price：$5.44
Crossing Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Zami: My New Favorite Book) 『This book is fabulous. It truly resonated with me and my experiences. Lorde writes beautifully! Read this.』
(Great!) 『It was in excellent condition and was shipped fast! I am very satisfied with this seller. I received this book within a few days.』
(What it was Like to be a Black Lesbian During the McCarthy Era) 『This memoir is of a black lesbian coming of age during the McCarthy era. Idealism, drugs, and trying to connect with others from the 'gay-girl' community are major themes. The book conveys the difficulty of being a minority - black, female and lesbian - and the impenetrable boundaries that are everywhere.
Audre Lorde also writes about her close relationships which appeared to be without substantive intimacy. Alcohol, drugs and mental illness often provided barriers to keep the sense of 'other' always in the forefront.
This is a fascinating book and an essential read for anyone interested in what it was like to be a minority during the McCarthy era.』
(Thank You) 『Amazon is a life saver. I needed this book in two days, after searching every barnes&noble and borders I could think of I went to amazon for help. There express one day shipping was a life saver. The shipping was costly but i learned my lesson for waiting until the last minute to get a book on my english syllabus. THANK YOU AMAZON for saving me in a crunch. I will diffently buy future books from your website =]』
(I love women) 『I had been putting off this book for about 4 years and I finally read it. I was putting it off because I read the first chapter and it was dry. I have to tell you that it gets better down the road. Audre is not just talking about lesbianism, she is talking about being a woman and general. You can get good relationship advice by NOT following what she did in her relationships. I was exposed to lesbianism of 20-30 years ago in this book. It's so different now and for women (of all sexualities and colors) this book is for you.
The only problem is that the beginning drags but once you are pass...let's say page 40 or the younger years you will be fine. Concerned, scared, hopeful...these are the things I felt for Audre. If you can't deal with the beginning put it down. However, I want you to know...one day I am sure you will pick it up again; or you should.』 『Lorde's self-named "biomythography"』
price：$2.09
Grove Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (fantastic, but not for everyone) 『Jean Genet's seminal novel "Our Lady of the Flowers" is a glorious celebration of transvestites, lowlifes, prostitutes and murderers in the underworld of 1940s Paris. Our narrator, Jean, who may or may not be Genet himself, regales the reader from prison with stories he's created about fellow inmates between fits of furious masturbation.
The story begins with the death of Divine, a notorious drag queen and inmate of Jeans. From there Jean goes into the story of the recently canonized Divine, from "her" beginnings as the boy Culafroy to her living in an apartment overlooking the french cemetery Montmartre with her pimp Darling, and a young boy dubbed "Our Lady of the Flowers", whom recently committed a murder.
Our Lady is a brilliant exploration of the darker side of life. But naturally, a novel based around a perverted narrator inventing lives for people in order to help him masturbate isnt exactly for everyone. Id call it a healthy mix of Celine's stylistic sensibilities with Battaile's sexual overtones. An early influence on writers like Bukowski. And the 30 page, raving endorsement from Sartre in the preface should entice the existentialist crowd. So, give it a shot. You'll either be a little grossed out or particularly enthralled.
』
(Confusing tale of a gay man behind bars....I think) 『I figure to be the lone voice of dissent with this novel, which I found confusing and ultimately uninteresting. Genet's novel, written while in prison, jumps back and forth among the many characters, often following tangent upon tangent. I kept losing track of who was who, which one is supposed to be Genet (because I had the distinct impression that this novel might be autobiographical), sorting out the names and sequences of events, and trying to find a storyline that would last long enough to hold my interest. Genet would start on a good story and then all of a sudden jump in another reflection from that, never satisfactorily returning or finishing the original story.
It's very sexual and delves into the world of transvestism, but ultimately left me more confused than ever about what Genet was trying to say.』
(A Most Beautiful Song of the Imagination) 『Jean Genet is surely one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century - not to mention one of the greatest dreamers. In this book he presents us with a web of characters that can only reach mythical preportions. And, interestingly enough, he reveals that the only reason for their creation is for his own pleasure. So the book becomes like a walk through Genet's subconcious, in which we meet different aspects of the total personality that is Jean Genet. The book is like a dream and throughout it we are confronted with monsters, saints, nuns, prison guards, and the most secret of desires. Genet is the only author I have read who is capable of opening himself so completely - and we do get the feeling that this is written for his own pleasure - this makes it all the more enjoyable for us to read!』
("Crime Begins With A Carelessly Worn Beret") 『Jean Genet's seminal Our Lady Of The Flowers (1943) is generally considered to be his finest fictional work. The first draft was written while Genet was incarcerated in a French prison; when the manuscript was discovered and destroyed by officials, Genet, still a prisoner, immediately set about writing it again. It isn't difficult to understand how and why Genet was able to reproduce the novel under such circumstances, because Our Lady Of The Flowers is nothing less than a mythic recreation of Genet's past and then - present history. Combining memories with facts, fantasies, speculations, irrational dreams, tender emotion, empathy, and philosophical insights, Genet probably made his isolation bearable by retreating into a world not only of his own making, but one over which he had total control.
The imprisoned narrator "Jean," who may or may not be identical with the author, masturbates regularly; like a perpetual motion machine, his fantasies fuel his writing and his writing spurs on his fantasies in turn. Nothing illustrates this more than the brief scene in which self - sustaining "Jean" describes his Tiamat.... Legs thrown over shoulders, "Jean" is not only the serpent that eats its tail but becomes a small, circular, self - imbibing universe all his own. A motto attributed to the alchemists could be the narrator's own: "Every man his own wife."
Though the narrative is not the primary focus of this or any of Genet's novels, most responsible critics have failed to remark on the fact that the narrative of Our Lady Of The Flowers is the least compelling of any found in his five major novels. Our Lady Of The Flowers, does, however, lay the basic groundwork for the novels to come: The Miracle Of The Rose, Funeral Rites, Querelle, and The Thief's Journal (all written between 1944 and 1948).
