We have reached the last Whatcha Reading of 2019! Let’s pour one out for the books we’ve finished this year.
SBTB hopes you’ve ended your year of reading with something good. If not, there are tons more books waiting for you in the new year!
Catherine: I’m in the middle of Christmas madness (singing and culinary editions), so I’m sticking to rereads at the moment. In particular, I’m rereading the Penric and Desdemona novellas by Lois McMaster Bujold, because they are delightful and funny and kind and optimistic, all of which I need right now.
And of course I have just finished my annual reread of All Seated On The Ground by Connie Willis, which is clever and funny and especially hilarious if you have spent a lot of your life in choirs and singing Christmas carols (the lyrics really are a lot more violent than you might think…).
Shana: I’m reading Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett, which is about a HIV+ teen who loves musicals, and falls for a popular guy at school; someone tries to blackmail her into breaking up with him by threatening to tell everyone that’s she’s positive. YA is not my favorite genre, and high school was a long time ago for me. Still, I’m a third in and actually enjoying the book so far. The characters are very diverse and the heroine’s sex-positive besties are hilarious. However, she is adorably awkward and all this secondhand embarrassment might kill me.
Sarah: I love Penric! I love the audiobooks too. So much. For all the reasons you said.
Kiki: I’ve been having a really hard time sticking with anything lately—I think it’s part depression and part just feeling really picky. I keep starting things and putting them down because I start to feel really grumbly about them and want to give them a fair shot when I’m feeling a bit better. But I’ve been listening to Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell which is giving me little bursts of joy and slowly reading my way through Samantha Wayland’s Hat Trick series ( A ) which I think was recommended in the comments of The Rec League about throuples.
Aarya: I am rereading Star Wars fanfiction featuring Mara Jade. I say rereading because I’ve already read any available Mara Jade story a million times.
In original work: I’m keeping up with Ilona Andrews’s holiday Innkeeper novella Sweep With Me. It releases January 14 but they’re posting half-chapter increments as a serial. The process is excruciating yet delightful: I refresh their website fifty times a day in the vain hope that there’s a new update (excruciating) but the comments are filled with excited speculation (delightful). If I thought I possessed any restraint, I’ve been proven wrong. I can’t even wait three weeks for a complete book!
I also recently finished Jackie Lau’s A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year. ( A | BN | K | AB ) Ironically I read it during a Christmas party where I was trying to avoid social interaction. It’s funny and low-angst. The hero’s family members are A+ meddlers who keep setting the children up with blind dates during holiday functions. The hero decides to thwart their plans by producing his own fake girlfriend/real friend (who has a secret crush on him!). I really liked the use of a Pictionary game, which was both hilarious and poignant at different moments.
Ellen: I’m currently reading the Christmas historical novella anthology How the Dukes Stole Christmas. So far it’s very cute and I’m enjoying the seasonal aspect. There’s something so warm and fuzzy about the holiday novellas!! I’m also reading The Widow of Rose House and I’m enjoying the heroine and the spooky atmosphere but can’t decide if i’m irritated or not by the hero’s relentless cheerfulness.
Claudia: I’m also reading The Widow of Rose House! I am really liking it so far and the hero hasn’t annoyed me, lol. I’m usually all for grumpy heroes so it has been a nice change.
Aarya: I’m really happy that so many readers have liked that book. It’s one of my favorite debuts of 2019.
Elyse: I’m coming out of seasonal work insanity, so I’ve mostly been paging through knitting books and looking at patterns.
I’m too mentally tired to do much else
Carrie: I’m reading The Return by Rachel Harrison – a creepy book that I’m making all kinds of bad book decisions about.
Sneezy: I’ve been reading Then, Now, Always by Mona Shroff ( A | BN | K | AB ) for some second chance cat nip, but I’ve become so annoyed with the characters and have bashed my head on my Kindle so much it blinked over to The Brush of Black Wings by Grace Draven. I might go back to finish Then, Now, Always later, but for now, magical, romantic, and suitably violent fits the bill.
Lara: I’ve dived into Red Sister by Mark Lawrence…it’s about martial nuns. I’m still in the world-building part of the book, but I already love the MC, Nola. My romance book club friend, Katusha, loved it which is a ringing endorsement!
Tara: I’m reading Technically Faking by Robin Hale. It’s an f/f fake relationship romance between a super grumpy tech CEO and a bubbly yet savvy influencer. They totally have feelings way before they’re willing to admit it and it’s cute to see them try to shrug their crushes off.
Catherine: Ooh, Tara, that sounds like amazing fun!
Tara: It’s super fun. My only real complaint is that it needs another proofread. Some words are dropped and it’s not always obvious what should be there. Otherwise, I’m really enjoying it. Having mainly worked in tech for my career, even the whole “working in tech” stuff rings true.
Susan: I tripped and started binge re-reading post-Force Awakens Finn/Poe Dameron fic, for Absolutely No Reason At All.
But for original fiction, I’m still alternating between Queen of Coin and Whispers and Any Old Diamonds
Amanda: *whispers* I’m working on my own SW fanfic.
Susan: Queen of Coin and Whispers is still good, but I’ve been too frazzled to give it the attention it deserves, while Any Old Diamonds is perfect for “Okay, my family may be dramatic, but at least it’s not ‘I’ve hired a jewel thief to rob my father’ levels of dramatic.”
Charlotte: I am going on a reading retreat for New Year’s Eve with one of my best girlfriends, so I’m still laboring away at my 3,000-page history of Christianity and stockpiling my more entertaining reading for that. I’m up to like 900 AD, so only 1100 more years to go!
