It’s our last Whatcha Reading of 2018! And don’t worry, we’ll be continuing with this monthly tradition in the new year. This post is seriously too much fun to pass up.
If you’re new here, welcome! Whatcha Reading is where we talk about what we’ve read in the past month. The hits, misses, and all of the ehs in between.
Carrie: I just finished Last Chance Wife by Janette Foreman ( A | BN | K | AB ). Review pending, but basically it’s a quick, easy, light read, historical inspirational, good for a time like the holidays when you don’t have much time or brain power to concentrate on much.
I’m about to start Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit by Amy Stewart ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I loved book one in this series, thought book two was OK, didn’t like book three, so my fingers are crossed that this book will be a winner!
Sarah: I just started The Matchmaker’s List by Sonia Lalli. The heroine is an Indian-Canadian whose grandmother is trying to arrange a marriage for her, and she’s trying to balance everyone’s expectations, including her own.
Elyse: I just finished a book and I don’t know what to start next. Pout.
Amanda: I just finished The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed by Jessica Clare ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) for a reading challenge and it was okay.
But now I’m trying to select my travel reading. For sure, Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik is going with me. And I might pick up Never Seduce a Scoundrel by Sabrina Jeffries ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) before I leave because it’s my HEA Romance Book Club selection for January!
Redheadedgirl: I just finished The Gown ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which is about women who did the embroidery on Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown in 1947.
I am about to start reading Silence ( A | BN ), a 13th century French romance epic about a woman that was raised as a boy and became a knight (because of inheritance issues). I’ve read bits and pieces, but never the whole thing.
And I just got Appetites and Vices from Carina Press ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which involves a fake engagement, Jewish heroine, and Philadelphia society. I am intrigued.
What about you? What have you read recently? What books rocked your world this year?
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I just dropped off the holiday goodie bags for teachers and others at my sons’ school and I feel so free! Presents are all already ordered and delivered.
There are just a few e gift cards to do. We’re staying home for Christmas so there’s no travel to worry about. The only downside is that we are all coming down with a cold, so I really feel like we need to cancel our remaining social engagements so we can nestle down with books and holiday movies 🙂 I may even pass on making cookies I’ve been dreaming of making all year b/c I just want to be 100% relaxing. I’ve already promised myself no more news or social media for 2018. I don’t think my brain can take anymore.
This reading month went much much better than last month. Than the last couple of months have gone, amazingly.
The Best
“The Other Miss Bridgerton” by Julia Quinn. I get that Julia Quinn needs to sandwich Bridgerton in the title as much as possible, but this one deserved a better,less blah title. It had pirates! Okay, privateers. You couldn’t have called it Miss Bridgerton and the Pirate? This book was totally ridiculous and I loved it. A cousin to the main Bridgerton clan (b/c of course she is) gets scooped by a group of privateers when she stumbles on their secret cove. The captain of the ship is a Rokesby (b/c of course he is), the other main family in this prequel series. He realizes she is a Bridgerton and a lady (!) and of course must behave honorably and keep his identity secret. This was just adorable, fizzy, low angst fun. Suspend your disbelief fun. Like “Pirates of Penzance” as a romance novel. If you’re looking for reality, keep looking elsewhere.
“Well, That Was Awkward” by Rachel Vail. A very subtle, young YA (?) middle grade (?) retelling of Cyrano De Bergerac in modern day NYC. Awkward, funny, tall Gracie is suddenly deep into a crush with her friend A.J. So why is she helping her friend Sienna get him? This was really sweet and hit just the right notes for a young teen romance. The emotions were real and it felt effortlessly diverse and contemporary. I saw some of the twists coming and i squealed in delight instead of rolling my eyes.
The Good
“The Ugly Duckling” by Eloisa James (audio) Eloisa James can be hit or miss for me, but I really liked this one. Two friends marry very young, the heroine has been made to feel very unattractive, the hero cares about his wife, but also needs her fortune, the big secret is revealed, they break up. He comes back seven years later as a swashbuckling pirate (sorry, privateer :-)) There’s those improbable honorable pirates again. He was about to be declared dead, but he wants to woo his wife all over again even though she’s completely transformed herself into an elegant swan. This was again, really cute, escape from reality. Not super sexy, but lots of great chemistry between the two characters that really builds. There weren’t last minute. complications, just a lot of honest working things out. I also love Susan Duerden as narrator. She does male voices so well. The one big big caveat I have to give is the hero “has a temper.” He doesn’t throw things or hit people, but he gets angry and rages about things. It turns the heroine on (personally that would freak me out, but you do you, lady). I would almost describe it as a private kink of theirs? Eloisa James does kind of have them talk it out at the end, but I wish she had spelled it out more explicitly just for the reader’s peace of mind. If you have any issues around angry, short-tempered heroes, I would stay away.
“Force of Nature” by Jane Harper. Second mystery in the Aaron Falk series. I was sometimes a bit lost with all the back and forth between present and past and different characters narrating. It did have lots of complex female characters, which I like these days. I find the main detective character a little boring? But he wasn’t in the story too much, so that wasn’t really a hindrance.
“First Time at Firelights Falls” by Julie Ann Long. I feel like this whole series is a bit of mixed bag, but I keep reading it. Why? She’s great at building a sense of small town community, how everyone knows everyone and is connected in strange ways. There are so many characters that I really want to see get their own stories, probably more than she’ll ever get to write. I also like it’s tiny more funny, dare I say realistic? There’s a terrible angsty teenager who shows up at open mic night and sings awful original music, but there are also people with drug problems, real money problems, etc. It’s not gritty at all, but it’s not quite Mayberry either. So what are my problems? First of all does the hero have to be a Navy SEAL? I’m kind of Navy Seal’ed out. Especially since one of the main points of the story is he’s just a nice ordinary guy (a high school principal). Giving him this past as a SEAL feels like a cop out. She could have mind him just boring old Navy (or even Army, or Marines) if she wanted a military past for him. The other thing, and I feel like I’m a broken record (appropriate metaphor) about this, her music references feel all wrong. I’m almost 40 and I presume these characters are supposed to be younger than me although it’s rarely spelled out. Late 20s? Early 30s? And yet they’re all constantly talking about Badfinger, Fleetwood Mac, and Led Zepplin. All 70s and 80s music. Look, I love classic rock as much as the next person, but that’s just it. If I’m 40 and to me that’s classic rock (aka my parents’ music) than shouldn’t there be some more variety to what music these younger people talk about it? Very rarely she’ll mention something more recent and I gasp in delight. I try to just accept this little town lives in some alternate dimension where it is still about 1990 musically speaking 😉
“A Christmas Kiss” by Elizabeth Mansfield. This was an older regency with a Big Misunderstanding, a scheming other woman, and a big age difference. And yet it still worked for me b/c it was short and Elizabeth Mansfield was a writer that had a “light touch.” Low angst with some nice, sweet side characters. Also, I just skimmed some parts where the other woman got annoying.
“The Art of Sinning” by Sabrina Jeffries (audio). This was my first Sabrina Jeffries and it was. . . fine? She has a definite brand of light sexy historical and that’s what this was. The reader was no Susan Duerden though. I would keep Sabrina Jeffries in mind for when I need a bit of palate cleanser.
“A Dangerous Nativity” by Caroline Wakefield. This was sweet, short Christmas novella that truthfully I have already almost forgotten. The hero and the heroine were both nice competent people who run into each other at Christmastime and fall in love. He’s only an earl, which you know these days in romanclandia is almost like being Joe Sixpack. 🙂 He’s trying to manage his nephew’s estate, she lives next door and there is a mysterious connection between the two families. Cute kid characters that don’t take up too much space too. Good for the length it was and what it set out to be.
Dark Days Deceit by Allison Goodman. This is the last in her Dark Days Club, and I’m enjoying it. This series’ strength has always been Helen’s negotiation of life as a Regency-era woman, combined with her powers. Goodman does a good job of writing Helen as an woman of her era, rather than ‘Buffy in long skirts’.
Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso: I loved the renaissance Italy-ish world. I like the heroine and the mage. I LOVE the heroine’s mother. La Contessa needs her own book. So with all these really cool women, why is the love interest SO BORING? He’s very nice, noble, angsty, and occasionally overprotective and that’s it. I understand why Amalia might find that restful after essentially being surrounded by de Medicis, but he’s boring for the rest of us.
Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber: Eh. It was ok. I don’t care for Sidney, particularly.
I’m with you on the Navy Seals, my best friend was married to one. divorced him, cos you know that hey I’m a navy seal wanna fuck, gets old. Especially when he kept knocking up teenage girls and screwing everyone else. Wake up girls, he’s not that special. Currentl I work on a large army base although surprisingly dated a sailor for 4 years. Roomie was special forces. One of the hotest sweetest guys I know is a army mechanic. So not every hero needs to be a SEAL or pilot, etc. Reading Jill Shalvis heartbreaker Bay the trouble with mistletoe because it’s Christmas. Nice easy christmas read.
I just started reading ONE AND ONLY by Jenny Holiday, which is really cute so far.
I should (finally!) have some time to read for fun over the holidays, and I’m looking forward to digging into the books I’m getting for Christmas, including THE FRAME-UP by Meghan Scott Molin and FIGHT OR FLIGHT by Samantha Young.
I’m also hoping that the family drama will stay at minimum levels this year. Either way, I have some books and holiday movies to escape into.
Happy Holidays to all! 🙂
My reading has slowed way down (it makes me sad)
Hockey Player’s Heart by Jeff Adams/Will Knauss (4 stars): I’ve been meaning to read Jeff & Will’s (of big gay fiction podcast) book for a while. Hockey star gets a second chance with his high school crush.
Wild Sweet Love by Beverly Jenkins (4 stars): KJ Charles listed it on her favorite reads of the year. Ex-con woman and Society guy fall in love
The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen(5 stars): Jeff Adams mentioned it as a favorite. It was the kind of book that I only read when I knew I had a chunk of time because I knew I would get grouchy if I had to stop after 10 min.
I play D&D and my character acquired a magical book that once opened had to be finished in 6 (game time) days and would take 48 hours to read. At 47 hours the airship my character was on was attacked. When it became apparent that the airship was crashing I stopped trying to fight and used my action to run back to character’s “cabin” to grab the book. My friends/other players were all exasperated but I told them Its SOOOO super annoying when you’re that close to the end of a good book and someone interrupts you! I think it was the strongest emotional reaction Ive had while playing
This month, HEARTBREAK WARFARE absolutely shattered me—one of the best books of 2018, although it may not be considered the most appropriate reading for the season of glad tidings. I also read new books from a couple of my favorite writers (Julie Kriss, Melanie Harlow). And I discovered two new-to-me writers (Sybil Bartel, Cora Reilly) and started devouring their back lists. Throw in a few other entertaining reads—and, overall, December was a good reading month.
[CW: rape, abuse] HEARTBREAK WARFARE, by Heather M. Orgeron and Kate Stewart, is the most emotionally-wrenching book I’ve read this year—it left me utterly gutted, in the best possible way. It’s a beautifully-written story about trauma, loss, recovery, love, and how some events we experience are so devastating they change us in ways that make us unrecognizable to our loved ones and to our old selves. Although the book has some romantic elements, I could not classify it as purely romance, the trajectory of the main characters is far too ambiguous. The heroine is an Army medic, deployed in Iraq, while her husband (an Army Captain) and young son remain stateside. I think it’s important to stress that at this point in the story, the heroine’s marriage is a happy one and she is crazily in love with her husband. On base, she quickly becomes part of a tight-knit group of soldiers, male and female. (My sister was in the military for 25 years and, based on comments she has made, I believe the book is true to the camaraderie and bonding that takes place among military personnel.) The group includes one soldier whose outsized flirting the heroine is very careful not to reciprocate. He’s single and a bit of a horndog, always wisecracking and telling vulgar, sexist jokes, but he’s also capable, caring, and a very good soldier. He and the heroine grow closer, in a platonic way, as they continue to socialize within the same group. While in a convoy on a humanitarian mission, the heroine and the soldier are ambushed and taken captive. Captivity is a long nightmare of physical abuse, psychological torture, and (for the heroine) rape. This section is hard to read—and could be triggering—but it serves to emphasize how deep the trauma is and how, once the two are rescued, the only person who understands what each has been through is the other. All of this takes place in the first third of the book. The rest of the book involves attempts by the two of them to come to terms with their experiences, alone and with each other, while the heroine’s husband stands on the outside looking in, desperately trying to reconnect with his wife—a woman who, for all practical purposes, no longer exists. The writers do a fantastic job of plumbing the dynamics between the three main characters and of showing how each of them is essentially a decent person who wants to do the right thing—even when it’s hard to determine exactly what the right thing is. No one can emerge unscathed and no HEA can occur without hurting someone else. Highly-recommended—but keep Kleenex handy. [CAUTION and SPOILER] I know cheating is a hard no for many readers, so be aware there is infidelity in this book—but the build-up to it is so carefully-delineated and so emotionally-nuanced, it makes the cheating understandable—if not entirely endorseable.
Reading Julie Kriss’s MAKE ME BEG, the fourth and final book in her Riggs Brothers series, was a bittersweet experience. I enjoyed the romance between the last remaining single brother (a “bad boy” who later became a cop and eventually left the force under a cloud) and the level-headed, recently-divorced heroine who longs for a baby. It was also fun to catch up with the couples from the previous books. But I’d really grown to like those four “feral” Riggs brothers and their various romantic entanglements—and I knew this book was my last visit with them. In MAKE ME BEG, the hero tries to do the right thing regarding both his reasons for leaving the police force and his feelings for the heroine (the twin sister of the heroine of the first book). I liked the wrap-up epilogue which, while featuring some new babies, has one couple who have happily and unapologetically decided to remain childless.
Melanie Harlow is one of my reliable go-to favorites. Her romances are sweet but unafraid of serious subjects, particularly mental illness. Her latest, ONLY LOVE, is very much cut from the Harlow template, but it suffers in comparison to Harlow’s far superior AFTER WE FALL (my favorite Harlow book) with which it shares an extremely similar plot: a woman visiting a small town in rural Michigan experiences mutual attraction with a handsome but withdrawn military veteran. Sexy-times commence. Then, just when it seems that insta-love/lust will conquer all, the horrors of combat and PTSD rear their ugly heads, bringing angst, complications, and heartache before the eventual HEA. While I’m not opposed to a somewhat recycled plot, Harlow also makes some stylistic and narrative choices in ONLY LOVE that detract from the central love story, starting with the “feisty grandma” character. As annoying as a “plot muppet,” this nonagenarian dispenses sexist, dated romantic advice while assuring her granddaughter that a man will always stay with a woman who can bake a good apple pie. Cue the eye-roll. There is also a lot of demonizing of ex-wives in the book: both the hero and his best friend have awful ex-wives (the word “bitch” is used at least once)—or so we’re told, but we never actually see or hear from those women directly, we just have to take the men’s word that their exes are cruel viragos lacking in empathy, using their kids as bargaining chips, and wanting only to do things like shop and socialize with friends. Well, ooh-kaaay. But the most inexplicable character is a wealthy older man who drunkenly rails against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which leads to an all-out harangue against the military and those who serve. He’s such a straw-man character, inserted in the story just to allow the hero to (literally) knock him down. (It is possible to support our active-duty military and veterans—and want better benefits and care for them—while still opposing expensive, drawn-out wars which have cost thousands of lives and have no discernible end-game, but the only anti-war sentiment in the book is conflated with being anti-military. Why?) The heroine and hero of ONLY LOVE are decent people who you want to root for, but the story itself is all over the place. If you want ONLY LOVE’s plot in a better book, read AFTER WE FALL instead.
