We are closing out September! Can you believe it?
October is busy busy (for me at least), but hopefully we can all squeeze in some quality reading time.
Sarah: I’m currently reading Payback’s a Witch ( A | BN | K ) and oh wow am I enjoying it so freaking much. Chasing and clever and beautiful bits of writing.
Carrie: I just finished reading Praying With Jane Eyre( A | BN | K ) which I found to be transformative – truly one of those books that makes you look at everything differently. By Vanessa Zoltan.
Elyse: I’ve been dealing with anxiety/tired brain so I’ve been going through my knitting pattern books to relax, mostly 52 Weeks of Socks and 52 Weeks of Shawls by Laine
Shana: I’ve been having trouble settling into another book since I finished The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. Nothing is hitting that same comforting spot. I’m seriously considering just rereading it.
EllenM: I recently read and really enjoyed The Bright and Breaking Sea by Chloe Neill, a swashbuckling alternative history sea adventure with a hefty scoop of romance. After that I decided to start Neill’s urban fantasy series, the Chicagoland Vampires. I’m about 3 books in and they are pretty fun so far–light, sexy, sorta silly (in a good way).
Sneezy: My Irresistible Ex recently got its official translation on Line Webtoon!!!! (There’s a section on the app, so I assume the site too, for fan translations, though I have trouble navigating it on the app.) It’s a second chance romance with Mysterious reason for breaking up, celebrities, albeit sly but straight forward ex pining for their ex wife in their ex wife’s face, a woman who knows what she wants being pretty great at boundaries, her best friend (who I’m already calling as the second fem lead) serving up great hair, competence porn as the main character’s agent and PR person.
And also really pretty art!
It’s only just started though. I’ve high hopes for it, so fingers crossed!
Tara: I’ve started listening to Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay, ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) which is excellent and I definitely recommend in audio.
On my Kindle, I’ve been reading Match to Love by Johana Gavez, which is a VERY cute f/f romance (at least, very cute so far). It has a professional tennis player and a law student meeting through fanfic.
Susan: I’m in the middle of moving house, but I took a break from the box mines when I found the second volume of Letters for Lucardo. ( A ) It’s an m/m vampire romance, where the young-looking vampire is smitten with a scrivener in his 50s-60s. Volume 2 is all about trying to negotiate class differences and family drama, which is obviously aggravated by the whole vampire politics thing
EllenM: I have both volumes but I haven’t read them yet!!!
What have you been reading? Tell us in the comments below!
Okay, still really struggling with reading, but I *did* read an enjoy some Miles Morales Ultimate Spiderman thanks to the 9 year old. I’m comfort listening to a bunch of romance, particularly historical romance. Right now enjoying WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT by Tessa Dare, possibly more than the first time around.
I’m trying to embrace the fact I don’t really know what I want to read anymore and I’ve decided to try and finish the year with the Book Riot READ HARDER Challenge. I’ve already knocked a few off the list (read a fanfic, read a fat positive romance, read a romance by a trans author), but I was grumbling to my husband that there’s no such thing as “a book I’m intimidated to read.” (one of the challlenges). There’s books I don’t want to read (Moby Dick, anything by James Joyce, etc), but that’s different.”
And my husband said “aren’t you always saying you want to read THE NAME OF THE ROSE in Italian, but you’re afraid you’re not ready yet?”. . . Busted. So that’s going to be my fall project. I’m probably going to read and audio it at the same time, which takes a little planning but I highly recommend if someone is reading in not their first language and looking to get better at vocabulary and pronunciation.
I feel like it has a nice fall vibe, although honestly I’ve only ever seen the old Sean Connery movie. (dubbed in Spanish, but that’s a story for another day.)
Short list for me this time around.
BOMBSHELL by Sarah MacLean. I’ve read a lot of MacLean’s books even though I think she likes dysfunction, big fights, and groveling more than I think is actually necessary (or healthy). In any case, this is one of my favorites of hers–there’s a little too much wallowing at the beginning (hero and heroine had a thing years ago; he disappeared to America and is now back), but then the plot gets going and it’s all good. I wished there were more of the Hell’s Belles (the name of the series) and am glad they’re all getting their own books.
BATTLE ROYAL by Lucy Parker. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this–former GBBO type show judge and contestant in the running to bake a cake for a royal wedding–because the language was a bit stilted. But, like the MacLean, then I got into it and really enjoyed it.
Currently reading MISS LATTIMORE’S LETTER by Suzanne Allain. It’s not that long, but it’s taking me a while to finish. It’s a regency, but smaller in scope (characters are mostly interacting with a small circle in Bath and are well enough off, but not aristocracy). I keep thinking maybe I won’t finish it, but then I keep going.
Looking forward to reading the rest of this thread (as always). It keeps my TBR pile growing ever longer!
I just started Whitney Hill’s ELEMENTAL (which is on sale for 99 cents until October 7, as is book 2 in the series, ELDRITCH SPARKS). It has the whole range of supernatural beings and is frontloading a great deal of worldbuilding at the expense of getting the plot moving, but that’s not unusual in UF series starters. A private investigator attempting to conceal she’s an elemental is hired by an elf with an ancient commitment to killing elementals to to find a missing elven matriarch, which will inevitably bring her into contact with more elves who have an ancient commitment to killing her.
I’m working my way through Mick Herron’s SLOUGH HOUSE series (only 3 books left to read). Herron has been compared to John Le Carre & rightly so, IMO. The premise is that British Intelligence can’t fire agents who fuck up/have “issues”, so they get transferred to Slough House & given soul-destroying make-work assignments in the hopes that they will quit. And then stuff happens. I thought this series would make fantastic tv & just found out that it’s being filmed. (Not crazy about the casting but that’s a post for another day.)
I’m reading ORPHAN X by Gregg Hurwitz, which is very James Bondian — the hero is an orphan, likes a certain kind of vodka, is an elite operative, etc.
Waiting on my TBR pile are THE ROYALS NEXT DOOR by Karina Halle; THE HIGHLAND FLING by Meghan Quinn; and UNCHARTED by Adriana Anders.
The cool fall mornings have also put me in the mood to start reading Christmas romances, like A COWBOY CHRISTMAS LEGEND by Linda Broday, which comes out next week.
