Give us a drumroll! Give us some fanfare! It’s…Whatcha Reading time! I think we can all agree this is everyone’s favorite post. We get to squee and gripe, and also add an unnecessary amount of books to our TBR piles.
Join us, won’t you?
Sarah: I’m currently listening to Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au | Scribd ), which is exactly the level of snarky and silly I needed, and I’m enjoying it tremendously.
I’m currently between books. I just finished A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which I enjoyed so much I have Good Book Hangover. I’m waiting for it to fade a bit more before I start a new book. Next on my list is In a Badger Way, also by Shelly Laurenston. But I need to get started on my April list because GOSH HOWDY are there a lot of books I want to read coming out in April!
Elyse: My TBR is threatening to topple and bury me alive. I just started The Woman in the Dark by Vanessa Savage ( A | BN | K | AB ). It’s a thriller with gothic, haunted house vibes
Carrie: I’m almost done with A Curse So Dark and Lovely, by Brigid Kemmerer. One of our readers told me about it because the heroine has Cerebral Palsy. It’s so good. Review pending!
Amanda: I’m in between books, so this is a tough one. I’ll be re-reading The Kiss Quotient for my romance book club meeting in April, which is perfect timing as I have The Bride Test I can jump right into afterward.
I have a cross stitch project to begin. It’s a gift, so I have a deadline and I’ll need audiobooks! I’ll most likely continue my True North series listening with Steadfast ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
What did you read this month? We want to hear all about it in the comments!
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I read so many good books this month! I was making Good Book Noise the whole time.
Faves
– A DEAD DJINN IN CAIRO / THE HAUNTING OF TRAM CAR 015 by P. Djeli Clark – new favorite author alert! These are sort of steampunky stories of a magic detective agency solving cases in 1912 in an independent Cairo. I love magic agencies, I love when characters have to worry about paperwork while tracking a haunting, I love alternate history worldbuilding. These stories have it all and I am desperate for more in this world.
– DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audiobook) – an oral history of a fictional 70’s rock band. The audiobook is a full cast production and that’s important because this book is seriously committed to the oral history format, I can’t imagine trying to read the story through and getting all the intertwined emotions of the band members. I loved it.
– BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #2 by Jordie Bellaire & Dan Mora – this series continues to twist the original just so, with beautiful art
– THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon – epic fantasy! Epic fantasy with queer ladies in love! And dragons! And many, many pages! Yay!
– THE LADY FROM THE BLACK LAGOON: HOLLYWOOD MONSTERS AND THE LOST LEGACY OF MILICENT PATRICK by Mallory O’Meara – not only a fascinating mystery, but also a important and timely memoir of a woman working in Hollywood today
– THE LOST MAN by Jane Harper – her best mystery so far. And a stand-alone. And a book that has convinced me to never travel to the Australian outback. I would read as little about this book as possible before going into it.
– A DANGEROUS COLLABORATION by Deanna Raybourn – my favorite of the series so far! I mean, sure, there was Cornwall and an old house and a wife gone missing on her wedding day, so I would have inhaled this book anyway, but this was so good and Veronica and Stoker, so good!
– SHRILL by Lindy West (audiobook) – I have the compulsive need to read source material before watching any adaptation, something that is increasingly difficult in these times of adapting everything, but I loved this book. Sharp and funny and sad and made me really want to read her book that comes out this year.
Good
– THE EARL I RUINED by Scarlett Peckham – really fun and I know they should have just had one honest conversation but the ridiculousness was too much fun for me to care
– THE AFTERWORD by E.K. Johnston – what happens to the members of the questing group after the quest? A thoughtful and ultimately happy story about friendship and economics and status, and the romance is sweet.
– A PRETTY MOUTH by Molly Tanzer – I love everything Tanzer writes, even if this collection of interconnected short stories is… dark and disturbing in a very gothic way
– WEST OF EDEN: AN AMERICAN PLACE by Jean Stein (audiobook) – Hollywood history as seen through the oral histories of five families. Interesting, but ultimately quite sad.
– THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP edited by Ellen Datlow – short stories about the various horrors of the sea. My favorite is a selkie story by Alyssa Wong. Love selkies!
– POLARIS RISING by Jessie Mihalik – space princess and an outlaw fall in love? I just pictured Han and Leia the whole time
– THE RAVEN TOWER by Ann Leckie – why doesn’t Leckie’s writing agree with me? I know the writing is good, but I never fall into her stories. I want to like her work more, I really do.
Currently Reading
– GOOD OMENS by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett (audiobook) – see: SHRILL. I’ve read this before and liked it, but I like the audiobook more. The humor really shines through with a British narrator
– STRANGER DIARIES by Elly Griffiths – mystery with an old house, a murder, and a Victorian writer, yay!
My last three reads have been great:
I finally read JT Geissinger who has been on my list forever, with Burn For You. I look forward to more of the Slow Burn series.
Continuing Nalini Singh’s Psi/Changeling series, book #3 Caressed By Ice was everything Slave To Sensation was, And a return to form from a just OK book 2. Loved this one, and a major fan of the series now, ready to binge!
Currently reading another new-to-me author who’s been long on my must read list, Kate Claybourne (who recently got a Rita nomination!!) Loving her debut, Beginners Luck, so far really good! A STEM heroine, and a hero who has put his career on hold to be a full time carer to his dad, wheelchair bound from an injury. Looooving the dad who continues to embarrass his son, LOL.
I spent most of the month re-reading The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I like it, but at 1280 pages, it could have used an editor. I didn’t need a 3-page description of how the shardplate goes on.
The Midnight Jewel by Richelle Mead: Second in The Glittering Court series. This is Mira’s story and it was interesting to see the same events through a different POV. I’ll read Emerald Sea through the library, however.
Long and the Short of It by Jodi Taylor: St. Mary’s short stories gathered into a book. I thoroughly enjoyed these, which was good because I’ve spent a lot of the previous week in the hospital with a relative.
Re-reading: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse to get ready for her second book. It’s still really good.
Tried to read: That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron. I love Barron’s Jane Austen mysteries, but I don’t care for her other writing. As for Jennie Churchill, I have nothing in common with beautiful women who defy convention. After 5 pages of eye-rolling, I took the book back to the library.
Getting ready to start:
The Huntress by Kate Quinn. Scored as a Lucky Day book from the library!
Watcher in the Woods by Kelley Armstrong: Finally got this from the library too!
Looking forward to reading a Curse So Dark and Lovely too.
My library TBR pile is mountainous, so I was more ruthless with DNFs this month.
Faves:
Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole – I was basically in nonstop squee mode the whole time I was reading this Reluctant Royals novella . Nerdy, adorable, and super hot.
The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham. fun and sweet, I was relieved that the hero felt worthy of such a resourceful and independent heroine. Also some good gardening references!
Rend by Roan Parrish – m/m with an angsty former foster kid hero paired with a sweet sheltered burgeoning rock star. This is one of those stories where the couple marries early on and spends the rest of the book figuring out how to love each other. So, catnip.
Fine:
Unexpected Attraction by Delany Diamond
Totally silly m/f contemporary with an Italian hero and unnecessary posturing over the girl.
My One and Only Duke by Grace Burrowes – A bootstrapping urchin to banker marries a pregnant minister’s daughter. I usually love a working class to Duke storyline, but the pacing dragged in bits and resolution of the conflicts were anticlimactic. Still, I liked the characters enough to finish it.
DNF:
The One You Fight For by Roni Loren – The moment the Black heroine’s natural hair was describes as “out of control” I was out.
Making Up by Lucy Parker – Enemies to Lovers isn’t my favorite trope, so when the obstacles to these two getting together were removed halfway through, I just got bored. Fun characters tho, as per usual for L.P.
Illegally Yours by Kate Meader. – I found the hero way too smug and immature to continue. Also some early homophobia left a bad taste in my mouth. The cover is great, however.
I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump mainly due to a ton of school work. I’ve been buying books like crazy, though, thanks to great sales and recs from you this month.
SPQR by Mary Beardley: Fascinating book about the history of Ancient Rome
OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM by Gretchen Rubin: I’ve loved all her previous books so this was an autobuy. However, I have read so much about decluttering and done my KonMari so this didn’t really offer anything new to me. Interesting read nonetheless and I would highly recommend this to a less experienced declutterer. And if you have Netflix, do watch Marie Kondo’s series there.
FOR THE BLOOD, FOR THE POWER, FOR THE REIGN by Debbie Cassidy: Reverse harem Post-apocalyptic Urban Fantasy with vampires and werewolves gone crazy being the threat. These are shorter books so a quick read. Some of the romances felt forced. Why couldn’t the heroine settle for the 2 guys with whom things developed fairly organically? The Fated Mate romances didn’t work for me. But I did buy and read all three and I will buy the sequel 4th book too. It comes out this summer.
