You know what time it is! It’s that time where we talk about the books we’ve read this month and our bank account gets a little lighter.
For me, I’m finally getting around to reading my first Christina Lauren. I know I’ve mentioned that before (I think on the last Whatcha Reading), but I really mean it this time!
Since Elyse has reviewed two books in the Beautiful series, I decided to give the Wild Seasons series a shot since I know the least about it. I’m a quarter through Sweet Filthy Boy ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) and it’s so much fun! I’m already looking forward to the rest in the series.
I also got a notification that my hold for Manwhore by Katy Evans ( A | K | G | AB | Au ) came in at the library. I don’t even remember requesting it, though it’s possible I could have been drunk and browsing books. My roommate swears I came into her room and told her about it, but I honestly have no recollection.
Elyse:
I’m currently reading Scandal Never Sleeps by Shayla Black and Lexi Blake.
Also reading The Magic of Shetland Lace Knitting by Elizabeth Novick ( A ), which is perfect for anyone interested in designing their own lace projects.
Carrie: I lead a book club at Arden Dimick Library and they wanted to read Crime and Punishment ( A | K | G | AB ) – so I’m starting it today!
Redheadedgirl:
I just finished The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig and about to start Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
And Lobscouse and Spotted Dog ( A | BN ).
Sarah: I’m comfort reading Dragon Actually by GA Aiken, because comfort is sometimes found in stories about Annwyl the Bloody, who decapitates people, and dragon shifters, because DRAGON.
Campy, violent, bloody, sexy fairy tales! AND DRAGONS.
On deck: One Good Dragon Deserves Another by Rachel Aaron ( A ).
I read Nice Dragons Finish Last ( A ) and realllllly liked it (excellent world building) so I’m happy to have the sequel.
Also: DRAGONS.
Tell us what you’re reading! What were your hits and misses this month?
Shopping note:
After a Whatcha Reading? discussion, Lisa M emailed me to ask if I could link the books mentioned in the comments to the various retailers to make shopping a little easier. I wish I could! But I can drop some retailer links for you right here, so that if you feel like shopping, you can select your preferred retailer.
Some of these links are affiliate-enabled, and SBTB receives a percentage commission from purchases made. If you use them, many thanks. If you don’t want to us them, no worries, mate! (And if your preferred retailer isn’t here, let me know and I’ll add it for you if I can!)
I read and/or listened to some fantastic books this month! My favorites:
– The Martian by Andy Weir (Audible) – everybody said this book was awesome and they were right, I’ll just add that this was a nearly perfect audiobook and I absolutely recommend this format
– How Sweet It Is by Melissa Brayden (Scribd- expired) – a lovely f/f contemporary, I smiled through the whole thing. I also read Brayden’s “Heart Block”, but it had a sick kid, so, no
– You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day (Audible) – funny and heartfelt yes, but also an honest look at anxiety and depression. Felicia reads it herself and she’s great
– Magic Rises/Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews (Overdrive) – Magic Breaks was surprisingly fantastic, can’t wait to read the newest one
– The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (pbk) – a weird mix of biography, sex philosophy, and history of feminism, complete with full color panels. I loved it
– Joan of Arc: A History by Helen Castor (library) – Really brings a stubborn, committed, human Joan to life while setting her firmly in her time
– Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America by Rachel Hope Cleves (library) – Fascinating, if a little dry
Also read:
– The Sublime & Spirited Voyage of the Original Sin by Colette Moody (Scribd – expired) – f/f romance, if lesbian pirates are your thing, this is the book for you!
– Olivia by Dorothy Strachey (Scribd – expired) – a lesbian romance classic, but it was melodramatic in all the ways you’d expect
– The Swede by Robert Karjel (library) – I read this cause I heard the hero was bisexual and he absolutely is, but the spy vs spy thriller is just not my thing
Currently listening to/reading:
– Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Scribd) – the story’s okay but I Do Not recommend the audiobook. The narrator is unsure and flat, like she’s reading off notecards
– Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook (Overdrive) – I didn’t much like the romance in “The Iron Duke”, über alphas are not my thing, but I did like the world building so, I’m excited about this one!
