We’re reading so many books this month and our discussion is full of good book noises!
Shana: I just finished Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which I loved. Thank goodness for Claudia’s timely recommendation when I needed a book for a long flight. I was planning on reading Hollywood Homicide next ( A | BN | K | G | AB )—not the truly terrible Harrison Ford movie from 2003—this is a mystery about a Black crime-solving actress in L.A. But the library just gifted me with my hold on A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). Now I have to drop everything and read that instead.
Sneezy: Thorn by Intisar Khanani! When you got a book dedicated to, “Every girl who as doubted she has what it takes,” you KNOW you’re in for some Bossed-Up Badassery! I loved this book back when it first came out as an indie, and I can’t wait to see where it goes this time!
Sarah: I am re-reading His at Night by Sherry Thomas ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ), and listening to Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold ( A | BN | AB ).
Amanda: I’m about to start The Blacksmith Queen ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). Some reviews mention that the first book isn’t really a romance, which makes me grumble a bit because I want more fantasy romance in my life. But I trust Aiken’s writing.
Tara: I’m currently reading Two Wings to Fly Away by Penny Mickelbury ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). It’s historical fiction and I’m not far enough to be able to tell if there’s a romance to it or not. Anyone who got excited about the Harriet Tubman trailer that dropped recently might be interested in this book.
I’m also going to be starting the new Melissa Brayden book soon, Beautiful Dreamer. I’m both excited because I adore her f/f contemporaries, but also don’t want to read it because then I’ll go back to having no new Melissa Brayden books to read.
In audio I’m listening to Take Your Time by VK Powell ( A | BN | K | AB ). It’s a sweet, small town romance. The thing that’s kind of cool about this one is that it’s part of a trilogy, with the other two books written by Missouri Vaun and D. Jackson Leigh. The series is about a trio of friends who find love, each of the authors write about one of the friends, and while they can all standalone, all three books are happening in continuity.
Aarya: I just finished Margaret Rogerson’s two stand-alone fantasy novels: An Enchantment of Ravens ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and Sorcery of Thorns I cannot express enough how much I loved them. AEOR had some pacing issues and the last 25% did kinda go off the rails, but I loved the romantic element and prose so much that I disregarded all the flaws.
Sorcery of Thorns is perfection. Absolute perfection. There are probably flaws, but it was written to my exact preferences and I didn’t even notice them.
Bisexual sorcerer and Slytherin-like hero who raises eyebrows, remarks sardonically, and calls the heroine by her last name until she gets hurt! Scrappy heroine who loves libraries and is determined to take down a political conspiracy! This is the latest in a recent trend of library-themed fantasies, and I love it.
Just a note: it’s fantasy, not romance. But there is a romantic element that ends well.
Next up is The True Queen by Zen Cho ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), a f/f historical fantasy with dragons! I’ve had it on hold forever, and it’s been recommended to me by several trusted friends.
Claudia: I’m reading The Rogue of Fifth Avenue By Joanna Shupe ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) but life keeps getting in the way so progress is slow. I’m still sort of in-between things with lots of holds from the library yet to drop.
Lara Diane: I am also about to start The Blacksmith Queen and I’m SUPER excited. I’m in the middle of a trek through The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). Tiresome, but I can’t quit – I NEED to know what Mara’s deal is!
Sarah: I shouldn’t answer these until Thursdays. Finished Penric and the Shaman (charming and adorable and theologically fascinating) and am now listening to Whispers Under Ground, narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith ( A | BN | K | AB ).
Elyse: I just finished Crisis in the Red Zone by Richard Preston which is about Ebola. It reads like a thriller and is fascinating. It’s also pretty graphic
Maya: I just finished listening to Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), narrated by Martin Jarvis. It was a big ol shrug for me, although I got farther listening to it than I did watching the Amazon series–I think I managed to watch one episode before I got bored. I’ve started listening to A Blade So Black by L.L McKinney (narrated by Jeannette Illidge) ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which is pretty great so far. I’m also reading New Girl in Town by Rebel Carter (thanks to Sarah’s suggestion!) which has a Latina heroine who is almost a decade older than her love interest and The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon ( A ).
