It’s our first Whatcha Reading of December and that means there is only one more Whatcha Reading post left in 2019. Can you believe it? A whole year of books has flown by!
Let’s recap what we’ve been reading!
Catherine: I am reading Anna Chronistic and the Scarab of Destiny by Ankaret Wells, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which feels like the thing you would get if you crossed To Say Nothing of The Dog with Amelia Peabody. Time travel adventure with an eccentric and opinionated lady narrator who is a highly successful courtesan in 19th century Paris (though in fact she is more interested in women and has a bit of a thing with Helen of Troy) and would really rather not be dragged off on quests to sort out the timeline, because Paris is fun. The plot takes a while to get going, but one really doesn’t mind, because the narrative voice is delightful. Oh, and there are footnotes. I’m really enjoying this one.
Before that, I danced through Headliners by Lucy Parker which is an absolute treat and a delight and I can’t wait for you all to read it and love it too.
Sarah: I am reading And Dangerous to Know by Darcie Wilde, ( A | BN | K | AB ) the third book in the Rosalind Thorne mystery series, which comes out at the end of December. Next is Headliners and I’m So Very Excited to read it, especially knowing you liked it!
Shana: I’m having trouble digging into a book right now. I keep reading ebook samples that leave me feeling ambivalent about whether to buy the book. However, I just got Joanne Chang’s new cookbook, Pastry Love, and it is seriously beautiful. I can’t wait to bake up a storm.
Tara: I got hit by a reading slump real, real hard, so I’ve been rereading old favourites and I’m currently reading a Devil Wears Prada fanfic.
AJ: I’m in the middle of Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. I can only read it during the day, so it’s going slowly. You wouldn’t think mermaids would be scary for someone in a landlocked state, but hoo boy, yes they are. In between that I’m re-reading an old favorite, Priceless by Marne Davis Kellogg. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Ellen: I just finished The Wallflower Wager, which was adorable, and now I’m reading Searcher of the Dead by Nancy Herriman, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is a Tudor-era mystery that I am really enjoying so far. It’s very rich and detailed and atmospheric. It feels very winter appropriate like I need to read it wrapped in a blanket in front of a fire drinking a hot beverage.
Susan: I’m finally reading Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran, which is queer fantasy about a young queen taking over a bankrupt and corrupt court, and hiring one of the palace accountants to be her spymaster. I’m only five chapters in and the accountant has already threatened to stab a man, it’s delightful.
Sarah: THIS SOUNDS VERY GOOD.
Susan: I’m enjoying it so much, I was very grouchy when I had to put it down to go to work.
Carrie: I am reading The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope ( A ) while I’m out and about which is most of the time, and Other Powers by Barbara Goldsmith in the bathroom. Other Powers in nonfiction about Victoria Woodhull and the link between the early American suffrage movement, spiritualism, and attitudes regarding sexuality.
Elyse: Right now I’m reading a bunch of holiday novellas so I can make my Goodreads Reading Challenge because the two things I’m best at are creating arbitrary goals for myself and torturing myself over them.
Carrie: WORD.
Aarya: I’m very tempted to set my goal for 1 book next year. It shows your percentage on the side, and I would feel exceptionally productive if I saw 1500% under the progress bar.
Tara: I need to actually update my Goodreads to see if I’ve hit my reading challenge or not. I’m almost afraid to though because I don’t have it in me to do a big push right now.
Aarya: I recently finished Lydia San Andres’s A Summer for Scandal. It’s an enemies-to-lovers historical romance set in the Caribbean. The heroine secretly writes a scandalous serial; the hero is a snobbish lit crit reviewer who wants to unmask her identity. I have mixed-to-positive feelings. The writing and world-building are lovely, but I never quite warmed up to the hero (he is supposed to be conflicted while attempting to ruin Emilia’s life!). Still, I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a low-angst historical with witty antagonistic sparring and a historical setting that isn’t Europe (I love Europe! But I love reading outside it and there aren’t that many options).
My library ebook hold for Nalini Singh’s A Madness of Sunshine just came in ten minutes ago. Farewell, world. I’ll see you when I resurface.
Charlotte: I am reading Diarmuid McCulloch’s Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years ( A | BN | K | AB ) for a class at my church. And since it has a length befitting its title, I’ll be reading it approximately forever.
I’m also reading Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Miryem is one of my favorite heroines in a loooong time.
Sneezy: I’ve just started A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year by Jackie Lau, and it’s all sorts of feel good yummies so far!
I’ve also just cracked open Utopia for Realists ( A | BN | K | AB ). Since forever ago, I’ve been accused of being ‘idealistic,’ to which I always wanted to snarl, “NO I’M NOT! I REALISTICALLY RECOGNIZE THE REALY PROBLEMS WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH!” So the very existence and premise of this book fills me with glee.
Tara: I’m still reading fanfic, but I started listening to This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and I am in love with this book so hard that I might marry it. The whole spy vs spy, epistolary thing is working for me so well that I wanted to call in sick and just listen to the whole thing today.
Maya: I’ve been struggling to figure out how to make book reading a part of my new routine, but I’m listening right now to Lucky Suit by Lauren Blakely ( A | BN | K | AB ). It’s one of those Audible Originals that they gave away a few months ago. I’m struggling with the set up a bit because basically the heroine’s grandmother catfishes her granddaughter to get her to go on a date with a young man that the gran likes and it feels kinda paternalistic to me. That plus the grandma’s nonapology when she gets caught (she says “I’m sorry if…” a whole bunch) is leaving me a bit nonplussed about the whole story. And since I desperately want to hang out with all the cool kids here (and also want to pass this book around to my queer friends), I’m currently reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.
What have you been reading this month? Let us know in the comments!
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I have pretty much only been able to finish one book recently but Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory was a wonderful warm ‘curl up by the fire with a cup of tea’ book (as a fan of royal women (Meghan and Cate and Anne Boleyn particularly!)) with a really lovely love story and basically I smiled all the way through.
(Also honestly the friendships and loving family – chosen and blood, is my absolute favourite part)
Ooooh! Been looking forward til this! 🙂
Since I have not come around to cataloguing my reads yet, these I can pick from the top of my head:
I had to read MY FAKE RAKE by EVA LEIGH, and I really enjoyed it! I usually go for alpha males, but it dawned on me that I have been too narrow minded. Thank you miss Leigh!
I picked it up (or listened to it, rather) bc of the review here on SBTB. I have a big problem with modern “social justice”. I think it has been taken too far, and it has a nasty tendency to suck the fun out of life. Like the review of this wonderful book, where nice people trying to be good in the world are condemned for being White and British. YIKES!
