Sacchi Green’s newest anthology, Lesbian Cops, hits bookstores April first. In celebration, she’s hosting a blog tour, and since I have a story included in the book, I’m participating. Come check it out! Here’s the hookup:
April 1 JL Merrow
April 2 Jove Belle
April 3 Delilah Devlin
April 4 R. G. Emanuelle
April 5 Andrea Dale
April 6 Kenzie Matthews
April 7 Ily Goyanes
April 8 Cheyenne Blue
April 9 Evan Mora
April 10 J.N. Gallagher
April 11 Liz Coldwell
April 12 Teresa Noelle Roberts
April 13 Lynn Mixon
April 14 RV Raiment
Introduction
What is it about lesbian cops that pushes all the right buttons (and some of the deliciously transgressive wrong ones?) It’s not just the uniform, with handcuffs and weapons, or the confidence, authority, and sense of danger. The intrinsic appeal of women taking on roles that have traditionally been seen as hyper-masculine is part of it, of course. To hold their own they need to be hyper-strong, in body, mind, and strength of will. That’s intensely sexy, for me, at least, and if you’ve read this far I suspect it is for you too.
But there’s something more as well, an irresistible force that these writers have channeled into fiercely erotic stories of policewomen in or out of uniform, on patrol or undercover, in charge or in need of healing, on the case or under the sheets.
The action can be gut-level tough, as in Jove Belle’s ”Hollis” where anti-terrorism boot camp surges over the edge into BDSM; or heart-wrenching, as in Evan Mora’s “A Cop’s Wife,” when death threats give a keen edge to the need for life-affirming sex; or quirky as well as steamy when Teresa Noelle Roberts’s cop finds a way to maintain respect for her own “Dress Uniform” while indulging her anime-girl lover’s cos-play kink.
The settings vary, as well, affecting the mood and feel of each piece. Delilah Devlin’s cops play their “Only Game in Town” in a southern city that’s small without being entirely small-minded. Kenzie Mathews’s Alaskan village is a natural place for the mythic “Raven Brings the Light”. JL Merrow heats up a British town during one “Blazing June”, and Cheyenne Blue goes Down Under to an Australian rain forest for “How Does Your Garden Grow.”
J.N. Gallagher’s “Officer Birch” inspires undying passion in a Midwestern high school; Terry Mixon’s witness protection marshal finds (and gives) a “Healing Hand” in an unidentified (of course) mountain location; Andrea Dale’s “Charity and Splendor” merge in a nice family neighborhood; and Elizabeth Coldwell’s handcuffed stripper in “Torn off a Strip” meets her match on a suburban porch. Sacchi Green’s state-trooper-turned-bodyguard just keeps “Riding the Rails” from Vermont to D.C., with special attention to the roomy handicapped restroom.
Urban scenes range from R.G. Emanuelle’s sweet and spicy “Cop at My Door” and Ily Goyanes’s “Undercover” hooker who’s way in over her head in Miami, to R V Raiment’s gritty (and lyrical) “Chapel Street Blue” and Annabeth Leong’s searing, stirring, and ultimately redeeming “A Prayer before Bed.”
The characters, of course, are the real heart and strength of any story. I’m not easily impressed, but these writers did the trick; they walked the fine line between fantasy and believability without ever slipping into caricature, and gave us fully rounded people, explicit, uncompromising eroticism, and their own sizzling visions of the complexity and depth, the strength and vulnerability, and above all the commanding, overwhelming sex appeal of Lesbian Cops.
They’ve definitely made me resolve to support my local policewomen.
Sacchi Green
Amherst, Massachusetts
Table of Contents
Hollis Jove Bell
Only Game in Town Delilah Devlin
Dress Uniform Teresa Noelle Roberts
A Cop’s Wife Evan Mora
Charity and Splendor Andrea Dale
Chapel Street Blue R V Raiment
Cop at My Door R. G. Emanuelle
Torn off a Strip Elizabeth Coldwell
Officer Birch J.N. Gallagher
Raven Brings the Light Kenzie Mathews
Healing Hand Lynn Mixon
Undercover Ily Goyanes
Riding the Rails Sacchi Green
Blazing June JL Merrow
A Prayer before Bed Annabeth Leong
How Does Your Garden Grow Cheyenne Blue