THE WEDDING FLING is one of the category romances Meg Maguire (aka, Cara McKenna) wrote for the (now, sadly, discontinued) Harlequin Blaze line. I’ve never read a Maguire/McKenna that didn’t feature intelligent, thoughtful, but refreshingly human characters—and THE WEDDING FLING is no exception. Just before she’s about to walk down the aisle, the heroine (an actress who categorizes herself as B-list) discovers her fiancé is cheating on her. She decides to forgo the wedding but to take the honeymoon alone at a secluded resort in Barbados. She feels an immediate attraction to the pilot who flies her from Bridgetown to her hotel—and that attraction seems to be reciprocated—but she doesn’t know he’s been offered money by the tabloid press to report on her activities, or that he has pressing financial issues that a tabloid-financed windfall could relieve. Heartache and misunderstandings (not to mention, sexy-fun-times and a really good grovel) ahead!
I was unfamiliar with Sybil Bartel when I read the dedication page of her freebie download, THRUST: “Dad, please don’t read this book.” I had to smile at that because I do sometimes wonder how the parents of romance authors feel about their offsprings’ erotic writings. Then I virtually inhaled the book (about a woman trying to start a service-dog charity and the male escort who inadvertently ruins her fundraiser) and immediately wanted to read more Bartel—which I did, quickly knocking back several of her books. All of the books can be read as stand-alones, but characters appear across books and even across series. Things to know about the Bartel universe: the books are set in Florida (mostly the Miami area), the heroines are at crossroads in their personal or professional lives, the heroes are all former military (usually Marines), working as bodyguards, security specialists, even high-priced escorts, and they all seem to know each other. Also, and perhaps I should have mentioned this first, the guys are absolutely-gonzo-beyond-alpha alphas, sometimes crossing into alpha-hole territory—and, oh yeah, they are all really, really, really “big” (an attribute which is noted…frequently). The books follow a basic template, so if sexy, bossy, know-it-all men who finally fall in love and meet their match with strong women who refuse to be bossed around (except, occasionally, in bed) is not your jam, Bartel’s books are not for you. But if you’re looking for quick reads that include plenty of heat along with interesting plots, you could do worse than give Bartel a try. (While there are a couple of freebie Bartels in the kindle store to get you started, I’d also recommend ROUGH, about a sheltered woman who connects with a physically- and emotionally-damaged escort; and SCANDALOUS, which features the bodyguard/actress-in-trouble trope.)
If you’re looking for mafia romances that read like old school Harlequin Presents and have the virginity fetishism of an Alexa Riley princess novella, do I have the books for you: Cora Reilly’s Born in Blood series about the interconnected lives of several mafia families. All of the books (there are six so far—although the most recent one is a “revisit” to an earlier couple) have titles that begin BOUND BY (BOUND BY HONOR, DUTY, HATRED, TEMPTATION, VENGEANCE, LOVE) and are based variously in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas. Like many series that I started as guilty pleasures (for instance, Lexi Blake’s Masters & Mercenaries), as time went on and I read more of the books, I became invested in the characters and wanted to see them achieve their HEAs. The books do include quite a lot of violence (presented in the somewhat detached HP style); and, although none of the heroes abuse women, some violence is visited upon female characters. All the main characters are born “into the life” and everyone knows what is expected of them. Women’s lives are especially constrained—they are bred to be beautiful bargaining chips, so they are closely guarded, sent to all-girl schools, betrothed to older men at a very young age, and married in elaborate ceremonies as soon as they turn 18. The women in these books have such restricted lives and choices that they seem to live in another era, so references to texting, vibrators, and online makeup tutorials (not to mention dropping of the f-bomb) feel anachronistic. And when I say these books make a fetish of virginity, I ain’t lyin’. There’s a huge plot point regarding the display of the wedding night’s bloody sheet in BOUND BY HONOR; reasons (that have nothing to do with the heroine’s virginity) why the wedding-night sheet won’t be displayed in BOUND BY HATRED; and even the widowed heroine of BOUND BY DUTY is a virgin (her late husband bein’ gay an’ all). Despite these drawbacks, there’s something about the style and presentation of the BOUND BY books that I found comforting; but, as always, YMMV.
I enjoyed Ainsley Booth & Sadie Haller’s novella, RETROSEXUAL, a prequel to their Frisky Beavers series about fictional Canadian politicians (all of whom seem to enjoy bdsm). It was nice to read a story about an older couple, married over 20 years with three children, who still love each other and have hot sex (including “Let’s pretend we’re strangers who meet at the Replacements concert” role play).
Willow Winters’s DIRTY DOM was a freebie mafia romance (a stand-alone, but it is part of a series). The title is a bit of a double-entendre because the hero’s name is Dominic and because he’s also likes D/s games where he’s the top. The heroine is a widow with a young child. She owns a restaurant and is trying to repay her late husband’s gambling debt to the mob. She has a lot of trauma in her past and her involvement with a mobster (albeit, a college-educated one) doesn’t help matters. I thought both the hero and heroine were all over the map in this one. In a moment of self-awareness, the heroine says of her relationship with the hero, “I know I didn’t want it, well I didn’t want to want it.” That about sums it up. I’m not sure I’d continue this series unless others titles show up as free downloads.
I read a review for Emma Abbott’s MOONLIGHT COVE (previously published as INTO TEMPTATION) which described it, somewhat disparagingly, as “being like a Harlequin Presents.” The reviewer may have been throwing shade, but a comparison to HP was all the recommendation I needed! And the reviewer was right—the book is very much like an HP—in fact, had I not seen the cover, I would have bet money MOONLIGHT COVE was an HP, so your enjoyment of it will largely depend on how much you like those category romances. The book is set on the island of Guernsey, part the English Channel Isles, and Abbott’s descriptions of those beautiful and unsullied places will make you want to vacation there. The heroine is the accountant for a mid-level hotel. In a very uncharacteristic move, she has a passionate one-nighter with a handsome stranger who is attending a conference at the hotel. The next morning she is horrified to discover that the same man is buying the hotel and—surprise!—becoming her new boss. The book was full of the angsty misunderstandings that categorize HP stories, but Abbott’s tendency to paint all women of marriageable age (other than the heroine and her sister) as bitchy, over-dressed, heavily-made-up, man-and-money-hungry harpies detracted from the overall tone of the book.
I started the month ten books behind my reading goal, now I’m only three books behind. (Or two and two thirds.)
The seven books I finished this month are:
1)Renegades, by Marissa Meyer – YA superhero dystopia(?)
2)Nightflyers, by George R.R. Martin – SF haunted house story
3)Archenemies, by Marissa Meyer – sequel to Renegades. I read this in two days and really wish I didn’t have to wait until November for the last book.
4)The Language of Thorns, by Leigh Bardugo – It’s a really pretty book and I liked some of the stories, but ultimately it was a bit meh.
5)Heroine Complex, by Sarah Kuhn – Another superhero book. This one focuses on the hero’s personal assistant and best friend. This was a lot of fun, but the romance in it felt a little rushed.
6)Head On, by John Scalzi – Sequel to Lock In, but it probably works as a stand alone. I didn’t like it quite as much as Lock In, but that’s a pretty high bar for me.
7)Elevation, by Stephen King – Definitely the most uplifting book I read this year. It was good, but probably not worth the cover price. ($20 for 146 pages. Yikes!)
I’m about a third of the way into Terminal Alliance, by Jim Hines. So far, I’m enjoying it and I should be able to finish it this weekend.
Part of me wants to start The Poppy War next, but I’m worried it will be too slow a read.
I got quite a bit of reading done this month and it was all pretty enjoyable .
Read: FOR THE DUKE’s EYES ONLY. This was a fun book, if not exactly deep or historically accurate. Basically it’s about as accurate as Indiana Jones or James Bond, but just as fun. Especially if you like good-natured snarking matches.
THE WINTER BRIDE : I loved this one. I discovered Anne Gracie earlier this year thanks to a local used bookstore and I was hooked immediately. TWB was even better than the first Anne Gracie book I read. Some of the awesome, cat nip worthy tropes include but are not limited to: a broken bird heroine, a super sweet hero(bonus points he kinda reminded me of my real life husband) , historical accuracy and a fake realationship. All Gracie’s works are available on the kindle so definitely pick one up if any of the above tropes appeal to you.
