Cobb Island

Blayne Cooper
Renaissance Alliance Publishing
1930928394

Olivia Hazelwood, Liv to her friends, has agreed to take her younger brother, Doug to spend a week on Cobb Island, off the coast of Virginia. Since an accident claimed their parents a decade ago, Livi has been more of a mother than sister to Doug. The 29 year old linguist and openly lesbian, Liv is recently back from a Peace Corps tour in Africa and is looking forward to catching up with the changes in Doug's life. One of the biggest being that he is very much in love with Marcy Redding. Marcy's family moved last year and the teens have been nursing their love over distance. This separation has prompted Marcy to invite Doug (and Liv) to visit Cobb Island, the colonial era, ancestral home of the Redding family. Marcy has also coaxed her older sister, Kayla to help with the chaperoning duties.

The tall redheaded Kayla seems to take an immediate dislike to Doug, and possibly, to Liv. Certainly the gorgeous 25 year old has difficulty communicating with Liv in anything other than an abrupt, rather rude, not to mention secretive, manner. Her behavior is even more odd given that the women seem almost magnetically drawn to one another. Liv is surprised, confused, and a little overwhelmed by the intensity of her feelings for Kayla. Impossibly, at times Kayla seems to read Liv's mind. Or is it impossible? The three century old Redding house itself, with its secret rooms, strange noises, and a library filled with generations of Redding enigmas has as important a role in the story as any of the characters. Several things about Kayla and the house are a little strange, yet enchanting. Liv finds herself falling under the spell of both mysteries. Meanwhile, desperate for time alone, the lovesick teens decide to visit the mainland just as a storm arises, leaving their older siblings stranded and forced to confront these powerful emotions.

Trapped by the storm, the women begin researching the early years of the house. Finding a hidden journal, Liv and Kayla discover possible answers to the Redding family legacy via a third romance. Bridget Redding, and her sister-in-law, Failynn, lived on Cobb Island in the late 1600s and struggled to find a place for their love in an unforgiving time for women, and condemning of those who dared to love. Could their story hold the secret answers to questions about the Redding family, the house on Cobb Island, and possibly even why Kayla and Liv seem destined to have found each other? Thus Cobb Island contains three love stories entwined in its pages along with a number of witty interactions, sweet moments and endearing scenes between the various couples. There is even a dreadful villain who demands being detested.

Overall, Cobb Island is a magical little romance and a charming mystery. A few of the plot threads are not neatly tied at the end and some elements of the historical period appear a bit anachronistic to this reviewer. Nevertheless, the overall effect of Cobb Island is a fun and fast-paced romantic mystery with a touch of spookiness thrown into the mix. It provides more than enough pleasure to justify its purchase. In fact there is enough pleasure to anticipate future stories from Blayne Cooper, including the continued adventures of Kayla and Liv in the forthcoming Echoes from the Mist.

-MJ Lowe

BN: Echoes from the Mist was released in 2006.

Madam President

Blayne Cooper and T. Novan
Renaissance Alliance Publishing (November 2001)
1930928696

The year is 2020 and the United States has, for the first time, elected as president, a woman. Blayne Cooper and T. Novan present this fascinating premise in Madam President. Yet, it seems very unlikely that the first woman president will be 38 years old, a single (actually widowed), openly lesbian, mother of three, which describes Devlyn Marlowe. Cognizant of the history making role of her administration, Devlyn has chosen a successful young historian/writer to observe her term in office and act as her biographer. Thus Lauren Strayer enters the White House and prepares to chronicle Devlyn's administration for history. The novel follows the events of the first year of her term.

Despite the premise, Madam President does not succeed as a futuristic political yarn. Novan and Cooper make reference to a number of interesting issues and incidents in Madam President, including Devlyn as a successful third party candidate, the trauma of domestic terrorism, the changes in gay and lesbian civil rights issues, and an international arms crisis; but there is little exploration of these issues. While the writers clearly researched the primary setting of the White House, the creative detail in their view of the U.S. 18 years from now is thin and it does not prompt the reader to consider possible changes in the coming years.

Instead the novel focuses primarily on the relationship between Marlowe and Strayer as it evolves from professional respect to personal friendship and romantic attraction. However, for this reader, the more than 300 pages of courting and foreplay became tedious. They are marked with cliché and repetitive incidents; such as the illness/recovery theme with three serious health problems between the two leads in less than six months. Indeed more personal and political crises occur in the first year of Devlyn's term than many Presidents ever see. And they apparently occur primarily to postpone the consummation of the couple's love, which began to feel saccharine after a while. This combination of elements feels like a caricature of the Xena uber genre, from which the story originated.

Several of the comic scenes felt too predictable. The lead characters did not come alive for this reader. The somewhat slapstick quality of the humor is belittling of the premise, given that other elements were not fleshed out to provide balance. Indeed some of the humor slips into what this reader considers dangerous territory. For example, Strayer writes a popular fictional adventure series under a pseudonym. When she considers having the lead character come out as a lesbian, her editor warns her that research shows one-third of Strayer's readers would lose interest unless there "was a sex scene every 63.4 pages." (323) Thus Strayer's readers, and potentially by extension, Novan and Cooper's readers are lampooned. For the humor it provides, this scene was annoying.

For this reader, Madam President is disappointing, both as a speculative futuristic political tale and as a lesbian love story. Certainly there are several amusing and charming moments in the novel. One of the funniest is when Devlyn, who would have been in her teens during the original run of the Xena television show, recalls her frustration and disappointment with the writers and producers failure to present the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle as an open lesbian couple. By contrast, Cooper and Novan's Road to Glory is very charming as a fantasy and an erotic, romantic love story. Cooper's Story of Me which satires a range of subjects, manages to tap into a genuine counter balancing sweetness that is not present in Madam President. As other reviews point out, many readers might feel quite differently about Madam President; however, this reader would prefer their future novels be more like Road to Glory or Story of Me.

