We are closing out September with our second Whatcha Reading of the month! So ready for spooky season already.
Carrie: In War and Peace, Russia and France are lining up to fight each other and bickering amongst the leaders is dull. Accurately dull, and appropriately scathing, but I am bored.
I just finished Mexican Gothic ( A | BN | K | AB ) and it was WONDERFUL.
Claudia: I’m almost caught up with the Kat Holloway Mysteries series by Jennifer Ashley and also reading fantasy romance because the past few days have been brutal. I’m in the first few pages of A Touch of Stone and Snow and hopeful it will be a true escape.
Lara: I just finished Celina Grace’s Murder at Merisham Lodge. ( A ) A low(ish)-intensity historical cosy mystery. Lovely!
Shana: Lara, I’m also reading a stress-free mystery! I’m in the middle of A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Colette. It’s a cozy mystery about a woman who takes over her family’s small town ice cream shop, and finds a dead stranger while foraging for snow. The ice cream descriptions are drool worthy, and I’m enjoying the quiet, slow pace, and close knit family. I think Amanda recommended it when we were looking for mysteries with women of color.
Elyse: I just picked up Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Maya: I’m reading Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. It’s an interesting mix of magic that maps itself on the existing systems of oppression and the present day. The main character is a Black teen in the American south and so far the folks she meets in this particular subset of magic-havers are all white, old money types, so the existence of magic and access to magic is racialized and deeply intertwined with the history of slavery.
Because that’s not the lightest of reads, I’m still hanging out in Shelly Laurenston’s back catalog! I’ve started on the Pride series and am reading The Mane Event!! ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au | Scribd ) Lion shifters!!!!
Tara: September has been complete garbage for my concentration, so I’m bouncing between 6 books and have also been reading Once Upon a Time fanfic. The books I’m enjoying the most are Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae, ( A | BN | AB ) which is a slow burn f/f romance, and Burning Roses by S. L. Huang, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is a Red Riding Hood retelling.
Catherine: Ok, now that it is officially out and ON MY KOBO I don’t feel mean saying that I’ve been reading and rereading The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan and it is my catnip. I love it to bits. And I relate to Chloe maybe a little bit too much.
In between Milan rereads, I’ve mostly been trying to catch up on my Netgalley obligations, with mixed results. The most interesting is certainly All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is a very foodie Persuasion retelling and it does a little bit too good a job of recreating the Elliot family for a modern era – so many utterly obnoxious characters! I do think it’s a very clever and well-written book, just not quite for me.
Ellen: I just finished You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria ( A | BN | K | AB ) and it was soooooo so so good!! It was funny, sexy, sweet, dramatic…everything! Now I’m reading Deal With The Devil by Kit Rocha and I can already sense there may be a Bad Decisions Book Club in my future…
Sneezy: I’ve started Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, and…I’m already terrified? Just not enough to stop reading???
Shana: Sneezy, my hold on When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole just came in. I anticipate joining you in being terrified.
Sarah: I’m listening to The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson Miller. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s about creating kinder, fulfilling relationships, first by showing up for yourself, and then showing up for other people. It’s a terrific listen, (the narrator Robin Eller is SO good) but it’s also very thoughtful in asking me to consider what I do to replenish myself – especially right now when like so many people I’m running low.
Robin Eller also narrated Indigo and Vivid by Beverly Jenkins – she is superb.
Aarya: Since Latinx Heritage Month is from September 15 to October 15, I bumped up acclaimed Latinx reads to the top of my TBR. I recently finished Chanel Cleeton’s Next Year in Havana (dual timeline between 1959 Cuban Revolution and the present) ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and Aiden Thomas’s Cemetery Boys (trans brujo accidentally summons the wrong spirit and falls in love with him). ( A | BN | K | AB ) Despite not loving the romantic arcs, I really liked the political discussions in Next Year in Havana. The worldbuilding and rep were amazing in Cemetery Boys even though I had issues with the rushed ending.
What are you reading? Let us know in the comments!
I’ve read a couple books recommended around here recently that I enjoyed, including TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS which (as the blurb suggested) reminded me of The Westing Game. It starts off all witty banter and then moves into Deeper Emotional Territory, which, okay, but can we please keep the witty banter even if we do do the emotional stuff? Also, there’s a major thing that happens to Tuesday about halfway through that I didn’t like—it’s pretty dreadful for her and as far as I can tell it mostly only serves to let the villain be villainous (and he was clearly already that.) Despite how this is sounding, I did enjoy the book and if you’re looking for something ghosty for Halloween, check this one out.
Also in the somewhat darker category, I read A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY by Brigid Kemmerer. It’s basically a retelling of Beauty and the Beast but I say “basically” because the ending surprised me. There’s a significant plot development at the end; it’s not a cliffhanger but it is clearly the setup for a second book that didn’t totally work for me. Oh, and the heroine, Harper has cerebral palsy and is a total badass.
One oddball recommendation: Harvard Business Review’s Ideacast podcast has an episode this week called “The Subtle Art of Saying No.” I really liked it and I think it would appeal to fans of Emily and Amelia Nagoski’s BURNOUT which I know is popular around these parts (including with me!)
I didn’t read many new books in the past few weeks—partly because I’m finally back at work (public school) and I don’t have as much time for reading as I did during the quarantine, but also because the passing of RBG finally pushed me to my breaking point and I have spent much of my reading time trying to find a happy place with comfort re-reads. Still, while most of the new books I read were so-so, I did read one absolute gem (MY CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE), another very good book that is part of a very good series (COMMON GOAL), and a completely unexpected find (CAPTIVATED BY THE BEAST).
