Treasure

by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Her sister’s bachelorette party is the highlight of a miserable year for Alexis Chambers, but once her bridesmaid’s dress is packed away, she’s back to coping with her life as a once popular athlete and violinist turned loner and the focus of her parents’ disappointment. She isn’t expecting much from her freshman year of college until she finds herself sharing a class with Treasure, the gorgeous stripper from her sister’s party.

Trisha Hamilton has finally gotten the credits and the money together to transfer to a four-year university. Between classes, studying, and her job as a stripper, she has little time for a social life, until she runs into the adorably shy baby butch from the club. Trisha can’t seem to hide her feelings for Alexis, even when Trisha discovers what she has been through, but will Alexis have the strength to be just as fearless about their new love?

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Contemporary, Lesbian, Queer, New Adult, Novella

106 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2014

About the author

After years of meddling in her friends’ love lives, Rebekah Weatherspoon turned to writing romance to get her fix. Raised in Southern New Hampshire, Rebekah Weatherspoon now lives in Southern California where she will remain forever because she hates moving.

Her BDSM romance At Her Feet won the Golden Crown Literary Award for erotic lesbian fiction. Her novella FIT (#1 in the FIT Trilogy) won the Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Erotica Novella, SATED (#3 in the FIT Trilogy) was nominated for the the Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Digital Erotic Romance and most recently SOUL TO KEEP VSS#3 won the 2017 Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ Erotica.

Her 2018 romantic comedy RAFE: A Buff Male Nanny received praise from both Entertainment Weekly and the New York Times. You can look for her most recent romantic comedy XENI : A Marriage of Inconvenience now, and a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, A COWBOY TO REMEMBER, late February 2020 from Kensington Books. In the meant time, you can find Rebekah and her books on twitter at @rdotspoon and her website www.rebekahweatherspoon.com,

Reviews

[chan ☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really need to learn to read synopses because i expected this to be a wild ride taking place all in one night. it was totally not that. but i’m very glad it wasn’t :)

it’s a new adult college romance full of sexy scenes and really sweet relationship development. for such a short story, it really felt satisfying in its conclusion. highly recommend if you’re looking for a sapphic story and black love!

[Karla Martínez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

me gustó mucho 🥺

[mina reads™️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLACK WOMEN IN LOVE ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Sex worker/sex positive
Real, beautiful communication
HAPPY ENDINGSSSSSSS

[Joc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alexis meets Treasure at a strip club while attending her sister's bachelorette party. They're both taken with each other but only meet again a little while later in a computer science class.

It's sweet and engaging. Even though it's a short read, it feels complete.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Sapphic romance and I thoroughly enjoyed the emphasis on postive representation of sex workers! It's needed! 3.5 Stars. CW: attempted suicide

Treasure is a book that I decided to read for Blackathon. It focuses on two characters, Alexis and Trisha and their budding romance after the two meet at a bachelorette party where Trisha strips. The two end up meeting again at the local college when they are both enrolled in a computer science class. One of the most endearing things about this romance was the innocence of their relationship. Neither character had been in a relationship so it was fun watching them figure out their own emotions and their definitions of what it meant to be in the relationship. While this book does not necessarily focus on either character coming out, there are some familial dynamics that are hard for Alexis to get past in regard to her sexuality and gender expression. Weatherspoon did an excellent job illustrating a positive perspective of sex work. There was a conflict involved; however, there was constant positive reinforcement and respect regarding those involved in sex work. There was a level of respect for those involved in sex work. This is definitely something I would love to see more of in romance books or I need to find more romance books that do this.

There were two aspects of this book that I didn't completely enjoy. The first involved some light petting that occurred between the two main characters while they were babysitting. Though it took place out of the sight of the children and no sexual climax was reached it still technically occurred while the children were in the same room. It was just a little awkward for me as a reader. Secondly, I did not enjoy the conflict resolution at all. Trisha had every right to handle the situation the way that she did. I thought it was fairly interesting the way that Alexis attempted to confront her parents. It didn't match the intense rift that was described earlier in the book between Alexis and her father so it felt weird when he simply moved on from the situation. I'm not saying that Alexis or Trisha shouldn't have gotten their happy ending, but I think there could be some misleading aspects regarding how bad the relationship is between Alexis and her father. I also wish that there could have been more exploration of Black women in computer science. It was a small, side conflict; however, I would have loved to see this developed more.

Overall, I thought that this book was sweet, endearing, and HOT (closets, bathrooms, oh my). This is my first Weatherspoon book so I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from her.

