Category: LGBTQ Audio Books

Old Labels, Tagging and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Old Labels, Tagging and The Need to Move Forward

 

Something one of our reviewers said  to me this week got me thinking about labels and tagging.  She said that there was a controversy stirring about a current release and the GFY label and bisexuality, blurring/confusion between them.  She wanted to give me a head’s up.  Now I had no idea (still don’t) because I wasn’t paying any attention but it brought to mind things that have been swimming around the brain for some time now…that there are some labels that need to be put to rest.

In the book review world there are certain three letter  or  three character abbreviations we use all the time to quick label  a book.  Among some of the most widely used are M/M, D/s, HEA, HFN, and of course, GFY.   Its the later that I’m going to be blogging about on Saturday.  I think we’ve grown past that label, and now its rolled into hurtful territory.   Why not use the term pansexual (among others) where proper?  And bisexual where the character clearly loves and desires both sexes?

Not getting into it today but look for a much longer and thoughtful post on Saturday.  Join in on the discussion and let me know how you feel about tagging and labels.  I’m really curious.  Haven’t be gone past these old perceptions?  Isn’t it time we laid them to rest?  We’ve enlarged the LGBT to include LGBTQIA, lets bring the book review world along with it.

Now we’ve got a stacked  week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, lets get to it.

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, March 13:

  • Old Labels, Tagging and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Monday, March 14:

  • Chris T. Kat ‘Mending the Rift’ virtual tour and giveaway
  • ‘At Your Service’ by Ariel Tachna – Author Guest Blog/Release Day
  • Book Spotlight: Bound (Guards of Folsom, Book Five) by Author: SJD Peterson
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Bound (Guards of Folsom, Book Five) by Author: SJD Peterson
  • A MelanieM Review: At Your Service by Ariel Tachna
  • A Stella review: Mending the Rift by Chris T Kat

Tuesday, March 15:

  • Between Ghosts by Garrett Leigh – Riptide Publishing Contest
  • Its Release Day for the Riverdance Anthology (excerpts and giveaway)
  • In Our Contemporary Spotlight: Trial by Fire by BA Tortuga DSP tour and guest blog
  • A MelanieM Review: Trial by Fire by BA Tortuga
  • A Lila Review: Ghosts (The Power of Zero, #2) by Jackie Keswick

Wednesday, March 16:

  • Coffee Sip and Book Break with Lioness in Blue by Shira Glassman
  • A Ali Review: Eagle’s Nest by AJ Marcus
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Lay It down by Mary Calmes
  • A Jeri Review: Him (Him #1) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
  • A Lila Review: Balls Up by Kate Aaron

Thursday, March   17:

  • Dianne Hartsock’s ‘Stuck on Rewind’ virtual tour and giveaway
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Being True by Jacob Z. Flores
  • A F.D. Review: Lima Oscar Victor Echo and The Truth About Everything by Suki Fleet
  • A Jeri Review: Us By Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
  • A Lila Review: Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews

Friday, March 18:

  • Katey Hawthorne’s Blood and Clockwork Tour and Giveaway
  • Love Comes to Light Author: Andrew Grey’s Guest Blog
  • A Stella Review: Spencer Cohen by NR Walker
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Two Pet Dicks by John Inman
  • A Paul B Review: Love Comes to Light by Andrew Grey

Saturday, March 19:

  • Melanie M Thoughts On Labeling – Isn’t It Time to Put Away GFY?

An Aurora YA Review: Angel Radio by A.M. Blaushield

Rating: 5 out of 5     .★★★★★

angel RadioIt is on the cusp of summer that strange angels of eyes and wings appear throughout the world, and a week later all of humanity is dead. Except one girl. Months later, Erika Cantor continues to wander her desolate hometown without purpose or answers—until a strange radio broadcast sends her into the dangerous world outside—a world past civilization, whose only inhabitants are monsters and demons.

There, Erika meets Midori, a naïve girl with a cryptic connection to the angels, and Gav, a boy who seems to have knowledge he refuses to share with Erika. The appearance of the mysterious Fex raises even more questions. Can he be trusted?

 As Erika travels across Vermont searching for some remnant of society, she learns that there’s a reason she survived—that the angels, horrid creatures that they are—have a plan for her.

The action in this book starts right off the bat, which is a good thing in some ways and a not-so-good thing in others. I was really intrigued by the concept of the book, and the things that did happen within the first chapter really interested me, so I was compelled to keep reading. However, the nature of the book is that it starts out pretty directly with our main character alone in the world, or thinking that she is, at least. This definitely bolsters the stakes and makes it interesting to find out what’s going to happen next. However, there is very limited character interaction because of it. While I did understand this, I would have liked to have seen some more interaction between Erika and her parents, or even with some of her friends at school who were panicking, before we got to at least a whole chapter where I didn’t get to see Erika interact with anyone but herself.