If I hadn’t read a rave review on AAR for Leonie Mack’s MY CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE, I probably wouldn’t have given the book a second glance because it is so not my jam: it has an illustrated cover, it’s a Christmas story published in September, and the sex scenes, while not quite “closed door,” could best be described as “door only slightly ajar.” All these elements aside, however, MY CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE is a lovely & lyrical book about two musicians from very different cultures who slowly fall in love after recording a Christmas duet together. The heroine is an English singer-songwriter who has had several years of success on the indie circuit before finally having a breakthrough mainstream hit. The hero is about a decade older than the heroine; he’s a Colombian ex-pat living in Miami who has won a string of Latin Grammys, but who hasn’t had a big hit in a while. The two are thrown together when their record label requires them to record a Christmas song and star in the associated video. The song & video are recorded in August; then, as it gets closer to Christmas, the couple go to Miami, Mexico, and Colombia to promote the song—and Mack beautifully evokes the Christmas customs of the hero’s hometown of Barranquilla. Both h&h have pain and loss in their pasts. The heroine is successfully managing PTSD—anxiety, panic attacks, obsessive thoughts—the result of a terrible car accident ten years before that killed two family members and caused her to lose a leg. The hero hides the pain of his brother’s death behind a flirtatious facade and a misleadingly upbeat persona. The book doesn’t shy away from these traumas, but it doesn’t make them the central focus either—yes, the h&h have experienced devastating loss, but they have been able to move forward, helped by the love of their families, their love of music, and (in the heroine’s case) therapy, medication, and coping strategies—in fact, one of the things the book does so well is show the heroine using a variety of tools to maintain her mental health. Mack does not otherize, fetishize, or make cliches of her characters (even the heroine’s stuffy, over-protective father or the hero’s smart-mouthed tween daughter, both of whom could easily have become caricatures with less sensitive writing), they are individuals with idiosyncrasies and a blend of positive (and some not-so-positive) traits. And I don’t recall another romance where what music means to the main characters—and how they create it & relate to it—is so much a part of who they both are and so central to the storyline. Key quote: “If you want to put things to rest, then you have to accept grace as well as culpability.” One of my favorite books of 2020. Highly recommended.
In Rachel Reid’s very good COMMON GOAL (the fourth book in her Game Changers series of m/m hockey romances), hockey goalie Eric is preparing to retire. He’s 41 and—after a long, low-key marriage to his college sweetheart and an equally low-key divorce—is ready to acknowledge his bisexuality. 25-year-old bartender Kyle (who appeared briefly in GAME CHANGER) is willing to assist Eric in his first forays into bi-awakening—including sex with another man (which Eric has never had). It’s obvious that Eric & Kyle, despite their age gap, are very compatible (and not just sexually), but miscommunication and each making assumptions about what the other one wants leads to some heartache before the HEA. One of the joys of reading COMMON GOAL is not only do characters recur from previous books (Ilya from HEATED RIVALRY makes a couple of important appearances, while Scott & Kip, the couple from GAME CHANGER, are key supporting characters), but it’s also fun to try to figure out which secondary characters are being set up for romances in future books—my money’s on buff bartender, Aram, and presumably-straight, hot Finnish player, Matti, but what about the character from a rival team who is obviously ashamed by the behavior of his homophobic teammate? I’m looking forward to seeing who the next couple will be. This is also another reason that—while each book is a self-contained romance—I do recommend reading the series in order. I highly recommend all four books in the Game Changer series.
I had grabbed Lindsey Hart’s CAPTIVATED BY THE BEAST from KU expecting it to be a quick, not particularly memorable read featuring a Beauty & the Beast trope—sort of a palate cleanser between other books; instead, what I got was a delicately-written romance about grief, creating, seeing, and being seen. The heroine is a not-very-successful model (she’s tall, but a little curvier than most models) who accepts a job as an artist’s model in rural Kansas. The artist lives in a rambling, crumbling old house—it’s in a dilapidated condition, full of neglected antique furniture and scarcely habitable—although the heroine (who trained as a graphic artist) immediately recognizes its good bones. The artist has been stuck in a state of complicated grief since his wife died five years before, unable to move forward and unable to paint. He hires the heroine to pose for him in the hopes that he can begin painting again. Hart packs a lot of story and character development into a relatively short novella. We see the heroine’s resilience despite her mother’s crushing perfectionism and the casual cruelty of the modeling industry. We learn of the artist’s happy marriage and his inescapable grief when his wife dies. We see two wounded people helping each other heal and find love. Perhaps because the world is so shitty right now, it was such a pleasure to unexpectedly encounter this graceful little story. I’d never heard of Lindsey Hart before, but I’ll certainly be looking at her backlist now.
In the author’s note at the beginning of FILTHY LIAR, the fifth and final of her Forbidden Bodyguards series, Ainsley Booth reminds readers, “I started writing this series in 2014. It’s not my fault shit got real.” Indeed. When Booth started the series, the idea that a loathsome, corrupt, mobbed-up American President, running the government as a criminal enterprise, seemed unbelievable (like, how could that ever happen?). Then, after the 2016 election, Booth had to scrap a planned book in the series about an unhappy First Lady married to the aforementioned prez. In addition, throughout the series, a billionaire villain grooms, rapes, and exploits young women and then shares them with his well-connected billionaire buddies. He eventually kills himself—so similarities to the Epstein case could not be avoided. It’s not Booth’s fault that she predicted with uncanny accuracy the political midden heap we find ourselves in today, but I really had trouble finishing FILTHY LIAR. Like most of us, right now romance is a comfort and an escape from the real world; if I wanted to see how a reprehensible charlatan is destroying the country, I’d watch MSNBC 24-7. I think as you read FILTHY LIAR you can see how Booth struggled to find the right tone for the book, and I also felt that the hero and heroine—the CEO of a shadowy D.C. security firm and the journalist who worked undercover as his secretary five years ago—had lied so much to each other that their love story just didn’t ring true (similar to the h&h of Molly O’Keefe’s RUIN YOU—there’s only so much falsehood a relationship can absorb). It’s a shame, because the Forbidden Bodyguards series has been good, but I think FILTHY LIAR is the wrong book for these times.
Skye Warren’s GOLDMINE is the second of a trilogy about a woman who writes YA stories and the former-soldier-turned-security-specialist with whom she has a typically Warrenesque relationship involving kidnapping, captivity, and lots of borderline-dubcon sex. In GOLDMINE, the quest by a corrupt military official to obtain some blood diamonds—and to use the heroine as leverage to compel the hero’s assistance—continues, but new voices are added: the heroine’s drug-addicted sister and the man who loves her, who (in a twist Warren has used before) was a villain in the previous book (DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH) but is now being groomed to be a rather ambiguous hero. One element of GOLDMINE did cause me to smile: the biggest villain is named Ian Taggert—the same name as the uber-alpha hero/dom of Lexi Blake’s Masters & Mercenaries series. Surely that was not unintentional.
