It’s Whatcha Reading time! I feel like it’s been ages since the last one. Or perhaps we’re all just in desperate need of some cozy book talk.
I’m not sure about you, but I’ve been struggling with what to pick up lately and I’ve been having some major issues finding something that grabs me. Is anyone else having that problem?
Sarah: I have a surfeit of books, too. I am currently reading Lunch in Paris ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I’m working on a post about romantic memoirs inspired by my interview with Laura Bradbury last week.
I’m also reading Midnight Blue by Simone van der Vlugt. It’s part mystery and part historical fiction and I’m fascinated.
Elyse: Oooooh that cover!
Sarah: Which cover?
Elyse: Midnight Blue!
Amanda: I finished a book last night, so now I’m having a crisis on what to read next. I finished Bad Bachelor ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which was really cute and has some amazing banter. I also reread The Kiss Quotient ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) because I’m an adult and I can do whatever I want! Will report back when I’ve Hunger Games’d my TBR pile.
Sarah: Midnight Blue is gorgeous.
Lunch in Paris took me a chapter or two to get into it, but the essays interspersed with recipes hooked me BAD last night and I forgot to go to bed on time.
It’s not quite Bad Decisions Book Club but it was a very close thing.
Elyse: So I anxiety shopped on Amazon this weekend and as a result I have like 10 books showing up today.
So I think I’m going to start Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown first ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
Carrie: I just started Heroine’s Journey by Sarah Kuhn. Review pending. I love this series!
Elyse: I’ve been working on knitting a lightweight summer shell so I’ve been listening to Death in the Air by Kate Winkler Dawson ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). It’s true crime and so far it’s pretty good although I’m not crazy about the narrator
Amanda: I think I’ve made my decision – a Psy-Changeling re-read!
Sarah: Ooooh that’s a good re-read.
Amanda: I’ve been reading a lot of contemporary romances lately and want to switch it up. I just ordered the UK editions of the first five books in the Psy-Changeling series. Might as well break them in.
Redheadedgirl: I’m reading Sarah MacLean’s Wicked and the Wallflower ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and yes, overhydrating at work so I can sneak off to read more (though it is hot and gross, so it’s really hydrating just enough).
I’m also looking for a good translation of The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon. It’s a diary of sorts of a lady in the court of Empress Consort Teishi around 1000 CE.
(So, commenters, if you have suggestions on which translations is good…)
And I just acquired a copy of Maison Rustique des Dames, The French Country Housewife ( A ). It’s a 19th century French Mrs. Beeton.
Sarah: I read parts of The Pillow Book in grad school. It was fascinating.
Amanda: I lied. Things have been a little awful lately, so I need to do a 180 and read a Tessa Dare. Elyse helped me narrow down the selection and I’ll be starting When a Scot Ties the Knot ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
What have you read this month? We hope you’ve finished something amazing! Tell us all about it!
By request, since we can’t link to every book you mention in the comments, here are bookstore links that help support the site with your purchases. If you use them, we greatly appreciate it, and if you’d prefer not to, no worries. Thanks for being a part of SBTB and hopefully, you’ve found some great books to read!
At the start of the year, I swore that if I want to reread a book, I will, regardless of my TBR. I stuck to that plan this month, and I really enjoyed it! I’ve also been inhaling contemporary romances lately.
Faves
– BARRACOON: THE STORY OF THE LAST “BLACK CARGO” by Zora Neale Hurston (audiobook) – Hurston’s weeks long 1927 interview with Cudjo Lewis, last known survivor of the African slave trade. Important and sad.
– THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexander Dumas – just as good as I remembered. AND! I totally didn’t notice the lesbian subplot the first time around!
– A GIRL LIKE HER by Talia Hibbert – So good! So thoughtful! So sweet and funny! I want to read everything by her.
– WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE GOT THERE: ANCIENT DNA AND THE NEW SCIENCE OF THE HUMAN PAST by David Reich – I love archeology and paleoanthropology and this book is the best of reads for anyone who wants to nerd out.
– THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT LAKES by Dan Egan – a very stressful book about the Great Lakes and the cycles of invasive species that are destroying them.
– MAKING UP by Lucy Parker – I read this in one sitting. I loved the light tension, Trix and Leo arguing and making up through comic panels (!!!), even the epilogue which twists the common trope into something delightful.
– RIVEN by Roan Parrish – You know how really good fanfic sometimes has a laser focus on a couple, their emotional journeys and, like, soul-touching sex? That’s what this m/m contemporary is like. Plus! Rock stars! Picked up because of flailing on Book Riot’s When In Romance podcast
– GODDESS by Kelly Gardiner – fictional take on the life of Julie d’Aubigny, bisexual sword fighter, opera singer, lover, midnight toker. This doesn’t have a great rating on GoodReads, but I loved it.
Good
– DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY by Lois McMaster Bujold (audiobook) – I love Miles and these audiobooks, especially this month, but this was a shift away from the comedy and romance of the last couple books, and I missed them.
– THE HUNGER by Alma Katsu – horror take on the Donner Party. Well written and tense, but it didn’t hit the notes I wanted.
– ARROWS OF THE QUEEN by Mercedes Lackey (audiobook) – I didn’t love this much when I read it a few years back, but I really enjoyed the audiobook. It was light and warm in the right way.
– THE TEMPLARS: THE RISE AND SPECTACULAR FALL OF GOD’S HOLY WARRIORS by Dan Jones – I love Jones’s work but this was dry. Maybe I just don’t find the Templars that interesting?
– TRIBUTE ACT by Joanna Chambers – the first step siblings romance I’ve read and it wasn’t squicky like I’d feared. The romance itself was a little under developed though.
– THE FADE OUT: ACT ONE by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips – graphic novel noir mystery set in ‘40’s Hollywood. Loved the art but the story was verrry ‘40’s appropriate.
– THE LYING GAME by Ruth Ware – didn’t stick in my mind long and I thought the mystery itself was pretty ridiculous.
Currently Reading
– BRIEF CASES by Jim Butcher (audiobook) – new collection of short stories, although some of the stories aren’t new. Pretty enjoyable so far.
– JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte – I haven’t read this since HIGH SCHOOL. Still love it!
Not sure what I’m reading next. Had a bunch of books come out at the end of May and I gobbled them up! Have a few books in my queue that haven’t had great reviews so am trying to figure out if I should try those…
On a random question.: why are release dates still Tuesday? The book shows up in my kindle Monday night and I have to ignore it until Friday. This takes a lot more discipline than it should and it’s a major accomplishment when I get to Friday without staying up all night and o read a new book.
I went on a trip, which always ups my reading:
Dandy Gilver and a Most Misleading Habit by Catriona McPherson: I love this series. I wish they’d release everything in the US. Silly publishers.
Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel: There was a review here about this one and the review was right – Frankenstein is an asshole. I enjoyed the concept of the book, but there was a lot more telling than showing.
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead: Number whatever in the Vampire Academy series. Rose gets on my nerves some, but Mead can plot like nobody’s business.
With a Little Bit of Blood by D.E. Ireland: The next in the Eliza Doolittle mystery series. I love these. Light and cheerful with lots of descriptions of food and clothes.
Pale Guardian by Barbara Hambly: The next in her Asher/Ysidro series. This one is set in WWI and Hambly can describe the hell out of trench warfare.
Duke’s Gambit by Tracy Grant: Speaking of lots of descriptions of clothes…this series is overwrought to the max with most of the action happening through fevered conversations, but I enjoy it.
Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor: Next in the St. Mary’s. Great as always.
Currently:
Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire: Intense enough that I can’t use it for pre-bed reading, but really good. I can’t wait to see what she does with this.
Dangerous to Know by Renee Patrick: Next Lillian Frost/Edith Head mystery. I’m using this for the pre-bed reading. Mystery set pre-WWII Hollywood (yes, it’s THAT Edith Head). These are fun, and she has a lot of appearances by movie stars, and she does a good job of getting their voices.
