It’s our last Whatcha Reading of 2021! And it falls on Christmas this year.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!
Next week will be our Best Of posts and we’ll cap it with our end of the year podcast episode. Thank you all for keeping us company this year and being a kickass community.
See you in 2022!
Sneezy: In preparation for the holidays, I’m listening to the audiobook of The Narcissist in Your Life. ( A | BN | K ) While the book starts off with listing the official symptoms of narcissism, it quickly moves into examining the more complex realities of narcissism. I like that it makes the distinction that people with narcissistic personality disorder are not monsters, but their behaviours can be monstrous. I’m not comfortable with the book generally narcissists with neurotypicals, especially since I’m neurodivergent. I’m only in the beginning though, so maybe this gets addressed later on in the book.
Elyse: I just started Someone Perfect by Mary Balogh ( A | BN | K ) but my attention span is shot and it’s a very slow start to the book. I may need to return later
Sarah: I am re-reading the Call of Crows series. Because I love it. And also because a person on Twitter shared a shirt with me that I cannot wait to wear. I think it was a sign to reread the series.
Dealers room impulse buy, because HOW COULD I NOT?!?! pic.twitter.com/HROzuuRYrx
— Melissa Caruso (@melisscaru) December 16, 2021
Shana: That shirt was made for you, Sarah.
Shana: I am currently reading a huge stack of lesfic Christmas romances because I’m still bitter about the lack of f/f romcoms. My favorite so far is Humbug by Amanda Radley, ( A | BN ) because I’m enjoying the chipper heroine’s manically insistent Christmas cheer. It’s a workplace romance with some ice queen vibes.
Tara: I’m reading lesfic Christmas romances too! My faves are Rebel Without a Claus by Bryce Oakley and Cuffing Season by Monica McCallan. ( A ) Both are very cute and I definitely recommend.
Maya: I went to the soft opening of a new Black woman-owned bookstore in Inglewood called the Salt Eaters Bookshop and bought Niobe: She is Life by Sebastian A. Jones and Amandla Stenberg with illustrations by Ashley A. Woods ( A | BN ) mostly because the cover artwork was AMAZING. I just started reading it and continue to be obsessed with the illustrations!!
EllenM: I’m having trouble focusing on a single book right now, so I’m kind of nibbling at 4 or 5 at once. I finally started Satisfaction Guaranteed, and I’m really liking it even though I’m not 100% sure I’m in the mood for contemporary right now?
I’m also about halfway through The Stolen Kingdom by Jillian Boehme (YA fantasy romance) ( A | BN | K ) and I’m trying to decide whether to DNF or not because while I love the atmosphere and the setting/worldbuilding, the plot is slowwwwwww and so far the central romance is giving me basically nothing. Haha, I think I may have just convinced myself to quit it.
What are you reading? Let us know!
I’m keeping it simple at the end of the year with lots of other stuff going on (and I still want to make more cookies!), but I loved both ALL THE FEELS by Olivia Dade (probably more than I like SPOILER ALERT, even) and ORANGES AND LEMONS:A PECULIAR CRIMES UNIT MYSTERY by Christopher Fowler. I will say there was a last minute twist that was pretty unnecessary and irritated me a bit, but I won’t spoil it.
TALK BOOKISH TO ME by Kate Bromley – During a friend’s wedding, a successful romance author currently experiencing a writing slump is reunited with her ex-boyfriend from college. The opportunity for great drama and emotion exists (she broke up with him because she thought he was cheating; there’s a post break-up phone call where they savage each other, each unaware the other is experiencing tragedy that day; when they meet, he openly expresses he had revenge fantasies about making her fall in love again then dumping her), but the author (Bromley, not the heroine) doesn’t want drama. Even though there’s a ridiculously dramatic spoiler later. Instead, the most interesting parts of the book were the conversations between the hero and heroine about romance novels. Bromley is basically using the hero as a straw man for romance readers to defend the genre. He calls it “literary porn”; she defends it by slamming actual porn (“the sky’s the limit on what kind of circus-level porn people can watch on the internet now. That’s exponentially worse than reading beautiful romantic stories about true love”). He suggests that books with the same tropes must be virtually identical; she compares it to his watching baseball (every game “follow[s] the same rules and always end[s] the same with one team winning” yet “every game is different and exciting”). I admit I like the baseball analogy (which fortunately translates to any sport, just in case you can’t fathom describing baseball as “exciting”), but I thought the response regarding the sexual content of romance novels was both limited and outdated. Limited because not every romance novel has steamy sex scenes and outdated because we should be past the point of justifying reading about sex, period. Even though the argument is often made indirectly in the real world, the ultimate criticism leveled against this genre and its readers is that the subject matter is simply unworthy. Bromley doesn’t go there, which I regret because I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve read a solid defense/celebration of romance. [C]
Still listening to FATED BLADES on audio. It’s slow going (I usually listen to audiobooks while hiking, but it’s been raining non-stop for 190 days in the Bay Area — yay, drought relief — so I’m reduced to listening while running errands and doing chores). I just reached the part where the protagonists need to shelter in an ancient temple in the rainforest, and I loved the glimpse into an elemental belief system that apparently predates the Kinsmen’s habitation of this planet. But now I’m left wondering what happened to the original believers. Once I’m through with the audio, I’m definitely going to have to read the text to fill in the bits I miss when distracted. (Rewind? I think not!)
