The Honesty Room: A Womanifesto

I read a lot of lesbian romance novels. A lot.

Mostly this is because my girlfriend and I are both in graduate school, so it's easy to sit on the couch and pretend I'm reading about Renaissance poetry when I'm really reading about uber-Xena and Gabrielle and their adventures in healing secret pain and saving the world at the same time.

But what do you do if you want a change of pace? I've scoured the web for lesbian book reviews, and while a lot of great sites are out there, there aren't nearly enough. And sometimes reviewers are relentlessly positive about the genre (a genre I really love!), which is great, but every book isn't the best lesbian romance ever. And I wish I could know in advance if a book is going to be predictable or lulzy or totally historically inaccurate or full of gaping plot holes, because every time I have high expectations for the best book ever, and instead read a story that uses "nubbin" in its sex scenes, my heart breaks a tiny little bit. And let's be honest, I'm going to buy it and read it anyway, because I love reading lesbian romance novels. I just want to know what to expect.

This tendency to shy away from being critical is understandable, given that there aren't enough lesbian romances, and I understand not wanting to create a hostile environment for LGBT writers and readers. There need to be more. So, initial disclaimer - I'm going to honestly review what I read. My ladyfriend, an avid reader herself, will do the same, but since we haven't merged entirely and don't yet share a brain (yet!), our reviews will probably be very different.

Take our advice into account, and spend your money buying good lesbian romance novels, dammit.