I refuse to believe we’re on Part Two on Whatcha Reading this month! HOW? WHEN? WHY?!
Either way, here is what we’ve been reading in preparation for December!
Catherine: I just finished The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) This is the most recent novel in her Invisible Library series, and it’s fantastic – a funny, clever heist story, full of twists and turns and dragon politics. Highly recommended (but you should probably start with the first book in the series).
Right before that, I read and loved Talia Hibbert’s novel, A Girl Like Her ( A | BN | K | AB ), which is sweet and moving and funny and occasionally enraging (for the right reasons), and also Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which has escape rooms and unashamed geekiness and a great, snarky, disabled heroine, and which I absolutely adored, so I’m having a really good week, reading-wise.
Sneezy: My ADHD brain has me scampering everywhere like a squirrel right now, so I’m bouncing between several books. It’s mostly an even split between The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai (FIIIIINALLYYYYYY, THE HOLD LINE WAS SO LOOOOONG), A Convenient Marriage by Jeevani Charika ( A ), and All Blood Runs Red by Phil Keith and Tom Clavin.
When I first read the synopsis of All Blood Runs Red, I thought Eugene Bullard, who the biography is about, sounded like he could be the basis of one or three of Beverly Jenkin’s heros. So far nothing in the book has dissuaded me from this feeling, even though romance didn’t really work out for him. There are some dudisms in the biography that makes me grumble, because I feel like there are some information about the world wars or the people involved in them that didn’t need to be there. Sometimes they give great context, and loops immediately back to how these things or people matter to Bullard, sometimes it’s just a geek out.
And look, I’m all for a geek out, BUT WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH MY BOY, WTF DON’T LEAVE ME HANGING. And yes, all the bits I felt like were extraneous felt SO DRY. But MAYBE these people turn out to Bullard’s friends or which ever battle they’re waxing poetry about DOES affect Bullard, so I can’t just SKIP. ARGH
Anyway, the title of the biography is actually lifted from Bullard’s AUTObiography that was never published. While the authors did apparently do a lot of leg work trying verify Bullard’s account of his life, I still wish they didn’t take his title, and Bullard’s autobiography could be published, warts and all.
Tara: I, too, am bouncing between a bunch of books. And yet, even though they’re all great, I’m not reading any of them right now because I’ve fallen into a rabbit hole of Rory/Paris Gilmore Girls fanfic, despite that not being one of my usual fandoms. I’ll probably climb out of it by tomorrow and will pick back up with Alone by E.J. Noyes. It’s a first person story about a woman who’s in a research study for life off Earth, which means she’s being paid a buttload of money to live in total isolation for 3+ years. At some point, someone will stumble on the property where she’s at, but that hasn’t happened yet, and I’m very curious to see how that relationship goes because I think this is supposed to be a romance.
Shana: I’m currently reading Not Since You by Fiona Riley, ( A | BN | K | AB ) a low-angst second chance f/f between a cruise ship bartender and her first love, a graphic designer who just happens to be a guest on the ship. However, the pace makes Mary Balogh’s books look frenetic—and I love Balogh, to be clear. I’ve started looking longingly at my recently arrived preorder of A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas by Jackie Lau. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s a novella, so it probably doesn’t count as cheating if I just pop over and read it quickly.
Lara: I have just finished Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters and it makes me feel the same feelings I did after watching One Fine Day and Two Weeks Notice. Good Book Noise!
Kiki: I am ALSO bouncing around a lot of stuff and it’s all been really excellent!
I’m listening to Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is this wonderfully expansive critique of capitalist and technology-determined definitions of productivity and how it consumes our time, bodies, and environments. And the effects of refocusing our attention. Like I said, I’m listening to it right now, but I’m planning on buying the physical book so that I can mark it up with notes because besides being really affirming and grounding, the writing is gorgeous. I’m also really interested in any discussion of privilege—it’s been mentioned briefly although I’m still early enough in the book that it may come back.
I’m reading/listening to approximately three other things but I think it’s most pertinent to the folks here that I listened to my first Ilona Andrews last week and was DELIGHTED by how much I liked it! So now I’m just starting White Hot. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Aarya: *emerges from reading cave, certain that someone has just mentioned Ilona Andrews somewhere in the world*
In reading news, I just finished Erin A. Craig’s House of Salt and Sorrows ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and hated it. Uneven pacing, unmemorable MCs, unexplained worldbuilding aspects, undeveloped/bewildering romantic relationship, and too much horror for my liking. I’m really sad because the writing was lovely and the premise had so much potential. But those things aren’t enough for me to like a book.
I’m still debating what’s next but I think I’m going to choose Joanna Shupe’s The Prince of Broadway. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) I really enjoy her Gilded Age books and this one features a casino/gambling den (a setting that I can never resist. Ahem, Devil in Winter). Plus, the heroine is determined to open a women-only casino. I’m excited to watch her succeed.
Elyse: I just finished Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard. It’s a really phenomenal mystery and the first book in a new series. It’s a police procedural but takes place in a town with a similar history as Salem so there’s a theme of witchcraft throughout. Highly recommend
Claudia: I did a re-read of one of the favorite holiday books: A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) It didn’t disappoint. I think it’s one of the few seasonal stories that the holiday is an essential/central part of the plot rather than background. You somewhat need your 1990s blinders on at times but not much.
Carrie: I just finished the latest Kopp Sisters book, The Kopp Sisters on the March by Amy Stewart. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) Loved it, as usual.
Maya: I’m reading the graphic novel The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited which is based one of the D&D campaigns from the Adventure Zone podcast by the McElroy family. Carey Pietsch does the art. I love the Adventure Zone podcast and the McElroys generally, so this adaptation is a joy. The art elevates a story whose overall arc was one that centered and celebrated diversity without pandering or being performative. Love it!!!
Amanda: KISS YOUR DAD SQUARE ON THE LIPS!
Catherine: Carrie, the Kopp sisters are great fun!
Ellen: I just finished How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse and it was delightful and I might be in love with the Vizier. Now I’m reading Promise of Darkness by Bec McMaster ( A | BN | K | AB )–I’m very early in but I’m enjoying it. Also, so far the comparison to Court of Thorns and Roses seems quite apt.