 
For me, I was interested in Erika, I was intrigued by the way she thought about things, and her narration was interesting enough that I wanted to read if only to see what would happen to her. This is master characterization on the part of the author, because it wasn’t too overt, Erika didn’t just tell the readers exactly what her personality was. There were little comments here and there, little shifts in attitude from what would have been perceived as normal, that hinted as to Erika’s eccentricities. And it was enough to keep me interested through her journey until she met up with some other characters. Really, the whole book contained really strong characters. No one seemed one dimensional, apart, perhaps, from the people who were introduced in the first chapter and dead before it was over. The characters who were still alive were interesting within a paragraph of being introduced, sometimes in as much as a sentence.
 
And the plot wasn’t lacking either. Once it got on its feet and got past the set up for the book, the angels coming, Erika leaving home, it was captivating until the end of the book. An original idea is good, but keeping the plot engaging beyond that initial idea can be challenging. This book didn’t struggle with that at all, and definitely kept me interested beyond just the tagline of ‘angels destroy humanity.’ 
 
This book wasn’t your typical YA dystopian novel. It flourished with engaging characters, a stellar plot throughout, and lots of imagery to help the movie in my head.
 
The cover for this book is so beautiful. It definitely caught my eye from the moment I saw it, and drew me to the book really effectively. Some people have problems with a main character being pictured on the cover, but I actually liked having that drawing to flip back to and put an already constructed face to the name. It is really well done and shows great artistic ability, as well as being paired up just perfectly with the tone and plot of the book. It looks like a cover the main character could have chosen for herself.
Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 250 pages
Published December 31st 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634762800 (ISBN13: 9781634762809)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Let it Ride (Pickup Men #2) by L.C. Chase and Dorian Bane (Narrator)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Let It Ride audiobookBridge Sullivan, pickup man and best friend of Marty Fairgrave (Pickup Men) has a secret. He’s lusting after EMT Eric Palmer and the problem is that everyone, including Eric, thinks he’s straight. But Bridge knows his mind and his heart, and he’s kept his past experience with a man secret so it shouldn’t surprise him when his flirtations with Eric aren’t taken seriously.

Bridge is a nice guy—a great friend, sweet and helpful and always there when you need him—but he’s not gay and Eric has been burned much too often in the past to take a chance on a guy who might change his mind and want to go back to dating a woman. Eric is a New York City native, complete with a realistic accent thanks to narrator Dorian Bane, but he feels unworthy of love. His parents had put him in foster care when he was thirteen and told them he was gay; most foster parents wouldn’t keep him either, and then the two men he loved in the past dumped him—one of them for a woman. It’s no wonder he’s guarding his heart. And Bridge will break it for sure. That is something he’s betting on.

Against his better judgement, Eric agrees to go out with Bridge, but only as friends with benefits. No more. So when things get hot and heavy between them, and Bridge continues to tell him he wants to date and get close to him, Eric bolts. Though he doesn’t want to lose them, he leaves the close friends he’s made in the rodeo circuit. He also leaves the man he cares about because he feels he needs to go now before the pain is too great. Of course, he then finds out that the pain is already too great. Will he man-up and go back? Will Bridge come looking for him? Or will the two “let it ride”?

I enjoyed this story, and I think it may be partly because the potential between Bridge and Eric was there and intrigued me in the previous story, and it’s partly due to the narration of Dorian Bane. I actually didn’t care for the voice he gave Bridge, but I was impressed by the vast difference in the two voices of the MCs and the variety of secondary character voices, all of which were different and distinctive. And that’s the bottom line for me—how well did the narrator handle the narration and vocalization of the story. So kudos to the narrator and kudos to LC Chase for a great story. Yes, I wanted to smack Eric upside the head quite a few times because his “poor me” litany wears a little thin, but in his case, with his history, it’s a reasonable reaction. I had to stay awake last night to finish the story because sleeping while the romance was still in doubt just wasn’t happening for me. So thanks for the HEA, Ms. Chase!

Though part of a series, Let It Ride can be read as a standalone. This is a wonderful MM story for readers who like a little NYC spice with their cowboys, GFY or men new to gay sex, virgins(!), hurt-comfort, and a delightful cast of secondary characters.

~~~~~

Cover Art by L.C. Chase features a close-up of a handsome, young cowboy, complete with large black cowboy hat. There’s a bronco rider in the background, symbolizing the rodeo in which this MC is a pickup man—a very fitting cover for this story.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | Audible | Amazon

Audiobook Details:
5 hrs 32 mins

Audible Audio, 6 pages
Published February 10th 2016 by Riptide Publishing (first published May 25th 2014)
Original TitleLet it Ride
ASINB01BLP6GZ0
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesPickup Men #2
Literary AwardsEPIC (Eppie) Award (2015), Contemporary Romance, Bisexual Book Award Nominee (2015)