Currently struggling to finish FINDING HER LUCK by Isoellen. This is verrrrry slow going because the writing is somewhat awkward (I don’t remember having this problem with Isoellen’s omegaverse books) and none of the sexual fetishes work for me (spanking, ecouteurism, is Orcsex a fetish?). However, I just finished a wonderful passage on language (the Orcs have no collective nouns for anything except “garbage” and claim humans disrespect individuals by grouping). I’m also fascinated by the “steel cities” with modern technology that exist parallel to the heroine’s quasi-medieval village and the Orclands. We’ve been riding on beastback for days (getting spanked and spanked again), while 500 miles away they have supersonic jets and nuclear power. Internet! Instant pots! Indoor plumbing! And the medieval-living humans know about these cities and sign contracts vowing to live a simple life so they can stay in this self-aware version of Shyamalan’s The Village. Tell me more. Tell me why.
My favorite reads this year: SECOND BEST by Noelle Adams, CONFESSIONS OF AN ITALIAN MARRIAGE (HP) by Dani Collins, REVENGE CAKE by Skyler Mason, BATTLE ROYAL by Lucy Parker, REPEAT by Kylie Scott, and TAMING THE NOTORIOUS SICILIAN (HP) by Michelle Smart.
I hope everyone is having a joyful, peaceful day.
Tis the season for fairytales and magic.
WINTERSMITH by Terry Pratchett – finished a full reread. There’s wonderful mythology and witches and puns and snow, so much snow. Halfway through HOGFATHER, this one is slower going, some of the satire is hitting too close to home.
Reread – GHOSTS OF GREENGLASS HOUSE by Kate Milford, a middle grade fantasy mystery with interesting bits of winter folklore like the Waits and the Raw Nights. This is #2 in the series, the first book is wonderful, cozy and kind and immersive.
FLOWER FAIRIES OF THE SPRING by Cicely Mary Barker. Gifted a flower fairies children’s activity book to my niece and ended up rereading the original books from the 1920’s (through hoopla). Gorgeous artwork, the flowers are botanically accurate, and apparently the author hand made all the fairy costumes and wings before painting them.
WEBTOONS – Cursed Princess Club, The Moth Prince, Nomads. NOTHING SPECIAL by Katie Cook is the one I’ve been looking forward to the most but lately it has been updating less often as the author deals with some real life emergencies. Seasons 1 and 2 are complete though.
Movie – ENCANTO – so good y’all. I cried happy tears at the end. It’s on Disney+ free as of today.
TV series – RONJA THE ROBBER’S DAUGHTER on Amazon prime video. I’ve been rewatching the wintertime episodes like “Stuck in the Snow” but the entire series is excellent, animated by Studio Ghibli.
My favorite book of the last month was The Larks Still Bravely Singing by Aster Glen Gray. After WWI old boarding school friends reconnect at convalescent hospital. Robert has lost his leg and David has lost a hand and his nerves. They meet every night and compose fanfiction about their favorite book!
I also FINALLY read Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian. Will takes sickly Martin to the countryside to try to nurse him back to health.
The above also reminds me that my catnip is historical m/m hurt/comfort in small cottages (if anyone has any other recommendations)
The Geek Who Saved Christmas by Annabeth Albert (4/5 stars) Gideon loves decorating for Christmas. His neighbor Paul strongly does not. But Paul’s brother is coming home and so he asks Gideon’s help to make the holiday beautiful for him.
Documenting Light by E.E. Ottoman. Wyatt (they/them) finds a photograph of 2 people in a wall. They take it to a historical society and Grayson (he/him). Together they try to research who is in the photo and what they may have meant to one another. They talk about how queer history has been hidden or ignored and how exciting it is when contemporary people see themselves in history.
Just finished book 5 of the GAME CHANGERS series by Rachel Reid. Bought the collection of the first three and then of course I had to get 4 and 5 seperately too. Love them all, love how the stories in some places run parallel and we get glimpses of characters though a different lens, love how it alternates between teams and cities. And yes, Ilya popping up with snark, humour and unexpected support. It is going to be super, super hard to wait for the last book, and a proper HEA for Ilya and Shane. And yes, how are they going to do it?
BODY AT BUCCANEER BAY by Josh Lanyon – cozy m/m mystery. Cute, but somehow I found this one a bit of a letdown compared to the other books in the series as at some points it seemed to be more about other things than about the body they found, which I thought was the interesting mystery. Though Ellery and Jack are cute!
ON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR by Lily Morton – m/m Christmas story with more fantasy level than expected – not quite like her usual books. But a lovely comfort read!
