Welcome back to Whatcha Reading? It’s our last one of July 2022, so we want to know how you’re wrapping up your reading this month.
Elyse: I’ve been paging through Knitting with Disney by Tanis Gray. ( A | BN ) It’s a lot of colorwork but it’s got some really cute accessories. Also I may need to knit a Beauty and the Beast sweater.
Sarah: I am reading Holly Madison’s memoir Down the Rabbit Hole. ( A | BN | K | AB ) So far it is really engaging and thoughtful, and I have a hard time putting it down.
Elyse: One of the things that struck me about that book is that he didn’t own the mansion and they could only use certain rooms.
Sarah: Yes and the schedule was so regimented. It’s really wild.
Elyse: And all the little purse dogs pee in the house.
Sarah: That part made my skin crawwwwwwl.
Up next is The Baker’s Guide to Risky Rituals by Kathryn Moon.
Shana: I just finished If The Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy ( A | BN | K ) and it was a delight. Someday I’ll tire of romances set in reality tv shows…but not today.
Now I’m starting Kwarq by Nikki Clarke. It’s an alien romance that’s giving me The Brother from Another Planet vibes.
Elyse: I really enjoyed If the Shoe Fits as well. It’s basically a plus sized Bachelorette.
Shana: Yes! I liked it much better than One to Watch. It still had all the backstage drama, but the heroine was more self-confident.
Elyse: Also shoe pr0n.
Susan: July has sure been A Month, but I finally started A Lady For a Duke by Alexis Hall! The protagonists are so funny and kind to each other, even though they’re both unpacking some horrific trauma.
That said, the longer the book goes without Viola bringing up the whole “I faked my own death for very good reasons” thing, the more I become this gif:
I know the reveal is coming but not WHEN and the suspense is killing me.
What are you reading? Tell us all about it!
I’m reading Black Water Sister by Zen Cho. I’m only 55 pages in, but so far it’s been delightful and I have a feeling I’m going to love it.
I really enjoyed Honey and Pepper by AJ Demas. Really. A lot. Just delightful, start to finish, love the world the characters the tone all of it.
Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert was good although I didn’t love it as much as I expected. It felt a bit like it was meant to invoke an actual Hollywood actor and I don’t personally go in for real person porn. It was so sweet though, I do still totally recommend it. Like, I am not an xmas person, and that aspect didn’t irritate me at all. She’s so talented, I trust her with just about any plot point or trope she cares to explore.
Not a romance but for the mystery readers, especially anyone who likes a Holmes style detective, The Devotion of Suspect X was a wild ride. I am a little concerned that I was supposed to approve some behavior that I super duper don’t, but I am not sure who I was supposed to like and if I am meant to be able to reach any conclusions. It was fascinating and engrossing, after a bit of a slow start.
I hesitate to even include this, but among my typical dozens of not worth mentioning books, I read Love Hard by Nalini Singh, which I was really excited to try. I could not endure her psy changeling series that everyone loved so much (I find the false dichotomy between feeling and thinking so alienating and tiresome a premise that I could not get on board with the world building even a little and I desperately wanted to). I was totally prepared to adore this one and I cannot state emphatically enough how much I did not. I don’t want to imply for a second that other people should join me in this dislike, if you enjoy her books please carry on reading them not this. I don’t fault you I’m just jealous I can’t join in. But in the unlikely event there’s anyone wondering if they should give her another shot, here’s my cautionary warning. I found the heteronormativity oppressive. I don’t know how to articulate it, but it’s like being at a suburban bbq where all the women talk to the other women, about weddings or children. I needed someone to be idk queer or poly or not interested in children, hell, for a man and a woman to just hang out and not have them herded onto an ark. There’s a suffocating gendered feel to everything even when there’s clearly an effort for women characters to look different ways and have different careers or whatever constitutes diversity within the picket fence.
Couple of re-reads for me that I thought would be a good “close confines, low supplies, DON’T TAKE OFF THE SUIT” double feature.
THE LUMINOUS DEAD by Caitlin Starling (explorin’ a space cave full of dead people), sadly, lost the ambiguity and uncertainty that made me love it the first time. Sometimes you can revisit a book or movie with an unreliable narrator or a good final-act twist and picking out all the “clues” is just as satisfying as being in the dark the first time, but sometimes not. My only complaint the first time was that the ending seemed too tidily happy for the darkness of the story, and perhaps knowing nothing would have earthshattering consequences defanged the danger.
SALVATION DAY by Kali Wallace (explorin’ a space station full of dead people), in which not everybody lives and the happiness of those who do will clearly bear the scars of the experience, held up better. Hmm, now I have to compare the characterization in addition to the less-sparkly ending. Even the secondary characters in this one had more personality and backstory than the only two characters in TLD, who were both abandoned by their mothers and both developed a singular obsession and otherwise had no discernible existence outside the story events. Action sequences might carry a story once, but if you don’t care about any of the characters affected by the action, you’re better off reading/watching something new that goes kick-run-boom.
I skipped the last WYR. This has not been a good summer for reading. I’ve been letting myself get too distracted, but hopefully now that the January 6th hearings are adjourned (for now?) I’ll stop anxiously checking the news.