So this threw me right back into a HR fit. And then I had to reread A WEEK TO BE WICKED by TESSA DARE bc you guys reminded me it is always a good idea.
And then I found a new-to-me author (or rather: I picked one up that has been waiting in my TBR pile for far too long). And I am so glad I did! Thursday I read LOVE AND OTHER SCANDALS by CAROLINE LINDEN. It was a wonderful experience. Very low angst and little drama. Just a beautiful build-up to the HEA.
And now I’m half-way through IT TAKES A SCANDAL by CAROLINE LINDEN. Another sweet beta, and so far just as enjoyable as the previous book.
Earlier in the week, I read WHILE YOU WERE SPYING by SHANA GALEN. I’ve previously enjoyed the Survivors-series by the same author, but I’m ashamed to say I for too long have judged the Spying book by it’s cover. It turned out the h did not miss the lower half of her upper body at all!
I feel like I’ve read a lot lately or at least more than the last “Whatcha Reading” but I can’t find documented evidence of it. I used to be really good about writing down what I read, but that’s fallen by the wayside lately. Really, it’s all been a blur lately. Holiday blur, work blur, travel blur, family blur. So here is what I can reconstruct.
In the “Great” category
The great category has really slim pickings, so I’m actually going to mention a book I read to my sons on the Thanksgiving break. We read (and all loved!) Mac B. Spy Kid The Secret Smackdown by Mac Bennett. It was the third in the series, but that didn’t hurt our understanding at all. The premise is the author was a spy as a kid in the 80s and you’re reading his “memoirs.” It was filled with a lot of very silly humor that appealed to both me and the younger son. At one point late in the book, we had to stop b/c we were both laughing so hard. I also felt it was very cleverly plotted for a kids’ book. It’s written probably for about grade school age and I personally liked that it didn’t have a lot of the gross potty humor of “Captain Underpants.” (N.B. I totally let my kids read Captain Underpants b/c I think even kids have the right to read what they want, but I just find it really disgusting and am always trying to find an excuse to get out of reading them aloud.)
In the “Good” Category –
“The Bookish Life of Nina Hill” by Abbi Waxman. This was really cute women’s fiction with a light thread of romance. A woman who is a bit of quirky solitary type discovers her dead father’s large extended family and anfinds love. The weird omniscient way the writer wrote some scenes reminded me of Terry Prachett. It was a bit of a strange choice for women’s fiction/romance, but the author was definitely very skilled at description. I loved the way she really made me feel like I was seeing LA, not in a glitzy glamor way, but in an everyday people way. I will say I didn’t totally buy the romance of the story working out long term, but I was fine with that b/c it wasn’t the biggest plot point.
“Boy Toy” by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby. When this was mentioned as being on sale recently, I read the description “guy gets to date the babysitter he had a huge crush on as a teen” and I thought “Wait, is this Adventures in Babysitting fanfiction?” And some lizard part of my brain whispered “It is if you want it to be.” So I bought it. It was very cute and readable, but nothing too special. I didn’t have too much of a problem with the age gap, but I did feel like the hero spent a little bit too much time talking about how his 14 year old self would feel about getting to have sex with his dream girl. I get it, but you’re both grown now. Mention it once and move on b/c this is starting to feel creepy. Also I started to skim the sex scenes after a while b/c they felt very generic. But it was a perfectly readable distraction over Thanksgiving break. I still believe that the perfect “Adventures in Babysitting” fanfiction must be out there, alas, probably on some one’s old hard drive never to see the light of day 🙁
In the “What the *!%$ did I just read” category?
“The Thieves of Ostia” by Caroline Lawrence. This was a grade school mystery with a Roman girl solving crimes. I wanted to read it b/c youngest loves history and mystery. Well, first of all this was inspirational and not labelled as such, which I didn’t super appreciate. I’m not a Christian and I’m not interested in raising my children as Christian. Which doesn’t mean I mind them reading Christian books! I just don’t like to be blindsided by it when I’m reading something aloud.
The religious content for that was pretty light and came mostly at the end and was about “forgiving those who trespass against us” which is not necessarily a bad message to send to kids (although I don’t think it’s universally a good idea). What really bothered me is that there is a boy who is listed in the book description on the back cover as being Jewish who is really what a modern reader would consider Christian (believes Jesus was the Messiah etc). I’m not Jewish (just another secular humanist who loves her romance novels) or a theologian or a religious historian. I realize some people could split hairs over this, but I felt like that was very disingenuous and put a bad taste in my mouth. I went ahead and kept reading b/c we were all trapped in the car and my son was loving it, but I’ve been putting him off on reading another one.
The other thing that was weird about the book is that it was surprisingly gory/dark in parts for a kids’ inspirational book? Dogs being brutally murdered, suicide, child sex slavery was alluded to. Also some of the gross potty humor kids love (oh joy, my favorite). And I couldn’t help thinking “who is this book even for?”
Very strange and I’m not saying I absolutely never would have read it, but I would have appreciated the marketing cover to better reflect the inside contents.
Currently reading THE QUEEN OF BLOOD by Sarah Beth Durst. All the humans live up in the trees. The world is full of elemental spirits that really, really hate humans, whose survival depends on queens with the power to control the spirits from afar. Interestingly, the spirits choose the queens who are supposed to control them. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? There are multiple POVs, but the primary is a girl whose village was slaughtered by rampaging spirits. She shows some affinity for commanding them and eventually goes to school to train to be a contestant in the queen pageant. I just got to the Crusty Old Mentor section. There’s been a lot of “some years later… some more years later…” until nearly the halfway point, which sucks the urgency out of the Evil Queen narrative, but I’m hoping the pace will pick up now that the main has left Tree Hogwarts.
Despite mostly reading non fic most of the second half of the year I did venture into dark romance earlier this month, as I’d thought I’d read the books I bought by Penelope Sky The Scotch King series and Buttons and Lace (all free as a box set)
The Scotch King: read first book but gave up during the second. I hate a book trilogy that could be made into a single book and all the dark elements had more or less gone by the second book. It had turned into a billionaire romance. There were many things that the author got wrong about Scotland, spelling whisky wrong for a start (with an e) and using the word scotch, which is rarely used over here. Also amused/annoyed by Stirling castle being described as remote, it’s in a city on the main rail line.
As for Buttons and Lace, I stopped reading early on, the male MC was totally irredeemable planning to rape, torture and kill the heroine (who had already been abused in this way). I know it was a dark romance but usually the Man has to have some redeemable qualities (even if only very slightly) and I can’t quite get on the side of a rapist even after an redemption arc.
Perhaps I was being naive expecting anything from reading this? Oh well, back to the non fic.
(NB needless to say, all books in both series have giant TW/CW warnings in flashing neon lights. If you must, try a sample first.)
