Genre: F/F, Romance, Erotica, Female Fiction, Adult Fiction, LGBTQI

Love Without Limits is the second instalment of the Josephine and Caitlin love story from the Pink Bean series by Harper Bliss. It goes deeper in detail to understanding non-monogamous relationships.

The narrative of this story tests Jo and Caitlin's relationship. It also explores a relationship deeper into it's duration and not just at the formation of the relationship. 

Non-monogamy is debated thoroughly throughout this book and its place within the relationships within modern society. To be honest before reading any of the Pink Bean series and reading about Caitlin and her work/beliefs I had not really known much about non-monogamy. 

Harper's writing lends nicely to the discursive nature of the narrative of this book. It also showed the progression of the characters, especially Jo, from the first book - Everything Between Us, where we were introduced to both protagonists and the exploration of body image and self-confidence within lesbian relationships was shown within the narrative.

The reason why I only gave this book two-out-of-five stars is purely for the non-monogamy element, as personally I do not believe in it. There also was not as much development of the characters within this, especially in Caitlin. However, the book did read well and I could see how some people could enjoy this. It will be interesting to see how the Pink Bean series develops from this...

Genre: Adult Fiction, Romance, F/F, Female Fiction, Erotica, LGBTQI.

Lesson Plan was an extremely enjoyable read. It was a suggested read on my Amazon account, so I read the blurb and thought why not, lets give it a whirl - and I wasn't disappointed.

From beginning to end the narrative had a really lovely flow. It didn't seem to be running away and it never seemed to be dragging, as Goldilocks would say it was 'just right".

Armstrong's writing style is easy going and free-flowing. Her use of humour within this, especially shown in the varying communication structures between best friends and family members, was very enjoyable. I must admit there were a few times that I chuckled to myself.

The Lesson Plan series is in it's infancy, but I am sure with stories like this it will be a huge success. I can't wait to see what happens next in this series.

Personally I would love to see the formation of Jameson and Candace's relationship up until the start of this book and their wedding. It would be good to learn a bit more about them as a couple - just an idea. 

My reason for giving this book a whopping five stars was purely for the enjoyment factor, I found this book extremely entertaining to read, and in the end I was routing for both characters - I wanted to see them become a couple and get together.

Genre: Adult Fiction, Romance, F/F, Female Fiction, Erotica, LGBTQI

A recommendation by a friend led me to read this book by Lauren Gallagher. ​

Stuck Landing was an interesting read - to say the least. Gallagher's writing style made this book such an easy read, which allowed me to focus primarily on the characters and the narrative.

I liked the exploration of the LGBT world within this story. Not only were we privy to the development of Anna & Natalya's relationship, but we saw two other relationships grow in Levi & Carter and Jeremy & Scott.

Obviously, the main focus was on Natalya and Anna and both of their insecurities and how that effects their relationship.

Gallagher cleverly explored Anna's issue of biphobia in detail, but also showed it's progress and Anna's realisation that  dating a 'bi' woman doesn't mean that you should have any preconceptions as to their motives.

We also had Natalya's more subtle insecurities of committing herself to someone only to have them use you for personal gain - I'm sure quite a few people can relate to this. However, what was intelligently done here was the way that Gallagher reinforced that actually this should not prohibit the formation of a relationship, this was done through the strength within Natalya's character.

All-in-all I enjoyed the development of both characters and the formation of the feelings and emotions that they have for each other.

All of this is my reasoning behind giving this a four star rating. An enjoyable and easy read.

Genre: Adult Fiction, Romance, F/F, Erotica, LGBTQI

WOW! Just, WOW!! That's all I can say after reading the latest instalment within the Pink Bean Series by Harper Bliss.

When I finished Everything Between Us, after only 48 hours of starting to read it, I remember trying to analyse all the emotions that were running through me throughout my journey alongside Josephine and Caitlin, and I was staggered at what I found.

I was exhausted. I was drained. I was happy. I was sad. I felt love. I felt heartache. I felt confident. I felt dejection. Inevitably I was transformed.

After reading this book, I feel like a different person. I have been able to not only relate to aspects of what Josephine was saying in her book, but I lived it with her. I have experienced her transformation in her self-confidence, that I can only use to help my own.

I feel from this that actually the writing of it was more of a therapeutic and emotional account than the previous two books in the series, and this does shine through with the amount of raw emotion within it. You cannot write something like this if you haven't experienced aspects of it yourself. Thank you for sharing this Harper, this is something truly special.