After DNFing a book I had high expectations for, I’ve also been in a funk where I can’t even pick a genre I’m in the mood for, much less a book. I started strategically reading the oldest unread book on my Kindle, which was okay the first time and then went from bad to worse to FLAMES ON THE SIDE OF MY FACE, so to hell with strategy. Embrace chaos!
Currently reading SUBHUMAN by Michael McBride, in which a team investigates an ancient civilization found in a lake beneath the ice sheet in Antarctica. With pyramids and aliens, as you do. Most of the characters are indistinguishable to me, but since it’s the sort of book in which a lot of them are going to die in ugly ways, maybe it’s for the best. I’m riding along for the creepy discoveries. Based on the 1-star reviews, it may be beneficial to have some background knowledge about the strange. I think the average X-Files fan would be adequately informed to keep up.
I liked Talia Hibbert’s A GIRL LIKE HER. Loved Ruth (to whom I could relate almost too well) and Evan. Loved that she repaired some of the broken things in her life but she herself did not need to be “fixed” to deserve happiness.
Got THE RESTORER by Amanda Stevens after it was mentioned in the comments of a sales post (thank you, Heather S!). Pros: Great sense of place, great characterization with no problem keeping track of the cast, cool ghostly stuff. Cons: The romance felt forced to me, and distracting formatting on my old Kindle. It’s not as bad on my tablet, but if you, like me, don’t read novels on a glowing screen because migraines, the formatting annoyance is something to be aware of.
ALL SYSTEMS RED by Martha Wells. Need more murderbot who doesn’t commit mayhem because there’s too much to watch on space Netflix. Preordered everything.
AT YOUR PLEASURE by Meredith Duran. If you like history in your historical romance, the 1715 Jacobite rising is central to the plot. I don’t recommend Duran to anyone looking for feel-good romance because her characters are often not very nice to each other due to their circumstances, but their actions are plot relevant and not gratuitous. She’s an excellent writer, but what she writes may be too dark for some readers.
I guess most of my rage-quits were in May and just one early this month, so June actually wasn’t too bad.
I’m reading the rules to the role-playing game STARFINDER. It sounds simple, but the core rulebook is over 500 pages long…
obsessed…and frustrated
MURDER IN THRALL + 3 others by Anne Cleeland – I devoured the first four books in Cleeland’s New Scotland Yard/Doyle and Acton series. Now I am on fire for books 5-7, but my library (my awesome system of libraries) has let me down. They’re not even available to be recommended for acquisition via Overdrive.
He’s aristocratic, brilliant, and warped. She’s Irish, enabling, and fey. They’re officers in the Metropolitan Police Service’s criminal investigation department. His hobbies: stalking her and drinking Scotch. Her hobbies: building her vocabulary and sensing things…except his stalking. The narrative is in 3rd-person limited POV through the heroine’s perspective, with a very occasional glimpse of some other character’s POV. By the end of book 2, I thought I was being set up by an unreliable narrator. I expected some future book to feature the stalker-husband killing the heroine and then being brought to justice by a significant secondary character. It’s not what I wanted, but it would have been a wickedly brave move on the part of the author, since people reading for the romance would have hated it and people not reading for the romance surely abandoned this series at book 1.
Logic breaks down from the first scene: we learn that Doyle is incredibly intuitive and perceptive about people, to the point of being a human lie-detector, but she has just been ignominiously rescued by Acton after a witness escaped questioning by locking her in a stall at the racetrack where a murder has occurred. So come to the series prepared to forgive or plow past this kind of inconsistency. Also, nearly every character either falls in love with Doyle or tries to kill her. (For me, this is feature, not a bug. I’m here for the romance, so I am completely okay with every case being intensely, claustrophobically personal.) I love the pairing, the secondary characters, the way the story continues to build from one book to the next, and the definite sense of unbalance it gives me.
I do it for the litcrit
VINTAGE OF SURRENDER and QUEEN OF HEARTS by Jayne Castle – These are two of Jayne Ann Krentz’s earliest category romances, originally published by MacFadden in 1979. It is one of the great sorrows of my readerly existence that I will never get to read the books Krentz published with MacFadden under the pseudonym Jayne Bentley, but if they are anything like these two books, I can understand her decision never to republish them. They don’t reflect well on the author or the genre and could damage her reputation if released to unsuspecting 21st-century readers. (It does sadden me that — using this criteria — very little of JAK’s category backlist is likely to be released in ebook format. My physical copies continue to deteriorate.)
so disappointed
DEFINITELY, MAYBE IN LOVE by Ophelia London – omg, Elizabeth Bennet should break the fictional barrier and rise from the grave to sue her representation in this New Adult contemporary retelling of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The heroine — Spring Honeycutt, an Environmental Studies major at Stanford who proves her love for the planet by braiding her hair, going vegetarian, and self-righteously judging everyone with a different opinion — is repellent. Two of her closest friends call her on her pretension. Even when we’re only seeing the Darcy figure through her determinedly negative perspective, he is so clearly more mature and sympathetic than she is.
THE NINTH RAIN by Jen Williams was an absolute delight for me, fantasy with, maybe, aliens? I want to read all her books now.
I’ve started THE WORD EXCHANGE by Alena Graedon for book club, where libraries, newspapers, books are gone and even our words are disappearing in a future too plausible by half.
Also reading Mary Stewart’s MY BROTHER MICHAEL, which I missed somehow all these years. The setting is Greece, everyone smokes and the 60s sensibilities regarding women are archaic, but ATMOSPHERE galore.
I had all these grand plans to read all these books this summer, and they have completely fallen by the wayside. Too many deadlines. Sigh.
But I am hoping to read ACT LIKE IT by Lucy Parker after seeing all the good reviews for the series here at SB and on other sites.
I also want to read RED SPARROW by Jason Matthews after seeing the movie a few weeks ago.
And I have have an ARC of NIGHTCHASER by Amanda Bouchet that I am looking forward to reading.
I LOVED Lunch in Paris. I read it in one day in high school by reading it under my desk in every class (except French, of course). It’s one of my favorite re-reads whenever I’m missing Paris or am just really hungry. Her second memoir, Picnic in Provence, is also a joy.
Read:
SAVOR YOU by KrIsten Proby
This was a really cute book and as a foodie myself I enjoyed it immensely , although I wish it had Been longer.
SONG of BLOOD and STONE by L. Penelope
Firstly, I’m so glad I received this book in the giveaway I got a few weeks back, especially since I was pretty sure the traditional, non- paranormal fantasy romance was mostly extinct. Secondly this book was really good with great world-building, a sweet romance and some lovable Characters ! I can’t wait until the other books in the series are re-released.
ONLY ENCHANTING by Mary Balogh. What can I say it’s Mary Balogh, It’s gonna be a good book. I will add though that this one took me a little while to get attached to the characters and dive into the story; however once the second half hit I couldn’t put it down. If you haven’t read it already , pick it up.
Reading :
STARLIT WOOD- this is a collection of fairytale retellings full of diversity and interesting stories. Basically the challenge of the collection is to see how far one can take retelling while still keeping the tale familiar. My favorite so far is the Sleeping Beauty retelling with agency and lesbians . Least favorite probably the science fiction version of The Snow Queen . It was still good , but for me a little too much of the story’s core was removed. Anyways if you like fairy tales as much as I do, pick it up.
HATE to WANT You by Alisha Rai.
This one is a little out of my comfort zone due to the heat level(I’m more of a medium heat type person), but despite that it’s really good so far. I adore the characters and the mystery subplot is really intriguing. Needless to say i’ve already bought the rest of the books and will definitely be finishing the series .
DNF:
A SCANDALOUS DEAL by Joanna Shupe. As expected when I mentioned this book last month I didn’t finish it. More power to anyone who enjoyed it, but for me the heroine annoyed me, the hero was a bit inconsistent and it was too much of a “wallpaper historical” for my liking.
I just finished The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty which I absolutely adored. It’s everything I want in epic fantasy, plus some things I didn’t know I wanted: a con artist in 18th century Cairo gets thrown into a world of djinn and some really dangerous and deadly politics. Cannot *wait* for the follow up.
