Whatcha Reading? January 2020 Edition, Part One

Open book with light and sparkles floating up from the pages.It’s our first Watcha Reading of the year! I hope you’re all excited to talk about books!

Tara: I’m reading Polaris Rising because Amanda said on the podcast that it’s amazing and, well, it’s definitely amazing.

I’m also listening to 30 Dates in 30 Days by Elle Spencer, ( A | BN | K | AB )which is a pretty cute f/f romance. It has a lawyer who wants to find love and is reluctantly talked into going on (you guessed it) 30 dates in 30 days, and ends up most attracted to the bartender, who’s declared she doesn’t do relationships. They’re currently in denial about their feelings and I’m looking forward to seeing how it resolves.

Catherine: I’ve just finished reading Artistic License by Elle Pierson (Lucy Parker’s first pseudonym). It’s sweet and funny and comforting, but I can really see how she has developed since then.

And I’m alternating fiction reading with reading my way through Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat, which is not so much a cookbook as a masterclass in the fundamentals of flavour. I’m really enjoying her writing style, which is lively and friendly and personal, as well as the little bits of food science and the experiments she encourages you to undertake to demonstrate her principles.

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
A | BN | K | AB
Shana: I just started It All Falls Down by Sheena Kamal. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s the second thriller in a series and the first, The Lost Ones, was one of my favorite non-romance reads last year. I love a bitter, angry heroine. CW: assault backstory.

Maya: Ohhhhhhh I loved the Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat Netflix show and the book!! The illustrations in the book are so evocative of Nosrat’s relationship with food. Like you can feel the joy coming off the pages.

Catherine: The illustrations are gorgeous – so colourful and full of life! And I love her rationale for including illustrations rather than photos – that she doesn’t want people to look at a photo of a dish and think that this is the one true way to do it, she wants people to be inspired by food. It’s a lovely, lovely book.

Shana: This all makes me want to read Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. My hold on it finally came in last week but I’ve been waiting to pick it up.

Catherine: Do it do it do it!!! I mean, if you need more of perspective on this, I have So. Many. Cookbooks. I have recently acknowledged that I need to do a giant cull of my cookbooks, because I have two bookcases worth of cookbooks piled in and around one bookcase. And I still had to buy this one. (Which, on reflection, may be less of a recommendation of this book than an it is an admission of my raging addiction to cookbooks.) But still. It really is a unique and very useful book, and well worth trying to jam into an already overfull bookcase.

Her Scandalous Pursuit
A | BN | K | AB
Lara: I’m in the second half of Her Scandalous Pursuit by Candace Camp and the author has put her foot on the accelerator and I’m here for it!

Carrie: I’m reading Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s a biography of Austen and it’s wonderful. Planning to review it, but short version – it manages to be academic and chatty at the same time – quite a feat.

Claudia: My winter break brought about an embarrassment of riches and after some dithering I decided to go for a couple of books and novellas I had been “saving” forever: Band Sinister ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh, ( A | BN | K | AB ) book and novella by KJ Charles, and Your Wicked Heart, a novella by Meredith Duran ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I often do that: Save that last unread book from a favorite author for, I don’t know, some type of special occasion. In the Duran novella’s case I think it has been at least four years. I’m also the person who keeps the “good” china in the cupboard, so there.

Ellen: I just read the Beast of Beswick and I did love the dialogue although I agreed with a lot of the points in Catherine’s review. Currently reading A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers which comes out soon and oooooh boy do I have THOUGHTS which will be in my review. Nonfiction-wise I am reading Hexing the Patriarchy by Ariel Gore ( A | BN | K | AB ) and I’m enjoying it a lot! I’m really interested in the idea of crafting my own rituals as a component of ritual practice and i LOVE this new strain of social justice witch books we are getting!

I’m Afraid of Men
A | BN | K | AB
Sneezy: I’m reading I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya, which Tara recommended to me, and HOLY SHIT, EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT!!!!! Shraya is one of those bossed up ladies I wanted to be when I grow up, and she shares how she understands and experiences the binary gender structure in this book. Her writing is at once poetic and to the point, and plopped me right into the corner of her mind that she’s sharing from the first sentence. She makes me feel so safe while she’s talking about so many things that should’ve triggered my anxiety to fuck and beyond, and I think it’s intentional on her part.

