Are you ready for Whatcha Reading? I bet you are! A lot of you have been waiting patiently all month for this post and we can’t wait for you to share your reading list with us. February is nearly over and we hope you all have been getting some great reading done!
Carrie: I just finished Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and I liked it although it was slow. Frankly, I did a lot of skimming.
I’m about to start Treason of Hawks by Lila Bowen ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). It’s the last book in the Shadow series, and I like the series so much that I’ve put off reading the conclusion for ages because I hate to see it end!
Amanda: I just finished Bad Blood by John Carreyrou ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and WHEW BUDDY. It’s such a “truth is stranger than fiction” book.
I really want to read more fantasy stuff, but I keep striking out with those holding my interest. I might move to The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) for something a bit more light and fun. (At least I’m assuming it’s light and fun based on the description.)
Elyse: I just started Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
Sarah: I am reading Lady Notorious by Theresa Romain, and so far it is delicious.
Among my highlights:
“Charles couldn’t work; he could only keep to bed and loudly dislike things.”
Elyse: LOL
Amanda: Wow, hard same.
Sarah: “As for why anyone should care to know you, well…” He fumbled for words. Look at you, was on the tip of his tongue. Listen to you.
What have you read this month? What were your favorites?
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!
My insurance approved my new mobility scooter! I’ve been without a working mobility scooter since November and I’ve used them since I was 4 years old. This is a good day. On to good books!
Faves
– THE WOLF IN THE WHALE by Jordanna Max Brodsky – (tw: rape) historical fiction fantasy about the meeting of Inuits and Vikings on the Canadian coast. This reads like a myth, with interfering gods, but it’s also a grounded character study. I’ll be checking out more from this author.
– SAWKILL GIRLS by Claire Legrand – an island, an uneasy trio of teens, a demon, this is both terrifying and epic in the way of Buffy. Also, lesbian and asexual rep!
– BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #1 by Jordie Bellaire, Dan Mora, Matt Taylor – speaking of, this is the start of the new Buffy comics series by BOOM! This transports the characters to modern day (now I feel ancient), and so far, I really like it. The Scoobies meet a little differently, but they are still them (Xander doesn’t seem to be into Buffy the way he was in S1, thank god) and I can’t wait to read more. The art is fabulous.
– ANY OLD DIAMONDS by KJ Charles – I looooooved this. Jewel thieves plot is great but I loved how Alec & Jerry openly negotiated that sexual needs and wants. How does KJ Charles always do it?? Oh! And! This is set 20 years in the future in the Sins of the Cities universe.
– LOST IN A GOOD BOOK / THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS by Jasper Fforde – still brilliant and funny!
– THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston (audiobook) – I want to say this is a coming of age novel but it’s more of woman’s life through the years, three marriages, and many struggles. It’s rough but worth it.
– HOLLYWOOD’S EVE: EVE BABITZ AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF L.A. by Lili Anolik – part biography of Eve Babitz, part memoir of the author, this is a weird book, but I couldn’t stop reading it. Plus, there was a lot of 70’s Hollywood gossip!
Good
– UNDEAD GIRL GANG by Lily Anderson – teen zombies and a witch out to catch a killer! Fun, but some characters made really dumb decisions so it was not a 5 star read for me.
– AN UNKINDNESS OF GHOSTS by Rivers Solomon (audiobook) – a generation ship structured like the antebellum South, complete with slavery. Brutal and bleak, this was still an unstoppable listen. I needed to know what happened next and where Aster would go.
– IN AN ABSENT DREAM by Seanan McGuire – the writing was beautiful as always, but the story was a little thin. I knew it was a stand-alone, but I really hoped there would be more of the previously established world and/or characters.
– SINGLE MALT by Layla Reyne (audiobook) – I’ve never read romantic suspense but I love it in TV shows (Chuck counts, right??) so I thought I’d give this a shot. I really liked it! I think I’ll read the next one though, I don’t like romance on audio very much.
– SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo – I enjoyed the world and the stakes but it was one of those YA books that seemed like it was originally conceived as an adult fantasy and was lightly reworked for a YA audience. I really can’t stand that. There’s not enough in the writing to justify the YA label, so it comes across as grasping for that big YA audience. I’ll check out Book 2 but maybe I should wait for the Netflix show?
– CHARLOTTE BRONTE: A FIERY HEART by Claire Harman – a good biography, but I’ve read a lot about the Brontes and none of this was new to me. Solid read though, great if you don’t know a lot about the Brontes!
– THE FACT OF A BODY by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich – all the trigger warnings. A memoir and true crime book focused on child sexual abuse. All the warnings, for real, guys.
Fine
– WHEN KATIE MET CASSIDY by Camille Perri – an f/f romcom for your mom, if your mom is the type who says, “I wish I was a lesbian! I’m just so over men!” Or thinks you’ll like this woman she met because the woman looks pretty in a summer dress. This book has a main character who realizes “not all butch lesbians are scary!” I just… give it to the well-meaning and slightly clueless straight women in your life.
Currently Reading
– MAGIC TRIUMPHS by Ilona Andrews – it’s been so long since I read the last book I was like, “wait, she’s pregnant?”
Just finished The Starlight Crystal, which was one heck of a weird ride. I’m still confused but I liked it.
Currently listening to Hidden Figures and reading Making Up by Lucy Parker (I liked the first two just fine?).
Am overdue on Wild Seed by Octavia Butler, so I need to start it ASAP! Ive only read her Kindred and that was an amazing book.
I read the first two books in the Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow which has an Aleut protagonist solving crimes in Alaska; I really enjoyed her voice and all of the secondary characters. It felt authentic and different. I also read Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet and Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik. I enjoyed them both but wish I hadn’t read them in the same week – they felt very similar to each other as a result. I think I slightly preferred the former but will continue with both series. I read Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep. I never got into her previous series but this is the start of a new one so I jumped in. This has been a stressful month so I also did some comfort re-reads: Tinker and Wolf who Rules by Wen Spencer, and Diamond Fire by Ilona Andrews.
Crying at the “loudly dislike” thing. I relate so hard.
I’m currently doing a re-read of all my Dinah Dean books.
The Poppy War by Kuang: It was well done and I liked it, but everyone who said it was really violent wasn’t kidding. Especially the last 3rd. YIKES!
Murder at the Brightwell by Weaver: It was ok verging on Meh. It reminded me of the Verity Kent series in that I disliked the husband.
A Step so Grave by McPherson: Latest in the Dandy Gilver mystery series. You need to read all these in order to make sense, but I really enjoyed it.
Currently working on ‘Friends of the Dusk’ by Rickman (Merrily Watkins series)
And
Lair of Dreams by Bray: 2sd in the Diviners series. A little slow, but I really like the world build. Evie bugs me, but her choices are interesting.
Guys, this was a really slow month for reading. Very meh. Maybe b/c life was crazy this month, but there was a new season of the One Day At a Time reboot. I love everything about the show and I can’t help but ship Penelope and Schneider, the goofy landlord/super. He’s much better looking (shallow, but true) and more well-rounded than the original 70s Schneider. I know, I know he’s still the comic relief white guy/best friend character (but also awesome beta hero material, I’m just saying). I don’t think the show will ever, ever go there, but, but friends to lovers, guys (girlish sigh). It’s such a good trope when done well (there is only a lil bit of fic on AO3 but most of it is very good and yes I have read it all). I just can’t help gushing about it and this is my safe space 😉 Don’t watch the show for shipping, watch it b/c it’s awesome and if shipping happens, so be it. 😉
So with that craziness in mind –
The Best of the Month
One Bitten, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole – A f/f novella in the Reluctant Royals universe that was reviewed well here. This was cute although I’m not a big fan of “second chance” stories and I found the time hops back and forth confusing. Still has that great Alyssa Cole style and both heroines were adorable together and separately.
Feud by Phyllis Bourne – This was a fun enemies to lovers novella. It all hinges on two different wills and you kind of just have to suspend your disbelief and go with it. One thing I didn’t like is it was alternating first person and the voices were very similar.
Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas – I talked about this already this month, so I’ll just say it was cute and I liked it even though I’ll never be a big Lisa Kleypas fan girl. Letter writing, y’all. I want all the romances with love letters, all the time.
Challenge Accepted by Amanda Abram – You want tropes? This book is trope-tastic. It’s a YA. They’ve been neighbors since childhood, naturally. She’s the bookworm, he’s the cool guy.They hate each other, of course. He accidentally ruins her chance at summer romance and decides he’s going to make it up to her by helping her get the guy of her dreams. Oooh, are they going to fall in love? There is a makeover scene (although it’s not too over the top), a Ferris Wheel scene, an oops, we fell into the water together scene, a drive to “Makeout Point.” etc. The hero is a bit of a jerk at times (I mean, he’s a teenager) and there is a scheming ex-girlfriend (but thankfully she’s not in it very much). This was not deep at all, but it was a Kindle Unlimited, so there was no risk involved for me. I felt like it read very smoothly and was a fun way to pass an afternoon. Your mileage may vary.
The Meh
Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers – I want so badly to like the Peter Wimsey mysteries. So many people I respect like them. I wish I had found them when I was about 12 or 13 b/c then I probably would too. But as an adult, I find Peter Wimsey annoying and the mystery weirdly unfocused? There were a lot of digressions. There’s also a lot of casual bigotry and snobbery that I find just annoying, bout might be a deal breaker for other people. What was good? Good dialogue, I liked Harriet Vane (Peter’s love interest) and lots of interesting side characters (that often didn’t have a lot to do with the central plot). I’ll probably read another, but only those with Harriet.
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. Okay, this was super disappointing. His last book Deep Work did have a lot of flaws in that in focused on a very white, male, tech idea of “work”, but I felt like he did have a coherent argument for why we need to be thoughtful about our internet/social media consumption. This was just a long magazine article with a bunch of random anecdotes smashed it. Suggestions like, “oh if you give up social media maybe you’ll find the time to start a fun hobby like welding” are not helpful to most people. Welding is not exactly a cheap and easy way to replace Twitter and Facebook. And yeah, when he talked of hobbies, there was no mention of “traditionally female” hobbies like baking, knitting, etc. So there’s still a bit of a blindspot there.
To my mind, the best book in this genre (and I read it a lot b/c the internet and how much I should use it is a constant struggle for me) is “Bored and Brilliant” by Manoush Zomordi. She offers a pretty concrete plan to follow. “How to Break Up With Your Phone” is also helpful. This, not so much.
Speaking of Internet, I may not be here much next month while I do a “tech fast.” Have a great March, everybody!
Once again, lots of fanfiction, including most of the recs in the recent post. Loved the Pride & Prejudice soulmate fic, so thanks to whoever rec’d that!
Also read a few books…
By the Hour – Roni Loren
The second book set in a high-end rehab & therapy center. The heroine of this book was a villain in the previous novel, Off the Clock, and had a very painful backstory to explain why she was the way she was. The hero, Lane, was a delight – a sex therapist / surrogate, previously an escort, also with a tough background, struggling with dyslexia as he returns to school for a degree. He is exactly what Elle needs, even if she doesn’t realize it. Lots of ups & downs, more than one black moment, lots of somewhat kinky sex. A satisfying romance from an author who has become an auto-buy.
I re-read the ‘His Fair Assassin’ trilogy by Robin LaFevers, in anticipation of Courting Mercy (I’m 12th in line at the library). Impeccably researched medieval YA novels with hints of paranormal/fantasy, about assassin nuns in 15th century Brittany, just before it was absorbed into France. Court intrigue, battles, romance, old gods, betrayal, and badass heroines, including the real-life Anne of Brittany, the 12-year-old duchess trying to keep Brittany intact. The first in the series was Grave Mercy, in which I loved both Ismae and Gavriel. The second, Dark Triumph, was darker and less rooted in history but compelling nonetheless. Sybella is nearly broken by her past (trigger warnings for abuse) but recovers her self through her mission, her friendships, her greater understanding of the old god of Death whom she serves, and of course her hero. Mortal Heart, the third novel, was my least favorite the first time I read it, but resonated more with me on a second reading – perhaps because it was a further exploration of the old pagan gods and less court politics than the previous two novels. The strong and supportive friendship between Ismae, Sybella and Annith knit the three books together.
I also finally finished The Highlander by Kerrigan Byrne. It took me forever to get into this; it was quite dark, like the previous books in the series. I struggled with the transliteration of the Scottish accent (particularly with ‘arena’ for aren’t and ‘doona’ for do not – doona is a brand-name for a down duvet or quilt in Australia). And I found it very hard to believe that the heroine would be ready to get into a sexual relationship after the abuse, both emotional and physical, and the rape and sexual assault she experienced at the hands of her husband, his family, and the staff at the asylum in which she was incarcerated. I was also not really there for the moral ambiguity of the hero – which didn’t bother me in the first two books of this series, but really didn’t work here.
Have started the late primary/YA novel Wildwood by Colin Melody, which I thought would have a Labyrinth vibe but is a bit more The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe at the moment; and I’ve got Linnea Sinclair’s Games of Command lined up next on Libby.
KJ Charles- Any Old Diamonds: I’m not the biggest fan of single-POV romances & it’s starting to get little distracting to me trying to remember all the side characters and what books they’re from, but those quibbles aside this is another great book by Charles.
Maurene Goo- I Believe in a Thing Called Love: 17 year old Desi tries to get her first boyfriend by following the rules she gleaned from watching K-dramas. Desi is definitely…intense, and if this were a real life situation I’d rather she ended up with a restraining order than a cute boyfriend, but I was mostly able to brush off the over-the-topness as romcom extremism. I also appreciated her relationship with her single father, and that she has a platonic male/female friendship that never once veers into “maybe we were meant for each other all along” feels.
Tana French- Broken Harbor: My Tana French reread continues; this one was, and still is, my favorite. I just love seeing a character who’s so rigidly controlled and clinging on to the way his world works by his fingernails come slowly undone.
Dan Jones- The Plantagenets: For various reasons this has been sitting unread on my shelf for like 4 years so I finally cracked it. The Plantagenets are some of my favorite historical figures; Jones makes for a very readable historian. A good survey.
C.L. Polk- Witchmark: Interesting WWI-style fantasy (it takes place in a secondary world, but very 1918ish). To me it almost felt like too much worldbuilding at times, which sounds like a strange complaint because I actually really enjoyed the world, but there was a *lot* going on and sometimes I wanted to slow down and sit with the characters a bit, rather than learning more about bicycling customs or whatever. And it has romantic elements but definitely is not a romance; I wish that relationship had been given more time to grow. I don’t know if Polk is publishing more set in this world; if so I’d certainly check it out.
Tessa Dare- The Governess Game: There was a lot a liked about this one, but some things that really bothered me and then *kept* bothering me after I was finished. There’s one thing I’ve noticed with Dare in particular, though I’m sure it happens similarly elsewhere, that I just loathe: the hero of the previous book showing up in a cameo to bluster around masculinely and warn the hero of the current book off the heroine, cause there’s no way current hero is good enough for his wife’s friend. Gross. Can we stop with the toxic dick measuring contests and posturing males “protecting” the poor helpless females thing, please? Even when the heroines put a stop to it because it’s nonsense, it still reads wrong to me. And because old hero & new heroine have never really interacted, it never comes off “stay away from my friend, you monster,” which might be ok, but instead “stay away from my wife’s friend that I’ve talked to twice & don’t actually know that well at all, my wife would be here instead to give you a dressing down but she’s busy being barefoot and pregnant so here I am to be MALE at you.” Gross.