Happy fall, everyone! 🙂
I read 3 books in Hank Edwards’ series Critter Catchers. Life-long friends Cody and Demetrius start a compassionate animal control business. But in each book, they accidently stumble into a supernatural animal situation. Also they are starting to reevaluate their relationship and over the course of the series move it to a romantic / sexual level
Then last weekend I binged Maz maddox’s RELIC series. Dinosaur shifters working to retrieve fossils from private collectors and falling in love. So much fun! Last year I binged their Stallion Ridge series and got a little burned out. I was very happy to get that joy-spark back after taking this break.
THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS by Ali Hazelwood – STEM! Friendship! Pining! Graysexuality! Even though there may be as much wrong with this book as there is right with it (I’m looking at you, Anh), I am going to hug it like a friend for the rest of 2021 and I can’t wait for Love on the Brain in 2022. However, I was never at ease with the graduate student heroine dating a tenured faculty member in her department (aka “the entire premise”). Hazelwood confronts that problem directly in the crux of the conflict, but I feel like the heroine’s initial motivations weren’t strong enough to justify engaging in a potentially career-damaging *fake* relationship. She is literally smarter than that. (Side note: I have zero exposure to Reylo fandom (I haven’t even seen the last two Star Wars films!), so that aspect of the book pretty much slid right by me…except for the hero’s mother having been an ambassador to the Netherlands. Be awesome everywhere you go, Princess/Senator/General Leia Organa.) [A-]
SUPPLICANT by Sierra Simone – The dramatic opening (impoverished heroine abandoned at the altar by her wealthy lover without notice or explanation) could have come straight from my favorite HPs. The metaphor-rich language infusing the erotica with poetry and intellectual grandeur is pure Simone. Unfortunately, the plot — well, the hero’s actions, really — failed me in a way I can’t discuss without spoilers. (Hint: there must be some sly hand of fate manipulating my reading matrix, making this the first book I read after The Love Hypothesis.) Make choices that make sense, hero. [B]
FIRE IN HIS FURY by Ruby Dixon – Living in a post-apocalyptic world that has been devastated by berserking dragon shifters, the human heroine of book 4 in Dixon’s FIreblood Dragons series is miserable because her sister (mated to a dragon shifter) is stifling her freedom to save her from being abducted by random dragons seeking their own mates. Instead of explaining to her protective sister how oppressed she feels, the heroine drops her panties in the apocalyptic landscape, hoping a dragon in shining armor will pick up the scent and come looking for her. This maneuver places her sister and her sister’s mate in danger when the dragon she attracts tries to chase them from their “nest” by raining debris on the building they inhabit. I hung in there because the book’s description implied the heroine would be disappointed by how rough her dragon abductor/rescuer is (schadenfreude!), but he turns out to be as doting as every other dragon hero in this series. [C- … The ability of the series — which deals with themes of consent and control — to pull me forward is just too strong for a D. The earlier books were in the B range, mostly marred by length and seemingly inevitable repetition.]
Part I
I was thrilled to discover that, after announcing her retirement from romance writing, Eve Dangerfield has released another romance called BEGIN AGAIN, AGAIN (thanks to the members of the Bitchery who alerted me to the new book)—the first in a new series called Rebirth. I hope this book means Dangerfield’s retirement was more of a hiatus and she will be returning to writing romance (and possibly even finishing her Silver Daughters Ink series—please please please). Set just as the first covid restrictions were being eased in Australia, BEGIN AGAIN, AGAIN has all the earmarks of primo Dangerfield: heart, humor, heat, female friendships, found family, dealing with dysfunctional biological family, and unabashed Australianisms (which I love, even when I don’t get all the slang and idioms). In BEGIN AGAIN, AGAIN, Bethany, is a New Zealander now living in Australia; she is almost 30 and has been sober about two years. She connects with a younger man, Byron, an electrician who is initially quite cagey about his history. I really liked how Bethany stayed focused on her sobriety, even when surrounded by people who were drinking; I liked her self-perception and her ability to acknowledge her past drunk behavior and what drinking did to her. I had a harder time warming to Byron who was far more reserved and occasionally seemed a bit douchey—but please stay with him, he does redeem himself. As is always the case with Dangerfield, there are frank discussions of gender politics and how they seep into both personal and professional elements of our lives. I love Dangerfield’s writing and I’m so glad she’s back. Highly recommended.
Serena Bell’s WALK ON THE WILDER SIDE is the second book in her Wilder Adventure series about a family (last name Wilder) who run an outdoor adventure company that is in the process of expanding into a destination wedding venue. WALK ON THE WILDER SIDE features the relationship between straight-laced Cuban-American Rachel and her teenage crush, former bad-boy (and best friend of Rachel’s older brother) Brody Wilder, who now captains boat charters for the family business. Rachel, recently laid-off from her library job in Boston, returns to the Pacific Northwest to regroup and help her currently-immobile-with-a-broken-foot mother host “self-care” product parties. “Self-care” actually translates to “sex toys” and there’s some funny (and serious) discussions of their uses as Rachel begins to cringingly and then more comfortably host the parties. Rachel charters Brody’s boat to host a party and it’s a big hit (It also leads to some sexy interplay between Rachel and Brody). “Best friend’s younger sister is off-limits” is not a favorite of mine, but I can always rely on Bell to put her own spin on any trope—and she does so here by having Connor (the older brother/best friend) not be opposed to Rachel & Brody getting together based on some patriarchal sexist notion of “protecting” his little sister, but because he sees that both his sister and his friend are at difficult transitions in their lives (Rachel’s ex was cheating on her and Brody is still reeling from the discovery that his ex-girlfriend’s son is not his biological child) and he (Connor) thinks a relationship is probably not a good thing for either Rachel or Brody right now. However, when has that ever stopped anyone in Romancelandia? Key quote: “Sex isn’t just sex….It’s wrapped up with everything. Childhood issues, current illness. Your self esteem, your friendships. Frustration. Loss. Hope. It’s wrapped up with being human and being fragile and being strong.” Highly recommended, even if you don’t like the “younger sister” trope.