[Obsidian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trigger warning: Discussions surrounding suicide

This was a wonderful F/F Black romance. I needed this apparently. The characters of Alexis and Trisha are great. My only complaint is that this was way too short. 

"Treasure" follows 18 year old Alexis Chambers, who is out with her sister for her bachelorette party. The group decides to go to a strip club, and Alexis feels self conscious, until she sees a young woman named Treasure. Alexis is gay, but is still hesitant about that part of herself, and later on after getting a dance from Treasure, can't stop thinking about her. But when Alexis goes to a computer science class at her college, she's shocked to see Treasure there and finds out her real name is Trisha. From there the book follows them both as they try to see where things are going with them. 

The book switches back and forth between Alexis and Trisha. And the Alexis parts are heartbreaking at times. Her family (mostly her dad) trying to deal with her being a lesbian and her anxiety issues was hard to read about. I get how she felt like she needed to be perfect for her family, and how that started to weigh her down. I do wish at times that Weatherspoon had been more explicit about what went on with Alexis before she met Trisha. We got hints here and there, and then everything comes out and I needed time to sit with it. But the book pushes forward a bit too fast for a resolution. 

Trisha was great. I feel like we all need a Trisha in our lives. She was open and honest throughout this book and I loved how she walked away when she got disrespected. I wish we could all do this. 

The other characters in this book we follow the most are Trisha's mom, Alexis's parents, her sister, and her sister's friend Cinta. FYI, Cinta needed to get jumped. Full stop. 

The writing was wonderful and so was the flow. There's an easy back and forth between Trisha and Alexis's points of view. 

I liked the ending of this and how the situation with Alexis and Trisha is resolved and really wish we had gotten one more scene between them. The love scenes were great and there was no fade to black nonsense which I have seen in some LGBT romance novels. 

[Acqua · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Treasure is a sweet f/f romance following two young Black women who meet at a strip club.
Alexis is an 18-year-old college student trying to make sense of her life after a really rough year; she has ADHD and is a lesbian, which her family - especially her father - doesn't really approve of.
Trisha, aka Treasure, is 20 years old, a college student and a stripper, and finds herself in the same classes Alexis attends. Unlike Alexis, she is not from a rich family.

I loved Treasure. It's a cute, quick read in which the characters have chemistry, and there are not that many books around with positive portrayals of sex workers - it was great that in the end the main conflict didn't completely revolve around Trisha's job, too, and Alexis wasn't close-minded about it.
While for the most part I didn't love the writing, I thought the sex scenes were really well-written, and I liked how the relationship developed; that's what matters.
Also, as usual: novellas really are the best format for romance.

I really liked Alexis' character arc. She is a suicide attempt survivor, and in this story, we see her go from someone who doesn't really know what she wants and just goes along with what would please her overachieving, perfectionist parents, to a young woman who can stand up for herself.

This isn't a full five stars for me because of a few minor things, the main one being the fact that, while I loved Trisha, it stands out when in a dual PoV story one character has a fully developed arc and the other doesn't, not as much. Also, there were multiple occurrences of unintentionally aro/acephobic lines and I could have done without those.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading a young adult f/f book showing the perspectives of two young women of colour and their family dynamic dealing with their sexuality.

Both women are juniors in college, one comes from an upper class family (Alexis), and the other (Trisha) an underprivileged and single parent family. I really appreciated the author's well informed view and positive depiction of Trisha's autonomy and independency dancing at a strip club, paying her way through school and supporting her mother/siblings. The maturity level in the dialogue was a breath of fresh air in comparison to similar books depicting 18/20 year olds. As a result, although there is some angst, it's not overused to the degree of annoyance. It also tackles the topic of self-harm, so please be aware of this if this may be a trigger for you.

In short, this is a very enjoyable read that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys reading f/f romance.

[Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this!

The romance is between two Black gay girls, one of them works as a stripper to pay for college and stuff and the other one comes from a wealthy family and has had a sheltered life. She also has ADHD and takes medication for it, and she's figuring out her gender expression.

The characters and relationships were all very well developed and the whole book was sexy as hell. And I feel like the representation of sex work was well done, there was only some negativity coming off from the families but overall it was never frowned upon and it wasn't cause for drama.

TWs: mention of attempted suicide

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

What a delightful, sexy, thought provoking story. I loved both main characters, they were so very different, but seemed as if they would fit together perfectly. If only they could figure that out....