Speaking of Skye Warren—the heroine of Layla Frost’s LITTLE DOVE put me in mind of some of Skye Warren’s heroines: young women whose upbringings have been so deprived and dysfunctional that any new situation, no matter how transgressive, appears to be an improvement. Juliet, LITTLE DOVE’s heroine, is 17 but—due to her hardscrabble, motherless life with a feckless boxer father—seems older. She is accustomed to being responsible for her father’s shabby house and boxing gym, plus living with limited money, food, and opportunity (her interior monologue is refreshingly realistic, free from self-pity, and actually quite humorous at times). When her father throws a boxing match, he is swiftly dispatched by Maximo, who owns a string of Vegas hotels but is not above getting his hands dirty when he’s been crossed. Juliet (a witness to her father’s murder) is taken to Maximo’s Vegas home where she is installed in a suite and gets three square meals a day. Juliet, despite being held captive in luxury she’s never experienced, still makes a bold attempt to escape. She isn’t successful in her attempt, but she shows a lot more spirit then many heroines in the “dark/captivity/Stockholm Syndrome” genre. At first, it seems Maximo’s motivation for holding Juliet is solely to keep her from going to the police, but, as time passes, a physical element creeps into the dynamic, even as the 32-year-old Maximo is paying for tutors to help high-school drop-out Juliet earn her GED and providing supplies for Juliet’s various craft projects. All of this is covered in the first third of the book; then, in the way of many dark romances with young heroines, as soon as Juliet turns 18, things take a definite turn to the sexual—especially involving Daddy Dom role-play (which the couple discuss in detail before they do anything). I thought Frost did a good job of showing how a young woman raised with little love, care, or structure would respond positively to what from the outside appears to be an overbearing, controlling, much older man. Although nowhere near as good as Eve Dangerfield’s ACT YOUR AGE (the gold standard for Daddy kink romance, imho), I thought LITTLE DOVE was an interesting book, but certainly ymmv. Proceed at your own risk.
I read a few HPs that were NOT written by my reliable Crews-Connelly-Ashenden triumvirate. Lucy King’s A SCANDAL MADE IN LONDON features the unplanned pregnancy and fake relationship tropes. I liked the heroine, who has suffered much loss but still faces life with courage and decency. I also liked her “untraditional” (for an HP heroine) appearance: she’s over six-feet tall and solidly-built. It was fun watching her start to own her appearance—even deciding to wear heels. As for the hero, all I can say is I hope he takes the heroine’s suggestion and gets some therapy to help process the trauma of his abusive childhood. Maya Blake’s KIDNAPPED FOR HIS ROYAL HEIR is an antagonists-to-lovers romance involving the long-simmering attraction between a European prince and the daughter of minor British nobility. The heroine is trying to get out from under the thumb of her rackety, manipulative, tabloid-fixture mother who spends her time attempting to maneuver her daughters into advantageous marriages (imagine Kris Jenner as a countess). The prince is convinced the heroine is in on her mother’s schemes—which, of course, she’s not—and this leads to “big misunderstanding.” A sexy, slow-burn HP, but a subplot involving eco-tourism in Tanzania had uncomfortable “white savior” vibes and could easily have been jettisoned.
I loved WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING by Alyssa Cole. Starts out kind of slow and atmospheric then has a kind of violent (but very satisfying) ending. Highly recommend.
Other than that… just a lot of DNFs. Sigh
I read THE SUN DOWN MOTEL by Simone St James. It was great! Very engaging and atmospheric, and the mystery was good.
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S WOMEN by Barry Levine is informative, but hard to read and also enraging.
AN INCONVENIENT DUKE by Anna Harrington was pretty good.
Otherwise…one DNF.
Slower month due to some of my non-romance reading…
Romance:
Making progress on my Lady Sherlock series by having re-read A STUDY IN SCARLET WOMEN and A CONSPIRACY IN BELGRAVIA since the last Whatcha reading. I really, really enjoy this series. Also, I forgot how many baked goods are described, and I may need to acquire some French-style pastries before I get into the next one.
DEAD HEAT by Patricia Briggs was more enjoyable Alpha and Omega series goodness (married werewolves investigating paranormal crimes, this time with added horses). I’m kind of glad I waited so long to read these, because I’ve found them very soothing (in a weird way, obviously there’s a lot of supernatural violence, and this one had lots of children in peril) during the pandemic, and it also looks like sometimes there’s ~3 years between books. Gonna have to save BURN BRIGHT for slightly later in the fall to ease the gap until WILD SIGN is out in March 2021.
Non-Romance:
CASTE: THE ORIGINS OF OUR DISCONTENTS by Isabel Wilkerson demanded a lot of reading time. I’m still deciding how I feel about her framing of America as having a caste system (I have a social science degree and am perfectly content to think of racism as systemic, versus the specifics of the Indian caste system), but I can see it being a useful term for discussing with people who a) think of racism as individual animus rather than a structural problem and/or b) shut down any discussions of racism. There’s a lot of information in here I was already familiar with, but I know many Americans are ignorant of the eugenics movement (a very long discussion of this would be WAR AGAINST THE WEAK by Edwin Black; I think Elizabeth Catte has a book coming out in February called PURE AMERICA that uses Virginia as a case study to discuss eugenics in America and looks to be significantly shorter) and this was a good book for weaving in history of race & eugenics with analysis. There were some places I wish she’d discussed things a little further, but I understand that at ~400 pages of text, pushing it would have left fewer people interested in reading it.
As a change of pace after I finished CASTE, I read the William Johnston translation of SILENCE, the novel by Endo Shusaku. I wasn’t expecting to feel so drawn into a novel about Portuguese missionaries illegally entering 17th century Japan, but it was very immersive. There were a number of themes I found compelling and surprisingly relevant, including surveillance and isolation and translating between cultures. (Obviously, there’s also a fair bit of discussion of faith.) I will probably not watch the Martin Scorsese adaptation, because I have a relatively low on-screen gore threshold and also I can’t really watch stuff with Adam Driver’s face in it. (I saw that clip from “Girls” where his character nonconsensually peed on Lena Dunham’s in the shower and it was so chilling.)
On deck:
Starting THE HOLLOW OF FEAR tomorrow. I think I have Sarah Smarsh’s memoir HEARTLAND out from the (digital) library and may start that today. I’m looking forward to her book on Dolly Parton’s music next month!
Also, my long-distance partner and I kicked off a little book club project between the two of us, with MINOR FEELINGS having been the first pick (and what I chose, and what we read earlier in the month). His first pick is THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH AND OTHER TRAVEL SKETCHES by Basho — it’s a combination of haiku and travelogue from 17th century Japan. I love reading translated works, particularly poetry, so I hope to start that next week.
Oh! And Courtney Milan’s THE DUKE WHO DIDN’T, I will likely start that next week.
WAYR! Yey!