Amanda: I’m a sucker for a reader retreat! I hope you have tons of fun!
Charlotte: I did a solo one for NYE a few years ago and it was so awesome that I’ve been itching to repeat it. We’ll be gone for 3 days with literally no agenda other than some spa time and reading. I am sooooo excited.
Aarya: I didn’t know a reader retreat was a thing and now I want to go on one. Oooh, maybe in a ski cabin but no one actually goes out skiing because we’d rather curl up by the fireplace and drink hot chocolate.
Amanda: My friends and I usually rent out an off season beach house during the winter for one. Our next is scheduled for Presidents’ Day weekend on Cape Cod. I took photos for the site of our first one.
Aarya: …okay, apparently everyone does this except me and I need to start texting my friends.
Amanda: My friends are all from grad school where we got our MAs in publishing. We typically get dinner once a month and do a book swap for the holidays. Put us alone in a space with books and we’re happy. We get groceries delivered and divide making meals if need be.
Susan: This sounds like heaven, omg.
Catherine: Yeah, I need to do this too.
How was your reading year? What’s the last book you’re reading to end the decade?
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My reading year was good, especially the summer when I took my traditional Internet break. “The Unhoneymooners” and “The Bride Test” stand out as favorites. Lots of Alyssa Cole too. I’m ending the year with a sprained wrist, which means I must just sit on the couch and read more! 😉
Got a lot of reading done these past few weeks, thanks to Christmas and not currently having TV. (Still have Netflix on my laptop. Thank God for that. But my reading rate has been pretty good.)
Maurene Goo- Somewhere Only We Know
YA Roman Holiday between a Kpop star and a tabloid photographer. It was pretty cute though there were some big issues (eating disorders, family pressure). I’ve notice Goo has a tendency to start over-the-top goofy which can grate on me, but eventually settles down. I liked the Hong Kong setting.
KJ Charles- Gilded Cage
It’s KJ Charles, so I’m gonna like it. It’s Susan Lazarus, so make that double. Very good, as per usual.
Jackie Lau- One Bed For Christmas
I bounced off this one pretty hard. The prose just didn’t work for me.
Zen Cho- The True Queen
A very fun followup to Sorcerer to the Crown, though I wanted to bang the protagonists heads together and what there was of romantic development didn’t get solved (barely even addressed outside of allusions) until the very. last. page. Argh. Still, the dragons were fun.
Alexis Hall- How to Bang a Billionaire
I made the mistake of not realizing this was the start of a trilogy that follows the same couple the whole way, so I was seriously bugged by the lack of resolution. It was good, but I have to dig into the rest.
Taylor Jenkins Reid- Daisy Jones & the Six
Got this through Book of the Month. Heard a lot of people raving but it felt…tame, to me. It’s supposed to be based on Fleetwood Mac, which I admit to not knowing a lot about, but instead of feeling very rock and roll, it mostly felt like fairly bland women’s fic with some poetry at the back purporting to be legendary songs.
Richard Roper- How Not to Die Alone
Advertised as the male equivalent of Eleanor Oliphant, and, yeah, it is what it says on the tin. But I enjoyed it a lot. As a very lonely person, it resonated with me. There’s a core of tragedy, and beware, there is cheating (this usually bothers me but I didn’t mind too much in the context of this book. It is mainly emotional cheating before that relationship gets resolved.) All in all it was a comforting and quiet book.
R. F. Kuang- The Poppy War
This is a fantasy book and it’s got all the tropes, and I absolutely loved it. It very vaguely mirrors the politics of East Asia in the 20th century, but spins it into something new and compelling. It is *dark*. Like, really, really dark. Very violent. But I always felt those things were in service to the characters, never gratuitous or for the sake of it. And I really liked the characters, especially Rin, the protagonist. I’ve got the sequel all cued up and am just waiting for the right mood to strike me.
Rainbow Rowell- Carry On
I reread this before the sequel. I’d forgotten just how much I loved it.
Rainbow Rowell- Wayward Son
And Wayward Son. Oh boy. I read this one in a day–it would have been one sitting but I can almost never manage that. It was so fun. When they got to the Renaissance Faire I started laughing out loud. And in between all that is a poignant look at depression, and self-worth, and navigating relationships that haven’t turned out the way you thought. I’m a *bit* peeved about the cliffhanger even though I knew it was coming, because I’m sure book 3 won’t be around for awhile. But that’s what rereading is for.
So that’s my December. I just wanted to thank everyone who sent me good wishes last month when I was still reeling from the fire. I still am kind of reeling, actually, but I’m going to be moving into a new place next month (whole new city!) and am working on getting my life back together. I know Romancelandia is going through a lot right now, but I just wanted to say that even though I don’t really know any of you, your thoughts really helped me stay above water. So thanks 🙂
I’ve been reading…well I actually haven’t read a tonne because it turns out I am picky but I’ve been making delighted Jedistormpilot noises and hunting out some fic to read. Otherwise I largely reread a bunch of children’s classics so it’s kind of been a failure in terms of new books. (I keep picking up things and not being able to start them for Reasons that my brain refuses to tell me).
A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year releases on January 7 – until then, I heartily recommend A Match Made for Thanksgiving if you like the funny family antics, or One Bed for Christmas if you would rather avoid family and snuggle with a hot guy on a cold night…
@Catherine, I love All Seated on the Ground too! And Lois McMaster Bujold! (Did we just become best friends??)
My current comfort reread are the first two Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett. For a multi sensory immersion, I’m listening to Mark’s version of them on markreads.net (He reads fan-recommended books and geeks out. His reactions are delightful),
New to me book I’m slowly reading – A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole. I adore A Princess in Theory.