The last two books I finished were Cetaganda, by Lois McMaster Bujold, which was a lot of fun, and Rebel Queen, by Michelle Moran, which wasn’t a bad book, but wasn’t remotely the book the description said it was. (Most of the stuff mentioned in the description doesn’t happen until the last 40 pages, which includes the epilogue, so it’s really rushed. (Some of it doesn’t happen at all. Ten body guards is not an army of women.))
No romance books on the immediate tbr pile.
I’m currently in the middle of Sustenance, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. So far it’s turning out to be a meh Saint-Germain book, but there’s still time for it to pick up. (I still reflexively buy these in hardcover. It may be time to revisit that.)
The library has The Dark Forest, by Cixin Liu on hold for me. I really liked The Three Body Problem, so I’m looking forward to that. (But I’m not going to be in the area until Monday.)
And I picked up The Grace of Kings, by Ken Liu when I was last at the library.
I’m reading Blackout by Connie Willis. I read Doomsday Book, which was very well done, but not ‘light’ by any means. Blackout isn’t light either, so I’m also reading Drink Deep by Chloe Neill during meals, etc. The Willis is for when I have a stretch of time to focus.
BIG thank you to whoever it was that mentioned Montgomery’s The Blue Castle. I’m pretty sure it was here in the comments section. It doesn’t seem to have been translated to Swedish which is why I never heard about it as a kid. Weird considering that we ALL read the Anne books here in Swedish! Anyway, it was all kinds of lovely and my grandma is very disappointed she can’t read it since she doesn’t read in English at all.
I finally read Think of England and LOVED it! It’s going straight to my comfort read shelf.
Right now I’m reading the Winter Rain anthology. It has a lot of authors I’ve been curious about so it’s nice to get to try out their short stories.
We’re reading Nineteen Eighty-Four with my book club so I’ll start that soon.
I’m reading Venetia, by Georgette Heyer. LOVE IT. I’ve never read any Heyer before and I already see myself consuming everything she wrote in a glorious OM NOM NOM. I’m also reading Missoula by Jon Krakauer, which isn’t an easy read, but is necessary.
An illness and death in the family has sent me fleeing to Kathleen Gilles Seidel because I need to know that I will love the book I am reading right now. I finished Till the Stars Fall a little while ago and am now rereading Keep Your Mouth Shut and Wear Beige.
In an effort to break out of my current book slump, I decided to try a new genre and gave The Siren by Tiffany Reisz a go. Maybe my expectations were raised too high by all the rave reviews, but I am frankly meh about the whole thing. Nora’s a Mary-Sue, Zachary is an asshat and Wesley is just plain unbelievable to me and I’ve been reading romance since the late 70’s, so my ability to suspend disbelief is pretty high and I found the writing no better than average.
This book slump is getting extremely depressing. I swear I have tried; I have gone to new authors and genres with an open mind, but, 95% of the time, the excerpt fails to engage me and I have even turned down freebies because they just don’t seem to be worth the trouble. Any advice about how to crawl out of this slump would be very much appreciated. Real life kind of sucks right now; I need to be able to love my books.
I’m reading WHAT YOU NEED by my friend Rachel Wifall, then MAKING MOIEY by Terry Pratchett.
Francesca, have you read The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen? It got me out of a book slump about this time last year and I loved it – it also got me wanting to read fantasy again.
I am currently working my way through Persuasion, A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen, Red: A History of the Redhead, and just borrowed You & Me & Him by Kris Dinnison from work last night.
I’m reading some graphic novels, including The Death of Captain America and The Finely Woven Thread (which is about Black Widow).
I just finished Lisa Kleypas’ “Brown-Eyed Girl” yesterday and thought it was…OK. I’m not sure what to think of it, or of my reaction – it certainly wasn’t bad, and there were some very good parts, but overall – underwhelmed? Expectations too high? I’ll wait for her historical to see if I’ve just outgrown her writing.