It’s been a while since the last time I posted here, but I read all the posts in the mean time and have gotten a LOT of great reading material from you guys, so I guess it’s time I give a little back. So here’s a sample of my latest reading:
I read THE HONEYMOONER, WHISKED AWAY and THE SUITE LIFE by Melanie Summers. I really, really liked them all. They were sweet and funny. Maybe a bit Sophie Kinsella-ish? Only slightly more sizzling. Anyway: I thought afterwards that these books totally fit the covers. If that makes sense.
Then I read some Lauren Blakely. Because I do some times. Because she always delivers. Her books are seriously h-o-t. She has strong heroines, sexy as sin heroes, the best sex scenes and the best dirty-talkers. *fans myself*. Plus they are all smart and funny. This time around, I read BIG ROCK, MISTER O, WELL HUNG and FULL PACKAGE. They were all re-reads. I think my favorite between them is MISTER O. I just can’t resist the geekiness. Also: Love that they are all from the male POV, and that Sebastian York narrates them. I mean: It’s Sebastian York.
A while back, I took a break from HR. But that break is very much over now. It ended with A DARK AND STORMY KNIGHT by Kerrigan Byrne. I mean: How can one not fall back into love with HR after that performance? And I just finished THE HIGHWAYMAN by the same brilliant author. My heart is still fluttering from that one, so I am definitely continuing the series the coming days. I can’t believe I have overlooked this author until now!
CO-WRECKER by Meghan Quinn was fun but forgettable. Still: I have so far enjoyed everything I have read by her.
I really liked THE WRONG GAME by Kandi Steiner.
Usually, I read to escape reality. Or my own head. As an introvert, my life is pretty much the same these days as it was a year ago, so there’s nothing special about that. But Tarina Deaton hit me good with some reality in STITCHED UP HEART, LOCKED DOWN HEART, RESCUED HEART and IMPERFECT HEART. They were so good that I would have kept reading if I had found more in the series, but luckily I didn’t.
For sport romances, I read DIRTY SECRET and DIRTY HOOKUP by Mira Lyn Kelly. I like Mira Lyn Kelly, and will pick up books by her when I find them. These two were short and sweet. Really hot and with all the feels. I especially liked DIRTY SECRET, which has a nice spin on the enemies-to-lovers trope. The H is actually the h’s brother’s enemy. Very well done!
Atm, I’m reading THE GUY ON THE RIGHT by Kate Stewart. It has been a slow but nice start, but now I’m just over half way through, and this promises to be a real gem! I am looking forward to finishing this today.
There have been some DNFs, but I won’t bother you with them.
Well hello to you! (Miranda voice)
THE GIRL FROM THE DIADEM by Jean Merrill, an Edwardian romance that was recommended on here a few weeks ago in glowing terms and totally lived up to it. Witty, full of fun plot twists, awesome heroine, great supporting characters, reminded me of a Wodehouse farce but with more girl power. The actual romance was a bit weak but I didn’t even mind, it was such a fun ride. Tracked down a used paperback copy that finally arrived in the mail in the middle of my kid’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day of online schooling. Mama needed a break and this was perfect.
A TRIFLE DEAD by Livia Day – finally got through a novel in this series after rereading the BLACKMAIL BLEND novella many times. Great fun! Lots of food porn, fabulous clothes, quirky characters including grumpy bakers, sarcastic bloggers, eccentric granny, and their wonderfully weird hometown. CW/TW for kidnapping and the requisite murder of a cozy murder mystery.
THE MAGPIE LORD by KJ Charles – liked the world building more than the romance. Read it quickly but no bad decisions book club this time, like I did with Slippery Creatures.
Not a book – the album Real Life by Emeli Sande that she released last year after a long hiatus. The song Survivor in particular keeps getting stuck in my head. The music videos on YouTube are works of art, check out Shine and Sparrow.
Lately I’ve mostly been rereading old Mary Janice Davidson as my library just bought the first two Fred the mermaid books on audio book.
Really enjoyed APPLIED ELECTROMAGNETISM by Susannah Nix- she caught the specifics of the Texas Hill Country setting in a way that I really enjoyed (and the romance was fun, too)
Am currently reading THE ROOMMATE by Rosie Danan and enjoying it- it’s so much nicer to its characters than I was expecting which is lovely. It’s a bit like if Oh Joy Sex Toy turned into a romance novel and I am here for it and its sex positive enthusiasm.
I’ve also been reading gardening books which are excellent escapism particularly as at this point I don’t have a garden and therefore have no expectation of turning the information I’m absorbing into action (although thanks to the University of Minnesota extension site I’m incredibly excited about bee lawns and very concerned about the rusty patch bumblebee, whose existence I have been aware of for, oh, two weeks). University ag extension websites are basically garden fanfic for me right now, lol.
All I completed was Tuesday Money Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia. As FashionablyEvil said above, it was the mention of The Westing Game that hooked me. It was fun, but in the end didn’t quite connect with me. I think part of it was the *very* Boston setting (I spent the worst 3 years of my life in Boston and it actually almost made me put the book down in the beginning), part of it was that I just didn’t like any of the characters very much. “Likeability” is such a variable and unhelpful metric- not all characters should be likeable! And it’s so subjective. But the fact remains that it was an fine book but didn’t 100% work for me, and that’s why.
Not a Book, but some people might be interested: I’m insanely grateful that my library has a subscription to the streaming app Kanopy. Through that app I have access to The Great Courses, which I’ve been burning through all pandemic long (the one on the Black Death was timely.) Anyway, lately I’ve been watching Language Families of the World with John McWhorter. I’d read one of his books before, and I’m going to try and track down some more now. He’s a very engaging speaker, and it’s a fun 101 level-look at languages and how they developed historically and changed. If you’re interested in linguistics and languages at all and can track it down, I recommend it.
I’m hoping to read WELL PLAYED by Jen DeLuca this weekend. I really enjoyed WELL MET, the first book in the series.
I recently finished PRETTY FACE by Lucy Parker. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of her London Celebrities series.
Also are on my TBR pile are INK AND BONE by Rachel Caine; NEW ORLEANS RUSH by Kelly Siskind; and HIDE AWAY by Jason Pinter.
I am also loving the cooler weather. Ahhh, this is the best time of the year. Happy fall, y’all! 🙂
I’m trying to work through recommended titles on Audible Escape before it disappears. So in the last week or so I’ve listened to NOBLE SATYR by Lucinda Brant, and am in the middle of MIDNIGHT MARRIAGE, both part of the Roxton series. Angsty, but very enjoyable. They are set in mid 1700’s.
I listened to BIG ROCK by Lauren Blakely after hearing so much about her. It was a mixed bag. The friends to lovers romance was nice and the characters likable, but it wasn’t unique in any way. The raison d’etre for the fake fiance set-up was so unbelievable and unnecessary that it kept me out of the story. I may give her another try.