Kiki: I just finished Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and it was the most bananas contemporary I’ve ever read and I was appalled and delighted by it.
Now I’m trying to finish up two nonfiction books: The Husband Hunters by Anne De Courcy ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and No Happy Endings by Nora McInerny
Amanda: Yeeeeaahhhh, SEP’s books don’t age well, in my opinion.
Kiki: It was one of those things where I knew from the premise that it was gonna be rough but OH MAN what a RIDE.
I feel VERY comfortable saying I’ve tried SEP and am perfectly happy to not try again
Claudia: Nobody’s Baby But Mine was also my first and last SEP. I completely agree with ‘what a ride’. It was like… bad pizza that you keep eating??
AJ: I just finished reading This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). It’s supposed to be a queer sci-fi romance, and I really enjoyed the writing and the world-building, but as a romance it didn’t quite work for me. It felt more like a concept novel than a story about a relationship between people.
Sarah: How do you mean? it was too meta for itself?
AJ: I don’t know if I’d say meta. It was more that they were having so much fun with the time travel, and all the crazy ways the characters could send secret letters to each other, but the characters weren’t fleshed out much as individuals. They were like that old spy vs. spy cartoon where it’s the same guy in a different colored coat (literally, their names are Red and Blue). That worked for the concept of the book, but it didn’t make me care whether these two, specifically, were going to end up together.
It was especially interesting to read while working on my Good Omens review, because Aziraphale and Crowley have a very similar dynamic — spy vs. spy, forbidden love, queerness — but they’re so distinctly different.
Sarah: Ah, that’s really interesting!
Amanda: I take back every hesitation about the lack of romance in The Blacksmith Queen. IT IS FULL OF POWERFUL WOMEN WHO MAKE ME WANT TO RAGE AND BURN SHIT DOWN.
If those book could have a theme song, it would be “Run the World” by Beyonce.
Tara: Okay, I think I have to check this out.
Amanda: There are lots of descriptions about the main character’s biceps and back muscles. There’s a cousin in her 40s or 50s who used to be a fighting champion and has no issues with nudity. Centaur women! Scheming dowager queens!
Tara: Okay, okay, I’m getting a sample when I get home!
Sneezy: Want!
Susan: SAME
I’ve been marathoning on m/m manga samplers because they were free and I needed something brainless to read while I travelled, but I’ve also started reading The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun by Aliette de Bodard, because I LOVE her Xuya stories.
EllenM: I’ve been charging through the Psy-Changeling series–just read Kiss of Snow ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I love this series but I’m trying to pace myself so normally I end up reading 2-3 books in a row, reading other stuff for a month or so, and then coming back.
I also just started An Illusion of Thieves by Cate Glass ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and I’m only about 10-15 pages in but I have high hopes. The stakes already feel very high and the fantasy world is intriguing.
Comics-wise, I’ve been reading the Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku manga series. It’s very cute, more of a series of rom-com vignettes with the same characters than a really strong plot, but I do think if you aren’t into either video games and or anime a lot of its charm will be lost on you. I also just read Girl Town ( A | BN | G | AB ), a comics anthology by Carolyn Nowak, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Even though a lot of the stories have a strong speculative element, the emotional territory covered feels VERY familiar as a person who grew up as a girl.
Aarya: ELLEN YOU ARE READING MY FAVORITE SERIES IN THE WORLD. KISS OF SNOW IS MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME.
Sorry, I have no chill when it comes to this series. This has been previously documented.
Claudia: I wonder if it’s a good entry-level fantasy (PNR?) series?
Maya: I think so!! Nalini Singh is amazing!! I think it was my first PNR series. Or at least the first I got obsessed with.
Tara: Yeah, very good for entry level. Her Guild Hunter series is also good.
Maya: Agreed, I’m a big fan of the audiobook version of the Guild Hunter series!
Tara: Hell yes. Her voice is SO perfect for it.
Claudia: Twist my arm guys!! I need to get my toes wet at least with PNR. I think library has ‘em all and by the time I get to the most recent one the wait won’t be so big.
Carrie: I just (as in, 10 minutes ago) finished Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). Review containing squee to follow. The narrator is a crow. It’s amazing.