I’m not much on holiday romances, so I read The Henchmen of Zenda by K.J. Charles over Christmas. Fun, swashbuckling, etc., although I found the resolution to the plot to be a little bit of a letdown considering how central it was to the book (it involves a fight over the throne, double agents, an imposter, etc.) The romance is really secondary to the political intrigue, IMO, but the ending treats the romance as central and the political machinations as secondary. In fairness, that’s only about the last 10 pages so I’m willing to let it slide.
Also read Getaway Girl by Tessa Bailey. Didn’t love the plot and had some problems with the male lead (possessive jealousy is not cool, dude, even if your lady friend finds it somehow charming), but the sex is super hot.
Currently reading Sweet Agony based on Elyse’s Squee review. It’s delightful. Any time someone gives books to their love interest, I’m all in.
I finally read the last two books in Penny Reid’s Winston Brothers series. BEARD WITH ME is a prequel of sorts, set in the early 2000s when Billy and Scarlet are still in high school. It has all the trigger warnings, but I thought it was a lovely, if sad, book. I knew that going in, so I had BEARD NECESSITIES all cued up and ready to provide their happy ending. I found it a very satisfying conclusion to the series. Most of the series works as one offs, but this one would be very hard to read if you didn’t already know the whole family. Past characters play major roles, and their is a lengthy epilogue that is cleary fan service.
I just got Joanna Bourne’s MY LORD AND SPYMASTER from the library, so I’ll probably be reading that as my last book of the year.
Just started WHO’S THAT GIRL by Mhairi McFarlane, my second by this author after absolutely loving DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME.
GEEKERELLA by Ashley Poston. Cute YA modern day Cinderella retelling with a young actor prince cast in the reboot of a cult following, Serenity/Battlestar Galactiga type show and a Cinderella who’s obsessed with the show. The ball is a con for the show, the supporting friend/fairy godmother character is a lot of fun. The Cinderella tropes are a bit much at times (requiring a suspension of disbelief that the mom and sisters would get away with being that awful), but overall this one was totally enjoyable. It’s the first in a series, though I’m not sure if subsequent ones follow a fairy tale retelling or not.
NATALIE TAN’S BOOK OF LUCK AND FORTUNE by Roselle Lim. Kind of a Chinese American Like Water For Chocolate, a Chinese-American woman moves back to San Francisco after the death of her mother and decides to reopen the family restaurant. Strong magical realism element (her cooking/recipes have magical powers). Not a romance, though there is a cute romantic side plot. Some weak spots in the writing, but overall I enjoyed this one, particularly the way Lim used the narrative to make a point about the gentrification of traditionally ethnic neighborhoods in major cities.
UNDERCURRENTS by Norah Roberts. My first Roberts (I know, I know), and probably not the best one to start with. Heavy, heavy domestic violence elements (both abusive parents and abusive partners). I actually love a good Lifetime suspenseful thriller type movie, so these elements weren’t necessarily the weak spot for me (though warning for anyone that is sensitive to this, there are some scenes that are difficult to read). The banter between the two romantic leads was great, and the heroine in particular was a fantastic, strong character, and there were some wonderful secondary characters. Where it all started to fall apart is just that it wouldn’t end – how many different bad things can happen to these people? Did we have to bring back every bad person from their past? The ending and reveal of the ultimate bad guy was predictable. The writing was solid though, and I’d definitely read another Roberts’ romantic suspense.
MISCONDUCT by Penelope Douglas. I’ve read more recent stuff by Douglas and it’s obvious her writing has matured since this, which was her debut. Skip this one and read BIRTHDAY GIRL if you’re looking for a good younger woman older man romance.
DAISY JONES AND THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This book has been everywhere and I had to wait forever for my library hold to come in, but it finally did. I absolutely devoured this book, despite pretty much hating the Daisy Jones character. It’s not a romance, so Jones isn’t a romantic lead, which I think is what allowed me to still enjoy the book. The whole thing is told through interviews with the band (The Six) and Daisy and other characters who were around them in the 60s and 70s. I found the Daisy character underdeveloped, I had no idea what her motivation was, and found every criticism levied at her by other characters in the book completely spot on (she didn’t have to work for anything, she was spoiled, etc). She didn’t really show any growth – she was a drunk and a pill addict, she never showed up for work sober and sometimes didn’t show up at all, and she did some truly terrible, hurtful things. Even when speaking in more the present day, she still wasn’t regretful or apologetic about the behavior, which just really bothered me from a character perspective. However, the relationship between the lead of the band and his wife was amazing, as was that of the Graham and Karen characters from the band. Also, Reid really sticks the ending with this one. I’m excited to see how Reese Witherspoon adapts this for tv.
PERFECT DATE by Evelyn Lozada. This book made me angry. From the cutest picture on the cover and the description blurb, I was expecting a cute, Before Sunrise-esque story for two native Bronxites wandering around their neighborhood getting to know one another and ultimately falling for each other. Instead what I got was a crazy, all over the place, cliche-ridden pile-on with almost no likeable characters. I mean seriously, fake relationship, blackmail, nightclub shooting, severe childhood asthma, sexual harassment and assault, career ending injury, cat fight, how many more elements can you jam in? This all made more sense when I realized Lozada is a star on Vh1’s Basketball Wives, but it didn’t make the book any better. If you’re looking for a sports romance and the blurb on this one starts to suck you in, save yourself and read Alexa Martin’s Playbook series instead – similar voice but much better writing.