I’m currently reading The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly which is a loose modern retelling of the Handless Maiden fairytale about a girl who grew up in–and has escaped from–a cult. It’s definitely on the dark side, but I’ve always been fascinated by handless maiden stories, and cults, so, hey, here’s two of my weird interests converging.
And after months of putting down pretty much every romance novel I tried to pick up because of disinterest or just not catching my mood, I’ve started to read Passion Favors the Bold by Theresa Romain. I remember not being really wowed by the first of this series, probably why the second has sat so long without me opening it, but so far at least I am absolutely loving it. Hugo is just so wonderful. And I think with the world on fire as it is, I just really needed something sweet and funny and where there’s not a whole lot of conflict–characters who are really absurdly well matched for each other, only they’re the only two who can’t see it, yet.
I spent much of the month down in the den of dark & angsty with Callie Hart and Natasha Knight, but then I surfaced and let in some light courtesy of Sarina Bowen, Eve Dangerfield, and Sarah Mayberry, among others.
I was thrilled when Callie Hart’s NASTY (the sequel to DIRTY, one of my favorite books of the year so far, even if it did end with a cliffhanger) was finally released. I downloaded and inhaled it in an afternoon. This book is essentially a road-trip novel with the hero and heroine traveling from Alabama to the Carolinas to Pennsylvania and ultimately to New York seeking the identity of the person who wants the heroine dead. During the course of the book, we learn more about the backgrounds of the hero & heroine (my advice: skim over the chapter dealing with the heroine’s childhood—it’s not pretty and contains potential triggers) along with lots of sheet-burning sex. Another cliffhanger ending—although I was prepared for it this time—and a surprise last-minute appearance by a major character from another Hart series. Alas, I now have to wait until July to see how Hart ties everything together.
To me, reading Natasha Knight’s books is like opening a fresh jar of peanuts, promising myself I’ll only eat a handful, and zoning out until suddenly realizing that the jar is half empty. I tell myself I’m only going to read a few more pages of one of her very dark romances—and the next thing I know, I’m in the kindle store, downloading six of her books! Yes, her plots follow a basic template (hero seeking revenge against a criminal enterprise whereby an innocent heroine becomes a convenient focus) and, yes, frequently consent is nebulous, but there’s something about the emotional pitch and conflict in Knight’s stories that (like snacking on peanuts) goes straight to my endorphin center. As I’ve read more of Knight’s books, I’ve started putting them into two categories: forced-marriage/forced-proximity, where there’s a lot of emotional upheaval and conflict, but nothing of a truly non-consensual nature; and then there are those books that go sailing right into Stockholm Syndrome territory, with heroines being abducted and held captive against their wills, wherein any notion of consent is moot (I actually don’t think of this latter category as romance at all—more like suspense/thrillers). This month I read some of each:
DISHONORABLE features the forced-marriage trope and has a twisty plot involving the antagonism between several generations of rival Italian-American vineyard-owning families.
DISGRACED has hero who is about to take his ordination vows as a priest. Needless to say, sins of the flesh are a problem—along with the heroine’s trouble with the Russian mafia. The story has a bit of a skeevy vibe because the heroine was only 16 when she and the (older) hero first felt attraction to each other—although “nothing happened” and they didn’t see each other again until she was an adult.
RETRIBUTION is certainly one of Knight’s Stockholm Syndrome books—the hero abducts the heroine (the daughter of the man the hero holds responsible for his sister’s death) and subjects her to horrible treatment. The interesting thing about the plot is that the hero & heroine meet early in the book, date, and have consensual sex several times before the abduction. The book also contains a theme that runs through several of Knight’s plots: an apparently kind mentor/authority figure who isn’t the sympathetic person he first appears to be.
I don’t know how to code the SPOILER box, so before I write anything about Knight’s mafia romance, SERGIO, I have to scream SPOILER ALERT!! I mean it! Do not read anything further in this paragraph if you don’t want to know…that this is the only (non-paranormal) romance I’ve read (other than Edith Layton’s THE FIRE FLOWER, which was different because it occurred after a long, happy life & marriage) where the hero dies! There was a vein of melancholy running through the entire book—and a very effective use of Houndmouth’s elegiac song, “Darlin’”— because Sergio intuits that he won’t have a long life, but I was still stunned when Sergio died—and I must admit I had some tears when Sergio’s pregnant widow goes into his study and senses his presence for the last time. The extremely rare romance without an HEA. END SPOILER!
SALVATORE is another mafia romance (Sergio, Salvatore, and Dominic are brothers and each has his own book). It features enforced proximity and enemies-to-lovers tropes: the daughter of a rival mob boss has to live in Salvatore’s house and become his “property” in reparation for her father’s treachery.
DOMINIC goes directly to Stockholm Syndrome land: The volatile Dominic (who has been portrayed as somewhat unstable in the previous two books) keeps the heroine in an isolated cabin where he is supposed to be “preparing” for her for a sex-slave auction. But when he discovers her identity—and learns of a possible traitor in his own family—the two must team up to uncover the truth and Dominic must confront and atone for what he has done.
Then it was time to bring in some light with one of my favorite writers, Sarina Bowen. SPEAKEASY is the fifth book in Bowen’s True North series. I liked the book—once I let go of my disappointment that it was not going to be an f/f romance. The heroine is bisexual, but in previous books (where she is a secondary character) her relationships have been with women (and she’s also had a decade-long unrequited crush on her straight best friend), but here she falls in love with a man. Bowen brings the hero & heroine together in a plausible way, initially more as friends than lovers. The story is sweet but not without tough elements: the heroine is a recovering alcoholic and fights the desire to drink every day; the hero is trying to expand his business, but his easygoing, party-hearty personality means he’s overlooked problems with his employees and his cash flow. The book includes some catching up with characters from previous books in the series and a lot of technical information about beer brewing.
I liked BROOKLYNAIRE, Bowen’s most recent Brooklyn Bruisers hockey romance; but, having followed (and, admittedly, done my own imaginary shipping on) the hero & heroine when they appeared as secondary characters in the previous books, I was a little disappointed in the story of the hockey team’s owner and his office manager. I think this might be a common reaction: we wait impatiently for a secondary couple to get their own book and then the story just doesn’t live up to our expectations because they’ve had so long to percolate.
I really enjoyed Sarah Mayberry’s companion romances, HER FAVORITE TEMPTATION and HER FAVORITE RIVAL, about two sisters whose parents have always favored one sister over the other—and how damaging that’s been for both of them. In TEMPTATION, the heroine is the favored sister, a doctor who only realizes how awful her parents have been when she changes medical specialties and experiences parental disapproval for the first time. She tries to mend her relationship with her sister while simultaneously falling in love with a musician—a man who harbors secrets of his own. RIVAL is, imho, what THE HATING GAME (a book I didn’t think deserved the unalloyed praise it received) aspired to be: a workplace romance with rivals for a promotion trying not to give in to their mutual attraction. And, unlike in THE HATING GAME, in this book the hero & heroine actually do, ya know, work—and are both very competent at what they do. The heroine in RIVAL is the sister who has never enjoyed her parents’ approval or love. Mayberry does a great job in showing how parental favoritism has long-term effects on both the favored and disfavored children.
I loved CAPTIVATED by Eve Dangerfield & Tessa Bailey. A sunny Australian veterinarian, transplanted to New York City, discovers she and her gruff landlord share a kink: abductor-captive role play. All is handled with sensitivity and consent—and there’s a bit of a Beauty & the Beast vibe going on too. A really fun and sexy read with a great cover that perfectly sums up the couple’s dynamic (and their size differential!).
I’m the worst about reading books out of order, but I was good with Katee Robert’s The O’Malleys series and read them in the order intended. The series is set in Boston and revolves around several families of Irish mobsters (the O’Malleys being the largest one); arranged marriage and/or enforced proximity being the key tropes. THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT is the first book and suffers a little (as a lot of first books in a series do) from character-introduction overload—there are a lot of people to get to know in the O’Malley’s world. The hero & heroine are members of rival families and must marry to keep the peace. They have a nice dynamic as they move somewhat hesitantly from being dynastic pawns to growing to care for each other.