Speaking of fitting together, the erotic scenes in this story were blended in perfectly, not just randomly thrown in, and steamed up more than a page or two, yum ;)

Back to the characters. Treasure a.k.a Trisha, was indeed a ‘treasure’. She wasn't born into riches but chose to make the best of her situation, taking on a job many frowned upon, as a way to help out at home and pay for her studies.

Then we have the shy wee introverted Alexis, born into wealth, never wanting for anything, expected to excel, and constantly fearful of disappointing her family, more so her dreadful father. Her mother wasn't much support to her either; and I got the feeling that was because of said dreadful father/husband.

There were a lot of things that I really like about this story. The girls battling to 'come together' and their individual struggled to find their way in life. I love the way the author captured that wealth does not necessarily equal happiness, and appearances can often be deceiving.

The best way I can describe Rebekah's writing style is like a well balanced meal. At the end of it you feel totally satisfied, neither overfull (from too much detail) or hungry (from not enough).


Copy received from publisher via NetGalley
Bold Strokes Books - Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon

[Hannah B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yaaaas I really enjoyed this!! I just wanted it to be a bit longer since the third act maybe needed some more time to resolve. I loved that she was a stripper. Like god that private dance was SO HOT. Def not a fan of the Chekhov’s sex toys tho lmao. I’d also like to know if there’s a follow up for Q and Kami’s friend 👀

[lauraღ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trisha didn’t know when, but she knew one day she could love Alexis just from that look. She knew she could love Alexis easily.

This was adorable! Really sweet and low angst and just a really nice, sexy read. Tagging along for her sister's bachelorette party, Alexis first meets Trisha as Treasure, a stripper at the nightclub. They later meet when taking the same Computer Science class at college, and strike up a friendship, then a relationship. I loved the sex worker positivity, how adorable and shy Alexis was, and the fact that they're both relatively new at relationships. I'm not the biggest fan of new adult, and there were a couple times that they acted very young (especially during the conflict, which was a little annoying), but they're 20/18, so it made sense. The mental illness rep was meaningful and good, and also the way the book touched on their vastly different backgrounds. It's a novella, so there weren't any especially profound conversations here, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I usually enjoy rich/poor romances.

Very cute. I love reading about black girls in love. 🥺

Content warning: past suicide attempt.

[Norah Una Sumner · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The combination of a pretty choppy writing and trying to put too many things into a short story didn't result in the best thing ever. Nevertheless, both main characters were sweet and I liked them a lot, I just wish the writing and the overall plot were handled better.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. Rebekah Weatherspoon is one of my auto buy authors, and this novella didn't disappoint.

2016 reread: I enjoyed this even more than I did the first time. When I first read it, I was expecting another erotic romance like the rest of Rebekah Weatherspoon's books, and I didn't get New Adult as a genre at all. This is a perfect New Adult romance and I love it.

Full review here: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/treas...

[laura (bbliophile) · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were quite a few things I liked about this. I loved the very positive sex work rep, I liked the relationship, etc, but there were quite a few acephobic and ableist comments :/

[Luce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have only read a couple of Weatherspoon's short stories. I wanted to read one of her novels but guess this is really a novella? I enjoyed this book. I don't normally read novels in this age group 18-22 (new adults?). I'll definitely checkout another of her books.

[. (not active on this account stop adding me) · Rating 4 out of 5]

rep: black lesbian mc, black lesbian mc with ADHD

[X ✚ Black Magic Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a few years late to the party on this, but TREASURE was exactly the refresher I needed after a few naff reads.

If I had to sum this book up in one word, I'd call it real. It's so many more things than that, but what got to me was the reality and depth of the characters and their relationship, from the awkward to the sweet, from the hilarious to the heartbreaking, from the angsty to the sexual.

And I'm going to tell you right here, right now, that no matter your fucking orientation, Alexis and Trisha are your relationship goals. Full stop.



Alexis Chambers is eighteen, a new college freshman, and a baby butch lesbian who's never so much as kissed a girl, let alone had a girlfriend, but that doesn't stop her from knowing with certainty exactly how gay she is. Trisha Hamilton, aka Treasure, is a confident femme, twenty years old, and a stripper who's just earned her way into her first year studying for a degree in comp sci. The two meet at The Luxor Lounge, when Alexis's sister's bachelorette party turns into a borderline religious experience the moment Alexis sets eyes on Treasure and can't think about anything else. The two have one hell of an intimate moment in the VIP room, and it should be over at that.

Until it turns out that they're in the same class at university, and can't take their minds - or eyes - off each other.

