Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary - REVIEW

​Book review: Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary

     As my first traditionally published lesbian book this story will always hold a special place in my heart. That being said, I can't say that it's a book for everyone. 
     The book is about Lois Lenz, a girl who decides to leave her hometown and her first crush for the big city and her chance at a career job. While she's at her all girls boarding house she struggles to not just learn big city life, but that the boarding house has a secret. So does her Boss, Mrs. Pierson. 

     Published in 2007, but it takes place in 1959. That matters because it deals with a lot of cliche topics. It talks about communists in America and women in the work place. I personally believe these tropes are an important part of our history as women and as lesbians. I did also enjoy the retro feel of it overall. 
     It was a quick read for me, and it had a great flow that just took you through the story of Lois coming out and really finding her place in the world. The ending had a little dangerous twist that I seen coming but was still enjoyable.

Final thoughts: 4/5 stars. I wish that it didn't feel so outdated for being such a "newer" book.  

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Witchling Review

Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn.

     Today I want to share with you all the first book in a series that I have very much enjoyed. I sadly have not kept up with the series due to moving and lack of book stores, but I will one day catch up. -looks over at my pile of unread books- One day.

     I really enjoyed how the author made the series revolve around strong female leads. As a girl growing up, those types of books were hard to find. She also is an author who isn’t afraid to show her characters faults. I know a few series that try to idolize them or just ignore that concept. Yasmine embraces them. She lets them struggle with themselves and I personally love it. She created a well rounded world that’s believable. She’s also put many hours into the research of magic and the creatures that surround the characters as well. I know that had to have taken a lot of time.

Three magical kick-ass sisters are faced with an unexplainable murder. They have their hunches that it has something to do with Shadow Wing, the leader of the Subterranean Realms. His plan is to raze human kind to the ground, making it into his own personal playground. The D’Artigo sisters are the only ones willing to step up and stop him, or at least try to.

Some characters to watch:

Camille- A wicked-good witch who’s magic sometimes goes a little astray when she least expects it.

Delilah- A shape-shifter who shifts into a tabby cat whenever she’s under a lot of stress.

Menolly- A newly turned vampire who is still trying to get the hang of her new life.

[Click here to get yourself a copy!]

Daughter of the Bright Moon Review

Daughter of the Bright Moon by Lynn Abbey

This novel was published in 1979, and Lynn Abbey’s first published work. It was also nominated for the “Locus Award” for Best Fantasy Novel.

In a world where men rule and women are expected to be just that, ladies, Rifkind won her freedom, her war-horse, and her own sword. She is a healer who has been graced by the power of her moon goddess. Her destiny well decided for her, she must travel, with her only trusted friend Turin her war-horse, to a new world were and evil sorcerer controls the land.

I’ll try to keep my actual review on this short. It will as always have minimal spoilers if any at all and will be one hundred percent my own opinions. To start off, I will say that I greatly enjoyed this book. It took me about a week to finish and I enjoyed every moment of it. Even to the point where I was sneaking in a few pages even while on the bus on my way to my day job.

I’m going to start off with my biggest gripes about the book, and while I do so, I must keep in mind how old this one is. Yeah sure forty years doesn’t sound like a long time, but it is for a book, and how they have evolved sense then. Some of the writing was a bit confusing, lacking some words that would have been in newer books. A few places where I found myself going back to get the full picture of things and set ups. The battle’s were especially this way for me. I also felt it lacking a bit more background information that I would have personally preferred. It speaks of events that were normal for this woman’s tribe but yet they meant little to be because I felt like I was missing why they were important to her.

Now let’s move on to the things I enjoyed about it, and why you should really read this one. First off, the leading lady is amazing. Far from flawless but to headstrong to need any man. Speaking of, a bit of a spoiler here, I was so happy to see the two main characters stay friends and not hook up. Truly that in itself is an amazing point. Another aspect that truly made me enjoy this book was the research put into the main secondary character, Turin, the War-horse. Lynn made a world that was so well thought out that you understood how the powers worked within it. I always appreciate that.

While it may be a bit harder to find, for sure snag yourself a copy. Great Characters, kick ass woman who can hold her own, and a beautiful world to set it all in.  

Wonder Woman Review

    So yesterday I went for the second time to see Wonder Woman, and I still stand by my original thoughts. To put it simply, this isn’t a revolutionary movie, it isn’t perfect, but it is a damn good one. It’s also very empowering to a lot of little girls, and some older ones too. That seems like a win win to me. I promise I will not give any spoilers in this review. I’m going to look at a few key elements. Things like what I personally liked, and didn’t. The quality of the animation and story. As well as a few other key points that I feel like they are worth mentioning.