A DARKER SHADE of MAGIC by V.E. Schwab
This book was a great “New Adult” fantasy novel. The world building is great, but I think the characters were a little flat. However there is a female character whose biggest ambition in life is to become a pirate, so there’s that. The world building alone made me buy the next book in the series , so if you’re a fan of well-built worlds give this one a try.
MOONDANCE BEACH by Susan Donovan
I enjoyed this book, but it’s definitely a “soap bubble read” . The characters did their job, the conflicts were solid and the setting was beautiful, but it’s not very memorable. Perhaps bring it to upcoming family gatherings to read when you need a break from visiting with everyone.
Reading:
Forbidden Journeys
This book was another one of my strange, but great used book store finds. Essentially, it’s a collection of fairy tales written by woman of the Victorian Era. I haven’t delved into it too much , but it seems like a really interesting concept. It also might be difficult to find, but onlinne is a thing, so if your interest is peaked give it a search .
DNF:
None
@RedHeadedGirl, that’s all you’re going to say? You FINISHED The Gown. And? Now it’s falling way down on my list while it works it’s way through the GBPL reserve system. Damned by no comment.
I haven’t had a lot of time for reading, what with getting everything done for the holiday… Who am I kidding? I’m not done with ANYTHING. Yes, lots of demands on my time, but does that mean I didn’t lay in bed reading for two hours this morning? No, it does not. Still, not a lot of reading accomplished.
Reading The Hollow of Fear came to a screeching halt when I realized I wasn’t getting any of the references to the previous action. Because, somehow, I HAD NOT READ THE 2ND BOOK!! How does that even happen? So, off to the GBPL for A Conspiracy in Belgravia, which meant what little reading time I did have this month was completely enjoyable. There are a lot of rifs on Sherlock Holmes out there, but this one is head and shoulders above most.
Currently, finally, reading Time’s Convert from Deborah Harkness. It suffers from her usual too much going on in too many places and/or time -as in the past, but I really like her writing, and the characters, and I don’t get a lot of American history in my historicals, so the setting is interesting. And why wouldn’t I want to see Marcus get a happy ever after?
So many people have co-opted my free time this month that I STILL haven’t read Nalini Singh’s latest Guildhunter. Come on Dec. 26! But before that and once my Kindle is resuscitated (After it spent months in a coma, I discovered it will take a charge from the portable charger I carry in my purse. ONLY that charger. Picky bitch.), I will have my Christmas Eve read of A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecelia Grant. It is just the perfect little Christmas romance.
Merry Christmas all!
This month I read Ink: a Love Story on 7th and Main and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The heroine inherits her grandmother’s small town, failing bookstore and decides to try and revive it. She needs to rent out some space in the store, and the hero, a tattoo artist, ends up setting up shop in her bookstore. In an odd way, the book reminded me of some of my favorite Nora Roberts’ books: it had competent, hardworking characters who bond together as a family as they pursue their dreams of setting up their own small businesses.
Most of the rest of my reading this month was disappointing. I tried Kindle Unlimited and found that it has mostly led to me reading the first 30 pages of a lot of books, then abandoning them for something else. I like the concept of KU, but the books on offer are largely disappointing to me.
I haven’t had a chance to read much of anything lately, but I have the next 5 days off (yay) and can barely move from lower back pain (decidedly not yay) so I expect to spend much of my time lying on my stomach in pain vacuuming up a few more books to hopefully bump up my yearly total.
I did recently like:
For Real- Alexis Hall. I was apprehensive because bdsm is very much not my thing, but I really loved a novella I read by Hall and I’ve been looking for books with significant age differences in the protagonists. And this one just worked really, really well. The characters are so deftly drawn and I loved it.
Sorcerer to the Crown- Zen Cho. Been meaning to read this *forever* and I finally did and it was delightful. Napoleonic fantasy a la Jonathan Strange with a black hero and a mixed-race heroine. I knew exactly how every plot twist was going to play out before it got there and I didn’t even care because it was just such fun to read.
I’m suffering from the slump that just coming back. Every time I think I’ve beaten it, it rears its ugly head yet again. Right now I’m able to read and enjoy, but at a slower pace than I like.
Here’s what I managed to read/listen to:
One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk- I absolutely adored this one. It first came on my radar when Sarah MacLean mentioned it after being at an event with the author. Once I heard it was a My Fair Lady retelling I was in. I recommended it to my library and they bought it. Annie Higgins, the heroine, does social media marketing and branding and she’s challenged to pick a random person (the next person who comes through the door of her workplace) to get him 20,000 (may be remembering the number wrong) followers on Instagram in a month. The hero, Dr. Samuel Page, is unkempt and asocial yet Annie gets him to agree to the plan. His girlfriend recently dumped him and she’s going to help make him over, both physically and socially, to help him get her back. Of course, that plan doesn’t exactly pan out in they way they intended. It was so much fun with likable, relatable characters. I liked how both characters had aspects of Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle instead of one character being clearly Henry and the other Eliza. One of my favorite reads of the year.
Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder- Super fun, hot, and sweet novella, it was just what I needed when my brain was refusing to let me concentrate on longer books. The characters are great and well-developed which is rare in novellas. Another one of my favorite reads this year.
The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman- I had started reading an ARC of this then accidentally exited out of the book after my ARC expired and couldn’t get back in despite being in airplane mode. I got it from the library when it came out to finish it and it went so much faster then which let me know the reason I was having such a problem with it initially was just my slump not the book. It was a nice addition to the series. I liked where it ended and look forward to seeing where it goes.
Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly- Fun YA mystery that has a bit of a Veronica Mars vibe. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
There were a few more, but nothing really noteworthy. Right now I’m reading an ARC of A Dangerous Collaboration, the next Veronica Speedwell novel by Deanna Raybourn. I have six books to read to meet my Goodreads Challenge so hopefully I can meet that goal. I’m pretty much done with Christmas stuff except normal house cleaning so I’m optimistic that I can make it.
This month, I’ve been following up on some things I posted about in the last post. I listened to the second part of Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire trilogy. Oh my–if the first part was engaging, the second part grabbed me and wouldn’t let go of my mind. It’s more character-focused, and the characters are fascinating; there is so much detail about the world, but it all has emotional stakes. I’ve got the third part lined up to listen to while traveling tomorrow and I’m in great suspense.
I know I said last month that the stories in the anthology Sword and Sonnet were leaving me cold, but I must have been exceptionally grumpy then, because I’ve finished the anthology and had a great time. The theme of the anthology is “warrior poets” but the editors did a great job of finding variety; there’s a huge range of ways that these stories are related to poetry (or music in some cases; in one story it’s even zikr, the recitation of the names of God in Islam), and ways the “warrior” part is involved. Some of my favorites: “The Firefly Beast” by Tony Pi (a demon in Tang-era China is inspired by a poet to change the way she lives, and has a poetical argument with another demon about it); “The Fiddler at the Heart of the World” by Samantha Henderson (in contemporary Los Angeles, the undocumented-immigrant narrator, a hospital cleaner, pays attention to gods [also invisible to most inhabitants], and thus is able to tell the real story of the night that Dr. Jessie saved the lives of everyone from a multi-car pileup who was brought in); and my favorite, because it’s just amazingly written, “As for Peace, Call It Murder” by C. S. E. Cooney (near future: data-gathering drones observe and respond to the murder of a musician by a dictator’s troops).
The Matchmaker’s List and Appetites and Vices are definitely going on my TBR list.
My favorite book this month my N.K. Jemisin’s sci fi short story collection, How Long til Black Future Month. My tolerance for gender stereotypes hit a new low this month, and this was the perfect antidote.
Good:
Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. I got annoyed by the machismo/stalking of the hero in the second half but Stella is such a great heroine that I’m glad I persevered anyway.