Romance-wise, I’m reading A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee. ( A | BN | K | AB ) I just got to the point where things are about to take off, but I’d made several notes about how much of a dick dingle the hero is since chapter 2, and I’m only partway through chapter 5. Redemption arcs can be pretty catnippy for me, not to mention the heroine is great and there’s cake, so I’ll keep reading, but HE’S SUCH A SHIT DINGLE RIGHT NOW!!!!

Sarah: In a complete departure from most things I am reading Howl’s Moving Castle, which I have never read before.

Tara: Ooh yeah, I totally recommend that Vivek Shraya book. I’m still reading it because I’m just savouring her prose, even though she’s talking about some of the difficulties of living as a trans woman.

Oh damn, Howl’s Moving Castle is great!

Sneezy: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! SARAH, I’M SO EXCITED FOR YOU!

Howl’s Moving Castle
A | BN | K | AB
If you haven’t yet, you should absolutely watch Miyazaki’s film loosely based on the book, too! They’re very different, and story wise, I think the book is tighter, but they’re both SO SO GOOD!!

And Tara, thank you again for recommending it!! I fucking LOVE IT!!

Elyse: I woke up to presents from Past Elyse on my Kindle and I think I’m going to start with Long Bright River by Liz Moore. ( A | BN | K | AB )

Catherine: Just popping up again to second all the squeeing about Howl’s Moving Castle! Such a joy to read!

Ellen: Also obsessed with book and movie versions of Howl’s Moving Castle!! Movie Howl is my personal #1 style icon.

Aarya: I’m in the early stages of two books: 1) Anna-Marie McLemore’s Dark and Deepest Red ( A | BN | K | AB ) and 2) Yaffa S. Santos’s A Taste of Sage. The former is a LGBTQIA+ retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes; the writing is beautiful but I’m not yet invested in the characters. The latter’s premise is fun and I hope the execution carries though. I like the enemies-to-lovers vibe between the chef protagonists and the delicious descriptions of Dominican cuisine. It’s too early to tell how the reads will be, so fingers crossed for the best.

A Taste of Sage
A | BN | K | AB
I’ll add on to the loving chorus to praise Howl’s Moving Castle. I adore that book. Howl is a drama queen who throws tantrums over hair products, but I wouldn’t have him any other way.

Maya: I DNF Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey. The trope of off-limits little sister + brother’s best friend is so extremely patriarchal at its core since the little sister is effectively stripped of all of her (sexual) agency and the way that it was handled in the book just really didn’t work for me. The final conflict at the end really ramped up how controlling that idea is and if it wasn’t an audiobook, it would have certainly been thrown at the wall. Which all bums me out because I am generally a fan of Tessa Bailey and enjoyed the set up of the book until the menfolk started actively controlling and restricting the lives of the women within their ambit.

To recover from all of that yuck, I’m reading Lowriders to the Center of the Earth by Cathy Camper and illustrated by Raul the Third. A friend of mine took me to our local library branch and just started pulling graphic novels off the shelves for me to read and this was one of them! It’s about three friends who own their own garage and one day their cat gets catnapped by the Aztec god of the Underworld. The art is wonderful and the dialogue has a good mix of English with Spanish thrown in (with translations in the margins), so it’s both accessible to folks that do not speak Spanish, but with tons of puns in both English and Spanish it still would be a joy for folks who just might want to see their native language (and Latinx characters) represented in a fun graphic novel!

Lowriders to the Center of the Earth
A | BN | K | AB
Sneezy: You had me at cat and Aztec god, and bagged me at puns in English and Spanish.

Kiki: I’m reading Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which, as you can imagine, is exactly as much fun as it sounds! In all seriousness it’s actually really affirming and has only made me cry on public transportation once!

I’m not sure what I’m reading next in terms of romance because I’ve been having a hard time really falling into anything and am slightly overwhelmed by just how much I have available right now (I got a bit one-click happy towards the end of the year). But book club is reading Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster and I received it in our book exchange so I might be headed in that direction.

Susan: Sarah, I’m so excited for you to be reading Howl’s Moving Castle! It’s my favourite Diana Wynne Jones book!

I’ve just started Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which I think is librarians carrying books all across an sf future version of the Old West. It’s already made me tear up on the tram because the bigotry of her hometown has torn the protagonist up inside, but it’s good so far! Hopefully it’s going to be unpacking queer tragedy as a narrative, but as a fair warning there is homophobia, transphobia, and queer tragedy in backstory.