@Kit: I freely admit to liking my share of dark romance, but Penelope Sky has rarely worked for me. Her books seem slap-dash and thrown together. I read the books’ synopsis and look at the beautiful covers and think, “Yes! Come to Mama,” only to start reading them and be left rather bewildered. If you’re looking for dark that works, try Natasha Knight or Skye Warren—although, fair warning, both can include dubious consent and really dark backstories.
In honor of the season, I re-read what I think of as “The Kati Wilde Christmas Trilogy”: ALL HE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS, THE WEDDING NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (AKA, THE WEDDING NIGHT), and my all-the-feels favorite, SECRET SANTA. Such great stuff! I never get tired of Kati’s serious-minded heroines, self-aware alpha heroes, page-burning sexy-times, and emotionally-satisfying love stories. Throw in Christmas decorations, twinkling lights, and specially-selected gifts—and I’m ready for December 25. (FYI, these three novellas have now been packaged as a set called THREE NIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, available in KU.)
As soon as I started COVET by Ella James (a new-to-me writer and not to be confused with the similarly-named Elle James), I knew I had encountered something absolutely original. The book is set on the island of Tristan da Cunha, which is apparently the most remote inhabited island in the world. Having never heard of Tristan da Cunha, I had to google it to determine if it was a real place—it is. There’s a wealth of information in COVET about how the inhabitants live and work together on this isolated place where supply ships only come by every three months and everyone has to be self-sufficient and wear many hats. The romance involves the woman who functions as the island’s de-facto nurse and an American professional baseball player who has come to the island in part to try to kick a drug addiction. James beautifully evokes the natural landscape and the hardy islanders’ way of life as the story moves back and forth in time. We learn of the long-ago tragedy that unites the hero & heroine, why the heroine, despite living on an island, has a mortal fear of water, and how the hero became an addict (I don’t recall reading another romance where the physical damage and drain of addiction was described in such a visceral manner). An incredibly good book—beautiful and melancholy—highly recommended if you’re looking for something literally off the beaten path.
I liked COVET so much, I tried something else by Ella James: the On My Knees duet, WORSHIP & ADORE. Completely different from COVET, but equally well-written, WORSHIP & ADORE is an m/m romance between a closeted mega-church pastor and the pan-sexual artist with whom he begins a furtive affair that gradually becomes an obsessive love affair with strong D/s overtones, even though the two men can only be together in private and the pastor continues to date “acceptable” women from his world. If COVET is a slow-burn, WORSHIP & ADORE is much more insta-lust with frequent hot and very explicit sex scenes. James does a great job capturing two distinct narrative voices: the artist—self-accepting, impulsive, somewhat hedonistic, but capable of offering unconditional love; the pastor—publicly charming, but locked-down and constantly self-checking as he fights against his own essential nature. (There are also rage-inducing references to the barbaric practice of “conversion therapy” to which the pastor was subjected in his teens.) I did initially think James pulled her punches slightly by having the pastor’s church be one that has never taken a public/political stand on LGBTQ rights—although it’s clear that some of the church’s elders and followers are in the anti-rights position—but then that too becomes a plot point. In a oblique way, WORSHIP & ADORE reminded me of Rachel Reid’s GAME CHANGER, in that the romance (good though it is) is almost subordinate to one of the hero’s long, difficult journey to self-acceptance and coming out. Highly recommended.
CD Reiss’s IRON CROWNE is another of her smartly-written antagonists-to-lovers romances featuring two intelligent, professional people (she’s an environmental lawyer, he’s a real estate developer with a reputation for skirting environmental regulations) simultaneously baffled by their intense attraction to each other and seemingly helpless to avoid acting upon it. This leads to incredibly sexy banter (if there’s such a as “hate flirting,” Reiss is the queen of writing it), followed by sex that is equal parts really hot and really conflicted (Reiss has a way with conflicted characters, particularly women). There’s also the possibility of an unplanned pregnancy—but, as usual, Reiss puts her own stamp on the trope: the unattached heroine has been attempting to get pregnant through fertility treatments (a gay friend being the sperm donor), but is not sure the hero would be decent father material. This is the first book in a new series about a family named Crowne. Based on how good IRON CROWNE is, I’m totally there for the next book, CROWNE OF LIES, due next February.
Although it has a “best friend’s younger sister is forbidden” element (one of my least favorite tropes), Julie Kriss’s SEXY AS SIN puts a different spin on things. To begin with, the couple is older than you usually find in romances featuring the younger sister trope (the heroine is 30, the hero, 34). Then there’s the fact that the couple had a relationship a decade ago (unbeknownst to the brother/friend), so the story has a second-chance theme. Finally, there’s the make-over: it’s the hero (a reclusive software designer who needs to look the part of a businessman for an important upcoming meeting) who gets the full-on Cinderella overhaul, supervised by the heroine (a fashion stylist). Older, wiser, sadder—will the couple manage to put the past to rest and give their love another chance? I’ve said before, I think Kriss is one of Romancelandia’s most underrated writers and SEXY AS SIN, with its entertaining takes on several central romance tropes, is a good example of why.
[CW: Miscarriage, Depression] I’d seen Laura Florand’s SNOW-KISSED recommended in a request for romances about marriages in trouble: not a favorite trope of mine, but this book sounded interesting. It’s a beautifully written and incredibly melancholy novella about a couple whose marriage broke down under the weight of the heroine’s successive miscarriages and subsequent descent into depression (for which she refused to seek help). After being separated (but not divorced) for over a year, the h&h find themselves stranded alone together in a snow-bound cabin on Christmas Eve. They have to come to terms with the cruel things that life sometimes throws our way and how we have to get through them in order to move on. In its way, SNOW-KISSED put me in mind of Albert Camus’s famous assertion, “Happiness too is inevitable.” By turns lovely, sexy, sad (I cried several times), and uplifting—SNOW-KISSED is a highly-recommended Christmas story (if miscarriage and depression are not triggers for you). And, refreshingly, the book does not include a baby-filled epilogue.
[CW/TW: child abuse] Early in Skye Warren’s AUDITION, the latest in her North Security series, the hero (Josh) has the following thoughts about the heroine (Bethany) and also about his brother and sister-in-law (Liam & Samantha, the h&h of the first three North Security books): “[Liam] doesn’t deserve Samantha any more than I deserve Bethany, but that’s the thing about women—they want what’s not good for them. It’s the only reason the human race has perpetuated this long.” There’s a lot to unpack in that quote: Josh’s essential lack of self-worth and his simultaneous elevation of Bethany as being too good for him and assertion that she wants him because she knows he’s not good enough for her. Then he retreats behind some false universality by claiming that ALL women want unworthy men. Phew! It would be easy to DNF a book at this point—but I’ve read enough Warren to know that outrageous and patently false statements from characters provide insight into who they are—and Josh is one damaged man. He loves Bethany (a ballet dancer he is protecting from a stalker in New Orleans), but his horribly-abusive childhood makes it difficult to express that love honestly. Without the darkness of Josh’s (and, to a lesser extent, Bethany’s) backstory, AUDITION would be pretty much a standard bodyguard romance. It’s certainly not as deep or dark as much of Warren’s work, perhaps because Warren had a co-writer(Amelia Wilde) on this one.