Huh. I may have some issues on that to work through. lol.
Sayaka Murata- Convenience Store Woman: This was an odd little book (I think technically novella) about a woman in her mid-thirties who works at a convenience store and refuses to be “normal.”
Elizabeth Hoyte- Dearest Rogue: halfway through this. It’s been so long since I’ve read a Maiden Lane book, I’m having a terrible time keeping all the side characters’ babies and small dogs straight. Also Trevallion is in no way a rogue? Minor title quibble but seriously he’s like…the anti-rogue. Well anyway, it’s fine so far.
I just finished HOW LONG ‘TIL BLACK FUTURE MONTH by N. K. Jemisin. I usually have a hard time with the brevity of short stories, but all 22 of these were good or great. My harshest comment was “this is hard SF, which is too cold and sterile for my taste,” which is absolutely a “me” issue.
SCORING OFF THE FIELD by Naima Simone was a super authentic depiction of what it’s like to be in love with your oblivious best friend and the self-preservation of getting away from the daily reminder your feelings are one-sided. The heroine had a great “I deserve more than you can give me” speech. She carried the story so well, my constant urge to smack the hero barely bothered me. (He’s not a terrible guy, just incredibly dumb about feelings.)
COMPLETELY by Ruthie Knox had her signature “these people really LIKE each other” quality, which made me happy, but the last few chapters were an unfortunate tangle of wrapping up other stories in the series (and one that pre-dates the series!!!), so it wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been had the focus remained on the main characters.
I reread TENDER REBEL by Johanna Lindsey, which is a sentimental fave. Casting a critical eye upon it for review purposes, lol no I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who lacks my filter of nostalgia, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it.
THE BLACK GOD’S DRUMS by P. Djèlí Clark is set in an alternate-universe steampunk New Orleans and involves a lot of awesome women, young and old and ageless, working together to stop a weapon that’s basically a hurricane in a bomb. It does a big save-the-day plot really well in novella length.
Two DNF romances, a historical and a contemporary.
I have time for one more this month, and I’m thinking Beverly Jenkins and a lady pirate (DESTINY’S CAPTIVE) will do nicely.
This month my husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. (We met at work in 1986; our “office romance” began with a book: he saw I was reading Kate Chopin’s THE AWAKENING, which he’d previously read and enjoyed. We started talking about it. Thirty-plus years later, we’re still talking…about everything.) Between celebrating a milestone anniversary and Valentine’s Day, you’d think my February reading would be all hearts and flowers—but you’d be wrong! True, there were new squee-worthy books from faves Kati Wilde and Annika Martin, but I spent most of the month reading in the den of dark & angsty: the dark courtesy of Skye Warren, Willow Winters, and A. Zavarelli; the angsty courtesy of…well, almost everything else I read.
Since I mention it at least once a month, it’s no secret I’ve been waiting for over a year for Kati Wilde’s next Hellfire Riders MC book. Alas, it hasn’t arrived yet (although she has apparently finished the first chapter), but I was thrilled this month when Wilde published a new novella-length book, THE WEDDING NIGHT, featuring a working-class hero and a wealthy, neuro-divergent heroine (she seems to have characteristics of high-functioning autism, along with OCD and anxiety, but she cautions the hero against diagnosing her and that’s probably good advice for the reader too). In an odd way, the premise of the book reminded me of the Jeff Bezos-National Enquirer situation where Bezos, by dint of his wealth, is the only person able to take on the underhanded methods of the National Enquirer. In THE WEDDING NIGHT, the hero (a mechanic) is the unacknowledged illegitimate child of the scion of a wealthy, socially-prominent family. When the family’s matriarch dies and leaves her entire estate to the hero, he knows he doesn’t have the resources to fight a court challenge mounted by the family to contest the will, so he approaches the heroine with a proposition: they will marry, she will fund his legal fight, and, after he wins, the hero will sell the heroine a property she wants to use as a camp for cognitive-atypical teens. Naturally, this business proposition evolves into something more personal as the couple get to know each other. Despite being a book that has a lot (and I do mean a LOT) of sexual activity in it, THE WEDDING NIGHT is also sweetly emotional—especially as the hero learns the best ways to relate to and communicate with a woman whose coping mechanisms include snapping a rubber band on her wrist to maintain her focus and arranging post-it notes on a grid to schedule when and how she and the hero will be having sex (an element that totally works within the context of the story). Sexy, sweet, and highly-recommended.
While I enjoyed Annika Martin’s latest rom-com-with-a-serious-center, BREAKING THE BILLIONAIRE’S RULES, I felt the power imbalance between the hero and heroine was initially so vast that some of their interactions made me cringe a little. The hero is a billionaire who has created a lifestyle industry from a “pick-up artist” book he wrote a decade ago; the heroine is his former high school classmate, a struggling singer & actress who pays the bills delivering food throughout Manhattan. Perhaps it’s because she’s delivering his lunch while he’s running an empire, perhaps it’s because we don’t see anything from the hero’s POV until we’re halfway through the book, perhaps it’s because staying in the heroine’s head for the first half of the book we know her insecurities and her ambivalence toward the hero without having a clue what he’s thinking. Whatever the reason, I just didn’t feel the immediate click between the h&h the way I did with Martin’s two previous billionaire books, MOST ELIGIBLE BILLIONAIRE and THE BILLIONAIRE’S WAKE-UP-CALL GIRL. That being said, the book is full of Martin’s trademark wit, humor, and heart; and I absolutely love the premise of a woman turning the tables on a PUA by using all the tricks in his (literal) book and working his own system against him.
[CW: abuse, rape, sex trafficking] I like Skye Warren—although even her “lightest” books (such as ESCORT) are replete with dark themes; and her dark books are very dark indeed. She excels at depicting damaged characters, who act out their damage in ways sexual and otherwise, and at showing how utterly unerotic the mechanics of sex are for a woman when she feels no corresponding passion for her partner; and, conversely, when passion is present, how even the slightest touch or word is full of erotic potential. The three books in her Dark Nights trilogy (KEEP ME SAFE, TRUST IN ME, DON’T LET GO) are connected novellas about the FBI infiltrating and taking down a trafficking ring and are definitely on the very darkest side of Warren’s work. All three heroines have dysfunctional backgrounds and all of them have reasons for a jaundiced view of sex and men. In KEEP ME SAFE, a woman is kidnapped by a criminal gang and “selected” by the gang’s leader to be his. The leader has many secrets and eventually the heroine finds herself helping him. Concepts of consent, coerced or freely-given, thread throughout the story. In TRUST IN ME, the heroine is a prostitute who assists the FBI by infiltrating a trafficking network, but must then endure horrific abuse from the man who runs the ring. The hero is the man who, as a teenager, tried unsuccessfully to help the heroine escape from her abusive father. Themes of guilt, blame, and control run through the book. The heroine of DON’T LET GO is a rookie FBI agent; her father was a serial killer of children (she turned him in when she was ten). She freely admits to “Daddy issues” and is attracted to older men—including the agent she is partnered with as they attempt to bring down the trafficking ring once and for all. There’s a big plot twist that I was not expecting—and it is not entirely successful plot wise, but it works in terms of the heroine’s (and the hero’s) psychological damage.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT is Warren’s latest book, an erotic novella on the “lighter” side of Warren’s style; it was also free when I downloaded it last week, not sure if it still is. The book functions as a bridge between Warren’s Stripped series and Trust Fund duet and her new North Security series (the first North book, OVERTURE, is available now, but I haven’t read it yet). The heroine of HEAVY EQUIPMENT is a young woman who is “given” to a construction manager as repayment for her father’s debts (there is an implication that the manager engineered the father’s financial downfall to be sure the heroine would be his). It’s an old trope and, much as I usually like Warren, I don’t think she does very much with it here. The heroine is Chinese-American, but (other than her last name) her ethnicity plays no role in the story—and I found it odd that, in a book where one of the main characters is of Chinese ancestry, the recurring motif of the story is Japanese cherry blossoms. It’s hard to believe Warren would conflate the two nationalities, so the choice of motif really puzzled me.