I’m also reading RePlay by Saki Tsukihara, about two best friends who quit baseball to focus on their college entrance exams and have to work out what their relationship is going to be without sports to hold them together. So far it’s pretty cute, and there’s pining, which is always what I’m after!

Which books have you finished so far?


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  1. MaryK says:

    @Kareni – I’m about a quarter of the way through Mindtouch and have stalled out. It’s got good characters and interesting world building but not much plot. I’m finding it strangely . . . pedantic? There’s way to much page time dedicated to what the characters are studying and why. It almost reads like fictionalized recruitment material for your local xenopsychology program. There’s a good story in there if it’d stop explaining the different career paths.

    This year I’m going to try to do more to chronicle my reading experience. (Which will probably consist of Watcha Reading comments and random Goodreads posts.

    I read and loved Last Light by Claire Kent, a post-apocalyptic romance. The heroine is making a dangerous, cross-country trip so she teams up with a guy who was a mechanic in her hometown. He’s a bit older and she never would’ve noticed him romantically in other circumstances but he’s a really nice, sweet guy and they fall in love on their journey.

    I just finished Contagion by Amanda Milo which was really good and hilarious. I’d come across it before but had been turned off by the creepy cover. This time it came across my goodreads feed as highly rated by someone I follow so I tried it. It’s an alien abduction romance except it’s the alien who was abducted and is told from his point of view. He’s a huge, armor plated, high-strung scientist with a germ phobia.

    PS – I absolutely love the audio version of Howl’s Moving Castle. The narrator does a wonderful job of interpreting the text.

  2. VerityW says:

    Maya: I also got really angry at Fix Her Up (maybe even more so because I’d seen buzz about it and it was… not buzzworthy). My Goodreads review is basically a rant (see below) – but basically boiled down to “if you want an actual romance about an ex-baseball player, read Evvie Drake Starts Over instead”

    Carrie: I love Lucy Worsley – her style is the most readable of academically researched history. If you haven’t watched her documentaries, you should – although more recently they’ve got further into dressing up her and having reenactments with her wandering in the background than I like. If you haven’t read the Courtiers, I recommend it. From the Blurb: “The Courtiers goes behind closed doors to meet a pushy young painter, a maid of honor with a secret marriage, a vice chamberlain with many vices, a bedchamber woman with a violent husband, two aging royal mistresses, and many more.”

    I’ve just finished Sweet Talkin’ Lover by Tracey Livesay whichI really liked – big shot exec woman and small town mayor, both of whom aren’t being entirely truthful with each other which is great because my problem in these situations is usually insufficient grovelling but this gets around that.

    I’m now on Mhairi McFarlane’s new book – which is good so far, but making me paranoid because I can identify with the heroine quite a lot and she’s just had a horrid breakup that’s making me paranoid!

    Really looking forward to new Lucy Parker later in the month too…

    From the Fix Her Up Rant:
    The hero is a massively unreconstructed alphahole who is disturbingly obsessed with the fact that the heroine is his best friend’s virgin little sister. He doesn’t sort his problems out – she sorts them for him and gets horrible sex in return… I had a theory for a while that this is actually written by a man because I can’t imagine any women actually thinking like this – but the Male POV is so borderline rape-y and gross that that would be even worse because an actual man might really think like that.

  3. Janice says:

    I just finished “Royal Holiday” by Jasmine Guillory which was utterly, totally, and perfectly delightful. Older heroine and hero? Transatlantic elements deftly handled with minor royal tidbits incorporated into a compelling, light, but meaningful romantic connection between Vivian and Malcolm? Oh, boy. That was lovely!

    I also zipped through “A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year” by Jackie Lau, which didn’t disappoint. Her novellas in this series have been utterly charming, time and again. Zach is the homebody brother of the Wongs we’ve met so far and his romance is pretty low-conflict. Lots of Canadiana shout-outs, too, which I adored.

    I need to wrap up “The Whisper of Silenced Voices” by C.J. Archer, third in her After the Rift series. It’s very slow-moving for the bigger storyline and I know there are at least two more books waiting ahead to read, but every time I get a bit annoyed at the slow pace, I’m entranced by Josie, the heroine, all over again and keep pushing along.

    I just started “The Afterlife of Holly Chase” bu Cynthia Hand and it’s quite riveting. I’m sort of bummed that I have a busy schedule of work ahead this afternoon because I’d rather be reading!

  4. Crystal says:

    :::saunters in listening to Show Yourself from Frozen 2 and wearing a Baby Yoda shirt, because I’m 41 and freshly out of f*cks:::

    Yeah, bay-bee. 41.

    Anyway, when last we spoke, I was reading Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard, which I loved, but had such a sad ending. The mysteries were solved, and well, but at such cost to the community in the book. There were no cop-outs here. I did feel like the characters were moving toward healing, and I loved the writing. It was some of the best police procedural I’ve read in some time. By that point, we had reached New Year’s Eve, and my husband was cursing at the FSU game (it was painful), so I hied me to the bookstore and grabbed, among other items (there were several, I had coupons) Small Spaces by Katherine Arden, which is her spooky MG series. I really enjoyed the ghosts in the book, and man can Arden write, and I appreciated her writing such a smart, prickly middle-school aged girl (there was a specific line that was all 12 yo Crystal and it made middle-aged me snicker). I also think my middle-school aged daughter will enjoy it, despite the fact that she’s huge scaredy-cat. Then it was time to give myself the awesomeness of The One For You by Roni Loren, and I loved it. Her writing of characters that are dealing with trauma is damn near perfect, and hello, sexy tattooed nerd hero. That’s the man of my dreams right there (I married a nerd, but he’s not tatted, but hey, still my nerd). After that I read The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett. I enjoy Bennett’s writing, especially when she’s dipping into historical fantasy, and this was a very nice “smart female code-breaking Indiana Jones races across Eastern Europe” type of of adventure. And now we’re here, and I’ve just started One Of Us Is Next by Karen McManus. I deeply enjoy her YA suspense novels. The characters might be young, but punches are not being pulled when it comes to wicked things happening, and it’s a follow-up to her first book, One Of Us Is Lying. The young can still be cruel, and she’s one of my favorite mystery writers at this point. Until two weeks from now, folks, wombats are apparently huge floof monsters (The More You Know).

  5. Kareni says:

    @MaryK, thanks for sharing your thoughts about Mindtouch and your other reading. I’m off to download samples of Last Light and Contagion….

  6. Maureen says:

    I’d never read any books by Jennifer Ashley, but saw the book The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie on one of the SBTB’s post. I loaded that on my Kindle on NYE-and I have been working my way through the Mackenzie series since then. I’m reading The Devilish Lord Will right now. I like how it switches a bit after the first four between the Mackenzie’s and another family, the McBrides. The earlier books take place in the 1800’s-but then later books backtrack to the Scottish family before Culloden, and if you read them in order, you know what will happen, and it is very poignant and quite heartbreaking. I love both the heroes and the heroines, and much of the conflict feels real, unlike that feeling of “just TALK to each other!” that drives me nuts sometimes.

    I do want to give a warning for 5th book-The Seduction of Elliot McBride-I don’t think it is a spoiler to say he was held as a prisoner in India, and some of the descriptions of what he went through are pretty rough.

    On the whole, a really enjoyable series, from a new to me author!

    I also read Jane Austen-A Life by Claire Tomalin for my book club. I felt like I came away from that book knowing lots about her family, little about Jane. Someone mentioned the Lucy Worsley novel about Austen, which I actually own but haven’t read yet. That will be on my must read this year.

    Fans of Eve Dangerfield-did you get the email where she will know longer be writing under that name, or that kind of genre of books? I was so sad to read that, she is an absolute favorite of mine. Of course I totally understand authors must do their own thing, and I honestly cannot imagine how hard it must be to produce a book period! She will be missed, that is for sure!

  7. Maureen says:

    @Crystal-I loved what you said about your baby Yoda shirt and your Frozen 2 loving self. One thing people don’t really talk about, which kind of blows me away-the older you get the less f***s you actually give. The mental freedom that comes with being older, and realizing you don’t need to conform to anything or explain yourself to anyone, is so liberating. I grew up in the 1960’s and 1970’s-so I was attuned to the whole being acceptable to the “male gaze”. It was never quite expressed, but it was expected. What saved me were books, books, books. I understood I was so much more than what I looked like-and I got there were so many more worlds besides my own. Ladies, I couldn’t wear pants to school until I was in 6th grade, and I was in a public school!!