RELENTLESS is the latest in Sybil Bartel’s Miami-based Alpha Bodyguards series. This one features an older heroine (36) and a younger hero (23). “I’d never slept with a twenty-three-year-old,” the heroine confesses, “even when I was twenty-three.” The book deviates somewhat from Bartel’s previous books in that the heroine is not a client of the security firm where the hero works, her step-daughter is. Also, unlike the other books in the series, less time is spent on the bad guys (they’re after a missing laptop, but that object is pretty much a MacGuffin). In fact, almost the entire first half of the book consists of the hero & heroine meeting, flirting, getting to know each other, and then spending the night together in a hotel suite. A couple of months ago, I complained about the level of fetishization of the younger hero in Sierra Simone’s MISADVENTURES IN BLUE, which had a similar older-heroine/younger-hero age gap—and I think the same thing happens in RELENTLESS: the hero is smoking hot, totally emotionally available, worships the heroine, and gives her all the affirmation and multiple orgasms she could ever want. This seems a terrible burden to place on the (admittedly broad) shoulders of one 23-year-old male, but here we are.
Clare Connelly’s THE DEAL is the fourth and final book in Dare’s Billionaires Club series. Each book has been written by a different author and has varied wildly in quality. Jackie Ashenden’s THE DEBT was quite good. Caitlin Crews’s THE RISK was excellent, the best and sexiest book in the series. I could barely make it through JC Harroway’s tell-not-show THE PROPOSITION. THE DEAL is nowhere near as bad as THE PROPOSITION, but fails to engage the way THE DEBT and THE RISK do. THE DEAL is a serviceable story of two billionaires (both trying with limited success to distance themselves from parental expectations) who agree to a no-strings-attached fling. This being Romancelandia, you know that “no-strings” business ain’t gonna fly. THE DEAL is ok, but a week after reading it, I scarcely remember any of it. Connelly can do—and has done—so much better than the rather weak and uninspired story she presents here.
J. Kenner’s SHATTERED WITH YOU, part of her Stark Security series, is a second-chance romance with suspense/espionage elements. The heroine, searching for her missing sister, is attempting to infiltrate a human-trafficking ring. In the course of her work, she reconnects with a former lover, who is also undercover, trying to expose the same trafficking operation as she is. Misunderstandings and memories of their painful breakup make it difficult when the h&h must work together to bring down the entire cartel. A serviceable romantic-suspense novel, but nowhere near as good as another book in the series, Kenner’s amnesia romance, BROKEN WITH YOU.
The HOLIDAY EVER AFTER anthology was free in the Kindle Store the day I downloaded it. It features eleven Christmas-themed short stories from eleven different romance authors. Overall, the anthology is fine, but I wanted to talk about one story in particular: Kate Canterbary’s “Professional Development,” an antagonists-to-lovers/enforced-proximity-in-a-snowbound-cabin story (aka, catnip city for DiscoDollyDeb) involving two rival administrators who work together in an upscale private school. It’s no secret that Canterbary has been one of my favorite “discoveries” this year—I love her style and I’m predisposed to like everything I read by her. So I started out really enjoying “Professional Development” as the h&h kept up a simmering conflict/attraction thing that was fun to read. Then I got to the part where the main characters finally admit their feelings for each other and are about to have sex (in the aforementioned snowbound cabin) for the first time. At that point, the hero utters the words, “I’ve been tested…I’m clean,” the heroine says that’s great, and condomless sex commences. No, no, no, no, no. That is soooo not how it should work! Does Canterbary know how many women have contracted an STI because they believed a man who said he was clean? Not only that, but shouldn’t the hero care about his health too? Wouldn’t condoms be a given for both h&h until each of them can verify the health status of the other—beyond a quick “It’s ok, I’m clean” comment? And what about birth control—which is not mentioned at all in Canterbary’s story—wouldn’t condoms also be helpful there? To me, the use of condoms in a romance is a marker for characters who care about their own health and the health of their partners. I expect better from Canterbary (in everything else I’ve read by her, condoms, birth control, and test results are part of the couple’s journey), so her “you can trust me, I’m clean” hero and “ok, what-evs” heroine ruined what could have been a fun, zingy story. Bah, humbug!
I don’t normally listen to audiobooks, but this month I made an exception for Richard Armitage reading Georgette Heyer’s VENETIA, and I’ve decided he needs to read all of my historical novels from this point forward. I’ve always loved his voice, but I was also pleased at how well he varied the accents and pitches for each character. It was very soothing (and he makes a sexy Damerel). Now I’m listening to him read SYLVESTER, and wishing that he had done others besides A CONVENIENT MARRIAGE, since I don’t actually like that one. Heyer loses me when she has teens paired with 30-somethings.
Listening to Venetia put me in a Regency mood, so I read MISS WONDERFUL by Loretta Chase. It wasn’t perfect, but I liked it. Current historicals have gone in a direction that doesn’t work for me, so I’m glad to have so many older titles to go back to.
I’ve also been making my way through Kelley Armstrong’s WOMEN OF THE UNDERWORLD series, thanks in part to a suggestion here. I had read BITTEN years ago, when it first came out, and didn’t like it at all. Someone here mentioned that the series improved as it went on, so I picked it back up. I’m glad I did. The second book was still not great, but I thoroughly enjoyed the 3rd and 4th books in the series. I still think the ROCKTON books are her best, but these are very entertaining.
Finally, I read Sarah Morgan’s A WEDDING IN DECEMBER, mostly because it was on sale on Kindle and I wanted something Christmassy. It’s a family story about two daughters and their parents coming together when the younger sister announces a sudden plan to get married right before Christmas. There are several romances in it, including a second-chance romance for the parents, who have grown apart now that the children have grown up. All in all, I really liked it.