ARIANA by Ash Dylan: Recommended by the Bitches. This is a shorter erotic post-apocalyptic fairytalish story where a plus size princess trapped into a tower has killed all her previous suitors. Now a new king who loves his male bodyguard offers for her hand and has to survive a night with her. The cover is beautiful but why didn’t it feature a plus size woman? Meh. Loved the story and snarky dialogue, though and the grovel was very satisfying. I rooted the M/M couple more than the either F/M. There was absolutely no shame about sex and looks and that was awesome.
Potential next books:
SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY by Mary Robinette Kowal: Jane Austen with magic. Sold! I also started listening to Writing Excuses podcast and loved Mary’s stories of her books and her writing advice.
THAT AIN’T WITCHCEAFT by Seanan McGuire: 8th book of the wonderful InCryptid Urban Fantasy series featuring Antimony (Annie), the youngest sibling of the cryptozoologist family. And the talking and worshipping Aeslin Mice! Why haven’t I started reading this already?
It’s been a rough reading month. DNF’d a time-travel SF that read like a rough draft, a UF that made me internally scream WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? every few pages, and a gothic romance that required the heroine to be incapable of discerning the obvious in order to sustain the “suspense.” All rated 4+ by other readers, so I’m a picky, picky bitch.
The only book I’ve finished is UNDER THE PENDULUM SUN by Jeannette Ng, which wasn’t what I’d call enjoyable and had its own “These characters aren’t very bright, are they?” moments but had an interesting setting and schadenfreude (courtesy of my feelings about missionaries) going for it.
I’ll probably try Rachel Caine’s KILLMAN CREEK next to see if I want the followup coming out next month. If I remain unenthused about trying new things after that, I still have one of her Great Library (YA fantasy) books in reserve, which should be safe to read.
So many recommendations, so little time… I gave up on ‘Under the Pendulum Sun’ about 100 pages in, which was a shame because I’m usually a pushover for anything involving fairies and alternate British history. However, I loved Stephanie Burgis”Snowspelled’ and its prequel novella ‘Spellswept’, which take place in a matriarchal quasi-Georgian England with elves and magic.
I’ve spent most of the past two months buried in Betty Neels, thanks to the amazing reviews at The Uncrushable Jersey Dress. My current faves: A GIRL NAMED ROSE (1986) and BRITANNIA ALL AT SEA (1978), but I’ve only read 60 of 130+ stories, so who knows what joys await?
FALL by Kristen Callihan – I heartily recommend this as a really long babylogue for the previous book in the series, Managed. (Not being snarky. I loved Scottie and Sophie and I’m all in favor of hot baby daddies who dote on their wives.) But I had little patience for this heroine’s self-pity around her job. Pursue another career if your current life choice wounds you so much. This is on *you*, girl.
DEVIL’S DAUGHTER by Lisa Kleypas – Sexual attraction overwhelmed relationship building in West and Phoebe’s story, which is a pity because Kleypas had set up a backstory that seemed to call for some kind of emotional realignment: Phoebe had a bias against West because he had bullied her beloved husband in their schooldays, and West feels he’s unworthy of a decent woman’s love and domestic harmony because blahpastblahrake. (The problem with the latter being that we have never seen West Ravenel, one of the most consistently charming men to come from a pen, in his dark days. We’ve only seen him as the wryly loving and helpful brother, cousin, and friend.) Phoebe’s bias dissolves almost immediately because she’s an adult and West is delightful. West’s sense of self is propped up by Phoebe’s know-it-all father (Sebastian, former Devil in Winter). Sebastian and Evie continue to be the world’s sexiest sexagenarians. And Kleypas references ASMR without anachronistically identifying it by name, which I found jarring.
LORD OF THE FADING LANDS and LADY OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS by C.L. Wilson – I suspect these two books were one exceedingly long epic romantic fantasy manuscript chopped in half by a wise editor. I loved the old school vibe of the first book, in which the widowed centuries-old hero of hot fey *giant*flying*cat* awesomeness discovers that a human craftsman’s plain and unassuming daughter is his soulmate (when his particular brand of fey awesomeness is never supposed to experience this soulmate bond and he loved and still mourns his first wife who died tragically a thousand years ago). It’s a fairytale that doesn’t shy away from the simple joys of fairytale tropes, but it was also building conflicts based on politics and prejudices, and when the conflict between the soulmate bond and the hero’s biases was triggered in the second book, I was disappointed in both his behavior and the aftermath.
I was on vacation for a couple of weeks in January and had some good beach reading time (and I missed the last couple of Whatcha Readings). Some highlights have included:
The Lightkeeper’s Daughters (Jean E. Pendizwol) – one of the best books I have read in a very long time. It is set near to where I used to live (Thunder Bay, Canada) and had a strong sense of place, and a plot that sucked me in and spat me out at the end.
The Phantom Tree (Nicola Cornick) – perfect vacation reading – an engaging plot, but not too much effort required. Barbara Erskine is one of my favourite authors (except for a handful of her books that cross the way-too-creepy line), and this book had echoes of Barbara Erskine.
Women Talking (Miriam Toews) – this is a feminist manifesto in novel form. Even though it is light on plot, it is a book that has (and likely will) continued to haunt me.
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows (Balli Kaur Jaswal) – this was not what I was expecting, but I loved it. It was a much darker book than I was expecting – it wasn’t afraid to tackle the reality of immigrant communities across generations, and that gave the book more weight than I was expecting. I’m not quite sure that the resolution was realistic, but I’m OK with that.
The Girl He Used to Know (Tracey Garvis Graves) – thank you SBTB for the giveaway! I just finished reviewing it on my blog – if you click my name, it should take you there.
This month seems to have flown by! Re-reading included Kris Jacens ‘wait for me’ series and Viola Grace’s Terran Times II series ( I hadn’t planned for a complete re-read of Terran Times but Viola Grace’s novellas are like popcorn you can never read just one).
The Great
Turbulence and Drift – by Lyn Gala. (Military Sci-Fi) The first one especially. You don’t think you can like the main character- until you totally do.
The Good
Hell to Pay by Blake, Macy (Fantasy Hellhounds MM). The second in the Hellhounds series, the characters are getting deeper and I’m definitely hooked into seeing what comes next.
My Fair Captain – by J.L. Langley (Regency Sci-Fi MM). I didn’t know that regency sci-fi was a genre until I picked up this book. The world building was really neat and translated well to space. The age difference between the heroes made me cringe, and contemplate the age differences in all of those regency romances I used to read and enjoy.
Jexx – by Linda Mooney (Sci – Fi with aliens). I enjoyed this but would have liked more time with the characters.
The Space Merchants series by Wendie Nordgren (SciFi FMM and more). I’m 5 books into this series and am unsure how to characterize it. The main books are almost entirely from the heroines point of view. And she is a passive heroine. Things happen to her. She is young at the beginning, but is treated and acts much younger. Perhaps it is the male dominated society created by the author, but I want the heroine to have agency other than in sexual areas. She manages to rescue herself from most everything, but then she goes back to shopping trips and baking while the men run her world and make decisions for her. I think that is why I keep reading it- the heroine ( and her amazing sidekick spider) are going to be amazing when they grow up.
The OK
Daughter of the Everstar – by Laura Jo Phillips (Fantasy MFM). Good, but not great. And I so much wanted to knock the heroes’ heads together. However I’m will be reading the next installment when it appears.
Step With Me – by Kris Jacen (Contemporary MM) . Good, just not as good as the rest of the series. It felt like scenes had been edited out or missing and big plot lines were just glossed over. Perhaps I am judging harshly since the rest of the Waiting for You series are keepers. This one may improve upon a second or third read.
Surviving the Change – by Cari Z. (Shapeshifters MM). Good for it’s length, just I wanted more, deeper, and longer.
Sadly, I have read nothing for fun this month. Too many deadlines. But I continue to stare longingly at the books on my TBR pile. Soon, I will read you, my pretties. Soon.
I’m looking forward to reading CAN’T ESCAPE LOVE by Alyssa Cole; THE PRINCE by Jillian Dodd; and THE LITTLE CAFE IN COPENHAGEN by Julie Caplin.
I also want to check out MEET CUTE by Helena Hunting when it comes out in a few weeks.
A week off school for the Mardi Gras break—but I was not in the French Quarter drinking hurricanes, watching parades, and collecting beads. No indeed—here’s a surprise—I was instead curled up on my couch, kindle in hand.