    So kudos to all of us who don’t give any f***s-and I encourage everyone younger, to adopt that attitude. The only important opinion? Your own.

  8. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    @Maureen: I’m so sorry to hear that about Eve Dangerfield. Her books have just the right balance of humor, heart, heat, and kink for me. I hope NOT YOUR SHOE SIZE is still scheduled for publication next week. And I’m selfishly hoping she will finish her Silver Sisters series before she moves on to her next act. Sadly, many of my favorite romance writers—specifically, Anne Calhoun, Jill Sorensen, and Cara McKenna—have gone radio silent over the last few years. Thank God, Kati Wilde, Molly O’Keefe, CD Reiss, Julie Kriss, Caitlin Crews, Jackie Ashenden, Kate Canterbary, Skye Warren, Natasha Knight, Clare Connelly, and Sybil Bartel are still publishing or I’d have absolutely nothing to read! Lol

    Totally agree with you on the “zero f*cks to give” stage of life. I gave up high heels and dying my hair a few years back and, over this past summer, makeup and I came to a parting of the ways. There’s a certain liberation in knowing you’re too old to be caught in the “male gaze” net. (I should add—I’m happily married and have never felt I had to look a certain way for my husband—but social pressures die hard.)

  9. Ulrike says:

    I finished Murder Flies the Coop (Beryl and Edwina Mystery #2) this morning and started The Fated Sky (Lady Astronaut #2) this afternoon. 🙂

  10. FashionablyEvil says:

    Really enjoyed LOVE LETTERING—I liked the characters, the communication, and the plot twist. Good times.

    I also really liked DEAR GIRLS by Ali Wong. I’m not super into gross-out humor, but Wong’s writing about being a parent and a working mom is wonderful (it might be the best “parenting” book I’ve read). Also, the way she talks about her husband and the afterward he wrote are so charming. It’s surprisingly romantic.

    THE OTHER MISS BRIDGETON was alternately good and tremendously annoying. It’s got good banter but there are some serious holes in the plot that I couldn’t quite get past (for context: the heroine ends up kidnapped/locked in the captain’s cabin on a boat bound for Portugal. Hero is the captain.) In any case, no one seems to ever have lunch and I was seriously distracted by the fact that there’s no discussion of hygiene when the heroine is wearing the same dress and undergarments continuously for one week. I kept wanting to yell, “DO YOU ALL NOT EAT LUNCH!? AND WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE BATHROOM SITUATION!?” Also, the h/h have sex in a set of circumstances that I found profoundly unsexy. But the dialog is good? Honestly I’m baffled by Quinn’s popularity. I’ve read three of her books: one was good, this one was meh, and the other was dreadful.

    Also read KEEPING HOUSE by Ruby Lang. I think it could have worked as a novel, but as a novella, there was just too much crammed in, the conflict wasn’t really a conflict, and there was a lot of telling rather than showing. The premise of the next book in the series sounded a bit better.

  11. Ulrike says:

    BTW, I found turning 40 to be very liberating on the “no longer giving f***s to people who don’t deserve them” front. I’m 42 now, and it’s fabulous!

  12. Kris Bock says:

    I’m currently reading a KJ Charles, and I recently reread the first two in the Lady Sherlock series and the Veronica Speedwell series. I’m taking a little break before I go on to the third in each series.

    I have now put Howl’s Moving Castle on hold through OverDrive, added a favorite heart to Lowriders so I can pick it up next month when my Hoopla borrows renew, and recommended I’m Afraid of Men to my library.

  13. Jeannette says:

    A slow start to January – but then the weather presently feels more like April…

    Very Good
    A CONSPIRACY OF WHISPERS by Ada Harper – Thank you to whomever on SBTB suggested this. A unique character, a different world, and when I thought things would zig, they zagged.

    RELUCTANT NECROMANCER SERIES by Kaye Draper – I’m 4 books into this and enjoying it thoroughly. Different characters, and a series that I can’t quite see where it is going.

    LONE WOLF by Anna Martin – A different M/M werewolf romance between a musical therapist and a brewer. Complex characters and situations – I wish there was more in this world to read.