     Let’s just start off with the bad and get all that muck out of the way. I overall really enjoyed the movie, again it wasn’t flawless and I’m not claiming it was the greatest movie ever. By far DC studios greatest, but that’s not the main focus here. There was one part that really killed the entire vibe for me, as a story teller mostly. Again, I won’t give away spoilers, but I am going to describe the situation and why it bothered me so much. There was a part near the end that was a turning point for the entire movie, maybe just within the last fifteen minutes. So as a story teller, I’m expecting things to wrap up. Our main characters have their final moment, and it’s done in such a tasteful way I love it. It left things open for personal interpretation. After all, what is art supposed to do! Anyway, the film moved on from that moment only to return and repeat it. The entire scene. But wait! It didn’t just flashback to something that happened only a few moments ago, it forced something down the viewers throats. Again, prior to this each viewer could take it however they wanted to. As DC however, showed it again, with ‘new’ information to the viewer, we were then forced to all make the same conclusion. That moment, killed it all for me. We are in the biggest fight of the movie (that’s not a spoiler, it’s a super hero movie, you knew it was going to be there) and they decide to stuff character development down our throats.

     Other than that, I can’t really say that anything else ‘broke’ the movie for me. After seeing DC’s prior films, I really had some low expectations. Did it have a bit too much CG effects? Oh yeah. Did they look cheesy? Sure did. But again, this is a super hero movie. She’s an amazon running around with a shield and glowing lasso of truth. I didn’t expect it to look hyper realistic. It actually became a feature that I enjoyed. It seemed to pull her out of the world and bring back fond memories of what super hero’s meant to me when I was younger. The only other small thing that bothered me to any extent, and it bothered my girlfriend more so than me, was the sound clips. They must have spent their budget on other things because some of the sound effects were just so ‘basic horse sound #1’ kinda vibe. However, I think DC could have done far worse on this one. They at least didn’t use monster roars for wolves. Looking at you Disney. (If you haven’t seen the new remake of Beauty and the Beast, I don’t recommend you do so, just watch the original.)

     Alright, now that all that mess is out of the way let me get down to some of my personal likes from this movie. While the story was reminiscence of “Captain America” from Marvel, I only could see that in the fact that it took place during WWI. And there was a motorcycle in one scene. It didn’t feel however, like I was watching Captain America. I honestly thought that movie was beyond boring. Not bad, just not my taste, I’m also not fond of him as a character either. Princess Diana. She on the other hand rang of strength and faults. I love a character with faults. Her actress Gal Gadot played the part beautifully.

     Gal Gadot for those of you who do not know, is an Isralle actress and model. She has been in The Fast and the Furious franchise before taking up her roll as Wonder Woman.

     I also really enjoyed all the trow backs and nods to the old TV series and comics. Even some of her classic music has been updated to fit this new, wonderful, Wonder Woman. As far as the actual story line goes, there are a few moments that left me having a ‘what the heck?’ kind of moment. But those feelings normally didn’t last too long as the action kept me moving forward. The camera shots. OH MY GODS! Let me just take a moment and tip my hat to the director who made some amazing choices. Blending speeds and angles to get some really awesome kick ass scenes. Oh it made my heart melt. They did an amazing job mixing things up and really bringing you to where the action was, even if it was a little comic type extreme at times.

     DC really pushed a lot of lines with this movie. I was so happy to see many different cultures represented in this one. They night not have been massive or in depth, but they were there, each with their own skill set. I personally, like to think that it mattered. Even on the Amazon island, they had people of color and different races on their little home.

     Now one final thing I want to talk about is sex. We all know that sex sells and as a woman, I see it all the time in media. So much so that I have come to expect it. I shouldn’t, but I do. The list of the examples is way to long to even being, so I won’t. With this movie, I expected no less honestly, and I was oddly surprised. There wasn’t a single ‘money shot’. Now what could I mean by that. We all know it. That one shot that they take where it makes the female character look like a slut, an item, like nothing but eye candy. Again, we come to expect that. I was happily disappointed. They didn’t make Princess Diana sexy. She was beautiful don’t get me wrong. She was strong and powerful, and sexy, but for those reasons alone. Not because they made her. Even in some fights you could catch the ‘plush’ (I doubt it’s fat, but muscle isn’t known to move hence the term here) of her legs jiggle upon landing. In our society that’s never seen. Ever! They kept those female curves and weren’t afraid to show them. It gave a normal feel to it. It showed every little girl out there that curves are okay. Heck even as an adult I felt better about myself walking out of it.

     My final conclusion. Go see it. Give the movie a chance, it’s by far the best thing I’ve seen come from DC. It’s empowering. It’s a fun movie. Go see it, go take the kids. Let them see how strong women can be. Even if they aren’t Diana, princess of the Amazons, daughter of Hippolyta, they can be strong, they can make a difference. They too were molded from clay and brought to life by Zeus.   

