All the Wrong Places

Rating:
Summary: Brandy, Chocolate Bread, Toys and lots of fun!
Review: At 26, Brandy Monsoon is about to "grow up." In one week she will: face the ghost of her father and the pain of her childhood; realize that while she might not "know" that she can have "forever after" with one woman, she wants to try; and discover that a family of choice and community are options even for a dyke on an isolated resort island in the Southland.

Employed as a fitness instructor and staff member for Club Sandzibel, Brandy finds a ready supply of casual lovers among the resort's female guests but none of them are interested in more than their holiday fling. Meanwhile, her best friend Tess, though willing to share a more-han-friendly-night occasionally, is supposed to be straight ... a point that confuses both women.

Brandy is the wholesome, girl-next-door, phys-ed major. She clearly enjoys working at the resort, including her shifts teaching children tumbling and various team sports. In a charming scene from the end-of-the-week, Brandy observes, "I was set upon by the toddlers again, and this time I gave chase. We'd had a running battle all week and it was time to show these desperadoes who was the law. That would be me, Sheriff Monsoon.

I hadn't quite proven my superiority when their parents came to claim them for a last good-bye. One protested it wasn't Saturday yet, while the other said I was the best playmate ever. ... I have to say that part of the job is pretty cool. Kids give great hugs." P33-34.

When an all-lesbian tour group arrives for the week, Brandy finds the acceptance and validation that she has rarely enjoyed. Furthermore, the famous lesbian entertainer, Celine Griffin shows clear interest in some after-dinner Brandy. Meanwhile Tess' behavior is becoming less and less straight.

All the Wrong Places is the first erotic novel-length title released by the "Bella After Dark" imprint and there is truth in advertising here. Brandy's sexual encounters are explicit. Kallmaker does not shy away from earthy language during sweaty encounters and she opens the "toy chest" and lets her characters explore "accessories." There is a forthright and evocative negotiation of adult consent as well as a subtle but highly charged power exchange between Brandy and Celine.

Some Kallmaker fans may find themselves challenged by this bolder approach. Hopefully they will also find the story to be arousing entertainment. They can be reassured that All the Wrong Places is also one of the sweetest little romances that Kallmaker has written. For example: "Our bodies were suffused with the golden light that seemed to radiate from her eyes and smile. We were falling together, mouths feathering kisses on any skin we could reach. Touching her anywhere felt like touching sunshine. Her shoulders were as warm as her mouth and we were in danger of losing our edges, our form, as we melted together." p 139

Given the length and focus of the story, Kallmaker's characters show depth, humor, and heart with a willingness to grow. Thus All the Wrong Places has a number of elements readers have come to expect from Kallmaker; in addition to hot sex and sweet romance, there are touching side stories and delightful wit. Indeed the humor is bubbles throughout the story. And in a laugh-out-loud moment for this reviewer, Kallmaker tosses in what has to be the funniest variation on the classic "U-Haul joke" in years.

Brandy is the youngest lead character that Kallmaker has explored in her novels since Reese in Watermark. Hopefully a new generation of readers will find Brandy's voice familiar to their own experience and will consider Kallmaker's other novels as a result. Long time fans can enjoy All the Wrong Places as another example of Kallmaker's willingness to explore new elements in her classic story telling style. All readers can enjoy the affection, validation and respect that she gives her characters and by extension her readers. This erotic romance is a like a lovely slice of the chocolate bread that appears on the resort dessert menu; and like that confection, you'll want to savor it slowly and very likely go back for more.

Rating:
Summary: It's Hard to be Single Reading a Book Like This!
Review: I didn't really take note of the special design on the cover of "All the Wrong Places," which is Karin Kallmaker's latest offering. I read all her books, enjoying the sheer variety almost more than any other aspect of her writing. I sit down with a cup of tea, put my feet up and open to the first page asking myself "Where are we going this time?"

We've been to rare settings like ancient Britain, the most mystical of Navajo landmarks, and to the edge of suicide with a tormented violinist. Spent lots of time just hanging out with friends in a coffee bar, at work, and in the kitchen. Everywhere we go there are lesbians -- women who embrace the love of other women.