THE WEDDING PACT, the second O’Malley book has a bit of a Romeo & Juliet theme—if Romeo & Juliet had been older, much more sexually experienced, and members of rival crime families. The third book, AN INDECENT PROPOSAL, has a hero who falls in love with the sister of a Russian mafia boss, with some heavy consequences. I really liked the hero—he’s the exact opposite of the “boner-led hero” we were bemoaning at SBTB a few weeks ago. This guy chides himself for getting erections at inappropriate times and places—and there’s a strong emphasis on consent throughout the book. My only quibble is the way the heroine’s child is presented: she’s 14-months old, but much of the way she behaves is developmentally appropriate for a child at least a year older than that.
FORBIDDEN PROMISES, the fourth book in the series, is rather odd— it feels almost as if Robert was writing a different book and changed her mind halfway through. We find out so much about the small town where the hero & heroine are living under assumed names (each unbeknownst to the other). We meet the owners of the diner where the heroine works, the yoga instructor, the town’s mayor—but then suddenly the h&h are on the run and the town is completely forgotten. Not my favorite of the series to say the least.
But I loved the fifth book, UNDERCOVER ATTRACTION, with its fake fiancée trope and incredibly hot sexy times (plus, that cover—Phew! Although, be forewarned, the cover model is armed). Also, there’s plenty of catching up with the characters in previous books that is written in a way to blend seamlessly in the plot. And the sixth book in the series, THE BASTARD’S BARGAIN, is just as good. Unlike BROOKLYNAIRE, which I thought suffered from “secondary characters we’ve already shipped” syndrome, BARGAIN brings the heroine and hero (the youngest O’Malley sibling and a Russian crime boss, neither of whom will acknowledge that they’ve loved each other for years) the arranged-marriage love story they deserve.
A few months ago, I read two of Jackie Ashenden’s Forbidden Desires books, LIVING IN SHADOW and LIVING IN SIN, but I didn’t get around to the third book, LIVING IN SECRET, until this month. I liked it a lot: a married couple, separated for over a year, begin to unpack their passionless relationship when it’s time to sign divorce papers. Turns out both of them have many secrets in their pasts. The book features a ménage scene and lots of “angry” sex.
This month, my visit to Lexi Blake’s Masters & Mercenaries world came courtesy of YOU ONLY LOVE TWICE which features a widowed heroine who is also an undercover agent (because, of course she is) and a hero who is a former soldier suffering from severe PTSD as a result of enemy captivity. The bdsm element is much lighter in this book than in earlier M&M books—there’s much more focus on the hero & heroine’s developing emotional relationship. I enjoyed the story—plus it was fun to see all the characters from previous M&M books now married and starting their families (this book has LOTS of babies in it).
Kati Wilde’s THE MIDWINTER MAIL-ORDER BRIDE is a lovely novella about a princess from a land where magic is practiced and the rough-hewn king she gradually falls in love with as they travel across a bleak midwinter landscape. I don’t read much fantasy, so I’m not sure if Wilde has developed her own tropes here or if she uses standard ones for how magic is used and spells are balanced, but I will say her world-building is incredibly good for such a short book. As usual with Wilde (one of my favorite writers), the heroine is intelligent and brave, and the chemistry between hero and heroine is off-the-charts hot.
While between books, I read a bunch of Alexa Riley’s light & frothy (& dirty) Princess novellas (STOLEN PRINCESS, CLAIMED PRINCESS, FORBIDDEN PRINCESS, and UNEXPECTED PRINCESS). The basic equation is: Innocent Princess + Alpha Male + Insta-Love/Lust + Virginity Fetishism + Wild Sex + Breeding Fixation + Epilogue Featuring Many Children = Alexa Riley Princess story. And then there’s really nothing else to say.
I’ve been so good about NOT buying books and just getting the ones they library has in ebook. That means i’ve denied myself several that i really wanted to read (Kiss Quotient, i’m looking at you). But yesterday i waved the white flag over a Sookie Stackhouse book. See, i wouldn’t let myself buy the new Sarah J Maas (a dude in a truck hit my seven year old volvo and totaled it–i’m fine but now i have a car payment so budget). I thought i’d soothe myself with another paranormal that my rural library system actually has meaning something a decade or older. I read the first two Sookies, liked them a lot, as a sort of Southern Gothic Stephanie Plum. Then i discovered the library only has numbers 1, 2, and 13. So i bought book four because I like Eric.
This month, mostly I continued my Suzanne Brockmann Troubleshooters binge:
‘Over the Edge’ – I gave up on the audiobook and purchased the e-book. I liked the main couple – Stan was rough around the edges but so gentle with Teri and helped her know her own strenght – and I loved the continuation of Sam & Alyssa’s subplot – my favorite moment was Sam’s absolute devastation when he realized how he’d f***ed up with Alyssa.
‘Breaking Point’ – I loved Gina, the heroine, and wasn’t sure that emotionally constipated Max deserved her! I very much enjoyed the secondary couple, Molly & Jones, and found myself in tears in the last few scenes of the book.
‘Into the Storm’ – Lindsay was a kick-ass heroine. I was more ‘meh’ about the hero Jenk but liked that he was short, freckled & young-looking, not your ‘typical’ romance hero.
‘Force of Nature’ – I couldn’t have cared less about Ric & Annie (though as usual for Brockmann they were well-drawn, distinct characters) – this was all about Jules & Robin. Was this the first m/m romance in a mainstream romance novel? And then it was great to see more of them (and Sam & Alyssa) in ‘All Through the Night’ – plus some love for my home state of Massachusetts as the first state to embrace marriage equality.
‘Into the Fire’ – I loved this best for showing the teamwork – how well the Troubleshooters, FBI and SEALs worked together. The second chance romance between Murphy & Hannah was touching and the two other story arcs (Izzy & Eden, Sophie-Dave-Decker) were interesting.
‘Dark of Night’ – I really liked how Brockmann fleshed out Tracy, who was a minor character previously, and how the couples (Sophia & Dave, Tracy & Decker) really worked – both halves of each couple seemed to bring out the best in each other. We also got a resolution to the Tess-Nash subplot & relationship.
‘Hot Pursuit’ – I intensely disliked being in the villain’s POV; what I did enjoy was seeing Sam & Alyssa negotiate their partnership, working relationship and parenthood, and seeing Jules & Robin again.
‘Breaking the Rules’ – The resolution of the Izzy-Eden plotline was good and Dan wasn’t so much of a dick, or at least you could see where his dick-ness was coming from and that he was seriously applying himself not to be a dick and to deserve someone like Jenni.
Reflecting on Amanda’s post, I think I’ve been enjoying this series, despite the violence & guns, because the characters – especially the heroes – must allow themselves to be truly vulnerable and totally exposed in order to form lasting, meaningful relationships, and they respect their partners as well as caring for them. Despite the hyper-masculinity of the military/private security world, the men are an implicit (and sometimes explicit) negation of toxic masculinity – they show their feelings, cry, have gay and/or female friends, and form true partnerships with their loved ones.
Despite the fact I was pretty over Kristen Ashley, I’d already requested the rest of the Colorado Mountain series from the library, so I read ‘Breathe’. I liked Faye, the librarian heroine, and once the main characters were together I thought their relationship was charming. But I kept getting pulled out of the story by those KA quirks (why is everyone always muttering? no one every grabs or picks something up, they ‘tag’ it; no one is ever tired or exhausted, they’re always ‘wiped’; expensive things cost a whack; there is a serious lack of pronouns and final g’s), and I was seriously irritated by the idea of the ‘gift of virginity’….. I think this has to be my last KA book for a while!
I made a rare foray into nonfiction with the serendipitous discovery of ‘The Trident’ on sale just after I’d finished the last Troubleshooters book and was still in a Navy SEAL mood. It was an interesting read, as much a memoir as a book about leadership and self-awareness. One of the main threads was how the author was inspired by and supported by his wife and children, and I would have loved a few chapters from her point of view.
After the hype, the great reviews and the charming podcast Sarah did with Talia Hibbert, I read ‘A Girl Like Her’ and was thoroughly pleased with it – although it could’ve been longer, more backstory for Evan. Soon after that, ‘Damaged Goods’ was released which was a great novella – it packed so much depth, emotional punch and character development in such a small package. Trigger warnings though.