Susan: Like Sneezy and Tara, I’m having a hard time focusing on one thing at the moment, so I’m bouncing between an ARC of All Fired Up by Lori Foster and Magic For Liars by Sarah Gailey.
I nearly DNFed All Fired Up ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Scribd ) on the first page because it has the hero watching (and fantasising about) the heroine from somewhere she can’t see see him, while she’s stranded by car troubles, and the author clearly knows this is creepy behaviour because THE VILLAIN DOES IT TOO LATER IN THE BOOK! But it’s compelling, so I’m still reading it and just being grumpy about it.
Magic For Liars ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) on the other hand is REALLY GOOD so far – I love Ivy as a protagonist, because she’s a Disaster PI and the kind of unreliable narrator where I don’t doubt her explanation of the facts, but her account of her emotions is definitely a lie. I’m just having to take it slow because I KNOW it’s all about to go wrong and I’m not ready!
Charlotte: I’m reading an ARC of The Rebel Bride by Shannon McNear. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) It’s a Civil War inspie. That’s definitely pretty far outside my usual reading comfort zone, in both respects. I’m only about 10% into it, but it’s so unflinching in depicting the extreme trauma associated with living in a war zone and losing family that it’s hard for me to be in my romance-reading mindset. I have a lot of inherent skepticism around this type of plot (Union hero, Confederate heroine), but the introduction suggested the author is aware of the potential to go very wrong here, so I’m giving it a shot.
What were your hits and misses of the month? Let us know below!
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This has not been a good stretch for reading, but I enjoyed “Babel No More” by Michael Erard. It was a lighter nonfiction book about the author doing research into people he calls “hyper polygots”, people who study and learn many languages, to figure out how to they do it. Some parts were dated, but it’s still interesting. One of my life goals is to be a hyper polyglot. (he described it as speaking six languages or more and I’m close to feeling comfortable in my 2nd foreign language. Almost half way there. Woohoo :-))
I’m also reading the reboot of The Runways by Rainbow Rowell along with (and ahead of to avoid nasty surprises) the 7 year old.
Still going strong in the Simply series in audio by Mary Balogh, narrated by Rosalyn Landor.
I’ve got a lot of promising half finished things, but I will jinx myself if I mention them here.
Cold Bayou by Barbara Hambly: Re-read after Lady of Perdition. I liked it except she has about 1 million characters, and after a while I just gave up on keeping them straight.
Midwinter Masque by Tracy Grant: Next in the Malcolm and Melanie Rannoch. Everyone is beautiful, wears great clothes, and has multiple children and spies on each other. Usual fun 🙂
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher: This was SO GOOD. Non-gory horror with a great heroine. It’s first-person POV, but her thoughts are awesome “Was I concentrating on trivialities to keep from thinking about [spoilers]? Yes, I was.” Also, you find out in the first couple of pages that her dog is ok, so that takes pressure off. And just because it isn’t gory doesn’t mean it isn’t scary. I had to quit reading this at night.
Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen: This is a little slow moving, but had a great sense of place and time. It’s a country house mystery set before WWI, and the people, while nice, have those sensibilities. The lady of the manor and her housekeeper work together to solve the mystery, but they’re both uncomfortable because it just Isn’t Done. I will read the rest of the series, and I’m looking forward to her Poppy Redfern mystery.
Currently reading and enjoying The Rook.
Beth Cato- Roar of Sky
A satisfying conclusion to this steampunk series. I appreciated that the heroine’s disability wasn’t magically solved and that she achieves things through pain because that’s just a part of her life. All the same, though I enjoyed it I don’t remember much of it just a few weeks later.
Jen DeLuca- Well Met
This read more women’s fic than romance to me, so I came away feeling a bit duped by the marketing. It wasn’t bad, actually quite cute at parts, but not really my usual thing.
Julie Berry- Lovely War
The concept of this was so unusual. In WWII, the gods Aphrodite, Ares, Haephestus, Apollo, and Hades gather in a New York hotel room where Aphrodite tells them two of her “triumphs” from the last war–a love story between a British soldier and a young pianist, and a parallel love story between an African American soldier/musician and a Belgian singer. I’ve never read anything quite like it. It ran a bit long but it really sucked me in.
Elizabeth Hoyt- Thief of Shadows
So there was a fire in my residence and I was subsequently evicted. “Stressful” is the understatement of the decade. About all I’m capable of right now are comfort rereads, so I turned to Thief of Shadows first, because Winter Makepeace is probably my favorite hero of all time…
Tessa Dare- A Week to be Wicked
…except for Colin Sandhurst. Comfort reread part two. I love this book so much. It was much funnier than I even remembered.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia- Gods of Jade and Shadow
I started this before the fire and it took me a while to finish it. Something about the prose didn’t really work for me but I’m not in a place to try and figure out what it was. I didn’t really like it, but I think it might be a case of ‘wrong time, wrong book.’
Recovering from pneumonia (Bitches, please check with your doctor—even if you think you just have “a bad cough”—don’t wait until you feel like a house fell on top of you—speaking from experience here) and kind of a mixed bag, reading-wise—for example, until I was putting my notes together, I didn’t realize I read so much with content & trigger warnings this month.
I took a non-romance reading detour when one of my daughters found a book I’ve been wanting to read for years, Robert Barnard’s A TALENT TO DECEIVE: AN APPRECIATION OF AGATHA CHRISTIE (first published in 1980, just a few years after Christie’s death). All other reading promptly went on the back-burner while I tore through this analysis of what makes Christie (despite some glaring flaws) the ne plus ultra of murder-mystery fiction. Barnard (who was himself an excellent mystery writer, an academic, and, for many years, president of the Bronte Society) carefully analyzes Christie’s oeuvre and why her denouements are satisfying and surprising in equal measure. Of course, as Barnard acknowledges, it’s impossible to dissect Christie’s technical genius without spoilers, but the spoilers were not a problem for me because I’ve read all of Christie’s work multiple times—and find her style soothing even when I know who the culprit is. Barnard doesn’t shy away from addressing some of the issues found in Christie’s work (even 40 years ago, readers clearly saw the classicism, colonial attitudes, and casual racism & anti-semitism present in many of Christie’s books, especially the earlier ones from the 1920s) and shows how it is possible to enjoy her work on a technical level while still acknowledging its problematic elements. Key quote (one of many): “A detective story is not a romantic novel. Keep emotion well in hand.” Highly recommended for Christie fans, especially if you’ve read most of her work and don’t mind spoilers.