Just Ok:
Worst Holiday Ever Anthology. Like most romance short story collections, this is a mixed bag, but there are a few well written gems (Adrienne Bell’s was a highlight), and most of the plots are solid even if the writing and frequent typos let them down.
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn. Raybourn is such a great writer that I devoured the first two books in the series. The mysteries are easily solvable and the main characters were overused 100 years ago (half Gypsy tortured yet dominating hero anyone). My main issue is the heroine is a clueless class snob who whose internalized class superiority started to wear on me.
The feast of Agatha Christie continues, with a couple of Miss Marple stories and “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.” There is a reason that book is on the official list of books to read before you die. However, I was so…hm… upset by it that I had to stop reading for awhile. Then the local library let me know my holds had finally come in and I had to jump back into the fray. Now I’m listening to the audio book of “The Big Four” (another Christie offering).
The other book from the library is a non-fiction historical book about the history of Japan. Aptly called “The History of Japan 1334-1615” by George Sansom. Thing is, it’s the middle part of a trilogy, but the library only has part 2. It does kinda make sense though (it’s got the most interesting bits in it). Because during that time a lot of the events that are encapsulated in “feudal Japan” either take place or sow the seeds for the feudal system. Funnily enough, it’s right around 1615 that the country gets locked into a caste-like system and the nation really pushes to isolate itself. So while Europe is transitioning from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, Japan is almost regressing to what many Westerners would call the Dark Ages.
For anyone interested in a quick-n-dirty rundown of the Sengoku Jidai, check out the series on YouTube’s Extra Credit channel. Their Extra History team does a lot of short mini-series about historical people/empires/countries/etc. Best of all they make it easily accessible by illustrating everything with cute colorful drawings & keeping things to the point. As a big history nerd, I recommend it for anyone looking to get their interest piqued on new topics. [Sorry for the plug, they didn’t ask me to shamelessly promote. But I’ve spent a lot of time this semester break watching their mini-series & rediscovering how much I like them.]
But yeah, murder and empire are the theme of this December’s reading. Just brushing up for when I make my bid to take over the world!!
I’ve been on a UF, PNR, and SF Romance kick lately as the real world is just too much for me these days.
SPELLBINDER by Thea Harrison – book 2 in her Elder Races spin-off series was just as good as the first book. The heroines are always strong and determined women who rescue themselves, thank you very much, and the heroes often initially try to be all alpha, but end up realizing that just doesn’t work with the heroine. I’m also looking forward to LIONHEART, book 3. I also want to mention that all of these books would fit into the recent Reader Request for books where the main couple is happily childless and doesn’t suddenly start planning to have babies just because they are now coupled up.
Last month I read HOW TO SAVE AN UNDEAD LIFE, the first book in Hailey Edwards’ series, The Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy and I adored it. I rarely binge, but I could not resist this series and whipped through the first 4 books in record time. Book 5 was just released last week and I’m saving it for a Christmas Day treat. There’s a very slow-burn romance in this series but that’s definitely not the focus.
I also read HUNTER HUNTED, book 3 in Keri Arthur’s Lizzie Grace series, another great one with an underpowered witch heroine, on the run from her powerful family for undisclosed reasons, who settles on a werewolf reservation and keeps getting drawn into murder investigations along with the head werewolf cop (the hero). The heroine also has a human familiar who is also her best friend, so strong female friendship there. Book 4 is due in February I think and can’t come soon enough for me.
Another UF book that I discovered through a $0.99 sale that is also in KU, is THREE MAGES AND A MARGARITA by Annette Marie. The title makes in sound like reverse harem, but it isn’t that way at all, in fact there’s only a hint of romance in the first book. The heroine is a human woman with anger management issues who stumbles into a job as a bartender at a magical guild hall. She’s pretty snarky and that would normally put me off, but the author does a great job in showing her vulnerability so I liked her right away. She also never gives up, even though she’s the least powerful person in the room.
In SF Romance, I just read an adorable novella called THE (ALIEN) NANNY FOR CHRISTMAS by Amanda Milo. It’s book 5 in a series, and I hadn’t read any of the others, but had no problem at all jumping in. The heroine is an overworked single mom who chooses not to look a gift horse in the mouth when a cuddly, 7 ft tall fire-breathing alien shows up at her doorstep, complete with horns, claws, and spiked tail (perfect for chopping veggies LOL), and offers to babysit her kids so she can keep from getting fired from her job. The first book in this series, STOLEN BY AN ALIEN, is on sale for $0.99 and I grabbed it right away.
Finally, I read THANEMONGER by Bex McLynn which is another alien romance in which the human heroine somehow gets kidnapped by aliens, finds herself on an alien ship and has to figure out how to make allies so that she can hopefully get back to Earth where she has a 10 yr old son. The book ended with a satisfactory HFN and no cliffy, but there are lots of open plot lines and no word yet on when the next book will be released.
Other than a few Christmas DNF, this has been a very good reading month for the few books I got to read with holiday and family craziness.
Best book of month and one of best of year for me :
A day in December by Josie Silver
I truly loved this book so much I went back and reread it immediately. More Brit Chick Lit than contemporary romance, I loved the lead characters, plot and twists. The writing was very engaging with both humor and poignancy. I liked that the although the story was based on a secret, it felt realistic in why and how the secret was both kept and revealed. Wonderful book.
Great reads from two favorites:
I love love love Mary Balogh and enjoyed Someone To Trust even though it wasn’t my all time favorite. Her books are such a delight that install on reading them until I can be guaranteed a free few hours on the couch in front of a fire to savor her writing and stories
I am not sure why Donna Alward isn’t more talked about but she is a must read for me. Her latest Best Man for the Wedding Planner was a great read. I was a bit put off by the title and the fact it is part of a billionaires type series ( I hate that trope…we should make the billions ourselves! ) but her book rose way above the title
New author and series for me
Very much enjoyed the city lawyer in small town for Christmas plot of Small Town Christmas by nan Reinhardt …believable plot and mature leads with real life issues to overcome. Will look forward to next book in series
Wishing I have such good months in 2019!!
I just finished listening to books 1 and 2 of The Black Witch YA series by Laurie Forest. Enjoyed them quite a bit and looking forward to the next book.
I’m reading Heartstone by Elle Katharine White and it’s a lot of fun (although a little confusing so far – but that may be because I started it and then set it aside for a couple days and lost track of some characters). It’s a takeoff on Pride and Prejudice with dragons! and many other assorted mythical creatures.
Next on my list is Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri.
My favorite book of 2018 is Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker. It was so good! Like really good! It’s a YA graphic novel (not a romance) and it was so good! I have it beside my bed for reading when I can’t sleep. It’s a bit pricey, but it would be good as a last minute gift for anyone, who likes art, or clothes, or fairy tales, or needs a bit of sunshine in their life.
I also discovered Lucy Knisley this year and enjoy her work as graphic novelist.
@Emily A thank you for that recommendation – I have a teenager who loves graphic novels so I put it on hold at the library for her but I’ll be sure to check it out too.
I have been reading Christmas shorts and novellas this month, since that is where my head is. I will be honest to say that I DNF’d quite a few. It is difficult to get a good story in a few words, but it can be done.
My favorite was in THE REINDEER GAMES anthology.
STUCK by Ainsley Booth. It was a clever story with good sexy times and the right pacing. Unfortunately, I DNF’d a lot in this anthology.
Other good ones, not in anthologies:
HOLLY AND HOCKEY BOOTS by VL Locey. Always enjoy her M/M hockey guys because of the excellent banter.
FILTHY SCROOGE by Taryn Quinn. I was skeptical, even though the cover completely drew me in. The set up of him wanting sex in exchange for helping her made me think I would never possibly like it, but I ended up being wrong as I continued in to the story.
HOT WINTER NIGHTS by Jill Shalvis. I have enjoyed the entire series because of the excellent group of friends.
I found EGGNOG MAKES HER EASY by Erin Nicholas just so-so. I love her writing and found no fault with that. I just felt like rolling my eyes a little because of the sticky sweetness of their perfect relationship. The heroine was almost too unbelievably understanding. Also, I haven’t read the other books in the series yet….but plan to soon…and I think that would have helped to like it more since there is crossover.
