2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: A Touch of Temptation by Julie Blair (312-08-25-2016)

I loved this story. Strong characters, great emotion. I'll definitely recommend to everyone who reads lesbian romance.

A Touch of Temptation by Julie Blair
Lesbian Erotic Romance
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (May 17, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626394881
ISBN-13: 978-1626394889
Amazon: A Touch of Temptation
Amazon Kindle: A Touch of Temptation

Stanford law graduate Kate Dawson is focused on the future laid out for her—partnership in her family’s law firm and marriage. When she moves to a cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains to study for the bar exam, crossing paths with her intriguing neighbor leads to a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery that wasn’t part of the plan.

Landscaper and handsome butch top Chris Brent has a well-deserved reputation as a
considerate lover. Avoiding relationships with all their emotional messiness, she indulges in her favorite pastime at sex parties and with casual lovers. She enthusiastically agrees to initiate her cute neighbor to ways of sexual pleasure.

Sex was the deal. Falling in love ruins everything. Or does it?

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Shaken to the Core by Jae (201-07-24-2016)

1) Flawless in the writing style. The author brought turn of the century San Francisco alive in her descriptions of everything from the cable cars to the clothing worn by the characters. The characters themselves had a nice dimension to them, and the plot, while a tad predictable in places, kept me engaged throughout.

2) This is the type of book I always hope for but seldom get. The extremely strong plot centers on the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, which provides many exciting scenes, adventure, suspense, and character-building moments as well as a realistic and exciting evolution of the love story. The setting is a rich, detailed, and thoroughly-researched historical San Francisco. The characters are complex, very likable, and exquisitely detailed down to their different cultural backgrounds (one is an upper-class Anglo-Saxon American from a Victorian background, and one is a Catholic Sicilian immigrant). The writing style is clear, flowing, and beautifully descriptive. This is a great story.

Shaken to the Core by Jae
Lesbian Historical Romance
Paperback: 386 pages
Publisher: Ylva Verlag e.Kfr.; 1 edition (June 4, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 395533662X
ISBN-13: 978-3955336622
Amazon: Shaken to the Core
Amazon Kindle: Shaken to the Core

Kate Winthrop, the only child of a wealthy shipping magnate, has the course of her life charted for her by her parents. She’s expected to marry well and produce a successor to the Winthrop empire. But Kate has a very different path in mind. Her true passion lies with photography—and with women. Alone in the city after losing her brother, Sicilian immigrant Giuliana Russo starts working for the Winthrops as a maid. Despite their different social status, Kate and Giuliana become friends, much to the dismay of Kate’s parents. As the connection between the two women grows, a devastating earthquake hits San Francisco and ignites fires that sweep through the city for three days and nights. Will the disaster shatter their tentative feelings for each other, or will they find the courage to save each other’s lives—and their hearts? Join Kate and Giuliana on a journey of danger and discovery in the action-packed historical romance "Shaken to the Core", set against the backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Four Steps by Wendy Hudson (297-08-18-2016)

A complicated, slow-burning romance entwined with a hard-hitting thriller plot. Beautifully and masterfully done.

Four Steps by Wendy Hudson
Lesbian Romantic Suspence
Paperback: 364 pages
Publisher: Ylva Verlag e.Kfr.; 1 edition (August 21, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3955336905
ISBN-13: 978-3955336905
Amazon: Four Steps
Amazon Kindle: Four Steps

Alex Ryan lives a simple life. She has her farm in the Scottish countryside, and the self-imposed seclusion suits her until a crime that has haunted her for years tears through the calm and shatters the fragile peace she’d finally managed to find. Lori Hunter’s greatest love is the mountains. They’re her escape from the constant hustle and bustle of everyday life. Growing up was neither traditional nor easy for Lori, but now she’s beginning to realise she’s settled for both. A dead-end relationship and little to look forward to. Her solution when the suffocation sets in? Run for the hills. A chance encounter in the mountains of the Scottish Highlands leads Alex and Lori into a whirlwind of heartache and a fight for survival as they build a formidable bond that will be tested to its ultimate limits.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Digging up the Dead by V. Clifford (315-08-25-2016)

I enjoyed reading this book. I would have liked to read the others first but I was able to get a handle on the backstory quite easily. Writing style made the story flow nicely.

Digging up the Dead (A Viv Fraser Mystery) by V. Clifford
Bisexual Mystery / Thriller
Series: A Viv Fraser Mystery
Paperback: 266 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 30, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1518761321
ISBN-13: 978-1518761324
Amazon: Digging up the Dead (A Viv Fraser Mystery)
Amazon Kindle: Digging up the Dead (A Viv Fraser Mystery)

In Digging Up The Dead hairdresser, super-sleuth and resident of Scotland’s capital city Viv Fraser retreats to a cottage in the country for some well earned R&R. However, she soon discovers that walking the dog and staring out at so much green is bad for her health. When DI Marcus Marconi (Mac) arrives to tempt her with a case of unexpected bones on an archaeological site, she’s delighted to be given an excuse to use her intelligence and wit. Whilst on the case strange incidents occur; a stone tumbles from the chancel of Inchmaholm priory, their hotel room window is smashed, tyres are slashed and Viv is attacked. Were all of these events linked? And who was the intended victim? One case leads to another and Viv discovers that an unlikely link to her past has reared its head. Back home Viv has become an Auntie. Her glamorous sister Amanda’s life has flipped upside down, and she turns to Viv for help.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html