Just picked back up Victoria Dahl’s TUMBLE CREEK series. I discovered Dahl through TAKING THE HEAT, about a romance advice columnist who’s never actually had sex and her sweet librarian beta hero, and I loved it. But when I tried reading another Dahl, this time the first in the Tumble Creek series TALK ME DOWN, I found all the wacky craziness a bit much and the hero a bit too alpha, and didn’t continue with the series. This was around the time I tried reading Kristin Ashley for the first time (Rock Chick) and had the same issue (wacky craziness for wacky’s sake) and I think I was just worn out by this. Anyway, decided to try the series again because I was in the mood for something with a little suspense but also still light with the romance front and center. I found both START ME UP and LEAD ME ON an improvement over the first in the series. Perfectly readable, though still some character issues that make me a little eye role’y.
CAN’T STAND THE HEAT by Louisa Edwards, about a restaurant critic who falls for an up and coming chef and restaurant owner. A bit enemies to lovers, though the enemies part gets resolved fairly quickly. Also includes side plot about the heroine’s little brother and his romance with the bad boy older sous chef. Cute, sweet read. I checked this one out from the library, and would keep reading the series if the other books were available there (otherwise I think they’re a bit pricey).
FLASHED by Zoey Castile, the 3rd in her series about male dancers. This was my favorite of hers so far, though there was very little focus on the male dancer pet. Basically a modern day Beauty and the Beast, with a male hero who’s been scarred in a bad car accident who falls in love with the woman hired to clean his house (sounds a little eye-roll worthy there, but the heroine is also an art student who takes the job to help pay for school). Castile writes great, diverse characters, and the sexy times in this one were the best she’s written yet.
DON’t YOU FORGET ABOUT ME by Mhairi McFarland. This book gave me the best book hangover. Probably more women’s fiction in that it’s more about the main character’s journey and the romance is a bit secondary to that, though it is there, it is very sweet, the hero is described as sort of Poldark-looking, and he gives a barn burner of a give me a second chance speech towards the end. Heroine in her early 30s with her life a bit of a mess gets fired from a crappy waitressing job and dumps her crappy boyfriend after finding him with another woman, then finds a new job bartending only to find the bar owner is her former secret high school boyfriend, and the one who got away, only he doesn’t seem to remember her at all. McFarlane’s voice is sparkling and hilarious and touching. The most obvious comparison for this one is Bridget Jones because of all the British-isms and the messy main character trying to get her life in order, but this had surprising depth that sneaks up on you through all the laugh out loud humor. So much about how messed up family dynamics, past trauma and grief have long-lasting and unrealized impact on the way we live our lives (yay for being so pro-therapy). TW for sexual assault.
THE REST OF THE STORY by Sarah Dessen. YA about a teenage girl reconnecting with her deceased mother’s side of the family (her mom was an addict who died when she was 12). Hadn’t read Dessen since I was a teenager, but decided to check this one out after the whole Dessen-Twitter YA controversy (won’t weigh into that mess except to say I think everyone had good points but also got a little out of hand). This one had all the signature Dessen elements – teenage girl, summertime, coastal/lake small town, coming of age, very white, but it was done well and I enjoyed the story. Dessen’s books can run together a bit if read back to back, but her writing is always tight and thoughtful. I also don’t think I’ve seen much YA addressing the opioid crisis yet, so seeing a character who has been affected by it so much was interesting to me. There is of course a sweet romance on the side here, but it’s not the focus.
I tried to read VIRGIN RIVER by Robyn Carr after binge watching the series on Netflix, but I found the book didn’t really age well and the changes that were made to make it work as a tv series were really for the better. I DNF’d about a quarter of the way through.
@Elyse I ordered my goodreads: to-read-already-own list by number of pages and started reading from the shortest page count so that I can reach my arbitrary goal
I listened to the audio for Adriana Herrera’s
-American Fairytale: contemporary m/m Social Worker and Billionaire fall in love. I did not expect to like this story, I’m not a fan of the millionaire/billionaire trope but ended up giving it 4/5 stars
-American Love Story: contemporary m/m Professor-activist and a district attorney. I wasn’t a fan of how Patrice treated Easton at the beginning so 3/5 stars
I reread Ruby Moone’s Mistletoe Kiss (historic m/m, age gap): Book seller and his assistant. I went on a Ruby Moone binge last year and looking back I rated another book higher, but this is the one I reread (for the third time)
Avon Gale (m/m hockey) Next Season 4/5 stars. Teammates share a house after being traded into a new team
Based on the review here, Laura Bickle’s The Hallowed Ones: 4/5 stars
Este Holland Marshal’s PI (contemporary m/m) stoic US Marshal and a private investigator with bright, dyed hair running from the mob. This wasn’t for me, but I’m including it because it has a rating of 4.28 on goodreads so it may be someone else’s catnip
Cat Sebastain Hither,Page (historical m/m) WWII doctor with PTSD and a spy are trying to figure out who killed a cleaning lady.
Kim Fielding The Pillar (way-back-historical m/m) A town punishes criminals by whipping them, The town herbalist heals a slave who was punished 4/5 stars
Loved The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller.
Started plowing through Jenny Colman’s Scottish treats…liked The Cafe By The Sea enough to recommend.
Also discovered Amanda Quick at the library…delighted by Rendezvous.
I’m hoping to read a couple more holiday romances this year, including MY NEW CRUSH GAVE TO ME by Shani Petroff.
I also have several books on my TBR pile that I want to check out, including THE REAL DEAL by Lauren Blakely; MR. MAYFAIR by Louise Bay; and FAME, FATE, AND THE FIRST KISS by Kasie West.
Happy Holidays to all! 🙂
I just stayed up until 3:30-ish this morning reading “The Queen of Blood” by Sarah Beth Durst. I read it in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down until I was done. Holy moly, what a fabulous fantasy read in a world where the queen is chosen by the spirits she ultimately controls to prevent them killing people. The relationship is symbiotic – they can’t kill the spirits because it would destroy the forest and nature as a whole, and the spirits need a powerful queen to control and redirect their conflicting create/destroy urges so that they don’t obliterate themselves and the world. Only some women have this power. The heroine, Daleina, is not the best “destined to save the world” stereotype. Actually, she’s at the bottom of her class. She’s in good physical shape, but her skills at summoning spirits are abysmal and she results to strategy rather than brute power to do what she needs to do. I liked her a lot – she’s under no illusions about her abilities and doesn’t even manifest any affinity until her village is attacked by tree spirits when she’s 10 and she manages to save her family. There is a romance, but it’s a minor plot point and it never turns into one of those “I love you and so you can’t go do the thing”-type relationships. Daleina remains her own person and not distracted by romance. I’m really glad I checked out the second and third books in the trilogy and I can’t wait to dive back in; however, I am super zombified this morning because of my life choices. Kinda hurts, but I don’t regret finishing that book at all.
I also re-read “Red, White & Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston because there’s no such thing as too much of that book in my life.