My big win this week was A SPLENDID DEFIANCE by Stella Riley. It’s set during the English Civil War. After someone mentioned Riley and the Rockcliffe series here a while back, I’ve been listening to her books on Audible. They are narrated by the very talented Alex Wyndham (as are the Lucinda Brant books in the Roxton series). A SPLENDID DEFIANCE is one of the best. I also highly recommend THE MARIGOLD CHAIN set in the very busy year of 1666. Excellent! Of course the Rockcliffe series is wonderful,too.
In print I read THE LAST WOLF by Maria Vale, and unusual take on werewolves and urban fantasy that I highly recommend. Beautifully written. I also finished MURDER IN THRALL (Acton/Doyle mystery 1) by Anne Cleeland. I’m not sure what to say about this book–compelling but the premise is a little creepy. I think there is supposed to be a Sherlock vibe to Acton, and basically he is an sociopath. Doyle capitulates to him too easily. Anyway, the relationship makes me uneasy and I won’t continue the series.
I loved the novella, DEVEN AND THE DRAGON by Grayson Eliot and recommend it for a fun time. Right now I’m reading SOFTLY FALLING by Carla Kelly but it’s not holding my interest. I may set it aside for now and come back to it when my ability to concentrate improves. This is the reason audiobooks work well for me–I can be up and moving around while “reading”
I screwed up the html in my post. Part of my comments about Murder in Thrall was supposed to be behind a spoiler tag that got wiped out by my failure to close the italics tag. I apologize.
@Carrie, how do you keep track of the characters in War & Peace over the days and weeks of a year? It isn’t the length of the novel that dismays me, it is the 559 (by one count) characters.
It’s been a couple of good weeks for reading. I have moved on from the twisty gaslighting books of the last WAYR to a time period hopping selection of goodness.
Finally picked up the second book in Rachel Bach’s Paradox series, Honor’s Knight. It’s been a while since I read the first book, but I was able to jump right in. It gets complicated and scary, but Devi is such a great character and I still have hope of love with a worthy symbiote.
Then it was on to A Rogue of One’s Own, which I appear to have liked a great deal more than others in the Bitchery based on comments. Don’t care. Enjoyed it immensely and Evie Dunmore is working her way onto the must read list.
Back to contemporary for the lovely The Switch which seals Beth O’Leary’s place in my must reads list. Very emotional, and more about women’s relationships than romance, but so good. More older heroine’s please. As I get closer and closer to Eileen’s age, I find myself less and less interested in the travails of the 20, or even 30, something. Her journey one of is one of ageless curiosity and growth and the recongnition that you are never to old to yearn for love and romance.
This morning when I woke up at 4F’G:17 AM THIS MORNING and new I wasn’t going back to sleep, I picked up Allison Montclair’s The Right Sort of Man, an new historical mystery series set in post WWII London. Gwen and Iris come from very different backgrounds and had very different war experiences and, after a chance meeting at a wedding, decide to open a matchmaking business. As you do. Bitchery it is delightful! I had to force myself to put it down.
Now I have to decide what to bring with me on my last (at least in this format) Outlander vacation next week. Do I tote along the third Rachel Bach? The latest Robert Galbraith? Whiteout by Andria Anders? For sure it will not be historical because after days spent in classes making candles, sword dancing, painting and how to don a kilt, I’ll need to get out of the 18th century for a while.
I’ve been reading the Felicia and Robin historical murder mysteries. There’s over a dozen books, set across Europe during the reign of Henry VIII (the latest one is when he’s still married to Katherine of Aragon), so we know what’s coming…
Felicia and Robin are both artists, she’s a woman of color, both born on what they used to call “the wrong side of the blanket”
The books mention a lot of historical fashion, usually where Felicia is aghast at someone’s fashion choices. 🙂
Author is Sarah Waldock. Her covers are never pretty, but the writing is solid.
Yay! What Are You Reading! I didn’t have time to read everyone’s post yet this morning, but can’t wait to read them all later today.
I reread THE PAID COMPANION by Amanda Quick – it’s on my keeper shelf and I still love it. Hist, M/F, some background mystery that moved the plot without getting in the way of the romance. Highly recommended.
I also was poking around some of my favorite Celeste Bradley – Also, M/F historicals. THE SPY, THE ROGUE, etc. Her characters are so well fleshed out. Even when the plots annoy me a little, I come back for the characters. Highly recommended.
MAIGRET ENJOYS HIMSELF by Georges Simenon, mystery, 1950’s Paris. The pace, the dialogue, the French-ness of these books is like a croissant. Do I want one every day? No, but when I do, boy, do I enjoy them! Highly recommended.
THE WEDDING PARTY by Jasmine Guillory, M/F, contemporary. From now on, if I want a sure thing, I am going to treat myself to one of J.G.’s books. For all the reasons already discussed on this site, I really enjoy her books. Highly recommended.
A MATCH MADE FOR THANKSGIVING, Jackie Lau, M/F contemporary. You know what I hate more than plot moppets? Plot geezers (Does that term work? Better one I am unaware of?). They are 100% wise and sweet, or 100% inappropriate, or 100% racists, etc. The plot geezers in this book seemed totally unbelievable, and somehow included the hero’s parents, too, even though they weren’t older. Actually, the whole book was too much tell, not show, and it hurt the character development. I liked the concept behind the book, but it just didn’t deliver. Maybe if there were more pages to flesh out the characters? Not recommended.
I loved THE SWITCH by Beth O’Leary in part because the older people were real, and well developed, not clichés. I recommend it again as an antidote to the above.
SCARIFICATION and FORSAKEN by E.M. Lindsey – Both M/M contemporary, both not great, (B-) but recommended if you are in the mood.
NOTHING SPECIAL, HIS HART’S COMMAND, by A.E. Via – M/M Two divisions of SWAT team/special units at the Atlanta P.D. that were almost entirely gay men dating each other? Not believable — I don’t think that much dating would be allowed in a squad? And hard to take given what’s going on in the world right now. Pacing was also weird – they were already in love but hadn’t declared themselves, so we missed out on some of the best parts of starting a relationship. Not recommended.
TYCOON by Molly O’Keefe – M/F – her books are very old skool — billionaires, a secret baby, or bodyguard, or a Sheik, or famous actress being stalked (I think the actress is the next book in this series) are the main events. If you are in that mood, and you don’t want to dip into your Harlequin old stash because there are some toxic triggers in that old skool stuff, then you might enjoy M.O. (I look to resident expert, @DiscoDollyDeb when I am in the mood for this kind of book – she knows this sub-genre backwards and forwards). Even when the story is a little silly, M.O.’s books have emotional arcs and sexy times that are well written. Recommended if you are in the mood.
