Review: A.C. Burch – The HomePort Journals

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Rose Herbert

The HomePort Journals
A.C. Burch

Marc longs to be an author, but the words never seem to come to him in the city. After he breaks up with his abusive partner, he flees to Provincetown, where he’s taken in by an old woman and her enigmatic companions.

The novel is well realised, with scenery which I can vividly picture right now. There was only one inconsistency towards the end of the novel, when the Captain’s journals appeared in two places at once. I can see them walking down the beach, and Marc trying to write in his tower, complete with the art workshop on one of the middle floors.

I like that in this novel, all of the characters are ok with being one form of queer or another. This is a world I dream of, where it’s ok to be yourself! Everyone in the novel has a role somewhere, even if it’s not where you expect. They were lovely, three dimensional characters that reached out to me through just Marc’s perspective – a mark of a strong writer.

I spent most of the novel in suspense that Brandon would track down Marc. I knew he would eventually, but I didn’t know how much Marc was going to be able to stand up against him. Marc draws people to him without even knowing it, and those people think he’s worth a lot more than he gives himself credit for.

The romance that occurs in this novel is subtly layered and sort of incidental. What threw me was some of the comments of Marc to himself about being extrainged from love. He had been so badly hurt (which is mainly just alluded to intriguingly through the novel), and yet he can’t open up when someone else is trying to help! If the romance was the main theme, the reader wouldn’t keep going.

Instead, the mystery and suspense of the plot grips the reader. I wanted to know the history, and how all the competing interests would be served. I loved the ending. So happy, and yet, bittersweet, and arg, why didn’t they fix things earlier.

At some point recently in my reading, I have moved into the pure fiction genre. I never expected it to happen, usually finding those sort of novels boring and repeditive. But add a hint of mystery and a strong queer element, and you’ve got an avid reader on your hands.

I give this novel a very solid 4 stars, moving up to 5 stars. It’s just not a 5-stars for me because I don’t have a strong desire to read it again. But by all means, go out there and buy it, it’s awesome!

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Review: Karelia Stetz-Waters – The Purveyor

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Rose Herbert

The Purveyor
Karelia Stetz-Waters

Helen and Wilson have been forcibly separated in the wake of The Admirer‘s thrilling conclusion. As Wilson suffers from a disorder with no cure, Helen finds herself increasingly lost and uncomfortable, not knowing why Wilson is not returning to her college.

This novel is just as entrancing as the first novel. It is written more from Wilson’s perspective which is a refreshing change after Helen’s insecure narration in the first novel. At the same time, it is obvious that Wilson suffers from the same insecurities. I felt frustrated that they weren’t communicating well, because surely they should have gotten over it in the first novel? But that is what makes this novel more life-like and less like a fiction.

That being said, the things that go wrong that are really random things that get wrong. How likely is it that these things would happen in real life? The whole hierarchy in Wilson’s family seems off, but then again, these atrocities to occur in modern life, and what better way to expose it than in a novel? Her family is seriously interbred and messy, made more so by the questionable sexualities of its members. I wonder how much of this actually goes on…

I had such differing levels of disgust and horror and discomfort all about one person, but I didn’t know that they were someone else until it was too late! I didn’t feel tricked, instead I felt like I’d had an actual expose go on, just like Wilson feels. It’s a clever technique that Karelia uses with expertise in both of her ‘Wilson and Helen’ novels.

I couldn’t make the final connection for what happened to the girls. They’re basically surrounded by myth the whole time. They’re completely legendary, and remain that way. I’d love to hear more from them. I want to know whether they are both happy, whether they decide to study more, and what the collector wanted from them (if it wasn’t sex or religious purposes).

Once again I was left feeling like I’d been walking along hot coals and found myself loving them so much that it felt more painful when it ended. I was pushed along by how things were interconnected and messy and yet not obvious all at the same time. Love, love, loved this novel. Not only did I connect with the characters, the plot didn’t miss a beat and kept moving forward with no inconsistencies.

When I interviewed Karelia, she mentioned that many people seem uncomfortable with the sex scenes in her novels. I think that the majority of them are tastefully done, and actually offer insight into the characters. That is particularly the case in this novel. It’s certainly not a gratuitous pledge to her readers.

I bought this novel for myself after reading Karelia’s other novels, The Admirer, Forgive Me If I’ve Told You This Before and Something True. Let that be a mark to you that I now proudly own all these novels after buying them with my own cash, and would confidently promote them to everyone.

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Review: Sienna Wilder – The Arab Marilyn Monroe

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Rose Herbert

The Arab Marilyn Monroe

Sienna Wilder

18+ Review: Erotic Novel Review

Olivia doesn’t know that she’s a lesbian. She figured that she was just abnormal, and not interested in sex. Little does she know that the new lady friend she’s about to meet has a lot to offer her over her last partner.

Much as I wanted to love this novel, I simply couldn’t. The sex scenes were hot enough, but I wanted something more from the characters. Peter was a pushover, Fairuz was one-dimensional and Olivia had no idea what was happening to her. Or actually, she did, but she wasn’t willing to admit it.

It felt too short. The author said to me (when she requested this review), that this was being published separately from the main novel about these characters because she didn’t want to mix genres. One sexy hot sex scene, and it was over! I wanted more, if there could be more. For a week of being shacked up together, there could have been a little more on offer.

I’m not sure I can recommend this novel for audiences that are comfortable reading erotica on the internet. As a printed book of homosexual encounters, I think it is relatively unique, and a valuable addition to your bookshelf if you tend to reread this kind of thing. However, for me at least, I like variety in my diet! There are plenty of online resources that cover this kind of thing. I admire the author her audacity in bringing this out, and hope that she can expand it into a saga like Christian Grey’s (except a lot more realistic and accessible).

My current quest in this area is to find sexual fiction that doesn’t sound completely improbable or completely over-worded. Also, some crude language doesn’t do it for me at all. ‘Creamed her jeans’? Cringe. Not interested. Again, there was potential there.

I wished more had been made of the religious and political ideas behind this. It’s appropriate that this is set in Paris! And the language of the body is much more powerful than the spoken word. Both women use this to their advantage.

I think the last pure erotica novel I read and reviewed were the ‘Romantic Tales‘ episodes, of which I read three excerpts before giving up. That was 2 years ago now (amazing of itself) and I thought I was ready to give the genre another try. Shades of Grey is in the genre, although the author does have a go at giving a bit more storyline. Most erotica novels fail in that they don’t provide me with enough story – this one isn’t an exception.