Some might call this insta-love, but I'd call it more insta-crush, and that insta-crush packed in the emotion, taking off running and never letting up. The way Alexis and Trisha are with each other is so charming and sweet and guileless that it will take your breath away. This book gave me so many feels in such a short space that I don't even know how to begin describing them all, or the respect I felt for Weatherspoon as an author by the time I turned to the last page. I will say that it took me until about 75% to realize I'd been smiling the whole fucking time, because TREASURE was just that heartwarming, that funny, that utterly absorbing. The moment Alexis gets to know Trisha instead of Treasure, the two both start blooming in ways that make them come alive on the page.

Alexis is someone I relate to so deeply. She's scarred, mentally and physically, by the difficulties of anxiety and the legacy of a moment of desperation and hopelessness; as a young Black woman from a successful family she's under a great deal of pressure not just to uphold the legacy of A Certain Kind of Black Family, but to also face the problems that come with a community whose mental health needs are sorely underserved. As a suicide survivor myself, I deeply felt her struggles to not just reassert herself afterwards, but discover who she truly is and wants to be beneath the pressure of the expectations placed on her. From the strained and awkward family relationships affected by both her queerness and her mental health to her shyness and yet frank certainty in certain aspects of herself, Alexis was instantly likable and so absolutely sweet, especially when someone startled her into being wonderfully blunt. I also loved that in the story, she does see a therapist regularly. That's something that we don't always have access to, both in the Black and queer communities.

Trisha is the girl from the other side of the tracks, yet no matter what she did with her life you're never once given the impression that she did anything wrong or should be ashamed of the path she took. She's tough, but not hard; strong, but not emotionless. In fact, she constantly radiates such bright emotion that it's impossible not to be drawn into her complete confidence, which only makes her few moments of doubt and insecurity that much more heartfelt. Trisha has hustled her arse off her whole life to find her way and figure out her path, and her fearlessness and effusive warmth combine to make her someone I respected more and more with every page. And god, how she was with Alexis...the way she wanted to care for her, the way she worried over her, listened to her...it tugged at my heart every time.

Alexis and Trish own their labels as both Black women and lesbians with utter pride and knowledge of their own identities, while at the same time being complex individuals with variable whims and preferences, rather than checkboxes to fit a stereotype of a certain kind of lesbian. They evolve and grow throughout the course of the story; they're given room for uncertainty, rather than having to be model minorities. They make mistakes, they own those mistakes, they get up, they try again.

And it only made me adore them more.

Also?

You need a Laundromat movie date in your life. You just do. If you haven't sat on a Laundromat table and watched a horror film on a tablet while snuggling with your crush, I demand you remedy that post-haste.



I feel like if I start breaking down all the things that jumped out at me with this book, I'm going to ramble for ten pages. So I'm just going to bullet-list the things I loved.

***From the very start, this book portrays a lot of complex relationships between women, many positive and supportive; it doesn't just focus on the relationship between the heroines, but on their relationships with the other women in their lives. Mothers, sisters, friends - they're all given complexity, and even the ones who fuck up and do hurtful things are painted as human and not the caricatures sometimes found in stories in which the heroine(s) is/are perfect and pure but all other women are evil competition. There's none of that here. Just real relationships, even when they struggle. It reminded me a lot of the women from the Black side of my family; how even when they fought, they still came together and supported each other when no one else would.

***TREASURE is bold and unflinching in describing the beauty of Black women's bodies in unambiguous terms - terms that celebrate everything from thickness to curves to dark skin, while not pigeonholing into one specific type of "perfect" Black female body. Instead it gives room for Black women of various body types and with various traits to be beautiful as they are.

***This story is unabashedly sex-positive. There's no shaming strippers or sex workers in general. Alexis isn't jealous; she's not put off by the idea that Trisha is a stripper; Trisha isn't ashamed of her job. They're both wary of other people's judgment, but Alexis admires that Trisha is so good at her job, without crossing the line into fetishizing her for being a stripper. Sex work is one of the only jobs in the world where people are sneered at for being good at their jobs, but in TREASURE we see Trisha's work treated with respect and positivity.

***That sex-positivity also extends into their relationship with each other. They're frank, honest, and blunt about their desires, not afraid to fumble and be inexperienced, not afraid to ask for what they want and give guidance on what they like and how to do it right. There's no magically knowing how to have perfect sex. It's two people learning each other for the first time, finding out how they fit together, experimenting and testing so that when it's right, it really is right.