I ended up not being able to finish LADY FOR A DUKE. I liked “the reveal” and I loved the couple, but I could just see a lot of external plot conflict (bad people plotting in the background) brewing and it made me more and more anxious, so I quit. Good book, maybe I’ll try it again later.
I finally read IN FOR A PENNY by Rose Lerner. Delightful and I thought they were young and felt “young” (in a good way!). They were still trying to figure out how to take on adult responsibility and I liked how determined they were to be a team and figure things out together. This also had external villains, but I feel like the protagonists recognized the villains early on and were actively trying to come up with a plan, so it was easier for me to read.
I read THIS WILL ALL BE OVER SOON by Cecily Strong, a memoir about the “early days” of COVID while she was also grappling with a family loss. This was a bit more like a diary so it felt messy and maybe could come off as a bit self-indulgent to some, although Strong doesn’t shy away from how privileged compared to so many people. I like books of diaries and I journal a lot so I enjoyed it and didn’t mind the messy super personal feeling.
Also, I’m glad that documents exist b/c as much as I do like to journal (I don’t do it regularly enough to call it a diary), I didn’t do it a lot at the start of the quarantine. I just felt too numb and uncertain the really write. And I think that we should make sure that the idea of what that early COVID experience is documented so it doesn’t slip away from our collective memory.
Anyways, so I don’t end on a downer, I will also say I have been re-re-relistening to BECAUSE OF MISS BRIDGERTON and WELL MET. And they’re still working for me. Audiobook binkies for the win!
Man, it has been a week here. He’s okay, but my husband was hit by a car while riding his bike on Sunday. Needless to say, my mind hasn’t really been on reading, but I did finish a couple of books:
A LADY FOR A DUKE by Alexis Hall—enjoyed Hall’s trademark banter and I appreciated that he didn’t make the fact that Viola is trans the main conflict in the book and that there’s a genuine HEA. Also enjoyed several of the secondary characters including Badger and Lady Marleigh (Viola’s brother and sister-in-law). I didn’t so much care for the villain—he’s clearly intended to be sequel bait, and he’s dark and mysterious when he first appears and I had high hopes, but then he just turns out to be boring.
THE HOLLOW PLACES by T Kingfisher. I love Kingfisher so I gave this one a try even though it’s straight up horror (which is not usually my jam.) It’s quite good, and I enjoy Kingfisher’s quirky sense of humor but I kept trying to read it at bedtime, which didn’t work so well.
A SUNLIT WEAPON—the most recent Maisie Dobbs mystery. I liked the mystery itself, but when did Maisie’s husband get to be such a drag? He’s constantly condescending and keeps calling her “Hon” (is he from Baltimore and I don’t remember that…?). I mostly skimmed the pages where he appears and focused on Maisie and Billy.
I missed the first July WAYR, so a few more books than usual. Reading has tapered back down after getting back from vacation earlier in the month—something else to miss about vacation.
Romance:
THE CHOCOLATE TOUCH by Laura Florand: snagged this on a sale a while ago and finally read it. Florand’s sensory descriptions are so luscious and immersive, I need some recovery time after reading (and also to stop by an artisanal chocolate shop).
MRS. MARTIN’S INCOMPARABLE ADVENTURE by Courtney Milan: Very sweet romance slash vengeance against patriarchy story!
EARTH BOUND by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner: I picked this up while it was free after remembering it existed when my partner and I started “For All Mankind” recently. So normally I’m not a huge fan of workplace romance, but I liked this one a lot, in part because there’s some effort upfront to establish a personal versus professional boundary, and in part because they’re both so competent and dedicated to the space mission that the usual breakup concerns aren’t quite there. Anyway, really liked Charlie and Eugene together and wanting to read the rest of them soon!
THE MISSED CONNECTION by Denise Williams: Really charming novella with some enemies-to-lovers plus a touch of mistaken identity, with all the fun setting trappings of academia and frequent air travel. I really enjoyed the scenes from Gia’s perspective, as she’s someone who draws so much energy from meeting other people and learning about and from them. I’ve leaned into my introvert tendencies the last couple of years and miss feeling more outgoing, so this is inspiring in that way.
INSTANT ATTRACTION by Jill Shalvis: I liked the descriptions of the setting and I thought Katie and Cam were well-suited, but I found the other Wilder brothers (plus Nick?) to be someone indistinguishable from one another in this book, which made some of the snappy dialogue less appealing. Deciding if I want to read the sequels (mostly for the setting in the Sierras).
THE UNMATCHMAKERS by Jackie Lau: Not my favorite Jackie Lau, in part because only the heroine, Leora, narrates and we don’t get any of Neil’s POV. But I found the conflict between Leora and her mom to be more original, and the summer lake vacation vibes were very good.
A CARIBBEAN HEIRESS IN PARIS by Adriana Herrera: I’d been really looking forward to this and it was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Liked: informative but not info-dump-y historical setting & details, deep concern with justice is shared among the main characters, some rich sensory details, and I thought the hero & heroine generally worked as a couple. