Best Lesbian Debut Novel
And the Rainbow Award goes to:
1) Robin Summers - After the Fall
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books; 1 edition (July 19, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602822344
ISBN-13: 978-1602822344
Amazon: After the Fall
WOW! This book is really good! I could not for the life of me turn my computer off and walk away from it! The storyline was believable enough to make one wonder what could happen if.... Believable enough to make you a little afraid of the future but, at the same time it gives you enough hope to think that one can survive. Very well written and easy to read. --Mitzie
When the world ends, what’s left to care about? Taylor Stone is no hero. She has three simple rules for life after the plague: Keep moving. Keep to yourself. Don’t get involved. The plague took a particular joy in killing the women of the world, making it that much harder for the few who survived. The only thing that matters since she escaped from a small farm outside of Pittsburgh is the truth waiting at the end of her journey home. The rest of the world, or what’s left of it, can go straight to Hell as far as she’s concerned. When a group of survivors offers her food and shelter, she is more than happy to spend a few days, take what she needs, and get out, like she always does. But in a place called Burninghead Farm, despite all her rules and plans, Taylor finds a group of people who have more to offer than the basics of survival. Most of all, there is Kate, a woman who makes Taylor realize love is still alive and makes her dream of a future she thought was no longer possible. If only Taylor can find the courage to fight for it. It turns out that the end of the world isn’t about the end of the world at all, but about what happens after.
2) Karis Walsh - Harmony
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (August 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602822379
ISBN-13: 978-1602822375
Amazon: Harmony
Loved the storyline. I could not put this book down! --Mitzie
Sometimes conformity and control are only shields, and all it takes is the right woman to shatter the illusions forever. Andrea Taylor craves peace in her life, no matter what the personal sacrifice. She arranges her career as a violist, her relationships with family and friends, and even her love life so she can avoid strife at all costs. Everything is going according to plan until she meets Brooke Stanton the night before Brooke’s wedding rehearsal and her ordered existence falls apart. When Brooke hires a string quartet to play at her rehearsal dinner, she doesn’t expect to meet a woman who threatens the security of her already predetermined future. Suddenly she has doubts about the conventional path she has chosen and desires she can no longer ignore. In an eclectic neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, these two women face a life-altering decision-will they fight the attraction that threatens their carefully structured lives or take a chance on finding the harmony only love creates?
3) Mary Griggs - Unbroken Circle
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bella Books; 1 edition (June 14, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594932433
ISBN-13: 978-1594932434
Amazon: Unbroken Circle
I believe this is her first book and with that in mind it is a very good story. -Julie
Sallie Lee Hybart doesn’t see many strangers at her diner counter. Pennington, Alabama, is a town the interstate passed by, so newcomers are rare. But this one looks familiar. Janet Bouton has nothing and no one. Her life has been stripped down to the clothing on her back. Counting out her meager change to pay for a stick-to-the-ribs meal, she is hoping to escape the diner unrecognized. She shouldn’t have come back...but no place else on earth was familiar. An act of kindness sets a chain of events in motion and pulls Sallie Lee and Janet together, but the past has the power to tear them apart. There are still people in Pennington who remember Janet too well. Small town memories have had a lot of years to simmer, and love may not be the recipe for happiness. Mary Griggs’ debut romance novel unites a lost soul and a determined survivor to create a passionate story that readers will remember long after the final page.
Honourable Mention:
4) Christine Hall Volkoff - Travels Through Love And Time
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456466119/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
From the rocky coves of the small island of Porquerolles in her teenage years, the glamour of the Cannes Film Festival in the 60's to a café in Paris in the 80's as a middle aged woman, Christine doesn't really know if she is looking for love, or if love is looking for her. At the terrace of a small outdoor café, she discusses Marguerite Duras with an unknown woman, and enters into a whirlwind of anxiety and desire only mitigated by good food and the magic of the city. Has Christine learned anything about love in her travels?
5-tie) Sophia Kell Hagin - Whatever Gods May Be
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602821836/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Whatever Gods May Be is one of the best lesbian romances I've seen in a while --Lori
K.E. Payne - 365 Days
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602825408/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
One mixed-up girl, one dull boy, two hot distractions. How does one figure it all out? Life sucks when you’re fifteen years old, confused about your sexuality, and the girl of your dreams doesn’t even know you exist. The sudden entrance of a hot new emo at school only adds to the confusion. Clemmie Atkins thinks she's in love with her school friend, the mysterious and alluring J. Devastated that J doesn’t even seem to know she exists, Clemmie tries to escape her feelings by dating the nice but dim Ben.