Book Review - Winterwood

     I just finished reading Winterwood (Rowankind book one) by Jacey Bedford. It is a book that follows a female pirate through an adventure. Jacey Bedford is a new author to me, and one that I will happily be looking out for in the future. This is the first in a series so it's a great place to start. My review here is all based on my own personal opinions and likes. I personally like fantasy novels that feature main female leads. It was one thing that really drew me into this book. It's filled with magic, romance, and adventure.

     "It's 1800 - Mad King George is on the British throne, and Bonaparte is hammering at the door. Magic is strictly controlled by the Mysterium, but despite sever penalties, not all magic users have registered. Integral to many genteel households is an uncomplaining army of rowankind bondservants, so common-place that no one recalls where they came from."


     Some things that I really liked about this book, the writing. Very few errors and if there where the story sucked me in to the point where I missed it. The twists and turns were not normal for books like this and Jacey built a world on magic on top of our own that blended the two almost seamlessly.

     The main Characters are full of life and faults. Ross Tremayne, the main character of our story and lead pirate, is a widowed cross-dressing privateer captain. Her dark secret is that she's a witch. Magic is what lead her out to the sea, but it's also what brings her back ashore. Lot's of twists and turns with this character and another main character, David. But if you want all of that, you'll have to read the book.

     I personally could not relate to many of the characters, however they each enthralled me with their own magic. As a pagan I was happy to see the "Lord and Lady of the Forrest" in there. It brought a smile to my face.

     Overall I was happy with the book as a whole. Normally I want to rewrite things, but that wasn't the case with this one. I'm just excited to read the next one.


     I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of magic.

Book Review: Protect and Serve by Terri Reed "Rookie K-9 Unit

     Hope you all enjoyed seeing a glimpse into my upcoming novel set. As a treat I'll give you all a break from that boring stuff and do a book review. (I really need to do more of these, it means I get to read more books)

     I was at Meijer after a decent pay day and I decided to treat myself after getting my 3rd book out for the year. I was super proud of that one, and I wanted something new to read. I browsed about the shelves looking for something under $5. I was pleasantly surprised to find a cover with dogs on it. Quick history, I have worked with training dogs sense I was 7. So that's pretty exciting. I picked it up even though it was a heterosexual suspense romance. Not my personal cup of tea but I wanted to expand my horizons, and dogs, so I gave it a chance.

      I also try my best to finish a book I start, it's a personal rule because there is always something to learn. This was the first book that I broke that rule on. It wasn't at all a bad book, there were just a lot of underlying things that bothered me and disrupted my reading.

     The one that really got to me is the fact that she didn't seem to research some aspects of her own book. A few small things she missed the mark on but I shrugged it off and pushed through but as I continued it, I realized what was really bothering me. She seemed to do little to zero research about dogs and how their training goes. To the general public I'm sure it was alright, but the structure of how the organized the training of the actual dogs, bothered me so much. For example, they had police training classing going on, while having some puppies there for training as well. Most facilities that do this type of thing, don't do that. The pups are normally trained in the "off season" so they are ready for the next batch of handlers, said handlers go through about a 3-8 week training course, test out and go on the job as handlers. Not still training their dogs while working the streets. If the dog isn't ready to work, they don't go out to work. So that was something that really bothered me. There were some other points as well, but I chalk a lot of it up as just me.

     It was however a good wholesome read. It was also very religious. There was a lot of talk about God, so if that's something that will bother you, pass this one, if that's your cup of tea, try it! I would generally gear this type of book to a Christian mom. Super good and clean but still keeping the story of love and suspense. For sure that had to be hard to balance.

     Another thing however, that I couldn't get past in this book was her sense of no timeline. At times I had to really look through the book to get my own personal timeline. There were moments where "the attack" happened two days before, but yet a puppy who was missing from said attack, had a picture taken "yesterday" Things like that. It made me double take a lot and for me, I can't handle books that time jump to begin with.

     One last thing about this that bothered me personally was how the author made the characters dance around the idea of a relationship. The idea was constantly reinstated that fact. I understand it's a religious novel, but when reading about a romance, I'd like a little. There are ways to make it work without it loosing it's wholesomeness.

     Overall the quality of the book was great, especially for a low priced book. The writing style itself was really enjoyable and I think that's why those small details pulled me out of the story.

     My final thoughts: Okay, if you have a few spare bucks and cops with dogs saving a dog trainer from her crazy brother sounds cool. READ IT! Try it. If god, and a glitchy timeline bother you, you might want to pass on this read.

     Best of luck! What are you reading? If you've read this book please PLEASE leave your own feedback at the bottom, I'd love to hear from you.