I haven’t decided yet which romance to read next. I wouldn’t call this a slump, but I feel very unmotivated to start anything at the moment. I really need the new Tessa Dare to come out right-the-hell-now instead of the 25th. At least the new Lora Leigh “Bound Hearts” book finally comes out Tuesday – I could use one of her OTT cracktastic menage books.
I’m also in the middle of Norman Davies’ “Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe” – it’s a very interesting book, and Davies is a fairly engaging writer, but some sections really suffer from him trying to cram too much history into too little space, unfortunately.
@Frida I don’t remember if I recommended The Blue Castle here or somewhere else, but so glad to hear of some one else enjoying it so much! I absolutely loved it!
Just finished We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and it was blow-the-top-of-my-head-off amazing! I mean, I loved her first book (The Language of Flowers, read it while I was pregnant and cried buckets) but this was so lovely and true that I can’t wait to read it again. Also, I dig how Letty, the mc who has a fifteen yo and a six yo and is just now stepping up to be a parent, finds a support system but ultimately has to save herself. There’s a moment where the Guy could have just rescued her and solved all her problems and the author made the choice to give Letty agency and make her self-willed. She could love him without having him solve all her problems. I loved it and also loved that the kids are so very infuriatingly realistic. No plot moppets for sure lol. Just go read it. I am going to read it again.
Sarah, your absolutely correct, Anwyl the Bloody decapitating people I’d comfort reading. Or at least it is for me too.
I recently finished SK Dunstall’s Linesman, which was excellent, as were Ann Aguirre’s Perdition and Havoc.
No real misses come to mind, but I fear I’m about to start one.
Sarah, your absolutely correct, Anwyl the Bloody decapitating people is comfort reading. Or at least it is for me too.
I recently finished SK Dunstall’s Linesman, which was excellent, as were Ann Aguirre’s Perdition and Havoc.
No real misses come to mind, but I fear I’m about to start one.
Read Kleypas’s Brown Eyed Girl and was very disappointed. I would recommend the series stopping with Jack because this book was not worth it. I haven’t liked any of her contemporaries after Jack’s story so we’ll see.
Read Laura Florand’s latest and really liked it, which prompted me to re-read all of her other books, ha. A Wish Upon Jasmine was really good.
Now I’m reading Kaylea Cross’s Avenged, for those who like romantic suspense.
I finished Erik Larson’s “Devil in the White City” for a library book club, set in the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and contrasting the building of the fair and the serial killer H.H. Holmes. Very creepy and detailed.
For the TBR challenge, I’m reading Diane Gaston’s Marriage of Notoriety, I grabbed at a book sale because I hadn’t read a Harlequin Historical.
I’m trying out my library’s Hoopla account/app, which includes audiobooks and music. I’ve already listened to the first Tasha Alexander Lady Emily mystery and the Armitage Venetia. I’m trying Chloe Neill’s “The Veil” but it’s slow going.
Not sure what will be next – I have Lauren Willig’s “The Other Daughter” because I can’t resist the siren lure of the 1920s and a whole pile of Jayne Castle paranormal romances for a change of pace. And the smallish pile from RWA signing…
I have recently finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik and At Your Pleasure by Meredith Duran. Both were fantastic. I really enjoyed At Your Pleasure – a story about star-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the 1715 Jacobite uprisings in England – there were English Jacobites who wanted to see James Stuart on the throne rather than George 1. This is one of those historicals which I read and immediately want to find out more about the time period.
Uprooted is a lovely, lovely fairy tale and will be on my list of favourite books published this year.
I am now reading Oracle by Michelle West (a.k.a Michelle Sagara – part of the House War series) and the Lure of the Moonflower by Lauren Willig is next on the list.