My college-aged daughter and I are reading VAMPIRES NEVER GET OLD, recommended here, together, so we can have our own little book club discussion every couple of stories. Very good so far! Perfect for the season!
Lastly, reading THE WIZARD’S BUTLER, by Nathan Lowell. Little bumpy to start, but now I am very curious as to where this is going. I am enjoying the competence p0rn of running a big house (with paranormal help) – definitely a unique book.
Hope you are all well and safe! Happy Reading!
@Big K: Thank you for your kind words—not sure I’m deserving, but I will concede that the angsty heartache of Harlequin Presents are my comfort catnip, but you have to go in with a willing suspension of disbelief. I did want to make a quick comment about O’Keefe—her style is very angsty, but I don’t think her style is quite as old skool as HPs (although she wrote a whole series of books for Harlequin’s Super Romance line in the early 2000s—books that she’s recently revised and republished). O’Keefe’s THE TYCOON: it’s a second-chance romance and the first of a four-book series about the King Family. O’Keefe wrote only THE TYCOON and fourth book (THE COWBOY) in the series. The book about the stalked actress (THE BODYGUARD) is written by S. Doyle and I disliked it intensely (the hero was so awful, I kept expecting a big twist where he was revealed to be the stalker…no such luck). I loved the third book, THE BASTARD, about an illegitimate half-brother—it was written by Julie Kriss and it introduced me to one of my favorite (and, imho, very underrated) romance writers.
As for A.E. Via, I haven’t read the SWAT books, but I read the working-class/ex-con m/m romance WOOD last month which I liked very much.
I haven’t responded to a what are you reading thread in months because I’ve been almost entirely re-reading old favorites like Nora Roberts and Lisa Kleypas. Right now I seem to need to read books that are very far removed from our current events, either because they were written 20+ years ago, or because they are set in the distant past and aren’t addressing contemporary issues in an historical setting.
Recently I started listening to two podcasts (Sentimental Garbage and Learning the Tropes), which have been leading my book choices for a few weeks. I highly recommend both podcasts, as the hosts and guests are thoughtful and entertaining.
I did read three recent books, two of which I liked. THE SWITCH by Beth O’Leary isn’t really a romance, although it does have romance in it. It is about three generations of women who are all coping with the loss of the main character’s sister. It was a very good look at grief and recovery, but may be difficult reading for anyone who has recently lost someone. Jenny Colgan’s 500 MILES FROM YOU has a similar plot of two characters switching lives. Again, the love story is backgrounded to character development for the two leads. I’d recommend it with the caveat that it’s more straight fiction than romance.
The third book was BEACH READ, which I had had high hopes for but quickly DNF’d. I was annoyed by the main character, who was described as a romance writer, but then clarified that she didn’t write those books with “pirates on the cover” (who still writes pirate romances?), she wrote “women’s fiction” which is really just “fiction”. So basically she disparages romances as stupid and classifies herself as a wronged literary fiction author who gets lumped into romance because she’s a woman who writes happy endings. I quit reading at that point.
First off, a BIG thank you to my fellow SBs because all of these kindle unlimited books were recommended here.
As I was reading a Vanessa Kelly series, some of the titles were on sale, some were available on Scribd and one of the full price titles was available on KU. My Christmas Number One, talked up by D3, was the tipping point to subscribe. Two singers, on different continents, with different styles, who overcame (mostly) past traumas – – very beautifully done. I would have liked to hear the song they collaborated on, it felt that real.
I read Letters for Phoebe and enjoyed it. A young woman – looking for an equally wealthy husband to avoid being married for her wealth – receives an anonymous letter warning her that her likely candidate is not as he appears.
Drive Me Wild, lots of emotion as a woman crashes into town one evening while wearing a debutante gown, meets a local mechanic and … love ensues. Lots of good emotions.
Then I read Marrying Stone – which, by the way, is a place, not a person; and the following book, Simple Jess. Into the first chapter or so of Marrying Stone I kept wondering why I was reading this book…early 1900 Ozarks isn’t an interest of mine…and then my interest was captured and held tight. I implore you to read these two IN ORDER or not at all.
By a Thread was, I think, one of those first person novels that many here say they don’t care for. Sometimes it seemed … stilted? awkward?… I don’t have the literary vocabulary to explain. But I enjoyed the story of a young woman trying to make ends meet with three or four part time jobs and repair her father’s home for sale and maintain frequent visitation with him at his nursing home all while rebuffing the pushy hero. A lot going on, well done.
Last night I read A Happy Catastrophe and oh, my. It was imaginative and at the beginning it reminded me of If Only It Were True, but was all its own. It was fun to have a reading week with all books different from my usual choices and all high points. Thanks again for all the recommendations!
These are the ones I’ve finished. There are a lot more in the DNF category, but due to my mood, not the author’s work. Some of my favorite writers are putting out politics themed books, which I can’t even think of opening. So escapism and sci-fi were September’s theme.
Great
HARPER, KAJE – THE REBUILDING YEAR (m/m contemporary). Reread this series due to the Autumn ‘Ready set go’ post. A med student and a landscaper fall in love in a Wisconsin college town.
KELLY, CARLA -REFORMING LORD RAGSDALE (f/m regency). An old favorite did not disappoint on re-reading. Not your typical regency between a lord and an Irish indentured servant. The characters, oh the characters…
Very good
HOGARTH , MCA – (Science Fiction). Got caught up with this series and can’t wait to see where it goes next. Marvelous characters. Elves in space…
RACONTEUR, HONOR – THREE CHARMS FOR MURDER. (M/F magical police procedural) The case files of the Shinigami Detective continue and I hope they don’t end anytime soon.
Good
BRACKHAUS, BERYLL – VIRASANA EMPIRE series. (Fantasy with m/m romance) only the first book is a romance, the rest are adventure stores, but interesting ones. THE PET AND HIS DUKE, set in the same universe is my favorite by them so far.
FIELDING, KIM – THE PILLAR (M/M in 15th century Bosnia). A novella about a herbalist and the man he rescues from the town square.
GRAY, CW- FIRE’S MATE – (M/M sci fi) The latest in the BLUE SOLACE universe. This one was short and sweet that exactly fit Its protagonists.