I DNF’d ‘Spindle Fire’ by Lexa Hillyer – I’d heard a lot of hype and had been waiting for this from the library for ages. I usually love fairy tale re-tellings but the style just didn’t work for me, and I had a sneaking suspicion the ending would be unsatisfying…
After that DNF I felt I deserved to read something I’d enjoy, so I re-read ‘Act Like It’ and ‘Pretty Face’ in preparation for ‘Making Up’ (which I’d been saving for a rainy day). Oh my did I love ‘Making Up’. I actually think it’s better than the two previous books. The dialogue between Lainie & Richard is snappier, and the conflict in ‘Pretty Face’ is stronger. But here are the things I loved about ‘Making Up’:
1. The history between Trix & Leo, which made for a convincing romance
2. The fallout for Trix from her emotionally abusive relationship was so bloody realistic. Even once you’re out of it, that self-doubt is still there (how could I have been so stupid?!?!)
3. A hero with body issues!
4. A hero who is both athletic AND artistic!
5. Deep immersion in the theater world – I felt like we learned more about their jobs in this book
6. Male-female friendships FTW
7. Lily calls Trix a soulmate. Yes, this is how I feel about some of my friends.
8. Sex scenes were sexier
9. But there was admission, in a romance!, that even in a loving relationship there is sometimes bad sex…
Sad that it ended because now I have to wait for Lucy Parker’s next book.
‘Sinful Seduction’ by Ann Christopher was free, so I picked it up (also because the cover is HOT) – I liked it but the relationship moved a bit fast. A quick read, probably C+/B- – but I’ll pick up the next book in the series as I was intrigued by the excerpt.
Currently reading
‘Just a Girl’ by Ellie Cahill – having some trouble getting into this. I’ve enjoyed Cahill’s books previously (I adored ‘I Temporarily Do’ and ‘The Designated +1’) but the heroine in this one seems so immature even for a NA novel… I’ll let you know next month how I go with it…
‘The Bees’ by Laline Paull – this has been on my Kindle app for AGES so I’ve finally started it. It’s interesting, told from the point of view of a worker bee.
This was not a great reading month, but maybe I just feel that way b/c last month was an outstanding reading month. (shrug)
In audio
“Sleeping Giants” and “Waking Gods” by Sylvan Neuvel. These were entertaining with the multi-narrator, interview style, I like. But I felt like the body count (of nameless faceless people, not the main characters) felt a little ridiculous at times. I will read the next one, since my understanding is one of the narrators has an annoying voice in the next one.
“The Mesalliance” by Stella Riley. I really wanted to like this, but you know how there was a discussion earlier this month about “dick-led” heroes? Yeah. The hero was being kind of obnoxious for most of the book, but still within my personally tolerance levels and then 3/4s of the way through he essentially tells the heroine “look, we’re married and I’ve been patient so far, but I could just rape you and get this over with.” Uh, no. I really, really like Alex Wyndham (the narrator). Maybe I need to give this author a break though.
“Artemis” by Andy Weir – I went in with low expectations and liked it fine, but it never really grabbed me the way “The Martian” did.
My fiction reading was slow, but overall good.
My favorites were
“Among Others” by Jo Walton. A coming of age story set in the ’70s in the Uk, also dealing with witch craft and horrible mothers, adults.
“A Princess in Theory” by Alyssa Cole. Cute, cute, cute.
“The Heiress Effect” by Courtney Milan. This was another really sweet, feel good book.
The Okay –
“Dirty Dancing at Devil’s Leap” by Julie Anne Long. This was cute, but kind of dragged for some reason. I need a break from Whiskey Creek. I feel like I praise Julie Anne Long and point out all her flaws at the same time, but her characters often like music that is much, much older than what would fit their generation. There’s a lot of talk about how great Led Zepplin is, not so much Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or even something like The White Stripes or The Killers. I like older music too, but all these characters are younger than me and they’re die hard Led Zepplin and Linda Ronstadt fans? Hmmm.
I read a lot of nonfiction too. And then I reread it, b/c I need time to let it sink in.
“Bored and Brilliant” by Manoush Zamoudi was good. I liked it better than “How to Break Up with Your Phone.” I actually disabled Chrome and Google on my Android phone after reading it. So far, everything else (gmail, maps) works fine and I’m spending a lot less time on my phone. It’s just an experiment for the summer, but I hope to continue.
Dana K. White’s “Decluttering at the Speed of Life” and “Managing Your Home Without Losing Your Mind.” I had to do an emergency clean of the whole house in late May and I was determined to stay more on top of things. These books are kind of simplistic and repetitive, but as I think I’ve mentioned before, I need that in my self help.
And they have been helping. They’re similar to FlyLady and Unf@ck Your Habitat (the UFYH book is by Rachel Hoffman and I reread that this month too), but without the explicit religious content of FlyLady. I like UFYH, but I needed more decluttering guidance than she gives. The books are published by Thomas Nelson and I believe Dana K. White talks more about her beliefs on her website, podcast, etc, but the books definitely just general purpose.
I looked through my recent reading and found a lot of “that was OK, I spose.” Here are the “read this, read this” bits.
I re-read Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, which is almost as wonderful when jetlagged and waiting desperately for a flat surface with locks as at any other time. The titular emperor is such a lovable character – this is a great book to read during a dumpster fire of a month.
In new reads, T. Kingfisher’s Clockwork Boys / The Wonder Engine duology was so much RPG-campaigning fun. Kingfisher wrote the book in reaction to a love interest in a CRPG:
“And then there was the goddamn paladin.
“The love interest if you played as a female character was a self-loathing paladin who was guilt-wracked over…something or other, I don’t know. He moped a lot. He had no evident sense of humor. This was supposed to be attractive.
“This is an ongoing problem with just about every paladin ever.”
So she wrote “the thing with the paladin and the ninja accountant” in response. Those are just two of the wonderful characters therein – I developed a real soft spot for the scholar who hates and fears women, but is trainable.
Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity .
It was epic.
(TW some of the events covered were horrific. All victims vulnerable. Most children.)
This was a warts-and-all history of public awareness/recognition of autism. I suppose it’s very “personal is political” in a sense. Profiles of the players are often put before the ‘plot’. Though to be fair, the turn of events often hinges on the decisions of a few individuals, so delving into their wellsprings is edifying.
A caveat: the opening profile is a PR disaster. I couldn’t get past the boy bullying his sisters and I’m pretty closely connected to the community and have sympathy for dethronement. (More for fellow firstborns than middle children but.)
It would be a terrible first impression for a newcomer to the subject. And the last thing we need in the Australian context where adult male criminals are trying to use autism as a defence. Which the support groups vocally oppose.
I started a lot of books this month that I quit a few pages into because I could tell it was just the wrong time for me to try it (I only managed one chapter of The Wedding Date, for example, which has gotten so much buzz but failed to grab me).
Good
The LIBRARIANS IN LOVE series by Sarah Title. I read all three of them and enjoyed each one. The characters feel real and relatable, the plots aren’t too forced, and the humor worked for me. Good for someone looking for a straightforward contemporary.
DRAGON BOUND by Thea Harrison – I had mixed feeling about this urban fantasy involving a woman forced to steal from a dragon, but liked it well enough to look forward to reading more in the series.
JUST A GIRL by Ellie Cahill – I didn’t completely love this story of a down-on-her-luck rock star, but my issues had more to do with me not liking New Adult fiction than faults with the book. It’s local to me, which is always fun.
Meh
SKINWALKER by Faith Hunter – I liked some aspects of this, but it was overlong and I found the narrative gimmick of occasionally switching to an animal POV irritating. I understand why the author did it, but it didn’t work for me at all.
HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE by Jeaniene Frost – It’s Buffy/Spike fanfic, and fanfic doesn’t appeal to me. I DNF’d about halfway through.
THE LEOPARD PRINCE by Elizabeth Hoyt – Two weeks after reading it, I have no memory of the characters or plot. I think I enjoyed it while reading it, though.