CONNECTIONS IN DEATH by JD Robb – futuristic crime thriller. Yeah, not a romance, but we know JD Robb is Nora Roberts… anyway, this was a pick from a street library, I often get crime triller paperbacks that way, which I take on trips. It was ok, but not my cuppa tea with the futuristic element. And of course it’s satisfying when the baddies all get what’s due to them, but it all seemed to wrap up almost too neatly once they went after them. I prefer a bit more realistic/messy crime thrillers (Peter Robinson/DCI Banks, Stephen Booth/Cooper and Fry…).
What am I reading? Damn cookbooks. My DH is not up to doing any Christmas cookie-ing (his part of our bargain), so I’m grumpily filling in the gap. One batch of shortbreads and I’m off the hook and back to reading stuff I want to read.
I too have been rotating through a couple different books, and just started my next “Great Books on audio” project, “Les Miserables.”
I inhaled both “All the Feels” and “Well Matched” when they came in from the library, and I liked both, but neither migrated to the “Buy” list. (Well Matched in particular has me thinking a lot about the limitations *for me* of single-POV romances.)
I’m making my way through “Defekt” by Nino Cipri, and I’m getting more into the world building, even as some of the body horror (which is extremely mild! I’m just a wuss) is making it slow going.
I’m also reading “Turning Pointe” by Chloe Angyal about ballet culture and thus far it’s really interesting! And maddening! Because patriarchy!
Happy New Year, all!
@Heather C – I loved your first three too. Especially Two Rogues Make a Right! The EE Ottoman sounds super interesting – moved to my wish list!
@Deborah and anyone else interested: Ilona Andrews dropped the first chapter of a new Innkeeper serial on their blog yesterday.
I picked up A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver from a sales post a couple weeks ago. Liked it enough that I’ve started working my way through the author’s Amory Ames backlist while waiting for book 2 to come out next spring. Both are cozy mystery with romance on the side series. APC is set in WWII with a thief going to work for a UK spy agency. Amory Ames is a wealthy socialite in the early 30’s (both the setting and her age) who ends up solving murders among the upper crust while trying to save her marriage. Lots of clothing p0rn. Amory never wears the same outfit twice.
But they’ll have to wait. Tonight we start our annual tradition of watching all 6 LotR/Hobbit movies back to back (extended versions, no less). And somewhere in there, I want to watch the Beatles documentary, which clocks in at another eight hours.
Just finished binge reading the Murderbot Diaries. I really enjoyed them.
It also made me hit my reading goal for the year, without resetting it.
Season’s Greetings to all from the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain where today we are running the air conditioner and expecting a high of 79 degrees. No chance of snow for us, alas!
Part 1
Eve Dangerfield’s RETURN ALL is the second book in her Rebirth series (and also the second book since she returned from her romance-writing retirement, which turned out to be more of a hiatus than a retirement). It’s a second-chance romance between a football player (he’s a supporting character in the first Rebirth book, BEGIN AGAIN, AGAIN) and the woman he loved over a decade before—a woman who now runs a non-profit to provide affordable homes to the economically disadvantaged. As in ACT YOUR AGE (Dangerfield’s best book, imho), RETURN ALL features fully-consensual Daddy kink, but unlike AYA, there is no age-gap—the couple were in high school together. I enjoyed, but did not love, this latest Dangerfield book. Although Dangerfield says in her Acknowledgments that RETURN ALL is one of her happier, lighter books, I found the storyline somewhat downbeat and melancholy: both MCs had traumatic childhoods (although nothing is described in detail); and Dangerfield mutes her usual trademark snarky humor and unapologetic use of Australianisms. I also felt that the book took too long to reveal important information about the source of the heroine’s wealth: when it was finally divulged, I really couldn’t see what the big deal was. Then there’s the hero: after he and the heroine reunite, some of his behavior is really alphahole-y. His failure to acknowledge the part he played in the couple’s original breakup, and the fact that he went ballistic about her handful of sex partners when he has spent the last decade being VERY sexually active, made him seem like a colossal jerk. At times, I wasn’t sure (beyond their shared teen years and his understanding the heroine’s needs in bed) why the heroine loved him so much. But even sub-par Dangerfield is worth reading, so I do recommend RETURN ALL, but do not make this your introduction to Dangerfield’s work: ACT YOUR AGE, LOCKED BOX, OPEN HEARTS, or CAPTIVATED would be much better starting places.
Kelly Hunter’s MUST LOVE CHRISTMAS is the third book in her Montana Bachelors and Babies series. It has some elements in common with MAGGIE’S RUN (one of my favorite Hunter books): in both books, a woman returns to a town and a house she hasn’t visited since childhood. The house is in a state of disrepair and neglect and needs plenty of TLC and muscle to bring it back to it’s original glory. And in both books, the heroine gradually becomes part of the surrounding community as she restores the house and falls for the man who helps her (in the case of MUST LOVE CHRISTMAS, he’s the local contractor she hires—a man who has always loved the house). Although not as melancholy as MAGGIE’S RUN, MUST LOVE CHRISTMAS still has its share of angst and family issues (the heroine is under a deadline to get the house ready for a visit from her emotionally closed-off father who had neglected to mention that he has a fiancée and a young son), but I love how Hunter’s MCs are mature and thoughtful; there’s no manufactured big mis, just two people gravitating toward each other and encountering some realistic obstacles. I recommend MUST LOVE CHRISTMAS, but I must admit I was surprised that Hunter had somehow started a series that had flown under my radar until she was already three books in, but then I checked and discovered that the first two books of the Montana Bachelors and Babies series—MUST LOVE BABIES and MUST LOVE COWBOYS—had been previously published with different titles several years ago: WHAT A BACHELOR NEEDS (2015) and CASEY (2017), respectively. Check your book stash—you may find, like me, that you already have these books under their original titles.
