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Rogue #5
Rogue Passion
The political becomes intensely personal in these seven new romances, featuring characters who love as passionately as they resist...
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron
When a picture of Saylor Talbot at a protest goes viral, she's inundated with interview requests. She meets with journalist Echo Nguyen and sparks fly. They'll have to keep things above board until their professional relationship is over. But can they hold off until then?
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile
Sofia Bernal has lost everything. After dropping out of law school, she makes ends meet by working admissions at a stripclub near Wall Street. She's trying to pull herself together when a tipsy customer changes her life.
Rory Donovan is a small town boy in the big city. Working for a land developer was supposed to help him save his family's legacy. But when he's assigned a project that goes against his ethics, he goes into a downward spiral and winds up at a stripclub.
Can a passionate night help two strangers find answers to their troubles?
Nature's Heart by KD Fisher
Public-interest attorney Harry Walsh has dedicated his life to promoting environmental justice. He may be young but he refuses to give up in the face of a challenge.
Max Novak is exhausted. He's sick of the government's crappy environmental track record and he's pissed off that a proposed natural gas pipeline could wreak havoc on the land he loves.
Neither man can deny the chemistry between them, even if Harry knows a relationship with a client could prove disastrous for his career. As Harry and Max work to oppose the pipeline, both men worry they'll be unable to resist their attraction with nearly as much conviction.
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox
Frannie Thorpe is on the verge of getting everything she ever wanted, crowned by an exhibition of the work of a late queer photographer--until her funding is jeopardized by a would-be senator with an eye on slashing public funding for "pornography."
Ashley Patterson, Sampson's muse and erstwhile indie music darling, steps in to help close the funding gap. Working together creates sparks, but neither woman is prepared for the fire between them.
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett
Headmistress Regina Masterson has a problem bigger than the pay gap among her faculty. The new school dean, Phillip Young, is too good at both his job and turning her on. Working together to change a conservative school culture may be easier than resisting the man she hired. If they're not careful, Phillip may end up headmastering Regina all over her desk on their way to equal pay for equal work.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn
When opera student Jonas takes refuge from bullies in a record store, he gets more than just a place to hide. He discovers Troy, the handsome clerk he's been crushing on, is none other than the infamous Oak Leaf, whose "Love is Love" street art has been making waves. Troy invites Jonas on an adventurous subversive art installation, where sparks ignite as they question the role of art in the face of oppression.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey
Teacher Julie Chao never wanted to be an activist. But after a shooting at her school, she can't stay silent any longer. When a mysterious stranger offers advice on getting her message out, she takes it. But the man is clearly hiding something. They may have chemistry, but how can she trust him once she finds out who he really is?
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron
When a picture of Saylor Talbot at a protest goes viral, she's inundated with interview requests. She meets with journalist Echo Nguyen and sparks fly. They'll have to keep things above board until their professional relationship is over. But can they hold off until then?
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile
Sofia Bernal has lost everything. After dropping out of law school, she makes ends meet by working admissions at a stripclub near Wall Street. She's trying to pull herself together when a tipsy customer changes her life.
Rory Donovan is a small town boy in the big city. Working for a land developer was supposed to help him save his family's legacy. But when he's assigned a project that goes against his ethics, he goes into a downward spiral and winds up at a stripclub.
Can a passionate night help two strangers find answers to their troubles?
Nature's Heart by KD Fisher
Public-interest attorney Harry Walsh has dedicated his life to promoting environmental justice. He may be young but he refuses to give up in the face of a challenge.
Max Novak is exhausted. He's sick of the government's crappy environmental track record and he's pissed off that a proposed natural gas pipeline could wreak havoc on the land he loves.
Neither man can deny the chemistry between them, even if Harry knows a relationship with a client could prove disastrous for his career. As Harry and Max work to oppose the pipeline, both men worry they'll be unable to resist their attraction with nearly as much conviction.
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox
Frannie Thorpe is on the verge of getting everything she ever wanted, crowned by an exhibition of the work of a late queer photographer--until her funding is jeopardized by a would-be senator with an eye on slashing public funding for "pornography."
Ashley Patterson, Sampson's muse and erstwhile indie music darling, steps in to help close the funding gap. Working together creates sparks, but neither woman is prepared for the fire between them.