So, as mentioned in a previous post – because the Smart Bitches keep reviewing books as I start them – I read Two Steps Forward and then I read SBSarah’s review, which I also enjoyed and agree with, but I liked the book more than she did. Even if it did give me phantom tendonitis pain in my ankle.
Also, read Linda Howard’s latest,The Woman Left Behind based on recs from the Bitchery. I know, I know. I said never again, but unlike JR Ward, I found sparks of former glory in it. Which means I enjoyed it, as promised. That being said, I had no idea that this book was the second in a series – even though I had read the first, Troublemaker, about which I remember nothing. Sadly, I can pretty much verbatim her books from 20 years ago…
During Wedding Weekend I spent my down time with The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, an engrossing mix of contemporary and gothic suspense with a romantic interest on the side. The story alternates between two time periods, contemporary and post WWII, while our heroine tries to solve a cold case murder while trying to come to terms with unanswered questions about her own sister’s murder. Excellent read. Did I mention there’s a ghost?
Next up was Kelley Armstrong’s romantic suspense, City of the Lost, a departure from her usual urban fantasy. REALLY good. I admit I kept expecting someone to break out in fur, especially when they mention the “Hostiles” in the woods, but no, everyone keeps their skin. There are some nice twists really well handled. For those who feel the need to try to out guess the author, I didn’t have an accurate bead on the killer until a chapter or so before the reveal, and I usually catch on much sooner than that.
I said I was starting Ocean Light when I picked it up from the GBPL the day Elyse’s review posted. (They keep telling me they’re not monitoring my TBR list, but seriously), however that same trip to the drive thru netted a surprise addition: The One You Can’t Forget. Having just recently finished the previous book, the Good Book Noise jones had not diminished enough to not just dive right in. Soooooo good. But me, I like a damaged chef teaching kids to cook.
Which puts Ocean Light out on the patio with me this afternoon. Unless I give in to the bright shiny of the new la Nora, also in that truly spectacular drive thru haul. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my library?
I’ve only been in the mood for light, funny books lately but it can be hard to find rom-coms that work for me. I hate crass humor and jokes that come across as mean. I’ve DNF’d a lot of books recently, but found a few gems. What did work for this month:
– Making Up by Lucy Parker was absolutely delicious, as I’ve come to expect from her. Lucy Parker could write a biology textbook and I would still read it because she’s so good.
– Real Kind of Love by Sara Rider was totally hilarious and sweet, and the ending was perfect. I really loved this one.
I’m starting A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole next, and I have high hopes after all the great reviews.
I’m so glad to see more people hopping onto the Talia Hibbert train! I cannot stop recommending her.
As for my reading, I’ve barely ‘read’ anything. Luckily, I can at times listen to audiobooks at work so I got some books in that way. Here’s the highlights:
Dread Nation by Justina Nation- This was an imaginative, well-written, and original take on a zombie story with some good social commentary, but the ending was a bit of a let down for me. I felt like the book was leading up to some big conflict and there wasn’t much of a payoff at the end of the book, but it is the first in the series so I’m looking forward to reading the next installment when it comes out.
Royally series by Emma Chase- I’m not a huge fan of royal romances and Chase is hit or miss with me so I wasn’t super excited to read this series. I liked the first book, Royally Screwed, but felt it wasn’t anything special. I loved the second book, Royally Matched. Seriously, I adored it so much. The Sense and Sensibility references, the shy and bookish heroine, the irresponsible, man-whore hero, the snappy dialogue, I just loved it all. Royally Endowed, the third book, was probably my second favorite of the series. It was a solid book, with a royal bodyguard hero and the sister of the heroine of the first book.
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren- I had kind of an odd reaction to this book. I got very wrapped up in the audio version and the YA part of the story (it goes between the couple as kids then adults), but there wasn’t much to the romance with them as adults. I also felt like the fact that their separation boiled down to something that could have been fixed with some communication was problematic, however I could see myself stubbornly avoiding the pain that conversation would cause so I could believe it could possibly happen. So I liked it with reservations.
Making Up by Lucy Parker- Super cute
Ocean Light by Nalini Singh- Another good installment in the series, it wasn’t my favorite nor was it close to my least favorite.
Scandal Above Stairs with Jennifer Ashley- I liked this one quite a bit more than the first. I felt like we got more character development in this one.
I’ve been reading A Scandalous Deal by Joanna Shupe since last week hoping to finally finish it today. It’s fine so far, but nothing special.
Everything we keep ( 2 stars ): I only finished this because its my book club book.
Lady Darby Mysteries (Anatomist’s wife and Mortal Arts ) (4 stars): I’m doing the series in audio while walking and they have definitely helped me extend my walking time.
Dumplin’ (3 stars ): this is about a “fat girl” who signs up for a beauty pageant. I was an overweight young adult and I really identified with her described feelings. But the angsty indecision went on a little too long for me.
By The Currawong’s Call (5 stars): M/M historical romance in Australia, 1891. This is my catnip right now. Low key, historical romance.
Reread: Catching Fire (Hunger games #2)
Current: Astounding! by Kim Fielding: M/M Guy falls in love with someone claiming he’s an alien.
About to start Lady Darby #3 A grave matter
@Zyva: I’m going to check out Neurotribes.
@CelineB: Dread Nation sounds interesting!
I read The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. It is as fabulous as every said. I got it via the library then after reading it decided I needed my own copy and bought it.
Currently reading Leah on the Offbeat – it’s the sequel to Simon vs the Homosapien agenda (Movie – Love Simon). It’s good so far.
Reread Silver Silence by Nalini Singh prepping for Ocean Light and now want to go back and reread the entire series again. But will wait – maybe.
After Leah – I will read Grumpy Fake Boyfriend by Jackie Lau
Then some of my Kindle unlimited M/M books -I have waiting.
KareB – Damaged Goods, the next Talia Hibbert (with a Ruth cameo!) was free today for Kindle! I read it this morning.
Still on my recently discovered m/m kick. Currently on the second of the Porthkennack universe and enjoying it almost as much as the first (a narcoleptic hero? Awesome!).
I’m actually welcoming today’s thunderstorms so I don’t feel guilty hunkering down with my book!
Tiffany Reisz is one of a very few auto-buy authors for me. I just finished The Chateau (Original Sinners series). Kingsley finally got his own book! Before that, a stand alone called The Lucky Ones. I just love Reisz’s style, character development, snappy dialog, plot twists, and I have to admit that the titillation factor is huge.
I just finished The Chateau by Tiffany Reisz. I love her stuff and this is no exception. I just bought The Flood because I’m in the mood to read about people who abuse children getting what they deserve. Also on my TBR pile are, Swans of Fifth Avenue, a Cadfel mystery, and Better by Jaime Samms.
My favorites from this past month were two Sarina Bowen’s….Good Boy and Stay. She has become an auto buy for me particially because I live in the northeast and her books locations and characters resonate with me as being true to the area. A little racy for my taste but her characters are interesting, often somewhat flawed but distinctive and I end up rooting for them.
I thoroughly enjoyed How to walk away by Katherine Center. It’s starts with a terrifying accident but overall it is a light, engaging read and I have already recommended it to people for a good beach read.
I also enjoyed Remedial Rocket Science by Susannah Nix….it’s new adult but a good story is a good story!
I came down with a nasty summer cold and felt like a change to something that would distract me for a few days so when I got a free kindle unlimited offer, I decided to read Georgette Heyer whom I have never read. I googled first the best books To read of hers and luckily started with the Grand Sophy, Cotillion and Frederica which were great. I understand now why she is a gateway author for so many folks. As I worked my way through her books that were free, I DNF those like Convenient marriage where the age difference …although typical for the times I gather…made me uncomfortable. But what a great way to while away sick time!
I just discovered Tessa Dare and have been devouring her Spindle Cove series. I’m not normally a historic romance person, but I’m loving these. I have been stressed out lately, and Tessa Dare is just what the doctor ordered. Why am I just discovering her books?