Zoe York’s A NAVY SEAL FOR CHRISTMAS is a short, sweet, sexy, low-angst novella about a school teacher who is taking a life drawing class during the Christmas break and the Navy SEAL who, between deployments, is modeling for the heroine’s art class. The two have an instant spark, but the heroine has signed a form that she will not have contact with the hero while he is working as a model for the class. But once his four-day modeling contract is up, all bets are off and the couple immediately act on their chemistry. There’s a road-trip element to the story as the couple journey to the Lake Tahoe and Reno area, meeting up with family on both sides. A perfect little Christmas bon-bon from the always reliable York. Recommended.
The recent Harlequin sale allowed me to stock up on books 1, 2, and 4 of Maisey Yates’s Gold Valley Vineyard series: RANCHER’S WILD SECRET, CLAIMING THE RANCHER’S HEIR, and RANCHER’S CHRISTMAS STORM. (In a not-at-all-unusual-for-DiscoDollyDeb move, I read book 3, THE RANCHER’S WAGER, a while ago). The books feature a family that runs a vineyard in the Pacific Northwest. RANCHER’S WILD SECRET has a heroine (engaged to another man because her father demanded it for business reasons) who falls for a newly-hired ranch hand, unaware that he is a wealthy rancher himself, working undercover to destroy her father’s empire. Revenge trope with lots of angst: Yes, please! CLAIMING THE RANCHER’S HEIR is an antagonists-to-lovers romances with a hero and heroine from rival vineyards who have always “hated” each other. A few weeks after finally giving in to their chemistry, a positive pregnancy test leads to marriage; but can they keep it “in name only”? This is a romance novel—what do you think? RANCHER’S CHRISTMAS STORM is a best-friend’s-sister/enforced-proximity-in-a-snowstorm romance: the former is not a favorite trope, but I love the latter! All three books have their share of heartache and angst, hot sexy-times (especially RANCHER’S WILD SECRET, which has one of the strongest depictions of a D/s dynamic I’ve read in a Harlequin), and satisfying HEAs. Recommended.
Part 2
HER FIRST CHRISTMAS COWBOY is another Christmas story from Maisey Yates. This novella-length romance was published in October and serves as an introduction to Yates’s Four Corners Ranch series (a number of books in the series are scheduled for 2022 releases). In FIRST, the heroine—the school teacher in the area’s one-room schoolhouse—helps a former rodeo rider, wounded after being shot by his criminal brother, and love blooms between them while he recuperates in her small, isolated cabin. I enjoyed this story of two lonely people, both trying to overcome the negative lessons of their upbringings, finding a connection; and I especially liked how, in a very brief story, Yates showed that, for all their differences, the MCs had a lot in common in the ways they had been shaped by their childhoods and they ways they had attempted to move on. Enforced proximity at Christmastime for the win! Recommended.
TWELVE NAUGHTY DAYS is a multi-author anthology of short stories, each lightly inspired by “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” with all proceeds going to the Trevor Project for suicide prevention. The authors featured include several of my favorites (Skye Warren, Sierra Simone, CD Reiss) and other popular writers (including Claire Contreras, Nana Malone, Laurelin Paige,and Angelina M. Lopez). I haven’t read all of the stories yet, but I did want to mention Sierra Simone’s MY PRESENT THIS YEAR, which is apparently inspired by a 2009 coffee commercial that many felt had an incestuous (brother-sister) subtext. MY PRESENT THIS YEAR is about adult step-siblings alone in their parents’ house over the Christmas holiday. Perhaps we’ve become inured to step-sibling romances over the past decade, but MY PRESENT THIS YEAR didn’t feel particularly naughty or forbidden; what Simone has written is a nice romance between two adults where it just happens that one’s father is married to the other’s mother.