‘Tis the season for re-reading. I spent a good portion of the last few weeks de-stressing with re-reads of some favorite books. For whatever reason, Anne Calhoun’s TRANSCENDENT (two interconnected short stories about a couple whose very formal, stylized domme/sub dynamic evolves into something far more fluid and emotional) was number one on the multiple re-reads list. Go figure. But, in between visits with old favorites, I was able to read a few new books:
Kate Stewart’s THE GUY ON THE LEFT is an interesting look at the life-changing consequences of a single lie and how those consequences continue to ripple outward for years after. When he was 18-years-old, the hero lied about his age to an older woman with whom he had a one-night-stand. Not long after, the woman discovered that she was pregnant and that her baby’s father—far from being the teacher in his mid-twenties that he claimed to be—was actually a teenager still in high school. As the years go by, the hero attends college, plays football, works, and tries to help his son and his son’s mother financially. The heroine is having none of it, still bitterly angry about the lie the hero told. But when her child is about six, the heroine begins to relent somewhat and, very carefully, by slow degrees, permits the hero to be part of their son’s life. I liked the realism of this book: the hero is young, impulsive, and only gradually accepts that he should not have lied to get what he wanted the night his son was conceived; the heroine has difficulty letting go of her anger—although her son is the most important person in her life and she loves him beyond words, she finds it almost impossible to forgive the hero for his lie. I also liked the way the child is presented: he’s not a perfect “plot muppet,” he’s extremely smart and interested in a wide variety of things, but has difficulty socializing and making friends with kids his own age; he also has typical young kid meltdowns and makes attempts (with varying degrees of success) to manipulate his parents. Since I have complained in the past about the fetishization of younger men—making them absolutely perfect on every physical and emotional level—in books with a younger-hero/older-heroine dynamic (Sierra Simone’s MISADVENTURES IN BLUE and Sybil Bartel’s RELENTLESS, to name a couple), I think it’s only fair that I praise Stewart for creating an interesting, imperfect younger hero who gradually evolves, matures, and learns to accept the consequences and the responsibilities of the careless lie he once told. Highly recommended.
Rachel Van Dyken’s STEALING HER is a take on “the wrong twin” trope. The hero and his identical twin brother were separated in their early teens when their parents divorced. The hero went with their mother; his twin stayed with their businessman father. Fast forward almost two decades and, when his twin is badly injured in a collision, the hero is persuaded to assume his bother’s identity while he recovers. The hero steps into his brother’s upscale life, including becoming close with the brother’s fiancée, who is unaware of the switch but realizes something is different since the accident—her fiancé is no longer the cold, unfaithful, emotionally-distant, money- & status-obsessed man he became after he started working for his father. Other than a few copy-editing gaffs (for example, the heroine’s chipped nail polish is described as a flawless manicure a few pages later) and an occasional tendency to tell rather than show, Van Dyken makes this story very entertaining. I rooted for the truly conflicted hero & heroine and was invested in seeing how they would achieve their HEA. I’ll also be reading the twin brother’s upcoming book—I’m interested in how Van Dyken will turn an initially dislikable character into a hero.
[TW/CW: abusive ex, stalking] How did I miss CD Reiss’s BODYGUARD when it was first published in 2017? One of my favorite writers taking on one of my favorite tropes—and yet somehow it slipped through the cracks of my tbr list until I saw it recently on KU. BODYGUARD’s heroine is a dancer/choreographer who is being stalked by an abusive ex whose physical and psychological attacks on her are escalating. The heroine is choreographing an upcoming tour for a Beyoncé-level mega-star and part of the security detail provides her with a personal bodyguard—a man with a teenage son and dark secrets of his own. There’s an instant attraction between hero & heroine, but, unlike in many bodyguard romances, the characters directly address the ethical problems of a bodyguard becoming romantically involved with a client; plus, Reiss isn’t afraid of letting the hero be less-than-perfect—he screws up a number of times, especially regarding his son. Reiss also captures how emotionally exhausting being stalked is: the fear, the second-guessing, the constant vigilance, the draining of enjoyment from friendships and social events, the tension of always waiting for the other shoe to drop. The story also includes a dismaying (and all-too-accurate) subtext about how restraining orders and orders of protection tend to mean very little to the unbalanced minds of stalkers. Although BODYGUARD is well-written in Reiss’s reliably crisp and intelligent style, the book’s romance almost takes a back seat to the character study of two people having to deal with the terrible things that can happen in an imperfect world.
One of the most difficult tropes to get right is “the ex’s father”: it requires very delicate handling to avoid the ick factor. In fact, the only book I’ve read that really made it work is Penelope Douglas’s BIRTHDAY GIRL. So I was pleased to see Tamsen Parker, a writer I like, try her hand at the trope in her erotic short story, “The Twelfth Night of Kinkmas,” in the HOT FOR THE HOLIDAYS anthology (free in the Kindle Store when I downloaded it). Because this is a short story, there’s not a great deal of time for plot development, but Parker does a good job of setting the scene: a bdsm club has held events for twelve nights leading up to Christmas Eve. Now it’s early Christmas morning and a bad snowstorm is rolling in while the heroine (a sub who works, but rarely plays, at the club) is alone, waiting for her on-again/off-again boyfriend to pick her up. Instead, the boyfriend’s father (a dom and a member of the club) arrives to take her home. But, before they can leave, the snowstorm gets worse, making it impossible for them to leave—leading to enforced proximity in a snowbound bdsm club, surrounded by a plethora of toys, props, and equipment. Can you guess what happens? Santa/Elf role-play! Which is fully consensual and, by turns, sexy, funny, and emotional. And there’s an HEA. A fun story which successfully handles a difficult trope.
What’s the last book you’re reading to end the decade?