Josephine, as a character, really hit-home for me. It was like reading about a kindred spirit in her thought processes. I liked how she developed throughout the book and at the end I was brought to tears with happiness at how she had almost done a full-circle and how much she had grown.

However, I cannot forget Caitlin, she was inspirational in the way she conducted herself with Jo - and I admire that of her. To be such a positive catalyst of change in someone's life is one of the greatest gifts that she could have given Jo.

Also, there were introductions of other characters within this novel, hopefully meaning that the Pink Bean series is far from finished - interesting. I am certainly interested to know, and Harper was quite coy about this within this novel, about the development of Amber and Martha's liaisons - this could be a potential idea for Pink Bean #4.

I gave this a whopping five out of five stars purely for the way it made me feel during and after reading it. I learned a lot from this book, to which I am eternally thankful to Harper. In the end - I just loved everything about it, from start to finish.

​Definitely a must read - what are you waiting for...

Genre: Romance, Adult Fiction, F/F, Erotica, LGBTQI

Tipping the Velvet was recommended to me by my partner and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It did take me a little while to get into it, but once I did I was gripped.
​
Miss Waters writing style is a unique one that fitted the era of the time in question 'down to a T'. 

​When reading this I had to make sure that I put myself in the mindset of the time in question in order to make sure I was contextually engaging with the narrative as I should.

There were times where my jaw-dropped, as I could not believe some of the ways in which women had to conceal their feelings for the ones they love.

It was also a beautiful portrayal of a story of a broken-heart and the impact this can have on a life of the person and the people that surround them.

There was a hidden element of politics of the time and the struggles that everyday people faced, which added depth and social context to the narrative to help support the characters story and beliefs.

I gave this book 4 stars because you really do need to put yourself in the context and frame of mind of the time, which is challenging, but also rather enjoyable.

Give it a go - it's a must read.

Genre: Women's Fiction, Adult, Chick-Lit, Romance

I was not expecting this book to be the most literary and flowery piece of literature that I have ever read - and I would think you would be wrong to. 

Instead I approached this novel with an excited anticipation of what awaited me. I knew before reading it that it would cover some deep and fairly sensitive material, but I never realised how much it would grip me.

The main thing that I loved about this book is the lead character - Lou Clark. She's a character that, personally, I felt I could connect with - in fact if I knew her personally I think that I would very much like to be her friend - and that's what JoJo Moyes does so well, creating a connectivity between reader and character whereby you just want to experience everything with them and help them with their troubles and also have a jolly good laugh with them.

Within the narrative the topic that was explored was the life of a quadriplegic - now before reading this I would not have had a clue as to how someone who is a quadriplegic would live and experience life. However, through Moyes book - I feel like I understand somewhat their trials and tribulations, but also that life can be lived and there are ways to overcome these obstacles. 

It just goes to show that literature can be extremely powerful in bringing about sensitive awareness of such delicate topics, which is great - in fact I would love to see more of this done throughout literature.

Me Before You is a very nice and gentle read, which is lovely, as it does not feel too taxing to sit and read it. Instead you can put your feet up with a good cuppa and just transport yourself into this story. JoJo's writing style is great and makes you feel at ease from the get-go, which actually is not easy to do.

The five stars that I awarded to this book was for the enjoyment factor. I really did enjoy this book from start to finish. I do not think I once thought - "maybe I'll skip this bit." Instead I was gripped and loved the main character. I cannot wait to read Me After You and see what Lou get's up to next - watch this space...

Genre: Psychological Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Romance, Female Fiction

If I am brutally honest, I struggled with this book; and this was for a number of reasons, of which I will share with you in the coming paragraphs.

In the beginning I felt that the story was fragmented and disjointed and I could not see the connections made from scene to scene. G.D. Harper's writing style made it hard to follow, which for me, interrupted the natural rhythm of the narrative.

​I also found myself not liking the lead character. I found her quite annoying, especially with her values and beliefs and the way she treated herself. This put me off from pretty much 10% of the way into the book - but I persisted.

As the book progressed I had hoped that her character would develop and I would see a progression in the way she acted/reacted and behaved, but unfortunately that was not the case. Instead I saw her making the same mistakes again and again, which led me to really think - 'what is the moral of this book?'

​The direction that the narrative of this book took was, for me, very predictable - especially when you get to know/understand the main character. This was the same throughout the whole novel, not just with its conclusion.

I am glad that I persisted with this book and read this to the end, but I do not think that I would recommend this novel.

All of the above is why I gave this book only two stars - and I stick by that decision, personally, I think this is a fair reflection of not only my journey, but my experience of this novel as a whole.