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett
Headmistress Regina Masterson has a problem bigger than the pay gap among her faculty. The new school dean, Phillip Young, is too good at both his job and turning her on. Working together to change a conservative school culture may be easier than resisting the man she hired. If they're not careful, Phillip may end up headmastering Regina all over her desk on their way to equal pay for equal work.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn
When opera student Jonas takes refuge from bullies in a record store, he gets more than just a place to hide. He discovers Troy, the handsome clerk he's been crushing on, is none other than the infamous Oak Leaf, whose "Love is Love" street art has been making waves. Troy invites Jonas on an adventurous subversive art installation, where sparks ignite as they question the role of art in the face of oppression.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey
Teacher Julie Chao never wanted to be an activist. But after a shooting at her school, she can't stay silent any longer. When a mysterious stranger offers advice on getting her message out, she takes it. But the man is clearly hiding something. They may have chemistry, but how can she trust him once she finds out who he really is?
386 pages, Paperback
First published July 20, 2018
3 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Chelsea M. Cameron
113 books4,887 followersChelsea M. Cameron is a New York Times/USA Today/Internationally Best Selling author from Maine who now lives and works in Boston. She's a red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, former cheerleader, and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, eating brunch in bed, tweeting, and playing fetch with her cat, Sassenach. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 28, 2020
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron 2/5 stars
This was fine, but the ethical stuff REALLY bothered me, as it always does. If you are going to introduce conflicts of interest and problematic ethical relationship boundaries, and actually emphasize them in your work, I need a lot of work done to overcome that for me to find the resolution of the romance believable and/or okay. I did not think this work was adequately done.
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile, 3/5 stars
This never got above nice for me, due to length, but it was nice to read and that is valuable.
Read for The Ripped Bodice Bingo 2020 square: Their nose was broken once but it only made them more handsome
Nature's Heart by KD Fisher, 2/5 stars
Again with the ethical issues! This one does wait until after the resolution of the conflict to actually develop a relationship, but still. I realize this is my own personal issue.
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox, 4/5 stars
This was very good! I liked the dynamic and the issue and it worked for me.
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett, 3/5 stars
This was nice and spicy and I was into it. Also features an ethical conflict, one that is gotten out of neatly, so thank you for that.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn, 3/5 stars
Quietly nice.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey, 3/5 stars
I want to give this four stars because I liked it a lot, but I can't get the nagging suspicion out of my mind that gun violence is the only thing that the heroine and hero agree on--he doesn't really make a point of giving up any other Republican ideology. So it's only getting three instead.
This was fine, but the ethical stuff REALLY bothered me, as it always does. If you are going to introduce conflicts of interest and problematic ethical relationship boundaries, and actually emphasize them in your work, I need a lot of work done to overcome that for me to find the resolution of the romance believable and/or okay. I did not think this work was adequately done.
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile, 3/5 stars
This never got above nice for me, due to length, but it was nice to read and that is valuable.
Read for The Ripped Bodice Bingo 2020 square: Their nose was broken once but it only made them more handsome
Nature's Heart by KD Fisher, 2/5 stars
Again with the ethical issues! This one does wait until after the resolution of the conflict to actually develop a relationship, but still. I realize this is my own personal issue.
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox, 4/5 stars
This was very good! I liked the dynamic and the issue and it worked for me.
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett, 3/5 stars
This was nice and spicy and I was into it. Also features an ethical conflict, one that is gotten out of neatly, so thank you for that.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn, 3/5 stars
Quietly nice.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey, 3/5 stars
I want to give this four stars because I liked it a lot, but I can't get the nagging suspicion out of my mind that gun violence is the only thing that the heroine and hero agree on--he doesn't really make a point of giving up any other Republican ideology. So it's only getting three instead.
July 18, 2018
I loved these stories! They dealt with different parts of resisting. This included protesting, working inside the government to try and change policies and representatives, and by using art to challenge people’s thinking. I liked that most of the stories had older characters, in their late twenties and thirties, and it was nice to see the reassurance that if you’re interested in romantic relationships you don’t need to find someone in your early twenties. You can wait.