I enjoyed Karla Sorensen’s latest sports romance, THE LIE, a grumpy-sunshine paring between a professional football player, newly-traded to the (fictional) team in Seattle, and the woman who runs the team’s charitable foundation (she’s also the daughter of the team’s owner, but in a change of pace, it’s her mother, not her father, who owns the team). The hero has a bit of a chip on his shoulder and is locked down emotionally (not without reason—cw/tw: cancer-related death of a child in the past); the heroine is tentative about dating a football player because of a previous bad experience with one. I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say there’s a “You’ve Got Mail” element to the set-up and the lie in the title is more a sin of omission than an outright falsehood—but the pain it causes is just as real. Sorensen has been one of my “discoveries” this year (her age-gap slow-burn, FORBIDDEN, is one of my favorite books of 2021), but I should caution that if you do not like romances where the children of the MCs of previous books are now grown up and having romances of their own, THE LIE may not be for you because the heroine is the oldest daughter of the couple from Sorensen’s earlier book, THE BOMBSHELL EFFECT. But if seeing heroes and heroines from prior romances getting grey in their hair and laugh lines around their eyes is not a problem for you, I recommend THE LIE.
Part II
Do you ever encounter an author whose work you can clearly see is not objectively “of the first water” but that absolutely hits your reading sweet spot? Well, I’ve had that experience with new-to-me author Alessandra Hazard. After Hazard’s JUST A BIT BOSSY showed up on my KU recommendations, I went on a binge of her 12-book (plus a prequel novella) Straight Guys series and, while I can see the books’ flaws, I consumed them, one after the other, like eating a jar of peanuts. All of the books in Straight Guys are erotic m/m romances and each features at least one hero who has previously considered himself straight until he has a bi-awakening with the other hero (who is generally, but not always, out and gay or bi). The books usually feature age-gaps of about a decade (sometimes it’s the older hero having a bi-awakening, sometimes it’s the younger) and power imbalances (boss/assistant, professor/student, physiotherapist/patient, undercover agent/trainee), which does lead to elements of dub-con. Some of the heroes are initially involved with women and/or have (or are responsible for) young children. Some of the books also explore co-dependent relationships that border on unhealthy and (even with therapy) are not completely resolved by book’s end. The stories also lack much in the way of in-depth social connectivity, descriptions, or explanations; for example, in JUST A BIT WRECKED, the heroes are the only survivors of a plane crash; although they spend months on a remote island, the book explains very little in the way of how the heroes actually survive (suffice to say, this ain’t WILD or DANE’S STORM); in JUST A BIT CONFUSING, a middle-class guy has been life-long best friends with an upper-class young man whose father is described as “being eleventh in line to the throne” (which, I believe, in reality would make him one of Prince Andrew’s children)—there’s no explanation of how these two people, from completely different classes, would ever have met, let alone been friends since childhood! However, all that being said, there’s something about the way Hazard writes the messy emotional dynamics between her conflicted, baffled characters (there’s quite a bit of hate-fucking and “I’m doing this, but I’M NOT GAY, okay?” going on) that appeals to me. I can’t say Hazard would be for everyone, but if you like erotic m/m (the sexy-times in her books are smoking hot) with bi-awakening stories, I recommend checking out Hazard’s work.
NON-ROMANCE
What a difference a genre makes: “A couple stranded together in an isolated snow-bound house in the Scottish Highlands” has all the potential to make a wonderfully-sexy enforced-proximity romance. But when it’s the set-up of a psychological suspense about an unhappy couple trying to salvage their marriage, the isolated snow-bound house takes on sinister dimensions. So it is in Alice Feeney’s very good ROCK PAPER SCISSORS, where Adam, a screenwriter best know for successfully adapting the horror novels of a famously reclusive writer, and Amelia, who loves dogs and works for a dog rescue organization (cw/tw: occasional descriptions of abused dogs), are making a last-ditch effort to save their relationship by going away for the weekend. But very early in the book, we discover that both Adam and Amelia are hiding secrets and at least one of them is an unreliable narrator (both claim the other asked their marriage counselor, “Can a weekend away really save a marriage?”). When the couple arrive at the house, it isn’t what they were expecting: in addition to being completely secluded, the house (a converted chapel) is cold, dark, dusty, and—most ominously—the bedroom looks like a replica of the couple’s bedroom in their London home. Tension escalates as Adam & Amelia encounter faces in windows, locked doors, creaking staircases, frozen pipes, power outages, and a bell tower filled with bats. When Adam & Amelia approach their closest neighbor (her name is Robin, but the couple don’t know that) for assistance, she refuses to open the door of her tiny cottage. The story moves back and forth in time as we learn more about Adam, Amelia, and Robin—interspersed with letters written (but never given) to Adam on each of the previous ten wedding anniversaries—every chapter slotting new information into the scaffolding of the book. There is a twist—and it’s a doozy—but it develops organically from the personalities of the three main characters and what we gradually come to know about their lives and backgrounds. I will suggest reading (as opposed to listening to) the book because close reading is really important (I don’t think I would have picked up on so many of the clues had I been listening to an audiobook). As most readers do after a big reveal, I went back and reread certain parts of the book and am happy to report that Feeney played fair throughout the story. Highly recommended.
Happy Saturday! Not as much reading done since I’ve been back from vacation, but a few books are in:
Romance:
OUTCROSSING by Celia Lake: loved the post-WWI fantasy England setting, didn’t love the pacing (perhaps too much worldbuilding since this is the first in this series?) or the dialogue. I might pick up more of the books in this series when I’m in the mood for something less plot-heavy.
A LOT LIKE ADIÓS by Alexis Daria: A really great second chance/friends-to-lovers; I was satisfied that the hero, Gabe, groveled enough/explained enough for ghosting the heroine, Michelle (admittedly, also they were like, 18 when he ghosted, and 18-year-olds make poor decisions that are more easily forgiven than if, say, a 28 year old man had stopped talking to his best friend). I liked the more complicated/nuanced family relationships, like that Gabe at 18 (to a little later) had to cut off contact with his parents but that in his early thirties, he was able to rebuild a better relationship with them. I also liked Michelle’s burnout-to-restored-motivation plotline. Also, the fanfic bits were funny to me. Looking forward to the third book!