So-so
Heart, DJ – Starting Over: two werewolves for Peter (M/M/M). Two alpha werewolves and an omega ‘bought’ through a prison release program. A lot of sex for the plot, but there was some character building, however dubious consent.
Currently reading
AXIOM’S END by Lindsay Ellis. Holy cow, gather up, first contact/alternate history people. Most of the action takes place in 2007 and we learn extraterrestrials have been in (benign) government custody for at least 40 years. Fast-paced, astonishing, complicated and, gees, I hope it ends well for everyone because I really care about these visitors.
Loved
THE CITY WE BECAME by N. K. Jemisin. Just wow.
Liked
MAKE RUSSIA GREAT AGAIN by Christopher Buckley. Intentionally too on the nose for today, which makes it depressing, but still a good read.
EMERALD BLAZE by Ilona Andrews. I spent the entire book wondering, “Wait, didn’t we read Arabella’s story before Catalina’s?” Realized I was thinking of Jessie Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion series with three sisters, too similar names, different powers. I was very confused while enjoying the Baylors.
Next up
TROUBLED BLOOD by Robert Galbraith. I almost didn’t borrow this and if it’s transphobic, I’m out of here. Will have to see.
Finished Dark Lord of Derkholm by Dianna Wynne Jones, which was in fact rather dark and addressed sexism, racism, classism, colonialism, capitalism and a ton of other isms. When you need literal Divine Intervention to resolve all your plotlines you may be in over your head…
Currently reading The Toll Gate by Georgette Heyer despite all the loose ends left by Venetia, which I somehow never noticed before. (Did Conway ever come home? What happened to Undershaw? Did all the servants quit en masse and go to work at the Priory, which certainly could have used them? Or did Mrs Scorrier meet with a Tragic Accident? That entire plotline is left hanging.)
@Jeannette #20: I am intrigued by the Shinigami Detective series you mentioned, looking at the author’s website now. Where do you recommend starting, she has so many series.
I’ve had a long string of unmemorable reads. However, my reading blahs were broken this week by SPELLS FOR THE DEAD, the fifth book in Faith Hunter’s Soulwood UF series. These really shouldn’t be read out of order, but the books are so good, you shouldn’t skip any of them anyway. The heroine, Nell was raised in a cult and when the series starts, she’s just breaking free of it, while also trying to figure out her rather mysterious Earth magic. As the series goes on, she slowly figures out that she’s a kind of very powerful wood sprite, she gets a job with a special supernatural law enforcement unit, and learns how to navigate relationships outside of the cult, while still maintaining strong ties to her family who are all still in it. The police procedural plots for each book can sometimes be a bit opaque and a little too detailed, but the various relationships that grow and develop are absolutely stellar.
Other than that, after 2+ years, I finally finished the first round of Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series with ALLEGIANCE OF HONOR. I loved it, but definitely not a book to read if you haven’t read the previous books in the series. I just picked up HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU by Mhairi McFarlane from the library after loving her recent release, IF I NEVER MET YOU, so that’s next up on Mt. TBR.
@SusanH, discrete head gesture to Darlene Marshall’s regular ad for her much loved series.
@Carrie G:
While I’m pretty certain it wasn’t me who recommended the Rockliffe series, since that’s a series from her I haven’t read yet, I did begin the discussion about Riley in a books on sale post. At the time her book the Black Madonna was on sale for $2.99. I think I remember comments about her Rockliffe Series in response. The Black Madonna is part of her Roundheads and Cavaliers series which takes place in the English Civil War, and characters from A Splendid Defiance are secondary characters in one of the books. If you want historical fiction with romantic elements I would recommend these. They are longer than her romances though; each is about 600 pages and there are four of them, all of which are available as e-books. The first two are in audio recorded by Mr. Wyndham. I am hopeful that the others will be forthcoming. Riley is also writing a trilogy set in the same world as her Rockliffe series; the first book is out already in e-book and audio. If I recall correctly in the case where e-books and audio are availible all of these books are whispersynced, so that might save money if you choose to purchase.
Similarly with Lucinda Brant, there are other series to read. Her Salt Hendon collection is available in Audible Escape individually and together in a boxed set. Interestingly the individual titles were recorded by narrator Marian Hussey, while the boxed set was recorded by Wyndham. I think this second decision was made by popular demand. Her series currently in progress is a set of Georgian historical mysteries. Four are out, all of which are available in e-book, and three of which are available in audio. Her books are also whispersynced where applicable. I mention whispersync in both cases, because some of these titles have never been on Audible Escape.
@Pear:
There’s also Daniel Okerent’s The Guarded Gate, which I believe is a recent release. I haven’t read this one, but I can vouch for his writing since I enjoyed Last Call, his book on Prohibition. It was full of history, but accessible to the casual reader.
@Escapeologist:
I couldn’t agree more about Emeli Sande. She deserves to be better known imo. I live in the US and her music doesn’t seem to have caught on here as some of her contemporaries.
@ EC Spurlock – agree about Dark Lord of Derkholm being a bit too dark for a Diana Wynn Jones fantasy. The first half or so is fun, then it got anxiety inducing for me.
The loosely connected sequel, Year of the Griffin, is better – it’s set at a magical college, with a lovely found family of classmates. I’ve reread that one a few times.
@Darlynne – I’ve really enjoyed Honor Raconteur’s series, although they are all really different. And quite a few of her series are on Kindle Unlimited, making it easier to book binge.
The series I’ve liked best were:
The Shinigami Detective ( aka the case files of Henri Davenforth) about a woman who wakes up in another dimension similar to steampunk with magic, and then she teams up with a csi-like socially awkward magician to solve police cases.
The Human Familiar a YA fantasy series about a young mage and the adventurer she summoned as her familiar.
The Artifactor Series, a YA about a mage who decides to kidnap the local prince, break his curse (in exchange for less future bureaucratic paperwork), and then the adventure begins.
@Darlynne, re Honor Raconteur, I would definitely recommend starting with the case files of Henri Davenforth which starts with Magic and Shinigami detective. That series has five books now so should keep you busy for a little while. Henri and Jamie are just great characters and I reread the first books every time a new one comes out! The only other series I have read is the artifactor and it was great too.
As for Stella Riley, I am one of the fans who sing her praises here. Glad to see the fandom increasing! I love all her books. 🙂
@Vår – I too recently discovered Kerrigan Byrne and couldn’t believe what I’d been missing. I love her writing. DIRTY SECRET by Mira Lyn Kelly is currently free on Amazon.