Most follow an insta-like trope but didn’t push it to an extent that I disliked.
I was thrilled when I was accepted for this ARC because I recognized one of the authors that wrote a story for this anthology and it let me discover new authors that I had never known about, and some I had only ever seen through posts on twitter.
These stories will be reviewed in the order of wlw, mlm, and finally m/f romances instead of the order they appear in the anthology.
Spoilers mostly during the Taking Aim review, which has been hidden.
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron is the first story in the anthology and is a fluffy wlw short. I am very familiar with their other wlw stories and they did not disappoint with how much fluff they put in this story. I adored Saylor and her awkwardness around Echo as soon as she sees her that continued even as they were getting to know each other. The protesting aspect was nice to read about and the author made sure the subject wasn’t too heavy to handle for a short story, throwing in some comedy relief as Saylor was reliving the protest for the interview.
The only POC in this story is Echo, who is an Asian American.
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox was probably my favorite story out of the entire anthology. This author is new to me and I’m definitely going to be checking out the rest of their work. This is the second and last wlw story and features a museum coordinator, Frannie, who has acquired photographs of a deceased nonbinary artist to host and the artist’s muse, Ashley. Ashley is a singer doing solo work. She’s southern and fat and absolutely loves her body. I loved her. The relationship seemed to happen very naturally and we switch between the two’s POVs and the mutual pining was cute.
The story brought up not only museums and art galleries getting their budgets cut by sponsors pulling out and relying on government funding to support the art programs, but it talks about how difficult it is for nonbinary and trans people to go to a hospital and not feel safe enough to talk about your gender or lack thereof.
Nature’s Heart by KD Fisher is a mlm story with one character working as a public interest attorney and the other is a part of the environmental coalition that Harry is representing. This story was another fantastic read and didn’t deal with any homomisia, even if one of the characters lived in what seemed to be a small town. This romance seemed more realistic than a few of the other stories, even adding in a time skip so the characters aren’t dating within a short amount of time. The epilogue was a nice touch and I enjoyed Max as a character.
There was a side character who is a wlw with a mentioned girlfriend! Both male characters are proclaimed gay.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn is the second and last mlm story in the anthology, with the two characters in college. This deals with the #MeToo movement as one is a survivor and has homomisia in the first few pages. I liked reading the two of them work things out and give each other the motivation to do things no matter if it’s hard to do, such as supporting Jonas speaking out about his harasser or Troy going through with his ‘Love is Love’ art installation.
The only problem I had with this story is the Love is Love movement, which I personally have issues with as it excludes aromantics and I am on that spectrum.
Both main characters are proclaimed gay.
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile is an incredible m/f romance. Sofia works in a strip club and she meets Rory who works at a company that gentrifies land and was having doubts about making people move away from the only homes they’ve ever known. I liked how the author discussed dropping out of college despite having an opportunity to be something more to support your family financially makes you afraid of changing your life or even trying to get out.
Sofia is a POC.
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett is a m/f short story where the two main characters work in a private high school. It’s a nice story of instalust between a white headmistress and her black dean who work together to get equal pay for equal work accepted at the school. This is the only story with a m/f romance who talk about the queer community as the headmistress realizes mostly straight white cis men are the ones who get paid the most. There is a moment where a side character says a racist comment about Phillip and Regina being together, but she realizes her mistake and apologizes for it.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey is a m/f romance and the last story in the anthology. I really liked this story to begin with, but the ending made me a little uncomfortable as a queer reader. I liked this story for dealing with your representative directly as the heroine waited in front of her rep’s building alone for weeks only to be ignored after she was in a school shooting. This leads to her becoming a protesting heroine, taking reluctant charge after getting the confidence from the story’s hero, and soon finds herself running for her state’s legislature.
Most follow an insta-like trope but didn’t push it to an extent that I disliked.
I was thrilled when I was accepted for this ARC because I recognized one of the authors that wrote a story for this anthology and it let me discover new authors that I had never known about, and some I had only ever seen through posts on twitter.
These stories will be reviewed in the order of wlw, mlm, and finally m/f romances instead of the order they appear in the anthology.
Spoilers mostly during the Taking Aim review, which has been hidden.