This month I really enjoyed T Kingfisher’s Swordheart which was a very funny fantasy romance, and The Seventh Bride, a pretty creepy retelling of Bluebeard.
Sing For The Coming Of The Longest Night was a great new novella, in which two queer metamours who aren’t wild about each other have to team up to find their missing partner in a contemporary magical London.
And as always in December I re-read Cecilia Grant’s A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong, a tropetastic festive delight .
PESTILENCE by Laura Thalassa – This was the last Kindle Unlimited title I read before my subscription expired, and it makes me mourn my loss of access…but not enough to go month-to-month. Pestilence is a dark fantasy romance between one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse and a Canadian firefighter who attempted to assassinate him as he rode through her town. (Their meet cute? She shoots him in the face and sets him on fire. Kidnapping and physical abuse follow.) Elyse gave it a D for genocide, but I apparently have no problem romanticizing biblical harbingers who disdain and destroy all humankind until they meet that one special person. (This is not death in the abstract. We meet the infected, and the heroine tends to the dying over and over again. Children are not spared from the plague.) I was surprised to find myself enjoying the rather brutal narrative, but ultimately I’m left with too much doubt re:
DNF
SLEIGH BELLS IN THE SNOW by Sarah Morgan – I only read the first two chapters, which were basically a very readable novelization of a Hallmark holiday movie. The problem is that Morgan won’t come out and tell me why the workaholic English heroine is a Christmas crankypants, and when an author leaves me dangling on that issue, I immediately plug in the tragic Christmas backstory for Phoebe Cates’ character in Gremlins. So now I can’t take the book seriously at all.
audiobooks
THE PIRATE by Jayne Ann Krentz, narrated by Wendy Tremont King – I had looked forward to this release because I’ve never liked The Pirate and was hoping the performance would give me more positive feelings for the book, as Amy McFadden’s narration of Between the Lines had shifted my opinion on that older JAK category romance. Alas, I didn’t make it past The Pirate‘s first chapter. It’s not King’s fault, although she didn’t do a spectacular job of differentiating between the heroine’s voice (dialogue) and the narrative voice, or even establishing distinctly different voices for the three female friends who populate this series. The story just feels inauthentic to me. The friends don’t interact like any closely bonded women I know. The heroine is abrasive. The hero responds in kind. I also find the premise of the series cringeworthy — three romance novelists in different subgenres meet real-life manifestations of their heroic archetypes…or “book boyfriends,” as we call them now — but that didn’t keep me from enjoying books 2 and 3 more than this.
AMARYLLIS by Jayne Castle, narrated by Tanya Eby – I love Amaryllis so much that I endured the awful narration just to hear the whole book. I lack the vocabulary to describe why the narrator’s voice displeased me (stilted? choppy? robotic? droning?). Suffice it to say the only scenes where the voice sounded right to me was when the heroine was under the mesmerizing spell of a psychic and when the insane villain was recounting the cunning plan at the end. (Yes, the book itself suffers from ludicrous SF worldbuilding, but I don’t care. The romance is golden and I appreciate how the characters’ tragic backstories inform their current choices without making them dysfunctional, toxic people. My advice would be to read, not listen. And when you find yourself annoyed by cat-dogs and cofftea, entertain yourself by imagining these labels applied to alien products that are nothing like their earthly originals.)
[Apologies if the spoiler tag up there doesn’t work.]
@MirandaB I also read Treacherous is the Night and I too don’t really get Sidney. I find pretty much all the other male characters more compelling and I wonder if Huber is doing that on purpose or whether it’s accidental (my friends who have read the series agree with us so I don’t know if i’ve Just hit on all members of a minority or whether it’s the prevailing view of these books!)
I’m currently loving What Happens At Christmas by Victoria Alexander. It’s exactly the madcap Christmas comedy I didn’t know I needed! I love everything about it and will be exploring her backlist some more.
But on the other hand, it doesn’t surprise me at all because all my favorite Christmas movies have at least a touch of screwball comedy.
Most of the rest of this month has been misses. I loved the first HOT book by Lynne Raye Harris, but 2 and 3 were completely unsatisfying. Also read the Zodiac Shifters Christmas Kisses collection and it was a solid 3 star read. Planning to pick up more Zodiac titles by one of the authors in it.
I’ve read nine books so far this month (a lot for me but I still have six to go to meet my reading challenge). None of them were memorable enought to recommend except the two Georgette Heyer audiobooks which were for the most part beautifully narrated by Phyllida Nash. The Talisman Ring was a hoot from start to finish. Cotillion was somewhat slower paced but also very amusing in parts and, because I was just listening along whilst doing other things and not really speculating about the plot (I love Heyer chiefly for her delicious use of language rather than the story), I was actually surprised in a way that really never happens with romance novels. There’s something to be said for bypassing reviews and just taking a chance; if I’d read all the audible reviews first I wouldn’t have had that lovely surprise.
:::jingles in singing the David Bowie/Bing Crosby version of Little Drummer Boy:::
I can’t say I’ve read a huge amount this month. Partly because Kingdom of Ash took me forever, which I was reading this time last month, and really enjoyed, but it took me forever. Plus my semester ended, and there was a pretty detailed project in there, and then I got sick. Ugh, December, man. I had to compile a poetry/song anthology that was thematic. I chose to focus on poems/songs that would make people laugh, especially in the aftermath of disaster (because Hurricane Hell is a thing). Let’s see, while still reading Kingdom of Ash, I read The Crossover by Kwame Alexander for my college class. I can see that the writing in it was excellent, but a book written in verse is hard for me. Not hard to read, it’s just not my cup of tea. Then, once I had control of life and reading habits again, I read Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts. I loved Year One, but didn’t like this one quite as much. It had some noticeable bridge book problems, especially with pacing. Nothing for 150 pages, then a big huge event happens out of nowhere, and then BAM. Book over. I then got seasonal with it, and read How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, and Joanna Shupe. Fun fact, I tend to gravitate toward historical romance when I’m sick, and this managed to hit both that need and also fun seasonal stuff. If you need to know how fuzzy the cold and subsequent secondary infections made me, I was nearly 3/4 of the way through MacLean’s novella before I figured out that I was reading a play on A Christmas Carol. Of the four stories, I think that I enjoyed Tessa Dare’s (I mean, come on, Tessa Dare, I love her) and Sophie Jordan’s (Home Alone, hot grumpy Scottish laird) the most, but they were all pretty good. After this, I blew through Here To Stay by Sara Farizan. It’s a YA book about a high school basketball player that ends up promoted to varsity after having an amazing night when pulled off the bench, but then, since he is of Middle Eastern descent, gets to enjoy unwanted notoriety when someone starts circulating racist memes of him (calling him a terrorist and the like). I enjoyed the writing, and I really enjoyed the voice and humor that she imbued the main character with, and she made my heart hurt for him several times. Really good book. After that, I started a light romantic comedy type book, and my brain firmly rejected it. So then I turned around and thanks to this very site’s podcast, I had recently bought Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames and my brain accepted that, with its dry humor and sly musical references, way more readily. Until the new year folks, Merry Christmas and keep the Yule Log burning. Yule Lads…SO MESSY.
I’m reading Small Change right now, by Roan Parrish, who is a new to me author. I’m really enjoying it so far.
Head Coach by Lia Riley-another new to me author, I found the hero to be extremely sexy 🙂 I used to be all about the dark haired blue eyed hero, but the blondes are very appealing to me lately. I blame the TV show Vikings.
I read the Carsington series by Loretta Chase-how had I never read these before?? They were so good I couldn’t wait for my holds at the library, and ended up buying the series.
Jenny Colgan is an author I’ve read for years, but I missed the latest books set on the Scottish Island of Mure. I love her world building, and loved Christmas on the Island. I had some issues with one of the heroes-he seemed like kind of a dick, but he redeemed himself in the end.
