"This is poetry that penetrates into the heart of not only the experience of lesbian love, but into what love means to the human psyche. These are emotions that live in each of us; that they are expressed here with a uniquely feminine interpretation truly enriches the palette of lesbian literature.

Women poets have here found a stage upon which they can present their passions and intimate feelings openly and in unison. SMITTEN brings the beauty and intricacies of women's love for each other into a unique and captivating presentation. With the publication of this volume, Indie Blu(e) remains at the forefront of giving lesbian literature a new and important direction.

Lesbian writers have long suffered the neglect of history and the close-mindedness of the world of literature and have yet somehow managed to rise above the indifference and the prejudice to express their distinctive creativity. The women represented in SMITTEN are strong voices confidently expressing their individuality. Perhaps Sappho verbalized it best when over two thousand years ago she wrote:

"May I write words more naked than flesh, stronger than bone, more resilient than sinew, sensitive than nerve."

Yes, that is the kind of poetry to be found within the pages of SMITTEN."

-Erik Klingenberg

"Although this is subtitled "Poetry by Women for Women", to assume that this is only relevant to women who love women (or even only to women at all, leaving out male readers) and to pass it by because of that would be a terrible mistake. At its center, it is simply about love, experienced and expressed by an eloquent and diverse collection of writers, of all ages, from all backgrounds, viewpoints and walks of life."

-Karen Herman

"Love doesn't have just one "look" to it and I thank SMITTEN for reminding readers of that.

Love transcends race and gender."

- Christy Birmingham, Versions of the Self

"Too often we sideline LGBTQ+ work as a genre of its own, when it should be mainstream; literary works which are written by people to be enjoyed by people, no matter what their race, sexuality, gender and/or religion.

Yet, until this happens, I applaud Daquin and Indie Blu(e) Publishing for brazenly making a stand. Until labels are but words and not identifiers, it is important that writers like those in this collection share their voices and stories, ever-lasting love and heartbreak, and their hopes and fears, to remind the literary world they will be heard, no matter what the response may be."

-Kristiana Reed, Between the Trees