I recently discovered Clare Connelly and went on a backlist glom of her HP (HP-manqué) books—full of billionaires, sheikhs, exotic locales, marriages of convenience, second-chances, surprise pregnancies, secret babies, and even…AMNESIA! Regardless of trope or convention, you can count on Connelly’s books to have angsty misunderstandings that often tip over into operatic-level melodrama, brave/plucky/decent heroines, wealthy alpha heroes, often motivated by a misplaced need for revenge, generally satisfying grovels, and lots of fairly hot and relatively explicit—for HP—sex (in fact I was surprised to encounter the word “cock” in BOUGHT FOR THE BILLIONAIRE’S REVENGE; is Harlequin Presents permitting that now or was this one instance that slipped by the editors?). Perhaps Connelly’s oeuvre can best be summed up by a question the heroine of the aforementioned BILLIONAIRE’S REVENGE asks herself as she contemplates leaving her sexually-fulfilling but emotionally-unhappy marriage: “Was it better to feel alive and permanently in pain or to be alone and feel nothing?” These are the only choices (prior to the joyful HEA) in the Connelly HP universe.
On the other hand, Connelly’s HER GUILTY SECRET, published through Harlequin’s Dare line, is different in both subject matter and emotional heft. A high-achieving law student, her heart set on prosecutorial work, begins an affair with one of her law professors, a man famous for obtaining Not Guilty verdicts for notorious clients. Both of them acknowledge the risks they are taking and attempt not to let their affair intrude on their academic lives—but when has that ever worked? There are a lot of debates between the couple—about the law, about proving guilt, about what the defendant, the victims, and their families deserve, about the role of law enforcement, and how very little in the law is either black or white, but a multitude of gray shades. In a way, HER GUILTY SECRET reminded me of another book published by the Dare line, UNLEASHED by Caitlin Crews, where two people, with diametrically-opposed points of view but with astonishing sexual chemistry, use conversation and sex as a way to bridge the divide between them.
Speaking of Caitlin Crews: More largesse from the Friends of the Library book sale where someone had donated their entire run of Harlequin Presents and I grabbed two bags full of them. I loved Crews’s EXPECTING A ROYAL SCANDAL, which was rather darker than most HPs I’ve read. The hero is one of a long line of Crews’s playboy royals who have good reasons for cultivating a dissolute public image. He’s an exiled king trying to prevent loyalists from starting a civil war in his country. The heroine is a much-married American reality tv star who agrees to marry the hero for reasons both public and private. Each begins to realize that the other has hidden depths. Crews may have been a little heavy-handed in playing up the “poor southern trailer-park trash” element of the heroine’s background, but it works within the story. One of the best HPs from Crews that I’ve read so far.
A few years ago, I read several books in J. Kenner’s Stark series. I thought they were serviceable but nothing to make her a one-click/autobuy for me, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Kenner’s PRETTY LITTLE PLAYER, which I got as a freebie download. The hero is a security consultant & private investigator who falls for the woman he has under surveillance. The heroine’s transition from investigatory subject to a client of the hero’s company is handled very neatly in the plot. I really liked the heroine: a plus-sized model who loves retro/vintage decor and spends her downtime helping kids learn how to function off-the-grid. There’s a nice scene where the heroine explains to the hero that she’s a size 14 and how, outside of the fashion/modeling world, that is a much more common/average size than a zero or two. I enjoyed PRETTY LITTLE PLAYER so much, I added the other book’s in Kenner’s Blackwell-Lyon Security series to my tbr list.
[CW: coerced consent] JUST ONE GLANCE is the latest in Willow Winters’s dark Sinful Obsessions series about four Irish-American brothers who run an organized crime syndicate. The hero here is the brother of the heroes of MERCILESS and POSSESSIVE. The heroine is a nurse looking for answers in the drug-related death of her sister. The hero offers to dig up the information the heroine is seeking (and to repay her debts) in exchange for (surprise!) favors of a sexual nature. She consents, but the consent is dubious, tied as it is to the heroine’s desire to learn what happened to her sister. The story is rather sad (the hero & heroine have both lost siblings and this becomes a bonding element between them); and the sexual activity is on the D/s side (restraints, temperature/fire play). That being said, I enjoyed the book for what it is (a dark romance with problematic consent) and will read the next installment because, of course, JUST ONE GLANCE ends on a cliffhanger. (Shakes tiny fist of rage.)
CONOR is the latest in A. Zavarelli’s Boston Underworld series about the intertwined lives of various crime organizations in the Boston area. The hero is a member of the Irish mob (Zavarelli’s attempt to render Conor’s Irish brogue by using words like “mam” for “mom” and “ye” for “you” gets a bit tiresome). He is instructed to kill the heroine (a single mother who witnessed something she shouldn’t have), but finds himself unable to carry out the order and so (as mafia hit men are inclined to do) marries her instead. The love story is fairly predictable here—and there’s a great deal of violence (mostly in flashback). A competent but not particularly memorable entry in this series.
Carrie Aarons was a new-to-me writer when I decided to try her DOWN WE’LL COME, BABY based on its unusual title (I’m assuming it’s a rendering of the nursery rhyme line, “Down will come baby, cradle and all”). I knew nothing about the book, but I discovered a lovely, melancholy story about a socially-mismatched couple (she’s from an old-money family, he’s a Nantucket “townie” who works construction), married for five years, on the verge of divorce. Aarons does a great job of showing how love can be crushed when fundamental differences in family, outlook, and upbringing, along with attitudes toward money, complicate a relationship. Although there are some flashbacks to the couple’s early days, the story mostly focuses on the present and how the h&h are going to have to work to keep outside (and some internal) conflicts from tearing their marriage apart. (One caution: there is a major plot point about infertility and miscarriage that runs through the book; although sensitively-handled, it could be a difficult read for someone who has struggled with those issues.) I found DWCB to be a good read, but I must make one observation: in the acknowledgements, Aarons thanks someone for being her “fairy godmother of grammar.” Apparently, this grammar godmother is the one who permitted use of the possessive construction “Theo and I’s” (as in, “Theo and I’s house”) to slip by at least twice! Aarons may need to recheck her grammar godmother’s credentials.
Last year I read Natasha Anders’s THE UNWANTED WIFE. I loved its angsty premise (18 months after her wedding, a woman discovers her marriage was a business arrangement between her husband and her father), but I thought the execution was choppy. This month I read Anders’s A HUSBAND’S REGRET—and this time my opinion is reversed: the premise is on the WTF? side (when a husband is surprised by his wife’s unexpected pregnancy, he has an angry meltdown, leading her to leave; two years later, the couple—along with their toddler—reunite and try to work through their issues), but I thought Anders did a good job of gradually teasing out the full story of the night the heroine told her husband she was pregnant, why the couple had no contact for two years, and what caused the husband’s underlying anger. It is, however, a fairly long book and there are several false stops and starts (it also takes far too long for the reasons behind the husband’s behavior to be revealed), but all-in-all, I liked it. Also, like THE UNWANTED WIFE, A HUSBAND’S REGRET is set in South Africa, but this is definitely the South Africa of the white upper-class. Remove references to Cape Town, Knysna, and Plettenberg Bay, the book could really be set anywhere with big houses, picture windows, ocean views, and disposable income.