I read and liked O’Keefe’s THE TYCOON but didn’t continue with the series. I think (it’s been a while) it was because I didn’t like the sample for book 2. I may try the 3rd book based on your feedback. I dislike series written by multiple authors because I find the different author styles and talent destroy the continuity a series is supposed to have.
I just read/listened to my first Heyer, Venetia. I loved it and am going to start on her other books.
That middle paragraph should have been @ DiscoDollyDeb.
@Jeannette, I’d like to know which MCA Hogarth series you were referring to.
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh — this was an enjoyable novella. The main characters were Tobias Finch, who lives in Greenhollow wood and Henry Silver, the new owner of Greenhollow Hall and a folklorist. Henry’s mother plays a role as do dryads and a malevolent spirit. If you like fairytales, you will probably like this. I will happily read the next book in the series.
**
Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher — Grace, a perfume maker in a vaguely medieval town, meets Stephen, a paladin whose god has died. Feelings ensue. There is romance, murder, a spy, a lawyer with they/them pronouns, and education about perfume making. I laughed a lot and will definitely read more by this author.
**
Felix and the Prince by Lucy Lennox — Felix, a graduate student studying stained glass, meets Lio unaware that he is a prince about to ascend the throne. (Lio’s father is about to ‘retire’ … not abdicate?) Lio, gay and closeted,sees this as a last chance for a fling; however, the two men soon establish an emotional connection. There is a nice supporting cast of family, friends, and staff. I enjoyed this.
**
The Knight and the Necromancer: Book One: The Capital by A. H. Lee — I bought this in May, long enough ago to forget hearing the book ends ABRUPTLY. Be warned! I quite enjoyed this fantasy about Roland, brother of the Queen, who flirts with a man at a tavern only to be horrified to learn the next day that he kissed a necromancer. I definitely will read on.
**
Language Lessons by Jay Bell (owned since 2017; no longer for sale) — almost 17 year old Joey hooks up with his old crush who is now in college. That leads Joey to matchmaking and an encounter with Phillip who isn’t interested in a fling. Joey matures (and grew more likeable) during this short story as he begins his first relationship. An okay read.
**
Worth Searching For by Wendy Qualls was an enjoyable male/male contemporary romance.
****
I read the Taking Shield series by Anna Butler. Ten thousand years ago, ‘the earth went dark’ and people from its colonies went in search of a new home. After three thousand years, they settled on Albion. Some things are familiar – politicians and the military, inches and feet, death (TW for so much) and taxes, Latin in religious ceremonies, homophobia, and size 13 shoes, but much is different – primarily the Maess with whom Albion has been at war for over a hundred years.
Gyrfalcon (Taking Shield book 1) by Anna Butler –(FREE for Kindle readers) was a reread. Shield Captain Bennet is in an open and tense relationship with his partner, Joss, who is unhappy with his frequent absences. While on assignment, Bennet meets Flynn (a pilot), and they connect on many levels. It’s clear that their relationship will develop as the series progresses.
Heart Scarab -I was impressed at the author’s ability to make me care for a character who I’d found unsympathetic in book one. This book had me pondering the difficulties of caring for someone with a dangerous profession and considering how relationships can change with time. It made me cry but left me eager to read on.
Makepeace -this book, set several years after the first, revolves around Bennet’s mission to the planet Makepeace in Maess space.
The Chains Of Their Sins -this book deals with the ugly aftereffects of the Makepeace mission. Bennet and Flynn are on the same ship but not together due to regulations. This was another book that had me crying.
Day of Wrath -the final book in the series went somewhere that I never expected.
This was an excellent series; I recommend it highly to those who might like military science fiction with a side of romance.
**
Into Deep Waters by Kaje Harper — (FREE for Kindle readers) was a lovely tale of Jacob and Daniel beginning in world war 2, when they meet while serving in the Navy, and following their life together for some sixty years.
**
Slippery Creatures (The Will Darling Adventures Book 1) by KJ Charles –– was set in London after the Great War featuring a bookseller, Will Darling, and Kim Secretan, a well-to-do young man. There are thugs, spies, various weapons, lies, many books, and a mystery. There is danger that didn’t feel too real to me. I enjoyed this and look forward to reading on in the series.
**
I also reread some of James Marshall’s George and Martha books that were family favorites when my daughter was young.
Just got my library hold in for Seanan McGuire’s “A Killing Frost.” Enjoying it, I always enjoy McGuire, but I’m a bit frustrated at everyone around the heroine rolling their eyes at her about not picking a wedding dress because she’s “just going to get blood on it.” I mean, even if you’re NOT genre savvy to how an urban fantasy protagonist’s life works… This woman has been through some STUFF, and clearly one of her primary coping strategies is Preparing For The Worst. Telling her it’s all going to be fine is not going to help her feel happy and safe! For heaven’s sake, START SUGGESTING DRESSES SHE CAN BLEED ON! Something in crimson, a little armouring in the bodice, with a skirt she can run and fight in, some nice hidden pockets for weaponry. LET her treat it as an Attempted Assassination dress if that’s what makes her feel more secure, dammit!
…I seem to have strong opinions about people not listening to character’s emotional needs regarding fashion. I recall having a similar reaction when reading Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold and everyone steering a character there away from bubblegum pink clothes into sleek elegant femme fatale outfits. Dammit, THAT character had a complex about frightening people and what she wanted from HER clothes was to feel soft and pretty and adorable! So that shade of pink clashes with her complexion, they could still have found other clothes that GAVE her that! SHOW THIS WOMAN SOME MORI KEI OR SOMETHING
I’ve been reading THE EVENING AND THE MORNING by Ken Follett. It’s not a romance novel, but there is a romance. Trigger warning by s abound for non-consent and some pretty brutal deaths (it’s set at the end of the Dark Ages in England, so). But if you loved the other books in the Kingsbridge series, you’ll probably love this prequel. Follett is compulsively readable.
I just went through almost all of Susanna Kearsley’s historical/romantic backlist. Particularly recommended: Bellewether, A Desperate Fortune, and The Firebird. I also read and enjoyed K.B. Wager’s A Pale Light in the Black, and loved the diverse rep and how much the book sucked me in!
@BigK
Plot Geezers. Thank you. I’m old enough to be one, but I hope I never am. I had the same problem with the Lau novella. The grandparents /parents interference is played off as humorous, but was irritating as hell. Im not a fan of embarrassing situations played for laughs, and interfering family members are at the top of my “I don’t want to read about that” list.” Unfortunately, extended family members who interfere seem to be a trend in contemporary romances I’ve read.
@Stefani Magura
Thanks for more information about Stella Riley and Lucinda Brant!