Tough and demanding LAPD Detective Kate Delafield is the leader of the investigation into a highrise office building murder. The case is intriguing but routine - until Kate interviews the only witness, Ellen O'Neil. When Ellen O'Neil took her new job over the objections of her lover, she wasn’t expecting to become embroiled in murder. The curiousity that Kate Delafield rouses is equally unexpected. But it is never far from Ellen’s mind that she is merely a name on an interview sheet to the tight-lipped detective. Kate’s thin trail of clues are enough to convince her that she is looking for an amateur, and amateurs are notoriously unpredictable and dangerous. She finds her path increasingly intersecting with that of Ellen O'Neil, who is proving unpredictable and dangerous in a far more personal way.
Amateur City is a very important book. Considered the novel to really kick off lesbian detective fiction, we owe Katherine V. Forrest a great tradition of lesbian detectives.
The book deals with brutal and period accurate depictions of racism, sexism, and homophobia, making it an emotionally difficult read. If you can handle that, it’s definitely worth it. Katherine V. Forrest paints a clear picture of the horrors of living under heteropatriarchy, but allows the women in her work to triumph despite it.
The cast is fairly large, and although there is no shortage of unpleasant characters, they’re all well established and memorable. Kate Delafield holds up as a tough, interesting, and endearing protagonist, and I’m excited to keep reading about her cases.
FCAW:Megan Rose Gedris, known on the internet as Rosalarian, is an independent writer and comics artist. She’s a lesbian feminist who makes comics primarily about queer women.
Her career in comics began (and has continued) on the internet making webcomics, though you can now also buy some of her works published in hard copy.
Comics:
Yu + Me: Dream is a finished webcomic, available online and in hard copy. Described as a “surreal lesbian romance adventure,” the series is a visually captivating love story between two young women.
I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space is a lesbian pulp parody about exactly what it sounds like. It’s sadly no longer available online, but pirated versions can still be found (which Gedris has said she is happy about).
Meaty Yogurt is an ongoing comic that follows the adventures of two best friends who live in a town literally cursed with mediocrity.
In addition to comics published on her own websites, she makes erotic comics for Filthy Figments, a website dedicated to porn comics made by women for women.
Book Rec: The Dingo Dilemma, A Kylie KendallMystery
Kylie may still be a private eye in training, and she may still be reeling by the secret her business partner finally revealed to her. But nothing can compare to her family’s interference, even from far-away Australia. When her mother asks Kylie to check in on “distant” relative Doug “Dingo” O’Rourke, who has landed a TV gig in Los Angeles, Kylie realizes she has no choice but to do so. Dingo, though, wants nothing to do with an interfering private investigator, despite the fact that something dreadful is worrying him.
Kylie Kendall mysteries are fun, quick reads. I was fond of Kylie as soon as I started reading the previous book, and became invested in her romance with Arianna just as immediately. Fortunately, that relationship moves forward in a satisfying way this time around (though I will be happier when they become more official).
Kylie’s supporting cast–though some are purposefully grating–manage to all grow on you in their own ways. The extra focus on her eccentric family is a cute addition, and I’d definitely like to see more of them in the future.
Though I enjoyed The Quokka Question, The Dingo Dilemma was a much better experience, and really solidified my interest in staying with this series.
★★★★: i really liked this one! it’s a nice romance read, that also deals with some important topics (autism, being yorself / believing in yourself). the spicy scenes were also really good hehe. it was kind of enemies to lovers but i feel like they more so annoyed each other at the beginning, so i wish they would’ve been “more” like enemies, but that’s just my taste haha
“Your abilities lie in the places people usually overlook, so you’ve been convinced you don’t have any at all. But you’re smart, and you’re capable, and if people struggle to see that, it’s their problem, not yours.”
LOVE AND OTHER WORDS/ christina lauren
★★★★: very beautiful love story. sometimes felt a bit too cliché? i didn’t really like the ending but the writing style was very good and the characters had amazing chemistry. i liked all the little moments they shared together and i love friends to lovers
“Limerence.’ There’s no other word like it. The state of being infatuated with another person.”
At first, Jude and her twin brother are NoahandJude: inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and does all the talking for both of them.
Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways… but then Jude meets an intriguing, yet irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor.
The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world.
Review:
I probably say this too much, but this is one of my favorites! It made me laugh, cry, gasp, and sigh. I’m a pretty expressive reader, but this book made me even more expressive than usual.
The biggest thing about this book that stood out to me and made me so interested was how it switched not only between perspectives, but timelines. I love the way that the past and present fill in the blanks of the others’ story, and how we slowly come to know the entire story instead of being bombarded with a bunch of backstory, as would happen if we were only in the “present” day of sixteen-year-old Noah and Jude. It’s like two stories that slowly intertwine into the same one, and it’s really awesome how Nelson connects the characters in the past and the present timelines. It’s a fun puzzle to read as it’s solved.
I had a bit of a problem with Jude’s “relationship” with Oscar; even though he’s only three years older, she’s still only sixteen and he’s an adult. I’d like to see how that developed over the years (hopefully slowly), as it felt somewhat glossed over.
Overall, I really loved this book. The writing style is poetic and moving, the characters are beautiful, and the plot is riveting. You won’t want to put this one down!
Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like that fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend.
When Sana and her family move to California she begins to wonder if it’s finally time for some honesty, especially after she meets Jamie Ramirez. Jamie is beautiful and smart and unlike anyone Sana’s ever known. There are just a few problems: Sana’s new friends don’t trust Jamie’s crowd; Jamie’s friends clearly don’t want her around anyway; and a sweet guy named Caleb seems to have more-than-friendly feelings for her. Meanwhile, her dad’s affair is becoming too obvious to ignore anymore.
Sana always figured that the hardest thing would be to tell people that she wants to date a girl, but as she quickly learns, telling the truth is easy… what comes after it, though, is a whole lot more complicated.
“I guess we’re almost friends now, or as friendly as you can get when you’re not one hundred percent sure the other person isn’t framing you for murder.”
I live in the UK, and it’s been raining every day this week. If you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy these atmospheric books to read while you’re curled up in your warm bed, it’s dark outside, and the rain and wind are tapping against your window. (ig: @allie.writes)