Emery Cross’s MY HUSBAND THE STRANGER is a romantic suspense novel with a great premise: a woman marries a man after a whirlwind courtship. He appears to be kind, gentle, and to share her pro-environmental, pacifist political beliefs. After the marriage, his personality rapidly devolves from empathic beta to domineering alpha-hole, and it seems obvious—or is it?—that his interest is less in the heroine herself and more in an invention created by the her late father. Although Cross’s writing style is not bad, the story felt incomplete, with important information (for example, the entire lead-up to the marriage and the heroine’s eventual decision to leave her new husband) glossed over, and elements that would serve to flesh-out the heroine’s character (such as the fact that she’s an artist and illustrator) given a backseat to her nose stud, tattoos, and nipple rings. Plus, there’s an eye-rollingly sexist subtext throughout the story that a woman will ignore or discard her most deeply-held political and social convictions if a man looks good enough naked. MY HUSBAND THE STRANGER is a book with a lot of potential that fell flat.
Nothing about S. Doyle’s LOVERS TO ENEMIES (previously released with the much more intriguing title, BAD ASSASSIN) should work. The hero exhibits alpha-hole behavior almost from page one. The heroine, a scientist doing field work in Alaska, sounds like a tough-talking teenager on an eighties sitcom, addresses men as “Dude” or “Mister,” and seems to be conducting research at a science-fair-project level. There’s stalking, breaking-and-entering, and infuriatingly smug behavior—and yet, I loved the chemistry between the two main characters and was invested in them getting their HEA. Also, about a third of the way through, there was a very neat twist that was both surprising and worked perfectly in the story. I haven’t really liked anything else I’ve read by S. Doyle (her alpha-hole heroes usually rub me the wrong way), but LOVERS TO ENEMIES is the exception that proves the rule.
This was not a great reading month for me.
Books I Finished:
The Bone Season, by Samantha Shannon – Dystopian SF AU with psychic powers. I wasn’t really interested in this book, but I am interested in her upcoming book, so I figured I’d read this to see if I liked her writing style. I ended up really liking this book.
Connections in Death, by J.D. Robb- It was fine. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I’d have to think about it to remember who died.
Books I didn’t finish:
Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson – Fantasy story about two sisters, some sorta gods, and an interesting magic system. I’m actually enjoying this and I will be getting back to it, it’s just that I don’t seem to read Sanderson quickly and I have a bunch of library books out, so I had to prioritize.
Lethal White, by Robert Galbraith- I’m not sure if this is a forever DNF or a try again later DNF, because I’m curious about the mystery, I just hated everything else. (Dear J.K. Rowling, please stop trying to make Cormoran/Robin a thing. It’s not working.) Anyway “reading” this ate up most of the month, since I kept doing anything except reading it before I gave up.
Currently Reading:
Walking On Glass, by Iain Banks – 64 pages in and I’m not actually sure what this is about. It’s only about 240 pages, so hopefully I’ll finish it this weekend.
I basically spent this entire reading month on Rod Duncan’s Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire series and i’m Still working on the 3rd, but these books are great! They aren’t romances though and while Elizabeth Barnabus, the protagonist does have a love interest it’s a very small subplot. However, there is an emphasis on female friendship and women helping other women. Fair warning though the books do get a little gritty although there isn’t much actual graphic violence “on screen”. She’s also a huge victim of circumstance ( it makes sense for the themes of the story) which means most bad things happen to her instead of her causing them which isn’t my favorite plot device, but she counters it all with badassery. There’s also an adorably precocious orphan character which is tropey, but one of my favorite characters.The world building is also fantastic so pick it up if you get the chance. The first book in the series is called THE BULLET CATCHER’s DAUGHTER.
I recently finished THE CRUEL PRINCE by Holly Black, which is about a mortal girl who is raised in a land of fairies. I’m looking forward to checking out THE WICKED KING, the second book in the series.
Up next, I’m hoping to read A STRING OF BEADS by Thomas Perry and PRETTY FACE by Lucy Parker.
I also want to check out some Captain Marvel comics before the movie comes out in a few weeks.
I just finished Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas and loved it. It’s probably my favorite of the Ravenels so far, and I definitely liked it more than I did Devil in Spring. I really liked both leads and the growth of their relationship. I’m usually not a huge fan of kids in romances, but I thought Kleypas did a good job of making them not too twee, and the appearances of Sebastian and Evie were great. I do remember Phoebe being more sarcastic in Devil in Spring and would have liked to have seen that here, but I still liked her as a heroine, and aside from that, I would have just liked to have had an epilogue to round out the story.
I’ve also read the first two stories in the Of Thrones and Crowns anthology put out by May Sage. The first was Thorns and Crowns by May Sage. It was okay. I got some SJM vibes from the worldbuilding. It’s a prequel to one of her other series, but I had no problem following along with it although I don’t think this was the best introduction to Sage’s work. I do want to try some more of her work as it does sound like something I’d like. The second story was Fallen by Raye Wagner, another author I haven’t read before. It’s a prequel to a new series by her coming out this week. It definitely had a lot of weird fantasy words, but I’m interested enough in the story she set up to try the next book.
I finally read The Governess Game by Tessa Dare. It was okay. A very average Dare story, but I wanted something light and fluffy. Like Heather M, I wasn’t a huge fan of Ash showing up to threaten Chase.
Heart Duel by Robin D. Owens was my least favorite of the Celta’s Heartmates series so far. The main relationship between Holm and Lark was good, but it was other things in the story that I didn’t like. Holm’s younger brother also has a heartmate, but she’s younger than him, and so he was ~nobly~ waiting for her to grow up for him, but then her family sells her off to a much older man, and he responds by getting married to someone else and being mopey that this is happening to his soulmate instead of trying to do anything to help the 14 year old girl who was just married off to an old man. They do get together in a later book, but I’m just not sure that I’ll be able to buy a relationship and hea between them knowing that he did nothing now. There’s also some stuff about the worldbuilding that I’m not a huge fan of, and I think I would have liked it better if this series had been fantasy than scifi.
Own to Obey is the first book in the third trilogy of Zoey Ellis’s Myth of Omega series. It’s definitely not a series that will be everyone’s cup of tea, but it really works for me. I always liked omegaverse stuff in fanfic, and I have to admit that I’m glad that it’s making its way into original stuff, and Ellis’s stuff is my favorite take on it. It goes for a fantasy take rather than a futuristic one, and while her heroes are 100% alphaholes who do terrible things to the heroines, she doesn’t take it as dark and harrowing as some of the other writers in the genre do (I’m thinking of Addison Cain here, who I think I’m going to stop reading because her stuff is just too dark for me).
I finished Jennifer Estep’s “Kill the Queen” and Jessie Mihalik’s “Polaris Rising” earlier this month and cannot wait for the next books for either series.
Everything else was meh.
I’m coming back after work to talk about what I’ve read, but real quick:
@JILL Q- YES! Penelope and Schneider!!! I don’t know anything about the original One Day at a Time, but deeply love this new one, and totally ship Penelope and Schneider! He wants to be a good ally so much, and they’re so caring and supportive of one another, and understand each other so well. They’d totally have one of those relationships where being together makes both people better and stronger and happier. I love them.
I’ve listened to Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, which is narrated by Anna Field. Field narrated several of SEP’s books and she is one of my favorite narrators. I also listened to Beauty Like the Night, which is the most recent of Joanna Bourne’s books. I enjoyed reading those books and also really enjoy the narration. Hawker’s sarcasm comes through even more when it is read. I just started listening to Hi Bob, which was an Audible original and is by Bob Newhart. It is broken into chapters where he talks with other comedians about his life. I’m in the midst of a chapter where he is talking about his radio career in the 1950s with Jimmy Kimmel. It is really interesting and also funny. So far, he has talked with Sarah Silverman, Will Farrell and Lisa Kudrow.
