Karin's Lesfic bookblog

Femme Like Her – Fiona Zedde

Let’s start with the cover: it’s dark, mysterious and beautiful.

The fire in this book burns quick and hot and then cools down very quickly. It seemed like one day paradise was there, and the next day it was unexpectedly closed. This made Nailah have very conflicted feelings and Scottie something to explain. But this is not where the push-pull ends…

Because of the way Nailah’s ex reacts to these two femmes being together I had an ’80’s repressing feel while reading those particular scenes. Top that with some crazy-ass lesbians making an appearance in this book and I was glad I have a fairly normal life with normal friends, haha. These types of characters always make me feel funny in a bad way: creepy. I know they exist (crazy-stalkerish-people), but I just rather pretend they don’t 😉 Pauline as a secondary character is great in her weirdness, but she is a little crazy herself for getting involved with the wrong girls all the time.

The love scenes are hot, Zedde knows how to write them and I loved the power exchange in them. It is subtle and makes you want more.

I liked the characters in this book, especially the way Scottie confidently approaches Nailah over and over. Very slowly we are fed the knowledge we need to know why Nailah reacts to Scottie the way she does. Up until almost the end, Scottie stays a mysterious character to me. It made me stay very involved. Also, this book confronted me with myself. Like Nailah, I had my judgement ready: fool that I am. I’m not going to spoil that part by saying too much, but this part makes the character development complete. People are flawed, also the people in this book: very well done. A great balance between reality, drama and love.

Want to buy this book, click here.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Lesbian Billionaires Seduction – K.C. Luck

This is certainly not the best book I’ve read this year, but I sure as hell enjoyed the read! I know that’s a weird way of giving compliments, but it’s sincere and 100% true.

After reading this second book in The Lesbian Billionaires series, I’m more warmed up to it and I know I’m going to want to read all of the following books. So that’s a job well done by K.C. Luck: you’ve made me an addict 😉

Don’t expect profound plotlines or realism, expect filthy wealthy hot woman, travelling the world and battling a new and unknown enemy (and one they already knew).
The storyline itself is a slow starter, but that is compensated by more than enough sex. And in my book, sex sells. At least the way K.C. Luck writes it.

Want something fun to read, you should surely check this one out.

Blind Faith – Brooklyn Roberts

I am trying to read every piece of published F/F Omegaverse but I’m not very skilled in finding it. So when you come across: let me know and I’ll read and review it. It could save you from being disappointed because this one is also labeled as Omegaverse, but was actually a werewolf story with an asexual character. And if something doesn’t fit in the Omegaverse trope, it is asexuality…

This particular novella by Brooklyn Roberts is part of series that can all be read as a stand alone. The others in this series are not F/F Omegaverse and have different authors.

After reading I think it qualifies as an Omegaverse, only in a different way than you would expect. The alpha – omega dynamics are in place with MC’s Liane (omega) and Myra (alpha). This is a novella, so don’t expect to much from the storyline. Liane is on her way becoming a nun to please her parents. On her way doing that she has an indiscretion with another nun-to-be and is send to Vale Valley where she meets Myra (a tattoo artist).

In this novella there is that instant attraction an alpha and omega can have and you’ll quickly be taken to the erotic scenes where a surprise awaits you. The knotting in this omegaverse is not with a G!P, but with Myra’s tongue. It was a bit confusing to me when I read Myra was knotting Liane while she was going down on her. Then I read about a tongue expanding and stuff and was mostly distracted by the physical complications instead of just enjoying the fusion of two loved ones. For one, how do your jaw muscles feel after you’ve had your mouth open for so long.. or breathing, just not sexy in my book. On top of that she could impregnate her partner that way because the saliva turned into semen when knotting..

It was not an aweful read, I think other genres would be just fine by the hand of Roberts, but this just didn’t do it for me. Taking into account that you’ll have to pay $4,22 for this book, I dare to say it is not worth that kind of money.

Want to check it out, you can buy it on Amazon.

Slaying Dragons – McGee Mathews

This review may contain very small spoilers (not enough to hide the entire review)

Five stars! This book touched me deeply. It made me feel very emotional and cry, it is relatable, horrifying and beautiful.