I am stuck in the land of stone eaters and orogeny…finally got THE FIFTH SEASON from the library hold list. I wasn’t sure at all about it in the beginning (especially given a triggerish violence to a child scene, although not milked for goriness) but man, did it pull me in. One of those books that you look up from and feel all disoriented by the world you live in because the book’s world is so compelling. So of course I got THE OBELISK GATE and am now in the last part of THE STONE SKY.
Work was intense so I didn’t get to as many books as I usually do….
@Allison– hooboy, do you have some great reading ahead of you! Tessa Dare is a huge comfort read for me when the world is garbage fire
Pretty good reading for me recently! In terms of non-romance, I recommend THE LIBRARY AT MOUNT CHAR by Scott Hawkins for those who liked the genre bendy weirdness of THE ROOK by Daniel O’Malley. I enjoyed SIX WAKES by Mur Lafferty, which a locked room murder mystery with clones in space– a lot of fun. I really loved DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland… it embodied a lot of what I think good YA can do and plays with ideas like passing, respectability politics, etc. in the context of a Reconstruction era zombie apocalypse. Super good! And then I finally got to read CURTAIN by Agatha Christie. I’ve been doing a reread of all her Poirot books in chronological order, and finally reached the end. It was an emotional read– not perfect, but really enjoyable for me.
As far as romance goes, I read SHELTER IN PLACE by Nora Roberts, which is her annual stand alone romantic suspense. Is it just me, or has she really lost interest in the romance part of these books at this point? I really enjoyed this (definitely liked it better than last year’s), and thought it handled the mass shooting aspect really well. If you enjoyed that aspect of THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY, then this would be worth reading. But be prepared that the romance feels pretty tacked on.
I finally got around to FROM LUKOV WITH LOVE by Mariana Zapata. I adore Zapata slow burns and this one continued the trend of her last few books of being better written and better edited. That being said… something in this felt a little off. Like the Roberts book, I felt that the romance was the least interesting part of the book. I really enjoyed the heroine’s journey to reclaim her status as an elite athlete & all of the family dynamics she was dealing with, but I felt like the connection between her and the hero never fully came together. I also think that in 2018 America, the whole rich Russian expat trope feels a little… questionable. The hero also had some moments of being overly aggressive about the heroine’s internet stalker that made me uncomfortable. The authorial attitude towards some of his actions was ambiguous, and while I appreciate that she brought up a lot of issues that I like seeing in a contemporary (the difference of being a woman on social media vs. a man, being an assertive woman vs. an assertive man), I felt like those themes were undercut by a problematic hero. Wow… didn’t realize I had that much to say about this one!
And finally, shout out to Noelle Adams for always being my consistent contemporary novella purveyor of choice. I love that her characters are never perfect and are usually just normal kind of people figuring out how to be together. I love that they have to communicate to have good sex and that the heroes actually ASK if the heroine’s think they can climax rather than ordering them to do it on demand. And I love that her plots are well chosen to fit into the novella form– she’s great at picking conflicts that can be satisfyingly wrapped up in ~100-150 pages and she creates back stories that make the HEA feel believable in that length of story. Anyways, I love her stuff and it’s some of my favorite comfort reading. In celebration of ye olde royal wedding, I gobbled down her whole ROTHMAN ROYALS series… there’s a secret princess story, a marriage of convenience story, and a friends to lovers story.
I have been walking A LOT to get ready for an upcoming trip and my reading has fallen off dramatically as a result – at night, when I go to read, I am really sleepy and can’t last long.
Excellent:
Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh: the banter, the social commentary, the love letter to romance novels hidden within the book, the chemistry between the hero and heroine, the supporting characters, the writing! Highly recommended!
The Big Chili by Julia Buckley: I would consider this the best “cozy” mystery I have ever read (I have a very specific definition of cozy – contemporary, set in a small-town or village, with an amateur sleuth who has an occupation other than detecting from which they make their living). I liked that the heroine wasn’t full out trying to investigate the murder, she was more asking questions like anyone would do if someone in their community had been murdered and they couldn’t believe it. Also if information came up that seemed important instead of trying to track a lead herself, the heroine was like “Did you tell that to the police?” or “You should report that to the police. ”The author didn’t gloss over the horrible nature of the crime in the emotional damage it did to the community. There was a warm and loving cast of friends and family supporting the heroine. And the writing was very solid. Plus the heroine has an adorable dog – the next one in the series is set around Christmas so I am looking forward to reading it during the season this year.
Very Good:
None
Good:
None
Meh:
Dancing with Death: The True Story of a Glamorous Showgirl, Her Wealthy Husband, and a Horrifying Murder: this is true crime and really is proof that real life can be a lot stranger than anything you read in fiction. The writing was passable, but it was badly in need of an editor – the book would have been much tighter and more interesting if it was about half the length and not bloated with so many extra details that detracted from the main story.
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: This is children’s literature. The best I can say is I liked the leprechaun policewoman. But between the diabolical child criminal Artemis Fowl who did not grow on me at all and the level of violence which surprised me in a book of aimed at elementary school, I was not impressed.
The Bad:
None
I had a good reading month. I decided to try kindle unlimited and read a lot of books I would not otherwise have read.
The Lost Girls by Heather Young – Bad Decisions Book Club pick -The plot itself is similar to other family secret/finding yourself books though it does have some twists and turns. The writing, however, is lovely. There are two points of view in this story, alternating, and they do sound different to each other. Both main characters are engaging and both have well realized other characters surrounding them. There is an almost elegiac feeling to the older story and even the violence is shaded. The modern story has a crisper feeling to it. TW for some abuse.
This Darkness Got to Give by Dave Housley. It was perfect for me, given my generation and life experiences. A wonderful nostalgic revisit of The Dead’s last tour, complete with vampires, college kid and cops undercover, and secret government psych experiments. Even a little romance.Loved every second. Want to grab people and make them read it.
Fifty Years of Fear by Ross Greenwood. The story of a life. It felt slow and yet it dragged me along . I kept reading to see what happened next. Hints of mystery that were not too mysterious but enlightening when revealed. No matter what, you can’t help but wish the main character Vinnie well. Not the best of the bunch but quite good.
The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen. You’ve read this plot before – a parent dies and secrets come to life. This was nicely done. Follows the father during the war and the daughter attempting to trace his footsteps and find out what happened. Definitely some romance, one doomed and one not. I enjoyed it.
Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts. This starts with a mass shooting in a mall and follows the survivors. Not my favorite of her books but still pretty darn good. Have read it twice already.
Air Awakens by Elise Kova. I had been looking at this YA series for a while. The concept was good and the world building ditto. However, the hero seemed controlling and potentially abusive. As soon as he came on the scene, I started thinking, oh, please, don’t let him be the romantic interest. Dark and tortured is romantic but this guy was over the line. Pushing her off a roof! It was for the best, he says, and it didn’t kill you. But it did cause her pain that he ignored. And the heroine seemed awfully eager to forgive him for overriding her will over and over. So, while it was interesting, it was also a difficult read based on the relationship. I do not think I will be reading the rest of this series.
My Appetite for Destruction by Steven Adler The subtitle is Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N’ Roses. Mr. Adler was the drummer for GNR. This is a really detailed drunkologue combined with the story of one of rock’s great band as well as other rock history. I found it quite readable. YMMV.
Currently reading the Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden and enjoying it. Very medieval Russian fairy tale stuff.
I have several series that I have been reading/re-reading. I haven’t found much great lately in romance, but a few related genres:
Urban Fantasy: DARK QUEEN by Faith Hunter. This is the 12th book in the Jane Yellowrock series, which is at the moment my favorite urban fantasy series. The romantic elements are really good, and build up slowly over the series of books. Lots of memorable characters who I have really come to like. Why is this series better than most? I’d have to say that the biggest difference for me is emotional investment in the characters (not just Jane), building really nicely throughout the series. Reading this series in order and reading the related short stories is a good idea. Warning: Graphic violence.