***The writing is so deeply authentic and demonstrates the importance of #ownvoices, from the experiences of Blackness from various perspectives to the WLW perspective to a certain sweet immaturity to the voice. Not that Weatherspoon's writing is immature; more that it has the maturity and sophistication to perfectly capture the voices of two girls who've only recently started to strike out as women on their own, until you don't notice the hands at work behind the curtain and only feel the strength and depth of character voices so appropriate for their ages, their emotions, their places in life, their experiences. There is no Blackness filtered through the white gaze; no youth filtered through the adult gaze. They're just who they are, and they're written wonderfully for that.

***There was an aching familiarity in that sense of recognizing someone else who's queer, someone who could be a friend, a confidante, well before you think about anything else. Someone who understands in ways most of the people around you don't. That friendship and kinship formed such a deep part of Alexis and Trisha's bond, making them friends before they were lovers, and only making the romance more believable, filling the spaces in between this warm, easy laughter that happened so often between them.

***I have aunties who are just like Trisha's Mom and just like Alexis's Mom, and I just fucking died every time they were on the page.

Weatherspoon doesn't flinch back from certain things, either. There's a Well, Actually Dude in the story, y'all. And yes, he's white. Alternately referred to as Zit-Face and Pimples, he comes barging in to school the womenfolk about things in tech and particularly about their teacher, and he should be thanking some deity for Trisha's world-weary patience, because clearly he has no idea how often Black women and Black folk in general rein ourselves in when someone comes sealioning into a conversation they were never invited into. I snickered every time he had his little offended dramas on the page. Though I snickered a lot of times; there are far too many hilarious moments to quote, but this had to be one of my favorites:

"God damn. Give me your phone." Quanisha snatched the thing out of her hand before she could say no.
"Alexis?" she asked, trying to confirm the contact on the screen.
"Yeah. That's her," Trisha replied. Quanisha's thumb was already flying across the screen. Then she tossed the phone back before Trisha could ask what she was typing.
Hey shawty. Wanna be my main chick?
"The fuck!"

Y'all, this is why I don't give my friends my phone. No. Nuh-uh. Hell naw. Not now, not ever. I don't trust those arseholes not to embarrass me, and 75% of my friends are straight-up Quanishas who have way too much ammunition if they want to show their arses with half my address book.

But as often as I laughed out loud, there were also moments when I sighed, reading with my eyes half-closed to just absorb the emotional intensity of the scene.

It had been a long time since she'd heard live violin music. The last time she'd been walking down Sunset with the K's, and a man had been playing for tourist dollars on the corner. There had been so much other noise; cars, people talking and shouting to each other, bus engines, and fake superheroes offering their pictures for ten bucks a pop. Hearing Alexis play was so different. In that tight space, the sound trapped by the fabric hanging around their heads and shoulders, Trisha felt like she was forced to absorb every note. She liked the way it felt. She didn't have Alexis's skill, but she had a voice. She picked up the verse in the right spot, and before she knew it, her eyes were closed, and she was singing along; not too loud, but in harmony with the notes Alexis was swishing off her bow. They worked well together.

Just. Sigh. Slow, deep, appreciative sigh.

Of course there had to be a speedbump to their happily ever after; in the end they had to work for it, grow from it, but while I hated that they fought, I loved what it showed of Trisha's character.

"I know. You didn't know how to speak up for me. Or shit, you didn't even think it was time to stick up for yourself. It just occurred to me that you are only going to nut up when you feel comfortable, but my life isn't comfortable like yours, and I need to be with someone who can handle shit when it doesn't come on a perfect platter. I want to be with someone who will stick up for me. I'm a really great stripper. And Cinta was right, I am fine as hell, but I'm fucking human, Lex. I have feelings, and when my girlfriend who claims to care about me so much can't say a peep in my defense, then maybe she's not the girlfriend for me. So are we done here?"

I already admired Trisha before this. But I loved her for being assertive in knowing her worth, knowing what she wants, knowing what she deserves. Though I honestly can't pick between Trisha and Alexis as far as favorite characters, so I'm just going to have to mark them as one of my favorite couples. They're amazing as people, amazing together, and this was an amazing book. If you're looking for a short read that will leave you smiling afterward, I'd highly recommend picking up TREASURE. It'll be worth your time, worth your money, and worth every minute you spend falling in love with Alexis and Trisha - while they fall in love with each other.

Visit Black Magic Reviews to hear an audio clip of a reading from this book - and find more reads and recommendations.

