2020-2021 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Never Too Late for Heroes (The Superheroines Collection)

Never Too Late for Heroes (The Superheroines Collection) by A.L. Brooks

A terrific premise of an aging super-hero cop and pals reluctantly retiring and fighting it every inch of the way, this book has some of the oddest, quirkiest, most wonderful characters! The book is well written and, having read other books by this author, one would be right in feeling she has really hit her stride. This book flows with the easy pacing of a confident writer.

https://amzn.to/3DVRaew

2020-2021 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Taming the Wind (Warrior Class #2)

Taming the Wind (Warrior Class #2) by S.L. Kassidy

A non-stop action fantasy/thriller/romance all wrapped up in goddess silk and gold. Clever juxtapositions of East and West cultures, and the love story between the two women is sexy, funny and tender, all at once. These are feisty ladies in control of their own destinies…ultimately if not initially. A good read, and seems like a gereat setup for the third book in the series.

https://amzn.to/30YadGn

2020-2021 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: The Road to Kalazad

The Road to Kalazad by K.L. Mitchell

This is a massively refreshing, if supremely quirky, fantasy storyline with a centaur and her girlfriend as the protagonists. Once one accepts the basic premise of the story, where otherness and difference combine to sweet resolution, the story is extremely well written. The dialog is hilarious, the characters well formed and the odyssey a non-stop travelogue of freaks, weirdoes and perfectly normal misfits. This is a true sleeper of a good book and deserves to be widely read as the clever metaphor it is.

https://amzn.to/3cQ2wEX

2020-2021 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Ensnared Hearts (Mistress#2)

Ensnared Hearts (Mistress#2) by Anna Stone

Whew---get OUT of here! This is the hottest, page-burning, libido-turning, mind-churning book submitted to this contest; the second place one is Stone’s OTHER book, Forever Theirs. The rest of y’all, just pack it in, go home, stick to your day job. Nothing and No One is Anna Stone!

https://amzn.to/3xp2xsU

2020-2021 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: The Only Female Cross-Dresser in Memphis and Other Stori

The Only Female Cross-Dresser in Memphis and Other Stories by Xequina Maria Berber

This collection is a most refreshing, poignant and smart group of Stories and re-imagined folk and fairy tales written from the point of view of, or focused on, lesbians. The themes are universal---getting unceremoniously dumped, jealousy, love, passion, sex and imagined and real selves facing a world of uncertain acceptance. But the heroines are magical, with each casting her fate to the winds of reality, each confronting life on its own terms with dignity and grace, or humor and wit. And some heroine remain untrusting but refusing to blame anyone as they try to hide from a life of fears and hurts with the simple and quiet resolve of one ambushed one too many times by the frivolous insensitivies of friends, lovers and strangers. A surprise volume of brilliance.

https://amzn.to/3cNPcRh