[CW/TW: Depression; CAUTION: For those with depression, there may be triggering events in the book, particularly involving suicide and suicide ideation.] Although I’ve read and enjoyed a number of Tamsen Parker’s books, I only discovered she had released a new book when I read her recent post at Love in Panels about writing a character who is suffering from depression while suffering from depression herself; and one of the things she mentioned was how her depression has made it difficult for her to do promotional events associated with the new book—which helps explain why there hasn’t been more visibility for Parker’s FOR HER OWN GOOD. I found that lack of promotion unfortunate (although complete understandable) because FOR HER OWN GOOD is a good book which, while not for everyone, takes an unflinching look at depression, love, and kink—and how each one affects the other two. The heroine is a woman in her early thirties who is successfully managing her severe depression with weekly therapy and monthly ECT treatments; she states it bluntly, “Brains can be shitty sometimes.” (As an aside, I must say that I loved the heroine’s consulting business: reconfiguring the planners, schedules, and home/work spaces of people with mental illnesses, so that their environments work for and not against them.) She unexpectedly reconnects (socially) with her former psychiatrist, a man she hasn’t seen since her teens. I’ve mentioned before that one of my catnips is female therapists who fall for their (former) male clients, but not so much with the genders reversed; however, Parker makes the story work. The couple haven’t been therapist and patient for 15 years, but the dynamic still lingers, even as they become closer emotionally, then physically. Add to this that both of them have had Daddy/little girl fantasies involving the other and things escalate once they both acknowledge their desires. I know Daddy-kink isn’t everyone’s cuppa tea, but again Parker makes it work—letting the reader see that much of the h&h’s desire to play DD/lg games is the result of wanting to nurture/care for and be nurtured/cared for. I had one major issue with the book: the hero’s muddled rationale for leaving the heroine toward the end of the story—it seemed rather self-serving, even though the heroine accepted his explanation and apology. Another quibble with the book is its cover: the book’s hero is a red-headed man in his early fifties, whilst the cover model is neither ginger nor middle-aged. I recommend FOR HER OWN GOOD for its beautiful writing, strong and brave heroine, earnest but conflicted hero, and unorthodox love story. However, if you or a loved one suffer from chronic depression, I’d advise proceeding with caution because Parker’s look at living with that condition is sharp-eyed and completely unsentimental.
After reading the first four books of Kate Canterbary’s Walsh Family series earlier this month, I finished the rest of the series with the final four books (RESTORED, THE SPIRE, PRESERVATION, and THRESHOLDS). At one point in THE SPIRE, the hero tells the heroine (a Walsh sister), “At any given moment, every one of your siblings is sheltering seven different secrets,” and I realized that, although it comes toward the end of the sixth book, this quote is the key to the way Canterbary has written the entire series—in each book, there are secret relationships, unexpected marriages, unrequited loves, painful separations, joyous reconciliations, and Canterbary keeps all the facts and timelines threading through the eight books: who knows what secret, when did they discover it, and how did they react to the discovery? The Walsh siblings are close-knit, but it’s a hard-won closeness because of the history of abuse they suffered at the hands of their father after their mother died (the abuse is not described in detail, but it could still be triggering); keeping secrets is a defensive mechanism with all of them. (Incidentally, in response to the above quote, the heroine retorts, “Seven seems like a low number.”) I will even forgive Canterbary for using my least favorite romance novel word, “tummy” (in reference to both female and male anatomies), because the series is so awesomely good. Highly recommended, but the books must be read in order.
[TW/CW: Discussion of abuse.] Clare Connelly’s JUST THIS ONE SUMMER is the next of her Montebello series about a Greek-Italian family of brothers and cousins raised by their grandmother and now running the family business together. The heroine of JUST THIS ONE SUMMER is living in a small coastal Italian town, hiding from an abusive ex-boyfriend back in England (TW/CW for flashbacks). She meets a man and starts a summer fling with him—it’s not until after the affair starts that she realizes this man knows (or, at least, knew) her ex. Complications ensue. I thought Connelly did a good job of showing how insidious abusive behavior is, how victims try to appease their abusers, how abusers use a combination of gaslighting, emotional withholding, ridicule, isolation, and physical abuse to keep their victims off-balance. Some of the heroine’s choices and behaviors with her new love would seem incomprehensible without knowing about her past situation. JUST THIS ONE SUMMER is less a romance (although there certainly is one) and more about a woman overcoming the horror of an abusive relationship and learning to trust, love, and move forward again.
I was in the mood for something on the dark side and grabbed Penelope Douglas’s CORRUPT from KU. Has this happened to you: the first book you read by a writer (it doesn’t have to be the first book they published, just the first book by them that you ever read) is absolutely wonderful and hits all your catnip centers, but then the subsequent books you read by that writer fail to live up to the excellence of the first book you read? It happened to me with A. Zavarelli, whose beautiful and melancholy TAP LEFT is one of my comfort rereads but whose other books (even though I’ve liked some of them, especially her Boston Underworld mafia romances) never totally hit the sweet spot for me. Anyway, I think something similar might be happening for me with Penelope Douglas’s work. The first book of hers I read was THE BIRTHDAY GIRL, an all-the-feels story of a young woman who falls for her ex-boyfriend’s father, but since then I haven’t read anything else by her that comes close to matching the emotional complexity of that book. I suppose that’s going a long way to say that Douglas’s CORRUPT is fine if you’re looking for a dark NA with a real anti-hero hero and a heroine who spends a good portion of the book being mind-fucked by said “hero” and his friends, who blame her for the fact that some of them had to serve jail time (the truth is far more complicated). I’ll give Douglas credit for developing some real tension in the storyline (I would almost classify the book as psychological suspense with, eventually, some romantic elements), but I’m still waiting for another BIRTHDAY GIRL.