Caitlin Crews’s UNTAMED is the third book (after UNLEASHED and UNDONE) in her Hotel Temptations series about three half-brothers who each inherit a hotel from their ne’er-do-well father. (A fourth book, UNRULY, about the brothers’ half-sister is only available to read on Harlequin’s website.) The hero is half-Hawaiian, a former pro football player who now lives in an abandoned hotel on a secluded Pacific island, refusing all offers to develop the land. The heroine is an executive for a company that builds boutique hotels. She has advanced far beyond her violent, poverty-stricken, dysfunctional upbringing, but she keeps her essential self on lockdown. She arrives on the hero’s island (which Crews describes beautifully and in some detail—lush descriptions of the natural environment being a hallmark of Crews’s writing style) prepared with offers for building environmentally-friendly hotels on the remote location, but without taking into account how much chemistry would flare between herself and the hero. Crews excels at developing the tension between the couple so that something as simple as applying sunscreen takes on enormous erotic significance. She also focuses on conversation and exchange of ideas just as much as the physical connection between the two. A great way to end a very good series.
Jaine Diamond’s DEEP and DEEPER are a duet of erotic/SF/bdsm/military romances. They are extremely well-written with good world-building and excellent character development. The heroine is a cadet, newly arrived on a space station for the next part of her military training. The hero is her training officer. You think you know where things are going to go—he’s the dom and she’s the sub—but, while there are elements of that, there’s much more to the characters, especially the hero who is unlike the “traditional” detached/demanding dom but rather more of a switch (he almost prefers being a sub, he “bottoms from the top” as it were) and refreshingly casual about his occasional bi inclinations. What I enjoyed most about the books is the deliberate pacing, the very fraught erotic atmosphere on the space station, even before anything overtly sexual takes place, and the slow and sure way Diamond builds the tension between the main characters. I also liked how (as opposed to a lot of bdsm romances) the h&h’s relationship doesn’t take place in a vacuum, there are many other characters in the books (including the hero’s previous lover—a domme who enjoys playing mind games, and the heroine’s older brother—a decorated fighter pilot who often seems less heroic than entitled). Also, Diamond shows how impossible it is to keep secrets or maintain privacy in a closed system with limited space and plenty of gossip (anyone who has ever had a workplace romance will nod their heads to that). Key quote: “Bondage takes many forms….most of them, the ones that truly matter, are not physical.” I love it when I find a author who writes with confidence and with complete control of her material—and that’s Diamond; it’s hard to believe DEEP was her first published book. Highly recommended.
Julie Kriss’s PLAY HARD was an enjoyable and sexy read about adult step-siblings: she works for a law firm, he’s a professional soccer player. When the hero is sidelined from the game, he and his step-sister find themselves sharing their parents’ Northern California home (while the parents are in New York) with predictable results. I sometimes find stepbrother romances a bit skeevy, especially because the characters tend to be teenagers (at least initially), but in PLAY HARD the h&h are in their twenties and have not seen each other very often during their parents’ marriage. I also enjoyed the arc of the characters—both the hero and heroine develop and grow emotionally during the story. Quick and breezy fun.
Although I love Ainsley Booth’s books (and can’t wait for WICKED SIN, the next in her Forbidden Bodyguards series), I had not read anything she’s published under her alternate pen name of Zoe York. So I tried LOVE IN A SMALL TOWN (second-chance romance between a divorced couple) and LOVE IN A SNOW STORM (age gap and friend’s sibling tropes), which are the first two books in York’s Pine Harbour series about the interconnected lives and loves of two families living in a small Canadian town. I enjoyed both books and plan to read others in the series, but I’d say York’s books are much more “ domestic” than Booth’s. York’s focus is small-town life and the positives and negatives of living in a place where everybody knows everybody else, while Booth’s books are more on the political/suspense/bodyguard/secret billionaire spectrum.
Good news—Adriana Anders is working on a new romantic suspense series called Survival Instincts. Bad news—the first novel, WHITEOUT (h&h are scientists on the run in Antarctica), is not scheduled for publication until January 2020. Mitigating news—Anders has published an introductory series novella, DEEP BLUE, available in a collection by various authors called TURN THE TIDE (which was free in the kindle store when I downloaded it). The heroine of DEEP BLUE works for an environmental non-profit and is monitoring an abandoned Pacific oil rig as it morphs into an ocean reef (I don’t know if the Rigs-to-Reefs program is a real thing but it should be). The hero is a former SEAL (natch) who now spends his days fishing and exchanging social pleasantries with the heroine when their boats pass one another. But then bad guys take over the oil rig, the hero’s training kicks in, and he and the heroine must survive on a remote outcropping and find a way to defeat the villains. A good introduction to the series, with an older hero (early forties) and an extremely competent heroine. In a way, DEEP BLUE reminded me of the category romantic suspense books Jill Sorenson published some years ago—especially STRANDED WITH HER EX, which also features a hero & heroine on a coastal island trying to outwit a villain.
There is a lot (and I mean a LOT) of oral sex in Dakota Gray’s PERV. So if, as the old saying goes, you’re up for a hero who’s always down to go down, this might be the book for you. However, after a while (and this is something you won’t hear me say very often), I found myself skimming over the book’s sex scenes—the descriptions being so detached and anatomically detailed that they quickly moved from sexy to cringingly clinical. Also, I was puzzled by the title: Is the hero “perverted” because his favorite sex act is cunnilingus? Is he perverted because his concentration on that particular act is more of a fetish than an appreciation? Or is the perversion that the hero is able to blithely justify his refusal to understand that a woman may be looking for something more than great head when she shares intimacy with a man? TMI sex scenes aside, PERV has some interesting aspects. It’s obvious that beneath his surface charm the hero has many unresolved issues and he is using sex to avoid addressing them. The heroine’s initial interaction is motivated by revenge, but those reasons become murkier the longer she stays with him. The couple is also interracial—he’s white, she’s black—and, unlike some interracial romance novels, race does factor into some of their interactions. I give PERV a cautious recommendation and am interested in reading the next two books in Gray’s aptly-titled Filth series.
Despite an incredibly cheesy cover, CAUGHT ON CAMERA by Meg Maguire (aka Cara McKenna) is a good category romance (published by the now-discontinued Harlequin Blaze line) about the star of a “Man versus Nature”-type show and the woman who has been his camera operator/personal assistant/producer for several years. Their relationship has always been platonic, but each feels unrequited love/lust for the other. It takes a sledding accident and being snowbound together in a cabin for them to take things to the next level.
There’s a lot of setup in Callie Hart’s duet, ROMA KING & ROMA QUEEN; so much so that the hero and heroine do not meet until halfway through the first book. However, the carefully-placed plot threads weave their way throughout the entire story and it’s well worth being patient as Hart lays the groundwork. The heroine is a 9-1-1 operator who takes a call from a frightened young boy who says his parents aren’t home and his older brother won’t wake up. Long after EMTs arrive and the heroine ends the call, she remains haunted by what she heard. Meanwhile, in another part of town, the hero—a tattoo artist—argues with his cousin about returning to his family and taking his “rightful place”. Throw in prophetic (and sexy!) dreams, a motley collection of neighbors who meet at the same bar every week, a large Roma family, a power-hungry mother, a missing child, a midnight fair that takes place in an abandoned subway, tarot cards, long-lost relatives, the Russian mafia, a hot & passionate love affair, an evil mastermind, and a disconnected pay phone that rings at three in the morning (a truly eerie element)—and you’re got a seriously twisty (and, there’s no getting around it, violent) read. Also, as often happens in Hart’s work, there are references to her previous series—in this case, a villain from DIRTY NASTY FREAKS is finally identified and brought to justice. [One caution: There is an aspect of the ROMA KING & ROMA QUEEN plot that involves a pedophile and sexual abuse of children; it is possible to skip over those scenes without losing the thread of the story—and this is what I would advise.]
[CW: child abuse] I was surprised at the serious (as opposed to angsty or melodramatic) tone of Clare Connelly’s SEDUCED BY THE VENGEFUL TYCOON. Although the book is not a Harlequin Presents, on its surface, it’s very much an HP-esque story: a business tycoon seduces the daughter of the man he holds responsible for his father’s death, not expecting to fall in love with her. She, of course, is completely unaware that she is an instrument of vengeance and falls hard for the wealthy, handsome man who sweeps her off her feet…leading to predictable heartache when she learns the truth. But what set this book apart for me was its depiction of an adult survivor of child abuse trying hard to minimize the psychological damage of the abuse. The heroine, for good reason, is estranged from her father who was both emotionally and physically abusive to her during her childhood. The hero is completely unaware of this when he sets his plan in motion. If the ending wrapped things up a bit too neatly, I was still impressed by Connelly’s characterization of a woman attempting to navigate adult life and not permit the cruelty of her childhood to overwhelm her.