CLEAN BREAKS by Ruby Lang: CW–heroine had melanoma (successfully removed by surgery)–another series where I’ve really enjoyed each entry; Sarah and Jake were sort of childhood friends/he had a crush on her but drifted apart after high school and meet back up as adults. So, kind of friends-to-lovers and second chance too. Sarah and Jake both have some things to work through–both familial and more recent, personal issues–and nobody is magically over anything by the end of the book. I like that their happy ending was going to involve still working on some things! Also, it was nice to see Petra and Ian’s wedding (from the first book in Lang’s Practice Perfect series).
In progress/on deck:
THE CITY OF BRASS by S.A. Chakraborty: I started this on my plane ride back and haven’t worked on it much since then. It took me a little bit to get into it, in part because I felt like the magic and worldbuilding take some explaining, but I’m liking it. Maybe I’ll get it done this weekend.
I’ll probably also read the final book in the Ravenswood series by Talia Hibbert soon (THAT KIND OF GUY? something like that). Need to plan out some of my October & November reading to get into the season!
I was finally able to replace my broken ereader with a spiffy new tablet, so for the first time this year I’ve been able to get ebooks! Not that my time for reading will increase, alas, but I’m hoping this gets me out of my pandemic reading slump, which just seems to go on and on.
Anyway, what I finished since last time:
We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder At Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper
This was the story of a murder of Harvard anthropology student Jane Britton in the 60s that remained unsolved for five decades and became a sort-of urban legend, campus lore that the author first heard of when she was an undergrad. It was a really fascinating, sometimes exhausting, deep dive, with myriad suspicious characters. The case was solved, but the answer was unsatisfying, and as a true-crime consumer you have to examine why that is. Because even though murder is the most senseless of crimes, you *want* it to fit a narrative, to feel like it has a reason, makes a weird sort of sense. And in the end, it was just a tragedy that went unpunished. A really interesting book, but if you don’t feel like diving into 400+ pages there was also an episode of the podcast Crimes of the Centuries that covered the case well (and concisely)
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K.J. Charles
I feel like I haven’t read romance in so long! Not factually true, but for sure a lot of the romances I’ve tried to read since 2020 have not hit me in the right way. All to say, The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting will probably not be one of my life-long favorites, it’s not even my favorite Charles, but it was a lovely little break for my brain, and got me wanting to get back on the romance train for real.
The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr
A great book to start spooky season. I don’t read or watch horror, but I won’t ever turn down a good gothic. A daguerreotypist who does postmortem memorial pictures is tasked with carrying out the convoluted burial instructions of a cousin he didn’t even know about, a famed poet. He gets drawn into the strange story of the poet and his deceased (or is she?) wife, while also reliving his own traumatic love story. It’s very atmospheric, lots of dark moors and creepy birds. Also ghosts.
@DDD Hazard’s JUST A BIT TWISTED is the best post-2K ingenue romance I’ve read. Partly because the smuttiness cuts through the sweetness (or vice-versa) and partly because Hazard does such a masterful job conveying grumpy Rutledge’s thoughts and feelings without ever giving the reader his POV.
The “gay for you” theme of the Straight Guys series is going to be problematic for a lot of readers. For anyone for whom it’s not a dealbreaker, I recommend Twisted, Wrong, and Ruthless. Plus Obsessed and Wicked, for cameos from the protagonists of T, Wr, and R.
Since last time, week one~
— for my local book group: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. This is an interconnecting collection of stories; some take place in our world, others in a place with pirates, keys, a moon who visits the land, books (and more BOOKS), bees, cats, swords, doors of all kinds, and time loops. It’s written in the present tense and the focal character is Zachary who finds an old book in which one of the stories is of his own childhood discovery of a door (a door he did not open but which had disappeared on his return a day later). This isn’t a romance, but a romance develops between Zachary and Dorian. This is a very well regarded book and I have admiration for how the author constructed it; however, it did not speak to me. Perhaps I prefer a more linear approach!
— Further Arrangements (Arranging Paradise Book 2) by L. Rowyn which was an enjoyable follow up to A Rational Arrangement which I read previously. It was a collection of three novellas.
I am participating in a challenge on another site. This week’s challenge was to read a book that I’ve owned for more than a year.
Lindira by Ann Somerville (TBR since 2014)
This short (59 pages) fantasy featured three characters who have been cursed by a god — a blind mermaid trapped in human form plus a man and his lover (another god) both in part animal form. I finished it, but this story did not appeal to me.
**
Dog Days (Wolf Winter Book 1) by TA Moore (TBR since 2018)
This story is set in our world where the weather has gone crazy; it’s September and snowing in the UK.The two leads are a wolf/man (not a werewolf though those also figure in the book) and a wolfhound/man. The first, Jack, has just been exiled from his pack by his father, the leader, in favor of his twin brother. Jack is happy to encounter Harry, the second lead, who left the pack years ago for life in the human world. This was a dark story with a fair bit of gore. I didn’t care for Jack though, in his defense, he never claimed to be anything but a wolf. This is the first book of a trilogy so, while not a cliffhanger, the story is unfinished. I don’t plan to read on.
**
When Skies Have Fallen by Debbie McGowan (TBR since 2015)
Arty (British) and Jim (American) meet in 1944 while serving in their respective militaries; the book follows their love story over the next twenty years in the UK, a time when homosexuality was a punishable offense. I’d describe this book as mellow though dark things do occur. The couple have supportive friends and siblings, and they feature strongly in the story.
**
Christmas Homecoming by L. A. Witt (TBR since 2019)
This novella opens in 1939 when childhood friends Roger and Jack kiss as Jack is about to leave their Iowa hometown. The story picks up in late 1945 when the men reunite after their respective wartime service; both have matured and suffered. This was a pleasant story.
**
Slow Heat by Leta Blake (TBR since 2018)
This novel is set in a world without women; men are alphas, omegas, or betas. Alphas and omegas are strongly driven by biology; omegas experience heats and can become pregnant. Frequently, the alpha becomes the wage earner and the omega the homemaker. Alphas and omegas have status; betas do not and can’t have children but otherwise seem to have more mainstream lives. Childbirth is risky, and abortion is illegal. Alphas and omegas either find their match (érosgápe) as new adults or they might make a contract arrangement. Jason (teen alpha) and Vale (35 year old omega college professor who has long given up the idea of finding his match) are érosgápe, an unusual situation. The story was fine but not my cup of tea.
