LGBTQI | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Simon’s Mansion by William Poe

Running from your present and confronting your past speak to the heart in Simon’s Mansion, a moving work of LGBT literary fiction by William Poe.

Not long out of rehab, Simon Powell returns to his hometown of Sibley, Arkansas, eager to leave behind his destructive life in Hollywood. Given his relatively young life, Simon is a man with many ex’s to his name – ex-husband of Masako, a Japanese woman he had briefly married, ex-cult member and former follower of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and ex-junkie, with cocaine and crack his drugs of choice.

He’s also a former […]

Marta Cheng2019-10-14T11:42:43+02:00October 13th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQI, Literary Fiction, William Poe|

Review: Jack of Thorns (Inheritance Book 1) by A.K. Faulkner

Jack of Thorns by author A.K. Faulkner is a surprisingly complex and powerful novel that blends the bizarre with the brutally honest.

While many authors compromise plot integrity, character depth or meaningful social commentary in exchange for steamy scenes and snappy dialogue, this book steps away from that basic design. Still working as a fast and furious summer read, Faulkner also delivers a serious bit of writing that tackles subjects with real emotional weight.

After a lifetime of feeling like an outsider, Laurence Riley has slipped into a pattern of addiction, succumbing to temptation rather than facing the psychological turmoil […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-08-14T10:42:11+02:00August 12th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: LGBTQI, Paranormal Romance|

Review: Candle on the Water by M.A. Myers

Love manifests itself in many different ways in Candle on the Water, a haunting and evocative LGBT romance by M.A. Myers, written for new adult readers.

High school senior, Stephanie Turner, has a bright future ahead of her. Having scored a swimming scholarship to Purdue, Stephanie has her sights set on becoming a doctor in the navy, but after meeting Sara Austin, Stephanie’s life quickly becomes an emotional roller coaster. Stephanie experiences a profound connection to Sara, and believes that Sara feels the same way, yet she doesn’t understand why Sara treats her so badly. As both go their […]

Marta Cheng2019-08-12T12:23:29+02:00June 27th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: LGBTQI, New Adult, Romance|

Review: Snapshots: Say Cheese! The World is Watching by Cara Cilento

Poems and short prose pieces are mated with vibrant photos in the emotive collection Snapshots: Say Cheese! The World is Watching by debut writer Cara Cilento.

The two dominant themes are Cilento’s acceptance of herself as a lesbian, and her decision to adopt two boys, a bold move, especially as both children are African American. Cilento is of Italian descent, this made clear as she describes messages (“The Facts”) from her upbringing:

…I was made from two parents

who went to school to get out of the ghetto

who tried to forget their last name had too many vowels in

[…]

SPR2019-05-03T13:09:47+02:00May 2nd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: LGBTQI, Poetry|

Snapshots: Say Cheese! The World is Watching by Cara Cilento

Poems and short prose pieces are mated with vibrant photos in the emotive collection Snapshots: Say Cheese! The World is Watching by debut writer Cara Cilento.

The two dominant themes in the collection are Cilento’s acceptance of herself as a lesbian, and her decision to adopt two boys, a bold move as both children are African American. Cilento is white, of Italian descent, which is made clear as she describes messages (“The Facts”) from her upbringing:

I was made from two parents

who went to school to get out of the ghetto

who tried to forget their last name had

[…]

SPR2019-04-10T08:26:15+02:00March 12th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: LGBTQI, Poetry|

Artist Free Zone by Annette Mori

In life, there are victims and triumphs and nowhere is this more evident than in Artist Free Zone, an inspiring work of lesbian romance by Annette Mori.

Just shy of her forty-fifth birthday, human resource director Melissa is thrown a devastating curveball when her lover, Colette, walks away from their eight-year relationship – and then has the gall to lie about why she’s leaving. With plans for their future together in tatters, Melissa sees little hope for her love life in a new town filled with cowboys and Republicans…

Mori has written a compassionate story about modern-day relationships. Told […]

Marta Cheng2019-03-07T11:46:09+02:00March 7th, 2019|Categories: New Releases|Tags: LGBTQI, Romance|

Review: The Siegfried Contingency by Steven Laskin

The Siegfried Contingency by Steven Laskin is a gripping novel that will satisfy thriller fans and book lovers alike. With a dangerous book containing a world-changing secret sitting at the core of this fast-paced thriller, the author has leaned into an old framework, but also twisted it within a new setting and time period that features definitively unique characters.

When bookstore owner Carl Traeger is accosted by some no-nonsense German mobsters in his Seattle shop, demanding that he turn over what they seek – despite not being clear on what the object is – Carl realizes that he is in […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-03-01T12:57:19+02:00March 1st, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: LGBTQI, Thriller|

Review: The Velvet Anthology, Edited by Fay Jacobs and Elizabeth Andersen

The Velvet Anthology is a wonderful collection of lesbian fiction and poetry with the central theme of including Velvet Lounger, a British reviewer and promoter of lesbian erotica.

Writers MJ Williamz, Annette Mori, Cheryl Head, Cheyne Curry, Karin Kallmaker, Erica Abbott, Donna K. Ford, Lee Lynch, Stefani Deoul and Ann McMan have given us “Velvet”-themed titles like “Velvet’s Touch,” “Velvet’s Guardian Angel,” “Naming Velvet,” “Rocky Horror Velvet,” “Black Velvet and That Little Boi Smile,” and other irresistible titles like “Seize Her Salad, “Fever” and “They Met at a Tea Dance in Texarkana.”

The stories are as creative as their titles. […]

Marta Cheng2018-09-13T12:27:35+02:00August 12th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: LGBTQI, Poetry, Short Stories|