The hero and heroine of Natasha Knight’s TWISTED are, respectively, the brother and sister of the h&h of Knight’s TAKEN & TORN—and, for TWISTED to make sense, it is necessary to have read those two previous books. Unlike many of Knight’s books, consent is not particularly problematic in TWISTED, but the hero’s confused feelings for his brother’s wife complicate his relationship with the heroine. The main story of TWISTED is the utterly dysfunctional love/hate relationship between the hero & heroine as they live together in a dilapidated Roman villa where a murder took place many years ago. Unusually for Knight, there is also a paranormal element to the story involving the ghosts of the long-ago murder victims (although that part of the story almost seems tacked on and is resolved in a matter of a few sentences).
Katee Robert’s novella, THEIR SECOND CHANCE, features a hero & heroine who are secondary characters in Robert’s Thalanian Dynasty trilogy. The h&h were once secret lovers, but class differences (she’s a princess, he’s part of the palace’s security detail), along with the heroine’s family responsibilities, forced them apart. Two years later, he is her bodyguard during a high-profile wedding. They can’t stop themselves from falling back into bed with each other, but will they find a way to overcome the obstacles that keep them apart and achieve their long-overdue HEA?
I enjoyed Rachael Stewart’s erotic novella, THE CENTURION’S WIFE. Set in Ancient Rome (Tiberius is the emperor), the story involves the title character (herself a former slave) and two slaves (a male and a female) who join her household while her husband is away with the army. The erotic element is well-handled, if predictable, but what I really liked was the story’s emphasis on consent. Being a former slave herself, the heroine has no interest in “playing” with her slaves if they are not willing. And, of course, they are very willing. Variations of the M/F/F dynamic ensue.
[CW: rape] I wasn’t as ambivalent about Pam Godwin’s BUCKLED, the second book in her Trails of Sin series, as I was about the first book, TANGLED. BUCKLED is less violent than TANGLED, but it continues to reference the brutal gang rape and subsequent nefarious activities that originally set the series in motion. BUCKLED’s heroine comes to the hero’s Oklahoma ranch looking for answers in a completely different matter, but inadvertently stumbles upon the fact that a number of people have gone missing from the area in the past few years. Both h&h are keeping secrets, but that does not stop them from falling into a sexual relationship that has strong bdsm elements. Godwin is a good writer—she does an excellent job of showing the hard dawn-to-dusk work that goes into running a ranch; and there’s an “awwwww” factor as the vegetarian heroine raises a baby calf as a pet. However, I was troubled by some of the hero’s behavior, which undoubtedly rose to the level of stalking, after he and the heroine split up (unlike the compressed time-frames of many romances, BUCKLED takes places over a two-year span and the h&h are apart for a good portion of that). But what really annoyed me about the book was the heroine’s name is Maybe. Yeah, that’s right—Maybe. So every time the hero said something like, “I’ll always love you, Maybe,” in my head I’m hearing, “I’ll always love you…maybe?” It was as if the heroine’s name qualified every definitive statement made to her. A baffling choice for a name. There are plenty of good names out there—Godwin couldn’t have chosen something like Ava, Sophia, Ella, or even…Gertrude?
@Deborah you’re correct about Lord of the Fading Lands and Lady of Light and Shadows starting out as one long book and then being split in two. I really like that whole series, although when I read it the second time, I did think that it probably could have been edited down to be at least a four book series instead of five.
This month, I caught up on some of Bronwyn Scott’s releases that I missed. I liked Awakened by the Prince’s Passion even if I did see the twist coming from the start. I didn’t like Seduced by the Prince’s Kiss as much, but I don’t really care for smuggler stories, and I hate when the main villain is sexually obsessed with the heroine. I just think there are better ways to show someone is a villain than just a constant stream of rapey thoughts. I did like that this series focused on Russians, even if they did take place in England, and it makes me want more historicals set in Eastern Europe. I also read her newest release, One Night with the Major, and that was a miss with me. I thought it started out good, but then when it went to the hero and heroine living together and learning about each other, it lost my interest.
I read Virginia Heath’s The Uncompromising Lord Flint. I’m usually a big fan of her works, but I don’t care for spy books, and I think that was a major reason why I didn’t care for this one. I didn’t like her previous release in this series either for that reason, and I think I might wait until she starts something new to pick her up again because I’ve adored most of her other books.
I loved Nicola Davidson’s newest release, Duke in Darkness. It hit so many points and tropes I love. I also loved the development of their sexual relationship. At the start, the heroine was very sheltered and had been told that she wasn’t supposed to enjoy sex, and I loved her growth, and the hero helping her overcome that. I’d like to see some more romances (especially ones that have marriages of convenience) show a slower development of the sexual relationship like this one, where they are sleeping together, but it takes a bit to figure out what they both like.
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden was a miss for me. I had read an excerpt from it on Buzzfeed and ended up picking it up because of it. Some parts of it were good, but I also often felt like I was missing vital background information and didn’t know what was going on. I also wish that there had been a stronger narrative thread to it because a lot of it felt like individual essays stitched together into a book, and I didn’t like that feeling. I ended not finishing this one.
I adored Educated by Tara Westover. It was an amazing but sometimes hard to read memoir, and I’m glad I picked it up.
I managed to get an arc of Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym Martineau, and I wasn’t a huge fan of it. I feel like everyone is raving about it, but it didn’t work for me. I liked the world that was developed, and all the heroine’s beasts, but I didn’t really care for either the heroine or hero. Neither made a huge impression on me. I think that anyone who liked Amanda Bouchet’s A Promise of Fire will like this one. The tone and the heroine both reminded me of that book, and it was another fantasy romance that was hugely loved but was a miss with me. I think I would be willing to read something by her again because some of the side characters grabbed me, but the leads weren’t my favorites.
Up next is Jeffe Kennedy’s Lonen’s Reign, the final book in her Sorcerous Moons series. I love this series, and I love this book, so I can’t wait to get started on that.
@KateB Do those alternate-history mysteries in Cairo have a romance subplot? If so then I’m definitely picking them up!
FANTASTIC PLEASE READ IT NOW WOW:
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I loved Tchaikovsky’s novel Guns of the Dawn (essentially what if Elizabeth Bennet fought in the magical Napoleonic Wars and conducted an epistolary romance) and this one is also excellent. Earth is dead, and a virus intended to evolve apes to possess human-like intelligence on another terraformed planet ends up infecting spiders instead. It’s scary and heartwarming and thought-provoking, and there’s a mature romantic subplot. I’ve thrown both books at everyone I know, even if they don’t like sci-fi or fantasy.
GREAT:
Pretty Face by Lucy Parker. I love Act Like It and while this one isn’t quite as good, it’s still brilliant. I was expecting to find Lily hard to sympathise with but she’s a fantastic heroine. I have The Austen Playbook on preorder – it comes out the day the last of my assignments for my masters is due – and I can’t wait.
Sylvester by Georgette Heyer. My first full Heyer read after I DNF’d Cotillion and A Civil Contract (quite late on, but I really really didn’t enjoy it). I prefer angsty rather than funny romance as a rule but Sylvester clicked where the other two hadn’t and I enjoyed it. I read Frederica and enjoyed it too, though not quite as much.
The Veronica Speedwell books by Deanna Raybourn. I was saving these until there was some sort of progress in the romance but I knew they’d be fun, and they were. I prefer Stoker to Brisbane from Julia Grey too. He felt less like an amalgam of every fictional historical hero ever put to paper. I sometimes laughed at Brisbane and I wasn’t quite sure I was meant to.
EH:
Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey. My first of her books. I’m not the target audience I guess, but I found it pretty info-dumpy (though I appreciate it’s one of many in a series). I liked the world and the Cinderella retelling was done well, with a sweet romance, but it was a bit of a slog in places.
This was an okay month. I only finished four books, but a couple of them were fairly chunky.
WALKING ON GLASS, by Iain Banks. This story follows one character as he goes to visit a woman he has a crush on, another character who’s convinced he’s actually a warrior from some distant conflict, put in his current body as punishment, and two warriors from opposite sides of a war, who are trapped in a strange castle and forced to play a series of strange games in order to have the opportunity to be released.
I’m still not exactly sure what I thought of this book. It does all tie together at the end, but in a way that raises more questions. I did spend about a third of the book wanting to teleport in and hand one of the characters a copy of HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU.
NOT THAT BAD: DISPATCHES FROM RAPE CULTURE, edited by Roxane Gay. This is an essay collection that’s exactly what it says on the tin.
I can’t say I enjoyed this book, but I definitely found it interesting. I listened to the audiobook, which I believe is narrated by the authors of each essay.
CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, by Tomi Adeyemi. This is a YA fantasy novel set in Africa. It follows a four characters as three of them try to restore magic to the land and the fourth one tries to stop them.
It was okay. It started out fairly well, but by the end I kept wanting them to just get on with the plot.
THE WELL OF ASCENSION, by Brandon Sanderson. This is book two of the Mistborn trilogy. It continues on from the events of book one, with the characters going from trying to overthrow the government, to trying to run a government.
