Well to start off this review, I am pretty pumped to say that I have surpassed 300 followers on Twitter and have achieved 150 WordPress followers! Thank you so much to everyone that takes the time to read my reviews 🙂 I have loved having book discussions with everyone and will continue to do so. Bringing attention to new author’s books is a passion of mine and I am glad people are interested in hearing what I have to say. I give honest opinions about the books I read and I will stay true to that.
So let us jump into this review, shall we! Vignettes by Lola Andrews is a collection of LGBTQ erotic novellas.
Synopsis: Kamila is fighting loneliness, and her affair with a married woman hardly seems like the solution, Lana and Emma don’t know what they want, other than each other, while Eric, Sam, and Tove are just enjoying each other and their shared life. Meanwhile, Mia is just very horny and missing her wife, Clara and Julia are trapped together in a road trip, Linda is blocked and Jaron and Noah are barely holding on to their sanity.
Meet them and many more in this collection of short stories, which hopes to show the beauty of love had, love lost and love kept. Join these everyday heroes, who take chances in the simplest ways, and who, above all, want nothing but love. These stories of LGBTQ persuasion hope to inspire, warm up and enliven your day.
This was my first time reading erotica and I can honestly say that I am not really a fan. Nothing against the author, I just don’t think this genre is for me. However, it has only been my first experience with it so I am open to trying out others to compare.
The book was OK. There were some short stories that I enjoyed but I found that they lacked in a storyline. I think by focusing more on a storyline and building up to the ultimate climax of the actual sex, it could make these stories more entertaining to read. This may be why Fifty Shades is a big success (never read the book or saw the movie so this could be a shady comparison due to lack of knowledge). For me, I like to learn and grow with the characters, to see their stories blossom into something exciting, intense or dramatic but in these short stories, I felt that most of the characters were thrown together just to fulfill the sexual desire and then nothing else.
There was one I rather enjoyed about two women who were past lovers and then thrown back into each other’s lives due to an investigation on some murders. It had a big Supernatural vibe because they were dealing with werewolves and it was like Sam and Dean hunting down another monster (except in this case they weren’t related and were past lovers). So this one I did enjoy.
But then there was one that got a little incestual about a father and son romance and I couldn’t handle this. This was just too much for me. I could tell what was coming and was cringing when trying to read through it.
My rating reflects my honest opinion. I can see this author doing really well in this genre but my criticism would be to add a little more storyline and build a little more on the characters. Once someone falls into the story and likes/dislikes the characters, then the erotic parts will be that much more meaningful and intense. They will bring a reader to their true climax.
Book Rating: 2.5/5
About the Author: Lola Andrews began writing the moment she developed an imagination. Though her skill has changed with time (for the better!), she has always been hungry for new and better stories, and now hopes to add to the LGBTQ community with her humble offerings. When not writing, Lola can be found pole dancing, drinking wine and watching movies.
You can find Lola on Twitter!
Disclaimer: This book was provided to me by the author to read and give an honest review.
Although I do like reading erotica, like, SOMETIMES, I don’t think this’ll be my cup of tea at all. Sounds like a whole lot of flat characters and that would get on my nerves pretty quickly.. Also I’m simply not that big a fan of short stories in general because it doesn’t even give the author space to actually flesh them out the way they should. I’ve found only really, really skilled authors are capable of doing that in a short story.
I read Fifty Shades though and I enjoyed it, but.. Like, there are definitely some issues with those books too. :’) All a matter of what you like and don’t like when it comes to erotica but it definitely isn’t for everyone.
Yea it was my first time trying it and I am open to more but it definitely isn’t my favorite genre. I am a huge SciFi and Fantasy lover with some YA thrown in there. I can’t help but love a good teenage love story too.
We all have genres like that though. I believe it’s already admirable when people try to dip their toes in genres they normally wouldn’t pick up or have never picked up yet. 🙂
Fantasy, romance/chicklit and contemporary are my genres, but I love some thrillers / mysteries / suspense novels once in a while. Even the occasional horror to give me some sleepless nights, haha.
Haha thanks! I completely agree though. Trying out different genres is how we can connect with different bloggers on a subject we normally would know nothing about 😛 I learned some new words in this book LOL
Hahaha. Learning new words is so much fun! Makes us challenge ourselves too since we can easily decide to just ignore the fact we don’t know the word but nooope, we look it up! And then end up saying it way too often for a short period of time for some weird reason. At least I do. 😛
I am the exact same way lol
Congrats!!!
Thanks 🙂