Fiona by Terri Peterson (transgender erotica)

When Terri Peterson sent me a copy of Fiona for review, she warned me that "the much anticipated darkness of Laura has only been postponed for a short while." I was not sure what she meant by that, but knowing how dark Danni had been, and how interconnected the stories are, I was genuinely concerned for my new favorite couple.

Fiona teases that darkness early on, with Fiona deciding it is time to tell Laura the truth of her past. Given her hesitation, I worried about what might be in her past, but I also struggled to imagine what might be worse that where there stories had already intersected.

For the most part, aside from the surprise that she was the rich son of a very well-to-do family, her story starts out as more fantasy than tragedy. Sure, she suffers the usual bullying of an effeminate boy, but she also finds her first love with another boy. It is all very sweet and erotic, and the story gets really interesting when she comes home for the holidays and discovers that Wilhelmina, the family's au pair, is transgender herself. Suddenly this blossoming young woman has a teacher, and mentor, and a convenient play partner, and it is wonderful.

That makes the betrayals that follow all the more heartbreaking. I do not remember the last time I went from loving a character to hating her so fiercely, and so quickly. My heart broke for poor Fiona, and even knowing there was darkness to come, much of her story was a shock. As always, I love seeing how Peterson links the stories, reading the overlapping scenes from a new point-of-view, and knowing so much of what had happened before I was lulled into a false sense of security.

There was so much I loved about this, despite the darkness. The drama, the relationships, the eroticism, it may very well be the strongest all-around book in the whole Smeared Lipstick series. I was excited when the story came back around to the present, and seemed to point to vindication for all three ladies, but then I discovered the truth about that darkness Peterson hinted at. As cliffhangers go, Fiona is a rough one, but it is guaranteed to leave you anxious for the next chapter.

'Terri' Peterson, was born August 19th, 1969, and spent what she referred to as 'a miserably failed experiment in tyranny' at a typical secondary school, where she was bullied relentlessly and made fun of. She left with no regrets, a handful of qualifications for a career in banking, and bitter memories of time spent being the object of ridicule by her peers. Being myopic, gauche, skinny and flat-chested, sporting a head of rich auburn hair, made her a daily target for abuse, which she escaped by becoming immersed in the fantasy world of writing short stories.

Reviewed by Sally