This is my second Mathews book and again I am not disappointed. Where the first (Keeping Secrets) gave me a thorough history lesson, this book was mostly lots of recognition. Mental health issues hit close to home and although I don’t have them to the extend like Dani in this novel it still is relatable. In my young 20’s I was hit hard by depression, anxiety and all. Luckily nowadays all that is left is a funky feeling in wintertime, come spring my world brightens again. One in four people suffer from mental health problems at least at one point in their life and yet you almost never hear anyone talk about it. This book gives you an insight into the struggle of Dani and Andrea in the ’90s. A day and age where being gay alone was hard enough, let alone suffer from mental health problems …

About the story: there is nothing rushed, the tempo is just right for the topics. Characters all have their flaws and I loved them for it: Andrea is mostly thinking she’s coming up short for her life-partner Dani. Dani thinks Andrea deserves better than someone like her. And we’ve got Andrea’s colleague Tommy who secretly crushes on her. At about 30-40% in the book, you will hit a rough stretch which made me cry my eyes out. At first, it made me feel confused, I seemed to be in the same level of denial as Andrea appeared to be in. Looking back on it that part is very well written by Mathews. I don’t want to give away to much…

The way Dani “works” her mental health expert is spot on how I’ve seen it happen in real life. Mathews does a great job in letting you see all those layers of someone with mental health issues. Also, she does a great job showing you all the layers of grief.

The ending of the book wasn’t rushed, but it did feel abrupt. It is a happy and romance is found (again). All in all it is worth the five stars for me because of the very respectfully, gracious and beautiful way Mathews wrote about this very difficult topic.

Read the blurb before you start this book, although not all is said in the blurb, if you can count, you can count on an emotional rollercoaster.
When you feel you need to talk to someone while reading or after reading this book, know that you
can find all the contact information you’ll need in the back. Don’t hesitate to use it.

You can buy this book on Amazon or your preferred store. I was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One More Chance – Ali Vali

This book showed what Vali does at her best. She wrote an amazingly strong MC (Harry) and a vulnerable lady in trouble (Desi). With domestic violence being the main topic of this book, you may not want to read it. The way it was described made my toes curl, so this will be your trigger warning. This is only in the beginning though, the rest of the book is spent building back trust and making sure Desi is safe and recovering. These are the parts that’ll make your toes curl in a very good way!

But also these parts are the reason why I made this a 4-star instead of a 5-star review. I found that Harry and Desi were walking around in circles. And I do get that in situations like these you need to be repetitive towards the person coming out of an abusive relationship. But for me it felt al little too much.

Other than that I really liked and enjoyed the storyline of this book. Vali writes in a way I really feel the emotions and get engrossed in a book. Also the dependable part of this second chance relationship is what really warms me up. Please don’t tell other people that I (as a self-respecting, independent woman) love reading about strong and fierce loving butches who take care of you 😉

All in all a great read which fits fantastic in the brand that is Ali Vali.

You can buy this book at Bold Strokes Books or Amazon.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Want to read other reviews of Ali Vali books, check out Face the Music or The Inheritance.

Renegade’s War – Gun Brooke

Wow, great read! This book takes place in a country where you do not want to live. It had the feel of North Korea and the China one-child-policy in the mix. The feeling this book gave me was like I was “in on it”, going on a mission with our hero. Said hero is very likeable by the way and has a good back story which also provides her with the right incentive to do what she and the Tallawins do.

An exciting mix where two worlds meet because of memory loss. I like that plot twist most of the times, but it’s also tricky: what do you do when the memory returns.
In this case, Brooke handled that very well and it gave just the right amount of tension towards the finale of the storyline.

This book is an exciting page-turner. There is also romance in it, but it is clearly secondary and doesn’t take away to much attention from the exciting story. My first Gun Brooke experience is a great one!

You can buy it at Bold Strokes Books or Amazon.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Reaping the Benefits – EJ Noyes

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It as a great escape from reality and Abby Craden did a great job narrating! The way she narrates probably gives this book the extra mile. Had I read it myself I think I wouldn’t have enjoyed it this much! (if that makes any sense..)

The plotline of this book is different and very creative. I wouldn’t mind if it were reality: give me my afterlife package please, I know my likes and dislikes for when the time comes 😉

Jane and Morgan(a) fit perfectly together and I loved the tension building between them. Noyes is very good with making you feel all the feels with her writing style, this novel is no exception in that.

