REVIEW - THE GIRL FROM THE SEA - Up where it's better

The Girl From The Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

Date read: 18th February 2025

My rating: 4*
Genre I reckon: YA F/F (Sapphic) Romance

Buy link: Amazon 

This is a graphic book, as in comic strip style, which itself is enchanting. 

And it's very sweet. 

Morgan is struggling with her young teenage years in the wake of her parents' divorce, which has affected her brother too. And then a selkie comes along to complicate things even further. 

It's full of metaphors, which I feel is useful for young teenagers coming to terms with being LGBTQIA+. There are a couple of timid kisses but nothing more, so it's very YA friendly.  And gives The Little Mermaid vibes.

Here's the thing; everyone's journey is different. And this story is quite clichéd, admittedly. 

But once Megan's family and friends know her truth, they're accepting and supportive. 

It's a tale of trying to blend in with the crowd as you go through those difficult teenage years. And learning it's OK to be different.

The images are beautiful, the story is bumpy but meaningful, with a HFN (not a HEA). 

Always in love and light,

TL

 

BOOK NEWS - New Book; Love Habit

 

I have a new book launching on 1st March 2025 (*releases party balloons*). 

It's called Love Habit.

I've written another historical romance, but this one's about monks in medieval/Tudor England (in 1485). Yes, you read that correctly - monks. 

Because when I was researching Love in the Roses, I discovered lots of odd marginalia images e.g. in psalters and books of hours, which made me curious. Monks drew those images, and they seemed to have a bottom fixation. 

I pondered this, and realised a monastery was the perfect place for a middle-classed, gay, young man to head to if he were trying to avoid marriage. And it didn't take very much digging to discover real life stories of gay monks (incl. saints). So, I decided to bring those stories into the light via fiction, with love. 

The Blurb

Two monks in love…

1485: Paul timidly enters Darenth Priory to avoid marriage. In good faith, he expects to live out his days in chaste devotion to God. But there is temptation lurking within the monastery walls.

For there is also another novice, Luke, who both resembles and sings like an angel. Is he a test? A gift? Paul must decide.

Can these two young men venerate love alongside liturgy? Or will they be cast out?

A religious yet irreverent story awaits.

 

NB This is a work of fiction about what may have been, told in first person POV; a positive, realistic LGBTQ+  story which probably happened many times over and deserves now to be shared in the light with love.

As England moves from the Medieval to the Tudor era, attitudes may be different than expected, even for Benedictine monks in the Catholic Church.

There are scenes of a mature nature, which require patience to discover.

Includes improper use of candles.

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If you pre-order Love Habit in ebook format (before it launches on 1st March 2025), you will benefit from it's reduced price of $2.99 (£1.99).

Always in love and light,

TL