Felicia Watson’s WHERE THE ALLEGHENY MEETS THE MONONGAHELA (first published a decade ago with a new edition in 2019) reminded me in a number of ways of one of my favorite books read this year, Roan Parrish’s OUT OF NOWHERE (published in 2016): Both books are set firmly in a working-class milieu and both feature a deeply-closeted mechanic who is presenting a class on vehicle maintenance and falls for the openly-gay man who administers the program; also in both books, the closeted MC’s self-loathing and fear of exposure lead him to destructive behaviors. In WHERE THE ALLEGHENY MEETS THE MONONGAHELA, Logan is attending therapy for abusers after he injured his wife in a fit of rage. Logan has never physically abused his wife before and Watson walks a fine line between making Logan sympathetic enough to root for while not excusing his abusive behavior; I thought she handled it quite well, but there’s no denying Logan is in a program for abusers and (cw/tw) much of the book details what life is like for women who have been abused and are trying to leave abusive relationships. Logan keeps his sexual preference on lock-down, so has trouble with his attraction to Nick, a therapist who works with abused women and set-up the program where Logan instructs women on how to maintain their cars. Nick is openly gay and is the child of an abusive father (who is now imprisoned for an attack on his wife that almost killed her). When Nick buys a junked Thunderbird, Logan offers to help him with the restoration and slowly (very slowly) the two men begin falling for each other. Although I liked WHERE THE ALLEGHENY MEETS THE MONONGAHELA, in the battle of the “closeted mechanic falls for the gay man running a program where he teaches vehicle maintenance” storylines, I have to give the edge to OUT OF NOWHERE. In addition to WTAMTM being cluttered with too many subplots, Watson’s rather clunky, adverb-heavy, tell-not-show prose is way outclassed by Parrish’s much more elegant and lyrical style of storytelling. That being said, I do recommend WHERE THE ALLEGHENY MEETS THE MONONGAHELA—but do keep the trigger warnings in mind.
I zipped through Rachel Reid’s first three Game Changers books—the Bitchery is fully correct that HEATED RIVALRY is the best of the lot—really enjoyed the story arc and the evolution of the relationship between Ilya and Shane. I also think I’ll pick up the fourth one because I was excited to see that Kyle (the bartender from book one) is one of the heroes of book 4.
Currently on hold with HOLIDAY BY GASLIGHT because I really like Mimi Matthews but commenters warned that the awful sister does not get her comeuppance and, well, she’s really dreadful.
Currently finishing up FLIGHT OF MAGPIES, the third/last book in KJ Charles’s Charm of Magpie series. I love Charles’s books and am looking forward to wrapping this one up.
On deck: Katee Robert’s NEON GODS and Charlie Adhara’s THE WOLF AT THE DOOR (both recent recs in the books on sale posts) and T. Kingfisher’s MINOR MAGE because I love love love T. Kingfisher.
Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today!
Currently reading
“The Vanished Birds” by Simon Jimenez, science fiction that has an interesting focus on the time distortion caused by space travel. I’m enjoying it so far, the writing style is lovely and I’m enjoying the incorporation of different characters’ POVs. Also just started “The Hellion’s Waltz” by Olivia Waite and am excited to get further into it!
Previous reads:
“Higher” by Roz Alexander: Found this while looking at holiday romances; it’s partially set during Rosh Hashanah, so not actually seasonal for this season. This is a pretty brief novella, but I really enjoyed both the central romance and the family dynamic. Very authentic-feeling portrayal of lesbian and butch identity, which is surprisingly rare in f/f romance. I would love to read a full novel by Alexander.
“The Ruin of a Rake” by Cat Sebastian: I had only previously read “Two Rogues Make a Right” and something about it didn’t really work for me, maybe the pacing or the very confined setting. I have a couple of friends who love her books so I picked this one up when it was on sale a couple days ago and ended up really liking it. I love when a romance can pair two characters who have real differences in worldview and priorities and create a happy ending that doesn’t feel implausible. I do wish we had seen more of Courtenay’s relationship with his nephew, since it’s an inciting factor for a lot of the plot, but I understand a lot of romance readers are not fans of plot-important cute kids, lol.
“On a Red Station, Drifting” by Aliette de Bodard: Not a romance, but I always love this author’s sci fi worldbuilding and this was no exception. Felt like a domestic family drama with the stakes of a tense political thriller. In space!
I haven’t answered many of these this year since I’ve been almost entirely re-reading old favorites.
A few weeks ago I started watching clips of the Luke and Laura plotline from the late 70s because I was curious how they went about retconning his obsession and assault into a grand love affair. I surprised myself by getting very drawn into the story. I’ve never been a soap opera watcher, but Genie Francis and Tony Geary really sold that improbable plot.
Anyway, that’s leading to a very specific request: does anyone have some recommendations for books set in the world of soap operas (or telenovelas, etc)? I just re-read AGAIN by Kathleen Gilles Seidel, which I loved as much as the first time, and I’m looking for more. Heather Graham has a few mysteries set behind the scenes of a soap, so I’m starting that today.
I’m currently reading THE STRANGE CASE OF THE ALCHEMISTs DAUGHTER by Theodora Goss. Heads up to SBSarah, if this hasn’t already been brought to your attention. Historical mystery featuring the daughters of Victorian era fictional characters. The titular character is the daughter of Dr. Jekyll, who discovers a half sister fathered by Mr. Hyde. They get involved in one of Sherlock Holmes’s investigations that involves a society of alchemists. I hesitate to use the word secret, as they have conventions and a logo. Along the way they acquire other daughters of society members, leading to a houseful of women collaborating, supporting and respecting the hell out of each other. I did not know this series existed: the eyecatching cover, caught my, well, eye and then I thought Theodora? How can I not pick up a historical mystery/paranormal written by someone named Theodora? I am so happy that there are at least two more books to binge.
Tonight will be the annual reread of A CHRISTMAS GONE PERFECTLY WRONG. After all the family togetherness is over, I pour an adult beverage curl up be the tree with the perfect Christmas story.