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron is the first story in the anthology and is a fluffy wlw short. I am very familiar with their other wlw stories and they did not disappoint with how much fluff they put in this story. I adored Saylor and her awkwardness around Echo as soon as she sees her that continued even as they were getting to know each other. The protesting aspect was nice to read about and the author made sure the subject wasn’t too heavy to handle for a short story, throwing in some comedy relief as Saylor was reliving the protest for the interview.
The only POC in this story is Echo, who is an Asian American.
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox was probably my favorite story out of the entire anthology. This author is new to me and I’m definitely going to be checking out the rest of their work. This is the second and last wlw story and features a museum coordinator, Frannie, who has acquired photographs of a deceased nonbinary artist to host and the artist’s muse, Ashley. Ashley is a singer doing solo work. She’s southern and fat and absolutely loves her body. I loved her. The relationship seemed to happen very naturally and we switch between the two’s POVs and the mutual pining was cute.
The story brought up not only museums and art galleries getting their budgets cut by sponsors pulling out and relying on government funding to support the art programs, but it talks about how difficult it is for nonbinary and trans people to go to a hospital and not feel safe enough to talk about your gender or lack thereof.
Nature’s Heart by KD Fisher is a mlm story with one character working as a public interest attorney and the other is a part of the environmental coalition that Harry is representing. This story was another fantastic read and didn’t deal with any homomisia, even if one of the characters lived in what seemed to be a small town. This romance seemed more realistic than a few of the other stories, even adding in a time skip so the characters aren’t dating within a short amount of time. The epilogue was a nice touch and I enjoyed Max as a character.
There was a side character who is a wlw with a mentioned girlfriend! Both male characters are proclaimed gay.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn is the second and last mlm story in the anthology, with the two characters in college. This deals with the #MeToo movement as one is a survivor and has homomisia in the first few pages. I liked reading the two of them work things out and give each other the motivation to do things no matter if it’s hard to do, such as supporting Jonas speaking out about his harasser or Troy going through with his ‘Love is Love’ art installation.
The only problem I had with this story is the Love is Love movement, which I personally have issues with as it excludes aromantics and I am on that spectrum.
Both main characters are proclaimed gay.
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile is an incredible m/f romance. Sofia works in a strip club and she meets Rory who works at a company that gentrifies land and was having doubts about making people move away from the only homes they’ve ever known. I liked how the author discussed dropping out of college despite having an opportunity to be something more to support your family financially makes you afraid of changing your life or even trying to get out.
Sofia is a POC.
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett is a m/f short story where the two main characters work in a private high school. It’s a nice story of instalust between a white headmistress and her black dean who work together to get equal pay for equal work accepted at the school. This is the only story with a m/f romance who talk about the queer community as the headmistress realizes mostly straight white cis men are the ones who get paid the most. There is a moment where a side character says a racist comment about Phillip and Regina being together, but she realizes her mistake and apologizes for it.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey is a m/f romance and the last story in the anthology. I really liked this story to begin with, but the ending made me a little uncomfortable as a queer reader. I liked this story for dealing with your representative directly as the heroine waited in front of her rep’s building alone for weeks only to be ignored after she was in a school shooting. This leads to her becoming a protesting heroine, taking reluctant charge after getting the confidence from the story’s hero, and soon finds herself running for her state’s legislature.
August 21, 2024
This anthology was a miss, with the exception of Sionna Fox’s Fight Fire with Fire. Truly excellent. The majority of the stories feature some kind of professional ethics violation, which is always a struggle for me, particularly when characters don’t truly wrestle with the implications. Even then, some relationships should never happen in certain contexts. If you’re someone who doesn’t have strong feelings about that or wants the taboo nature of it all, then they might work better for you.
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron: DNF
Writing style isn’t working for me and I don’t have faith in how this will handle the professional ethics.
Content notes: alcohol
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile: 2 stars
This felt incomplete, more like a prequel than a full short story with barely any characterization. I’m also not sure where the theme of activism comes in since Rory hasn’t come up with a plan on his own or even started to do anything about his self-inflicted conundrum. I just don’t have much sympathy for him, nor do I understand why Sofia would want to hook up with him after he shared the real reason he’s in town. Also there were so many typos, to the point where I wondered if anyone had edited it.