I had never read anything by JC Harroway, but I read THE PROPOSITION because it is the third of Dare’s four-book Billionaires Club series (each book written by a different author) and I enjoyed the first two books (Jackie Ashenden’s THE DEBT and Caitlin Crews’s excellent THE RISK). While the synopsis of THE PROPOSITION seemed interesting (older heroine, younger hero, both billionaires, both with significant family issues involving their fathers, agree to a no-strings-attached sexual affair which morphs into something more emotional as they travel to various glamour spots on the globe), Harroway’s tedious tell-not-show style, constant hammering home of every point multiple times, and characters’ vertigo-inducing about-faces left me irritated and bored. The most interesting elements of the book were two things I don’t recall seeing previously in a book from the Dare line: use of the c-word (I hasten to add that it’s used in a positive, not pejorative, way) and scenes involving anal sex & butt plugs. Although I read THE PROPOSITION because I want to read all the books in the Billionaires Club series, nothing about it grabbed me and I don’t see myself looking for more books from Harroway.
‘The Governess Game’, by Tessa Dare. I’m really enjoying it, especially Alexandra’s character and the two little girls. No it’s not exactly ‘The Duchess Deal’, but the first book set the bar pretty high.
I also started ‘Once Upon A Rose’, by Nora Roberts and other authors.
I haven’t had much time to read the past few weeks, but I did get to meet some authors and pick up their books at a recent conference, including SMITTEN BY THE BRIT by Melonie Johnson; THE PRINCESS PLAN by Julia London; FATAL FICTION by Kym Roberts; and HIDDEN by Rebecca Zanetti.
I also need to start reading the holiday romances on my TBR pile before the holidays are over. Where does the time go? Sigh.
Starting to pick up reading again after a slump, although I know the holidays will eat into my book time. I didn’t realize how much my tastes had changed until I went back to a comfort read and found myself cringing from the lack of consent. I didn’t finish it because it was no longer a comfort read. However, the ready if the months reading was better:
VERY GOOD
Lindsay, E.M. – Scarification. Latest in the Iron & Works series centering around a tattoo shop. The couple made me root for them and the series keeps getting better.
Phoenix, Nora – The Omega’s Power. This latest installment in the ongoing MPREG werewolf series was really good. This and the previous book, the Alpha’s Obedience, center around the same thruple. It has some of the best discussions and manifestations of consent that I’ve seen. I read Omega and the immediately went back and read Alpha and then Omega again just to enjoy the characters growth and interactions.
GOOD
Booth, Ginger – Skyship Thrive. Non-romance sci-fi about a female cop turned revolutionary turned starship captain trying to make a go of it in a colony world. Slight vibes of Firefly with strong female roles. I’m going to continue reading the series.
Cothern, Brenda – Witch’s Brew series. Supernaturals running a dance club in Chicago. A different M/M couple each time and a strong sense of found family.
Loveless, Ryan – The Forgotten Man. A Hanukkah M/M story sent in historical New York. It was recommended on SBTB and was very sweet.
Sue, Victoria – In His Hands. A short ‘ come back from the military and find your childhood sweetheart is pregnant with your dead brothers baby’. It was sweet.
SO-SO
Gray, C.W. – Cauldron Cake Pops and Witches Kisses. A really short story. I think I’ll like more of the world when I see it, but it was too short for character development.
Hawke, Susi – Hollydale Omegas (Books 1-3). Holiday themed MPREG novellas. They are sweet and tackle some hard issues and found family. There is even a Thanksgiving one! I’ve stuck at number 4, but I’ll come back it them.
@DiscDollyDeb I really liked Kate Canterbary’s Walsh Family series, and am surprised I don’t see them recommended more. ( I haven’t loved the ones that stray from the family as much)
I read and loved WHAT THE PARROT SAW by Darlene Marshall, what a great heroine! She’s always described as physically powerful, and is taller than the hero, as well as being the captain of her own ship. So great, and the hero is lovely too, respectful, handsome, resolute.
And I just finished THE NIGHT RAVEN by Sarah Painter which is an urban fantasy and just enjoyed it so much. Not a romance, it’s the story of a London with 4 opposing magical families, and the heroine is a mind 20’s relatively non-magical member of the Crows. She was raised outside the family and is therefore not truly informed about the magical politics, and that becomes a lot clearer as the book goes on. The style was neither dark nor jokey, just right. It is also not scrubbed of British-isms, and as I read it on kindle I enjoyed looking up a few terms as I went. And there are more!
@DiscoDollyDeb – yikes, hope you’re feeling better.
I’m currently finishing up Jo Goodman’s most recent trilogy, set in late nineteenth century Colorado. Honestly it has been a disappointment. I usually love Goodman, but this is just not up to her usual standard.
The first book, Touch of Frost, was almost good. It had all the Goodman trademarks: rich character psychologies, complicated and dysfunctional familial relationships, mystery, tight plotting, dramatic denouments. It was just that the romance felt very lackluster and was easily the least interesting thing about the book — I was actually disappointed when the focus was on the romance rather than the family drama, because the family stuff had so much going on and the romance was just sort of… there.
Touch of Flame, the second book, was… I don’t even know. The heroine is a doctor, and she is absolutely spectacular. I loved her so much and would have been happy to keep reading about her, and tbh I would recommend the book for her sake alone, despite everything else I’m about to say. The hero was adorable and refreshingly different. But… on the whole, the book felt disjointed. There were a thousand plot threads, none of which — including the romance — felt well developed, and most of which didn’t really quite go anywhere. The one plot thread that eventually does go somewhere seemed to do so at random. The heroine initially doesn’t like the hero, but then there’s a time skip forward two months and suddenly they’re friends, and then more than friends; Goodman didn’t show us how they got to each new stage or that they had convincing sexual/romantic feelings for each other. There were a lot of things I liked about it, but it just felt messy. It read a bit like an earlier draft.
The third book, Touch of Forever, which I started last night, isn’t promising so far. I’m only about a third of the way in, but at the moment it’s continuing the trend of lackluster chemistry, and while there are significantly fewer plot threads, the decisions made by the characters to enable the romance are too obviously made to enable the romance. They don’t really make sense otherwise. Goodman’s characters usually make decisions that are beautifully informed by their psychology, but so far nothing makes sense.
