This book reprints two of Paula Christian's lesbian pulp novels, "Amanda" and "The Other Side of Desire," which are reviewed separately below.

AMANDA

Evelyn Rawlins (under a pen name) writes lesbian pulp novels for a living - even though she is very straight, thank you very much. That is, until Amanda, an aspiring author of lesbian pulps, walks into her life by asking Evelyn to help her with a book, turning Evelyn's life upside down in the process.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. Although it's definitely interesting to read a first-person pulp (which is pretty rare), Amanda throws off a billion warning signals that she's not exactly a stable person, which Evelyn blissfully ignores. And the ending - ugh. SPOILER ALERT Although I know it's common for lesbian pulps to end with the "stable" character deciding that she's not REALLY a lesbian, it still sucks, especially since Evelyn decides that the whole affair happened because she has never given herself fully (emotionally) to a man. Ick. END SPOILER ALERT So, really, just a meh book.

THE OTHER SIDE OF DESIRE

Carrie Richardson is a housewife, mother to two children, and hiding a secret about her past - she had several lesbian relationships before meeting her husband, Paul. But once she meets Kim, a brash neighbor, Carrie discovers that the tight rein she's been keeping on her sexuality is about to come undone.

I also wasn't a fan of this book. I know the times were different, blah blah, but the rationalization of male infidelity is just gross. Carrie blames herself for her husband cheating because she doesn't like having sex with him (as she's a lesbian...duh). Yeah, that totally explains why he keeps a "little black book" with the names of the women he's had sex with as a trophy. Ick again. But, hey, at least he told her that if she didn't put out more, he was going to cheat on her! What a swell guy!

SPOILER ALERT And, in the end, Carrie decides that she might have an affliction of lesbianism, but what she's REALLY looking for is love, and hey, Paul loves her (in spite of - no, according to Carrie, BECAUSE of his endless booty calls with other women), so she's going to give up being a lesbian and just try to be happy by further repressing her sexuality. Sounds like a good plan! Until the next lonely and attractive housewife crosses her path, I'm sure. END SPOILER ALERT

To be short - neither of these books are good, and they are definitely not Paula Christian's best work. ( )