Char Dafoe

Sometimes you just know...

This short read packs a lot of heart and soul (and angst, and heat) into its pages.

Ree is a popular lesbian fiction author and Jo has been assigned as her personal bodyguard during a romance convention. Both women feel an immediate attraction when they meet though they aren't each other's "usual type".

Over the course of a weekend, we learn about Ree's past as she lets down some barriers and begins to connect with Jo. She has had a hard life, with trauma which might be distressing to some readers being handled with sensitivity by author Char Dafoe.

This is a story that happens around Christmas, but Christmas is not all central to the plot and I feel it could be enjoyed any time. Ree and Jo are very likeable. I enjoyed spending time with them as I'm sure you will too.… (altro)

I love this book.

Cover star Carmen Astrella is a joy to spend time with. She has a lot going on in her life, and a lot she has to work out over the course of this book, but she's a strong and resourceful woman who brooks no fools and is always ready to stand up for what (and who) she believes in. That she's gorgeous and a commanding Domme only add to her allure.

Our story begins with the ending of two relationships. Carmen (45) and Cassandra (40) both break up with their girlfriends. They meet not long afterwards and both feel a spark, but for reasons that are important to them both women feel that they have no future together, we then follow their paths as they orbit around each other and a handful of mutual acquaintances while they experience the necessary growth to get their HEA.

The drama comes hard and fast and not always from expected directions, and along the way you'll be treated to some hot hot hot sexual encounters which are sure to leave you gasping.

Very highly recommended.… (altro)

There's a lot going on in this heartfelt tale of love, loss and acceptance in the American heartland.

Holly is a city girl who always loved her vacation spent on her Aunt and Uncle's farm. Brayden is a country boy with a heart of gold. When Holly realises her dream of leaving the city she meets Brayden who works on the farm where she is staying while saving for a place of her own, and they are immediately attracted to one another.

It is no secret to the reader, or to Holly, that the two had met before when she was eleven years old and Brayden, who was then known as Amanda, was fifteen.

As an adult, Brayden lives as a man and is accepted as such by most members of the local community. This book follows the couple as their attractions develops into something more, and along the way Holly learns of the hardships Brayden has endured, and they both are affected by the prejudice and closed-mindedness of a select few in their lives.

I loved seeing Holly discover her strength through the story, as Brayden learns to love and to accept love. Author Char Dafoe takes her characters through a lot, including issues of gender identity, discrimination, depression, drug abuse and suicide, and I was right there with them feeling it all, and feeling the joy, triumph and passion as these challengers are met and if not always overcome, at least understood and accepted.

Bottom line: I loved this book. I loved the love and the lust and the pain and the sorrow and if you're not put off by the issues I've alluded to then maybe you'll love it too.… (altro)

"Strong arms, cologne, and two beating hearts"

Sometimes, more often than I'd like, I sit to review a book I've just read and I know I won't have the words to express the feels. That's why I'm a reader and not a writer, and that's definitely the case with Char Dafoe's "A Jade's Diamond".

Nayvee is a non-binary streetwalker. Trystan is a "male of center" lesbian entrepreneur. Theirs is an unlikely match, think "Pretty Woman" with more grit and angst and violence. Both Nayvee and Tristan use they/their as personal pronouns which took some getting used to reading, but it works.

Five "damp in all the right places" stars. Very recommended, with a potential trigger warning for 'an “off-screen” act of violence as told from the point of view of a main character.'… (altro)