Currently on ‘The Wallflower Wager’. I want a time machine for Christmas so I can go back and read the Girl Meets Duke series for the first time again. (Or maybe go forward in time to get my hands on the next book sooner.)
I’m close to finishing ‘Once Upon A Rose’. I’m really enjoying the fourth short story, ‘The Fairest Rose’, by Marianne Willman.
I’m about 482 pages into ‘The Fiery Cross’. (Only less than 1,000 to go!) I know not a lot of people like the fifth book and quit the Outlander series around this point, but I’m enjoying this one way more than ‘Drums Of Autumn’ so far.
Re-read A Purely Private Matter by Darcie Wilde to prep for the new one on December 31 (dance)
Book 2 of the Emperor’s Edge series by Lindsey Buroker: Still rollicking fun.
The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis: Book 1 of the Marcus Didius Falco series. I loved the Flavia Albia series, so I thought I’d back up and give these a try. They’re ok.
Death of a Schoolgirl by Joanna Slan: Re-read from several years back. Jane Eyre as detective after marriage to Mr. Rochester. Best part was Adele’s character, who does a lot of foot-stomping.
Prisoner of Midnight by Barbara Hambly: Best book I’ve read since the last Whatcha post. This is the final novel in her Asher/Ysidro series, although Hambly plans to continue with short stories. It’s a very satisfying conclusion and Hambly does her usual awesome job with atmosphere.
Oh, I also read “A Delicate Deception” by Cat Sebastian, which was fabulous and another Bad Decisions Book Club read earlier this week.
@DiscoDollyDeb I do like a dark romance but generally only books that show a decent amount of character insight out into it. Any dub/non con elements should be used sparingly and only if the plot demands it. I felt Buttons and Lace had too much out in for shock value. Unless the female MC escapes from her captor but then that’s more of a psychological thriller. There’s at least six buttons books so she either doesn’t get away or goes back/ gets recaptured. I found Twist Me by Anna Zaires a good dark romance, I have the trilogy but haven’t read the other two yet, I fear the forced trilogy syndrome here too.
@Kit: if you like Anna Zaires, I think you’d probably like either Skye Warren or Natasha Knight. Knight’s books are seldom on sale and I rarely see any freebies in the kindle store, but Warren has several free books (mostly novellas, but hey…free) on kindle. Many of her books are parts of series, but some can be read as standalones. You might want to try a freebie or a sample to see if you like her style.
I’ve skipped a few, but in that time I read a lot of good stuff
Read:
I finally read DEVIL IN WINTER by Lisa Kleypas .
While not my favorite romance personally, it was still really good and Sebastian is one of the best written bad boys out there. I’m not even a fan of that archetype, but I adored him.
NORTH CHILD by Edith Pattou
I originally read this “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” retelling in about middle school and absolutely adored it. It still holds up even all these years later and long after I’m no longer the target demographic. This books is highly recommended for any tweenage future romance fans or an adults with a soft spot for middle grade.
MARRY IN HASTE by Anne Gracie
I love Anne Gracie’s books , so of I course I loved this one as well. For people who aren’t dedicated fans, this book is still really enjoyable and witty. However, it is really slow to start as it is the first book in a new series. Unlike some of her previous books that suffered terrible first book syndrome throughout , this one evens out eventually, at like 100 pages in. If you don’t mind a slow start or are a fan of Anne Gracie’s work pick this one up, otherwise skip it.
Reading:
SEEKER by Kim Chance
If I wasn’t a fan of Kim Chance this would be a DNF for me just because it’s honestly one of the most generic YA I’ve read in awhile. If you’re a huge YA fan and don’t mind overdone tropes maybe pick this one up at your local library to try it before you buy it.
@Heather C, I did the same thing with sorting my TBR by page count, to cram in a couple of novellas and make my yearly goal. Almost there. Eep.
JUST STARTED:
THE MADNESS OF SUNSHINE – Nalini Singh – About 50% through it. Loving the atmosphere and the fact that she has convinced me to suspect every single person except for maybe three characters. LOL.
GOOD:
RISE – By Karina Bliss. Really enjoyed. Rockstar romance about a biographer travelling with a famous rock band in order to write a book about the bad boy lead singer. Neatly side stepped all the rock romance boring tropes of too much sex and drugs. As a matter of fact it made the band have much more life important issues. Money problems, reputation, and redemption. The women characters were stellar and very, very different from each other and they were super supportive of each other. No one tore another down.
HAZARD- By Stella Riley. Listened on audio. I love the Rockliffe series. Two romances, one is the fruition of a long running flirtation throughout the book, but that one wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it to b. The other romance, was the good one and I loved the whole thing.
REPEAT – by Kylie Scott. Also on audio. This author is hot or miss for me. But this one was really good. I enjoyed this amnesia romance and the romantic conflict and the stealth suspense plot.
THE VOR GAME, CETAGANDA and BROTHERS IN ARMS – By Losi McMaster Bujold. Working my way through a re-read of the Miles Vorkosigan books. Sigh. I adore this series.
JUST OK:
WRONG – By Jana Aston. I felt the heroine was too immature for my taste.
ROCKSTAR – By Lauren Rowe. I enjoyed her previous book in the same series, HERO, so thought I’d give this one a try. I enjoy the family a lot and they were the bright spot in this one. Also the romantic conflict was good. But the hero was so overwrought and annoying. Gah.
DISAPPOINTED:
RISE OF MAGICKS – by Nora Roberts – Oh man, such a let down. I loved the first book so hard! I’ve re-read that one three times. The second book was not as great as the first but felt like a necessary bridge. Thought this one would bring the story home but it rested on so many already well worn paths by the author. If you are familiar with her other PNR trilogies, then this book reads like every single one of them regurgitated. Nothing like what the first book promised this could be. I could weep.
A Match Made for Thanksgiving – Jackie Lau – loved the crazy family antics as always, but stalled out 2/3 of the way through. Might be time for me to slow down on inhaling every word Jackie Lau ever published… lol
SWORDHEART by T. KINGFISHER was great, thanks for the rec Bitchery! (It was Ren Benton I think?) “Stealth romance disguised as fantasy” is a great description.
Currently listening to A PRINCESS IN THEORY by Alyssa Cole – why did I wait this long? The plot is reminiscent of the movie “Coming to America” which I adore, but with more emotional depth and humor and feminism. Narrator is really bringing it to life.
Reread a bit of To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. The overworked sleep deprived time traveler is relatable to my frazzled holiday-season brain.
Hanging in my Portland hotel with 20 minutes before we leave for my goddaughter’s Master’s in education graduation, so pardon any spelling errors.