I listened to the audiobook, which sped things up considerably. (I don’t read Sanderson very quickly for some reason.) I liked this book. I was left with the impression that it could have been a bit shorter, but I can’t actually say what could have been cut. Maybe having two of the characters stop making assumptions about each other’s feelings and actually talk to each other. Not a huge subplot, but it popped up enough to annoy me.
There were a couple of other books I started, but put aside, for now. PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE being the main one. I realized I just didn’t have the time to devote to it this month.
I just finished “Ruin of Kings” by Jenn Lyons and I give it all the enthusiastic thumbs up.
On one hand, at a high level, it is the age old “teenaged boy, plucked from obscurity who is actually heir to royalty” story, but it is told in a really interesting way and it generally avoids the tired tropes. Very complicated – with shifting . . . well . . . everything. Quite long, quite complicated (who is who can get hard to follow), it sucked me in. And as for the who is who – don’t worry about it – just keep going. No one is who they seem, who is related to whom and in what way, gets clarified when it is important. It’s the kind of book that now that I’ve finished I want to go back to the beginning and read again. It is being compared with Patrick Rothfuss, and I can go with that.
Just finished one of the few 5 star reads of the year, Anne Bishop’s latest: Wild Country which takes place in her Others series. The new books take place outside of The Courtyard, so the characters are, mostly, new to us. I liked but was not a huge fan of the last book, but this one is firmly back in form. Jana is the first woman to be graduated from the Police Academy, but is at loose ends, because no one will hire her. When the Others give permission to rebuild Bennett, a town they had wiped out after the massacre of the Wolfgard, she is hired to be a town deputy. There’s an element of the frontier town, that of course, leads to a show down on Main Street. Of course, the human enemy vastly misunderstands his place in the food chain. There are puppies. There’s a touch of romance, and the species humor that I thought was lacking in the last book. Cowboy Bob. Snerf.
Other good reads: Watcher In The Woods, Kelley Armstrong’s latest Rockton mystery/suspense. I like that each new installment starts on the heels of the last.
FINALLY got to Archangel’s Prophecy. Out of character for Nalini Singh, she has left Elena and Raphael in a crisis. I saw a comment somewhere that she could no longer be counted on for a HEA, but I have every confidence that she knows where she’s going and we’ll be just fine.
I’m reading way too much at once:
– Now You’re One of Us by Asa Nonami – This is basically a Japanese gothic. A woman from a small town agrees to an arranged marriage with a guy from a rich family. It makes her a little nervous that she’ll have to move to Tokyo and live with several generations of his family, but they all seem so nice. Except then it turns out that they might be murderers, drug dealers, and more.
– Log Horizon, Vol. 1 by Mamare Touno – I started this because I love the anime, but unfortunately the book is stiff and slow. A bunch of people are playing a popular MMORPG when suddenly something happens, the world becomes a blend of the real world and the RPG, and everyone becomes their characters. No one can die, food tastes bland, and no one has any idea what happened. There’s less of a focus on action and battles than there is on rebuilding society in a world with different rules.
– The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin – F/f fantasy romance in which one of the main characters is a princess sent to a different kingdom to marry a prince, only to learn that the prince has died and now she’ll need to marry his sister, who is well-known for her partying, drinking, and general lack of interest in being a responsible ruler. I expect there to be dragons at some point, since that’s one of the troubles currently plaguing this kingdom, but I’m over halfway through the book and there’s definitely more focus on the romance than on the fantasy.
I am obsessed with Skyla Dawn Cameron’s Livi Talbot series. The first book, SOLOMAN’S SEAL, was on sale a while back and mentioned in SBTB Daily Deals. My click finger had a spasm at the tag line, “Ex Debutante. Single Mother. Treasure Hunter”. I love the world Cameron has created and how the action adventure aspects of the plot have exactly the right amount of detail so I can be immersed with out being bogged down in the minutia of caving, etc. (I typically have no patience for long action sequences.) Side characters feel as well fleshed out as the heroine, and Livi is one of my favorite heroines ever. She is fierce and snarky, extremely good at her job, but well aware of her flaws and limitations. I have read the series twice now and am eagerly anticipating the Livi’s next adventure some time this year.
I’ve actually had a really lovely reading month so far!
Stuff I LOVED:
Just like KB, I’m obsessed w A Dead Djinn In Cairo and The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark. Going to read The Black Gods Drums soon as well, although it’s not the same world.
How Long Til Black Future Month? by NK Jeminson. Its a short story collection, and I’m gonna be thinking about some of these stories for awhile. I also read The Broken Kingdoms as well.
Miss Dominguez’s Christmas Kiss by Lydia San Andres. Please give me more more more Arryo Blanco.
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse. Stupid excited for book 2.
Crashing Into Her by Mia Sosa. WHAT A JOY.
Stuff I liked:
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik. I love fantasy/pnr/uf but for whatever reason once there’s a space ship or a laser I’m out. The fact that I finished and liked it means its super good, just not normally my cup of tea.
Perv by Dakota Gray. Great sex, wish there had been more of Robin’s POV because I didn’t really understand her motivations. Still: Great sex.
Poppy Jenkins by Clare Ashton. Sweet f/f set in Wales. I found the main character, Poppy, to be a bit of a Mary Sue. But I loved all the surrounding characters, and her love interest Rosalyn. Another one where I wished there were dual POVs.
Stuff I was meh on:
Overnight Sensation by Sarina Bowen. I really like Sarina Bowen’s hockey series (Brooklyn Bruisers + WAGs) but I feel she has a real blindspot w diversity. This one features Castro, the only poc on the team (and apparently in Brooklyn at all). It’s alright.
The Bad
The reading month started out really badly with Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella. The premise was one of the stupidest things that I have ever read. A couple finds out that they are both really healthy and thus they will be married for a looong time. This then makes them question everything about their perfectly happy relationship. Thank goodness this was on my ereader or I would have thrown it against the wall.
Next on my list was Slayer by Kiersten White. My problem with this book is sheer personal bias. I adore Buffy and here she is cast as a despicable person. Even Faith was portrayed more favourably. So, just not for me.
Then there was the book that I had really been looking forward to – Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor, the third book in her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. And all of a sudden she starts telling the story through the viewpoint of some brand new character that you care absolutely nothing about. I slogged through about 50 pages and then threw it back on the giant TBR pile but I will probably pick it back up later.
The Really Good
Cast in Oblivion by Michelle Sagara (Book 14) was a very good episode of The Elantra Chronicles and resolved the loose ends of the previous book. Am I the only one who keeps hoping for some sort of relationship between Kaylin and Nightshade?
Urban fantasy seemed to be the way out of my reading slump so I devoured the Alex Craft series by Kalayna Price. All very good with an interesting take on the Fae and their courts.
Always the Bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk was excellent. Loads of humour in this one and I especially loved Maddie’s entries in her bridesmaid journal.
We Were On a Break by Lindsey Kelk was not quite as funny but her quirky characters and situations made it very enjoyable.
The Great
The Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell. These books are sort of The Three Musketeers meets Game of Thrones with loads of swashbuckling action, swordplay and witty banter. Many days of the Bad Decision Book club as I devoured them one after the other.
1) Traitor’s Blade – “When you’re fighting a crowd, it’s good to shout potentially threatening things like “Crossbows!” or “Fire!” or “Giant Flying Cat!” every once in a while.”
2) Knight’s Shadow – Very, very good but it has a horrific torture scene that I had to skim read because it was so disturbing. “Do you always run headlong into certain death?” “Sometimes he walks,” Dariana said. “Occasionally he shuffles. Once I’m pretty sure I saw him amble into certain death.”
3) Saint’s Blood – “My name is Falcio val Mond, First Cantor of the King’s Greatcoats. Not long ago I was one of the finest swordsmen in the world. These days? Not so much.”
4) Knight’s Throne – “Another trap. Never let yourself be tricked into comparing one woman with all others; it rarely turns out well.”
The GREAT: The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty has great world building and excellent pacing. Unfortunately the sequel is bogged down by the POV of the most annoying character I have ever had the misfortune of encountering
The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison. Dr. Morrison does this with language that are truly magical and revelatory. Pick this one up.
Just for Show by Jae if a f/f pretending to me engaged story with lots of tension and clothes shopping and humor. A nice way to spend an afternoon.
I am currently reading The Priory of the Orange Tree and I love it so far but can’t pass judgement on it yet.
Hah! This time around I kept my little reviews tucked away in the notepad on my iPad, so I’m ready! Reviewing only the fiction ones I’ve read so far this month.
