Genre: LGBTQ Contemporary Romance Heat Level: 3 Word Count: 40, 125 ISBN: 978-1-77339-423-7 Editor: Karyn White Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Woman as a Foreign Language by Katherine Wyvern

Heat Level 3
$3.99
SKU 978-1-77339-423-7
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What do you do when the woman you want to be … is a man?

Nina’s abusive childhood left her feeling so vulnerable when wearing anything flimsier than combat boots that she has spent her whole adult life dressed like a gang boy. But when she meets the tall, glamourous, charismatic Julia (actually her cross-dressing neighbor, Julian, going out en femme), Nina is seized by an overwhelming and terrifying urge to finally express her own femininity.

Julia/n has not only a slightly split personality but also a thoroughly broken heart. What s/he wants most is a partner who will love both Julia and Julian. While Nina learns from Julia how to be a woman, Julian discovers that they might well be made for each other, but it will take a struggle against prejudice and a whole conservative mind-set before they can follow their hearts, and express their true, unique, and beautiful selves.

Be Warned: LGBTQ, Gender-Queer

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Excerpt:

“Well, are we going out this evening or what?” asked Julia, seeing Nina sitting down still naked on the bed.

“Oh, it will take me two minutes to get ready,” said Nina, smiling up at her. “I am not such a woman as you,” she added, grinning impishly.

“Oh, indeed?” said Julia, and pinched her nose in passing, then went to the wardrobe to fish out some stockings, a pocket bra, and breast forms. Boobs were invariably the first thing. She liked her body well enough, as a man or a woman, except for that flat chest. A girl should have tits, and a boy should have some muscle at least, but somehow, she had failed to achieve either. The sweet, soft, bouncy weight of the breast forms immediately made her feel better about herself. Stockings were always the next thing. Her legs were as smooth as silk in any case, but the sleek feel of stockings on them was almost an aphrodisiac. Time was, long ago, when she was much, much younger, when just wearing a pair of stockings would give her a hard-on. She was not such a green horn anymore, luckily, because the last thing she needed right now was an erection.

She stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, and pulled on her gaff half the way. She gently maneuvered her testicles back up to where they were before they dropped (if only they had stayed there, she thought despondently, and not for the first time), then gave her empty scrotum a slight twist and pushed it down and back towards her buttocks. She was on the point of tucking her penis down and under the same way (if she laid them side by side, they looked every bit like labia through her gaff … et voilà, instant pussy … more or less), when she caught sight of Nina’s eyes. Nina was still sitting on the bed, still naked, and gazing at her with those gorgeous gipsy eyes, studying everything Julia did and every inch of her body. Julia threw a look at her own lean, white figure in the mirror. She was standing with a hand between her legs and her gaff askew, half way between her knees and her hips, which felt somewhat less than graceful and dignified, and she wondered what Nina was seeing that was so entrancing.

“What?” she asked, smiling.

“Nothing. I did wonder where they went, when … you know.”

Julia grinned. “They don’t go very far, worry not.”

Nina stretched herself long, like a happy cat, still gazing hungrily at her, eating her with her eyes.

And suddenly Julia stiffened. “Oh dear,” she said.

“What?” asked Nina, in a somewhat comical echo of what Julia had said less than a minute earlier.

“Er … ahem. Stop looking at me. Just don’t. I can’t tuck it with a hard-on!”

Nina covered her face with her hands, vainly trying to suppress a fit of laughter. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t!”

Julia was laughing too by now. It was hopeless. She let the whole lot hang out again and took two short steps to the bed (the gaff half-way up made it impossible to step out properly). She kneeled on the bed and started tickling Nina’s feet, the back of her knees and her sides.

“I didn’t do anything, I didn’t,” Nina repeated, between peals of laughter.

“Ah, but you were thinking, don’t deny that you were thinking.”

“Ok, ok, maybe I was, a little bit, please stop, stop, please!” Nina turned on her side, and curled up in a tight ball, still shaking with laughter. Julia stopped tickling her and pushed her on her belly, wiggled out of the gaff, then straddled Nina’s small buttocks and leaned down to nuzzle her neck and the back of her head.

“What were you thinking, you imp? Mh? What were you thinking?”

She bit gently into Nina’s earlobe and kissed her cheek. Nina smiled beatifically.

“That you are an elf, an angel, a goddess.”

“A female-female she-goddess? Really, with all this embarrassment hanging out all over the place like this?”

She let her cock and her smooth, smooth balls brush Nina’s buttocks, smiled and kissed her again.