Since last time, week two~
— I stayed up late to finish Swordheart by T. Kingfisher; this was definitely a fun fantasy read with lots of enjoyable banter.
— I did a fair bit of reading for my challenge from another site. This week’s challenge was to read something under the LGBTQIA umbrella.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot Book 1) by Becky Chambers
This novella is set in Panga (perhaps a wiser future earth?) where some centuries earlier self-aware robots moved into the wilderness and disappeared. The story centers around a tea monk (non-binary) and the robot who arrives on the doorstep of the monk’s caravan to ask what people need. This was a genuinely nice (charming, lovely) story, and I recommend it. It’s the first in a series, and I look forward to reading on.
**
The Only Way Out is In by Lyn Gala
This science fiction story was written for a prompt for the Love Has No Boundaries promotion in 2013.The focal character is Jacqs (heterosexual) who is a gunner on the Candiru; quick to fight, he’s considered a troublemaker. Alex (pansexual) is a new commander on board; he sees the real Jacqs and is attracted to him. During the story, Jacqs considers what attracts him to others and ultimately declares himself stenosexual. I was intrigued by and researched the term and determined that it was created by the author. She defines it as “an individual who is sexually attracted to those who possess particular traits rather than being sexually attracted to a sexuality or gender.” I also learned that the story is the first sixteen chapters of the author’s Turbulence which I’d now like to read!
**
Sharing a Pond by Alex Whitehall
This book had a unique premise. Brent lived his first ten or so years as Brenda being raised by wolves (I couldn’t resist; his parents were shifters). On his first shift, he surprised the pack by shifting to a frog and transitioning to male. At eighteen, he was kicked out of his home and ended up in an abusive relationship. The story begins when he is rescued in a snowstorm by a pair of frog shifters, Corey and Shane, who he had been traveling to see. He met them as a child and believed them to be his mates. I particularly enjoyed the few scenes where the trio were frogs. This was a pleasant story, but I don’t expect to re-read it.
**
Ignite by Nora Phoenix
In the not too distant future, the US has split into several new countries; this story is set in the Conservative United States where homosexuality is illegal and begins at a brutal reintegration camp for young gay men. Tan (imprisoned three years), Austin (imprisoned six months), and Mack (new arrival) escape/join forces when a strange meteor shower takes out the power. The men soon learn that this is the start of an alien invasion. I enjoyed seeing these very different men bond as they worked together. This ends with a ‘to be continued’ and is the start of a completed trilogy.
**
The Year of Soup by Howard Reiss
Tess, age 30, is questioning everything — she’s had three careers and three relationships (two with men, one with a woman) — well, everything except her ability to make soup. When the book begins, she’s just opened a soup restaurant in a college town; soon she befriends Beany, an 80+ year old English professor with whom she shares soup and wine every Thursday night for a year (The Year of Soup) until he commits suicide. He leaves her a stack of letters from WWII to the present, and she reads one weekly. I REALLY enjoyed this book (I’ll admit to having a fondness for books with epistolary content); be prepared to crave soup if you read this!
Romance:
Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly – novella set in a karaoke bar, loving the songs and characters.
Always Only You by Chloe Liese – this has been well reviewed on here, it’s as lovely as everyone said.
Non-romance:
The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book by Kate Milford, the story within a story from her Greenglass House series. Lots of worldbuilding and lore, gotta be in the right mood. Started the latest in the series, The Thief Knot, so far it’s a straight up mystery.
Graphic novels and webcomics:
Sleepless vol 1 – gorgeous art, interesting world building
Punderworld and Bloodstain comics on Webtoon – different genres by the same author/artist, funny, beautiful artwork
Sunny and Rainy on Webtoon – queer witches, cozy fall vibes, cute cats
@Deborah: I think Hazard does a fairly good job of showing that the straight guys may not always have been as straight as they thought—but I do like how she shows the bafflement most of the previously-straight heroes feel as they find themselves attracted to someone of their own gender. I think my bigger issue with the books was, as I noted, their absolute lack of social/connective scaffolding—the class differences between the two life-long friends in JUST A BIT CONFUSING being an obvious example: how did they ever meet, let alone become friends? JUST A BIT DIRTY begins with one of the heroes losing his wallet, credit cards, and passport—and it’s like nbd to him, but I kept worrying about it all the way through the book (full disclosure: I’m a bit of a worrier when it comes to losing my purse & ID). There’s no discussion of how he got his passport, ID, etc. replaced, only that he has it by the time he’s ready to go back to England. On the other hand, I thought Hazard did a good job of showing how this hero was sort of primed for being attracted to someone rather overbearing and controlling (which the other hero is) because he was the youngest sibling with an overbearing and controlling older brother. So, if readers are OK with “gay for you” and hand-waving social situations, I think they might enjoy Hazard’s books. I certainly did.
@DDD, are you a re-reader? I look forward to hearing when you begin BEGIN AGAIN, AGAIN again.
@Kareni: Lol! Yes, Dangerfield really came up with some title!
@Heather C, did you say DINOSAUR shifters?! I can’t.. I need… I’ll be back.
Not much has been hitting my reading sweet spot lately, but I’ll second @DDD’s rec of Walk on the Wilder Side by Serena Bell. I’m also not a fan of the “brother’s best friend” trope, but Serena Bell can take just about any trope and make me like it! In this case, the hero was adorably grumpy with a true heart of gold, a trope I love, so that probably balanced it out some.
I’m currently reading an ARC of The Brightest Star in Paris by Diana Biller (release on Oct12). I’m only a third of the way in, but I have high hopes that this sophomore effort will be just as wonderful as her first book, The Widow of Rose House. Atmosperic late Victorian era Paris setting, strong, determined ballerina heroine, smart, sweet hero – so far, so good.