While Our Lady Of The Flowers is Genet's only novel to feature a predominantly effeminate homosexual man (Divine, who is at least partially a transvestite) as its protagonist ("Our Lady Of The Flowers," a virile young thug, is a secondary character), most of the other elements of the book will be very familiar to those who have read the balance of his fiction. Transvestites and transvestite figures abound, as do handsome, amoral, and homosexual or bisexual "toughs," jokes and extended vignettes concerned with lice, flatulence, constipation, and feces, mordant examinations of manhood and the criminal's code of honor, obsession with personal power through emotional betrayal, the long vagabond road to "sainthood," theft, masochistic love, prostitution, and vivid examples of the way in which physical desire and sexuality secretly and subtly fuel, in Genet's view, almost every aspect of life. As in portions of his other novels, the characters here, even the swaggering, virile young men, are known among their friends by fey pet names like "Darling Daintyfoot," "Mimosa," and "Our Lady of the Flowers," which are intended to be simultaneously affectionate and mocking. To further confuse, Divine is referred to as a "he" and referred to his surname during his youth and as a "she" and "Divine" in maturity. As in the Miracle of the Rose and Funeral Rites, characters mesh into one another, exchange identities, and move backward and forward through time at the narrator's whim. Both "Jean" and the individual characters fuse their own and each other's personalities together as needed, and all occasionally lose control of this process: but Jean Genet, master puppeteer, never does.
Genet's readers are probably aware of the existence of haughty establishment critics who pretentiously embrace Genet's work but nonetheless treat it like something best held at the end of a very long stick. "Evil" is the word most commonly used to describe Genet's fiction by stuffy, anxious middlebrow critics who, while distressingly stimulated by his work, feel duty - bound to officially decry its potential for pernicious influence. Many artists are said to create a "moral universe" within the body of their work; Genet is one of the few that actually does, though his is a mirror universe where amorality reigns. Genet's world is so exclusively concerned with flea - ridden prostitutes, child murderers who don't wipe themselves, handsome pimps who eat what they scratch out of their noses, [prostitutes] with rotting teeth, strutting, uneducated alpha male hustlers, and masochistic sodomites -- bourgeois emblems of horror all -- that the question of "evil" as such in Genet's work becomes obsolete.
While Genet loves and personally glorifies his memories, fictional recreations and their outcast lifestyles, he never objectively condones their actions to his audience. In all of his novels, Genet finds beauty, suffering, and vulnerability - humanity - in everyone, thus setting a far better example than his hypocritical reviewers. There is as much "evil" in Genet's books as there is represented by any typical novel's reality principle (for example, all of Genet's characters reveal more humanity and innate dignity than the crass, vacuous crowd Nick Carraway falls in with in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby) or, for that matter, as there is in the lives of those unstable, morally - confused critics who are simply too cowardly to recognize the world as the diverse, dangerous, devouring, and unstable place that it is. If Our Lady Of The Flowers proves anything, it's that fifty years after its initial publication, the book is still effectively upsetting the wormy apple carts Genet intended it to.
From the standpoint of Jung's psychological types, Genet's feeling and sensation functions probably predominated in both his life and his writing. However, his thinking and intuition functions were clearly constellated as well, giving Our Lady Of The Flowers and the masterpieces that followed it unmatched macrocosmic perceptiveness, poetic resonance, and gripping, all - inclusive dramatic power. Like alchemical "totality" the hermaphrodite, a shaman, or a legitimate Christian saint, mystic Genet seems to have written from a state of undifferentiated consciousness and enjoyed a state of perpetual participation mystique with life.』
(like a narcotic!) 『Somebody should make an opera of this book! I've loved this book since high school, perhaps more than all the others! Genet as always is like a dark narcotic; impossible to shake, and constantly ecstatic. His genius is like a kind of suffocating honey on the page, it pulls your heart out. This edition has a substantive Introduction by Sartre, whose "Saint Genet" is one of the seminal books of the late twentieth century. If you've never read Genet, you've got something coming! What is there to say about literature of this standing? Read it and be ennobled.』 『Jean Genet's seminal Our Lady Of The Flowers (1943) is generally considered to be his finest fictional work. The first draft was written while Genet was incarcerated in a French prison; when the manuscript was discovered and destroyed by officials, Genet, still a prisoner, immediately set about writing it again. It isn't difficult to understand how and why Genet was able to reproduce the novel under such circumstances, because Our Lady Of The Flowers is nothing less than a mythic recreation of Genet's past and then - present history. Combining memories with facts, fantasies, speculations, irrational dreams, tender emotion, empathy, and philosophical insights, Genet probably made his isolation bearable by retreating into a world not only of his own making, but one over which he had total control.』
price：$7.34
University of California Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Looking at Classic Gay Texts) 『Sedgwick, Eva Kosofsky. "Epistemology of the Closet", University of California Press, 2008. (2nd edition).
Looking at Classic Gay Texts
Amos Lassen
Eva Kosofsky Sedgwick is one of the pioneering voices in the field of gay studies and queer theory. Her book, "Epistemology of the Closet" has been regarded as a classic since it first appeared in and now it has been re-released by the University of California Press. The book is a literary analysis of classic texts of American and European writers among whom are Herman Melville, Marcel Proust, Henry James and Oscar Wilde. Sedgwick's basic thesis is that there was a historical moment when sexual identification became an important sign of self as did gender. What she does with this thesis is analyze and examine literature by seeing how sexual preference shapes almost all aspects of modern contemporary thought. Sedgwick is provocative and her book is more than a literary analysis; it is also a study of culture and a political analysis. The book deals with the modern AIDS epidemic as well and shows how it influenced texts. Kosofsky writes beautifully and as the "mother" of queer theory she has a great deal to say. She maintains that gay men and lesbian women are represented in society and in literature as if homosexuality is deviant and perverse when compared to the larger society. Homosexuals have tended to remain closeted and it exists as a secret that wants to come out but dare not. This is a sensible argument and Sedgwick uses literature to bear this out. In doing so she looks at how it is that we came to our ideas about sexuality and why is it that we classify everyone as having either heterosexual or homosexual and ignoring any middle ground. She is an important thinker who cannot be ignored and whether we agree or not, we cannot deny that Sedgwick has something to say and it is important. She does show that the closet is impossibility because there is always someone who knows. It is easy to see how this book gained the status it has and it is good to have it back in print. 』
(The Closet Isn't Where It Ued To Be-) 『Most surveys of sexual variations seen in the historical context fail to take into account that sexuality has been defined and categorized differently in almost every era and culture. In western cultures, the current sexual categories became defined somewhere between the Civil War and world War I. In other words, there were no homosexuals (in the modern sense) before the Civil War. There were men who loved, and sometimes slept with, other men, but they didn't form a separate category. Social opprobrium was reserved for the practice of sodomy, whether it was practiced between men or men and women. Having sex with other men was simply something that wasn't discussed in public, although it happened all the time. Ms. Sedgwick has taken on the task of seeking to discover just how it is that we came by our current ideas of sexuality, why, for instance, that we seem to think that everyone is either heterosexual or homosexual, ignoring the reality that according to Kinsey, the vast majority are bisexually attracted, to at least some degree. She also examines the ways in which the public discussion of sexuality has changed and developed in the critical years between the two wars, using literature of the period for her sources. She contends, in my opinion successfully, that the gay/straight debate is the key issue for western culture, in terms of defining person-hood. Western culture has become obsessed with sex. It follows then, that issues of the conflict between the private and public spheres is central to her discussion. On the minus side, her prose is uneven, sometimes beautiful, sometimes turgid to the point of constipation. Her analyses are uneven, as well. I would have preferred a more thorough analysis of fewer examples, Billy Budd in particular. Taken on the whole, it's an important work by an important thinker who has added substantially to the discussion of sexuality and gender studies, well worth the effort required to read it with comprehension.』
(The "Problem" with Conceptual Schemes, New and Old) 『The August 11, 1999 "a reader" comments about Sedgwick's prose is especially valuable. The tendency to "abuse" language, in J. L. Austin's famous phrase, seems pronounced in Francophile and postmodernist writings, as if obscuritanism is a measure of profundity rather than a measure of obscuritanism. Several critics have justly claimed that unintelligibile writing and ideation only expose unintelligibility.
