasy – Epic | June 17, 2025

The Last Vigilant by Mark A. Latham
Orbit | Fantasy – Epic | June 24, 2025

The Secret Romantic’s Book of Magic edited by Marie O’Regan & Paul Kane
Titan Books | Fantasy – Romance| June 24, 2025

July

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
Bramble| Fantasy – Romance | July 15, 2025

A Shift of Time by Julie E. Czerneda
DAW Books | Fantasy – Epic | July 22, 2025