Sarah: #teamcorvid
How is your reading going so far? Are you #teamcorvid?
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!
I just read Carian Cole’s, “No Tomorrow.” Tortured, homeless musician Blue meets shy, awkward Piper in the park. They fall in love and then everything falls apart. You never really find out why Piper gives him so many chances to break her heart, but by the end, you don’t need to know why. I liked it a lot. It’s a rough journey to happiness.
Just finished Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim and I adored it. I loved the banter and the beginning romance between Edan and Maia. And the end…it’s going to be hard to wait a year for Unravel the Dusk.
Also read A Duke in the Night by Kelly Bowen and I really liked both main characters. August while being overbearing at least didn’t strike me as acting that way because he could get away with it, but out of genuine care for his sister. And Clara was just a delight.
Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean — just a delight. Nuf said.
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal — hottest non-sex scene that I’ve ready in awhile. Faizal just has a way with words and I really liked the world building.
@Ren Benton: Thanks for the heads up that the anguish continues for Heloise. I follow Myke Cole on Twitter, he’s quite funny and always interesting.
The Body In Griffith Park (An Anna Blanc Mystery Book 3)- Jennifer Kincheloe
I stumbled onto the first 2 books in this series while looking for books narrated by Moira Quirk and I loved them but sadly this 3rd one isn’t available as an audiobook so I read it to myself and it was also excellent. A historical mystery set in Los Angeles 1908, Anna is a disgraced and disowned socialite working as an assistant matron with the LA police force whose job is to watch over the women and children in custody but what she wants to do is be a detective and solve crimes. In each of the books she finds herself accidentally on purpose immersed in solving crimes against women and children for which she gets no official credit. There is a strong romance plot with a love interest who is really quite wonderful, most of the supporting characters are interesting and the humor is somewhat screwball but not broadly so like a Stephanie Plum book.
Gods of Jade and Shadow – Silvia Moreno-Garcia Fantasy novel primarily set in 1920’s Mexico. Basically the coming-of-age story of 18 year-old Casiopea, miserable and overworked in her grandfather’s household until she accidently releases Hun-Kame the Mayan god of the underworld from the chest where he has been trapped by his twin brother. The two embark on a quest to locate Hun-Kame’s missing body parts, an eye, finger etc that will make it possible for Hun-Kame to regain his position from his usurper brother who has plans which will be devastating for humanity. I thought this was very good with intriguing secondary characters. I would not call this a romance though there is a minimal and to my mind unnecessary romantic subplot.
Where Death Meets The Devil – L.J. Hayward A romantic suspense novel told with a dual timeline method that switches back and forth between chapters devoted to THEN, where Jack an Australian counterintelligence special agent has his cover blown while on a mission in the Australian desert is saved, sexed up, betrayed and saved again by Ethan the deadly yet sexy assassin who was supposed to kill him and NOW which takes place a year later when Jack, skating on thin ice with his bosses who are still suspicious of his actions during the blown desert mission, is surprised when Ethan shows up to the agency and turns himself in at which point the saving, hot sex, betraying cycle starts up again. Often with this genre it’s easy for me to become enthused while I’m reading it and only notice quibbles once I’m finished. This book follows the pattern somewhat though ultimately I liked it quite a bit. Ethan and to a lesser extent Jack are the real draw, the action didn’t interest me much at all.
Open Hearts – Eve Dangerfield A new to me author rec’d by DiscoDollyDeb. I was dubious when I started this and for the first half I kept nearly DNF’ing it, not because it was bad but that I found the characters difficult to relate to, not their life choices as such but Dean’s happy-go-lucky not too brightness except that I actually really really loved both Dean And Ash so I kept reading and pondering my own biases, though admittedly probably not really changing them since I need intellectual stimulation as well as other types. I am definitely planning on reading more of this author.
I’m continuing my re-reads of various older Harlequin Presents which I remember as being notable for various often poorly remembered reasons. Although I find myself much less tolerant of HPs than I used to be and there are common tropes and authors I avoid entirely, they fill a specifically nostalgic niche in my reading that I am loath to give up.