[K.J. Charles]

Oh, this was so sweet. Very lovely lesbian NA with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks working as a stripper, and one from a wealthy family trying to rebuild her self esteem and independence. Huggable characters, hot, and both MCs a lovely blend of strength and vulnerability. Big recommend.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very good.

Wonderful context and characters. Highly recommended.

[Margherita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute story and entertaining to read, but I think it needed to be longer to be fully fleshed out. Right now it feels a little superficial because we don't really see the characters interact much (in the meaningful ways, I mean).

Content warnings: sexual content, homophobia, acephobia, classism, mention of death of a parent, strained family relationships, bullying, alcohol, vomit, past suicide attempt, ableism.

[Ekene · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read. I was entertained

[Marzia · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was really cute and sweet but... sweet is not rlly my type. it's a me thing bc absolutely nothing's wrong with the book. it was quite enjoyable.

[M. Hollis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"They hadn't talked about being girlfriends or liking each other again, but by holding her hand, Alexis thought that Trisha was saying she wanted to be seen with her. Alexis had no idea what that felt like - to be wanted, to not be a source of embarrassment or shame - until that very moment."

Definitely one of the best and most adorable NA and F/F books out there with really nice smut. I loved the girls' relationship and how cute it was to see them texting each other and being so sweet together. Alexis having to deal with how her parents' pressure screwed up a lot of her life was such a relatable thing and it made me feel so good to read this on the page. Makes me feel less alone. I loved how Alexis's sister was always there for her, the siblings' relationship was also super nice to read.

I guess one of the few things that bothered me is that when the conflict happened I didn't see Trisha seeing Alexis's side of the problem. I totally understood why she was upset, but it felt a little weird to me. If Alexis needed to fight for her, maybe she should have made her feel more comfortable to do that.

Treasure is a book that I'd love to see turned into a movie. It just has the perfect balance of drama and romance that I want to see more in F/F media. Totally recommend it to everyone and hope more people pick this book out. And how great to find more lesbian fic for black women and by a black woman. Everyone should have stories for them in the LGBT+ community.

TW: mentions of self-harm and suicide attempt.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebekah Weatherspoon perfectly describes what it's like being young and being in a lesbian relationship for the first time. The story is short (36,900 words), but I tip my hat to the way she made things happen, especially the family drama.

Alexis is probably the cutest soft butch ever! I loved the fact that her first time with Trisha was clumsy. Their relationship was solid and they were mature enough to start something special, but I had a hard time believing that Alexis was 100% ok with Trisha’s job. The author made it clear – more than once – that she wasn’t the jealous type, but it sounded forced. Come on, her first girlfriend, who also happens to be her first real friend, is a stripper. A gorgeous, smart and sweet stripper. Everything in this scenario screams JEALOUSY. Am I being unreasonable?

One more thing… I really liked this story, but I have to admit that Rebekah’s choice of words can be a little off-putting. Here’s an example:

It got hot and stuffy in there, and it smelled like pussy but in that really good way.

Ha! Seriously? What the hell was that? What a way to ruin a perfect moment.

Ok, sorry.



*ARC provided by Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley.*

[Maëlys · Rating 3 out of 5]

✨3.5 / 5 ✨

The romance at the heart pf this book was so sweet and the author still managed to bring up important conversations.

Alexis has attempted to commit suicide and struggles with mental issues as well as feeling like she let her overbearing parents down. She used to be fairly popular at school but now she finds herself alone and without friends.

Trisha is a stripper who goes by the name of Treasure and has an unusual relationship with her mother. Even though their relationship was strained she still goes to help out her mother to take care of her foster siblings.

I liked the main characters both separately and together but ultimately because this was so short I did not feel super invested. But that’s definitely down to personal taste!

[Fadwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: Depression, mention of suicide, anxiety, ableist language

WAAAAAH!!!! THIS WAS SO CUTE AND GOOD AND AHHHH!!! *incoherent screams* Black women in love, sex worker positivity, sex positivity, realistic portrayals, ALL THE SWOON, CUTE AND SMUT... I just, this book just made my little heart happy.

It was a very quick read that I was able to finish in two sittings (while I was pretty busy) and that never failed to make me grin like an absolute fool.

MORE LIKE THIS PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!!!

The only downside to it was the use of ableist language!

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. I think Alexis is the cutest baby butch ever.

[Maf (Bookworm Wanders) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book twice in one week and both times I've given it 5 stars what more can i say

[Kexx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is this a short story? So many threads it could have been longer as major themes are touched upon but not expanded. Loved to have known more about the Main Characters. Recommended.