What could have been a provocative inquiry into the uniqueness of each human being (a novel, but now confirmed, fact, originating in Darwinian theory), once again reverts to a series of ideological templates to overlay the diversity of being and experience to "fit" a new paradigm. The dominant template here is the binary homosexual/heterosexual dichotomy, which Sedgwick insists is the prism by which we come to have knowledge of our world (I hope my effort at intelligibility does not misrepresent her views.)
Of course, the use of ideological templates laid over an inquiry is nothing new. Critical theory, Marxist theory, Freudian theory, and now Queer theory are variants of the same methodology. If one accepts the ideological template, then the subsequent examination under that template achieves a knowledge (i.e., epistemology) within the limits of that template, but generates a new conceptual scheme. Ironically, the ostensible purpose of the ideological template is to liberate thought from the status quo by forcing thought through an alternative sieve. The "insight" derived from this process becomes subversive of the status quo, but only to impose an different status quo that is putatively superior to the existent one.
According to psychology and anthropology, humans "by nature" impose categorical thinking on experience in order to "frame the reference" and "give order" to chaotic particularism of individual experience. This notion is no longer controversial, indeed, it is "obvious," with aetiology as far back to Hebraism and Hellenism, differing only in the templates used. So, instead of breaking the mold, the new theorists create new ones. Akin to Kuhn's paradigm shift applied outside science, we are prodded to look anew at the old phenomena.
But one of Darwin's keenest insights is the uniqueness of all living things, despite similarities. Instead of the essentialist thinking we inherited from Greek metaphysics and epistemology, we're told by Darwinians that we must use "population thinking," where "grouping" of things is by common descent, not our morphological, behavioral, or ideological similarities. I suggest this same motif applies to sexual populations, sexual expressions, and sexual orientation. Kinsey and others who have insisted on a continuum of orientation differences along a line between the polarities of opposites is truer to the truth than a "homosexual essence" or "heterosexual essence." The appellation of "gay" and "straight" are nominalist, not essentialist, groupings, where each appellation picks out a wide variety of differences by our conceptual schemes of categorization and understanding of populations, not by any essence. If true, and I believe it is, why revert to binary templates of essences to lay over the variety of differences as if one aspect, however shared, must then define many others as well?
Same-sex and opposite-sex relations are not as "neat and tidy" as theorists want us to believe, nor do they exist only in polarity, but rather along a continuum with yet another point between any other two points. Within different populations one finds vast varieties of sexual orientation and expression, not to mention vast differences in other facets of the human being, that homo- and hetero-sexual appellations conflate. To then use these conflated nominalisms as departure points (i.e., templates) for further inquiry only boxes in the subject further, thus undermining difference itself. Instead of nominalist pluralism one becomes both a reductionist and an essentialist to further categorize what is already tenuous at best. This paradigm shift in turn becomes its own raison d'etre further undermining uniqueness so that a new consensus of a new conceptual scheme can be forged.
Consequently, these projects have their own slippery slopes I'd prefer not to slide into. They all strike me as yet another "ideology" in the service of liberation, subverting one status quo for another, categorizing more categories, until we fit the new paradigm. I think we have had enough experience with this methodology to stop it before it starts.
Indeed, the courage to be authentic suggests the enterprise is not only subversive of the status quo, but subversive of our authenticity as well. Being unique, and therefore different, is both a starting and ending point, not a place to begin new essentialist programs to "fit" yet another putatively "new" conceptual scheme.』
(Deep wading) 『Ugh, a tough, tough book to read. I found myself really bogged down by this book and looked more forward just to getting through it than actually getting anything out of it. Sedgewick's style is definately not for me, but if you can get past the thick writing style you may be able to glean some interesting points from it.』
(...Theory should always be so good) 『According to the writer Avital Ronell, in his youth Kant wanted to be a poet. Fortunately for us, perhaps, he turned to philosophy instead. Through this turn Kant ended up setting the standard towards which most academics currently strive: a zero-degree style (which Lyotard both attempts to mime and identifies as naive in the preface to The Differend). What this does, essentially, is provide the rather stupid (and perpetually misrecognized) effect that an author is objective, sound, and important. Most of the time, authors are none of these.
People may disagree with me, but I find Sedgwick's style gorgeous and memorable. This may make the book difficult to read, but it also can make it quite a pleasure, and what else could one want from a well-informed, well-argued, politically necessary academic intervention?
For people deterred by Sedgwick's prose, I suggest you go pick up something more simple-minded. Whoever thought that reading a book shouldn't be a challenge? Who actually believes that one shouldn't struggle with difficult and new ideas?
The Epistemology of the Closet is a necessary book. Sedgwick's thoughts on ignorance and power (in response to Foucault's coupling of knowledge/power) are incredible. Her readings of Bowers v. Hardwick, the homosexual panic defense, and figurations of homosexuality are more than insightful: they are powerful critiques and exposes of the way that homophobia operates and is legitimated in contemporary American culture. Please please read this book. Read it twice or three times. Try it again and again. Each time you return, I promise you, you'll be startled by the ideas that come out, and hopefully, they'll mobilize you to do something more with them.