A Legacy Of Secrets – Carol Marinelli- this author can be hit or miss but I remembered loving this one when I first read it and was happy that it held up so well. Santo Corretti, a film producer and irredeemable playboy is part of a powerful Sicilian family and this book is the first in a series dealing with the fallout when his brother, the current head of the family is left at the altar in what was to be a political marriage between two rival families. Ella, Santo’s current personal assistant is hoping to be a director eventually but takes the PA job when she escapes to Italy after years of unsuccessfully trying to convince her mother to leave her abusive father, which culminates in her father physically attacking Ella. Despite typically unrealistic HP timelines in terms of career advancement which mars the story there is an element of sorrow and anxiety that underlays almost the entire book which sounds awful but adds emotional resonance to what might have become just another story about a charmingly callow playboy. Of the 6 other books in the series, previously I only liked An Invitation To Sin by Sarah Morgan and A Scandal In The Headlines by Caitlin Crews thankfully written before she entered the immaculate conception stage of her HP oeuvre and I plan on rereading these next.
The Markonos Bride – Michelle Reid A second chance at love story, one of my favorite tropes and with a more careful re-read I still enjoyed this portion of the story, the hurt and bitterness the couple feel towards each other is both painful and believable. However given my current pissed off sensitivity to subtly conservative messaging, the plot point which caused me to remember this one positively, a rare mention of the morning-after pill as a viable option within the Harlequin Presents world, was handled less successfully.
Prior to the start of the book and against the wishes of both their families, Louisa and Andreas marry because of an unplanned pregnancy, unfortunately the marriage doesn’t survive the accidental death of their young son. Five years later they meet again when Louisa comes back for her yearly visit to their son’s grave which Andreas hadn’t even known that she makes. Soon after history repeats itself passion overcomes them and they have unprotected sex amongst the rocky trails of a Greek Island. This is where it gets aggravating because an older wiser Louisa, after internally castigating herself as an immoral slut (WTF!) ponders the ramifications and her choices and strongly considers taking the morning-after pill. It’s probably spoiling nothing to reveal that Louisa just can’t bring herself to buy it.
“tears were in her eyes and one of her hands was covering her trembling mouth because she knew now that she couldn’t do it. She just could not walk in there and calmly ask for the morning-after pill as if the tiny thing maybe struggling for life inside her did not have rights of it’s own.”
and later when Andreas who was having her watched (again WTF) says he was aware she must have been considering it while she hovered outside the pharmacy Louisa’s response is “So, you’re very clued up on tacky things like the morning-after pill?”
So ok while I appreciate that the author acknowledges the choice and manages to avoid biologically incorrect terminology the language and imagery she does use is emotionally manipulative and tacitly implies the wrongness of the choice. How I would love to read a romance where the heroine takes steps not to have a baby either through hormonal contraception taken the morning after or termination post implantation without shame or regret. This is a common experience in so many women’s lives and I’m offended that it’s apparently seen as incompatible with romance and HEA’s
Innocent wife, Baby of Shame – Melanie Milburne THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST HP I’ve ever read which is really saying something, and I don’t mean it in the so bad its good way either. It takes some regrettably common elements of HPs: a man from Mediterranean country who holds offensively double standard views about sex, an insecure young woman accepting blame and feeling shame for something she didn’t do, the ridiculous contrivance of the “press” causing scandal by avidly and improbably reporting on the lives of non-celebrities, combines them and careens wildly from infuriating to asinine. Not a reread but it sounded promising, second chance at love trope, great! a heroine who meets her husband while working on her graduate degree in painting, Hey me too! but the stakes don’t feel very high, the timeline is odd, the art student stuff is trite, there is a gay character whose role is really offensive and the male lead and his teenage cousin are verbally abusive and vile. I remember reading that Melanie Milburne has spoken about regretting some of here earlier books and consciously trying to do better I can only assume this is one of them.
I’ve been reorganizing some old files on my computer, specifically confirming the links to a group of short stories by women writers which are in the public domain but not particularly well known or easily located and of course as soon as I open the file I end up reading the entire story. I thought maybe some of the Bitchery might appreciate a few.