“Always. You will always be a goddess to me,” murmured Nina, drinking in the kisses, her eyes closed. Her hand searched for Julia’s hand, their fingers wove together of their own accord, and Nina drew the hand closer to kiss Julia’s fingertips one by one, adoringly. Julia smiled and pressed her breasts down on Nina’s back, rubbing them gently on her shoulder blades.

She kissed Nina again and again, on her temple, cheek, eyelid, nose, the corner of her mouth. She was so precious. Sleek, small-boned, but fierce and sharp, like a bird of prey, hooded and caged, but never quite tamed. And I have set you free, and you chose to fly to me.

“I love you. Darling,” she whispered in her ear, in her huskiest, deepest voice, and Nina shuddered all over while her spine gave a twist, as Julia knew it would. Nina turned under her, to hug her and draw her body down. Julia moved her knees within Nina’s legs, and just like that, without any difficulty, her untimely erection found a place to go.

So wet. How can you become so wet just by looking at me? What do you see that nobody else ever saw? What do you see that even I don’t see? Julia sank her face in Nina’s neck, to kiss her, bite her, whisper in her ear, yes, oh yes, whisper and murmur and cajole, until my voice will make you melt, my love, my love, my love.

 

Product Reviews

Score: 5 out of 5 (based on 8 ratings)
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5/5
Riveting!
Written by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews on 29th Mar 2018

Wow. It's not often that I say "wow" but after reading this, there's not much more I can say. Well, yes there is. Gender is not just black and white, never was, but nowadays more so. This book is about not identifying with gender, one way or another. It's not a long story, and it was a quick read, but it had a lot of context within it. There was quite a change in POVs but in this story, I found it necessary and part of the intensity of the story. It was sensuous and riveting, and beautifully written.

5/5
Captivating
Written by K.T. Vaughn on 5th Jan 2018

This story, Woman as a Foreign Language by Katherine Wyvern, captivated me from beginning to end. The only regret while reading such a story is in knowing the end is too near, but happily the ending was as satisfying as the beginning had been compelling. Fortunately it is also the kind of a story that can be reread and savored again. The author, Ms. Wyvern, invested the two principal characters, one man and one woman, with deep and complex personalities and troubled histories. The POV (point of view) of the story switches back and forth between them. This helps to show how each character is changing from both POVs. The plot can be looked at from various perspectives. The two principals help each other find themselves and form a complementary whole together. They each are gifted, though some may say burdened, with gender fluid characteristics, and the exotic mix of masculine and feminine personalities in the man finally unleashes the hidden female in the woman after years of repression. This is ultimately a love story between two adults, and the love scenes overflow with sensuous emotion. The author primarily limited the settings to the places where the principal characters live and work, and used words instead of a paint brush to create a verbal picture and give further insight into their personalities and interests. The home scenes also provided a field of battle as it were when each is confronted with their own arch-nemesis. The story had a delicious climax with an unexpected twist. The final resolution was eminently satisfying. I heartily recommend this story. It will warm up a dreary day or a chilly night.

5/5
Smart, Fascinating, and Warmhearted!
Written by Christine Potter on 5th Jan 2018

The first thing that struck me about Woman As A Foreign Language was its author’s voice: sure, just a little ironic, clear-eyed. This book notices things, and it’s rich with detail no matter who the narrator is, whether it’s first person or third person—and the point of view does alternate, here. Shifting POV can be confusing, or even self-conscious, but in a book that is so much about identity, it feels absolutely natural. It’s the right way to tell this story. Nina is a young woman whose abusive childhood has made her afraid to fully own her femininity. And Julia and Julian are two souls in one body—or perhaps they are the same soul, just reflected in different ways. At first Nina’s attraction to Julia—Julian dressed en femme—seems like a adolescent girl-crush. But then it deepens into love, with some of the most gracefully written and heartfelt erotic scenes I have ever read. They are beautiful—and really very steamy! I never thought I would be this wrapped up in a book with a main character who is a welder—but the whole idea of welding is an awfully good metaphor for its plot. The joining of things, the smoothing of things…that’s what this story is about. Although Nina’s life with her dysfunctional, nasty mother is a tremendously sad one at the book’s opening, this is an uplifting read. It’s sweet without being sentimental and the close is utterly satisfying. Woman As A Foreign Language is a page turner, too! It’s difficult to put it down. This is simply a terrific novel.