Take it to the next level and keep reading.』
『Since the late 1980s, queer studies and theory have become vital to the intellectual and political life of the United States. This has been due, in no small degree, to the influence of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's critically acclaimedEpistemology of the Closet.Working from classic texts of European and American writers--including Melville, James, Nietzsche, Proust, and Wilde--Sedgwick analyzes a turn-of-the-century historical moment in which sexual orientation became as important a demarcation of personhood as gender had been for centuries. In her preface to this updated edition Sedgwick places the book both personally and historically, looking specifically at the horror of the first wave of the AIDS epidemic and its influence on the text.』 『Since the late 1980s, queer studies and theory have become vital to the intellectual life of the U.S. This has been, to no small degree, due to the popularity of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's critically acclaimedEpistemology of the Closet. Working from classic texts of European and American writers--including Herman Melville, Henry James, Marcel Proust, and Oscar Wilde--Sedgwick delineates a historical moment in which sexual identity became as important a demarcation of personhood as gender had been for centuries.
Sedgwick's literary analysis, while provocative and often startling (you will never readBilly BuddorThe Picture of Dorian Graythe same way again), is simply the basis for a larger project of examining and analyzing how the categories of "homosexual" and "heterosexual" continue to shape almost all aspects of contemporary thought.Epistemology of the Closetis a sometimes-dense work, but one filled with wit and empathy. Sedgwick writes with great intelligence and an eye for irony, but always makes clear that her theories and critical acumen are in the service of a politic that seeks to make the world a better and more humane place for everyone. An extraordinary book that reshapes how we think about literature, sexuality, and everyday life.--Michael Bronski』
price：$9.99
Loose Id, LLC
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Loved it!) 『I really liked the characters in this book. They were realistic in the sense that you felt like you knew them or someone like them. The story line was good, but a little predictable. Hot sex! This is the first book that I have read of Amanda Young. I just wish that more of her books were in print and not ebooks.』
(Something More.) 『If you want more out of your erotica, then this is a great bet. It's got an excellent story and the sex is hot, hot, hot! I thought it was more enjoyable than others I've read in the past. I also really liked this author and will read more of her fiction. I just highly recommend this one, as well as The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty.』
(Great Book) 『A little random at times. But it was a cute book. Straight chick joins gay couple? Ok!』
(no editing) 『This book had a small storyline but wasn't great. The grammar was terrible and there were so many words left out and/or spelled wrong. The scenes were good and there was certainly a lot of feeling within the characters but it wasn't written as well as many other authors.』
(Something More is Something Wonderful) 『Amanda Young is one of those authors that in my opinion does not write a bad book. All of her characters get to the heart of the relationship and work hard to be together.
I have a confession to make. I am really not a huge fan of Menage books. Having said that I LOVED this book! I thought the characters were very well written. Not only were they interesting, but they are characters that are very likeable and people I could see myself being friends with.
Emma Taylor has been trying to get back on her feet again. After a disastrous relationship with her ex-financee, her self esteem has taken a beating. To make matters worse, she finds herself attracted to her ex-fiancee's brother-and her best friend Will-who is in a very happy homosexual relationship with his equally sexy and desirable partner Paul. She finds herself fantasizing about having them both in her life, but thinks it is just a fantasy that will never come true.
Will O'Malley has a hidden desire. He has been in a happy, loving and very successful relationship with his partner, Paul for two years. But, in his heart there is something missing in his life, his friend and brother's ex-fiance Emma Taylor. Will has always been attracted and drawn to Emma like a moth to a flame. There has been nothing but friendship between them, and when she needed a job or a shoulder to cry on, he has always been there for her to help her out in any way he can. But, lately he has been restless. Although, he loves and desires Paul, he wants Emma too...and it's making him crazy.
Paul has sensed Will has feelings for Emma. Although, he doesn't doubt Will's devotion to him, he suspects Will is starting to get restless. Paul himself has always been intrigued by the sweet, beautiful Emma. So when he confronts Will about Will's feelings for Emma, and finds out that his hunch was correct, he sets in motion a way for Emma to join in the circle of their love.
Watching Emma, Will and Paul come together and work out their differences to make a loving bond between them was beautiful to watch. I am so jealous of Emma...she couldn't find more perfect, sexy mates in Will and Paul. I loved every minute of this book and I hated to see it come to an end.
If you are offended by a beautiful love story and some super hot M/M, M/F and M/M/F sex... this book is not for you! Otherwise, grab a cold drink and enjoy it!』 『
For years, Will O'Malley has harbored clandestine feelings for Emma Taylor, despite the abiding love he feels for Paul Argonaut, his lover for the past two years. Watching her from afar, but loath to approach her as anything more than a friend, tests Will's control on a daily basis until he finds he's no longer able to deny the kaleidoscope of feelings she evokes within him.
Paul is aware of Will's feelings for Emma and shares his affection for her. He comes to realize that unless he makes the first move, Will won't ever let her know how he truly feels. If the three of them are to be brought together, it will be up to him to facilitate it.
Emma Taylor has been in love with Will for as long as she can remember. The problem: he's her boss, and is obviously smitten with his lover, Paul. The last thing she expects, after walking in on Paul and Will making love, is to be invited into a menage by Paul himself.
Publisher's Note: This book contains elements that may be objectionable to some readers: male/male sexual practices, m/m/f menage.
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (One in a MILLION) 『I am not one to write a review, but this book is so good I couldn't help my self. I started reading and I couldn't stop I was like a little girl reading her first princess story. The characters where so well thought out and put together. This was actually my first Kindle book purchase, since then I have read this book twice and every book she has available. Susan X is a great author and officially my favorite.』
(Loving romance) 『I loved this book,i was a little afraid to purchase this do to few reviews(i usually like 10 or more reviews).The book was interesting start to finish.The author really made you know and understand the characters in the story.There's a lot of crying in the book(good/bad)it nearly had me crying.Overall its a great book and i wont hesitate reading anymore books with few reviews.』
(Couldn't put it down!) 『My partner and I chose this book because it sounded like we could relate to the storyline. We are in a new lesbian relationship having come from heterosexual relationships that didn't seem right for us. This book was so helpful! We were able to use the book to realize some of the feelings we have been going through but didn't know how to put into words. It has brought us so much closer in our relationship. We just couldn't put this book down.』
(Loved this!) 『This is one that you pull down over and over again..great characters living a "real" life. It happens.』
(Fantastic experience from conception to birth, 4-1/2 stars) 『I completely agree with other reviewers who rate this book so highly. This author creates original, three-dimensional characters in such a flawlessly detailed manner that their stories are just buoyed along and the reader gets drawn in effortlessly. This book is one with depth in which you can immerse yourself. (As an aside, the cover is also very artistic, but tell me, how can you read this on the bus? That's probably my only quibble, though. I had to get a "cover" cover for public reading, though, because I couldn't put it down).