“Indissoluble Matrimony” by Rebecca West This is a fascinating look at one evening in the unhappy marriage of Evadne and George Silverton, a mixed race couple living in the London suburbs. Its by turns prosaic and hallucinogenic and tragic. Published in the short-lived modernist literary magazine BLAST from 1914 the link includes the entire magazine which has lovely art work as well as poems and reviews. https://archive.org/details/BlastNo.1/page/n131
“The Diary of A Dangerous Child” by Djuna Barnes This was published under the nom be plume of Lydia Steptoe and is short but very funny
published in Vanity Fair (1922) https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112003997175&view=1up&seq=790
Charlotte Bronte’s Last Sketch This is the title of the introduction by William Thackeray of an uncompleted story by Charlotte Bronte which in this publication is titled “Emma” only a few chapters long but it’s beginning as a mystery and has so much promise that it is truly sad it was never finished. From Harper’s Magazine 1859-1860 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015056090346&view=1up&seq=832
“Lemorne Versus Huell” by Elizabeth Stoddard The writing style is very abrupt and unsentimental for it’s era and there are portions of dialogue where it can be difficult to distinguish who is speaking which is something of a stylist trademark for Stoddard. About the courtship of an impoverished but genteel woman, Margaret by Edward Uxbridge, the lawyer for Lemorne who is embroiled in a longstanding legal battle with Margaret’s wealthy Aunt Eliza Huell. Margaret is a pawn, the degree to which becomes clear only at the end, but under her placidity she seethes.
From Harper’s New Monthly Magazine 1863 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/881
@Iris: I, too, am a bit of an HP junkie. I love them, even when they can be problematic. So many secret babies and unplanned pregnancies, not to mention the recent trend toward virgins (even pushing 30 years of age). I always have a sharp eye out for trends that seem to be curtailing women’s ability to forthrightly enjoy sex and acknowledge that enjoyment (I’m the first to get on my soapbox about the disheartening trend of cutesy/cartoon-y/chick-lit covers on what are sexually-explicit romances), but I return again and again to HPs—I find them so comforting. Talk about cognitive dissonance! But at least I admit to it—lol. Have you read any Claire Connelly? She hasn’t published many HPs, but she has a huge backlist of HP-manque books featuring sheikhs, billionaires, arranged marriages, unplanned pregnancies, secret babies, etc. She’s almost too melodramatic for HP, but I return to her books time and again.
Re Eve Dangerfield. Her best book, imho, is ACT YOUR AGE, a perfect blend of heat, heart, and humor. However, I do caution that it involves (completely consensual) DD/lg and step-father/step-daughter role-play scenarios. But I find Dangerfield always does a great job of making the reader understand how a couple incorporates consensual kink into their relationship.
@Iris: I forgot to mention that Rebecca West’s “The Salt of the Earth” is one of my favorite short stories: a chilling depiction of a woman who is technically always right, but ends up being wrong about everything.
I usually talk about “Duke” books I have read here, but The Bees by Laline Paull made itself a place in my Keepers file. I recently attended an introductory lecture which included a lot of information about bee society and then The Bees entered my Kindle. The beehive is a castle with royal intrigue, ladies in waiting, and the drones are rakes. In Paull’s book, Flora 717 is the heroine and one feisty girl bee. The story simply fit it with my usual reading. Plus, the cosmos keeps telling me to start keeping bees next spring, putting articles, books, and beekeepers in front of me. I predict I’ll be recommending this book at my garden club’s “book club” meeting next winter.
After my visit to Flora’s beehive, Rogue of Fifth Avenue was a good change of scenery. I was looking forward to Frank Tripp’s story and Joanne Shupe did not disappoint. My only quibble was I applied a little suspension of disbelief on Frank keeping his origins hidden for so long.
Currently reading What a Widow Wants by Jenna Jaxon and waiting for Matthew and Fanny to sit down and figure out what they have together. Hmmph. I have really enjoyed this series so far with the different ways Waterloo widows find a second (or first) HEA.
Up next is The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory, freshly delivered by the library fairies.
Seconding Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia!
C.S.E Cooney’s Desdemona and the Deep: A rich and privileged girl overhears her father promise the king of an underworld his coal miners’ lives for oil, and she goes down to rescue them. This is vivid, flowery writing and the character development is top notch. Not a romance, but contains romantic elements for non-viewpoint characters.