Literally just finished Storm Of Locusts book 2 in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Sixth world series. LOVED it!! Maggie is recovering from the Black Mesa events when a new danger comes calling. One with a way with metal, the titular locust (shudder) and a persuasive ability that pulls Kai into his orbit. Can Maggie rescue her estranged love, protect her people and not stab the team she unwillingly gathers along the way? Silly question.
Also, amusingly, this turns out to be a Christmas story. Sort of.
I’ve been working my way through L.A. Hall’s THE COMFORTABLE COURTESAN series (I’m on book 5 at the moment) – it’s a delightful epistolary-ish series set during the Regency that follows Clorinda Cathcart and her friends.
@Tara – I loooved This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone!
I devoured the entire Tensorate series by J Y Yang and I’m feeling a bit devastated by the ending. It’s 4 silk-punk novellas with unusual world building and lots of queer characters – definitely not genre romance but some love stories although not many heas.
@Tina, I was so looking forward to RISE OF MAGICKS and was one of the first to get it on the library hold list, but gave up about 100 pages in because it wasn’t holding my interest and I just didn’t really care about the second generation of survivors.
Also enjoyed THE BOOKISH LIFE OF NINA HILL which I picked up after hearing the author Abbi Waxman interviewed on a planner podcast (yes, that’s a thing–Nina’s devotion to her planner is a mechanism in the book) and she is hilarious. Looking forward to reading more from her.
I’m currently reading/listening to and enjoying THE HALLOWED ONES via Kindle Unlimited after Elyse’s recommendation. I especially like that the heroine has agency and is thoughtful.
I’ve been sticking with comfort re-reads since my temp job unexpectedly ended without any notice the week of Thanksgiving. So that was stressful and I couldn’t concentrate on anything new for awhile. I was in the middle of listening to my Audible copy of Lisa Kleypas’s MINE TILL MIDNIGHT, which I purchased years ago but had never listened to before now. Turns out, the audiobook is significantly different from the print version. The whole subplot featuring the heroine’s ex is not in the audiobook. So strange because it’s listed as unabridged. And the character is in the story later, but is written as having just met the heroine with no past history together. This actually changed the ending of the book quite a lot. The audiobook version I have is no longer available for purchase and it looks like a new audiobook version is going to be released in 2020. So I’m curious if that new audiobook will be the same as the print version.
After listening to that, I ended up re-reading the rest of The Hathaway series by Kleypas. And now I’m finishing my re-read of the Brothers Sinister series by Courtney Milan. Both of these series I purchased in ebook boxsets when they were on sale for great deals. But for my Goodreads Challenge I’m counting each as a separate book. Is that cheating? I actually met my challenge goal halfway through November, so I’m just seeing how much more I can fit in before the end of the year.
I also read PUPPY LOVE and PUPPY CHRISTMAS by Lucy Gilmore. They were both adorable reads and made me want a puppy. I’m excited for the next in the series.
I’ve got some books I’ve been saving for the holiday season, and now I have even more time to read. So I’m excited for the SmartBitches year end favorites posts and podcasts.
Just finished two wonderful reads. THE BRIDE TEST was a wonderful follow up to THE KISS QUOTIENT, and taught me a lot about the challenges of bringing our own assumptions and perspectives into important conversations with loved ones who may come from a different emotional or mental place.
I read GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN to get ready for the bookclub, and WOW – if Goodreads had a six star option, this one would get it! It was the perfect balance for me of witty dialogue and emotional depth, and it reminded me (again) how much I love Talia Hibbert’s work.
On the non-fiction side I just finished Brene Brown’s DARING GREATLY – I have been reading her works in order, and so far each one has beautifully built on the one before. They have really changed the way I talk to my kids about emotionally challenging experiences and being aware of their own self-talk.
Working my way through Bloodspell by Amalie Howard which I got as an ARC at some point, and the best I can say about it is that it is SO YA. It’s a standard “girl meets vampire, girl falls for vampire, girl discovers she has POWERS OMG, everybody tries to kill girl except vampire.” If you are a Twilight fan you would probably love this book, as the heroine actually has some agency, but for me it just serves as a reminder that I was never that young.
Catherine, thanks for the rec of Anna Chronistic, that sounds like all my catnip!
@susan H:
I can’t stand unabridged books, so I don’t plan to read those narrated by Richard Armitage
@Marci:
The Kleypas looks to be about 12 hours long, so I think that is unabridged. The others in the series will be out the same day. I also can’t stand when I cant’ find books in a series.
Haven’t read a lot lately, and I’d have to try to remember what I’ve read this year which would take time, but my best friend and I read a delightful childrens’ series called the Doll People. All the books are on Audio, and the only thing that might upset people is a terrifyingly mean bully of a doll who is the title character of the second book, and shows up in what I guess is a character’s ptsd induced flashback/nightmare in the third. The authors even tell you to skip to the end of the chapter if you are afraid of her. Obviously, I didn’t listen. I didn’t know it was a series when I read the first book as a child, and wish I had because you can’t go wrong with dolls having adventures.
ETA: I’d have to remember what I’ve read this year since I’ve last posted which would take time. I have posted this year in past Whatcha Reading columns.
@Stefani Magura – I agree about abridged books. In this case, I’ve read the originals so many times that the abridging doesn’t bother me. Its like watching a film version – you know things will be left out, but you’re interested in the actor’s interpretation. I wouldn’t want to only listen to a shortened copy.
@Catherine, I don’t think I’ve ever read a recommendation as strong as yours — my all-time favorite book by Connie Willis mixed with my favorite series by Elizabeth Peters! Sold! I can’t wait to read this.
I had a really decent day in the nursery today which allowed me to read a book that got left in the break room. It was excellent and I wanted to share it with the Bitchery. Sadly, we are blocked on the hospital computer, leading to IT phone calls and emails and, by that point, it was quicker to wait until I go home and could use my own computer.
The book is The Elephant in the Room; Bioethical Concerns in Human Milk Banking by September Williams and Mothers Milk Bank San Jose. (Disclaimer: this is the Milk Bank that my hospital uses.) This book is a good deal more interesting than it might sound. Dr. Williams is a good writer and I did have to wipe my eyes twice as well as stifle an occasional chuckle. She looks at the ethics of feeding babies, at the increasing reliance on technology, and at the disparity in breast feeding support and infant mortality, among others, based on socioeconomic status and color. I strongly recommend this book. It is $3.99 on Amazon and helps support the non-profit San Jose bank.
I hope it’s OK that I am putting the rest of my reading in a separate post. I loved Dr. Williams’ book so much I thought it deserved its own setting.
My reading slump seems to be gone. I went crazy this last two weeks.
The crazy sauce one was The Billionaire Shifter’s Secret Baby. Who could resist that title! And it turns out that in this world different kinds of shifters can mate and have any kind of shifter (or not) baby. It was just as over the top as you imagine. There were a few times I wished for more plot and using your words and less sex. But YMMV.