1) Robin Summers - After the Fall
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books; 1 edition (July 19, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602822344
ISBN-13: 978-1602822344
Amazon: After the Fall
WOW! This book is really good! I could not for the life of me turn my computer off and walk away from it! The storyline was believable enough to make one wonder what could happen if.... Believable enough to make you a little afraid of the future but, at the same time it gives you enough hope to think that one can survive. Very well written and easy to read. --Mitzie
When the world ends, what’s left to care about? Taylor Stone is no hero. She has three simple rules for life after the plague: Keep moving. Keep to yourself. Don’t get involved. The plague took a particular joy in killing the women of the world, making it that much harder for the few who survived. The only thing that matters since she escaped from a small farm outside of Pittsburgh is the truth waiting at the end of her journey home. The rest of the world, or what’s left of it, can go straight to Hell as far as she’s concerned. When a group of survivors offers her food and shelter, she is more than happy to spend a few days, take what she needs, and get out, like she always does. But in a place called Burninghead Farm, despite all her rules and plans, Taylor finds a group of people who have more to offer than the basics of survival. Most of all, there is Kate, a woman who makes Taylor realize love is still alive and makes her dream of a future she thought was no longer possible. If only Taylor can find the courage to fight for it. It turns out that the end of the world isn’t about the end of the world at all, but about what happens after.
2) Karis Walsh - Harmony
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (August 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602822379
ISBN-13: 978-1602822375
Amazon: Harmony
Loved the storyline. I could not put this book down! --Mitzie
Sometimes conformity and control are only shields, and all it takes is the right woman to shatter the illusions forever. Andrea Taylor craves peace in her life, no matter what the personal sacrifice. She arranges her career as a violist, her relationships with family and friends, and even her love life so she can avoid strife at all costs. Everything is going according to plan until she meets Brooke Stanton the night before Brooke’s wedding rehearsal and her ordered existence falls apart. When Brooke hires a string quartet to play at her rehearsal dinner, she doesn’t expect to meet a woman who threatens the security of her already predetermined future. Suddenly she has doubts about the conventional path she has chosen and desires she can no longer ignore. In an eclectic neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, these two women face a life-altering decision-will they fight the attraction that threatens their carefully structured lives or take a chance on finding the harmony only love creates?
3) Mary Griggs - Unbroken Circle
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bella Books; 1 edition (June 14, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594932433
ISBN-13: 978-1594932434
Amazon: Unbroken Circle
I believe this is her first book and with that in mind it is a very good story. -Julie
Sallie Lee Hybart doesn’t see many strangers at her diner counter. Pennington, Alabama, is a town the interstate passed by, so newcomers are rare. But this one looks familiar. Janet Bouton has nothing and no one. Her life has been stripped down to the clothing on her back. Counting out her meager change to pay for a stick-to-the-ribs meal, she is hoping to escape the diner unrecognized. She shouldn’t have come back...but no place else on earth was familiar. An act of kindness sets a chain of events in motion and pulls Sallie Lee and Janet together, but the past has the power to tear them apart. There are still people in Pennington who remember Janet too well. Small town memories have had a lot of years to simmer, and love may not be the recipe for happiness. Mary Griggs’ debut romance novel unites a lost soul and a determined survivor to create a passionate story that readers will remember long after the final page.
Honourable Mention:
4) Christine Hall Volkoff - Travels Through Love And Time
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456466119/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
From the rocky coves of the small island of Porquerolles in her teenage years, the glamour of the Cannes Film Festival in the 60's to a café in Paris in the 80's as a middle aged woman, Christine doesn't really know if she is looking for love, or if love is looking for her. At the terrace of a small outdoor café, she discusses Marguerite Duras with an unknown woman, and enters into a whirlwind of anxiety and desire only mitigated by good food and the magic of the city. Has Christine learned anything about love in her travels?
5-tie) Sophia Kell Hagin - Whatever Gods May Be
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602821836/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Whatever Gods May Be is one of the best lesbian romances I've seen in a while --Lori
K.E. Payne - 365 Days
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602825408/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
One mixed-up girl, one dull boy, two hot distractions. How does one figure it all out? Life sucks when you’re fifteen years old, confused about your sexuality, and the girl of your dreams doesn’t even know you exist. The sudden entrance of a hot new emo at school only adds to the confusion. Clemmie Atkins thinks she's in love with her school friend, the mysterious and alluring J. Devastated that J doesn’t even seem to know she exists, Clemmie tries to escape her feelings by dating the nice but dim Ben.