4 stars (out of 5):
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty: A colony ship, crewed by six clones, is sent on a generational trip to a new world. The clones awaken, a couple hundred years into the journey, to find that their previous bodies all died violently. Which of them is the killer? And why? They will need to excavate their pasts, & trust each other. A locked-room murder mystery with excellent world-building behind it.
Flirting with the Frenemy by Pippa Grant: Very cute. I love the pirate theme; the town made me think of both Chincoteague & Key West. As an Air Force brat, I appreciate the military angle (the hero is a pilot). Can’t wait to meet the rest of Bro Code… & I’m hoping to see more of Monica, Jason & Sloane, as well.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik: A new take on Rumpelstiltskin, set in Russia &, intriguingly, with a Jewish heroine. It’s a bit hard to follow until you get the rhythm of it; it’s told in first person from multiple perspectives (the money lender’s daughter, the peasant girl, the duke’s daughter, etc) & the shifts in narrator are only signified by section breaks & not by name; it usually took me a couple of sentences to figure out whose head I’d jumped into, & that took me out of the story each time.
The Girl Who Sees by Dima Zales & Anna Zaires: “If Occam were in my shoes, he’d slit his wrists with his razor”. Sasha is a would-be magician whose big TV break is marred by a murderous attack (on her) by a grey-skinned man. It’s only the first strange & dangerous thing that happens to her. Fast-paced & interesting; I’ll be reading the rest of this series.
3 stars (out of 5):
The Trespasser by Tana French: Sole woman on the Murder Squad, a pariah in the group, & her partner catch a murder case. Like most of French’s novels, it gets a bit flabby in the middle – I confess I skipped about a hundred pages once I’d figured out whodunit. Still, a good example of her work & with a less downbeat ending than some. I just always expect to like them more than I do.
A Finer End by Deborah Crombie: Part of Crombie’s Kincaid & James series; they can be read in any order as long as you don’t mind jumping around in their lives & relationship. This one is set in Glastonbury, combining a murder investigation with a mystery from the time of the Normans. At the same time, Gemma has become an inspector herself, & has a new posting, breaking up her working partnership with Kincaid & putting stress on their personal one. More mystical than Crombie’s other books, & not as satisfying.
Best Man by Lila Monroe: Although it’s billed as book 6, Olivia (& the Agency) make only a tiny appearance here. It’s a sweet story – saving the apartment building for the less-than-wealthy tenants requires the heiress be married, quickly! I’d have preferred a little more shading & depth to the antagonists, but a fun read overall. Not my favorite of the series, but solid.
Tomboy by Avery Flynn: Minor spoiler & rant at the end, so you’ve been warned. Fallon is a nurse who, in addition to her hospital gig, works a volunteer shift at a free clinic for those who don’t have health insurance. As someone who works for a non-profit (we do housing, not health care), I’m thrilled to see this perspective in a novel. The hero is a hockey player. The story’s good, the characters are good, & I love spending time with the Hartigans, but… RANT: One of my pet peeves with the genre is that books so often end with a baby-centric epilogue, because of course that MUST be part of the HEA. I had high hopes for this one, because halfway through the story Fallon has an internal mini-rant about just that, but no, guess what happens in the damn epilogue? It loses a star just for giving me false hope.
DNF:
The Witch Elm by Tana French: I like Tana French’s work in part because she’s a master of evocative language: “stark & runic as black twigs on snow”, for example, & that’s just on page 1. That said, this was a DNF for me. I’m fine with imperfect characters (obviously) but this one… Not only did I not like him, but by chapter 2, I didn’t want to give him any more room in my head, & the older I get, the less patience I have with sticking it out in hopes it improves.
I enjoyed two trilogies in March. First I devoured the Captive Prince series by C.S. Pacat – love that feeling of getting immersed in a book and then there are two more! I also read another trilogy, Dark Gifts, by Vic James, where the British 1% are those with magic and everyone else is obligated to serve 10 years of “slavedays” during their lifetimes. Recommend both.
Currently reading Empress of all Seasons by Emiko Jean – to vastly oversimplify, think Hunger Games with Japanese mythology.
Listening to The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty. There are djinn, and djinn-human children, magic and politics. I’m really enjoying the audiobook. And hurray, this book has a sequel too!
@Sarah I just saw your comment about the sequel to The City of Brass. Say it isn’t so! Which character? I’m about halfway through the first book now and it’s awesome.
This month I finished Amanda Bouchet’s Nightchaster. There are echoes of Firefly that will appeal to all the other Browncoats out there but a lot that is very characteristic of Bouchet’s romance-inflected fantasy adventure trilogy that made me a fan. Distinctive story and I’m looking forward to the follow-up because I’ve really bought into the characters.
I didn’t enjoy Christy Carlyle’s A Duke Changes Everything nearly as much. It started out with promise but seemed to choke a bit on pulling in all of the other men who’ll get their own books and a fair bit too much of “I’m going to be a noble loner but somehow I have boner feelings for this one woman”.
I zipped through Jane Ashford’s Brave New Earl in one day. It was a lot of fun with a kid who was not just a plot moppet, but an interesting character in his own right. While the story did stumble a bit in over-the-top plot twisting, the hero and heroine were pretty darned compelling individuals.
I heartily enjoyed The Devil’s Daughter by Lsa Kleypas which, true to the title, gave us a good dose of Kingston along with a really well-developed happily-ever-after for West (admit it, other Ravenel fans: you’ve been rooting for his story for a few books, now!).
I read quite a bit and all of it was lovely.
Read: The Custodian of Marvels by Rod Duncan. This was the final book in his Fall of the Gaslit Empire series and basically a heist book, but it was fun Steampunk-Light novel. I recommend the whole series actually. The female lead is engaging and the book explores some interesting themes about class and gender. I will warn that the books start out slow and there’s little romance, so if that’s not your thing I’d give it a pass.
The Spring Bride and The Summer Bride by Anne Gracie. They are the last books in the Chance Sister’s Romance series which I highly recommend because of wonderful found family elements and the way she crafts character arcs are awesome. I will warn that The Summer Bride does have a secret baby plot and a poorly done one at that, but I don’t think it hurt the book that much but YMMV. Also, I recommend reading the series in order because of the complicated backstory of the “sisters”.
Reading: To Catch a Bride also by Anne Gracie but from her Devil Rider’s series. It follows former war buddies shortly after the Napoleon War trying to readjust to normal life. Honestly Mary Balogh does it better, but this book is fun enough that I might look into the rest of the series, but I’m in no rush to do so.
DNF: none
My library system – Chula Vista Public Library – is having a Year of Reading Challenge in which each month we highlight a different theme. The task is to read a book in that theme and enter to win a $20 gift certificate to a local, INDEPENDENT bookstore in San Diego County. The theme for March was to read a book written by a female author. So, you can imagine how much fun I had with that.
-THE CITY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT by Charlie Jane Anders was a lovely piece of science-fiction. It’s set on a tidally locked planet where half of the world is in full light and the other half is in full dark all the time. While, yes, it was a science-fiction tale, I thought it spook more about grief and how we mourn the loss of culture after each new generation. The audio narrators were quite lovely.
-CAN’T ESCAPE LOVE by Alyssa Cole was a delight! I’m loving these characters in the Reluctant Royals series and I will be sad when the series is done.
-THE GREAT LIBRARY series by Rachel Caine is insane and I absolutely love everything about it. I’m listening to book four now and THANK THE MAKER that book 5 comes out later this year.
-I’ve been rereading the LONDON CELEBRITIES series as the fourth book comes out in April. I simply adore Lucy Parker’s writing style.
-I’m about to start UNMARRIAGEABLE BY Soniah Kamal. There are four(?) retellings of Pride and Prejudice coming out this year so I’ll need to start reading now to catch-up. Listen I like the story and how it’s essential the template for many modern romance stories but it’s time there was a run of Persuasion retellings. I’m just putting that out into the universe.
-And finally, I was pleased as punch with Jessie Mihalik’s Polaris Rising, the first in the Consortium Rebellion series. I’ve been gravitating towards Space Opera so I’m looking forward to what I discover. And, no I haven’t read the book club selection yet but I’m starting it soon.
Next month’s challenge is to read a book of poetry so we’ll see how that goes in April.
Oh man, I’ve been waiting for this post all month. Early in the month, I finally got my copy of Wild Country from the library, and I did not like it. I was so upset. I had a big long comment written in my head, unfortunately I didn’t write it down so I’ll have to try to recreate it.
To start with, it took some time for me to get into the book because it felt different from the previous books. There were a lot of POVs, and the beginning seemed, I don’t know, less dense than the previous books. I settled in though and was liking it fine up until the climax. I stayed up way late to finish it because the big showdown was coming up, and I thought “this is gonna be good.” And it was not.
I spent the next couple of days ranting in my head, but now it’s been so long I’m not sure I can complain coherently. I can’t be specific without giving spoilers.