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh: A m/m fairy tale with a monster-hunter mother.
Undercity and The Bronze Skies by Catherine Asaro (SF): A former undercity street rat has retired from the military and become a PI. She’s hired by planetary rulers to solve mysteries, and in the process begins to transform her birthplace. Contains a non-explicit romance between the viewpoint character and her childhood flame.
THE BEST THING by Mariana Zapata [B] – everyone is being so super spoiler-protecty of Zapata’s latest that I don’t know if I can even remark with surprise on the hero’s career. (To put his career in taxonomic terms, I was surprised by the specific family, not the order.)
THE LAST CHANCE by Molly O’Keefe [B] – I wouldn’t have touched this book without DiscoDollyDeb’s revised synopsis in comment #10 above. Here’s how the official synopsis reads on Amazon:
Seeing women beg for forgiveness (one-sided) is not what I read romance for. Maybe Molly O’Keefe’s fans know what to expect from her and wouldn’t be put off by a tease of only one protagonist’s perspective. If she wants to attract new fans, I would suggest a more balanced approach in book descriptions. For anyone who doesn’t want to slide back to comment 10, here’s what DDD wrote:
Helloooo, different book.
Drat, the O’Keefe book is ONE LAST CHANCE. (I don’t know whether to blame the proximity of Zapata’s title or my hostility toward the official book description for the mix-up.)
But at least screwing it up gives me a chance to +1 EllenM on Wotakoi.
I knew my Once In A Lifetime binge from July wouldn’t hold (call it a self-fulfilling prophecy), but I did read a few books while binge watching Jamestown and the new Veronica Mars season (still raging about the ending).
I loved Melina Marchetta’s The Place on Dalhousie . I am a long time Marchetta fan, I basically loved everything I’ve ever read from her. Here, we have three main characters and a house on Dalhousie, and some pretty heavy subject matter that Marchetta handles in her signature matter of fact but somehow still raw and emotional style. Martha’s voice was an unexpected favourite and the whole storyline was just so compact and beautiful that I felt all the feels. It has two main romantic plotlines but this novel is more about family and finding a place in the world. I highly recommend it!
I’ve also read the third installment of Libba Bray’s The Diviners series, Before the Devil Breaks You . In my opinion, this wasn’t the best of the three but still I gave it five stars. Libba Bray’s concealed social commentary that runs through this whole series is so very well delivered. She ups the stakes here and there are scenes that still haunt me.
For Ripped Bodice, I’ve read An Assassin’s Guide to Love and Treason by Virginia Boecher and it was just pure bonkers fun. Daughter of executed catholic lord goes AWOL and wants to kill the queen while wanna be writer spy Toby plots to end the conspiracy in Shakespeare’s Globe. Performing Twelfth Night.
I also read the first novella in the Kate Daniels series which was okay and a Harlequin Desire title – Best Friends, Secret Lovers which I needed after the sucker punch of Veronica Mars season 4 finale. It was nothing special, a nice little something that was not bad but wasn’t good either.
This is my first post here! I thought I should post since so much of my reading is found through these posts!
Currently reading:
A PRINCE ON PAPER – Alyssa Cole. Enjoying this one quite a bit so far, although for me personally, nothing will live up to A PRINCESS IN THEORY, the first romance I’ve read with a public health professional. (Where are all the MPH leads???)
NOT QUITE OVER YOU – Susan Mallery. Mallery is basically cotton candy but I’ve read everything so far so I’ll keep on reading. I like Happily Inc. better than Fools Gold, anyway, and this is another predictable yet enjoyable light read.
NOT ANOTHER FAMILY WEDDING – Jackie Lau. This is fine, but I stopped reading it as soon as my holds on Cole and Mallery’s books came in.
Recently finished:
DIAMOND FIRE – Ilona Andrews. Hidden Legacy is my favorite Andrews series and I loved this. So fun. Can’t wait for Sapphire Flames to come out.
TEACH ME – Oliva Dade. I really liked this as well, both the leads were such good people.
RED, WHITE, AND ROYAL BLUE – Casey McQuiston. Read about this hear, I really liked it a lot and couldn’t put it down, but I can also see why it’s polarizing. Definitely found the alternate reality a little too painful at certain points.
