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mxsallybend's review
4.0
I Kissed a Girl II: More Virgin Lesbian Stories is both more varied, and more complex, than the title would suggest. Yes, these are stories of first loves and sexual experimentation between women, but they are more than just random erotic encounters. There is a theme of self-expression that is common to all the stories, and it’s the revelations to which self-expression leads that excited me the most.
With so many stories to choose from, I’d like to focus on three women who I feel best sum up the diversity of this collection. The first, Queen Adisa (of Inara Lavey’s Queen of Swords), is a woman under siege. She is feminine and attractive, but also every inch the warrior. She’s also a woman who hates her husband, and who is ready to sacrifice herself in battle, rather than bear the boorish King an heir. There’s a sense of resignation to her, a fatalism that’s sorrowful, yet also entirely understandable. When she seizes the moment and enters into a dalliance with her serving maid, the beautiful Lyra, her entire demeanour changes. For the first time, we see the woman beneath the Queen, the lover beneath the warrior – and she is someone to be admired. In this story, the love of another woman not only provides for self-expression, it provides for the redemption of an entire kingdom.
The second, the nameless narrator of Needs (by Farrah J. Phoenix), is a middle-aged divorcee, on the run from the demands of family and co-workers. Fed up with living for her family, with caring for others, she wants nothing more than to just get away and care for herself. When a beautiful stranger so completely captivates her interest on the beach, she is left trembling by the powerful draw of female sexuality. As her vacation draws to a close, that sun-silhouetted stranger is a memory that is never far from her mind, part of a fantasy of being wanted, of being desired, of being cared for. When the two finally meet again, this time on a crowded dance floor, it’s clear that fantasy is mutual. What follows is a night of sexual bliss, and emotional release, in which she finally lets go of the pains of her past, and opens herself to a new definition of love.
The last, Miranda (of K. Ann Karlsson’s Tight Lacing), is a proper young woman on holiday with family – both her own, and that of her fiancé. Uncomfortable in her tightly laced corset, oversized hat, and elaborate dress, she is only too happy to comply with the handsome young Duc who offers to relieve her overheated state. Their game of flirting of seduction continues throughout the vacation, offering Miranda a glimpse into a world of romance and passion never before suspected. By the time the Duc reveals himself to be a woman, they are equally smitten with one another. After the Duc’s revelation, it is Miranda who becomes the aggressor, pursuing the other woman beyond all sense of propriety, until they give in to their lust and cast all disguises aside. Naked, they are simply two women in love, free from the expectations of family and society, and free to be honest with themselves.
The character development in these stories is varied, with the narrators generally the best developed, and their lovers often nameless bodies with which to experiment. In some cases, that anonymity is part of the fantasy, and a key element of why the stories work so well. For me, however, it’s the stories with well-developed lovers (such as in Tight Lacing) that work best, introducing an element of romance to the sexual discovery. Kissing a girl is, unquestionably, delicious, but continuing to hold and caress her long afterward is delightful.
DISCLAIMER: This book was received from the publisher for the purpose of a review on Queer Magazine online.
With so many stories to choose from, I’d like to focus on three women who I feel best sum up the diversity of this collection. The first, Queen Adisa (of Inara Lavey’s Queen of Swords), is a woman under siege. She is feminine and attractive, but also every inch the warrior. She’s also a woman who hates her husband, and who is ready to sacrifice herself in battle, rather than bear the boorish King an heir. There’s a sense of resignation to her, a fatalism that’s sorrowful, yet also entirely understandable. When she seizes the moment and enters into a dalliance with her serving maid, the beautiful Lyra, her entire demeanour changes. For the first time, we see the woman beneath the Queen, the lover beneath the warrior – and she is someone to be admired. In this story, the love of another woman not only provides for self-expression, it provides for the redemption of an entire kingdom.
The second, the nameless narrator of Needs (by Farrah J. Phoenix), is a middle-aged divorcee, on the run from the demands of family and co-workers. Fed up with living for her family, with caring for others, she wants nothing more than to just get away and care for herself. When a beautiful stranger so completely captivates her interest on the beach, she is left trembling by the powerful draw of female sexuality. As her vacation draws to a close, that sun-silhouetted stranger is a memory that is never far from her mind, part of a fantasy of being wanted, of being desired, of being cared for. When the two finally meet again, this time on a crowded dance floor, it’s clear that fantasy is mutual. What follows is a night of sexual bliss, and emotional release, in which she finally lets go of the pains of her past, and opens herself to a new definition of love.
The last, Miranda (of K. Ann Karlsson’s Tight Lacing), is a proper young woman on holiday with family – both her own, and that of her fiancé. Uncomfortable in her tightly laced corset, oversized hat, and elaborate dress, she is only too happy to comply with the handsome young Duc who offers to relieve her overheated state. Their game of flirting of seduction continues throughout the vacation, offering Miranda a glimpse into a world of romance and passion never before suspected. By the time the Duc reveals himself to be a woman, they are equally smitten with one another. After the Duc’s revelation, it is Miranda who becomes the aggressor, pursuing the other woman beyond all sense of propriety, until they give in to their lust and cast all disguises aside. Naked, they are simply two women in love, free from the expectations of family and society, and free to be honest with themselves.
The character development in these stories is varied, with the narrators generally the best developed, and their lovers often nameless bodies with which to experiment. In some cases, that anonymity is part of the fantasy, and a key element of why the stories work so well. For me, however, it’s the stories with well-developed lovers (such as in Tight Lacing) that work best, introducing an element of romance to the sexual discovery. Kissing a girl is, unquestionably, delicious, but continuing to hold and caress her long afterward is delightful.
DISCLAIMER: This book was received from the publisher for the purpose of a review on Queer Magazine online.
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