Characters: Sofia is a 25 year old strip club receptionist with brown skin. Rory is a 25 year old white land developer. This is set in NYC.
Content notes: gentrification, mugging, sexism, infidelity (MMC’s boss is cheating on his wife), past death of FMC’s father (very unclear in the story itself and only confirmed by the blurb), MMC’s mother was a stripper, on page sex, alcohol, inebriation, day drinking, gendered pejoratives
Nature's Heart by KD Fisher: DNF
Harry is a lawyer and Max is part of the coalition he’s representing and yet when Max asks if he can kiss him, he immediately says yes and only after the kiss ends does he remember that Max is a client and that is a major no-no. Truly unbelievable. I doubt he’s going to recuse himself from the case but he should. Also Harry says he finished law school four years ago but he appears to be 27 which would mean he finished law school at 23. Is he some sort of Doogie Howser of lawyers??
Characters: Harry is a 27 year old gay white public interest attorney. Max is a gay climate and energy manager.
Content notes: professional ethics violation (lawyer kisses client), environmental racism, past vandalism, gendered pejoratives
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox: 5 stars
I loved this! The art aspect somewhat reminded me of Kris Ripper’s Fail Seven Times, except in this case Ashley was the deceased photographer’s muse and best friend. Frannie is putting on an exhibit of the work when a bigoted politician tries to claim the photos are porn and goes after public art funding. Frannie and Ashley banding together to fight back was legit inspiring. It’s a one night stand to something more situation and I really enjoyed how everything resolved.
Characters: Frannie is a white butch lesbian art museum Special Exhibitions director who wears glasses and is in her 40s. Ashley is a 37 year old fat white queer femme singer and muse. This is set somewhere in the Midwest.
Content notes: homophobia, bigoted political attack, past death of best friend/nonbinary artist (untreated pneumonia due to fear of medical transphobia), past depression, past rejection by transphobic family (deceased friend), on page sex, ableist language
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett: DNF
Nope. Can’t do it. A headmistress should not sleep with the dean. That is such a clearcut guideline and they’re blatantly breaking the rule, in her office no less. They were aggressively horny for each other in a way that made me uncomfortable…it felt fetishizing (which could quickly go in a bad direction since this is an interracial relationship). Regina deserves to be fired, which is a shame because their cause of getting equal pay for everyone is a good one.
Characters: Regina is a white school headmistress. Phillip is a Black school dean who wears glasses.
Content notes: professional ethics violation (FMC is MMC’s boss and they have sex), past harassment of students and teachers by other teachers, past inebriation
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn: DNF
I can’t buy a “running away from homophobic frat members and ducking into the record store where you work” meet cute, at least not from a woman writing MM romance.
Characters: Jonas is a gay opera student. Troy is a record store clerk and studio art student.
Content notes: attempted homophobic violence, homophobia, ableism, past sexual harassment by professor, inebriation (secondary characters), ableist language, gendered pejorative
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey: 1 star
There's no way to discuss this without spoilers since Eli’s intentionally withholds his identity from Julie.
Characters: Julie is a “half-Asian” teacher. (Her paternal grandparents immigrated from China but there’s no mention of her mother’s race/ethnicity.) Eli is a white who wears glasses.
Content notes: gun control activism, recent school shooting (7 teachers and students were wounded), FMC’s grandparents fled China during the Cultural Revolution, dubious consent (MMC is not honest about his identity before they have sex), on page sex, reference to representative’s past sex scandal
*Love it or Leighve it* (aka cleaning out my Kindle)
Purchased: 2020
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron: DNF
Writing style isn’t working for me and I don’t have faith in how this will handle the professional ethics.
Content notes: alcohol
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile: 2 stars
This felt incomplete, more like a prequel than a full short story with barely any characterization. I’m also not sure where the theme of activism comes in since Rory hasn’t come up with a plan on his own or even started to do anything about his self-inflicted conundrum. I just don’t have much sympathy for him, nor do I understand why Sofia would want to hook up with him after he shared the real reason he’s in town. Also there were so many typos, to the point where I wondered if anyone had edited it.