This question cast an unintended pall on my reading plans for the weekend. I just finished Rachel Reid’s HEATED RIVALRY (because the library is going to grab it back today) and it was so good that now I’m thinking I shouldn’t read anything else so that my last reading experience of the decade will have been awesome. I’m pretty sure the Kindle Unlimited titles I have queued up are not going to be awesome.
As for what I’m reading to see out the decade, I am currently reading a book I know I’m going to squee about in the next WAYR: THROWN OFF THE ICE by Taylor Fitzpatrick. Had it not been for a rave review on AAR, I wouldn’t have looked twice at this book (nothing about the cover communicates “romance”), but it’s a beautifully-written m/m romance that covers the years-long relationship between two professional hockey players. On the surface, that sounds like Rachel Reid’s HEATED RIVALRY, my favorite book of 2019, but in style & content, its completely different. The AAR review warned that THROWN OFF THE ICE is not a “traditional HEA” romance, so I’m preparing to be gutted. Also, I’m going to save the last chapter for January 1 because I suspect it will be a favorite read of 2020 and I want to be able to say that, technically, I did read (some of) it in 2020!
@Deborah: I see the two Deborahs are thinking alike this year. As noted in my comment above, HEATED RIVALRY is my favorite book of 2019! So good!
Since last weekend I’ve been diving headfirst back into Star Wars fanfiction, just couldn’t help myself! Any recommendations for satisfying Reylo fics is much appreciated. Will a Rise of Skywalker review be coming from The Bitchery by any chance? Because I have a feeling we all have lots of thoughts on that one.
Right before the holidays I finished reading The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker. I adore all of the books in her London Celebrities series, but I felt this was the best one since Act Like It.
As for end of the year reading, my favorite romance of the year, Red White and Royal Blue, was on kindle daily deal today so I snatched that right up for a re-read. I listened to the audiobook through Scribd earlier this year, but it’s definitely one to go on my keeper shelf.
I have several contemporary romances and rom-coms on my TBR pile, including SMITTEN BY THE BRIT by Melonie Johnson and THE BROMANCE BOOK CLUB by Lyssa Kay Adams.
I’m looking forward to reading A QUEEN IN HIDING by Sarah Kozloff, which comes out in January.
I also binged out THE WITCHER on Netflix this week, and now I want to check out some of the books/stories.
Happy (early) New Year to all! 🙂
Since it’s releasing on 12/31, I think I can finally squee about LOVE LETTERING by Kate Clayborn. I got an ARC a couple of weeks ago and it’s definitely going on my top books list for 2019. So much competence porn (the heroine is an amazing calligrapher who literally thinks in fonts) and such a quiet yet impactful romance between 2 people who on their face are very different, yet underneath are a perfect example of how the right partner builds you up rather than tearing you down. As if that wasn’t enough, there was also an unflinching look at the heroine’s relationship with her best friend/roommate who has basically ghosted her for the last few months with the heroine having absolutely no idea why. For me, the exploration of their “breakup” was almost more impactful than the romance. Finally, this book had a fantastic “enthusiastic consent” scene. I often gloss over the sexy scenes in romances but this one really stood out.
Aside from that, I finally read AURORA BLAZING, the follow up to POLARIS RISING by Jessie MIhalik and I liked it just as much, if not even more than the first book. The romance was not as well developed, but tons of competence porn, a smart, determined yet damaged heroine and the strong familial bond between her and her 5 siblings more than made up for it.
My final book for 2019 will be SAPPHIRE FLAMES by Ilona Andrews. I know, I know, it’s been sitting on my Kindle since release day and I haven’t read it yet, but life intervened. I wanted an uninterrupted stretch of time to read and savor it and had foot surgery a week ago, so since I’m currently banned from doing anything other than sitting with my foot elevated, I’m glad I saved it.
Wishing all a healthy and happy year and decade!
In the last few weeks I’ve successfully gotten caught up enough on things that I have to read for reviews and book clubs that I’ve started to read some of the books that I put aside over four years of serving on the Notable Books Council that weren’t by authors that I read regularly. Consequently, I’ve DNF’d a couple of things just because they weren’t that interesting.
I read In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan, in my continued effort to finish the Lady Trent series, which I continue to enjoy very much. Definitely a good move to pick that up from the library rather than attempt something else on my pile at home. I read two of the three shortlisted books for the adult nonfiction Carnegie awards, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer and Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham, both of which would highly deserve to win. I read Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye, which isn’t as serial-killery as is advertised, precisely, but has a very high body count and is wonderfully engrossing. I read The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray, which was not nearly as interesting as its premise, and The Mercy House by Alena Dillon, about a shelter run by a group of nuns who get investigated for how well they are adhering to dogma, which was quite a good read. That’s one I’ll be reviewing for Shelf Awareness when it comes out in February.
I am having knee replacement surgery in 10 days, which may explain why I had “walks” from the chapter of Kathryn Forbes book Mama’s Bank Account where Mama finds the list of surgeries her deceased uncle paid the costs of for poor children. I hadn’t read the book in years. It is a children’s book written in 1934 about about a Norwegian immigrant family. I also read the new series by Sharon Shinn, published all at one time, of interrelated stories about a kingdom where the nobility can have up to 3 duplicates who mirror their every move. I am still thinking about this it was not my favorite series of hers but I liked it a lot.
[…] Whatcha Reading? December 2019 Edition, Part Two – The characters are very diverse and the heroine’s sex-positive besties are hilarious. […]
My reading year was good, but I don’t think I have been reading as much as I usually do. Too busy with other things. Most of December has been reading holiday anthology shorter stories, with a lot of hit or misses. I was so thrilled to read EPIC by Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen to be able to go back to spend time with Wesmie. They will forever stay in my heart. I also loved CHRISTMAS ACCORDING TO LIAM by VL Locey and A NAUGHTY LITTLE CHRISTMAS by Lili Valente.