But Goodman’s website indicates that she’s had some very bad luck health-wise the last couple of years, and that at least one of her recent books was written while she was in the hospital or a care facility, so I’m guessing that’s why these books felt off. Hopefully she’s feeling better and her next release will be a return to form.
Just wanted to hope on & shout out THE EARL’S CHRISTMAS PEARL by Megan Frampton for people looking for a delightful romp of a historical Christmas novella. It’s got a snowed in, Home Alone premise & a Corgi named Mr. Shorty. Need I say more?
Next up is HEADLINERS by Lucy Parker and A HEART OF BLOOD AND ASHES by Milla Vane 🙂
I re-read “Circe” by Madeline Miller. Excellent, of course.
I read “Stage Dreams” by Melanie Gillman yesterday. It’s a graphic novel set in the West in the 19th century. Grace, a transgender woman, has fled her home in Georgia for California to avoid conscription into the Confederate Army. She dreams of being an actress. When her stagecoach is robbed by the Ghost Hawk – a queer Latinx woman named Flor – Grace is taken hostage. She agrees to help Flor in her next heist. The art is simple but lovely, with excellent colors, and the plot skips along quickly. If you’re looking for trans or genderqueer historical stories, this little graphic novel fits the bill nicely. There’s a nice section at the end that talks about a few of the real trans/genderqueer people from history whose stories have survived.
I’ve had a very hit or miss end of Nov reading wise.
The big hit was The Ladies’ Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite. It’s Avon’s first ff historical and I’d been putting off reading it. Glad I finally read it because it’s So Good! It’s the 3rd recent ff historical I’ve read that focuses on women struggling against and then triumphing over (terrible) men. It’s by far my favorite – partly because in this one I didn’t feel like the romance was overshadowed by the struggle and the ultimate triumph felt more grounded in reality and less like a revenge fantasy (not there isn’t a place for revenge fantasies). I resonated with the bi rep, enjoyed the descriptions of astronomy and embroidery and just loved how the h/h each came into her own as a result of their relationship.
Grandad’s Cup of Tea by Amy Rae Durreson is an adorable mm short story about a late in life romance between two widowers in southern England. It’s really one of the best short story romances I’ve read in a long time.
The misses are less fun to talk about. I found Tanya Chris’s Manners and Mannerisms (mm Regency) to be so tedious I’m still not sure why I read the whole thing. And I was so disappointed by Lyn Gala’s Ends, Means, Laws and an Angry Ship. It’s set in her Claimings world (which I *love*) but it’s not part of the series and it had all of the flaws of that series but none of the charm to pull me past the uneven world building and weird writing tics. And there were no Rownt.
I just finished a lovely couple weeks rereading Sherry Thomas books. Before that, I reread Mary Balogh’s Slightly Dangerous, and before that, my gazillionth reread of Pride and Prejudice, and my almost-gazillionth reread of Devils Cub, my all-time favorite Heyer. Comfort reading at its finest. Really not sure what to reread next because new books aren’t holding the same appeal right now for some reason. Maybe something by Loretta Chase – Lord Perfect perhaps. I can think of worse ways to spend the last few weeks of the year than revisiting old favorites.
Hello from the land of interrupted sleep (#lifewithanewborn) – I missed the last Whatcha Reading due to life as a new mom, but have a few books to report from the last month.
Excellent:
Scents and Sensibility by Spencer Quinn: Number 8 in the series narrated by Chet the dog. This mystery starts as an environmental crime and quickly turns to murder. The ending was a little too neatly wrapped up for me, but anywhere Chet wants to take me, I’ll go.
Very Good:
Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson: Set in late nineteenth century New York City, this is the first in a mystery series following the unlikely duo of a former aristocrat turned midwife and a police detective. There are a lot of CWs here, but I can’t give too many of them without spoilers – the mystery does involve the murder of a teen girl. It took me awhile to get into the book, but I ended up really enjoying it because of the two main characters – they both had more depth and nuance than it originally seemed. I also liked the depiction of the corruption in the police force at that point in history. I added the second in the series to my TBR.
Good:
None
Meh:
The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler: I read this for my mystery book club. It was fine, but it was extremely convoluted (which I believe is what Chandler was going for) and so much of it read like a stereotypical male fantasy to me – all the women were attracted to the main character, he inexplicably and illogically skirted physical harm in dangerous situations, and he was depicted than better than every other person around him.
The Bad:
None
I had a Kindle Unlimited trial and declined to continue it and they offered me 3 months for $10 and… Well .. how could I NOT? This means I have read a lot of bad books but also have gained some new authors.. particularly Saffron A. Kent. Medicine Man is soooo problematic but it’s worth it for that epilogue.. that beautiful, beautiful, epilogue where love doesn’t cure mental illness but a partner helps you through! I could buy that book just for future re-reading of that epilogue.
Oh, boy: I couldn’t make out which book? books? general comment? Amanda’s all caps “kissyourdadsquareonthelips” referred to — but if it is a book or books, I am sure not reading it and would love to know for avoidance purposes. Having grown up in a a family where parental sexual abuse was a norm it took me years to fully break away, from, probably no comment could repulse me more. Any ideas about what she was referring to?
Having said that, I really enjoyed rereading all of Loretta Chase in publication order. I feel that I got a new appreciation of how much genre convention breaking she has been doing from beginning.
After having done that, I’ve been rereading all of Simone St. James in publication order. Yay for gothic novels with nothing even approaching dad-kissing — often but I am sure not always just a cheap and easy way to feel taboo-breaking. Some of St. James’s heroes are ones I would happily marry if I wasn’t already happily married: Jack from “Silence of the Dead” and James from “The Other Side of Midnight” in particular. 🙂
I’m struggling to keep up with my library checkouts. I’m a moody reader and when my turn on the waitlist finally comes, I tend to either not remember why I was interested in a book or not be in the mood for it. I always end up with like three books checked out and five days left to read them. I need to remember that I can always check it out again but I feel guilty for sitting on a book when others are waiting.
Anyway, when I was supposed to be reading my library books, I was reading Outmatched by Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young which I really enjoyed. I liked both leads and a couple of times it looked like there’d be a Big Misunderstanding but they talked instead and that was such a relief. The book gave me the same feeling I get when reading a Lucy Parker book – sort of delighted and happy.
@Liz,
I think spending the last month or so of the year re-reading old favorites sounds lovely. I could do with a re-read of “Pride & Prejudice”; I haven’t read it this year, and I try to read it at least once a year. (I read it twice in 2016 because that year just sucked, for obvious reasons.)
In light of that, I may embark upon a third read of “Red, White & Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston. I just re-read “Circe” and it’s all the female power and rage; Madeline Miller is one of my auto-buy authors. I could also use a re-read of the “Faith, Love & Devotion” series by Tere Michaels because Matt and Evan are OTP. They also tend to take place around the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, at least in part, which is seasonally accurate.
My library TBR is massive, though, so maybe I should alternate re-reading with reading something new.
I also have a half-dozen books that I started at some point, put down, and simply haven’t picked up again. I should do something about that.
The big read was Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, her Handmaid’s Tale sequel. It is quite different from both the original novel and the television series, but very interesting in its own right and well worth my time. It included a lot of the worldbuilding that the series doesn’t get to, or isn’t consistent about.
On the romance front I read Boy Toy by Sarina Bowen, which I accidentally bought for Kindle though it is not my usual kind of thing. It’s not very angsty, although there are one or two places the leads should have used their words a little sooner, and has children who are not at all plot moppets. It was very charming. Also read Light My Fire by Samanthe Beck, which enjoyed at the time but got problematic as I thought back on it. I am not a fan of plots where the couple has a legitimate disagreement that gets solved by one person giving in entirely due to the power of LURVE, especially since the heroine based her opinion entirely on one twenty-minute visit to the hero’s hometown.
I’ve had a great reading month since I hit the library hold jackpot.
The Widow of Rose Hill by Diana Biller is so amaze-balls. Brilliant inventor Sam is probably going to be my hero of the year. I can’t wait for more books from Biller featuring the Moore family.
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary lives up to all the hype. I love the developing friendship-relationship between Tiffy and Leon based solely on Post it note conversations.
Finally, I read Sarah Mayberry’s new novella Must Love Coffee. It is short, cute, and I made happy sigh noises when I finished it.
I’ve been doing a lot of re-reading this month. I breezed through both the #Gaymers and Out of Uniform series by Annabeth Albert. I also read Red, White, and Royal Blue (for the 3rd time).
Earlier this week, The Book Queen tweeted out about Infamous by Jenny Holiday, which was on sale for $0.99. It was so damn charming! As with the other books I read, it was a m/m. The heroes were a bisexual (closeted) rock star and a pediatrician, who became best friends and fell in love through the course of the book. I read it almost entirely on Tuesday (I think I read 3 chapters on Monday), and almost skipped out on my chorus rehearsal Tuesday night because I wanted to finish it. I already want to reread it because I loved it so much. Plus, the pediatrician is a “Baby Silver Fox,” and that is totally my catnip. I blame Anderson Cooper.
Another re-read was Edge of Darkness by Karen Rose. This was her most recent Cincinnati book, and Adam and Meredith are my favorite couple she has written. The next book in the series comes out Tuesday–it is Dani and Diesel’s book and I’ve been chomping at the bit for this one since she started that series. I cannot wait to read it.
I started reading Desperate Measures by Katee Robert last night, but I’m not really into it.
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I don’t like the lack of set-up or the fact that it is in 1st person POV. The book literally starts with Jafar breaking into Jasmine’s room to tell her that he’s overthrown her father and that she belongs to him. The scene is told in Jasmine’s POV, so we know she’s hot for him, which is the only way the “rape” is in any way okay because Jafar knows she’s into it too. They’ve been playing some non-sexual BDSM game all along and already have a safe word. My biggest issue is that Jasmine was abused by her father and never had much of her own agency, and so BDSM games where she’s a submissive, including the semi-public simulated rape, really bothers me. I don’t think it would be as bothersome if she wasn’t as desperate as she is. She is 100% dependent on Jafar for everything, including clothes, which she must earn the right to wear. I do actually like Jafar–he seems to care for her, but I don’t think at this point of the book that he knows how to show that caring without the BDSM in there. It even seems as if the whole reason he overthrew Jasmine’s father was to save her from being sold to Ali (I’m assuming he doesn’t have a fun genie helping him do things), who we’re told is a MONSTER.
I like the idea of books featuring Disney villains as the heroes–I was the biggest Captain Swan shipper when I watched Once Upon a Time, but I just don’t think Desperate Measures is for me. Has anyone else read the other books in this series?
I just finished Sapphire Flames, the latest Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy novel, so that meant I returned to the start of the original trilogy there. I find their books endlessly entertaining in terms of re-read value!
I also have started a few holiday-themed romances: Valerie Bowman’s Kiss Me at Christmas which features a somewhat older heroine and a Bow Street runner as the hero. Next up is Jackie Lau’s A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas. I am forcing myself not to start it until I’ve finished at least one other of my current reads.
I recently read Amy Rae Durreson’s *Something Wicked This Way Comes* and am now suffering from a good-book hangover. A week or so before that I read, and also loved, T. Kingfisher’s *The Twisted Ones* and both books did such a good job developing MCs I cared about while throwing them into suspenseful horror-settings that I was fully engrossed in each story. Now I’m left longing for another book to pull me as well as these two did. *sigh* … I just adore good books.
@Laura J George: “kiss your dad square on the lips” was the signoff line for the McElroy brothers’ podcast My Brother, My Brother, and Me. It originated from their discussion of a Yahoo Answers question (“Is it weird to kiss your dad on the lips?”). Even though the questioner was a woman, I think the brothers’ gleeful adoption of the phrase (well, except the middle brother, Travis, who was nauseated at the thought) is a reflection of cultural anxieties about masculinity, where kissing your dad at all is suspect behavior. Having listened to them interact with their father on The Adventure Zone podcast (and not having your traumatic experience…my sincerest sympathies and all my admiration for your strength), I find the line hilaridorable.