There’s a great kind of humour in this book and likeable and special secondary characters. Putting this book down was hard to do. So I drove the car slower than normal and did more chores around the house: everything for a couple of minutes of listening.

Humour, love, feelgood, happy ending: very fun read! Check it out on Amazon.

The Horse Mistress – R.A. Steffan

Last year the first book in this series came by for free on amazon and I “bought” it in a whim. After reading I immediately wanted to read the next and the next and the… You get it, I was hooked. There is fantasy, horses, gender-bending, diplomacy, war and shapeshifting!

Carivel (Cara) leads in this book, she’s/they is a remarkable person. Born as a woman, but living as a man for years already. Äfter half their village is murdered one night, they get the chance to become horse master, hence the name of this series.

The storyline of this series is both very dark and very beautiful. What happens in the diplomatic and war sense is dark, but the love-story woven in there is beautiful.

The love story in this book revolves around three people, Carivel and two men (Senovo and Andoc). You could say this book qualifies as a MMF menage. But that isn’t necessarily correct because of how Carivel identifies not as a woman but a man. Maybe MMM is better, at least for this book. Anyway: the eroric scenes are very sensual, sensitive and hot at the same time. When you’re craving an erotic novel, this book will probably meet your expectations.

I really loved reading this series and would advise considering buying the box set because it is cheaper and you’ll want to read the other books too. You can find that bundle of four books over here. Want to just try the first book for little over a dollar, get it here.

On The Square – Brenda Murphy

Reading books from certain authors feels like coming home. This is one of those books: I loved reading it. As a slow reader, I devoured this book, it is easy to read.
Other books by Murphy I read were very steamy BDSM novels, this book is also very steamy, but then in romance instead of BDSM spectrum. I wouldn’t dare to call it an erotic novel. It’s an in-between.

Like in (I believe) every book by Murphy, this book has a woman of colour in the lead. I can really appreciate that! Also, Murphy is original in her characters. In this case, the contractor is the feminine of the couple. The secondary characters are also likeable, I can only hope our son grows up like the boys of Dale.
Besides the blooming romance and struggles that come with that, also racism and gay bullying are addressed in this book. Add to that Mai’s sister who is in a wheelchair and you’ve got yourself an inclusive book about real people with real lives and problems.
Let’s talk sexy scenes: because Murphy is talented in that department. The dynamics between characters is good and hot, they match perfectly as where Mai loves it when Dale goes into dominant-mode in the bedroom. Me thinks there could easily be more kink in their future together. Maybe we’ll see them back in the other books as this is a first in a series.
About the series: this is the first in the University Square series. It can easily be read as a stand-alone. This story is finished and knowing Murphy’s other series the next books will feature other people.

You should pick this one up when you’re not into BDSM in books but want to give Murphy’s books a try: a real joy to read. Check it out on Amazon.

A Bond Unbroken – N.J. Lysk

I was almost ecstatic when I saw there was another author publishing a FF Omegaverse story! After reading the book I’m sad to say I’m less enthusiastic. I’ve waited with reviewing because I had a lot of mixed feelings after reading this book.

This short story is about Lia (omega) and Amira (alpha), both werewolves. They are best friends until Lia presents as an omega. They have to figure out what will happen between them from that point on.

After reading lots of fanfic FF omegaverse and a couple of very good published FF Omegaverse, I was surprised by the content of this story. In omegaverse, sexual activity plays a big part. And it Is a big reason my dirty mind enjoys those books and particularly those scenes in those books. There is one vague kind of sex scene in this short, but not what I was hoping for. It seemed that one of the mc’s is asexual. I can applaud an author for working with asexual characters in a romance, as they are there in real life and are not very broadly represented in romance novels. But making that combination with an FF omegaverse story, you should have at least let that know in the book blurb.

Also naming this an FF Omegaverse is a stretch on the category. If you’d just called it a werewolves book with alpha and omega dynamics, it comes closer to the truth.

Had I know that I would have had a better read. Now I was slightly disappointed. Besides that, it was a decent read for the price (I paid 0,99 in the pre-order).

If you plan on reading this for the sexual content of omegaverse, I advise picking a different book. Want to try it, check out Amazon.