While not quite traditional in its execution (Blair is happily straight and also happily married in the beginning, and Kylie has no designs on being a home-wrecker), the pages of this book are infused with a gentle and gripping romance between Kylie and Blair. This author really makes an art of studying the differences and similarities between identifying as gay and identifying as straight. I find it fascinating. At the same time we really get into the experience of being pregnant, and it's an equally gripping and miraculous journey. And Blair's final transformation: into a woman who finally allows herself to feel vulnerable enough to love without self-imposed limits is extraordinary.
I like reading books about competent, self-sufficient people. In this book they are both successful professionals. I don't like love triangles, and I don't like books where partners cheat on one another, but neither of those situations presents itself. If you love getting into the psychology of what makes people tick, to the root of what we base our attachments to others on, then this is the author for you, and this is another excellent, tightly written, well-paced and well-edited offering from her collection.』 『Life is going damned well for Blair Spencer. She’s a very successful real estate agent, happily married to a man who encourages her to live the independent life she loves—and they’re actively working to have a baby. The wrench in the works is that Blair favors adoption, while her husband David desperately wants to have a biological child. The fates are against them, and they finally seek the help of a group of reproductive specialists. One of the doctors, a surgeon named Kylie Mackenzie, eventually becomes a good friend to Blair. And she needs all of the friends she can get when things start to go horribly wrong at home. As her marriage teeters on the brink of collapse, she relies more and more on Kylie’s friendship. Kylie’s happily gay; Blair’s happily straight. But the way they structure their relationship leads friends and family to privately question whether the pair is setting themselves up for heartache. They eventually come to a crossroads, which could either destroy their friendship or turn it into what each of them has been seeking. The question is whether each woman can change her view of herself and her needs. The answer is all that matters.』
price：$3.91
Three Rivers Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (A truly entertaining, gifted writer) 『Everything this man writes is downright hysterical - but it goes beyond that. His books are very well written and so entertaining. I never wanted to put it down! There are laughs, a few tears and a some moments of really thinking about how you would react in some of his situations.
The best thing I did this summer was to get my hands on everything he has written. You know it's a great read when you find yourself smiling as you turn pages!
I have read some negative reviews in the past and I must comment on them - they seem a lot like the sour grapes of bad writers who cannot get published!
I hope there are many more books to come!
Oh, and he AND his hubby are AH-DORABLE!
』
(Loved it) 『Hilarious and touching, a quick read that left me wanting more. Wade Rouse picked an odd place to go about the business of finding himself. I will definitely read the rest of his works.』
(Enjoyable) 『Quick Read -- You know there are people like these "mean mommies" or M2 as the authors describes the women with nothing else to do except to micromanage the private school staff their children attend. 』
(Even funnier if you're from St. Louis) 『Wade Rouse's second memoir is extremely amusing for anyone who has seen prep school from either the in or out crowds' perspectives. I suspect that most premier prep schools have their share of the Mean Mommies mocked in this memoir. That said, those from the St. Louis area will find this especially entertaining.
Following its publication, Rouse conducted a number of interviews. He refused to confirm or deny that Tate Academy was inspired by the years he spent as Director of Communications at a toney local prep school. If you want to identify the school, the information can be googled, but I don't want to spoil the fun. Local press interviews with graduates and staff at the school indicated that they all understood what school was being discussed. St. Louis natives who answer the "which high school" question will doubtless enjoy trying to identify the country club and some of the characters. Rouse stated that every hilarious incident, including when a 90+ year old alum chugged whiskey and pushed him down a staircase during a school event, was based on an actual experience. For those of you from the hallowed halls of Tate, you may find his catty digs cut a little close to the bone. It all depends which crowd you were in and how seriously you took it all.』
(Love This Book!!!!!) 『This is a great book. I was so sad when it was over. You feel like you are friends with the author. I can't wait for the next book.』 『At an elite prep school, the devil wears Lilly Pulitzer pink.
When Wade Rouse, who grew up more Hee-Haw than Dynasty, was hired as the director of publicity at the prestigious Tate Academy, he quickly discovered his real job: to make the very pretty, very rich, very mean mommies of the elite students very happy.
Enter Wade’s VIP volunteer and perfectly coiffed nightmare, former beauty queen and sports star Katherine Isabelle Ludington—Kitsy to her friends. In between designing Louis Vuitton–inspired reunion invitations, dressing as Ronald Reagan for Halloween, and surviving surprise Botox parties, Wade tries totame Kitsy and her pink Lilly Pulitzer–clad posse while retaining a shred of self-esteem.
Following a year in the life of the super rich and super spoiled,Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handleris hilarious, heartbreaking, and deliciously catty.』
price：$1.32
Daedalus Publishing Company
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Some jewels of real insight buried in a non ispiring way) 『I am glad this book was written, as there are some insights that you can read and go - this is so true and downright awesome. The problem is they are glossed over or buried or seem to for me to just be part of the chapter being written rather than codes to live by. Jack Rinella knows his stuff is a great guy and writing a book like this is tough. If you are a first timer, Screw the Roses or SM101 or the loving dominant are far better books. But I still felt this was a valuable if somewhat frustrating read as it did not live up to its potential.』
(master's manual) 『When you buy this book you except like the title suggests a handbook of erotic dominance. Fortunately it is a boring book that for me personal reflect to much in to the psychological aspect of the scene. It does not, as the title suggests forms a handbook of dominance』
(Don't waste your reading time) 『I bought this hoping for some good instruction on exploring S&M. I got nothing. It focuses mostly on the gay side of this lifestyle. I am fine with any sexual preference, but I was hoping for a more "all-inclusive" book.』
(An Introduction For All Persuasions) 『The Master's Manual: A Handbook of Erotic Dominance
I read this book a while back as part of my research into the lifestyle for my writing in erotic fiction. It was a recommended resource and I was not disappointed.
The relationships (whether hetero or gay) built on the dynamics of domination and submission are intriguing. I am always interested in the psychological aspects and mindset in any situation and was not disappointed by this book. The core elements of dominance and submission exist at varying levels in all relationships. Sometimes on a scale that moves from very subtle to the extreme of master/slave, sometimes temporary, sometimes long term. To explore the deeper elements of the dominant/submissive relationship, including the erotic element of the Master/slave dynamic, Jack Rinella's essays are a worthy introduction. Within the text are a number of additional references to other source materials, articles, and books which would bear checking out in order to explore this type of erotic dominance relationship more fully.』
(If you're straight don't bother) 『Whilst searching for a true masters book I came across this publication, lets face it 10 bucks is not a lot to spend. So i happily paid my money and included it in my order.
As a straight male dom the entire relevance for me could have been printed in one chapter. [...]. But the forward also states that the book is relevant for straight couples. It is clearly not that relevant.
Hey not to downplay the frankness and honesty i have given the book two stars but for me it was almost a waste of time.』 『This book examines various aspects of erotic dominance including SM, safety, sex, erotic power, techniques, and much more. Even if your primary interest is erotic submission rather than dominance, this book will give you insights that will help you lead you to a more fufilling sexuality. The author speaks in a clear, frank, and nonjudgemental way to anyone with an interest in the erotic dominant/submissive dynamic.』 『This is an essential read for anyone wanting to understand how S/M can be primal, when leather can be spiritual, why someone could be proud of being a sadist, or how to find joy and wholeness in our dark sides. Rinella notes that "attitude makes the difference between being a master and a top," andThe Master's Manualis unequaled in its discussion of the attitude of power and the soul of a master. This is the second book any novice dominant or submissive should read. While the basic how-to ofSensuous MagicorScrew the Roses, Send Me the Thornsis essential,The Master's Manualbuilds on that knowledge with things such as "Rinella's Six Attributes Every Master Needs" (like self-confidence, trustworthiness, and acceptance of self), the strength and courage of submissives, the application of discipline, and suggestions on the training of submissives. It's a peerless resource for anyone who wants to be, or wants to understand, a master.
While much of the wisdom inThe Master's Manualis gleaned from the gay leather scene, Rinella's honest and nonjudgmental writing is appropriate for people of any orientation who seek to learn more about the empowerment and ecstasy that can be found in leathersex. Each of the 40 pieces was written to stand alone, and they cover topics from how to become a master, why someone would want to, fiction and nonfiction leather classics and classics-to-be, contracts and commitments, how to deal with a scene gone wrong, and more. Taken together, they combine to form a picture of a world where "we can live our fantasies and face our fears. The real self can emerge from behind the mask of culture."--Cheryl Trooskin』
price：$15.95
Broadview Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton) 『The Age of Innocence is about Newland Archer, an indifferent lawyer who is engaged to the prim and proper May Welland but secretly develops the hots for her independent, fiery cousin Ellen Olenska. Their feelings intensify only in bits and pieces, for their stifling social world would never look well upon an engaged man having an affair with a woman of already questionable repute. As they grow closer they are driven further apart, both by custom and by human manipulation, all of which are far from innocent.
The Age of Innocence is many things- biting social satire, sharp-edged character study, and a sympathetic observation of one of the most constricted romances in the history of literature. It is also an incredibly entertaining book, with sentence after elegant sentence finely constructing this little world of turn-of-the-century upper-crust New York that is now far gone. It is also a complete work; at its end I felt completely satisfied because nothing was left out, no relevant nuance or character unexplored, its themes illuminated just enough and nothing feeling out of place. From the pomp and circumstance of the beginning, to the desire and betrayal of the middle, to the suitably haunting conclusion, this is simply a perfect book and I couldn't imagine American lit without it. Highly recommended for anyone.』
(Use Your Illusion) 『Edith Wharton is perhaps best known as a writer who never offered her readers a simple, quote-unquote happy ending. "The Age of Innocence" is her thorough examination of the strictures society placed upon its citizens in the late nineteenth century. It is a tale of a love that can never be lived, a life that can never be set free. It is, quite rightfully, one of the best novels of the twentieth century.
Newland Archer is a young man about to be married to May Welland, a woman he admires for her beauty and for his ability to shape her future thoughts and dreams. When her cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, reappears in his life, Arhcer's ideas about love and convention are shaken to the core. For he falls desperately in love with Ellen, but cannot admit it, knowing that any admission or secret life would be unacceptable in his society. And although Ellen returns Archer's love, she would never betray the trust of her family, and will not degrade herself to be with him solely as his mistress. Meanwhile, Archer's wife, May, is not quite as innocent and unknowing as he believes her to be, and Archer must choose between the reality of his life in an unreal world, or the illusion of happiness with the real love of his life.
"The Age of Innocence" is truly an ironic title, for no character in the novel is innocent. In the society of Old New York, all secrets were known and hypocrisy was the order of the day. Wharton is an expert at laying bare that which truly goes on in the minds and hearts of human beings. This is a novel that will stand the test of time, for at its core are questions about loyalty and longing that are timeless.』
(A masterpiece of emotion and obligation) 『Newland Archer, the protagonist of Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, opens this story as an almost haughtily optimistic and self-satisfied young man - at the top of New York society, about to announce his engagement to the beautiful and sought-after May Welland, with little to mar what seems to be a life of uninterrupted happiness and fulfillment. Wealth, industry, friends, family, a fiancé he loves dearly....what more could a young man want from life? He can even afford to have a few radical ideas, one of them being the opinion that women should speak their minds and be genuine in their deportment and self-awareness, shaking off - just a little, perhaps - the stringent and elaborate rituals of conformity forced on them by a well-meaning but ultimately hypocritical society.
Despite the slightly smug impression we get of Archer at the beginning, it is this examination of himself that makes the reader realize there's more to him than most men of his age and class; that he possesses a sensitivity and longing for what is real, despite that reality's drawbacks, and it endears him to us. Early on he states, to the shock of his friend, that "Women should be free--as free as we are." Soon after, we get this insight into his mind as he reflects on what he sees around him in the marriages of his friends, parents, and relatives, which is precisely what he is determined to avoid between himself and May:
"What could he and she really know of each other, since it was his duty, as a "decent" fellow, to conceal his past from her, and hers, as a marriageable girl, to have no past to conceal? What if, for some one of the subtler reasons that would tell with both of them, they should tire of each other, misunderstand or irritate each other?