The book it is tangentially related to in the OP is Maya’s reading The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited, based on The Adventure Zone podcast. (If you have any love of D&D, nerds, or brobonding, don’t deprive yourself of listening to the podcast.)
@Nan de Plume: I’m still wondering how Robert is getting away with using all those Disney names. It’s not just Jasmine & Jafar. Part of the book takes place at a BDSM Club, populated by a group of people, all of whom have Disney character names (Herc for Hercules, Tink for Tinkerbell) and most of whom, I’m assuming, are slated to have their own books in the future. I know Disney is extraordinarily zealous about copyright infringement, so I can only assume Robert’s publisher made sure their legal right to use those names had been thoroughly locked down. I couldn’t respond to @SciFiGirl1986’s question because I’ve only read DESPERATE MEASURES but I will say that I’ve loved a number of Robert’s other books (especially The O’Malley and Thalanian Dynasty series), but nothing about DESPERATE MEASURES made me inclined to read the next book in the Wicked Villains series.
A WICKED KIND OF HUSBAND was delightful. The banter is great, although the ending wasn’t my favorite since it went from clever banter into more Serious topics.
DNF’d NO GOOD DUKE GOES UNPUNISHED because I HATED the heroine from the get-go. She faked her own death and comes back just expecting things to be a-ok. There seems to be some sort of premise that she was abused (hence running away) but I don’t buy the idea that having a traumatic past entitles you to be an ass. Also, the hero then starts off by treating her poorly but SPARKS FLY! It was gross and I quit.
PROJECT DUCHESS; decidedly mediocre with a central mystery that is never resolved. Also told mainly from the man’s POV which I found odd-putting.
Next up, GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN by Talia Hibbert and THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH by Philip Pullman.
I’m sadly still in the midst of a reading slump, and am having a hard time enjoying anything enough to finish it, including new books by favorite authors.
The exception was a book recommended here recently — Mia Vancy’s A WICKED KIND OF HUSBAND. Thank you whoever made the rec!! I loved the book. Absolutely loved it. I haven’t read HR for a while, and this was a lovely reminder of just how good it can be.
Maybe my problem now is not a reading slump, but rather good book hangover….
:::comes in to the sounds of Live’s Run to the Water, because I’m purposely playing music my husband likes, sometimes I’m a nice wife:::
When last we met, I was reading The Toll by Neal Shusterman. I really enjoyed it, but feel like it could have been just a touch shorter. It kind of went in circles in the middle of the book, and then seemed to remember that it needed to end, and so it did. I still love the kind of anti-dystopia and how that gets weird of it all, and it had some very pointy things to say about how certain kinds of people (coughsociopathicassholescough) would use immortality. Then, because I was feeling a bit bloodthirsty (when am I not these days, amiright?), and quite frankly, it had waited on my Kindle long enough, I went with Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff. I loved it. I loved the mythology, the widening of the world, the love story of Mia and Ashlinn, and I loved the violence. I also greatly enjoy how meta Kristoff like to get, both in and out of the footnotes. He trolls himself probably better than anyone else could. After that, I quickly took a graphic novel break and read Bloodlust and Bonnets by Emily McGovern. I am a huge fan of My Life As a Background Slytherin, and it had a lot of what I liked about that. I think Dumbledore himself may have cameoed. Then, because it had been a very violent streak, I read Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long. I enjoyed the focus being on women who got screwed over, and did their level best to never be screwed over again, and I enjoyed the deadpan snark that both of the main characters were prone to. That said, Hardy not using his words and being arguably dishonest with Delilah for so much of the book kind of bothered me. Probably because he already knew how much she hated being taken advantage of, and he still proceeded ahead. I got his motivations, but it still bugged me. That said, it had a stellar grovel. And now here we are, and I am trying to glom all of The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black. I love it, I love it so much, and if I glom all over it, it’ll be over and I will have one kittycat of a book hangover. Until next time folks, if your black cat gets nose to nose with you in the dead of night, she’s not trying to spook you on purpose.
@SciFiGirl1986. Thanks for the heads up on the sale of the Jenny Holiday book, I hopped over to pick it up.
I enjoyed the following M/M books since last time:
AFTER THE CRASH by Emma Alcott (aka Piper Scott) — be aware of CW for PTSD, abuse, and bullying
THE CHRISTMAS DEAL by Keira Andrews
BOYS & TOYS by Morningstar Ashley — this is the ninth book in the Ace’s Wild series, but can be read as a stand alone
@Heather M., Oh my goodness! Sending hugs your way.
@DiscoDollyDeb, You’re the third person I’ve heard had pneumonia in the past week! I hope you get better very soon.
@MirandaB and JPeK, I also read The Twisted Ones about a week ago and am having a serious book hangover. Very few books ever really scare me, but there were a couple of scenes that actually made me shrink down under the covers.
Have been searching for something similar but am sadly coming up dry. I did read The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell and enjoyed it: a solid gothic creeper that follows a tragic family at an isolated English manor in Victorian times with flashbacks to 1635. TW for two animals suffering mutilation.
I also just finished listening to Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl about her time serving as editor in chief at Gourmet magazine before it was shut down. It was fascinating read, not just as a foodie, but because I worked at a magazine owned by a big tech publisher at about the same time and we had many of the same challenges. She does a great job reading her own work.
The Hallmark movies I’ve watched so far have been pretty meh, but Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses was cute.
Currently reading Well Met by Jen DeLuca and at the half-way point, have to say it’s one of the better “chick lit/romance” books I have read lately. The interplay between Emily/Emma and Simon/Captain Blackthorne is delicious. I hope that Emily realizes she is making her place in the Willow Creek and the RenFaire. I thought about Well Met this morning as a quick trip to the elementary school “Holly Days” craft fair turned into an epic journey as I ran into friends and acquaintances in my small town.
Before that was To Resist a Scandalous Rogue by Liana De la Rosa, which featured a Jewish heroine who was a widow with some seriously nasty in-laws. A viscount and his friends and family help her and she helps the viscount. Of course, they fall in love despite feeling unworthy of each other. I am usually not the biggest fan of epilogues, but this one was particularly touching.