I’m reading Headstrong (/another book in the Vino and Veritas book). They are are free in KU. I also have read a book by maya Rodale. The title escapes me at the moment. I like her books if I want to read a historical where I want to surrounded by friends (I mean characters who are trying to fit into the expectations of society.
I’m having a really good reading month, yay.
Read all of KJ Charles’s Will Darling books, so there you go. The evolution to the third book where they just get each other in a crisis was fantastic.
I also read Jesse Q. Sutanto’s The Obsession, YA with a boy insta-imprinting on a new student with dangerous secrets. Maybe think through the implications of controlling someone with their dangerous secrets next – oops. While the tone is different, this might be a good read for people who liked Victoria Helen Stone’s Jane Doe.
I really enjoyed Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks, which isn’t about productivity as much as managing our relationship to productivity and time management. A good companion read to Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing, with Burkeman being more relatable for my life.
Right now I’m very slowly working through Ella Quinn’s “The Marquis She’s Been Waiting For” – it just seems like the barrier to the HEA is so paper-thin that I’m a little bit irked with the leads? And despite getting a bit turned-off of Jenny Colgan for other reasons, I somehow ended up borrowing “500 Miles From You” from the library.
It’s a horribly depressing hard slog for me at work this fall, exacerbated by a relentlessly dreary shift of seasons into ceaseless drizzles. I may have to break out more of my comfort reads from the emergency “Cheer Me Up” folder in my ebook library featuring some great fanfiction downloaded from Archive of our Own along with a substantial number of books by Jackie Lau, Courtney Milan, Lucy Parker, Kate Bateman, and Elizabeth Essex.
Okay, dinosaur shifters sorted, unto WAYR.
Currently enforcing a two chapter limit on Nalini Singh’s LAST GUARD. I have lots to do this weekend. Paypal & Canto share a traumatic childhood experience after which they are separated without knowing each other’s true names. Fast forward 30 years. Both characters have psychic and physical scars. Canto was lucky enough to be returned to the bosom of the Mercant family. Paypal was returned to the psychopath who fathered her and her even more psychotic brother. Some bad shit has gone down in previous Psy/Changeling books, but this one has surpassed all of them, and I’m only on page 132.
For all that, I found THE HOLLYWOOD SPY a much more difficult read. Susan Elia MacNeal’s latest Maggie Hope book is full of all little historical details I love, including appearances by people like Walt Disney & George Ballanchine, plus David is back. Maggie continues to be Maggie, forthright and facing the world with strength and determination despite the breaking of her heart. The hard part about this one is that the majority of the plot involves KKK & Nazi activity. The sadness that we haven’t actually improved as a society kept pulling me from the story. The author talks in the afterward about writing this while BLM protests were happening.
Bad things happening PNRs have a remove from reality that makes the impact less visceral. I guess it’s the whole “only make believe” thing and knowing the villain gets it in the end. Real life monsters like race hatred never seem to die.
I’ve read so many good books recently I need to share along with a few DNF.
Romance:
Ali Hazelwood The Love Hypothesis – A
Loved this story beginning to end. Found it believable and really liked the STEM/Academic setting.
Evie Dunmore Portrait of a Scotsman – A
Forced marriage, scoundrel hiding a heart, early suffragette history woven in story.
Caitlin Crews All Night Long With a Cowboy – A
As we all know Caitlin Crews writes Harlequin formula but extremely well. I love her books and this is the second in a series. The first one is worth a read also.
Scarlett Cole Love Distilled Series, Love in Numbers, Love in Moments and Love in Secrets – A+
Loved the depiction of the family business and how each sibling handled the emotional death of their father, running the distillery, depression and anxiety (handled honestly), challenges of running a small business and of course their romantic lives.
Grace Burrowes Lady Eve’s Indiscretion – A
Slowing making my way through Burrowes Windham series. Lovely story about love and healing from trauma.
Susannah Nix My Cone and Only – B+
Book #1 in the King Family series. Secret crush on hero, brother’s best friend, small town setting. Looking forward to the next installment.
Fiction:
Liane Moriarty Apples Never Fall – A+
Classic moral ambiguity from Liane Moriarty. Family mystery and what it means to be a parent, child or sibling.
Laura Dave The Last Thing He Told Me – A+
Compelling domestic suspense story. Could not put it down.
DNF:
Chloe Liese Ever After Always
Naima Simone The Road to Rose Bend
Nichola Marsh The Man Ban
Jane Ashford The Duke Who Loved Me
@DonnaMarie, “Paypal & Canto”? Cute typo!
Bwahahahaha!! Paypal! Effing autocorrect. It’s PAYAL.
I’ve missed the last few WAYR, so will limit this to the titles I’ve loved.
A DESOLATION CALLED PEACE by Arkady Martine: Just as complicated as the first book, drowning in political, military and personal complications, and still awesome. Three Seagrass, Nine Hibiscus and Ambassador Mahit Dzmare again navigate the minefield that is intergalactic life in Teixcalaanli space. These characters and others are so capable and fragile, trying to keep civilizations from being wiped out by a new threat. Who are people? How do we decide? Great questions.
THE MADNESS OF CROWDS by Louise Penny: It’s Gamache and Three Pines, right? Also–so horrible and timely–the literal madness of crowds.
THE ABSOLUTE BOOK by Elizabeth Knox: Published originally in the author’s native New Zealand to huge acclaim, there were no plans to release the book globally. Until everyone started clamoring for it and here we are. Fairies, fae, a lost book called Fire Starter, murder, detectives … I read the book and am now listening to the audio version. So much Good Book Noise.
SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN by Shelley Parker-Chan: Just wow. 14th century China under Mongol rule is harsh, famine is rampant. Now imagine the founding of the Ming Dynasty by someone unexpected.
Currently reading COME FLY THE WORLD by Julia Cooke, a non-fiction look at the stewardesses who flew for Pan Am in the early days of commercial flight. I spent most of my teen years (late 60s on) wanting with all my heart to fly for Pan Am, then the only global airline; there was an astounding cache about these women far beyond their designer-made uniforms. At a time when women couldn’t get their own credit cards, rent apartments or dine alone in many restaurants, they flew around the world and made their own way, their own careers. This was mind-boggling for those days and Pan Am was the best. The book explains how revolutionary and determined the stewardesses were; how they flew soldiers to and from the Viet Nam war; how they dealt with sexism, racism, high jackings. As you can see, I am so impressed with the story being told, a story that isn’t COFFEE, TEA OR ME (thank the goddesses).