He reviewed his friends' marriages - the supposedly happy ones - and saw none that answered, even remotely, to the passionate and tender comradeship which he pictured as his permanent relation with May Welland. He perceived that such a picture presupposed, on her part, the experience, the versatility, the freedom of judgment, which she had been carefully trained not to possess; and with a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together by ignorance on the one side and hypocrisy on the other.
.....In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs."
So, this is where Archer is in life when May's cousin Ellen comes to New York from Paris, fleeing an illustriously-placed but disastrous marriage, and her entrance into New York society is tinged with scandal. When Archer falls in love with Ellen against all his better judgment and to what he knows would be the detriment of everything he deems crucial to his happiness, it's a torturous love that nearly drives him mad.
That description may make it sound like a forgettable bit of romance, but forgettable bits of romance don't generally win Pulitzers, and the true heart of this story is about the decisions we make that shape our lives one way or another, and what kind of devastating emotional havoc the `wrong' love can wreak on a person's soul. Archer is forced down an emotionally-tormented path few of us would choose, I think, and in many ways it's both beautiful and tragic to watch his story unfold. I was incredibly moved by it.
As mentioned, The Age of Innocence won Wharton the Pulizer Prize for fiction in 1921, making it the first time a woman had ever won the award. 』
(The ambiguity of innocence) 『Exceptional writing on the cultural and individual experiences of living in post war New York society. The question is: what really represents the age of innocence-- the appearance of stability by clinging to the conformity and rituals of the closely monitored, severely judged society or following one's true desire and passion that may disgrace, even destroy you and your family. The conflicts of the characters, and the discoveries in the end are heartbreaking and beautiful.』
(Love, Loneliness and the Strictures of Society.) 『Imagine living in a world where life is governed by intricate rituals; a world "balanced so precariously that its harmony [can] be shattered by a whisper" (Wharton); a world ruled by self-declared experts on form, propriety and family history - read: scandal -; where everything is labeled and yet, people are not; where in order not to disturb society's smooth surface nothing is ever expressed or even thought of directly, and where communication occurs almost exclusively by way of symbols, which are unknown to the outsider and, like any secret code, by their very encryption guarantee his or her permanent exclusion.
Such, in faithful imitation of Victorian England, was the society of late 19th century upper class New York. Into this society returns, after having grown up and lived all her adult life in Europe, American-born Countess Ellen Olenska, after leaving a cruel and uncaring husband. She already causes scandal by the mere manner of her return; but not knowing the secret rituals of the society she has entered, she quickly brings herself further into disrepute by receiving an unmarried man, by being seen in the company of a man only tolerated by virtue of his financial success and his marriage to the daughter of one of this society's most respected families, by arriving late to a dinner in which she has expressly been included to rectify a prior general snub, by leaving a drawing room conversation to instead join a gentleman sitting by himself - and worst of all, by openly contemplating divorce, which will most certainly open up a whole Pandora's box of "oddities" and "unpleasantness:" the strongest terms ever used to express moral disapproval in this particular social context. Soon Ellen, who hasn't seen such façades even in her husband's household, finds herself isolated and, wondering whether noone is ever interested in the truth, complains bitterly that "[t]he real loneliness here is living among all these kind people who only ask you to pretend."
Ellen finds a kindred soul in attorney Newland Archer, her cousin May Welland's fiancé, who secretly toys with a more liberal stance, while outwardly endorsing the value system of the society he lives in. Newland and Ellen fall in love - although not before he has advised her, on his employer's and May and Ellen's family's mandate, not to pursue her plans of divorce. As a result, Ellen becomes unreachable to him, and he flees into accelerating his wedding plans with May, who before he met Ellen in his eyes stood for everything that was good and noble about their society, whereas now he begins to see her as a shell whose interior he is reluctant to explore for fear of findingmerely a kind of serene emptiness there; a woman whose seemingly dull, passive innocence grinds down every bit of roughness he wants to maintain about himself and who, as he realizes even before marrying her, will likely bury him alive under his own future. Then his passion for Ellen is rekindled bya meeting a year and a half after his wedding, and an emotional conflict they could hardly bear when he was not yet married escalates even further. And only when it is too late for all three of them he finds out that his wife had far more insight (and almost ruthless cleverness) than he had ever credited her with.
Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize and the first work of fiction written by a woman to be awarded that distinction, "The Age of Innocence" is one of Edith Wharton's most enduringly popular novels; the crown jewel among her subtly satirical descriptions of New York upper class society. By far not as overtly condemning and cynical as the earlier "House of Mirth" (for which Wharton reportedly even saw this later work as a sort of apology), "The Age of Innocence" is a masterpiece of characterization and social study alike: an intricate canvas painted by a master storyteller who knew the society which she described inside out, and who, even though she had moved to France (where she would continue living for the rest of her life) almost a decade earlier, was able to delineate late 19th century New York society's every nuance in pitch-perfect detail, while at the same time - seemingly without any effort at all - also blending together all these minute details into an impeccably composed ensemble that will stay with the reader long after he has turned the last page.
Also recommended: Wharton: Four Novels (Library of America College Editions) Edith Wharton: Vol 1. Collected Stories:1891-1910 (Library of America) Edith Wharton: Vol.2 Collected Stories 1911-1937 (Library of America) Henry James : Novels 1881-1886: Washington Square, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians (Library of America) Henry James: Novels 1901-1902: The Sacred Fount / The Wings of the Dove (Library of America) Ethan Frome The House of Mirth Washington Square The Portrait of a Lady The Wings of the Dove』 『The Age of Innocence marks the pinnacle of Edith Wharton’s career as one of the finest American novelists of her era. The narrative follows Newland Archer, of upper-crust 1870s New York, whose passion for the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska, leads him to question the very foundations of his way of life. Written in the aftermath of World War I, the novel explores the psychological and cultural paradoxes of desire in a world undergoing unprecedented transformations.