On the romance reading front, I read Kristen Ashley’s latest book in her Chaos series. It was a satisfying end to that series. I also read two of Shannon Stacey’s Boston Fire series. Under Control and Hot Response. I always like Stacey’s books because her characters are working people who have to balance jobs and real life.
I’m working my way through the Merrily Watkins mysteries in between romance books and audio books. These books feature a female Anglican priest in Hereford, solving mysteries with a supernatural or paranormal aspect and can be a little dark. She is a widowed single mother of a teenage girl, who can be very annoying, but I actually like reading about the struggles in their relationship. I just started the 8th book and I think that there are at least 8 more.
Looking forward to a new Lexie Blake book next week.
:::shuffles in to Daydream Believer, in Peter Tork’s memory:::
Hello, and here we are. Another month, and how is it the end of February already? The next time this thread happens, I’ll be on my way to Washington DC and New York City. Yow.
Well, we left on my quickly figuring out that An Easy Death was not for me, and switching to The Alice Network by Kate Quinn instead, which I LOVED. So great. I loved the espionage, I loved the two different intersecting stories. I also loved seeing that the villain of the piece was someone whose cheerful complicity in what the Nazis and the WWI Germans were up to was what made him a monster, and he was a deeply repellent combination of both sociopathic and mundane. Very much looking forward to The Huntress now. Then I read The Widow by Fiona Barton. It was a very quick read, and I think I had what The Widow’s deal was within the first couple of chapters (which means it’s possible that I need to lay off the true crime podcasts). After that, it was time to read On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. Definitely NOT a one-hit wonder. It was clever and uplifting, and I laughed out loud in several parts (prompting several quizzical looks from the husband, especially on the part where one character tells a douchey peer “you can free these nuts from your klancestors” and I nearly spit out what I was drinking). I followed that up with Connections In Death by J.D. Robb. I think setting the mystery against violent street gangs was a good idea, I enjoyed seeing Crack, and it was better than Leverage. Kind of bagged in the middle, just a bit. Then I went in on some sci-fi romance with Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik. I have some difficulties with hard SF at times, but this caught me in the same funny bone that liked Firefly and the Illuminae series, and the hero was HOT. Much RAWR. Also, there are Game of Thrones style political machinations and I LOVE that shit. After that, I read Archenemies by Marissa Meyer, which I enjoyed, even though I find the heroine (major ? there) frustrating. She can see both sides of an issue and still cling to hers, even when she KNOWS and feels that what she’s doing is incredibly wrong. Also, cliffhanger. That said, of course I’ll read the next one. I need the coming confrontation, dammit. Which brings us to today. Fun fact about me: when I am not feeling well, or am stressed out, I tend to arrow right for the historical romance. Well, since I am the same Crystal that wrote the piece about Hurricane Michael for this very site (waves) and it’s been a week when it comes to fighting with the insurance (I finally tracked down my adjuster’s supervisor, which I don’t like to resort to, but if the chucklehead had returned any of the calls or emails, I wouldn’t have, would I? and now things are rolling on the needed revisions to the initial estimate, because I don’t play around) and I’ve been running a low-grade fever on and off since last Sunday (I’m pretty sure feeling weird is just the resting state in Hurricane Hell), I am not reading Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas and it is DELIGHTFUL thus far. Just what my jacked-up immune system needed. Well, probably that and some orange juice. Until next time, folks. I’ll see you guys in DC.
:::now reading::: DAMMIT. I am NOW reading Devil’s Daughter, and it’s still a delight.
The Great:
Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas had some weaknesses but was delightfully Kleypassian and I enjoyed my time reading it.
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi was EXCELLENT. Full of twists and turns and created family and UST and OMG moments. My favorite of the month.
The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison is so beautifully written that I want to wrap myself in the words like a blanket. Highly, Highly Recommended.
I’m in a work desert right now (the joys of freelancing…!) so I spent a lot of this week reading Cole McCade’s Criminal Intentions series. M/M police officers, detailed warnings in the front of each book for CW, incredible multi-book slow burn, and nuanced, grumpy, sexy, engaging, smart characters. Highly recommend.
I also got my hands on an ARC of Demon on the Down Low, EJ Russell’s latest. If you haven’t read this series (MM, contemporary fantasy/real world blend, funny but occasionally heart-wrenching) run, don’t walk, to get started. This series (Supernatural Selection) has some recurring characters from the Fae Out of Water trilogy and is set in the same worlds, so youll get more out of it if you start with Cutie and the Beast. Note: EJ is a long-time friend but I would not be reccing her books if I weren’t madly in love with them.
I am typing this on my phone with a large cat sitting on my chest, so apologies for any typos.
My comment won’t show up in the thread? It says it’s been posted but I don’t see it?
@KateB: It wound up in spam comment ether! It should be there now. Sorry about that!
I’m currently reading When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath. It’s lovely, but slow-paced.
For some reason I’m really in the mood for horror, so I think after this I’ll pick The Summer I Died, by Ryan C. Thomas.
Biggest hits for me of the last few weeks were SAY YOU’RE SORRY by Karen Rose (romantic suspense with serial killer + cult elements — really good, but all the CWs), THE WOLF IN THE WHALE by Jordanna Max Brodsky (again, so good but all the CWs), and HOWARDS END by EM Forster.
Biggest let down for me was 99 PERCENT MINE by Sally Thorne… I didn’t read THE HATING GAME because I generally don’t like enemies to lovers tropes, and I can’t say this book made me eager to make an exception for her earlier book. The authorial voice as channeled through the characters was so grating, and the twins were insufferable. Seems like in general the consensus is that this one isn’t as good as THG, and while I can’t weigh in on the comparison aspect…. yeah. This one was rough IMO
Trying to talk myself into paying for The Devil’s Daughter. I’m invested in the series, I’m going to read it eventually, but I hate paying for books if I don’t have to.
Reading Delicious by Sherry Thomas and really liking it. I hadn’t heard of the author until reading her Charlotte/Sherlock Holmes books, which I really liked. I love descriptions of food in historical novels.
In that vein, I’m going to read Too Many Cooks, by Rex Stout. I fell in love with Nero Wolfe during an illness last fall. He loves to eat and never leave his house and solves murders. Same same same (?).
Very much looking forward to the new His Fair Assassin book!
Really loved The Governess Game! The doll funerals were wonderful.
Thanks @Amanda!
@Heather M – CL Polk has a sequel to WITCHMARK, STORMSONG, coming out next February. And I love everything by Dan Jones, including the show he hosts, Great British Castles, while wearing a leather jacket, naturally.
And I agree with everybody, Penelope & Schneider forever!
I’m still in my year-long reading slump (I can’t remember the last time I posted here, because I had nothing to say), but maybe, just maybe, I’m coming out of it. Maybe. I won’t bore anyone with all of the books I just couldn’t get into. Whole genres–historical romance-nope; contemporary romance-nope. I picked up a contemp/romance by Katie MacAllister, who is a hit-or-miss for me. This one, A midsummer night’s romp”, sounds like fun, right? In the beginning, the heroine is packing her BFF off to some holistic healing place. Heroine blames her friend’s ex for her illness, but BFF says it’s ok. Then for plot reasons, heroine has a chance to work with the ex, and she takes it so she can rat him out. Still nothing that unusual, but then I got to the deal-breaker–the ex gave the BFF AIDS. Whoa. AIDS is NOT cute. AIDS and lighthearted romance do NOT mix.
Then there were the cozy mysteries-nope. Cozies have gotten way too…cozy. All those tea rooms. Although I did find a good cranberry walnut scone recipe at the end of one. I picked up an historical mystery by Frances Brody, “Death of an avid reader”, set in post-WWI England, and it was good, but I’m don’t think I’ll go back for the rest of the series.