So much for brevity.
I’ve a had good reading month, partially inspired by #FallInLoveBingo.
5 stars
Peter Cabot Gets Lost by Cat Sebastian – mm historical set in 1960.
By far the best book I read this month and one of my faves of the year so far. Definitely the opposites attract road trip mm romance that I needed to read.
This is the sort of low conflict romance where some other readers will say that nothing happens. But that’s not at all true. So much happens. So many thoughts and feelings! So much driving and flirting and talking and longing and falling in love and figuring out how to be a grown up.
4 stars
Pumpkin by Julie Murphy – mm YA
Exactly the feel-good queer kid running for prom queen triumph that I needed.
Role Model by Rachel Reid (Game Changers #5) – mm hockey romance
Finally, a Rachel Reid book that I liked. I genuinely enjoyed this opposite attracts mm hockey romance with a very satisfying redemption arc. This is a pretty fluffy, low conflict romance although it touches on some tough subjects. Very emotionally satisfying.
I seem to be in the minority but I really hated Heated Rivalry. Too much hate sex, not enough emotional connection for my taste.
Off Balance by Jay Hogan – mm contemporary
Snarky mm romance set in New Zealand between a former professional ballet dancer with vertigo caused by a rare disorder and a fisheries officer. Got this on sale, from a new to me author – I read this for the Dancer bingo square and was pleasantly surprised.
I found the first person narration a little annoying at times and I thought the mystery plot was unnecessary. I also didn’t love the epilogue. But I loved the story of two prickly, complicated men unexpectedly falling for each other and then having to figure out how to make it work.
3.5 stars
Hex and Candy by Ashlyn Kane – mm PNR / UF
I enjoyed the romance in this mm forced proximity romance but the resolution to the mystery plot annoyed me.
Cole and Leo meet when Leo comes to Cole to break an enchantment. Cole is mundane and until about three months ago, when he picked up a hot vampire at a bar, he had no idea that there was a distinction between the mundane and the obscure or that magic was real. And then his vampire ex curses him so that he can’t hook up or even flirt or be flirted with.
When a menacing hexed object shows up in Leo’s apartment, Cole invites him to stay on his couch. Cue the forced proximity slow burn romance.
As Leo begins to realize that his previous life was a little shallow and that his taste in men was pretty bad, easy going Cole starts to look better and better.
If you can accept the mystery of the curse as just a frame story to get the two MCs together and not worry about pesky things like consistency, it’s a lovely romance. Recommended if you like low conflict romance with some low key UF elements set in a small town.
Thirding @DiscoDollyDeb and @JenM’s recs for Serena Bell’s Walk on the Wilder Side. Truly an excellent read, and I’m loving the series so far!
Also really enjoyed an ARC of Laurel Greer’s Twelve Dates of Christmas, which is part of a series, but I jumped in with this one without any problems. I will definitely go back to try the earlier titles now.
As mentioned in a previous post I just finished rereading The Dream Thief by Shana Abe, which I had last read so long ago I totally blanked on the details so it was like reading it for the first time all over again. I can’t begin to tell you how much it delighted me and now I need to find the rest of the series. And for those of you who, like me, are historical detail nerds, ABE GETS THEM RIGHT. All of them. Including the number of layers of clothing for both men and women, and what each piece is called. My nerdy little heart was so pleased.
Finally breaking out of my rereading rut with BECKMAN by Grace Burrowes. This is one of her older books and coincidentally an earlier book in the same series as TREMAIN’S TRUE LOVE, which was my previous reread. So when I stumbled across this rerelease I had to grab it. Just started it but it’s interesting seeing younger versions of characters appearing in the later book (one of whom, apparently, has a rather sinister reputation preceding him. I’ll be interested to find out why.)
Hope you are all having a lovely fall! I spent the day at the neighboring town’s Fall Festival getting a jump on Christmas shopping, and the weather was perfect!
Reading lots of Christmas ARCs which release in the next few weeks.
@Heather C – I didn’t know that gay dinosaur shifters were missing from my life, but thanks to you, I’m going to remedy that shortly. Maz Maddox’s series looks awesome!!
I haven’t touched fiction in a couple of weeks, but for non-fiction, I’m reading Kathrine Switzer’s memoir, “Marathon Woman: Running the Race to Revolutionize Women’s Sports”. She is very well-known in the running community as a pioneer in US women’s running. She was the first woman who ran as a registered participant in the Boston Marathon in 1967 (she registered using her initials). Before then, women weren’t allowed to run more than a few hundred meters – it was believed that women’s bodies were too fragile and running would cause the uterus to fall out and women to “become men”. When a race official realized there was a woman on the course, he tried to rip the numbers off Switzer’s sweatshirt and force her out of the race. It was a Bad Decisions Book Club night when I started it a couple of days back.
With our son, I am knee deep in toddler tantrums and planning for his 2nd birthday and with our daughter, I am knee deep in teething, crawling, and super cuteness (she’s 8 months old)!
It has been 3 months since I last posted, so here I go. I should note, that for whatever reason, I have not been into reading romance this year at all – lots of mysteries and non-fiction for me.
Excellent:
The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz: The second in the very-meta Daniel Hawthorne series – Horowitz himself is a character in this otherwise fictional book – the twists at the end were chilling. Looking forward to the next in the series.
The Vanishing Man by Charles Finch: The second prequel to the Charles Lenox series – I have waxed poetic before about how much I adore the characters in these Victorian-era mysteries, so I won’t say anymore other than if you love historical mysteries, read these.
Very Good:
Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon: Second in the Commissario Brunetti series, a young American GI is found dead in a Venetian canal and Brunetti attempts to solve the mystery even as powerful forces try to stop him. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first, but love the main characters.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman: First in a contemporary series set in a retirement community in England, there was so much I disliked about this book – this was a selection of our mystery book club and I told the group I thought this was a kitchen sink book – the author threw everything in – every twist, every turn, and every character. So why am I putting in Very Good? – there was something about the four main characters that I really liked (well, actually three of the four but that is another discussion) and I want to read about them more in the future. Despite the cheery cover, this is a very dark book – CW for suicide.