I binge-read all of Barbara Hambly’s short stories from her various universes, 20 of them newly available at Smashwords and thereby Scribd, and also at Amazon. If you haven’t read Hambly, you could maybe read the Sherlock Holmes stories, but shouldn’t start with the others. In that case I would maybe start with her novel Bride of the Rat God. If you have read Hambly but not these, you’re probably already off at Scribd hitting “add to library” and my work is done.
After that binge, I binge-read all of T. Kingfisher’s short works likewise at Scribd. Mostly fairy tale influenced with some great variants. Kingfisher also writes children’s and graphic novels and has won the Hugo and the Nebula.
Francesca, because I have some favorites by Seidel, I’ll list a few other relatively “happy” favorites, many well-known, in case any of them strike a chord: Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls; Andrea K Höst’s Touchstone Trilogy, which I mention for some of the same real-world sprawliness I like in some of Seidel (first segment free at Smashwords and maybe elsewhere); Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game. Maybe anthologies or comic book collections? Good luck.
I just finished The Martian by Andy Weir and it was excellent. Before that I read Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel and it is one of the best books I’ve read in a few years. Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Orphan Masters Son by Adam Johnson round out the “best books I’ve read in the past year” list.
@Francesca:
I’m sorry and my condolences. I know what you mean about needing to read familiar favorites when you’re unhappy. I hope you feel better soon – and may that person’s memory be a blessing.
I read “Vivian Apple at the End of the World” by Katie Coyle, and found it to be just okay. I can suspend disbelief to a certain point, but this book went beyond that. I’m not going to read any other books in that series.
I also read “Sutphin Boulevard” by Santino Hassell. This is an m/m romance, and it was very good. It has rather a dark tone as one of the main characters spirals into substance abuse, but I’m definitely going to read the next book when it’s available.
Then there was “Neanderthal Seeks Human (Knitting in the City Book 1)” by Penny Reid. Janie is super smart about everything except human relations; she misses social cues, can’t see when the hero is really into her – to the point that the plot moved at a glacial pace and I began to get impatient. I might try one more book in the series to see if this gets any better. This is the author’s debut novel, so maybe I’m being too harsh.
On the bright side, I read all three books in Heidi Cullinan’s “Love Lessons” series, “Love Lessons”, “Fever Pitch”, and “Lonely Hearts” and loved all of them. They’re m/m Y/A books about guys in college; this is probably my favorite series this year and Heidi Cullinan is quickly becoming an auto buy.
I’m making my way through the 20+ books I got at RWA. Strange to be reading paper again…
I read Sweet Filthy Boy recently and enjoyed it. It was my first Christina Lauren book too.
Now reading It Started with a Scandal by Julie Anne Long. I haven’t read the Pennyroyal series in so long, and I don’t know why. Enjoying it a lot.
I want to read Brown-Eyed Girl but I’ve been hearing mixed things about it, and $13.99 (cdn) is pretty steep for an e-book.
@Lora I didn’t realize she had a new book out! Will put that on my list. I loved The Language of Flowers too.
I’ve been working my way through the NPR list, and so far it’s been great fun (even when I could not finish Blaze I still had fun with it). Particularly fun to revisit authors like McNaught and Putney that I hadn’t read in ages. Not sure I ever read Brockway, but As You Desire was delightful.
I’m gearing up for the new Harper Lee book, not only because I have to work to make myself read anything that isn’t a romance, but also one of the longest romances of my life has been with Atticus Finch, and I am not sure I am ready to move on.
In the not-a-romance category, started the Ben Aaronovich series with the paranormal police in London and am very enthusiastic.
I discovered Joan Wolf this month. OMG! The Deception. Someday Soon. Regency that (more or less) makes sense. Heroines that are competent. Loving her, using the gift certificate I won from Smart Bitches to search the local used bookstore for more.
Also reading Whiskey Beach on my kindle app – apparently some felt the heroine was a little too manic pixie but she reminds me a lot of my god-daughter who is exactly that way only lesbian (there’s a story I should write).
Read Radiance by Grace Draven and also liked it a lot. Persons who are very alien to each other and consider each other ugly and barbarian find themselves in a political marriage and fall in love.
