The Ones You Love by Katerina Degratte
Cat Johnson needs a break. With her former lover dead and her beloved pet giant-sized, the beleaguered game-store clerk desperately seeks some way to return to normal life. But with her special-needs brother moving in and an old enemy looking to eliminate her, the geek-girl’s stressors might just be fatal.
Forced to meet with a man she knows she can’t trust, Cat chases down leads to undoing the genetic manipulation of her feline friend. But when her sibling starts acting suspiciously and someone tries to kill her, the sharp-witted woman finds herself at the center of a sinister conspiracy.
Can Cat unravel a murderous mystery before she’s clawed to ribbons?
The Ones You Love is the exciting second book in the Cat Johnson Chronicles LGTBQ science fiction series. If you like determined heroines, gargantuan kitties, and page-turning thrills, then you’ll love Katerina Degratte’s rip-roaring read.
Spoiler Alert
My thoughts
First, someone needs to correct the spelling and grammar issues in this book at the first book Dr. Susan’s Reign.
The Ones You Love is setup plot wise in a better fashion than the first book. My issue with this story is it does not track. One of the villains in the story gives his motive and I was like “Hello?!). There is no mention of this connection when Katerina Degratte introduces him through Cat’s voice in the first book. On page 15 in Dr. Susan’s Reign, she says that she later found out the guy’s name to be Brian. Whereas in Book 2, apparently he was one of the star athletes she was in school with who pulled a horrible prank on her. Yeah, huge freaking hole in the story here.
Then the whole everyone gets away at the end. All of those people with guns and everyone escapes? What was Raven doing at this time? So you have intruders going down into the basement and you don’t hit an alarm that seals all of the doors? Then earlier in a gathering information and apprehend mission, the bad guy kills an agent and gets away? They had no one on either door? None of this makes sense. (2021, pp. 128) Goodreads Kindle
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Bi-Furious by Chelsi Robichaud
Jess, a young artist, has spent her entire life thinking she was straight. That is, until her long-term boyfriend leaves her for someone else. Single for the first time in years, Jess has time to think about what it is she really wants. And to express that, she paints a portrait of two women embracing. The painting goes viral overnight, and she gets approached by her favorite lesbian illustrator, Lily. The two become fast friends, but there’s one problem: Lily doesn’t know that Jess is straight. The more they talk, the more Jess starts to question her sexuality.
Once she realizes she is bisexual, Jess has to decide what she values more: the safety that heterosexual relationships afford her, or a real connection with someone she truly likes. As her infatuation for Lily grows, Jess has to make the difficult choice between keeping things as they are or accepting the risks that come with being openly bisexual.
Some of those risks involve being the target of cyber-bully-ing. Although Jess’ friends are happy for her, the Internet is not. One particularly spiteful fan does her best to ruin their relationship. It is up to Jess to find it within herself to reject the online harassment and inner doubts and embrace her new-found identity.
Read an Excerpt here.
Spoiler Alert!!!
My thoughts
I like the premise of Bi-Furious. Chelsi Robichaud writes a true bisexual story where I did not know if Jess was going to end up with Rick or Lily as there is good solid chemistry between both couples. I thought the issues with Jess’ realization that she is bisexual are solid.
Where Robichaud goes left is trying to add in a bit of drama. The villain’s original reason for going after Jess does not make sense at all. The same tactic used to attack Jess when she got involved with Lily would have worked here. Someone doesn’t sleep with someone’s boyfriend before anyone really pays attention to Lily’s art work because they consider her work competition. It doesn’t even make sense. Then the villain stays with her supposed competition’s boyfriend to ensure that Jess doesn’t create art? (Scratching my head.) Pain and the processing of the emotions usually leads to artists to delve into their art to cope. It makes no sense. Now if Robichaud had just kept it between Marg and Lily and an alleged spurned suitor – that made sense in a Fatal Attraction way.
Then there is the whole Julia and Rick coupling. Ick. Most friends don’t sleep with your current lover because they think it is a good hookup. This part of the storyline doesn’t make sense. I also think that Jess has poor friend code to sleep with Rick to begin with because she knows Julia has been crushing on him for a long time. Jess needs to get her act together. (NineStar Press, 2022, pp. 271). Goodreads.
I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.
The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill
I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily. I am sorry to say that I did not connect with the characters in this book. It actually was a trigger for me. You might connect with the characters and theme, so please do not take my opinion as anything other than a reader who did not make a connection.
I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.
Phoebes Randoms 