    Good
    IN HEAVEN OR EARTH by Amy Rae Durreson – Romance between a cyborg and a doctor on a space station facing a plague. They spend a good deal of time trading/mangling quotes – which adds to the enjoyment.

    OK

    BLACKWATER PACK SERIES by Liam Kingsley – Sweet insta-love M/M omega series, with some being better than others. Enjoyed the fact that they had real jobs and schedules (some of them) and had to work around real life.

    Tit for Tat by R. Cooper – Interesting premise and characters – I just wish I understood more about the other beings inner thoughts. It felt that complexity and a greater world was just outside of reach.

    Also some holiday short stories:
    WOLFSBANE AND MISTLETOE – Reread of a book full of the holiday season and werewolves. The Patricia Briggs story is why it was bought, but have thoroughly enjoyed the rest. Especially the one with the Shapeshifters Anonymous group and the evil Salvation Army Santas.

    THE HOLLY GROWETH GREEN by Amy Rae Durreson – A post war doctor takes shelter in a magical cottage on the English countryside.

    LET IT SEW by Anna Martin – A last minute need for holiday costumes for the local school Christmas play.

    Cauldron Pops and a Witch’s Kiss/Sugar Cookies and a Witch’s Love – Slowly building romance between a baking witch and a mechanic, next episode to come on Valentines day.

  14. Margaret says:

    Popping back in with a huge thank you: Lara, you recommended Her Scandalous Pursuit which led me to check out new-to-me author Candace Camp. I’m now half-way through A Momentary Marriage, also by Camp, and I’m LOVING it!! I’m listening to it, and the narrator’s voice for the hero is absolutely dreadful, but the book is wonderful. Since that was the first look-up from all the notes I jotted down this month, I’m hoping real life stands back and allows some unrestricted reading/listening time!

  15. KB says:

    Virtual high five to all who are 40+ and fresh out of f**cks to give! I too find that my field of f**cks is more barren with each passing year.

    Reading-wise, January has been really good to me so far. Here’s hoping that continues through 2020! I started off the new year with Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Spent about the first 25% of the book being hella confused, and then it took off and I could not put it down. Stayed up until 3am on a work night so I could finish. Bad Decisions Book Club represent. Next was Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn. Man was that book fun to read. Even as it was ripping my heart out over her relationship with her best friend (I have a similar former-best-friend-grown-apart-over-the-years situation so this really hit home) I was still just wholly enjoying the experience of reading that book. Love when that happens. Now I have moved on to The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean. I started with MacLean’s books in the Rules of Scoundrels series and for some reason have been reluctant to dive into her earlier work. Now I don’t know why I waited because I am loving this book so far. Her heroines are just so great, and the banter in this book is fully doing it for me.

    Next up I really want to try Wolf Gone Wild, having heard such great things about it!

  16. Scifigirl1986 says:

    I started the year (or more accurately ended 2019) rereading Jasmine Guillory’s books. The Wedding Date and The Wedding Party are my favorites. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into Royal Holiday, although after all the Harry and Meghan news I appreciate the fact that the Royal Family actually does go to Sandringham at the holidays.

    I also reread the first two Of Cat Sebastian’s imposters books. I actually liked A Duke in Disguise better the second time around. Even so, Unmasked by the Marquess is still my favorite. For some reason, I haven’t been able to read her new book yet. I’m not sure what’s holding me back, but I’m not in the headspace for it right now, so it will stay on my TBR pile for a little while.

    My next re-read was the Magpie Lord books by KJ Charles. Stephen and Crane may be my favorite m/m pairing, although Jesse and Hunter from Jenny Holiday’s Infamous and Dustin and Wes from Wheels Up by Annabeth Albert are also up there,

    Yesterday, I finished Sinner by Sierra Simone. OMG That book was so good! I don’t even have the words for it.

    Today, I gobbled up Teach Me by Olivia Dade. All I have to say is that Martin is basically Tom Hanks, i.e. the nicest man on the planet. I loved the slow burn romance between him and Rose, and how being together helped them each to heal themselves.

  17. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    @SciFiGirl1986: Did you read Simone’s PRIEST? The hero is the brother of the hero of SINNER. I love PRIEST so much. It does have some problematic elements (and devout practicing Catholics should probably not read it), but it’s one of my absolute favorite comfort rereads.

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