There’s a saying in the books something like “There’s no mercy in the wild country. There’s no safety in the dark.” In this book, that wasn’t really true. The bad guys were plenty safe. Oh, they get taken care of in the climax, but it never should’ve come to that. The Others are supposed to be Big, Bad, and ruthless, and instead of that they just fizzled and barely survived. To me, it seemed like they were de-fanged in order to engineer a big finale. I wonder if the author ran out of inspiration and wrote the book because it was contracted.
The end was sad and depressing. I don’t think the author meant it to be because the final scene was very cozy. All I felt for that scene was melancholy and my take away themes for the book were “lost family” and “broken friendships.” When faced with adversity in previous books, the Others have banded together with their human friends and closed ranks. There’s a little of that here, but several major POV characters end up bitter and/or alienated.
I’ve re-read the previous books multiple times, but I’m not sure I’ll ever reread this one. It didn’t feel like a cohesive part of the world of the Others. Lake Silence was a very different book from the original series, but it felt like it belonged to the same world. Wild Country read like a rough draft.
PS – Since reading Wild Country, I’ve doubled down on happy endings and have become ruthless about rejecting books that even look like they have ambivalent endings.
@Berry I finished all three of your DNFs. You didn’t miss much. Making Up is probably Parker’s weakest of her three current releases.
@GraceElizabeth 100% agree about Lily.
@Deborah – YES about Fall.
It’s been a light reading month – I’ve been really distracted by other life things (work, socializing, working out), so I’m hoping to get back to it soon.
Recent Reads:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life – Wow that was good. But dense. It took a long time to finish, mostly because I got held up in the Roe v. Wade era and needed a break.
Devil’s Daughter (Lisa Kleypas)- Excellent. I remember being vaguely dissatisfied by the plot at points, but overall, I really liked it.
Flare Up (Shannon Stacey, Boston Fire series) – I’m a sucker for a good second chance romance, and I really liked this one. BUT the ending was WAY too abrupt and tied up too neatly.
Fall/Managed (Kristen Callihan) – Oh these were SO SO good!! I read them in reverse order, but it worked for me. Wasn’t sold on the heroine of Fall (like Deborah), but they were really good. I was so upset that the next one hasn’t been published yet!
Three Little Words (Jenny Holiday) – It was really good, I think I just had unreasonably high expectations.
Illegally Yours (Kate Meader) – I wanted to like this, and there were parts that I liked, but I don’t enjoy first person POV, I don’t like the martyr theme, and overall, it just didn’t work for me.
The One You Fight For (Roni Loren) – I remember being completely moved by the ending.
Hot Winter Nights (Jill Shalvis) – I didn’t even remember that I had read this until I checked my recent returns, so I’d rank it as enjoyable, but not memorable.
Rogues Rush In – DNF. I just couldn’t get into it, and I’m not sure if it was the writing, the plot, or the characters, but it didn’t grab me.
Currently Reading: Tempest by Beverly Jenkins. This is my first book of hers, and while I’m enjoying it, I’m a little thrown off by the constant “okay,” which I’m not entirely sure is historically accurate usage.
Nicola Yoon- The Sun is Also a Star
I checked this out as soon as I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie (cause: damn). Undocumented immigrant girl who’s about to be deported meets first-generation Korean-American boy. She believes in science and rationality, he believes in poetry and fate, and he bets her that they can fall in love in a single day. A really sweet book that made me smile even through all the emotional turmoil, and though a lot of the coincidences that made the plot move felt a little too pat and facile, I liked it a lot.
David J. Peterson- The Art of Language Invention
A book on how to construct a language by the guy who made Dothraki and Valyrian for Game of Thrones. I didn’t really understand even 1/3 of this book, but it was actually pretty funny, and it also served as a reminder that the English language is *fucking bonkers.*
Mary Robinette Kowal- The Calculating Stars
So good. SO GOOD. A metorite takes out the Eastern seaboard in 1952, leading to massive climate change and an increasing need to colonize space before the human race goes extinct. Physicist/pilot heroine fights institutionalized sexism and bigotry to become an astronaut. This was so much better than I even thought it was going to be, and I want a Netflix adaptation like, yesterday. I can’t wait to read the sequel.
Roan Parrish- Rend
Former foster kid with abandonment issues figures out how to love his husband. All the feels.
Sarah J. Harris- The Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder
Autistic kid with synesthesia and face-blindness works through the murder of his neighbor. This was a tough one. I liked the aspect of the unreliable narrator, but there was a lot of abuse going on (physical, sexual, emotional) that I felt was kind of…glossed over, I guess, by the fact that the narrator didn’t really understand a lot of what was going on. And from a craft standpoint, I figured out who the killer was way too soon.
Tana French- The Secret Place
My reread of the Dublin Murder Squad is almost complete. I remember this one being particularly exhausting and claustrophobic, and that held over on the reread. I like Stephen and Antoinette a lot. The girls’ POV, I could have done with less of. Still, a good read. And here’s the thing about Tana French, to contrast with what I said about the book above: even on a reread, when I *already know who the killer is*, her writing has this knack where I start to second-guess my own memory. Was it? That can’t be right? No it must be so-and-so? Absolutely brilliant and I don’t know how it works but I *love* it.
You-Jeong Jeong- The Good Son
Another unreliable narrator murder mystery (hmm, wonder where this theme is coming from in my life.) Yu-jin wakes up covered in blood and finds his mother’s body, and he has no idea what happened. Or does he? (spoiler: he totally does). Not exactly a pleasant read, but super compelling. There was something very Hitchcockian about it. I haven’t checked yet if any of this author’s other works is available in English but I’d definitely read her again.
I’m leaving for a trip in about 15 hours, so I better get this in while I can. Priorities, yo. Yes, I’m packed.
So this month kicked off with King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo. Nicolai is a delight, Zoya was compelling, and hello, political machinations, my old friend. Ah, winning was easy, young man, governing’s harder, and boy does he get to know it. It took a bit to get going, but Bardugo’s writing is always pretty delightful. And the voice at the end, well…I want to see where that goes. Then my copy of The Huntress by Kate Quinn showed up, and yeah, buddy. I’d like to greet my new historical fiction fave. What a great book. Night Witches and evil female killers and Nazi hunters and ambitious, intuitive young women ahoy. It was good. Then, because I was still in a mystery mood, I read The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro. I’m still not sure if I was disappointed or not. I didn’t love that Jamie and Charlotte were apart for so much of the book. I’m reading for the team here, and my team was not at their best, and I don’t think that made for the reading experience that I was going for. By then, I kind of needed something happy and fluffy, so I went with Getting Schooled by Emma Chase, which was exactly what I was going for. It was light on conflict and high on comedy. Now I got into a bit of a fantasy mood, epic and urban, so I took Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep out of the library. I like a good Gladiator setup, but I also liked that it Evie’s skills that she learned by basically being a leftover of a noble were what kept her alive until it was time to learn what she needed to begin taking power. It sounds like the sequel will have a lot of what it takes for a noble to stay alive and relatively unscathed in a proverbial pit of vipers, which, yes, please. Did I mention I like political machinations (why, yes, I am a GoT fan, what makes you ask?). Finally, we arrive at today, which is me reading Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire. Antimony is less “political machinations” and more “welp, I didn’t want to have to burn a bunch of shit down, but here we are, so let’s do this”, and I am in a good mood for that, too. I think I’ve just gotten to where she’s going to do just that. And on that note, off I go to continue getting ready for travel. Until next month, may all your phantoms be at operas.
The best book I read this month, indeed, one of the best I’ve read in a long time, was a nonfiction book called GRANDMA GATEWOOD’S WALK, by Ben Montgomery. Emma Gatewood was 67 years old in 1955 when she read an idealized National Geographic article about the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail and decided to thru-hike it. At that time, thru-hiking was not a “thing” the way it is today, and only 7 people (all younger men) had ever hiked the entire trail. Not only did she complete the trail from GA to Maine, she did it in sneakers, carrying a homemade knapsack (not even a backpack) over one shoulder. She had no sleeping bag, no tent, minimal supplies and went through 7 pairs of sneakers along the way, as well as dealing with one of the rainiest and coldest summers on record.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a more inspirational story. I’d never heard of her, but apparently she’s very well-know and admired by most of the people who decide to hike the trail. And, as if all this wasn’t enough, she turned around and thru-hiked it again 2 years later at age 69, then again at age 73. From now on, anytime I think something is too hard to complete, I’m just going to think of Grandma Gatewood!
Read over the past four weeks ~
— Doris Egan’s fantasy The Gate of Ivory. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure if I’ll continue on with the trilogy.
— Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer. This is a collection of stories that I quite enjoyed. The stories are quite diverse in setting and subject matter. I liked some more than others, but I liked them all. The title story won a Hugo Award.
