Gangbare naam: LaBarthe, L. J.
Officiële naam: LaBarthe, L. J.
Geboortedatum: 1972-09-23
Geslacht: female
Nationaliteit: Australia
Land (voor op de kaart): Australia
Geboorteplaats: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Opleiding: BA
Beroepen: novelist
short-story writer
Korte biografie: L.J. LaBarthe is a French-Australian woman, who was born during the Witching Hour, just after midnight. From this auspicious beginning, she went on to write a prize-winning short story about Humpty Dumpty wearing an Aussie hat complete with corks dangling from it when she was six years old. From there, she wrote for her high school yearbook, her university newspaper, and, from her early teens to her twenties, produced a fanzine about the local punk rock music scene. She loves music of all kinds and was once a classical pianist; she loves languages and speaks French and English and a teeny-tiny smattering of Mandarin Chinese, which she hopes to relearn properly very soon. She enjoys TV, film, travel, cooking, eating out, abandoned places, urbex, history, and researching.

L.J. loves to read complicated plots and hopes to do complex plot lines justice in her own writing. She writes paranormal, historical, urban fantasy, and contemporary Australian stories, usually m/m romance and featuring m/m erotica.

L.J. lives in the city of Adelaide, and is owned by her cat.

Leden

Besprekingen

Book, Line, and Sinker door L. J. LaBarthe

Ash returns to his outback home of Quorn after seventeen years in the Australian Army looking for some peace. War didn't leave him unscathed; he suffers from PTSD and occasional flashbacks. But he hopes that spending time with his family can help him. And there's nothing like going home.

But home has changed since Ash was here last. And one of those changes has been the addition of Jaxon. Jaxon is the new librarian in Quorn, and he draws Ash's attention right away. Not only is Jaxon attractive, there's something about him that helps calm Ash. Jaxon makes him feel better.

One thing Ash knows, though, is that he needs to find something to keep himself occupied if he's going to work past his issues. So he proposes starting a mobile library to bring books and other items to those in more rural parts of the local area. Although he shouldn't be surprised, Ash is excited to find Jaxon is on board to help him. Which creates the added benefit of something the two of them can do together.

But Ash can't just throw his past aside overnight. And he's not sure if Jaxon can truly understand everything he's been through. They both seem willing to try, and he just hopes trying is worth enough...

This book is not as angsty as I think my summary makes it sound. But I also feel the need to accurately portray where the characters and story are coming from. In actuality, I found it to be almost a bit of an inspiring read. While it's not exactly easy for Ash, he uses his experience and his connections to create something meaningful for his community. Not only is this something that can help him, but it also helps others. There's a selflessness of so many of the characters in this book that definitely made me smile. And it comes across as totally authentic at the same time.

A fun and unique romance novel. I definitely give this a strong recommendation.… (meer)

Gemarkeerd

crtsjffrsn | Aug 27, 2021 |

Capsicum Head

A great short story about love, music and friendship. The relationships between the characters was very well written and the main couple were adorable. Definitely excited to read more by this author and definitely recommend!

Gemarkeerd

rjcrunden | Feb 2, 2021 |

City of Gold (City of... #1)

This is one of those historicals that make it clear how little people have changed over the last thousand years or so. While the setting of Constantinople is different (and a little exotic) and the war Gallienus was involved and wounded in may be long over, the basic need for human companionship and love has not changed. I really liked the slow build between Gallienus (who tells the story) and Misahuen, the careful approach and loving way they got together. And, up until the very end, the story stayed true to its time.

If you like historicals that focus on the human aspect of living in a certain time while still giving a lot of interesting details about the setting, you will probably like this book.… (meer)

Gemarkeerd

SerenaYates | Oct 19, 2017 |

Ice

This book is a tough one for me to decide what to think. I have really liked L.J.'s other books, and I loved the concept of this story and much of the world described in this book - BUT.

For me there was something missing, and it wasn't just the romantic elements that fell flat for me due to lack of any sort of emotion beyond physical attraction (and even that didn't fit with the rest of the characters' actions and thoughts).

More importantly, some of the details of the world, as well as the "resolution", were less than satisfying for me. I have to admit that I am particularly picky because I read a lot of science fiction and paranormal stories, so this is a personal issue and should not stop you from giving this book a try.

And finally, the plot was a lot more simplistic than I was hoping for (my fault) with hardly any conflict, despite a great setup for some truly amazing intrigue, confrontations, and maybe even actual fighting (although the latter is by no means a must for me, I just expected it based on the blurb). That, for me, was probably the most disappointing aspect of reading this novella.

If you like paranormal stories about vampires in the future, if you enjoy reading about yet another "mess" humankind may get itself into if we're not careful, and if an interesting world and some great technological details are more important to you than emotionally deep characters, then you will probably enjoy this story.

… (meer)

Gemarkeerd

SerenaYates | 1 andere bespreking | Oct 19, 2017 |

Bekijk meer besprekingen