Characters: Sofia is a 25 year old strip club receptionist with brown skin. Rory is a 25 year old white land developer. This is set in NYC.
Content notes: gentrification, mugging, sexism, infidelity (MMC’s boss is cheating on his wife), past death of FMC’s father (very unclear in the story itself and only confirmed by the blurb), MMC’s mother was a stripper, on page sex, alcohol, inebriation, day drinking, gendered pejoratives
Nature's Heart by KD Fisher: DNF
Harry is a lawyer and Max is part of the coalition he’s representing and yet when Max asks if he can kiss him, he immediately says yes and only after the kiss ends does he remember that Max is a client and that is a major no-no. Truly unbelievable. I doubt he’s going to recuse himself from the case but he should. Also Harry says he finished law school four years ago but he appears to be 27 which would mean he finished law school at 23. Is he some sort of Doogie Howser of lawyers??
Characters: Harry is a 27 year old gay white public interest attorney. Max is a gay climate and energy manager.
Content notes: professional ethics violation (lawyer kisses client), environmental racism, past vandalism, gendered pejoratives
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox: 5 stars
I loved this! The art aspect somewhat reminded me of Kris Ripper’s Fail Seven Times, except in this case Ashley was the deceased photographer’s muse and best friend. Frannie is putting on an exhibit of the work when a bigoted politician tries to claim the photos are porn and goes after public art funding. Frannie and Ashley banding together to fight back was legit inspiring. It’s a one night stand to something more situation and I really enjoyed how everything resolved.
Characters: Frannie is a white butch lesbian art museum Special Exhibitions director who wears glasses and is in her 40s. Ashley is a 37 year old fat white queer femme singer and muse. This is set somewhere in the Midwest.
Content notes: homophobia, bigoted political attack, past death of best friend/nonbinary artist (untreated pneumonia due to fear of medical transphobia), past depression, past rejection by transphobic family (deceased friend), on page sex, ableist language
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett: DNF
Nope. Can’t do it. A headmistress should not sleep with the dean. That is such a clearcut guideline and they’re blatantly breaking the rule, in her office no less. They were aggressively horny for each other in a way that made me uncomfortable…it felt fetishizing (which could quickly go in a bad direction since this is an interracial relationship). Regina deserves to be fired, which is a shame because their cause of getting equal pay for everyone is a good one.
Characters: Regina is a white school headmistress. Phillip is a Black school dean who wears glasses.
Content notes: professional ethics violation (FMC is MMC’s boss and they have sex), past harassment of students and teachers by other teachers, past inebriation
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn: DNF
I can’t buy a “running away from homophobic frat members and ducking into the record store where you work” meet cute, at least not from a woman writing MM romance.
Characters: Jonas is a gay opera student. Troy is a record store clerk and studio art student.
Content notes: attempted homophobic violence, homophobia, ableism, past sexual harassment by professor, inebriation (secondary characters), ableist language, gendered pejorative
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey: 1 star
There's no way to discuss this without spoilers since Eli’s intentionally withholds his identity from Julie.
Characters: Julie is a “half-Asian” teacher. (Her paternal grandparents immigrated from China but there’s no mention of her mother’s race/ethnicity.) Eli is a white who wears glasses.
Content notes: gun control activism, recent school shooting (7 teachers and students were wounded), FMC’s grandparents fled China during the Cultural Revolution, dubious consent (MMC is not honest about his identity before they have sex), on page sex, reference to representative’s past sex scandal
*Love it or Leighve it* (aka cleaning out my Kindle)
Purchased: 2020
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July 7, 2018This collection of romances is a mixed bag, as most anthologies are. My experience of this book was more dramatically split than with prior anthologies in this series. There was one story I thought was amazingly wonderful, three stories I adored, and three that really didn’t work for me.
Read my full review on my blog.
Content Warnings
Read my full review on my blog.
Content Warnings
August 25, 2018
*I received this as an e-ARC. All opinions are my own.
Rogue Passion combines activism/fighting for what you believe in with romance. There are 7 short stories, each broken up into chapters/parts.
And now, my individual ratings for each story:
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron - 3.75/5 stars - God bless Chelsea for writing such sweet f/f romance. It felt a tad rushed at the end, but still an overall solid beginning to the anthology!