Still Life by Louise Penny: The first book in the much-hyped/loved Chief Inspector Ganache series set in rural-ish Canada (outside of Quebec) – I loved the characters and setting. The ending was a little too much “villain rubbing his hands together with glee as his crimes get more outrageous,” BUT I really enjoyed it and will read the second in the series.
Good:
Flowers for the Judge by Margery Allingham: The seventh and very solid entry in this Golden Era mystery series features a man who disappeared into thin air, a pair of star-crossed lovers, and murder, of course.
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale: This kid lit book had a cute premise – girls in a rural, rock-quarrying part of a kingdom are sent to a “finishing” academy after is is foretold that the next princess will come from there. It is a story about self-confidence, discovering your own identity, the transformative power of education (both the joy of knowledge but also the practical economic aspect), and a little bit of romance. It was cute, but not a page-turner.
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth: This is a lengthly book with information repeated in a lot of different places (I understand if you are using it as a reference and not reading cover to cover why he would repeat from chapter to chapter, but repeating within a chapter just needed to be cut by an editor). He talks a lot about different methods for sleep training and includes A LOT of his review of sleep literature. This would NOT be the first book I would suggest someone wanting to read about child sleep start with, but there were good nuggets that made it worth reading through.
Meh:
Bury the Lead by David Rosenfelt: The third in the Andy Carpenter legal thriller/mystery series – these are so formulaic (and that is putting it mildly) that I have no idea why I like them, but I do – I find them funny and they are an easy read. I like the side characters including Andy’s girlfriend – a former cop – who he is just fine with letting protect him from the bad guys. However, in the case of this particular book, there was a mean-spirited fat joke at the end that left a bad taste. I will probably read the next one, but this series is on probation.
Open Season by CJ Box: First in the Joe Pickett mystery series, Joe is a Game Warden in Wyoming who is determined to get to the truth when a man is found outside his house, murdered. The villains were so obvious right from the start as was the motive and method of their crimes. Lots of CWs here including child in peril – physically and sexually, torture and murder of wildlife, and severe violence to a pregnant woman. Do not plan to read another in the series.
The Bad:
None
It’s been a minute since I shared an update, but here is what I’ve been able to read over the last few months…
ROMANCE
THE DEVIL COMES COURTING(Courtney Milan Worth Saga) – 4.5*
Best romance I’ve read this year. I always love Courtney Milan’s use of history and her ability to expand the perspective on historical events which have been narrated for a lot of us through a European lens. The book includes a neuro-atypical heroine (and I LOVED her inner dialogue – I found myself repeatedly reading her quotes and conversations to my 19 year old daughter) and a black American hero. While I usually read for the heroine’s journey, in this one the hero’s arc blew me away. His moment of awareness and realization at the end of the book sat with me for weeks. Bought a copy for my mom and sent it her way the day I finished it.
THE CARE AND FEEDING OF WASPISH WIDOWS – Olivia Waite – 4*
VERY slow burn friends to lovers F-F romance. I enjoyed the piece very much, but occasionally it felt a little burdened by the level of historical and technical detail, and didn’t rise to the heights of The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics. Possibly because the heroines in this book were both more mature and more grounded, so I felt that there there wasn’t as much emotional volatility and self-discovery as in the first novel.
THE LOVE PROJECT – T.B. Markinson & Miranda MacLeod – 3.5*
F-F romance with an asexual/demisexual heroine. I liked both of the heroines and enjoyed the strong supporting cast. The setup felt a little bit contrived, and my biggest problem with it was actually the asexual representation. It could be interpreted as a “find the right woman” trope, which can lend itself to some toxic background messaging, but upon reflection I realized that I might be being a little hard on it – it could certainly reflect someone’s journey, and not every representation will perfectly line up with my expectations (that’s the point after all).
If anyone is looking for another F-F romance that also includes an asexual heroine, I would recommend WHITEOUT by Elyse Springer. I read it several years ago, but it really resonated with me.
CURRENTLY READING
A KISS AT MIDNIGHT – Eloisa James
I picked this up as a palate cleanser, because I am always a sucker for a Cinderella retelling. It is my first Eloisa James novel, and so far I am really enjoying it. I have enjoyed the characters, it feels generous of spirit and kind-hearted so far, and the Cinderella references are cute and not too overdone. I’ll report back once I finish it.
NON ROMANCE
EVERY HEART A DOORWAY (Seanan McGuire) – SQUEE
LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!! Fantasy novel set in a school for children who have returned from the magical worlds like Narnia, Oz, Wonderland, etc. Outstanding world building, beautiful atmosphere, engaging and often unexpected characterization, and a solid theme of the importance and power of understanding and respecting our unique perspectives and differences.
From a content perspective, the work dealt with the implications of having your identity rejected by those close to you (which could be either affirming or triggering for folks who have dealt with those kinds of family situations), and the book takes a dark turn mid-way in (think Grimm fairy tales type of dark).
@Rachel: I think the Elyse Springer f/f romance you’re referring to is THAW. Springer’s WHITEOUT is m/m and includes an amnesia storyline.
@DiscoDollyDeb – You are absolutely right!! I was going back through my Goodreads history and recognized the author and cover style, but flipped the books. Thank you so much for the catch!
@DiscoDollyDeb – as I seem to share some of your tastes in books, I have already one-clicked on BEGIN AGAIN AGAIN – although as I am in Melbourne, Australia and are still in lockdown, at least for a few more weeks, I may not read it immediately. Being in lockdown I have been reading a lot, and some of the highlights are THE LIE by Karla Sorensen, WITH YOU FOREVER by Chloe Liese and PETER CABOT GETS LOST by Cat Sebastian.
I have also been reading mysteries, including the latest Elly Griffiths novel THE POSTSCRIPT MURDERS.
@Katie C – Odd, but I, too, veered away from romance and into mystery only when my kids were young. They’re old now, so I have a little more time to read everything. Out of time now, but I may come back later with my latest titles. I love this bi-monthly chance to go shopping for books!