 We're
going to open the Lori L. Lake book-review wing at The Independent Gay
Writer magazine. If you haven't noticed, Lori submitted seven reviews
for this issue, three on this page and four on page 13.Lori L. Lake, is the author of Different Dress, Gun Shy, Under The Gun, Ricochet In Time, and Stepping Out is also a reviewer for Midwest Book Review, The Independent Gay Writer, The Gay Read, and Just About Write, and Golden Crown Literary Society’s The Crown. |
  Imperfect PastBy Jessica Casvant Yellow Rose Books, www.regalcrest.biz 2005/212 pgs/$16.95/ISBN: 1932300341 Homicide detective Jamie Saunders is a mess. The vicious murder of an eight-year-old girl has nearly pushed her over the edge into hopelessness. Other people might not notice it from the outside, but it’s clear to Jamie that she is coming a little more unglued every day. The death of this small child reverberates through her life, and the shock waves keep on coming when Jamie learns of another murder, this time of someone she knows personally and with whom she has bad history. To make matters worse, apparently the killing has been done by a person Jamie knows and never would have suspected, but she can’t figure out why. Under stress and in no small amount of panic, Jamie withholds information from her friend and work partner, Alex, and attempts to solve the murder cases on her own. And who can she turn to? Not to her ex. Not to family. Jamie feels utterly alone and on the edge, but Darcy, her long-time buddy who owns the local lesbian bar, is there for her. The past comes back to haunt Jamie, though, and she is unable to tell where friendship ends with Darcy and something else begins. Her work life is a wreck, her relationships are compromised, and her self esteem is zero. Will she ruin the one good friendship she has and lose her job as well? It’s clear that Jamie must reconcile her past and present, or her future will be bleak, but she is not able to envision what that looks like. The bumpy journey she takes makes for an engrossing read. This is the third installment in the “Boston Friends” series (TWIST OF FATE, WALKING WOUNDED), which follows the work lives and relationships of a group of Boston women whose lives often cross paths. The beauty of this series is that the books are so loosely connected that you can read them in any order. Grab any one of them and settle in for a gripping and entertaining session. |
 Erik
& Isabelle: Freshman Year at Foresthill HighBy Kim Wallace 235 pgs/$12.95 ISBN: 0975584804 Foglight Press 2004 PO Box 22512, Sacramento, CA. 95822 Isabelle and Erik, teenage friends in their first year of high school, are the heroes of this Young Adult novel. Isabelle comes from a family of former hippies who are Peace Corps volunteering, eccentric geniuses. Free spirits and emotionally open, Isabelle’s household is warm and inviting, and they are not concerned that she has professed a liking for girls. Erik’s household and life are very opposite from Isabelle’s. His father and brother are both Marines, and his household runs with military precision, including their meals being called “rations” and their beds made only with hospital corners. “Erik tried to conform by studying his father and brother’s actions and language, but he never seemed to be able to mimic convincingly what came naturally to them. There was a softness in his demeanor that couldn’t be ordered out….The gentleness in his hazel eyes refused to be hardened. His father saw and despised this softness” (p. 9). That “softness” is disguised as much as possible by Erik because he is gay. This book follows the trials and tribulations of these two young people in their first year of high school. The author has planned four books, one for each year of school, to show the ups and down Erik and Isabelle go through. The writing is clear, to the point, and accessible to teens while not being overly simplistic for the adult reader. Kim Wallace has written a realistic and hopeful book that will be enjoyable for anyone, gay or straight. |
 Nick
of TimeBy Scott & Scott Romentics, 2004, 193 pgs/$12.99 ISBN: 1594574251 Brent, a former ballet dancer from New York City, is in town to attend his sister’s wedding. Rural Holmstead County is a far cry from the “clubs, coffee houses, book stores, chic little storefronts crammed with modern design” (p.1), but it’s where Brent grew up. And it’s where he happens upon Nick. Nick is a handsome, extremely well-built stonemason engaged to marry an Irish immigrant. She seeks citizenship, not love. He’s not interested in a relationship anyway. After being badly burned in his last relationships with a man named Alex, Nick “buried his dream of finding an equal. A partner. He became disciplined. Trained his body. Trained his mind. He declared he would never fall in love” (p. 11). He’s become practical and rather jaded. But of course, upon meeting one another, sparks fly—even if Nick is repulsed by Brent at first and won’t admit it the attraction. He doesn’t see Brent as someone worthy of a relationship and figures him for the “wham-bam-thank-you-man” type. And besides, Nick is getting married! What follows is a classic romance fraught with perils and pitfalls and the angst and reluctance of a man with a broken heart. Will these two men manage to see beyond the opposites that they present to one another and find love? The tension runs high, the love scenes are hot, and the story is refreshing within this age-old genre. NICK OF TIME is a fun and entertaining read. |