So I have been mostly re-reading. I randomly picked up one of the later books in Nora Roberts’ MacGregor series, and got sucked into re-reading the whole series, which reminded me about how much I used to like la Nora, AND that I have a bunch of trilogies and quartets of hers that I haven’t read. It also got me in the mood for “Connections in death”, reading them both together made me realize how much Dr. Charlotte Mira owes to Dr. Anna Whitcomb MacGregor, and how if you take Daniel MacGregor’s drive, ambition, and creativity, blend it with “Entranced’s” Sebastian Donovan’s looks, polish and refine it, you get…Roarke. (Mel Sutherland, the heroine of “Entranced” is the prototype for Dallas.)
But even when I’m in a fiction slump, I can usually find some good nonfiction. Two stand out: The first is “Trilobite” by Richard Fortey. I’ve read several of his books, and he reminds me of my favorite professors–the ones that you can sit and listen to endlessly because they are passionately interested in their subject, and they can make you share their passion. (And he just seems to be the prototype charming absent-minded professor. He was Bill Bryson’s go-to expert on fossils, and has a cameo in “A short history of nearly everything.”
Years ago I read a book called “Appearances of the dead” which said basically that if you see a ghost, it looks like you expect a ghost to look–as an American I would expect either a transparent-looking person, or an animated bed sheet. People in other cultures might see entirely different ghosts (or, in the case of the Tiv people of West Africa, no ghosts at all, since their culture doesn’t believe in them). Anyway, I read and highly recommend a book called “Ghostland: an American history in haunted places” by Colin Dickey. His premise is that we sort of get the ghosts we deserve. Places that for some reason seem “off” to us attract ghost stories, and the ghost stories that are told reflect a cultural uneasiness, whether it’s the injustice of the Salem witch trials (The real “House of the Seven Gables”), the horrors of the slave trade (“Raw Head and Bloody Bones”), or shuttered asylums (there was a dorm at Miami University that had been an asylum. Of course it had ghost stories attached to it). I recently read a book in the “believe-it-or-not genre that had a section about something called a “crying-baby bridge”. Evidently if you stand in the middle of one of these bridges (on a dark and stormy night, of course), you can hear something that sounds like a crying baby. No one says, “I wonder what combination of engineering and atmospheric conditions produces this phenomenon?” No, there must have been a baby who was thrown off the bridge, and then all of these details get attached, with absolutely nothing to substantiate them. As Dickey says, “This is how ghost stories are born, after all: not from a complete story so much as from bits and pieces that don’t quite add up, a kaleidoscope of menace and unease that coalesce in unpredictable ways…Many times a ghost story is simply an attempt to account for some scattered tidbits, some disconnected facts, that don’t add up. We tell spooky tales and scary stories because the alternative–the open-ended chaos of the unknown–is even more terrifying.”
@Alexandra, thank you for making feel less alone in my shopping! 🙂
@EJ i’d Wait for the sale with Kleypas. It was nicely written, but for me way underwhelming. I’ve had a pretty traditional month. Roxanne St Claire writes a Dogfather series I’m keen on and the latest was the best of the bunch, Old Dog New Tricks is a sweet love story, but NOT sappy, with a hero and heroine both in their late fifties and widowed! And she wasn’t coy about it either, just the story. No apologies. Very refreshing. I read The Traveling Cat Cronicles by Hiro Arikawa, which I enjoyed more than I expected. Yes it edged towards twee, but i think missed. And the hero was a small good man, rather than a hero, which is a trope I love. Not a romance but lovely. Mia Sosa’s new book Crashing into Her, was terrific, I think I liked it the most of the Love on Cue series. Nice own voices too. For some reason Beverley Jenkins didn’t work for me this month when I tried to read Forbidden. Maybe I was not in the mood, but it didn’t feel as well written as others of hers I have read. It is on the Kindle, so I’ll probably go back to it. I finished up the month with six “new-to-me” Maigret mysteries by Georges Simenon. Penguin has been issuing excellent new translations at the rate of one a month, but I had fallen behind so was able to indulge in a mini binge with Maigret’s Patience, Maigret and the Ghost and Maigret Defends Himself. I know they are dated, but comfort reading of the best sort. I began the month with Sharon Cooper’s Lesson on Love. I enjoy her construction workers, male and female, and thought this one was well done. I felt like I kinda letdown the team on my efforts to read more people of colour this February. I know we readers are important, and our choices matter. But I will keep looking and trying to push the limits!
Hmm, I didn’t read any romance this month at all, though DiscoDollyDeb just sold me on the Kati Wilde.
Good reads included A Wizard of Earthsea re-read, Daniel O’Malley’s The Rook, Stuart Turton’s The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and Aliette de Bodard’s In the Vanishers’ Palace.
The best read of the year to date was David Hackett Fischer’s Washington’s Crossing. This won the Pullitzer for History last decade, and I really enjoyed it. While it’s about the crossing-the-Delaware campaign, the military events are just one facet of discussing how the campaign changed attitudes toward the war and prospects of success, on both sides and beyond. There’s a chapter on the occupation of New Jersey, for instance, and how that fostered American resistance in ways the British hadn’t planned for.
My favorite minor detail from the book described the adventures of the Van Horne family of New Jersey – merchant Philip Van Horne and family, including five daughter at home and three daughters of his deceased brother. The Van Hornes managed the feat of staying on good terms with and socializing with both sides of the conflict. Documentary evidence includes love letters from a Hessian officer to one Miss Van Horne, the remembrance of a second in a British officer’s will, and the marriage of a third to an American officer. Very “militia are come to Meryton!”
(To the person scribbling notes – you’re welcome, but I want a dedication in the first book, and signed copies when the eight-book series is complete.)
It has been a pretty good month for my reading picks.
The books I liked the most are:
FALL, and MANAGED both by Kristen Callihan- – I love KC books but was skeptical with this series since it is about a rock band, which is not something I like to read usually. But I am glad I have forged ahead, because I liked them both.
MVP by Rachel Van Dyken – – (CW infant loss) I love sports romance and this was a short one, but included a heavy topic that I thought was done well.
ONE ON ONE by VL Locey – – this is a finale in a great MM hockey series about the Cayuga Cougars. Loved the whole series. She knows how to write hockey and she knows how to write romance.
MY FAVORITE HALF-NIGHT STAND by Christina Lauren – – this was a great friends to lovers and I really enjoyed the bantering among the group of friends.
THEY WON’T ASK IF WE DON’T TELL by Annabella Stone – – this was a MM short story about two special forces guys that I could have read more and more of.
JUST FRIENDS by Mira Lyn Kelly – – another short story (didn’t realize how many of those I read this month) about friends to lovers with a side of being roommates, aka my fave.
This month has involved many false starts – please remind me how much I hate alpha-holes and crossing of ethical lines. (Doctor having sexytimes with patient who she’s treating? NOPE.) I’m now cleansing the palate with Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins. Loving it and the change from British aristocracy which is my usual historical go-to. Also enjoyed A Touch of Flame by Jo Goodman this month. (A female doctor who has to win over skeptical 1800’s town and have sexytimes with sheriff? YES.) Added to my YES list is The One You Can’t Forget by Roni Loren. Just discovered this series and it is so well-done. In non-fiction, I read From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein. Although I found the glimpses into the workings of the Obama White House fascinating, the relationship choices of the writer made me a bit crazy.
Read over the past four weeks ~
— Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin. This proved educational while also being a good albeit sad read. I knew the term gender fluid but I feel I better understand it after reading this book.
— enjoyed Sarina Bowen’s Overnight Sensation though it does not replace my favorite of her books.
— also reread with pleasure Anne Bishop’s Murder of Crows and Vision In Silver.
— continued my Anne Bishop reread and finished Marked In Flesh, Etched in Bone, and Lake Silence … ahhh. Now I am more than ready for her forthcoming book.
— read Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning. While it was an intriguing story (and I learned a good bit of native American mythology), I don’t believe I’ll reread it and I likely won’t read on in the series.