Merry Christmas to all.
TW for discussion of family illness- please skip this comment if needed!
This week I read THE HEART PRINCIPLE by Helen Hoang. It’s not an easy read due to the plot context and angst levels (creative and mental burnout, family member with health issues) but it worked for me. I lost my father in November due to terminal illness and had travelled across the country to be with him for his final 6 weeks. Instead of being triggering, I found the book to be comforting. From the author notes it’s clear that the book is very personal to her so I think I’m responding to the degree of authenticity that comes through.
Hoang writes one of my favorite tropes: neurodiverse heroine + non-judgemental cinnamon roll partner (Quan! swoon…). I have ADHD and having an accepting, supportive partner makes a huge difference. I was also diagnosed as an adult, so the journey of learning how to develop healthy coping mechanisms resonates, and I appreciate seeing neurodiverse main characters depicted accurately in books.
I have downloaded sooo many ebooks lately, including NEON GODS by Katee Robert and the FIRE OF THE FROST anthology by Darynda Jones, Amanda Bouchet, Grace Draven, and Jeffe Kennedy.
I also have THE LAST WATCH by J. S. Dewes; THE BLACKTONGUE THIEF by Christopher Buehlman; and THE JASMINE THRONE by Tasha Suri waiting on my TBR pile.
I binged out season 2 of THE WITCHER. Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t like it nearly as much as season 1, especially what they did with Yennefer’s character. Up next, I’m planning to watch HAWKEYE, which looks like fun.
Happy Holidays! 🙂
@FashionablyEvil, it’s definitely worth reading books 4 and 5 of the Game Changer series! As for book 5, I’m only saying – Ilya & a puppy *hearteyes*!
I’m still reading the Hot Jocks series by Kendall Ryan which I got on my kindle before it went off Kindle Unlimited. Hope to finish it before next week-end.
The 50 percent off sale site-wide is live on http://www.harlequin.com today only. I posted some freebies too on today’s sales post. Two are for today only. I wish the harlequin extended to all platforms.
I have just started the second of my Burrowes haul, ANDREW, after finishing GARETH, in which the rake who is assigned to deflower the virgin spinster (for Probate Reasons) insists on treating her respectfully while said virgin spinster is all “Please can we just GET THIS OVER WITH?”. But we are having a very Geeky Christmas and I have received LOTS of books which I am really looking forward to. In particular my son got me ART AND ARCANA: THE VISUAL HISTORY OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS by the Witwer brothers, which as a former DM and contributor to The Dragon I dove into head first. It’s a really thorough and heavily illustrated history showing the evolution of the game from its basement beginnings to its current iteration, including its many competitors and spinoffs. Highly recommend for RPG lovers.
Capping off our Geeky Christmas by going to see SPIDER MAN: NO WAY HOME later this evening.
Buying/borrowing/reading/listening to many books, yet the idea of sharing them here for the last few months has been … I just can’t. No idea why, but I am even more grateful to read all of your comments and discover new books.
Since this is the last WAYR of the year, however, I will mention the most recent book I finished. Matt Wallace’s SAVAGE LEGION is not a romance, it is a violent story of life and revolution in an alternate world run by powerful groups. The dichotomy between privileged and poor is a badly-kept secret, where the latter are kidnapped into the Savage Legion to fight a vicious war no one knows about.
Now that I’ve cheered us all up with that, why am I recommending it? The women. The women who are challenging this world, fighting with every breath, subverting every convention, breaking every rule, discovering their own power. At the end of book one, I am optimistic, but prepared for harder times in the next. Even so, I will be there to cheer them on.
See, Darlynne. That wasn’t so hard. Seasons’ greetings, y’all. And thanks.
TW family illness
@Stefka I had the same feelings about THE HEART PRINCIPLE for some of the same reasons. My DH (mentioned earlier in this post) isn’t doing Christmas baking because he is probably in his last week or two of life and can’t actually stand up, so baking is out. I also was diagnosed as neurodivergent (on the spectrum) in my late 50s. I found that THE HEART PRINCIPLE kept all the issues very real: the father’s illness and its effects on those caring for him, the neurodivergent daughter’s response to having to be a caregiver, the family dynamics of what constitutes a legitimate complaint, and how to forgive oneself for not living up to impossible standards. I found the book did not speed things up for a quick HEA but took its time as each of those issues also takes time to address. It may not have been as swoon-y as many readers wanted *for* Quan, but his long-term goodness in his dealing with those issues only upped his swoon factor. It was a really good book.
@Vicki, thanks so much for recommending Don’t Call Me Greta by Angie Stanton last time. I don’t read much YA but it sounded perfect for the mood I was in, and was in KU so I grabbed it and practically inhaled it. A bit over the top with all of the secrets in her new/old family but then again, I imagine having your newborn kidnapped out of the hospital would lead to a pretty high level of ongoing family dysfunction.