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile - 2.5/5 stars - M/F. Sex on page. It was an interesting setting for a story based on activism. I personally would've rather had a more definitive ending relating to the theme of resistance but it was fine.
Nature's Kiss by KD Fisher - 3/5 stars - M/M. Sex on page (it is only a small portion of the short story). It was cute and very funny in parts, however the structure felt kinda fanfiction-y (gruff blond man and shy brown haired man). Could've been shorter as .
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox - 4/5 - F/F. Sex on page. Highly enjoyed it. Loved having clearly older women than normal for a romance novel (late 30s - early 40s) fall for each other and have a romance. And there was an enby side character !!!
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett - 2.5/5 - M/F. Sex on page. Liked this one the least. It was almost comical how much the two characters wanted to have sex with each other.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn - 4/5 - M/M. Sex on page (not a lot though). Probably my favorite out of all of them. Felt like it had a lot of focus on the activism part compared to some of the others. It was cute and sweet and fluffy. It hit me in a way I wasn't expecting.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey - 4/5 - M/F. Sex on page. Again, had a lot more focus on the activism compared to others. I flt liek I was rooting for this protagonist more than others as well.
Overall, I was surprised at the amount of NSFW content. I requested this arc expecting these to be SFW romances (however, I suppose in the publishing world, "passion" and "romance" and big flashing neon signs for "HERE THERE BE SEX"). Therefore, I unwittingly ended up reading these for the plot and often skipped the sex scenes.
Despite that, there are way more stories I liked than I didn't, which is an accomplishment for me.
Rogue Passion combines activism/fighting for what you believe in with romance. There are 7 short stories, each broken up into chapters/parts.
And now, my individual ratings for each story:
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron - 3.75/5 stars - God bless Chelsea for writing such sweet f/f romance. It felt a tad rushed at the end, but still an overall solid beginning to the anthology!
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile - 2.5/5 stars - M/F. Sex on page. It was an interesting setting for a story based on activism. I personally would've rather had a more definitive ending relating to the theme of resistance but it was fine.
Nature's Kiss by KD Fisher - 3/5 stars - M/M. Sex on page (it is only a small portion of the short story). It was cute and very funny in parts, however the structure felt kinda fanfiction-y (gruff blond man and shy brown haired man). Could've been shorter as .
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox - 4/5 - F/F. Sex on page. Highly enjoyed it. Loved having clearly older women than normal for a romance novel (late 30s - early 40s) fall for each other and have a romance. And there was an enby side character !!!
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett - 2.5/5 - M/F. Sex on page. Liked this one the least. It was almost comical how much the two characters wanted to have sex with each other.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn - 4/5 - M/M. Sex on page (not a lot though). Probably my favorite out of all of them. Felt like it had a lot of focus on the activism part compared to some of the others. It was cute and sweet and fluffy. It hit me in a way I wasn't expecting.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey - 4/5 - M/F. Sex on page. Again, had a lot more focus on the activism compared to others. I flt liek I was rooting for this protagonist more than others as well.
Overall, I was surprised at the amount of NSFW content. I requested this arc expecting these to be SFW romances (however, I suppose in the publishing world, "passion" and "romance" and big flashing neon signs for "HERE THERE BE SEX"). Therefore, I unwittingly ended up reading these for the plot and often skipped the sex scenes.
Despite that, there are way more stories I liked than I didn't, which is an accomplishment for me.
July 18, 2018
The political becomes intensely personal in these seven new romances, featuring characters who love as passionately as they resist… (my thoughts on each in purple)
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron
This one was very sweet. I was happily surprised to see that the first story in the anthology was a F/F. Echo and Saylor are “sparks flying all over” but when things started to move towards a relationship, the story abruptly ended. I was expecting some more drama around the article issue.
*************
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile
Sigh… a little too expected, I think. And very much open ended. Felt just a little shy of complete, and I don’t need a closed ending, just a bit more towards solidifying a relationship. Recognition isn’t enough.
*************
Nature’s Heart by KD Fisher
Harry and Max are adorable. I absolutely love the premise, the slow burn of their love story, the fickle nature to Max (which proves to be not so fickle).