I liked His Wayward Bride, Theresa Romain’s latest, but it wasn’t her best. The hero was grumbly in a nice way and the heroine noble and kick-ass but I had a hard time with the four-year’s apart premise. But there were horses, so it was all good.
Next up is A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau which I realize I should have read last month for Canadian Thanksgiving. After that, the holiday reading starts. I may have to start with The Earl’s Christmas Pearl by Megan Frampton after seeing Mara‘s enthusiastic mention of the novella. Still on the lookout for newly-released historical Christmas house party stories!
Just started DEMISE OF A SELF-CENTERED PLAYBOY by Piper Rayne, which is in their Bailey siblings series. These are cute quick reads, not the best thing you’ll ever read but I enjoy the interplay between the siblings.
THE KINGMAKER and THE REBEL KING by Kennedy Ryan – Dallas meets Yellowstone meets Scandal. Just do yourself a favor and go read this. I love everything by Ryan and this was no different. Will destroy you emotionally and then put you back together, all while containing some of the hottest, most heartfelt sexy times I’ve ever seen in romance. Can’t wait for Kimba’s story.
THE GYPSY KING by Devney Perry. Perry’s style isn’t my favorite, but I do really like the Montanaworld she’s built in her interconnected series. This is the first in her MC club series that’s a spinoff of her Jamison Valley series, though I will say it’s much tamer/less gritty than typical MC series (the club is not currently functional). Sort of enemies to lovers. The heroine kind of bugged me, but I’ll still probably read the next one.
INSATIABLE by Melanie Harlow. The third in her Cloverleigh Farms series, though all her series are interconnected via their Michigan settings. This was a cute, fun friends to lovers story. Better than the last book in the series. I didn’t fully buy the conflict, but I’ll still keep reading the series. Harlow’s writing is like comfort food for me.
@Heather M, I’m so sorry to hear about the fire in your home. Sending good thoughts your way.
@DiscoDollyDeb, sending good health vibes to you.
@Cleo, I missed (Liam and Ondry and) the Rownt in Lyn Gala’s latest book.
@Katie C., I hope there will be some good sleep in the near future for you and your baby.
Since last time ~
— read Nathan Lowell’s second book in the series Half Share (Trader’s Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper Book 2) and enjoyed it, too. (In the previous thread, I said that Quarter Share would also be fine for teen readers. This book has more adult themes, nothing graphic, than Quarter Share.)
— read and enjoyed (save for the ending that came too fast) To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers which is a science fiction novella. The ending has an element of Frank Stockton’s The Lady, or the Tiger? in that it leaves you with possibilities rather than an answer.
— enjoyed reading Dauntless by Lisa Henry which was a male/male romance novella with a mystery.
— enjoyed browsing Hand Lettering for Relaxation by Amy Latta. This is a very approachable book that includes ample practice space should you wish to use it that way. (I don’t think my library would appreciate my doing so!)
— Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet which I enjoyed; I’d describe it as a science fiction romance that’s pretty light on the science fiction. It was entertaining though I initially thought (incorrectly) that a very minor character might prove to be the hero. I’ll happily read the next book when it comes out; however, I don’t see myself rereading this book anytime soon.
— Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel by George Saunders for my book group. It was an unusual book (historical fiction), easy to read, yet poignant; I’d recommend it.
— I also began but did not finish Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth about which I’ve seen many positive reviews; it did not grab me.
— Also began but did not finish Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller; this was written by the young woman who wrote a powerful witness statement after being sexually assaulted on the Stanford campus some years ago. I may go back to this at some point; what I read was poignant.
Happy Thanksgiving to those who will be celebrating. And happy reading to all.
@Kate: Cherie Priest does good horror. Dreadful Skin was the scariest book I ever read before The Twisted Ones. It’s a good bit gorier. CW warning for rape (happens off page).
The Family Plot is a good haunted house story and she has a trilogy about Eden Moore that has some very scary moments. Book 1 of that is Four and Twenty Blackbirds.
Just finished A BETTER MAN, by Louise Penny, which is part of her Three Pines mystery series set in Quebec. This is the 15th in the series and she has kept the series pretty fresh and evolving. A few books ago, she got the characters tied up in a more thriller-ish plotline and I’m glad that’s more or less done with. You get really attached to the characters in this series which makes it extra-engaging. (I do wish she would use fewer sentence fragments in her writing, but…)
Finally got THE BRIDE TEST by Helen Hoang, which was a very light and happy read.
HOW IT HAPPENED by Michael Kortya surprised me with how gripping it was. Also a mystery, the book begins with a woman telling the cops about a murder she witnessed, including the location of the bodies. When the police search there, they find nothing, calling her story into question. There are a lot of twists and turns, and of course a mavericky FBI agent who JUST CAN’T FOLLOW THE RULES but it kept me guessing ’til the end.
Also in the non-romance genre, I started BLOWOUT by Rachel Maddow and am finding it utterly fascinating. It looks at the energy industry and how it impacts politics and global foreign policy but not at all hard to read. She does a great job of making it interesting and explains it an a very down-to-earth way.
@NomDePlume, @DiscoDollyDeb
On first glance it seems to me that the bigggest copyright problem would be Jasmine. There’s probably a good defense for the basic plot and Wikipedia suggests that Jafar was largely borrowed from the 1940 (non-Disney) film “Thief of Bagdad”. There may be other problematic names in the BDSM club but Hercules and Tinkerbell wouldn’t be under DISNEY copyright in a book context.
Addendum to my above comment “Hercules and Tinkerbell wouldn’t be under DISNEY copyright in a book context”.
Unless I’m missing something obvious. Hercules pretty much predates any copyright law and any BOOK copyright to Tinkerbell would seem to have expired by now.
@Michael I: Thank you for the explanation. As I said, I felt sure that Robert’s publishers had a strong legal foundation for her to use those names rather than just winging it and waiting for the Disney legal behemoth to come down on them after publication. And while it’s true that the use of those names is not Disney’s exclusive prerogative, there’s no doubt that Robert has chosen character names because they will resonate with readers in their Disney context, which I suppose adds to the transgressive nature of the books (which, based on the activities in DESPERATE MEASURES, can get pretty damn transgressive).