My other top read this week was Ocean Light by Nalini Singh. I started reading Psy/Changeling several years ago but spaced it out so I’d have one to look forward to every few months. I’m a scuba diver so this one, set underwater in the Black Sea Changeling clan was right up my alley. Sadly, just a few books to go now, but I guess when I’m finally caught up, I’ll start on the Guild Hunter series.
Over the past two weeks ~
— Hitting the Wall: A Stonecut County Romance by Cate C. Wells; I enjoyed this full length contemporary romance.
— The following are all shorter works which I enjoyed ~
**A Lovely Drop: A Story of the NeverNeath by Darynda Jones… Contemporary paranormal male/female romance
**One Bed for Christmas: A Baldwin Village Novella by Jackie Lau… Contemporary male/female romance
**Lost Along the Way (Tales of the Curious Cookbook Book 3) by Marie Sexton… Contemporary male/male romance
**Christmas Angel (The Christmas Angel Book 1) by Eli Easton… Historical male/male romance
**In Case of Emergency by Keira Andrews… Contemporary male/male romance
— The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand; I quite enjoyed this young adult book which is a re-imagining of A Christmas Carol.
— The Impossible Quest Of Hailing A Taxi On Christmas Eve by George Saoulidis, a curious short modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
— YETI YULETIDE (A Victorian Secret Romance) by Francesca Rose was a pleasant novella.
— quite enjoyed the A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding Book 1) by Freya Marske which is a fantasy set in an alternate Edwardian England. I look forward to reading on in this series.
I had a whole stack of holiday stories lined up, and I acquired more from the reviews and discussions this week. But I abandoned them all when I saw Victoria Goddard published the 6th book in her Greenwing and Dart series, Plum Duff. I had almost given up on the first book, it’s so stuffed with plots and minor characters – it feels like the 6th book in a developed series, rather than the introduction to one. But the reviews of this new one sent me back to it, and now I’m in the middle of the fourth (and delighted to find the links to Hands of the Emperor, one of my favorite books of the year). I’ll probably still be reading all those holiday stories well after New Years at this rate – and probably be adding more.
@FashionablyEvil Heated Rivalry was definitely my favorite in the series. Their relationship is so well done, so much so that I questioned if there was going to be an HEA!
If anyone is looking for a drag queen MC, I would recommend VL Locey’s THE VIKING AND THE DRAG QUEEN. It is coming out 1/5/22 and is a story between a closeted hockey player and a drag queen with heat, feels, and humor. Eli can be quite a drama queen and his inner dialogue is a riot.
In the last week or so I read all three books in the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, which has me wanting to read more YA fantasy.
Out of the Kindle depths, I read “Tell Me Anything” by Skye Kilaen, which someone here recommended a few months back and I bought at the time based on the sample. It has both bi hero and heroine, found family, a lot of talk about mental health, and a fair amount of pining as the couple communicate like adults. I really liked it a lot, but I doubt the author can redeem the heroine’s ex (he’s supposed to be the hero in the next book).
It has been an exhausting month prepping for today to say the very least, but now the meals have been cooked, the cookies and cakes baked, and the presents wrapped and unwrapped. Now I need to eat leftovers, try to catch up on sleep and look forward to a new year (fingers crossed that vaccines will be available in the first half of 2022 for those under 5)!
Excellent:
None
Very Good:
Christmas at Lilac Cottage by Holly Martin: Small village English romance between a single dad hero and an ice carving heroine. So much to love here – funny misunderstandings, Christmas is a very central part of the story – not just window dressing, great descriptions of ice carving, both heroine and hero are “blue collar” (hero is a talented furniture maker), the hero’s daughter is a fully-fleshed out character. The only reason I marked it down is there A LOT going on in the book – so many romance tropes all thrown into the mix including “evil” other women out to seduce the hot hero away from the non-glamourous heroine – I think a little editing would have helped. But overall, much enjoyed, plan to read the next in the series. CW for discussion of abortion and miscarriage
Good:
The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn: A culinary memoir about a chef who seeks out volunteers via public radio to teach them to cook and hopes she can change the way they eat. Thought provoking discussion about the lost/dying art of home cooking (although I would argue that since this book has been written, we have seen a significant revival in interest in cooking at home).
Meh:
Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt: The fourth in the Andy Carpenter legal drama/thriller – I have to keep asking myself why I keep reading these. To say the plots are very predictable would be kind – it is basically the same exact plot every time and while I can suspend disbelief for one book, this requires a lot of effort to keep suspending disbelief. But I find the writing to be very funny (first person and very self-deprecating) and I like the backstories of the characters. Let’s be honest, I will probably read the next in the series.
Wouldn’t It Be Deadly by D.E. Ireland: What if Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle got involved in murder investigations after the events in My Fair Lady? Sounds intriguing and the first half was cute. But two major plot twists in the second half of the book really threw me out of the story and I don’t plan to continue the series.
Bad:
Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber: The first Debbie Macomber Christmas book I ever read I liked, so I thought I would like more. Wrong. Every single Macomber Christmas book since then has been meh at best, bad at worst. In this one, The hero is a grinch (surprise) and the heroine (creepily) tries to “kill him with kindness” to change his attitude all while blogging about her “project.” If the genders were reversed here, a lot in this book would be considered stalking.
