Review: Girl Love Happens: Season Three by T.B. Markinson

Girl Love Happens: Season Three by T.B. Markinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was my favorite of the series so far. The main character is coming into her own emotionally and using wisdom and care with others as she goes through the problems presented in her life. Tegan is far from a perfect person, but her growth is so fun to read about.

I love how T.B. Markinson writes. Her characters, even the secondary ones, all feel real. The situations feel plausible, and she brings wisdom to the story.

I like that we are getting to go through the college scene while Tegan learns about her sexuality. And as she learns how to help her mother adjust to Tegan’s self-discovery.

Though this book didn’t leave me on a cliff-hanger, it indicated that it would continue. I can’t wait to see how Tegan grows.

By the way, the book is free with Kindle Unlimited.

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Review: Girl Love Happens – G&T Lesbian Romance Season Two by T.B. Markinson

Girl Love Happens – G&T Lesbian Romance Season Two by T.B. Markinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m not too fond of angsty romance, regardless of gender. But most romances are with young people who have little experience or self-esteem to bring to the table. Somehow most of us grow up going through it. It wasn’t fun then, and it is sometimes excruciating to read about. I think I am alone in this thought pattern as romances of all kinds seem to flourish in books and movies. It is just the mechanism of two people learning to live with each other. That part I find interesting. Not the does she, does he love me. But how can I make their life better?

Add in new friends and their traumas or dramas, and the angst grows exponentially. And in this book, two lots of problems start growing. Luckily, I have grown to love the characters and watching their growth. I love hearing the thoughts of what I can do to help them through this from multiple levels.

This was the hardest book of the series for me. But this middle book can’t be skimmed through. In book three, the characters need to learn their lessons and move on to a more adult way of life. Yes, I am already halfway through that book. I am proud that they struggled and matured in book two to set up an even better next book.

I love best how the secondary character calms and reasons with our main character and was a voice of reason for what readers may be going through themselves. She gives such excellent advice and yet helps the love stay in front of all the relationships a person deals with, parents, grandparents, family friends, etc. This book points out how no one is an island. You have to include who raised you and who you’ve become and portray that to others. I don’t know many books that include that kind of wisdom.

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Review: Girl Love Happens – Season One by T.B. Markinson

Girl Love Happens – Season One by T.B. Markinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

T.B. Markinson writes believable characters. In this book, the fiction felt realistic.

The blurb says it all:
‘Two college roommates are about to discover how awkward and sexy coming out can be.

Colorado, 1992. Tegan entered her freshman year of college with an open mind. As she tries to cope with a long-distance relationship, Tegan realizes it may not be the miles pulling her apart from her boyfriend. It may be her confusing feelings for her new roommate, Gemma. But when an innocent back rub turns into her first girl-on-girl make-out session, she isn’t sure if she’s ready for the world to know she’s attracted to women.

Gemma knows who she is, but she doesn’t expect Tegan to shout from the rooftops about their new relationship status. With the prying eyes of friends and jealous rivals, however, secrets may not stay hidden for long.

If you like tumultuous love stories, simmering chemistry, and colorful casts of characters, then you’ll love this first installment of T.B. Markinson’s smart, sexy series about coming-of-age as a lesbian in the 1990s.’

The book delivered a story I can’t wait to continue in book 2.

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Review: The Jems and Jamz Series: Books 1-2 by Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue

The Jems and Jamz Series: Books 1-2 by Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a find on Kindle Unlimited. It was a fun light-read. I was a little bored at first, just couldn’t get into the story. I adjusted my expectations to my high school or new adult self and the story rang bells for me. It especially touched my former stage-singing self. The author captured that fear/excited feeling of performance arts. The main characters were in pop-bands. That reminded me of stories I wrote as a teen about Meeting the Beatles or other stars. Unavailable then were stories of a different kind of love than boy and girl. This treats everything the same. Love is love. There are a couple of erotic scenes that may not be appropriate for immature young adults, but other than that, I think it is a love story with many lessons, even for older folks about forgiveness and love.

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Review: Spirit Elfen by Ella J. Smyth

Spirit Elfen by Ella J. Smyth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another fantasy for the end of summer. I breezed right through it and started the next. So last night I tried to read the book I thought I was in, and it turned out to be this one that I already read. I thought maybe it all sounded familiar because it was the intro presented after the first book. No. Even as far as the last chapter it was familiar. But I enjoyed getting the review before realizing I was actually finished and ready for book 3 (in fact, I was 12% into it). I almost think this set is short enough to be one larger book.

I think the above paragraph is my example of the review. It was a fun read with characters from book 1 with the fae. Oh, my favorite part, it was set in Germany. Wish there would have been more of a feeling of the land. Yeah. It won’t go into my favorite books. But a good distraction. Definitely not for preteens or younger teens.

But try it. You might love it!

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Review: Spirit Hunger by Ella J. Smyth

Spirit Hunger by Ella J. Smyth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Need a mindless read to get through the rest of summer? This will fill the bill. I was finished with my last book and had a couple of hours before sleep so I found I had downloaded this and the two sequels a while back.

At first, I thought I was reading His Dark Materials with the invisible companion animals. But this is a different story so enjoy the new look.