Lovely Wild by Megan Hart was interesting. Not really a romance but an examination of roots and of relationships. Very interesting. Again, the heroine (who was a feral child) had a ton of agency as did her teen daughter.
Just finished Hushabye by Celina Grace on my nook – a nice British police procedural. Everyone on the force seems to have personal issues that are addressed in the course of the investigation of a kidnapping. I will likely read the rest in the series.
@Francesca, I’m very sorry to hear about your loss and your illness. My suggestion, for whatever it’s worth, is to try something light and funny where you do not need to be deeply drawn in into the story to enjoy yourself. The kind of book where you know exactly what you are getting into from the outset. I usually recommend Tawna Fenske for that. Her ‘For Hire’ series is hilarious, the stories lines are pretty light and over the top, but it is impossible not to laugh out loud when reading them.
There are a couple other books I need to squee about: Marianna Zapata’s Kulti completely blew me away. My heart literally hurt when I reached the last page because I didn’t want it to be over.
I also read Rachel Goodman’s From Scratch, which was the perfect comfort read for people who like sweet contemporary romances with just the right amount of tension and angst and a whole lot of food descriptions. My only complaint is that I was up until 4am reading it and so tired the next day.
It’s summer in Chicago: 90+ degrees and 90% humidity. You know what that means. I finally indulged in Julie James’ Suddenly One Summer. It wouldn’t be summer without her. And I was so wanting more that I reread It Happened One Wedding.
Also read the very engrossing I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Pretty sure it will be a movie soon as it is a first novel by the screenwriter of Mad Max and Dead Calm.
My Kindle assures my I’m in the last 15% of Nora Roberts Land. FINALLY. I’ve been reading it in small doses on my lunch break so as not to damage to myself or others. There may by a huge Book Rant coming. La Nora may have given her blessing for the use of her name, but make no mistake, Ava Miles is no Nora Roberts.
Coming up is Elizabeth Lowell’s latest, Perfect Touch. Unless I decide to reread Suddenly One Summer.
I also read I didn’t have a great reading month. I had big plans to read a ton of books before they expired on Scribd and then just didn’t feel like reading anything. I did manage to read a few Karina Bliss books with my favorite being Here Comes the Groom. I also read Truth or Beard by Penny Reid on Scribd (available until 9/13) and enjoyed it quite a bit but felt the outside conflict of the biker gang didn’t really fit perfectly into the rest of the story. Another Scribd highlight was Marrying the Captain by Carla Kelly (expired).
I won a finished copy of Lady Be Good by Meredith Duran from Goodreads and I was so excited about reading it. It didn’t really work for me. I kept putting it down and having no desire to pick it back up. There was nothing wrong with the book; it had great characters and a well-developed plot but it just didn’t draw me in. I blame myself and my reading slump for not liking it and I’m going to have to try to reread it in the future. I can’t wait for the next book in the series with the uptight, scholarly heroine and shady dealing hero.
With Scribd getting rid of so many romance books I decided to check out Oyster with their .99 for three months deal.
(https://www.oysterbooks.com/summerutm_source=bustle&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=2015_06_01_roundup“) So far I’ve read Pucked by Helena Hunting and Acute Reactions by Ruby Lang. Pucked was fun but it took me a bit to adjust to the writing style. I think a lot of people could find it amateurish but I was able to just go with and enjoy it. Acute Reactions was a really cute book about a guy who wants to get over his cat allergy so he can finally ‘get the girl.’ He ends up falling for his allergist. The conflict comes mainly from the heroine being concerned about whether it’s unprofessional to date a former patient (he stops being a patient early on) and, later on, a misunderstanding involving his ex-girlfriend’s cat which felt pretty contrived. Don’t expect too much real conflict but just a cute book with interesting characters.
Up next I need to pick from a slew of library books that have to go back soon. I have Thrill Me by Susan Mallery and The Little Paris Bookshop from my library’s ebook site. Then I have The Other Daughter and The Lure of the Moonflower by Lauren Willig, Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews, Armada by Ernest Cline, and Scents and Sensibility by Spencer Quinn (the latest Chet and Bernie mysteries, I love the fact that’s it’s narrated by the dog).