This edition includes a critical introduction and a range of appendices that contextualize the novel in terms of its modernist themes and tensions.』
『Somewhere in this book, Wharton observes that clever liars always come up with good stories to back up their fabrications, but that really clever liars don't bother to explain anything at all. This is the kind of insight that makesThe Age of Innocenceso indispensable. Wharton's story of the upper classes of Old New York, and Newland Archer's impossible love for the disgraced Countess Olenska, is a perfectly wrought book about an era when upper-class culture in this country was still a mixture of American and European extracts, and when "society" had rules as rigid as any in history.』
price：$8.81
Yale University Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Women in the Middle East) 『I was disappointed by this book because it is mistitled. The writer deals exclusively with gender experiences in the Middle East and seems to forget that most Muslim women are not Arabs. I expected more (Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Africa, the Balkans,......). The book is methodologically unsound for that reason, in my opinion. It reflects a certain personal bias (possibly a sort of pan-Arabism, she thinks non-Arabs are not really Muslims, even if they have been so for centuries?). In the light of her selective observation and distortion of reality in that respect, I can't be bothered commenting on the "big, male conspiracy" theory that she outlines...』
(Excellent scholarship, but ultimately too narrow in scope) 『Leila Ahmed's study of women in Islam initially impressed me tremendously. The opening chapters discuss women in the Near East prior to Islam, pointing out that many of the institutions that are associated with Islam (the veil, the harem and concubines, for example) pre-date Islam by thousands of years. Similarly, the cultural subordination and objectification of women in the Near East also predates the birth of Islam by hundreds of years. In fact, Ahmed shows, jahaliyya (pre-Islamic) Arabia was remarkably egalitarian in terms of gender roles. Her scholarship in this regard is top-notch, and was a real eye-opener for me.
Ahmed goes on to show how, as Islam spread beyond the Arabian peninsula, there was a gradual acculturation that placed women in increasingly subordinate positions - causing conflict within the faith, due to its explicit admonitions that both genders are equal in the eyes of God. How this conflict played out and how the issue was eventually resolved were other strong points in the book.
I was therefore disappointed by her close examination in the last chapters of the book of women in Egypt, at the expense of a broader study of women throughout the Islamic world. To be fair, Ahmed explains her decision, holding that Egypt (after the Mongol invasion) was less influenced by the Ottoman Turks, and that it was also among the first Islamic states to come into close economic and social contact with the west. I had rather hoped that she would address the broader issues around gender across Islam, though, given its title.
Another disappointment was Ahmed's lengthy disucssion of the veiling of women in Islam. While the custom is certainly a symbol to Westerners of gender differences, I had hoped more attention was given other issues - such as equality before the law, differences in custom by region, and economic and educational opportunities for women in the Islamic world, rather than focusing so deeply and narrowly on this one topic.
The book is a worthwhile read, particularly for its discussion of the roots of gender identity in the Muslim world. I was also impressed with the way in which Ahmed analyzed data and related it to the conclusions she made. However, I had hoped for a broader discussion of issues across a broader cross-section of the Islamic community.』
(Excellent Resource) 『Leila Ahmed's "Woman and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate" is an outstanding contribution to the field of Middle Eastern Women's Studies. Ahmed explores and effectively dissects the many intersections between women, gender, and Islam. Her book is readable and makes an excellent sourcebook for those who are interested in the historical foundations of women and Islam.
Particular focus is placed on Egyptian women.』
(Everyone should read this) 『By far the best scholarly and historical work amidst the increasing number of books on this topic. Particularly interesting is the discussion of how Muslim caliphs adopted the Persian custom of having huge imperial harems. Of course, this is one of the aspects of "Muslim" culture that really tantalized the early Orientalists, as discussed by Edward Said in his book on the subject.』
(Good history book) 『This is a good book for anyone to read who doesn't know much about Islam. The author gives several chapters of in-depth history of the rise of Islam. It is interesting to read--not dry and boring like a lot of other detailed history books.』 『This book presents an historical overview of women and gender in Islam. It is written from a feminist perspective, using the analytic tools of contemporary gender studies. The results of its investigations cast new light on the issues covered.』
price：$1.30
Outskirts Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (The Best Lesbian Romance) 『If you think you've read all there was for les romance out there...THINK AGAIN! this book is written in such a brilliant way you won't be able to put it down, it's about how jos was able to discover love and happiness with raven, having gone through life not knowing what it's like to love....』
(I couldn't believe it.) 『I purchased this book online the other day and it arrived in the mail yesterday. I opened it, intending on only glancing at a couple pages, and ended up reading the entire book. It was honest, enchanting, and a page turner. The plot is enticing and draws you in. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Pick up this book, and you'll become an instant fan of Lynn Galli. I wont give a summary cause other comments certainly will inform you on that note, but it is an adapt view on coming out and a great read for either a hetero or homosexual. :) I hope this helped any.』
(pleasant surprise) 『Initially I was very skeptical in purchasing the book. Partly because I don't have the habit to buy books where I can't flip through some of the chapters, and partly because I have a few bad experiences reading lesbian fictions.
However, this book turns out to be more than a pleasant surprise, and I've finished it within a day. I find it so touching, and particularly in the way that Raven is trying to give room and slowly let Jos come out. And i also like it the fact that the fiction is written in a way that is so believable, so you don't feel you're reading something out of the world. I'm certainly hoping some day I'll find my Raven as well.』
(I LOVED it!!) 『This is by far my favorite lesbian novel!! It is amazing and I love the chemistry between Raven and Joslyn. They are great for one another. I can read this book over and over again and never get tired of it. If you havent read this book i HIGHLY recommend that you do!!!』
(Realistic characters with beautifully-crafted character development) 『This author does not disappoint in the fundamental aspects of creating realistic characters with beautifully crafted character development!
A coming out story for a woman in her thirties is challenging enough. Placing both characters in the same corporate setting makes the challenge even greater.
But the author rises to the challenge beautifully.
So why only 4 stars? The writing, particularly the dialogue, slips a notch once the two characters became lovers. The author recovers nicely with a strong ending, so in truth, this is a 4 1/2 star rating.
I certainly hope to see more works from this author whose characters feel at home in the corporate setting - corporate leaders who can clearly demonstrate being both strong and soft.』 『As a turnaround specialist, Joslyn Simonini spends her days analyzing corporate profit margins and trying to keep her likeness from being turned into a voodoo doll by company employees. If she does her job well, they often lose theirs. So, it comes as a surprise when she finds herself being kissed one day at work. She's even more shocked to find out that the mysterious kissing bandit is a woman.
Not in the habit of kissing women, Joslyn tries to brush off the unintentional mistake. But before long, she's forced to examine the rush of emotions that accompanied the kiss, especially when she meets Raven Malvolio. At first, she needs Raven to complete her analysis, but she doesn't expect to need the friendship that Raven offers. When those friendly feelings escalate to something more, Joslyn's confusion and underdeveloped emotional range might ruin her chance at a relationship that could surpass even her dreams.
Uncommon Emotionstakes a look at how someone can think she's happy with her life only to be surprised by the passion she's yet to feel.』
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