Oh, I also read Samantha Kane’s Brothers In Arms series. Lots of sexy times, but I thought they also spoke the to trauma suffered and bonds that men forge in war. I won’t lie-there were tears when reading some of the passages.
Cara McKenna’s Desert Dogs series was a wonderful way to take my mind off a very substantial earthquake we suffered on Nov. 30th. Lots of aftershocks that continued the next week, and her series was a welcome escape. Great heroines and interesting heroes-with a bit of a mystery thrown in. I loved these!
:::pops back in, slightly mortified:::
I looked back at my Goodreads and saw that I missed I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall. Excellent YA about a girl stranded in the Canadian wilderness after her father is murdered. Really, really good survival fiction, and the survival storyline was way better developed than than the suspense storyline. It references Hatchet at one point, which was apropos.
:::pops back out:::
I went on a T. Kingfisher binge over a weekend and read The Clocktaur War duology (Clockwork Boys + The Wonder Engine), and then Swordheart, which is set in the same world. I highly recommend all 3 for a blend of adventure, romance, humor, and fantasy.
A busy month but still managed to read a bit!
Yours to Keep – Serena Bell
This book was SO GOOD. Elyse’s review of another Serena Bell novel sparked me to borrow this from the library. I’d read a couple of Bell’s Harlequin Blaze titles and enjoyed them but she really excels at the longer format. This was a very compelling romance between Ana, an undocumented immigrant, and Ethan, a pediatrician & widower who hires Ana to tutor his 15-year-old son. It explored complex family relationships on both sides, and it was so brutally honest in bringing to light the implications of being illegal, and especially in a country that’s been your home since you were a child. The conflict is so multi-faceted and real that I did wonder how on earth Bell was going to pull off the HEA (spoiler alert, she did). It has one of the most joyful epilogues I’ve ever read – I literally cried happy tears.
The Hunter – Kerrigan Byrne
Second in the slightly crazysauce Victorian Rebels series. I spent the whole book thinking ‘I’ve read this before. Wait, have I read this before?’ So it’s safe to say I wasn’t really drawn in by the story either time. Redemption of a bad boy and cracking the hero’s icy shell are both my catnip but they didn’t work for me here and I can’t quite articulate why. Maybe it was the instant lust? I think I need more than that as a catalyst for change.
Harvard’s Education – Suzanne Brockmann
Fourth in the Tall Dark & Dangerous (SEAL Team 10) series which I’ve been reading out of order as they come in at the library. There is a lot to unpack here. Published in 1998, it was just the second of the nearly 900-strong Silhouette Intimate Moments line to feature a black couple. Both MCs have had to deal with prejudice and tokenism, with PJ, the heroine, having also to fight sexism (even from some of the so-called heroes of SEAL Team 10 and from Harvard himself). She is a kick-ass heroine and clearly a precursor to Alyssa from the Troubleshooters series. Harvard grew up in an upper middle class family in a South Shore suburb of Boston and has to check his privilege big time when it comes to PJ (she was born to a teenage addict mom). It had a really satisfying ending in which Harvard is forced to show his vulnerability by allowing PJ to be her kick-ass self in her job, knowing that he can’t protect her. The political commentary was a lot less overt compared to that in SEAL Camp (the latest of the TDD series, which I read last month and didn’t love) as well as being more nuanced and in character. The romance was satisfying but it could’ve used a longer word count (which may be exactly why Brockmann eventually moved to single title).
The Bargain – Mary Jo Putney
One of her earlier novels, may have originally been published as a Signet Regency? Heroine needs to marry in order to fulfil the conditions of her father’s will, marries a dying soldier in a marriage of convenience, he miraculously recovers, plot ensues. A fairly sweet story (with some backstory angst) of two thoroughly nice people falling in love and nearly mucking the whole thing up because reasons. Delightful secondary romance and not one but two sequel-bait heroes without being annoyingly sequel bait-y. Not quite as good as The Rake (possibly MJP’s best IMO) but I enjoyed it and will re-read
Off the Clock – Roni Loren
Very hot romance between two psychologists working at a sex clinic, with a past. Very angsty backstory for both characters. The heroine was awesome and the hero grovelled big time to be worthy of her.
Second Glance – Jodi Picoult
I’d stopped reading Picoult a while back but someone loaned me this. It’s a ghost story so has a paranormal / magical realism feel to it. It takes place in two time periods, the present day where a developer is trying to build a strip mall on a piece of land in a small town in Vermont, and in the 1930s. It had a really interesting background (racism & eugenics in Vermont in the 1930s and how that basically erased the Vermont Abenaki tribes) and themes including how eugenics could have parallels to modern-day genetic counselling. I never really warmed to Ross, the main character in the modern section, no matter how hard Picoult tried to make him relatable, and I could see the plot twists a mile away.
When We Have Wings – Clare Corbett
Speculative fiction set in a not-so-distant future in which the world has been reshaped by climate change; developed countries have miles of slums and a tiny middle class; and surgery and gene/DNA therapy have evolved to the point that humans are now able to acquire wings and fly like birds, if they have the money. By chance not design, this book had some similar themes to Second Glance, including the question of who gets to make the choice of who lives & dies or alter genetics. In both books too there was a bit of motherhood worship (i.e. mothers will do anything, sacrifice everything, for their children) which always makes me uncomfortable (mothers aren’t the only ones who make sacrifices for those they love). The plot revolves around Peri, a winged nanny who takes off with the non-flier child she looks after, and the private investigator hired by the child’s father to find them. Corbett spent a lot of time explaining the mechanics of flight; that part of the world-building was clearly well researched and thought out. But there were some parts of the world that felt a bit more nebulous, some superfluous characters (including the PI’s talking car), and the ending felt very abrupt. An interesting debut novel.
Last Night With the Earl – Kelly Bowen
I liked this but didn’t find it as compelling or as complex as the previous in the series. The cover model (dark hair, Phantom of the Opera half mask) looked nothing like the hero described in the book (badly scarred, missing one ear, blond hair), and nearly half of my mass-market paperback version of this book was a ‘bonus’ short story by Grace Burrowes.
Cop By Her Side – Janice Kay Johnson
Another typically complex & satisfying Superromance by JKJ in which both main characters have massive growth. Both MCs are cops who before the book opens, dated and then broke up when she caught him in the act of crappy masculine posturing and talking her down in front of colleagues, so he has already started to change even before the novel starts. Then her sister gets into a car accident and her 7-year-old niece goes missing and they have to work together and trust each other.
Hearts in Vegas – Colleen Collins
Romantic suspense Superromance. Former jewel thief now insurance investigator gets caught up in a case which involves the hero, a security consultant with a somewhat shady background. I liked both main characters but found the tone a little uneven – extended scenes with the hero’s family, sometimes involving a bachelor auction they entered him into, had a broad, almost slapstick, humor to them, while the case the MCs were working involved Russian criminals, drug dealers and multi-million dollar jewel heists. It was almost like two different books. There were a lot of secondary characters and at some times I would’ve liked a tighter focus on the romance or on the suspense plot. Still a B read though.
We’re Going To Need More Wine – Gabrielle Union
I don’t see a lot of movies or watch much TV and have next to no knowledge of pop culture, so I didn’t know who Union was and knew nothing of her life story. Gosh this was good.By turns hilarious, touching, angry and more, the full gamut of emotions. A call to arms and for me (white, middle class) a serious check of my privilege.
She’s the One – Erin Nicholas
Laid back paramedic plus uptight physical therapist / grad teacher with overprotective brother. Felt the same about this as the last Erin Nicholas I read (Just Right) – solid without being spectacular. Cute, hot, loved the hero, but some of the conflict seemed manufactured.
The Ones Who Got Away and The One You Can’t Forget – Roni Loren
We’ve talked about this series a lot – the series about survivors of a school shooting. I join the general consensus that both are outstanding if you can handle the backstory and the ongoing effects of trauma on the characters. The second one resonated more with me, perhaps because I identified with the heroine more. The first book gave me the feels, the second gave me ALL the feels – I thought it was a masterpiece.