I also loved Water Bound by Christine Feehan. I liked the story, the neuroatypical heroine, her found family. I loved that I am pretty sure I know exactly where her farmhouse stands. This is the first of her books that I really liked. Up until the last paragraph. Which, no, I cannot. I cannot imagine piloting a small dive boat through the coastal waters while my co-pliot enters through the back door. Nope.
Loved, loved, loved The Austen Playbook.
Liked Raeanne Thayne’s Coming Home for Christmas. I had some issues with the heroine being so guilt-ridden and self-effacing. I had to remind myself that I know women like that, that this is a realistic portrayal. But overall a good book and I think got the family dynamics well. Thayne does a good job with people with health issues
I read all six of Dean Koontz’s novella series about the Nameless man who brings, not justice, but truth to the untouchable bad guys. It was Ok but not his best. Suffered, I think, from the novella length.
Melting the Trauma Doc’s Heart got a lot of the medicine right, yay!, and the story was good. Burnt out trauma doc flees to small town New Zealand, reunites his senior partner with an estranged plastic surgeon daughter. She, of course, comes to realize that GP in a small time is better than successful plastic surgeon in a large city. I did enjoy it.
Lost Hlls by Lee Goldberg. Young woman leveraged into sheriff’s detective before she is fully matured, deals with sexism, deals with her ACEs (Adverse Childhood Events), solves a murder. Engrossing. Characters pretty well drawn (loved her ever hopeful actress mom’s portrayal), decent plat. Not a romance. At all.
During Thanksgiving week:
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez which I enjoyed even though it did make me cry.
— enjoyed Wolf’s Clothing (Legend Tripping Book 2) by E.J. Russell even though I had not read the first book in the series.
— Traveling to and from our friends’ house for Thanksgiving, my husband and I listened to Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. Normally I doze while my husband drives and listens; however, this kept my attention, too.
— read and enjoyed A Holiday By Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Mimi Matthews. I’d heard some good reviews of this author’s books and would happily read others by her.
— quite enjoyed The Terrans (First Salik War Book 1) by Jean Johnson which I’d describe as a science fiction first contact story. It does have a fairly gruesome section early on, but it’s soon over.
— also enjoyed Reindeer Games by N.R. Walker which was a short male/male romance.
— stayed up late finishing Christmas Hope by Caroline Warfield which I purchased after reading a wonderful review on the Dear Author site. It’s a historical romance set during WWI and takes place mostly in France. I recommend it.
— the historical romance Rogue Meets a Scandalous Lady (Mackenzies Series Book 11) by Jennifer Ashley which I enjoyed.
— The Snow Angel by Jayne Fresina. This was an enjoyable historical romance that I suspect I’ll be rereading. It contained elements of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol; it also contained a surprising twist near the end which I did not foresee
— I started but put aside Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente. I’d heard excellent things about this book, but it was not speaking to me.
— I started and did not finish yet another book: Sailing to Sarantium (Sarantine Mosaic) by Guy Gavriel Kay.
I started reading Puppy Love by Lucy Gilmore this evening and it is promising. This morning, I finished The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street by Emma Davies and will have check out this author’s backlist after the holidays. The heroine, Daisy, grew through the narrative and moved on from a sad childhood to find a kindred soul. Plus, there was a little bit of Christmas magic in the English village. Absolutely charming and very sweet, with a Hallmarky ending. Just what I needed after reading Kiss Me At Christmas by Valerie Bowman where the hero was perpetually thinking about how tight his breeches were getting when around the heroine. The story had a bit of suspense in it with a surprising villain which I enjoyed.
In other holiday reading – I loved Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory and the way the romance progressed between two 50-somethings was believable. Once again, I didn’t think it would work out, but Vivian and Malcolm found their way. Whew. The Earl’s Christmas Pearl by Megan Frampton was a lot of fun and I liked the “Home Alone” theme.
Next up will likely be The Red Hot Earl by Darcy Burke, billed as a Regency retelling of “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.”
I’m stumped on what to read and nothing has interested me lately at all, so I’m going back and reading Nora Roberts, Judith McNaught and Kristen Ashley. I need some new inspiration!
I’m reading The Bride Test by Helen Hoang. I was engrossed in the first book, The Kiss Quotient, but my library borrow ended before I was finished. The Bride Test was available, so I grabbed that and it has me equally hooked. I love Hoang’s characters and writing style. The Kiss Quotient was super sexy, too, which I didn’t expect.
I’m also juggling The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I’ve been on a memoir kick. Hoping to get some good reading time over the holidays. One more week of school & I’m free.
:::floats in to the sound of All Is Found by Kacey Musgraves because it seems appropriate for the season:::
It was a busy month for the books, since my semester ended and I managed to get the presentation that I’m doing next month at a conference (bites nails nervously) squared away. I also finished a cross-stitch and haven’t started the next one yet (I have it picked up, hope to get it started today). All these things mean more reading.
I left off on The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black. Those books are all the Game of Thrones intrigue with evil faeries that you could ever want. They’re all about power, and how you use it, and what makes that power good or evil. Plus, we actually got to see Cardan learn to person a bit in this one, and gain an idea of how faerie logic can feel damaging to someone with human feelings and emotions. I followed that up with The Rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts, and I almost hate to say it, but…eh. Year One was excellent, Of Blood and Bone good, and this was at best okay. It hit all the beats, but there was none of the freshness of story that Year One had, and that does not work well with someone like me, who loves the “apocalypse and what comes after” genre and only wants good things for it. Then it was The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. I liked the “smart house as haunted house” concept, but I think there were a few too many plot threads that got left just hanging out there. I didn’t always like the narrator, but I’m pretty sure that was the point. Now, I like to prep for a new Star Wars movie by reading a new Star Wars book, and damned if I had not been holding onto Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse. LOVED. Poe’s hair was its own plot point, and I liked that the book showed him not being let off the hook for his boneheaded actions in The Last Jedi, and learning to be a better leader for it. Also, it made some very effective connections to Bloodline by Claudia Gray (better known as “the best Star War of all time, yeah I said it, fight me”). I LOVED. Next up was Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi. Great follow-up to Children of Blood and Bone, definitely widened the world, and cliffhanger. Sigh. I hate waiting. I’m currently reading A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh, and am really enjoying the mystery and its slow unwinding. Good Agatha action right here, and we know I always like an angry heroine. I also am listening to The Black Cauldron in the car, which I haven’t read since I was a kid, and I’m loving the revisit. Until next time, guys, buy the toys for the needy kids, buying toys is fun no matter how hold you are.