Mystery: THE DEEPEST GRAVE, which is the latest in the Fiona Griffith’s series by Harry Bingham. This is a mystery/ action/ adventure series set in Wales that is written with a first-person female narrator by a male (brit) author. That is really unusual,and I was very skeptical about a male author being able to do this without alienating female readers. But it is interesting. The heroine isn’t classically feminine, and has a really interesting psychiatric history. Despite the psychological overlay, though, the action/mystery is the focus — action sometimes taking on an almost James-Bond flavor. Also, these are Kindle Unlimited.
Mystery/Romantic Comedy: Finally, there is THE QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOR OF DAHLIA MOSS by Max Wirestone, which is the third om the Dahlia Moss series and is laugh-out-loud funny. Also: NO REGRETS by Julie Moffett, the 10th book in the Lexi Carmichael series, which reminds me of the Stephanie Plum series by Evanovich, but with a computer geek heroine.
I love these posts.
I always get such great ideas about what to read but I also really enjoy reading the articulate descriptions about books I’m not likely to ever read. For instance I liked DiscoDollyDeb’s “math” about Alexa Riley’s light & frothy (& dirty) Princess novellas:
“The basic equation is: Innocent Princess + Alpha Male + Insta-Love/Lust + Virginity Fetishism + Wild Sex + Breeding Fixation + Epilogue Featuring Many Children = Alexa Riley Princess story. And then there’s really nothing else to say”
other than the wild sex the series sounds like the hardest NO possible for me and yet if we all wanted to read the same thing what an impoverished literary world we would have.
I forgot to mention Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah Maclean. It was so good! I do wish I had read The Day of the Duchess before this one since it’s referenced, but it didn’t really hurt my enjoyment of the book.
I did so much reading this month as a way to decompress from the news cycle. Ilona Andrews doesn’t disappoint. I’m currently rereading my way through the Kate Daniels series via Audible and am up to Magic Shifts. I should be finished my listen by the time the final book, Magic Triumphs, hits at the end of August. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of their self-published Hugh d’Ambrey book, Iron and Magic, and it was an utter page-turner. It’s hard to believe it started as an April Fool’s joke to write a paranormal romance featuring one of the KD series greatest villains, but they pulled it off. It’s a darker-themed book featuring a woman whose own power rivals Hugh’s and their relationship sizzles. The book releases next Tuesday, 6/26.
Some of the contemporary romances this month were First Time at Firelight Falls by Julie Ann Long which featured two busy professionals in the elementary school circuit (one as a mom and the other as the school principal) who flirt through constant interruptions. They just pick up from where they left off and despite some hiccups keep going strong. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang was a book I couldn’t put down. It deserves its strong reviews and I hope the author writes more. I also enjoyed Roni Loren’s The One You Can’t Forget. She tackles a difficult subject (school shooting survivors) with sensitivity and care. I also read Jagged (Whiskey Sharp) by Lauren Dane through stops and starts. I lost a bit of momentum with this one as the villainy of some of the characters were a bit unbelievable but enjoyed it overall.
I fell down a big rabbit hole in historicals when I tried a new to me author, Jo Goodman. Western romance is not a genre niche, I was familiar with but I gave A Touch of Flame a try and loved the layered characters and the sense of community woven into the love story. I realized later it was the second book in a series so I had to go back and read the first one, A Touch of Frost, and then it was off to discover the rest of her backlist. I love it when that happens! I’m so impressed with her as a writer and I’ll look for her future books after I’ve finished devouring the backlist.
For sci-fi, I gobbled up LM Bujold’s novella, The Flowers of Vashnoi. I love how she does her self-publishing now. She just puts up a post that the new work is available on Amazon and that’s it. And her fans just rush to buy it, but you never really know when it’s coming. Always a good surprise. Martha Wells’, All Systems Red was a revelation. I’ve always enjoyed her work, but Murderbot, a self-hacked anti-social A.I. with a taste for trashy soap operas, is a character I definitely want to read more about.
Still, have more on the TBR pile and I appreciate SBTB for helping me add more to the list!
These books look fantastic! I wish I had more time to read this summer :(. My TBR pile just increased and it’s getting out of control. Great post!
I had a hard time focusing on books, especially in the last couple of weeks, but I did read a few things. An old Amanda Quick book called “Deception”, based on a rec from Rose Lerner, was quite enjoyable. I read a fun swashbuckler by Deborah Simmons “A Heart’s Masquerade”, because the Kindle version was on sale for .99 at the time. This one has the heroine disguised as a boy, serving as the hero’s cabin boy.
I didn’t care that much for Balogh’s “Someone To Care”. I felt the lack of communication/misunderstanding trope was not believable with two mature adults who should have been using their words.
And “A Duke in the Night” by Kelly Bowen was excellent! I hesitate to add new authors to my auto read list because it’s so long already. But she has really earned a spot. The hero, August, was somewhat alpha and controlling, but very teachable, and the heroine was really held her own, and did not let him get away with ANYTHING. I can’t wait to read more about the other characters that were introduced.
So. Much. Stress. Reading. Every time I turn on the news, and see the freshest of hells, I end up downloading more books…I feel you, Elyse.
Well, according to Goodreads, I left off last month on I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley, which was fun and Flavia’s voice remains as arch and distinct as ever. Plus, she blew some stuff up real good, and that’s always fun in an amateur chemist that specializes in poisons. Then, in the category of God loving me and wanting me to have nice things, Making Up by Lucy Parker released, and God, I do love those books. The back and forth between those two main characters was just *chef’s kiss* perfection. Plus, I loved the idea of looking at the stories of people that work in some non-traditional theater jobs, in this case, circus arts and effects makeup. I followed that up with by Shelter In Place by Nora Roberts. She’s been doing some interesting branching out of late, between this and Year One, and as I’ve said before, I think it has goosed her writing it a bit. Also, fun fact, I read it about a week after spending two hours locked in my office because there was an active shooter situation going down about half a block from me (the guy had murdered his ex-wife’s fiance a few hours earlier and barricaded himself in an apartment with all the guns and exchanging fire with police with his trusty AR, he was eventually killed by police, and no, none of this is a joke and being in the vicinity of this kind of thing is really effing scary), so it made for a bit of a strange experience, even though I greatly enjoyed it. So, once we got through THAT mess, I needed something kind of comforting and you know what’s comforting? Beverly Jenkins. I read Night Hawk and enjoyed the hell out of. Maggie is a Patronus. Once I had finished that, another of preorders showed, which happened to be Brief Cases by Jim Butcher. Now: confession time, I am cognizant of the fact that authors have lives and are not bound to their desks to please me, but it’s been four years since the last full-length Dresden Files novel, and I really am trying to be patient, but there has been some serious internal chanting of “Jim Butcher is not my bitch”. I had read a few of the stories already, and of the ones I had not, I was probably fondest of “Jury Duty” and “Zoo Day” (Mouse got to narrate, and yes, he is a Very Good Dog). Also, while I was reading Brief Cases, A Reaper At The Gates by Sabaa Tahir released and I took a break from reading Brief Cases (because I can do that with short story collections, if it was a novel, my brain would have straight up refused any of that), and I got sick that week, so since I had a few days home, I read that when I wasn’t sleeping or watching Wynonna Earp. Loved it. I love Tahir’s writing, I love her world-building, and I love those characters. It’s just such well-done fantasy. Now, let’s bring it to this week, and I think we all can acknowledge that the news has been a shitshow. I tend to rage-read (better than setting something on fire…probably) and had recently checked And I Darken by Kiersten White out of Overdrive, and straight talk, Lada was the ragey, stabby military commanding woman that I need right now. I also enjoyed Radu and how he was very much the counterpoint in that, unlike Lada, his power lay not in physical prowess or battle strategy, but in his ability to see the political chess pieces and be the Leo McGarry of the piece (West Wing reference, self-five). I finished it this afternoon. Now, I was going to try to read a romantic comedy and my head is NOT in that game at the moment. So I think I’m going to switch to Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier, which is about the girlfriend/accomplice of a serial killer. I still want to read the romantic comedy (Save The Date by Morgan Matson), but my head is still in the ragey space, and this is, weird as it is, how I manage that, so we’ll come back to Save The Date once I’ve exorcised some of the :::gestures broadly at everything:::. Until late July, guys, keep the butterflies fluttering.