I am ending the year reading ARCs that are due in the beginning of January. But you all are killing me talking about Heated Rivalry! I want to stop everything and read it so badly (it is burning a hole in my Kindle), but I have to finish these other books first. Why, oh why, are there so many good books just waiting to be read???
It has been a slow month. I read a lot of Reylo fanfic instead of books.
Currently reading The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo. Stretching myself out of my comfort zone and I’m really enjoying it. I’m only about 120 pages in and I have no idea how all these pieces are going to fit together.
Finished The Business of Blood by Kerrigan Byrne. Another crazy Byrne book and I just love her old skool style. Can’t wait until the next book comes out.
I am currently reading SUMMER WIVES by BEATRIZ WILLIAMS. I’m about a third of the way through and really like the backdrop and characters. It goes without saying: not a romance! But I think it might have a romance in it that ends badly.
In the run up to Christmas I read HOW THE DUKES STOLE CHRISTMAS. I felt the review on Smart Bitches was a bit harsh. I would probably give it a B overall, but boy that first story by Tessa Dare was A+ for me!! Also, I noticed most reviews just graded each individual story separately and then averaged out those grades to an overall grade. Thing is, the sum is greater than the parts. Reading it around December 20th, I just loved the atmosphere of the book all the way through.
A couple more I read:
THE HIGH TIDE CLUB BY MARY KAY ANDREWS
This was a murder mystery with lots of soap opera drama thrown in. I really liked the book, although, I have to warn, not much in the way of romance and some of it ends quite badly! But Mary Kay Andrews does impeccable research for her books. I had just been to Savannah, and her references were spot on.
THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN BY KATE MORTON
I loved this one although it has a slow start. Basically I had to get a quarter of the way through, before it kicked in. But after that, I really wanted to know what happened next. It’s a mystery of sorts but not about murder. It starts in Australia and ends up in Cornwall. This one is historical fiction, and not a romance although there’s one cute romantic story in there.
Went with the tried and true to get me through the last two weeks: The Rise of Magicks from Nora Roberts and Nalini Singh’s Madness of Sunshine. The first was an average, though enjoyable in that la Nora way, wind up of a trilogy and the second is a keeps you guessing mystery that needed a smidge more atmosphere. Being books from two people who probably write scintillating grocery lists, they made for some excellent decompression time.
Must mention the annual Christmas night reread of <A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong. It remains the best Christmas romance ever.
Last book of the year is Anna Lee Huber’s latest Verity Kent mystery, Penny For Your Secrets. There’s no chance I’ll finish before Wednesday between work and my Dad on residence.
First book of the new year? I’m thinking Archangel’s War which has been repeatedly in the face of a flood of good books from the GBPL. Who could be better to celebrate a new year with than Elana and Raphael?
Also, @Deborah, you can relax, the new decade doesn’t start until 1/1/21. Plenty of time for all that best of the decade stuff.
Non-romance: I’m finishing up my annual re-read/re-listen of Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.
Romance: Eight Kinky Nights by Xan West (so good!) & a re-read of KJ Charles’ Sins of the City series.
Deborah, DiscoDollyDeb – I LOVE Heated Rivalry and am excited for the next one in the series. Out in a few weeks!
Baking my way thru ken forkish’s bread book flour water yeast and salt. Reading turtles all the way down by John green and it’s a very good portrayal of a teen with anxiety and ocd. Like if this book could be put in the hands of high school kids, so much empathy would be built and so much self worth repaired
Read:
SEEKER by Kim Chance.
Not much to say about this book, it was a by the numbers YA urban fantasy novel , but I follow the author on YouTube and felt obligated to read this book. Not terrible, but not great either.
I’V GOT DUKE TO KEEP ME WARM by Kelly Bowen
I have several problems with this book, for starters both the title and the Christmasy cover( snow, red coat with white trim etc.) are deceptive. The hero is not a duke and the novel is set in May, so yeah. To be fair this book was Bowen’s debut which happened to be in December 2014, so I’m pretty sure the cover and the title are entirely The publishing company’s fault, still annoying though. The plot also challenges my suspension of disbelief quite a bit ( content warning for domestic violence, attempted rape and PTSD).
Basically the book follows a woman of the 1810s who was desperate to escape an abusive husband. Someone she( with a little help from her friends ) fakes an explosion of a boat to make it appear that her and her step daughter died in the blaze. Somehow, despite the fact that she’s lone woman in the 1810s with no title or money of her own, not to mention supposed to Be dead, she forms a network of people to fake other women’s death who also have no other way to escape bad marriages and that’s just the heroine’s backstory. The rest of the story contains similar amounts of crazy sauce, not to mention speech anachronisms are everywhere. It’s also incredibly and unexpectedly violent at parts, including an on-screen attempted rape and murder towards the end of the book. If none of those things bother you, it’s a pretty decent romantic suspense that only took a few days for me to read, so have at it if this sort of story rings any catnip bells for you.
Reading : A MATRIMONIAL ADVERTISEMENT by Mimi Matthews. I’ve been wanting to look into this author’s work ever since you guys reviewed A Convenient Fiction on this site. I finally found the book on sale and one-clicked. So far it’s really good and I can’t wait to read more.
Easing my unusually high Holiday Stress Level by reading BECAUSE OF MISS BRIDGERTON. Julia Quinn makes everything better.