*************
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox
This was faaaantastic. I loved the premise and the way gender-neutral pronouns was introduced. I was a bit confused at first, but the second and third time it was used, it just clicked for me. This one really went all out with tackling social issues, and the incorporation of body image was great.
*************
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett
Equal pay, people. It’s important. That was very sexy and inspiring. Sometimes fighting for what’s right, even using a clever manipulation (which is genuinely true) is okay in my book. The only thing I didn’t feel was appropriate is the title. Should’ve been Schooling Them,
*************
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn
My favorite of the anthology, for sure. Jonas and Troy are perfect. Their meeting, their night, their morning – the whole damn thing is adorable and fitting. Loved it.
*************
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey
Sigh… I wish there were more resolutions like in Julie and Eli’s story. Eli’s decision at the end is what we all hope to happen IRL these days. Very important message here, for sure. Beautifully written, too.
*************
Over all this anthology gets 4.5 Stars
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron
This one was very sweet. I was happily surprised to see that the first story in the anthology was a F/F. Echo and Saylor are “sparks flying all over” but when things started to move towards a relationship, the story abruptly ended. I was expecting some more drama around the article issue.
*************
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile
Sigh… a little too expected, I think. And very much open ended. Felt just a little shy of complete, and I don’t need a closed ending, just a bit more towards solidifying a relationship. Recognition isn’t enough.
*************
Nature’s Heart by KD Fisher
Harry and Max are adorable. I absolutely love the premise, the slow burn of their love story, the fickle nature to Max (which proves to be not so fickle).
*************
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox
This was faaaantastic. I loved the premise and the way gender-neutral pronouns was introduced. I was a bit confused at first, but the second and third time it was used, it just clicked for me. This one really went all out with tackling social issues, and the incorporation of body image was great.
*************
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett
Equal pay, people. It’s important. That was very sexy and inspiring. Sometimes fighting for what’s right, even using a clever manipulation (which is genuinely true) is okay in my book. The only thing I didn’t feel was appropriate is the title. Should’ve been Schooling Them,
*************
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn
My favorite of the anthology, for sure. Jonas and Troy are perfect. Their meeting, their night, their morning – the whole damn thing is adorable and fitting. Loved it.
*************
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey
Sigh… I wish there were more resolutions like in Julie and Eli’s story. Eli’s decision at the end is what we all hope to happen IRL these days. Very important message here, for sure. Beautifully written, too.
*************
Over all this anthology gets 4.5 Stars
July 9, 2020
The Girl in the Picture by Chelsea M. Cameron
A sweet f/f story. Journalist and activist.
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile
m/f. Sweet and a bit hopeful, ends with a HFN, and potential for more.
Nature's Heart by KD Fisher
Lovely m/m romance. Liked that one hero was super-smart and had some serious anxiety issues, it made him more interesting and relatable.
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox
So good. Lots of passion - for art, for queer people and between two great women. I just loved this story and all the feels it came with.
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett
Good chemistry and a workplace romance, my favorite. With politically aware protagonists and lots of intellectual passion too. Really good.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn
So very good. The two heroes are really interesting, complex people. Their passion and hope is so touching. Made me all sniffly. I would v much like to read more about these two.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey
Powerful and hopeful. Really good story.
Bought from kindle.
A sweet f/f story. Journalist and activist.
The Suit and the Doll by Zoey Castile
m/f. Sweet and a bit hopeful, ends with a HFN, and potential for more.
Nature's Heart by KD Fisher
Lovely m/m romance. Liked that one hero was super-smart and had some serious anxiety issues, it made him more interesting and relatable.
Fight Fire with Fire by Sionna Fox
So good. Lots of passion - for art, for queer people and between two great women. I just loved this story and all the feels it came with.
Schooling Her by Robin Lovett
Good chemistry and a workplace romance, my favorite. With politically aware protagonists and lots of intellectual passion too. Really good.
A Safe Place by Rebecca Vaughn
So very good. The two heroes are really interesting, complex people. Their passion and hope is so touching. Made me all sniffly. I would v much like to read more about these two.
Taking Aim by Jeanette Grey
Powerful and hopeful. Really good story.
Bought from kindle.
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