— I discovered Alex Bledsoe’s Tufa series and read The Hum and the Shiver, Wisp of a Thing, Long Black Curl, and Chapel of Ease. I enjoyed them all and plan to read on.
– Tessa Bailey’s Getaway Girl, a contemporary romance which I quite enjoyed.
— read a local 100 Things to Do guide. I’ve lived here over fifteen years, so many items in the book were known to me however some were not. I read this for my library’s new winter reading program.
— Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko for my book group. It was an interesting read and eye opening about being Korean in Japan. The book takes place from the 1930s to the 1980s, but I imagine much is still the same.
— Peripheral People by Reesa Herberth and Michelle Moore: a science fiction novel that also had a mystery/suspense component. It had a bit more gore than I’d prefer but I enjoyed the story nonetheless.
— Gather Her Round: Alex Bledsoe’s fifth book in the Tufa series; it was another enjoyable, albeit somewhat gory, read.
— Roni Loren’s contemporary romance The One You Fight For (The Ones Who Got Away Book 3). This could be a challenging read for some as it deals with the aftereffects of a school shooting. It was eye opening in that it made me think how difficult it might be for family members of someone who has committed a violent crime.
— Cooper West’s Mismatched: A Guardsmen Romance Novella which did not quite meet my expectations after enjoying the author’s other works in this series.
A very uneven month, 4 great books added to my reread list but an awful lot of DNF.
Artistic License by Elle Pierson(Lucy Parker) is the funniest book I have ever read and includes a sweet romance. What more can you ask for?
Act Like It by Lucy Parker is another great hilarious romcom by her, although not quite as good as Pretty Face and Artistic License.
The Deal by Elle Kennedy built nicely through the book till attaining 5 star status.
The first half of Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas is REALLY great. I didn’t know she was capable of this. Maintains reread list quality until shaving scene, after this, the quality falls off a cliff and I resent having wasted my time reading the rest of the book.
Biggest disappointments were 99 Percent Mine— an utterly bizarre follow up book to the breakout success The Hating Game. I hope Sally Thorne goes back to her strengths for her third book. Making Up by Lucy Parker because it isn’t a romcom and humour is her strength. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever because it isn’t a romcom like its 2 hilarious sequels.
I got a lot of reading done this month. Unfortunately this was also the month of it seemingly like everything I picked up was angsty and I have a lot of books started but not yet finished due to ALL. THE. ANGST.
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard — I really love the world building in this series. Dennard just drops you in and lets you figure it out along the way. There are a lot of characters and it took me the first 100 pages or so to figure out what was going on, but it was really a stellar read. I’m halfway through the second book Windwitch.
Women of the Dunes by Sarah Maines — I put this book on hold after the SBTB review and it came in fairly fast. And then I sat on it. And renewed it 8 times. But late January was the perfect time for this atmospheric book. I really enjoyed the old school gothic style.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas — I tried to read this book when it came out and only got through the first 80 pages. I couldn’t remember what had happened and the book wasn’t holding my attention. This time I had reread the first book and this one flew so fast for me. I really loved it and I have lots of thoughts on the relationships between Feyre and Tamlin, and Feyre and Rhysand. And really Feyre with Rhysand’s court.
Copper and Gold by Jessica Coplen — This was a fun read with an interesting info dump style. The end came together nicely and I’m going to get the second book in the series. Sometime this year.
The Mid-Winter Mail Order Bride by Kati Wilde — The first couple chapters of this book were really interesting and refreshing and a total slam on the old skool barbarian romances. It fell apart for me towards the end but the first part at least was fun.
Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis — Oh this book was difficult to read. Plague and death and loss and more loss. But I enjoyed the dual viewpoints and I’m looking forward to the second book later in the fall.
Wildfire by Anne Stuart — I thought this one wasn’t as good as Driven by Fire and I probably wouldn’t have read it if it wasn’t by Anne Stuart.
Taking the Ice, Crossing the Ice, Losing the Ice by Jennifer Comeaux — this trilogy was cute. I love figure skating and I find it hard to find believable skating in novels. I won’t remember that I read this trilogy in a few months but it was cute.
Life on the Edge, Edge of the Past and Fighting for the Edge by Jennifer Comeaux — I enjoyed the first book, the second book was a little silly and the third was just confusing because of the viewpoint switches mid-chapter.
Frigid by Jennifer Armentrout — this was a DNF at page 52. Toxic characters, asshole hero, doormat heroine. This was a big nope.
Crazy Cupid Love by Amanda Heger — this was adorable but I thought the heroine solved her parental issues a little too quickly.
Easy by Tamara Webber — I picked this one up after the Frigid DNF and it was like night and day. Consent has never been so sexy.
Warleader by Susan Grant — got this one on KU after it was mentioned in one of this month’s reviews. I enjoyed it even though it wasn’t anything really to write home about. But it was an easy read and even with the heroine’s backstory, I didn’t find it heavy on the angst.
Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas — I adored this book. I thought it was the best of the Ravenel books and I read it the day it downloaded. I loved the character interaction. I loved the funny dialogue. I loved the family interaction. I loved it all.
Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas — This is an early Kleypas and I found it to be a dud. I only finished it by force but it wasn’t great.
Right now I’m reading THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Jarvis Graves. Great so far but packs a strong emotional punch as I’m reading because the heroine echoes someone close to me.
I’m also pouring through Amanda Butcher’s NIGHTCHASER which is everything I wanted in sexy times space cowboy storytelling. Tessa is wonderfully kick-ass. I’ll probably need to reach all of Firefly when I’m done.
Despite being busier than heck, I re-read ACT LIKE IT by Lucy Parker which remains one of my favourite contemporaries. So funny and sexy.
I devoured the last Playful Brides book by Valerie Bowman, NO OTHER DUKE BUT YOU which has my favourite cover of the year. What a smile! And what a fun story,perfectly in line with the earlier stories for madcap fun.
Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed Jackie Lau’s MR. HOTSHOT CEO which pulls no punches and gives a heroine with depression a real love story. Exquisite as always, and great to see the extended family working naturally in the story context.
I’m here to recommend The Lost Man by Jane Harper. Wow, did I love this book. It’s hard to categorize but I think I would call it family drama with a little mystery thrown in. Harper really brings the Australian desert to life and each of her characters are very nuanced and not a single one of them is perfect. This one starts with the haunting death by dehydration/heat stroke of one of three brothers. The rest of the family tries to figure out if he committed suicide, was killed, or just accidentally died but really, this story is about family relationships and how sometimes you have to be the one to take the first step back into the fold.
I would recommend these three books I read this month:
.The Commandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff
The CeO by Victoria Purman (free when I downloaded a couple of days ago
About a Dog by Jenn McKinlay sweet and romantic
I also love One Day at a Time on Netflix
I reread several Julie James books—Something About You, The Thing about Love, and Practice Makes Perfect. The first two are amazing. The third one, which was published about 10 years ago doesn’t hold up very well—either that or my asshole tolerance has decreased recently (I wonder ehy that might be…♀️).
I also re-read The Three Sisters Island trilogy by Nora Roberts. This is one of mh favorite series by her, but some portions of it hasn’t aged well. I feel like Zack (hero of book 1) and Sam (hero of book 3) are a bit more entitled than I care for nowadays. Zack seened not to understand how hard it was for Nell to deal with the aftermath of her ex-husband’s abuse. I felt that everything she did was reasonable and Zack’s reaction very childish. As for Sam, he seemed to think that he was entitled to being a part of Mia’s life, despite treating her awfully when he broke up with her 11 years earlier.
I’m currently reading Say You’re Sorry by Karen Rose, and it is so good. She’s great at weiting complex killers, who I can feel sorry for while also hoping he gets caught. I’ve got about 160 pages left and I don’t want it to end.