THE AFTERWARD – EK Johnson. Read about this here, got through the library, and LOVED IT so much. This was the band of sisters save the world book I knew I was looking for and couldn’t find. I want to read about a million more like it. (I was one of those kids that read the Eddings’ series a million times, so definitely the target audience for this.) After I finished that I binged on her books and read THE STORY OF OWEN and PRAIRIE FIRE (not romances, but excellent and really creative) and THAT INEVITABLE VICTORIAN THING (a little more forgettable as it’s been a month and I already can’t quite remember the plot, but I enjoyed while I was reading).
I also recently read WOLF RAIN (Nalini Singh) which I liked a lot more than the other books in this arc. I re-read the entire P-C series this spring and am considering a third read if I get into another holds drought because I just find that world so enjoyable. Can’t wait for the next Guild Hunter book this fall!
Started, did not finish:
ANY OLD DIAMOND – I love KJ Charles, but I found both heroes so unlikable and when my checkout expired, I hadn’t gotten half way in, so did not renew.
FRISKY BUSINESS – read a few pages, was not for me.
BURNOUT – am still hoping to finish this – I actually bought it but it hit too close to home, so I had to stop before getting very far.
Next up:
EYE SPY – Mercedes Lackey – This series is objectively bad, but I keep getting them out of the library anyway. My inner 12 year old can’t get enough of the Heralds.
Eagerly awaiting my holds on a ton of books I found here – THE RIGHT SWIPE (Alisha Rai, love her!), PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND OTHER FLAVORS (Sonali Dev), FIX HER UP (Tessa Baily), CALIFORNIA GIRLS (Mallery), THE FRIEND ZONE (Abby Jimenez), THE LADY’s GUIDE TO CELESTIAL MECHANICS (Olivia Waite)
@DiscoDollyDeb, I hear you about cognitive dissonance, expecting behavior or ideas expressed in books read for pleasure to always align with my personal values is not only impossible but why would I even want to when books are the perfect vicarious experience delivery systems? But I assume most of us have imaginary lines in the sand about some issues and in the last few years the HP line has smacked up against mine. It’s interesting to me that you and I both describe HP’s as comforting, in my teenage years they were a reliable go to escape from trauma. And that’s the thing about HP’s virginity trend, HPs purport to tell the stories of individual women some of whom just happen to make a choice to limit their sexual activity to only one man ever, (a wealthy sex god with six-pack abs on you first and only attempt? you go girl!) but they often use internal language and reasoning which isn’t far from conservative religious beliefs about proper female sexual behavior and outcomes, sans overt terminology of course. But a few out of the 8 published a month is a coincidence, 6-7 of 8 isn’t just a pattern it feels like a editorial stance towards the promotion of regressive moral codes and where’s the comfort in that?
Act Your Age is a perhaps, I have a fairly strong anti-Dom reflex but you never know, certain writers can make nearly anything relatable.
and “The Salt of the Earth” is fabulous, did you read it in the beautiful green covered Virago Modern Classics edition? Even now when I’m trying to downsize my library I can’t get rid of those Virago Modern Classics.
Back to Carian Cole for a minute. Her “Ashes and Embers” rock band series is in KU. I really, really liked it. Longhaired,tattooed rockstars dealing with falling in love with their unusual, quirky girls in the hot spot of New Hampshire. Lots of angst and some trigger warnings for eating disorders, depression and heartbreaking loss make for not your ususal sex, drugs and rock and roll love stories.
@Iris :
You wrote “How I would love to read a romance where the heroine takes steps not to have a baby either through hormonal contraception taken the morning after or termination post implantation without shame or regret.”
NOT ANOTHER FAMILY WEDDING – Jackie Lau
@Ren Benton – “the adventures of Wolfe and Santi I MEAN JESS AND HIS PLUCKY TEEN FRIENDS” LOL! Throughout the first book, I kept expecting Wolfe to be killed off and I’ve been hesitant to continue the series for that reason. Now I can read books 2 and 3 with confidence. 😀 If something happens to him later, a heads up would be greatly appreciated.