Last month I decided to participate in both of the Sapphic Septemebr readathons. Both readathons had bingo boards with some fun prompts. I managed to get a bingo on one of the boards but I did not get a bingo on the other board. My historical romance had not arrived until late in the month and I just never got around to starting it. I didn't want to rush through the book just for the readathon either.
In September I managed to read 5 sapphic books. 1 was an audio book, 3 were short ebooks (one in Spanish!) and 1 was a manga (also in Spanish).
The Books
Gideon the Ninth
This book has gotten a lot of hype in the book community online, and yet, I was not able to connect with this book like how I wanted to. Maybe my expectations were too high? The book did get much better towards the end and I found Gideon to be an interesting character. I was not that invested in the romance sub-plot though. Also, I would have liked to see more world building so that I could get really immersed in the world.
I'm not sure if I will continue with the next book in the series or not. Gideon the Ninth did leave me wanting to see what happened next so I may end up listening to the second book for a future readathon. It wasn't bad but I just didn't connect with it as much as I would have liked.
Love Betrayed
This is surprisingly probably my favorite sapphic read of the month. This is a short lesbian romance between a tattoo artist and a security guard with PTSD. Casey becomes the new security guard for Robyn's tattoo studio after a lot of her art work for an upcoming exhibition gets stolen. Robyn's friends want her to have the extra security.
I'm a sucker for anything involving art and artists. With that said, this book was not as heavy on the romance as I normally like. I was more interested in the drama of finding out who stole the art (it was kind of obvious but still enjoyable). I think the length of this book was just perfect for the story. There are feelings between Casey and Robyn from the beginning but neither woman acts on them at first since Robyn is in a relationship and Casey is working. However, they do get closer as time goes on and they naturally fall into a relationship. It was not super passionate and dramatic compared to other romances but I really enjoyed the story and how the two women came together.
Lost in Paradise
This is the book that I almost DNF'd. However, I was already 40% of the way into the book so I decided to push myself so that I could could it on the bingo boards.
Nicole is on a European cruise in order to discover who she truly is after her divorce (from a man by the way). Fiona is on the cruise to have fun and to have lots of sex but the man she was supposed to meet suddenly couldn't make it. When the cruise ship is hijacked, the two women decide to escape in a lifeboat and end up stranded on a deserted island.
From the summary it seems like both women are bisexual or pansexual. This book rubbed me the wrong way and I still don't know if I'm just being overly sensitive or not. First of off, Nicole assumes Fiona is straight when she mentions the man she was meeting standing her up. Then, later in the book, the two women are talking about being with both men and women. Fiona says, "And I do... fuck men, that is. But if I had my preference, it would only be women."
Nicole responds with, "But it is your preference," [...]
What's wrong with liking men and women? Does Fiona only like women? Then why is she bothering with men? I was just confused.
What's more is that I was expecting Lost in Paradise to be a fun, silly story but I was just annoyed at both women. As soon as they land on the beach, after drifting at sea for who knows how long without a sense of what direction they were headed in, they immediately have sex. Not only that but Nicole, who has never been with a woman, is like an expert. The book does get better after they are rescued and their relationship starts to develop more but by that time I was just not invested in the story.
Angie
This is a short and quick erotica story in Spanish. Ruth is an ambitious 26 year old who gets the chance to get some training from Angela, a legend in the company. Angela, 39, is now retired and living in the north of Spain. Soon the two women find that they cannot deny the passion between them.
Like I said, this was a quick smutty read so there's not much to say here. There's also a bit of an age-gap between the two women which adds to the work conflict as Ruth has to return to Madrid for her job. It was good overall.
Days of Love at Seagull Villa
The last bit of sapphic reading that I did in September was the manga Days of Love at Seagull Villa. I read this online in Spanish.
The story follows Mayumi who leaves Tokyo for the countryside after her fiancé leaves her for her best friend. Mayumi ends up renting a room from Rin and the two have an instant attraction. Rin is also taking care of her brother's daughter (her nice) after the girl's parents passed away in a tragic accident. There's also a side romance between two school girls who may also be half-sisters.
It was a quick read and the relationship between Mayumi and Rin (and Hinata, Rin's niece) is adorable.
September wasn't too bad of a month when it came to sapphic books. One of my many goals this year was to read more sapphic stories. Sadly, I haven't really been focused on this goal prior to last month, but here's hoping I can continue to read more sapphic books each month going forward!
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