This novel is deceptively simple and comes loaded with oodles of hot, steamy, explicit lesbian sex (that's why it's proclaimed an "After Dark" novel). Taken at that level it's a 5 star experience. I bemoaned my single status at times, and tried to stop reading at others so as not to waste all that heat in a single night. If bedtime reading is all you want from a book, you're in for a real treat.

There's more going on in All the Wrong Places, however. Brandy and Tess are just friends who occasionally fall into bed together. The sex is great, as is sex with other partners who flit through their lives. But as the story progresses, the encounters between Brandy and Tess take on increasing tension and intimacy until, near the conclusion of the book, a single kiss packs more heat than most of what they've already done. This is a wonderful love story about discovering what real intimacy is all about. Kallmaker has done a masterful job of exploring how love can be far scarier and intimate than any bedroom encounter.

If more adventurous sex that includes accessories and edgier dynamics than you normally find in a Kallmaker romance might bother you, then you might want to skip this book, but I urge you not to. The encounters may be edgier yes, but still respectful, consensual, affirmational and wholly female on female.

When I finished All the Wrong Places I wished I wasn't single. Not just wanting a partner for the obvious effects of excellent erotica, but wishing I could wake in the morning and, as Brandy does in her final line of this wonderful story, get up to make breakfast for the woman I love.

This may be one of Kallmaker's most satisfying romantic couplings ever, and that is saying something.



Rating:
Summary: Downhill trend
Review: I hated this latest Karin Kallmaker novel. The last couple have done nothing for me. Too much depravity. There is no real story line and no development of the characters. Just vulgarities and negativity. I started skipping pages after page 10, trying to find parts of the old romantic novels which she used to produce. Falling in love was more titilating than graphic fisting and oversized toys.
Return to your roots, Ms K.

Rating:
Summary: Hot, Hot, Hot!
Review: I sometimes can't believe people read the same book I did when they post a review. But then again, I think if a person immediately begins skipping pages of a book they "hated" then they're really *not* reading the book the way I did -- they're not even reading the book, by their own admission! (And yet, they seem so clear on *ahem* certain elements of the book they claim to really "hate" leading to wonder if they read those parts more than once.)

Is Brandy as complicated a character as some Kallmaker has written? No, she's not. Compare her to Bree Starling in Maybe Next Time - there's no contest. (And read reviews by people who hated the book because it was too complicated for them!)

I do wonder how any writer can please everyone. I do wonder how someone can buy a book labeled "a full length erotic novel" and then cry about it being full of "depravity and negativity." I find that remark insulting to the many lesbians who like sex as it's presented in this book. We get called "depraved" enough by straight society, so it's hard to accept that label from someone claiming to be one of us.

I enjoyed this "full length erotic novel" all the way from start to finish. I don't even get why someone would say it was full of "negativity." None of the characters behave in any way harmful to themselves or others. They're funny and kind. The only negative events in it are when Brandy tries to deal with her family of origin. I think Kallmaker makes a beautiful point in this book about the reality of families of choice for so many of us when Brandy is short of cash and her co-workers pass the hat for her because Brandy is one them, and has done that for them in their times of need, too.

My advice to anyone who is not sure they want to read this book is if use of the d-word and leather goods that go with them, who don't like to describe a part of themselves with the c-word, and most assuredly don't like books about lesbians who like to f-word, then don't read this book. But if you do ... you will love it as much as I did.

It's fun, hot, realistic sex set in a delightful romantic tale. Given how sweet Kallmaker's characters can be, it was interesting to see what happens when one of them rolls up her sleeve, so to speak. The build up to the final scene between Brandy and Tess when their hearts are finally open is wonderful!

I meant to write this review a couple of weeks ago, but I'm glad I waited so I can say my piece about being called "depraved." Because if this book is "depraved" then so am I and if you're going to call me names, that's Ms. Depraved to you!



Rating:
Summary: Erotic ***and*** Romantic - off the charts!!!
Review: I've known all along that Kalmaker can write steamy hot love scenes in her romances and some of her recent short stories have gotten really racy without losing her romantic touch. I didn't know what to expect from this romance, which is touted as a "full-length erotic novel." Lots of hot scenes but less of the woman-to-woman emotional bonding that I love about her work?