@Emily C — Oh, yesss. I have lots of thoughts about Reylo.
*spoiler alert* I was happy for about 20 seconds, and then I wasn’t. I was hoping that there would be at least one relationship that had a HEA or HFN in the trilogy, but nope. Sigh.
Favorite read of the last couple weeks was probably Naughty AF by Misha Horne. It was the heartwarming Christmas story disguised as an NA M/M erotic romance that I apparently needed. MH takes a pretty standard spanking erotica trope (the bratty young adult with the hot, stern older stepbrother) and adds Christmas ornaments, hot cocoa, reindeer printed flannel sheets and lots and lots of feelings. (Plus lots of sex and spankings but no heavy kink).
Finally read Talia Hibbert and I see why she’s so popular with the bitchery. Enjoyed Work for It – mm contemporary. It’s the 4th in a series but it worked for me as a stand-alone (although there were spoilers for the previous book).
Read One Dead Vampire by Kris Ripper. It’s the first in a new UF mystery series. Kind of like a goofier, queer, Californian Sookie Stackhouse – with a very diverse cast of supporting characters. I enjoyed this a lot even though the heroine / amateur sleuth was terrible at sleuthing and the mystery plot was ridiculous.
Shrewd Angel by Anyta Sunday. M/M romance and retelling of Taming of the Shrew, set in 1990s New Zealand. It was cute but a little uneven. The retelling worked well as a m/m an romance. It’s part of a series by multiple authors featuring a magical Christmas ornament that brings true loves together.
I also read Heated Rivalry but I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy it as much as other readers in this thread. Too much hate sex and not enough emotional connection for my tastes. Plus I think Avon Gale has ruined me for all other mm hockey romances.
I’m not yet sure what my last book of the year will be. I may yet squeeze in a book or two.
Since last time ~
— Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Novel by Naomi Kaur Jaswal for my book group. I found it a fairly quick read as I finished it in two evenings. While it had some darker content, I found it a light read overall.
— Starship’s Mage by Glynn Stewart. This book started out on a small scale (which I liked) but quickly got a lot more complex (while I still enjoyed it, I liked the beginning better). I’m unsure whether I’ll continue on with the series.
— the graphic work A Fire Story by Brian Fies. It makes me feel fortunate that I have not suffered a devastating loss.
— the novella Get Lit by Kim Fielding which has a Hanukkah focus.
— Sapphire Flames: A Hidden Legacy Novel by Ilona Andrews. I think that this book would be difficult to understand if you have not read the authors’ earlier books in the series. While I enjoyed the book, it definitely leaves me feeling that the story is not complete.
— And a boatload of book samples.
:::dives in a day ahead of my 41st birthday:::
Christmas and birthday and lions and tigers and bears…oh my.
Let’s see. Finished up A Madness of Sunshine and I can kind of say that I did figure out who the killer was which I chalk up to true-crime Netflix and podcasts. I did like the deep-dives into the history of the community and how those little burgs can hide a predator. Then I looked at my recent reading history and went, “well, that’s been a bit dark of late”, and read The Devil In the Saddle by Julia London. I enjoyed it, mostly. It had some good humor, and I liked the angle where the heroine was making some changes and getting her life back into her control, but toward the end, the hero acted like a bit of an ass, and I don’t feel like the grovel was remotely sufficient. After that, my vacation break had finally began and I started it off in fine fettle, with a glass of wine and The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden. It was the final in her Winternight trilogy and I loved it, and it was beautiful and had action and SUCH atmosphere. Once I was finished with that, which incidentally, was the night before Christmas (and all through the house), and I was seeing Rise of Skywalker on Christmas Day, so I kept the Star Wars goodness going by reading Lost Stars by Claudia Gray. I think it is clear how I feel about Gray and SW, and I really enjoyed see the events of the original trilogy through the eyes of citizens of the Empire, the romance between two of them, and the thought process that drove one to become a Rebel, and one to stay loyal to the Empire. Also, surprisingly sexy. Which brings us to today, and apparently we’re back in the dark and I am reading Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard. I’m only a few pages in, but it seemed to have a really grabby beginning, which is always nice, and a mystery with murders in a town with a whole history of “burn the witch”?. With a female detective. Sure, let’s do this. Until next time, Happy New Year, my dudes.
Unfortunately, I haven’t done much reading in 2019 due to health issues. I just moved into a senior living facility and I hope to read more in 2020. Thanks for all the suggestions. The Amazon gift card my friend gave me for CHanukah is burning a whole in my pocket!
Heather M good luck in the new city! I went through a fire in 2005 and a whole bunch of other stuff after that!
Amazon listings. I have gotten a 50 dollar amazon gift card, so I’m looking over affiliate links.
I could probably pay for Kindle Unlimited for a few years. I’m just not sure if I can use a gift card balance for that.
Made my Goodreads goal with a few short books –
– Coming In from the Cold, Sarina Bowen (fine; I still like her Ivy Years books more)
– Roadside Picnic, Boris and Arkady Strugatsky (science fiction classic that I had somehow not read before)
– Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (graphic novel classic, ditto)
– Coffee Boy, Austin Chant (super short, cute – and I don’t usually like boss/employee romances, so that’s high praise from me)
– Beneath the Sugar Sky, Seanan McGuire (fine, though Jack & Jill’s book was still my favorite of the series)
… so to fill up the rest of the year and into next year, I started the approx. 18 billion page long Priory of the Orange Tree. See you in April.
Just finished my 83rd book of the year – I may finish one or two more by the end of the year, falling short of my goal of 101. BUT, I am still happy with my total.