I wasn’t impressed with the main character Adi. I didn’t understand why a person going through such scary stuff was not open to help. And her helper soon to be love interest, Honi, does his best to get her to listen.

This was a fun little fantasy, certainly for mature teens or New Adults.

My biggest irritation was the Audible download was faulty and didn’t sync up with the Kindle book. I finally just listened without the words to follow. I did like the narrator’s, Alex Knox, reading it to me.

I started the next book already (Kindle Unlimited) and it looks like the hard-headed Adi is still not listening. Still, a way to forget the world for a while.

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Review: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was recommended to me by a very good friend. I couldn’t afford to buy it at the time. Luckily the library had the Kindle and Overdrive versions. I seemed to like listening to the audio more than trying to track the Kindle.

Guys doing girl or women’s voices as it always sounds condescending, to me, but Erik Davies (Narrator), kept my interest and I soon lost the distraction of his female voice.

Though a serious subject matter, this story has you wondering what is happening and nearly breathlessly following the characters on their adventures to save the world and the main character, Cameron’s life.

It has been labeled “Quirky”. I agree! It is certainly worth the read.

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Review: Julianne’s Wish by Marie Navarro

Julianne’s Wish by Marie Navarro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was lucky to get the sign paperback version of this book. I have loved the author’s other young adult fae stories. And I can say that now, having finished this book, I like it an look forward to what will happen in the series.

BUT that is not how I felt as I read it. At first, I only had the paperback. I had to use a magnifying piece of plastic to read it. The font was too small for my eyes. I finally ordered the Kindle version so I could listen to the text-to-speech.

That wasn’t the only problem I had with the book. Oh, sure, it was written well. Like I said I love Marie’s writing. And had this been written 20 years ago, not only would I be open to the amount of erotica and romance that plays around within the story, the ‘Me, too’ movement hadn’t been as strong. Though not triggery to me, there were parts that others might have a problem with.

Had this not been the product of a person I like and whose previous books I liked, I might have put the book away. But that is where I was lucky. I knew there would be something to make this story take off. Sure enough toward the end, I found that nugget. Yes! Now I cared about the characters and why they were the way they were.

Let that be the lesson you learn here. Take your time. Read it all. I think in the end you will be happy you did. Some adventures are difficult. But isn’t that what makes the adventure? Not only can you not judge a book by the covers, don’t judge the characters in the book by their strange actions. Guess that could be applied to people we meet in real life. Not everyone is exciting or understandable.

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Review: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I would gladly give this book 5 stars. But making poor people (the Kindle version is $12.99!) and/or those with vision problems to buy the audio-book ($19.99) is just plain greedy! Sure the Audible version helps the reader know how certain words are pronounced. And the narrators are very good. And (although I had to wait until I had a credit over there) it was ‘free’ on Audible. I could have had that Kindle version back to the library earlier had I been able to listen to a Text-to-Speech as I read. All that inconvenience and not being able to save my credit for something else I was planning on, should actually lower my rating. But, doggone it! This was a fantastic book! Please, dear author (Lisa See), since the book is about poor people and their struggles, consider the struggles of those who can’t afford to buy your book and or have vision problems!

Gripe ended. The book was so good that I didn’t want to stop reading it for anything! I loved the amount of research the author put into the whole story. And yet I didn’t feel inundated with information. It all felt quite naturally a part of the tale.

It is told mostly from Li-yan’s point of view in a minority village of China. Later her daughter, Haley’s, point of view as an orphan in Orange County, California. What is genetic, instinct, or just natural curiosity? In a culture discouraging more than one child and girls the least desirable, what are the results on those poor girls sent away? What happens to the country that makes that happen? What are the results for the family or parents that are forced into this kind of situation?

These questions are answered. AND you will learn more about tea than you may ever want to know but find yourself longing to know more!

It has been over a week since I finished reading/listening to this gem. I still miss the characters and wish I knew what happened next. I doubt there is a second book in the making. The book leaves you just wishing for more. If you can get the book or audio recording, I think you will like it! Thank you, Leslie, for recommending it!

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Review: Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read this book. It did keep my interest.

That said, when you read like I do, using text-to-speech almost exclusively, books like this leave me feeling lost. I feel I may have missed the important sentences as to who-done-it and why. There were a lot of characters and they all sound the same, the writing style of the narrative is the same in the dialogue. That may not mean too much when visually engaged with the story, but I often didn’t know which characters thoughts/memories I was in.

This was an ARC or early read copy so by the time others will read it these other problems may be fixed: Between sections, there is a line ___. Often that stops the TTS. And often the name of the person who is starring in the next section is totally left out with TTS. I assume these are formatting issues that will be solved and others who get to read this with their eyes will be able to stay with the story and find it all pulls together.

Using the thoughts of one who seems autistic or in other ways a little different than the norm, was a nice tool. I found the character Cameron to be very interesting. Others I found harder to understand. Maybe that says more about me than the characters being portrayed?

At any rate, I think others may find this book to be very good. I loved to see your comments. I may have to come back to this book and read again to see if I can find where I turned left when the writer turned right. ???

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