-MJ Lowe
BN: This title has been released several times now, I don't know if any significant changes have occurred.

The Road to Glory

The Road To Glory
T. Novan and Blayne Cooper
Renaissance Alliance Publishing,
1930928270, 264 pages

The Road To Glory is a charming romantic comedy from two of Xenaverse's better known bards, Blayne Cooper, AKA Advocate and T. Novan. The lead characters, RJ Fitzgerald, a tall auburn haired handywoman, and Leigh Matthews, a petite chatty blonde trucker have a familiar feel to uber fanfiction readers. Cooper and Novan even point this out via a dialog between a very animated couple of squirrels. Yes, the squirrels from Cooper's Story of Me make a reappearance and observe:

The female followed her mate's line of vision. "The humans we spy on back home!"
"Not quite."
"The hair ..."
She squinted. "The eyes ..."
"Just a little different. But not much. Same builds. Same wonderful screen presence no matter the location or genre." She rolled her eyes. "We all know what they're going to look like.""Genetic mutations because of the inherent weakness of their race?"
"Or lazy writers." (41)

Leigh finds herself diverted to Glory, South Dakota, by a highway construction detour. At Fitz's, a diner just outside of the small town, Leigh falls in lust at first sight with RJ. She happily returns each week during her circular truck route. After several fast and furiously erotic encounters, Leigh invites RJ to join her on her week off in Seattle.

As these two women continue explore their feelings and each other, it becomes increasingly clear that nothing is quite what it seems in Glory or with RJ. The vacation week in Seattle is full of humor, romance, and revelations. There are amusing trips to shop, to dance at a popular lesbian club, to play the arcade at a carnival and even to visit a retirement community. Strangely at the latter RJ spends time with an old friend named Ruth and gives us insight into the varied roles of women in the military during World War II.

Wry and witty observations of American culture in general and particularly of scifi/fantasy fandoms are sprinkled throughout the story. For example, upon discovering that RJ still lives with her mother, Leigh asks:

"You don't attend Star Trek and Xena conventions wearing silly costumes and stalking the actors, do you?" RJ looked totally confused. "I have no idea what on this earth you're talking about." "Good." Leigh nodded. A girl couldn't be too careful. Serial killers were one thing. But those weirdo convention goers were something else. (89)

The Road To Glory is an enchanting story dealing with issues of love, death and finding the hearts desire. Readers familiar with the Xena fandom, particularly uber fanfiction, might have a greater appreciation of some of the humor. However, that familiarity is by no means needed to enjoy this story. All that is required is the time to indulge and a willingness to go for the long haul.
-MJ Lowe

The Story of Me

Advocate (Blayne Cooper)
Writers Club Press
059513744X

Tall, beautiful, straight (not to mention rather antisocial) Randi, a driver's education instructor, can't quite believe all that's happened to her in the last four weeks. First, she was stalked by an unknown stranger. The "stalker" turned out to be Mac, an attractive, petite woman from one of her classes. Mac needs Randi's help. Mac was dumped by her girlfriend, Sandra. The gold-digging Sandra used Mac has a stepping stone on the way to her brother, the doctor. Mac knows that Randi also has reason to hate Sandra and Mac has devised the perfect revenge for both of them. Mac wants to attend the next family gathering in Nevada and present Randi as her girlfriend.

Despite thinking Mac might be crazy and not too bright (she failed Randi's class, although it turns out to have been the same week Sandra left her). Randi has agreed to help extract revenge from Sandra. When the date for the reunion is changed the two must begin a cross country trek by car that turns into a strange, wild romp. These two women are like oil and vinegar as they engage in a range of miscommunications as well as intentionally irritating behaviors. Indeed Randi even subtitles a portion of the trip "Thema & Louise had it easy." In the midst of ridiculous events, Randi and Mac draw closer to their destination and to one another. After all, add a few spices to oil & vinegar and shake and you have a lovely salad dressing.

Nothing is safe from Advocate (AKA Blayne Cooper)'s observations and most of them will bring a smile, if not an out right laugh. As she states in her disclaimer "No squirrels were harmed during the production of this story. Although priests, morticians, sluts, proctologists, Big Gulps, Debby Boone, Scottish names, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Volkswagens, `that ugly chic,' gym teachers, eating disorders, Dr. Pepper, and stalkers are all seriously maligned." (122) Indeed all these running jokes and more flicker (or stomp) through the story.

The same vein that pokes fun at these issues, turns others on their ear. For example, Mac's parents and extended family are totally accepting of Mac's sexuality and even more supportive of Randi as her new girlfriend. Neither parent thought the bulimic gym teacher, Sandra was good enough for their daughter. On the other hand, any living (as opposed to inflatable) girlfriend is the best they expect for their son, the proctologist. By the end of the journey Randi and Mac have developed a great deal of affection, companionship and (gasp) attraction. This situation embarrasses Mac and frightens Randi. The growing love between Mac and Randi as well as Mac's family's love balance some of the hard edged sarcasm and cynicism. The overall effect is a delightful if strange, little novel that brought many smiles and several laughs out loud. Occasionally the shifting narrative perspective between Randi, Mac and the squirrels is confusing. --Yes, squirrels. It's too hard to explain, just read the story yourself.-- However, there is fuel for lots of good endorphins here.

-MJ Lowe