A. A Death at the Dionysus Club, the sequel to Death by Silver, by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold. These books are lovely. They’re a mix of m/m romance and mystery set in a Victorian England where magic is an academic and practical matter. The detectives are a private inquiry agent and his partner, a ‘metaphysician’ or practical magic expert. What really hooks me about these books is that, magic notwithstanding, they have a very strong sense of authentic Victorian behavior. Plus the romance is great; I might not have started the latest one yet, though, if I’d known it would end on a kind of cliffhanger — the mystery plot is wrapped up, but the authors got me severly concerned about one of the main characters’ mental health, so that I was saying “I need to read the next book right now!”
B. Reindeer Moon by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. Not romance but an amazing book. An imaginative trip back to the Ice Age, parallel stories of a yoyng woman growing up and negotiating her social world and survival, and her spirit journeys in various animal forms after death. A compassionate, intimate immersion in a harsh world; probably the most impressive book I’ve read this year.
C. How Old Is the Universe? by David Weintraub, an unusually good popular science book, taking the reader on a tour of most of astronomy and cosmology on the way to explainibg how we know the universe is exactly 13.7 billion years old, understandable to anyone with a little bit of high school physics and written with a quiet wit.
D. God Stalk by P.C. Hodgell, a book (from 1982) people were enthusing about on a science fiction site I follow; although marred by clumsy writing, it’s an intriguingly dark take on a Tolkienesque cosmic conflict where instead of good vs. evil, it’s evil vs. not-very-benign, and set in a memorabke one of those corrupt, colorful fantasy cities with lots of incident.
E. Nothing else of note; I was disappointed in Bujold’s Penric’s Demon and am currently reading a book recently recommended in a comment here, Anchor and Storm, which is alas a bit cartoonish and has one of those passages so often mocked on this site where the hero has to effortfully hammer through the heroine’s hymen of steel!
Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series has been one of the bright spots in my summer reading. I started the first book at the beginning of summer but just recently finished the eighth book: The series is that good! I’m glad book nine comes out soon.
Another bright spot has been KJ Charles’ A Charm of Magpies series. I love the characters, the setting, and the supernatural elements. The author has done a great job in portraying why the main characters are drawn to each other, and the horror elements are excellent.
I wouldn’t have heard about this series if not for CarrieS’ insightful review, so I want to thank her for the great recommendation!
This month I read Goddess by David Leeming and Jake Page. It’s a super abridged version of the history of the female “Goddess” (quote because it also includes characters like Lilith and Eve from The Bible) and how the meaning has changed over the years. It was really good, but like I said really abridged, When God was a Woman does this sort of book a little better.
I also re read one of my favorite graphic novels based on the Pokemon games( much better than it sounds if you enjoy children’s lit like I do ).
Lastly I’m currently reading a historical romance called The Highness and the Highlander. So far it’s really fluffy and sweet like cotton candy, not exactly filling, but enjoyable none-the-less. If you enjoy bodyguard crushes, class-mixing relationships, hot highlanders in kilts you, and naive but sweet heroines you’ll like this book, otherwise there isn’t really anything remarkable about it.
@Kate – thanks for the lesbian pirate rec! And I hope you enjoy Heart of Steel. I liked it so much better than the first Iron Seas book – Riveted is my favorite in the series.
@Lace – omg, Barbara Hambly short stories. Thanks for the heads up.
I caught up on Heidi Cullinan’s Love Lessons series – finally read the first one after it went on sale and read Lonely Hearts when it came out. Fever Pitch is still my fave, but I enjoyed Lonely Hearts. (I’m glad to see HC writing trans characters – it bothered me a bit that this trans character’s main character arc was getting rescued by one of the MCs, but honestly, all of the secondary characters seemed to exist only to rescue, or be rescued by, the 2 MCs.)