Duke of Sin – Elizabeth Hoyt
Read this as part of my morality chain / Dramione kick. I liked it, and it definitely hewed to that theme, but it didn’t entirely work for me. The heroine fell in love with the duke far too early in the piece – before he’d done anything to deserve it – and there wasn’t a lot of redemption going on – he regrets almost nothing he’s done. Because of that I don’t know if I really bought the HEA. I’ll probably re-read to see if it works better for me on the second go.
What a reading month for me – glad to be finishing out the year strong!
Excellent:
A Fistful of Collars by Spencer Quinn – the 5th in the Chet and Bernie mystery series, narrated by Chet the Jet (a hilarious dog). The world is a better place because Naomi Novik created the Temeraire series and I have to say the same about Spencer Quinn creating Chet. I can only hope my dogs think like Chet – funny, funny, funny, loyal, smart, and loving. Even though these are mysteries and there are sad/violent moments, I spend a lot of my time while reading these smiling because I just love to be in Chet’s head. Please be aware that there are Trigger/CWs for parts of this story.
Very Good:
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The author discusses how terrible humans are at understanding randomness and that we often try to find meaning or a pattern in random events. This can lead us down some incorrect paths because we think we are certain of the cause of something when we are not. The book was super thought provoking and stretched my mind to think about statistics (which I hadn’t thought about so much since my statistics class in college like 15 years ago). My frustration came because every time the author would just start to dig into a topic, he would jump to something else. Still it was an important and educational read.
Them: Why We Hate Each Other and How to Heal by Ben Sasse: My dad picked this one for our father/daughter bookclub. While I basically don’t agree with the author on any of his political positions, I did think some of his points about the divisions in America today were correct such as spending too much time on social media and the collapse of in-person communities and neighborhoods. I also was glad I read this because I continue to try to listen to and read people that I disagree with to try to push myself out of my own information bubble.
A Bad Boy for Christmas by Jessica Lemmon: This is a friends-to-lovers small town contemporary. The chemistry between the hero and heroine was hot and the relationship well developed. However, the actions of the hero towards the end of the book which forced the conflict felt very out of character. Please be aware that there are Trigger/CWs for parts of this story.
Good:
Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber: This hit the Christmas reading spot – an updated retelling of You’ve Got Mail. You have to suspend disbelief a bit, but this story was warm and cozy and was just what I needed to read during this busy season. The hero is a business owner and the heroine a temp working for his company.
Becoming Bella by Sarah Hegger: I have such mixed feelings about this one. I loved the first 7/8 of the book – friends-to-lovers, small town contemporary with a small business owner heroine and bad boy turned town sheriff hero. BUT this book went full on romantic suspense in the last eighth and got pretty dark. Given the dark turn, the resolution came way too quickly for me. Please be aware that there are Trigger/CWs for parts of this story.
Meh:
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: Look, I know it is a classic, but this did not do much for me. I found the main character to be way too self absorbed to want to spend that much time in his head. The ending made up for that slightly.
Claiming His Christmas Wife by Dani Collins: This is a Harlequin Presents so you get a lot of anger, jealously, and misunderstandings. It was fine, but nothing special.
Snowed in with the Reluctant Tycoon by Nina Singh: It is a real art to write a category romance where the characters meet each other at the beginning of the book (as opposed to tropes such as friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, or second chance where you can use the shortcut of having some sort of already established relationship) and this book unfortunately fell a little short of convincing me that the hero and heroine’s relationship could have happened that quickly. This was a classic Christmas set-up though with the “Scrooge” hero out to close a business that the heroine loves and she shows him there is more to business than numbers.
Do You Believe in Santa? by Sierra Donovan: This novel about a sheltered small town heroine (who believes she saw the real Santa when she was 8) and the corporate, but good guy hero read like it was written a long time ago. But I checked and it looks like was from 2015 – it just seemed so outdated. I think my problem is that everyone in the books seemed so so perfect, it made my teeth hurt from all the sweetness. It was just too cloying for me.
The Bad:
Cheddar Off Dead by Julia Buckley: earlier this year I raved about the first book in the series being the best cozy I ever read (my definition of cozy is small town, contemporary, MC is an amateur sleuth, and nothing bad happens to the MC or his/her friends/family). Well, this one was terrible. The heroine suddenly became TSTL and made really dangerous decisions. Not to mention that the ending was unbelievable. I think I will read the third one in the series because I liked the first one so much, but the series is now on reading probation.
Great reading month but I wish it would snow even a little bit!
Faves
– ROMANCING THE INVENTOR / PRUDENCE / IMPRUDENCE / ROMANCING THE WEREWOLF / HOW TO MARRY A WEREWOLF / COMPETENCE by Gail Carriger – I did it! Finished the Great Parasolverse Reread of 2018! And it was worth it!
– MEM by Bethany C. Marrow (audiobook) – you want something to tear your heart to pieces ala
Ummm…. that’s not the full comment… my whole comment deleted itself. I’ll try again tomorrow. Why phone. Why.
“I wonder if Huber is doing that on purpose or whether it’s accidental”
@Shem: It may be the way she writes. I don’t like Gage, from the Lady Darby mystery series, either.
This month I finished another Harlequin Presents by India Grey, THE SECRET SHE CAN’T HIDE. I also read and listened to HATE NOTES by Vi Keeland. I enjoyed the book more than the audio because the male narrator had a rather flat affect. I’m currently reading SLEIGH BELL SWEETHEARTS by Teri Wilson which was the basis for a new Hallmark movie. I thought about subscribing to the Hallmark channel as well, but I actually don’t like watching romances as well as reading them.
I‘ve nothing to contribute to this thread as a matter of fact, because it has been a horrible month at work and I‘ve only managed to read about four or five books (all of which I immediatly forgot), but I would like to use the opportunity to thank you all for your thoughtful recommendations – each month I’m looking forward to this post. Merry Christmas (or whatever you like to celebrate) to the whole bitchery – and thank you, Smart Bitches, for creating and maintaining a place where I feel safe and understood. <3
The biggest eye opener book for me this year was Shelter the Sea by Heidi Cullinan. It’s a M/M romance between a guy on the autism spectrum and a guy who is coping with depression. It was a real eye opener and very emotional. I felt my perspective on the world change as I was reading the book! That book is going to stay with me for a long time.
I read “A True Cowboy Christmas” by Caitlin Crews, a contemporary Western, which was unusual for me, but it was recommended by Miss Bates Reads, and I liked it enough that I’ll be looking for the author’s backlist. The MOC was as believable as possible, for being a contemporary. The characters were well developed and the family dysfunction, which played a big role in the story and was not magically solved, had some real depth and realism.
I’m also still reading the Doyle & Action mysteries, and I’m up to #6 now (Murder in Shadow). They’re still very good, although nothing packs the punch of the first one, which I just reread last night!
I read “One Wicked Winter”, a Regency historical by Emma Leech, which was a Kindle freebie. It’s in the middle of a series, and I’m sure I’ve read books before with a hero who boxes and a heroine who is poverty stricken and needs to find a husband right away. Nevertheless, the book still worked for me. I’ll read more of them, but wait for a sale.
And sadly, I DNF’d Suzanne Brockmann’s “Dark of Night” but it’s totally me, not the book. I love Suz Brockmann and I loved all her older SEAL books, and the Troubleshooters, but I had dropped off reading the series a few years back, so I thought I would pick it up again. It turns out I can’t tolerate the violence, the story involved abduction and torture of a main character(not a spoiler, there’s a taste of it in the prologue). So I guess I’ll stick to the ones that are somewhat lighter.
Started reading A CHANGE OF HEART by Sonali Dev which, while an excellent book so far (I’m about a quarter of the way in) is really dark and has none of the humor of her previous books. Being stressed out by the holidays and approaching surgery, I needed something lighter, so I switched to THE LADY MOST WILLING by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway, which had all the soul-soothing froth I needed. Sort of like a warm bubble bath in book form. I’ll go back to Dev when the inner turmoil settles.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!