— read with pleasure Anne Cleeland’s Murder in Just Cause (The Doyle & Acton Mystery Series Book 9),
— read New Readers Press’ Teaching Adults: A Literacy Resource Book as I intend to resume literacy tutoring after a long hiatus. While I wouldn’t describe it as a scintillating read, it had some worthwhile information.
— Matthew Quick’s young adult novel Every Exquisite Thing; I almost gave up on the book but persevered and ultimately found it an intriguing read.
— Reread SK Dunstall’s Linesman yet again.
— Mutineer (Alexis Carew Book 2) by J.A. Sutherland: This series is very much Horatio Hornblower in space complete with cutlasses, space suits, and cat o’ nine tails. I zipped through the book but sadly cannot get the next through ILL.
— Karen Lord’s science fiction The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Novel which I enjoyed.
— reread SK Dunstall’s Alliance and Confluence yet again.
— The Fairies of Sadieville was the sixth and final book in Alex Bledsoe’s Tufa series. This wasn’t my favorite book in the series though all of them were good reads; it did a good job of tying up loose ends.
— I read about a third of Karen Rivers’ young adult novel You Are The Everything before it got a bit odd, and I simply skimmed to the end.
— Clean by Alex Hughes which I enjoyed. I’d describe it as futuristic urban fantasy; the main character is a recovering addict.
— happily read Anne Bishop’s newest book Wild Country. This book had a large cast of characters; I’d describe it as a busy book, but I enjoyed it. I’ll doubtless be rereading it soon since I zipped through it on this first reading.
— I mentioned having read Clean by Alex Hughes. I continued on with the Mindspace series and finished the novels Sharp and Marked as well as the (FREE) story Rabbit Trick all of which I enjoyed.
— read another FREE Kindle work, but it was far-fetched and not a book I’ll be rereading: Healing Hands: A SciFi Alien Romance by Stella Cassy.
— read and reread the novella Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray. This is a World War II-era retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I recommend it to those who enjoy fairytale retellings as well as to those who might enjoy reading a male/male romance that has no explicit content. I will be looking to see what this author next publishes.
— for my book group, Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel which I very much enjoyed.
— also reread a favorite novella which I enjoyed once again — Sarina Bowen’s Blonde Date.
— The Outback Stars by Sandra McDonald. This is a science fiction book that had an Australian aboriginal component; I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in the trilogy.
Currently on a binge of Philip Kerr’s “Bernie Gunther” books. They are historical detective thrillers, set in Germany during the rise of Nazism. Can’t put them down.
Finished the excellent “L’Amica Geniale” set (four books). I read them in Italian, and loved them. I saw the series on TV (based on the first book) and thought it terrific. It’s an excellent examination of what a difference an education can make for a woman and — according to my Italian husband — a very painful look at a time and place (Southern Italy post-WWII).
Royals by Rachel Hawkins (retitled Prince Charming) was so cute and funny. Fluffy cupcake of a book. Waiting for the sequel, Her Royal Highness, why is May so far away?
Belles and Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton – luckily my library had both, because holy cliffhanger. The first book had some pacing issues, the second makes up for that in spades. Could not put it down. There’s flaws but it hit me right in the feels and the ending was satisfying.
Reread a few of the Georgia Nicolson diaries because I needed comfort and laughs. Ditto Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.
So far this month!
Anne Bishop’s latest: Wild Country . I liked more than the previous one, less than the Courtyard set ones.
Kelley Armstrong Watcher in the Woods…I love this series!
Anne Cleeland’s Murder in Just Cause (The Doyle & Acton Mystery Series Book 9), which I like, but its turning into one long mystery…..
Doris Egan’s fantasy The Gate of Ivory. I read about this online and can’t figure out where, but I liked it a lot!
The complete works of Kendra Elliott (thanks to Kindle Unlimited), which vary wildly in their appeal.
I love romances and books with romantic elements, but the funny thing is that the heroes never appeal to me as a person who appreciates men and sometimes crushes on them in real life. The exception to this is Deanna Raybourn’s Stoker. 100% would want to meet in real life.
Just a few books this month:
Finally read Games of Command by Linnea Sinclair.
It took me a little while to get my head around the twisty plot and SF names & places but it was compelling so I persisted. I adored the main characters, especially the heroines, and there were two love stories for the price of one! I found the Eden & Jace romance to be a little too love-at-first-sight, and there wasn’t enough foreshadowing of how Sass felt about Branden for me to fully buy her declaration of love – she found out he was in love with her then it was like boom I love him. Maybe I missed out on the development of the romance because I was getting my head around the sf terminology & the world-building? Branden was great especially if you love a pining hero – so much pining, so much angst! The ending felt very abrupt; I could’ve used another chapter or controversially, an epilogue. I did enjoy it and would recommend.
Unmasked by the Marquess – Cat Sebastian
I don’t read much m/m romance so this was my first Cat Sebastian but it won’t be my last. I picked this up because I was curious how she’d write a non-binary MC in a historical romance. Some of the turns of phrase are just so special:
A smile so slight you’d need a protractor to measure it
Revenge was best left to cuckolded farmhands and medieval popes, jealous fishwives and mad Plantagenets
I love romances that make you think ‘how on earth is the author going to pull off a happy ending’ and this was definitely one of those. There was acknowledgement that the happy ending was still going to cause some scandal & estrangement.
After the ‘only two tropes’ post I was in the mood for some forced proximity/snowbound so I picked out the Reindeer Games anthology from my enormous TBR. I found the quality really uneven. I liked the Charlotte Stein, Ainslie Booth, Eve Dangerfield stories, thought the Adriana Anders was okay, was meh about HelenKay Dimon, Tamara Lush & Kelly Maher’s stories and DNF’d the rest.
Sticking to the theme (I hoped) I read the anthology Hockey Holidays. Again very uneven. Some of the ‘heroes’ in the m/f stories were overbearing, annoying and/or douchebaggy, and some of the stories were weirdly old-fashioned (character names & behaviors, references to mink coats and orphanages). A few of the stories had grammar issues that would have been cleared up by a good editor – ugh comma splices go away – and in one story the hero nicknamed the heroine ‘sweet pea’ but in several places it was written as ‘sweat pea’. Props however to the author whose cupcake baker heroine refused to have sex in her commercial kitchen – finally someone thinks of the health inspections!
This month in fan fiction I’ve been reading Chronicles of Narnia fanfic. I stumbled into it by way of the amazing fanfic author dirgewithoutmusic (whose Harry Potter fanfic series ‘boy with a scar’ is just masterful – ‘what if’ retellings of HP. My two faves are ‘the family evans’ which is what if Petunia was a good aunt to Harry, and ‘smoke and silvered glass’ – what if Snape had apologized to Lily and stayed friends with her – quite frankly this is how JKR should’ve written Snape’s backstory – but I digress). I read the Narnia books as a young child and adored them, not recognizing the Christian allegory at their heart. As a child I took it at face value in The Last Battle when CS Lewis wrote that Susan wouldn’t be joining everyone else in the Land Beyond the Sea because she no longer believed in Narnia. Rereading the books as a teenager I felt more uncomfortable with how Susan was spoken of and judged in that scene at the end of The Last Battle. So it was with some joy that I realized so much Narnia fanfic is about ‘The Problem of Susan’ – looking at it from a more feminist perspective, pieces that give Susan as a young adult a personality and an inner life rather than just writing her off, trying to reconcile a childhood love of the world of Narnia with Lewis’s rather ruthless treatment of her. (I was surprised that so much Narnia fanfic is Caspian slash fic, and very surprised how much is brother/sister pairings.)
Currently reading The Alice Network by Kate Quinn and loving it so far. It’s reminding me of Code Name Verity, a book that tore my heart out of my chest, stomped on it then handed it back to me in a different shape, so I’m imagining The Alice Network will do the same…
Just finished a re-read of Riding Shotgun this afternoon, inspired by the Time Travel discussions here this week. The story held up well, other than much mention of fax machines, as the horse world hasn’t changed much in centuries. Rita Mae Brown is one of my favorite authors and I turn to the mysteries she wrote with Sneaky Pie the cat, always on paper, for comfort readings.
Before that, I finally had a chance to read An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole which pulled me in and had me up to late reading. Janeta’s gradual awakening of the world she lived in and of herself was awe-inspiring. Simply remarkable. I loved how she and Daniel gradually grew together. I hope there are more books in the series as all three so far have been more than worthwhile to read.
Reading Lady Notorious by Theresa Romain and Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas gave me a historical book hangover. Yes, I was also waiting for West’s story. The library queue fairies gifted me with Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes set in the present day South. A witty social commentary with a paternity mystery to solve.
So many choices in my Kindle TBR file, not sure what is next ….