Kallmaker did both! The evolving love story between Brandy and Tess is incredibly sweet, emotionally honest and fraught with the pitfalls of communication. Both young women are well-versed in saying what they like in bed (and brace yourself because *nothing* is left unsaid!), but neither have a clue how to say what they want in *life*. Along the way, they figure it out.

Meanwhile, through artful flashbacks of the first time Brandy and Tess got together (just friends!) interlaced with current encounters the plot provides some of the steamiest reading I've found in a long time. I had to make myself stop reading the first night because I wanted to make it last a really long time. This is definitely grownup bedtime after dark reading!

A lot of erotica leaves me cold because the people don't seem to have any emotional connection. This book was red hot emotionally and that's why, for me, the sex was red hot too. More, I want more! So does my girlfriend, who said this book was definitely one she enjoyed both while reading it and after.


Rating:
Summary: A Rambunctious Romp
Review: It was astute on the part of the publishers at Bella Books to differentiate between their usual fare and Bella After Dark. BAD, as the acronym indicates, moves more to the erotic. BAD books are meant to arouse, and they tend to harness the heavy equipment. But as Kallmaker states, "Nice girls do." So why is Kallmaker, the Mistress of Romance, writing for BAD? My answer to that is that she can, and she does so rambunctiously.

Although this is Kallmaker's first full-length erotic novel, it's still romance at it's best. Brandy, a lesbian, is an aerobics instructor at an all-inclusive Florida resort. Tess, also a resort employee, is her best friend. Tess is straight, caring, fun, and alluringly hormonal on a particular day of the month. Both women take advantage of the endless stream of attractive, eager, and available vacationers. However, on particularly stressful hormonal days, Tess can't seem to find a man that can keep up with her. Therefore, she turns to her best friend for help. Brandy, nice girl that she is, willingly accommodates.

Brandy and Tess continue their friendship without incident until an exclusively lesbian travel group books the resort. Brandy is in heaven. Over 300 lesbians descend upon the resort, which leads to a very entertaining situation for Brandy. Most writers then would proceed to describe one encounter after another, but not Kallmaker. For all it's erotica, and there is plenty, this is still a Romance with a capitol R.

What makes Kallmaker different from other writers is that she captures not only the mechanics of a situation, but the interior motivation and dialog that so many other writers miss. Therefore her characters become likeable or despicable depending upon their motivation and interior intricacies. She manages this seemingly effortlessly. As a romantic, Kallmaker also illustrates that committed love can be the most erotic act of all. In Kallmaker's world, the interior feeling of love enhances the physical expression of lust.

I don't mean to complicate the book despite its finer points. Bottom line, if you're looking for a fun book and a steamy read, this is the one. My only complaint was that, just like vacation, it ended too soon.


Rating:
Summary: All the RIGHT Places!!
Review: When I pick up the latest novel by Karin Kallmaker, I am always ready to let her have her way with me, in the literary sense. After reading All the Wrong Places, I think I'm ready in nearly every sense!

Having read this book nearly three weeks ago, I am still trying to figure out how Kallmaker can write such a graphic, erotic tale and still infuse it with innocence, hope and good, clean fun. There are toys and situations a-plenty, but not once did I pause to think "is that even possible?" or "isn't that going to hurt for days?" or -- as happens in some "lesbian" erotica -- "what's *he* doing there?!"

All the Wrong Places is a sweet, well-told romance about two young women who don't have a clue how to get from "this week" to "forever." It's also a highly-charged story of sweaty, real lesbian sex. Perhaps the magic is in how the book opens with a casual, steamy encounter with a woman Brandy will never see again, but closes with a scene between Brandy and Tess that is so tender that the explicit description of what they're doing fades into the background. All I cared about was that they had clearly found the most erotic territory of all: hot sex with the woman you love. Only in re-reading did I truly appreciate how very hot that final scene was as a standalone piece of erotica!

With Maybe Next Time, Kallmaker had me holding my breath in pain and sorrow, in One Degree of Separation holding my breath with anticipation of the next laugh. All the Wrong Places had me holding my breath in pure anticipation of the next moment of eroticism or romance, or both at once as so wonderfully conveyed by one of our most gifted storytellers. Karin Kallmaker strikes all the RIGHT places with me in this book, and I can hardly wait for her next work in this new "after dark" genre.