I read KJ Charles’ latest – A Fashionable Indulgence. First in her mm regency trilogy with no magic (and a big NY publisher). It was ok. It was not as romantic as her other books, IMO. And there was a lot of plot. But I enjoyed it. It actually reminded me of some of Courtney Milan’s historicals – lots of interesting details about reformers and class conflicts.
I skimmed The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue for my queer genre fiction book club. It was a good book to discuss but I had trouble reading it because I hated all of the main characters. It’s based on a real life Victorian divorce case, and is about a first wave feminist who gets caught up in her friend’s unhappy marriage and unhappier public divorce trial. The queer content is kind of subtle – it’s pretty obvious that Fido (the feminist) is in love with her female friend, but it’s not clear until the end what, if anything, happened between them.
Also read Servicing the Target by Cherise Sinclair – bdsm romance. Her first femdom! I liked this more than her last couple Shadowlands books, but there were a lot of side trips into previous couples. I didn’t totally buy the hea, but I’m so glad to see her branching out from her usual pairing of an all knowing male Dom with a feisty female sub.
I’m currently reading The Girl You left behind by JoJo Moyes· It is really good and I like how it goes from Modern times back to 1914· I just finished My Grandmother Says She’s Sorry by Frederick Backman. It was a beautiful story of mothers, grandmothers, neighbors, daughters, and family. Really a wonderful book. I hope to start the latest Eloisa James!!!
@cleo: I picked up the new Cherise Sinclair for that reason too! I think I read the first four books in the series and everything felt a bit formulaic after a while, but when I saw this one had a dominatrix, I snapped it right up!
Apparently a blah reading month is going around. Not much really connected for me this month. I didn’t really love either of the latest Jill Shalvis series installments, nor did the start of the Shannon Stacey football series do much for me. I’m impatiently waiting for the latest Ilona Andrews to come into my library’s e-system, as I’m sure that will be a slam dunk for me. I listened to “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson on a cross-country roadtrip. It was fine, but I think must work better on the printed page… as an audiobook, the constant switching between storylines was a little disorienting.
The best thing I read was “Kiss Me” by Susan Mallery. I’m not sure what it is about her writing, but it is totally my comfort spot. Even her weaker books aren’t terrible, and “Kiss Me” was actually quite good, especially considering that it’s the 17th installment in that series. I appreciated that she found a way to make the heroine a very positive person without making her TSTL or cloying, at least IMO. Also hot cowboy hero who broods and loves his little brother: Mallery FTW
I went to my first rugby match a couple of weeks ago, so of course I had to read Kat Latham’s “Playing It Close.” It was really enjoyable, touching on some issues that are important to me, and kept me wondering how the happy ending would happen.
After I read that I had to re-read “Unwrapping Her Perfect Match.” The main female character reminds me of Brienne from Game of Thrones (with a dollop of the personality of the actress that plays her). It was good the first time around but even better this time because I was familiar with more of the characters.
I just finished Loretta Chase’s “The Sandalwood Princess.” It’s an early book by her and it shows. There are some serious Indian stereotypes here.
I just finished Ilona Andrews Magic Shifts and I loved it. Now deciding what to read next, do I read Diary of a Accidental Wallflower Jennifer McQuiston ( a new to me author) or KJ Charles newest book A Fashionable Indulgence?
So let’s see. I am about 100 pages into Soulbound by Kristen Callihan. I absolutely loved some of the earlier books in the series but not entirely sure about this one yet. The heroine is kind of annoying. And there are typos and mistakes in the ebook. Like Adam was a “paige” rather than page before becoming a knight. I have counted half a dozen of these mistakes already. Really annoying and surprising.
For my next book I just picked up The Historian from the library – read it years ago and liked it, but I just finished three Night Prince novels (Jeaniene Frost) and decided to get another perspective on Vlad the Impaler, for fun. So we’ll see if it is as good as I remember.
Earlier read two Liane Moriarty books while on vacation. Really liked them so I have a couple more on hold t the library.