I finished Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane and while I liked it, I thought the plot twist was rather meh and overdone.
Also read the last Truly Devious book, The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson. I figured out the plot twist about 90 pages before the end and then was rather annoyed as it too seemed cliche and overdone.
2022 will be the year that I actually read the books I own instead of buying new ones all the time. So my goal is that for every new book, I will read 3 already owned books.
I did some good reading this month. I am working out of town, doing locums at a clinic and taking no night call. So it is just me and my books. And some social media, too.
The stand-out was The Bride He Stole for Christmas by Caitlin Crews. This was a recommendation from DiscoDollyDeb and I am grateful. The plot is the sort of thing that was standard when I started reading Harlequins in the 60s, alpha hole rich guy breaks girl’s heart then, when she moves on, coerces her back into his arms. But Ms Crews is a virtuoso. She stands the trope on its head, makes Mr. Rich human deep down (very deep down, in some cases) and gives the girl a backbone. In this case, the billionaire dumps her when she says she loves him. She is forced by family into marriage and acquiesces because her heart is dead. He kidnaps her the night before her Christmas marriage. And they talk. Most of the night. It is so well done. I would recommend.
I also really liked Crowned for His Desert Twins by Clare Conelly, Christmas Babies for the Italian by Lynne Graham, An Heir Claimed by Christmas by Lynne Graham, and Proof of Their One Hot Night by Emma Grayson, Yes, it was a Harlequin deep dive and, yes, the old tropes were all there. Some over-the-top stuff but a good time was had by me, at least, despite the angst of the main characters.
I enjoyed Midnight Blue by LJ Shen, another look at the rock god vs mortal girl. This was nicely done, real people, though some of the plot was a little telenovela. She is his sobriety babysitter. She has family issues, he has family issues. Spoiler, so do I.
Stolen Kiss with Her Billionaire Boss by Susan Meier was OK but reality kept intruding and making me think “Really?” I don’t regret reading it but will probably not read again.
Finally convinced myself to spend the money on Nalini Singh’s PLsy-Changling short story collection, Wild Embrace. Really liked two of the stories and the other two were good, too. Back story on some of the “minor” characters for the other books.
Hoping you all had a good Christmas. I was at my other job, in the nursery, so I got to spend the day with babies which is always good. And wishing you all a good 2022.
@KatiM That sounds like a good New Year’s goal! I think I’m going to try something like that
:::stumbles in on a wave of Christmas carols and cookie crumbs:::
Anyone else like “is this year really over? HOW?!?!?!” Just me?
Oh, well. I can’t say I’ve been reading a huge amount, because I have been gaming and cross-stitching my face off. Huh. There’s a sentence I couldn’t have seen myself typing when I was 17.
Anyhow, I decided to clear a couple of my winter break library books off the queue. Keeping things seasonal, I read Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday. I greatly enjoyed the banter and the kind of dreamy, fantastical feel to the Christmasy scenes and the scenes in the fictional European country that the royals come from. Also, this book has quality dog content, give it up for the Yorkie. Keeping with the whole “I really need to get these back to the library” of it all, I’m reading The Becoming by Nora Roberts, the second in her Dragon Heart legacy of it. I like it, but if you go into it wanting one of her romance novels, it’s not really working that angle. It reads more like a modern fantasy, complete with the magic spells, monster battles, and somewhat over-dramatic language, especially if someone is having a prophecy. It’s effective at that, and having the heroine’s BFF Marco as an audience surrogate works well. That said, this book has some “yup” this is definitely a series middle” vibes in that not a lot of happening, there’s a lot of talking about what is going to happen, and a lot of hero prep and moving all the chess pieces into place. That’s not really a criticism, as a lot of series middles read like that. So until next time, I’ve got a cat insisting that his ears be rubbed, so Happy New Year to all.
Like several readers, I took advantage of the sale to try Rachel Reid’s hockey anthology, and just loved HEATED RIVALRY.I didn’t see how I was going to like Ilya until I loved him. I have started book 4.
LOOK THE PART by Jewel E Ann is a grumpy/ sunshine pairing. The hero is a widower and a recovering alcoholic who was driving impaired in the crash that killed his wife. Naturally he is consumed by guilt, and has been living solely to raise his son, a super bright, talented 12 year old who has autism. The heroine is a music therapist who rents a suite from the lawyer hero, and adds noise and disorder to his extremely regimented life. The premise seems a bit grim, but the couple is engaging and I really liked the book.
PLAYING THE GAME by MQ Barber is a d/s erotica with an established male couple bringing in a female third. It was hot but the story plays out over 6 books, and that’s more of an investment of time than I’m willing to make.
@Escapologist – I started Hogfather 2 years ago and never did finish it. Came to the conclusion that I love the Tiffany Aching books but the main Discworlds are not my speed.
In a big ol’ reading slump. Have started so many books and either noped out right away or set them aside for later. Instead I’ve been watching holiday movies like Home Alone on repeat because my brain is seriously exhausted right now.
No real reading so far this month, but hopefully will have more to report in a couple weeks after some time off!
Happy holidays to you all!