Excellent:
None
Very Good:
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling): The second in the Cormoran Strike mystery series set in modern London. Rowling can write – there is no doubt about that. But while this entry contains a colorful cast of characters, a literary puzzle set in the world of publishing, and the misguided, but lovable Cormoran and his faithful sidekick Robin, this just wasn’t as good as the first in the series. Everything just seemed a little (or a lot) over the top and everyone just a little too exaggerated to be actual people. It is also interesting my timing on reading this in light of Rowling’s recent comments, as there is a trans character this book. CW for a very, very grisly murder and the book within the book (around which the mystery centers) contains graphic sexual violence set in a mythical world and misogynistic ideas.
Good:
Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout: The first in the very classic mystery series of the detective Nero Wolfe. The writing style is strange and not quite anything I have read before. I wasn’t even sure at times if I liked that style, but I found it so compelling that I blew through the book. This centers around the disappearance of an immigrant to the USA and quickly turns to solving a murder. The murder is solved about 2/3 of the way through and the balance is spent getting the evidence to put him away. There are over forty books in the series and I added the second to my TBR. Note that this was written in 1934 and does contain the use of a racial slur by one of the characters and some fat shaming in the writing.
Meh:
None
The Bad:
At Wolf Ranch by Jennifer Ryan: The only thing redeemable about this book was the hero and heroine – I liked them as characters and in another plot by another writer would have enjoyed reading their story. Unfortunately, everything else was a mess – the plot (half contemporary, half suspense) was so unbelievable it almost read as a parody of romantic suspense, the over the top villain seemed like he was purchased off the shelf at Bad Guys R Us, the heroine kept doing stupid things that in the real world no one would do if they were in danger, the writing was so cliche that I couldn’t believe a major publishing house published it (Avon), and while I am fine in general with insta-lust, this had way too much insta-lust considering the heroine had just seen her sister murdered and was on the run from the killer (you have to be a really good writer to pull off the danger boner successfully – I am looking at you Suzanne Brockmann who I was addicted to back in the day) and this was certainly not Suzanne Brockmann level stuff. CW for on page murder, suicide, on page attempted sexual assault, and animal neglect.
In the last months I started a lot of books, finished just a few of them. I’m not sure what came over me, but just a few captured my attention fully and I had to force myself to push through even those. Huh. Not sure what’s happening with that…
Finally, the Lady Darby Mysteries got me back into the grove, I’ve been binging them for a week now.
I’ve rated the first book The Anatomist’s Wife 3.5 starts – it was a great cozy mystery slash house party murder and I was pleasantly surprised by liking Lady Darby’s voice even in first person narrative. The secont book, Mortal Arts had a totally different pace and build-up but for me, just as enjoyable. I gave it 4 stars and hopped straight into the third one A Grave Matter . This one is more like the first one regarding the mystery and even longer, so I think it will be my last read of the year.
My reading year was great, especially in the summer I had a lot of time to just immense myself in novels. I’ve found a lot of gems and had more than one very pleasant surprise. I think I’ll try to find a reading challenge I like for the new year, but I’m not really sure which way to go yet. I always plan for one in the last days of the year, spend hours with creating aesthetically pleasing charts and everything for them and abandon them like two weeks into the year… Does anyone do that besides me or am I the only one?
P. S. I’d really like to thank you all here at SBTB for the great recs and topics, you helped me through a lot this year for which I’m eternally thankful for!
I’m reading THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk.
It is amazing …just, being a key text on traumatology, you know, not jolly.
Also the politicking/legal manoeuvres stopping basic traumatology from passing into general use was rage-making. Enlightening, but rage-making.
In romance relevance, I worked out from this that I had been evaluating novels &etc based on how well they portray complex PTSD (aka betrayal trauma: Jennifer Freyd) – or rather, my own window on it. Should be very useful.
Listened to ‘What The Wind Knows’ by Amy Harmon and it was SUCH a beautiful story. Her writing is just exquisite. <3
@K.N.O’Rear – I thought I was the only one who didn’t like I’ve Got My Duke to Keep Me Warm!! Your comments about it are spot on!
I had a very good reading year, in quality more than quantity. I finished off the year reading Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight Mysteries. SB Sarah gave the first two B and B- grade last January, but found them too violent. I meant to give the author a try but she somehow fell off my radar until recently when I stumbled across her again.
So I was in the middle of reading Jennifer Ashley’s “Death in Kew Gardens”, another historical mystery series I really enjoy, when I picked up the first Gaslight Mystery, “Murder on Astor Place”. By the end of the second one I was totally addicted, I have now read 5 of them in the last 2 weeks and still haven’t gotten back to the Ashley book.
I am finding some interested parallels between the two series. Both of them have a very competent heroine who works for a living(Ashley’s is a cook and Thompson’s is a midwife). Both have a slow burn romance, but Ashley’s books are 1st person POV, and Thompson’s have a dual POV, from both MCs. Ashley’s hero is still a total cypher after several books, and I find I prefer getting a look inside the hero’s head. He has some very human failings, but is really growing as a character as the series progresses. Also, between this author, Joanna Shupe, and a couple of others, I am really starting to feel at home in the Gilded Age.
I think I’m pretty high up on the squeamish scale; I would never touch a book by Patricia Cornwell or Anne Perry, but I don’t find the Gaslight books to be particularly violent. The Coney Island book that Sarah read was probably the worst. In almost every one the heroine gets herself into some kind of peril, often due to her TSTL behavior, but most of the time she manages to rescue herself. I would say they are less violent than J.D. Robb and less psychologically disturbing than Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby series. Anyway, ymmv, but these books are totally my crack. Luckily there are over 20 of them!