5/5
I absolutely loved this book - beautiful writing, with wonderful characters
Written by Bending the Bookshelf on 5th Jan 2018

I absolutely loved this book. The writing is beautiful, the language perfectly suited to each point-of-view, and the characters wonderfully damaged. At its core, Wyvern twists the usual gender/genre expectations, and that excited me. Here we have a cisgender woman who looks up to her transgender neighbor, from whom she learns to embrace and celebrate her own femininity. That Nina does not initially realize Julia is transgender is both irrelevant and essential to the plot. The fact alone has nothing to do with Nina's admiration, but the way in which it is revealed has much to do with her affection. This is a book that has a lot to say about gender, gender roles, and gender expectations. It is also a book that is not afraid to acknowledge the difference between female biology and feminine behavior. While readers who come into the story with an agenda may find flaws with its approach, I found it to be genuine and honest. Keep in mind that this a story told through two points-of-view, which means that every statement or observation is that of a character - Nina or Julia - and not that of an omniscient narrator passing judgement. While such a narrator might make a clear declaration that a woman does not have to be feminine to be female, both characters have their own reasons for seeking feminine in themselves, and each other. As for Julia, I found her character to be fascinating. She is a transgender woman who has not really decided what that means. There is no obsession over labels, no angst over identity, just an honest acknowledgement that Julian is happier, and more comfortable as Julia. As for Nina, she loves both aspects, and sees in Julia a feminine transition to which she can relate. When they do finally become intimate, it is as one woman to another, and the fact that one of them has some extra equipment is happily accommodated, yet never fetishized. Ultimately, Woman as a Foreign Language is exactly what I look for in an erotic transgender romance. It is gender-positive and sex-positive; erotic and romantic; and painful and funny. It is a literary reflection of life, with two characters I would very much like to get to know, and whom would be welcome in my home (or on my bookshelf) any time

5/5
Magically woven
Written by undefined on 18th Dec 2017

The blurb intrigued the hell out of me, and let me just say that the story more than lived up to my expectations. WaaFL is different than anything I've ever read, but so beautifully written and heart wrenching (in a good way) that I started reading and didn't get up until I finished. The characters drew on my empathy in a way few have before, and I found myself thinking that every single person needs to read this to gain a better understanding of what it means to identify differently than what your physical body dictates to society. Rarely will I re-read a story, but this one has left me with a book hangover - two days later - that will need to be satisfied in the form of another dose of magic that Katherine has so poignantly woven.

5/5
Smart, Warm-hearted, Fascinating
Written by Aletta Thorne on 8th Nov 2017

The first thing that struck me about Woman As A Foreign Language was its author’s voice: sure, just a little ironic, clear-eyed. This book notices things, and it’s rich with detail no matter who the narrator is, whether it’s first person or third person—and the point of view does alternate, here. Shifting POV can be confusing, or even self-conscious, but in a book that is so much about identity, it feels absolutely natural. It’s the right way to tell this story. Nina is a young woman whose abusive childhood has made her afraid to fully own her femininity. And Julia and Julian are two souls in one body—or perhaps they are the same soul, just reflected in different ways. At first Nina’s attraction to Julia—Julian dressed en femme—seems like a adolescent girl-crush. But then it deepens into love, with some of the most gracefully written and heartfelt erotic scenes I have ever read. They are beautiful—and really very steamy! I never thought I would be this wrapped up in a book with a main character who is a welder—but the whole idea of welding is an awfully good metaphor for its plot. The joining of things, the smoothing of things…that’s what this story is about. Although Nina’s life with her dysfunctional, nasty mother is a tremendously sad one at the book’s opening, this is an uplifting read. It’s sweet without being sentimental and the close is utterly satisfying. Woman As A Foreign Language is a page turner, too! It’s difficult to put it down. This is simply a terrific novel.

5/5
Can't Recommend Enough
Written by Jenna on 31st Oct 2017

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. This book is amazingly beautiful. The prose is gorgeous, the characters are uniquely memorably, and their relationship is perfectly rendered.

5/5
Everything about this story is beautiful
Written by Lea Bronsen on 27th Sep 2017

This was the great reading surprise of the year! The author intrigued me when she stated, "I did want to write a story about those people who, despite not being transsexuals, do not identify so easily as just man or woman, but are somewhere in-between, often in unlabeled places of the in-between, and, I think, the more beautiful for that." And succeed, she did. Everything about this story is beautiful, from the masterfully crafted atmospheric scenes to the purity of the characters' hearts and souls and their individual developments toward becoming trustful, self-confident, loving persons. Their POVs were so deep, a day later I can still feel like I'm inside their skins, their minds, their core. This book touched me on many levels and is going to stick with me for a long while. I can't recommend it enough!

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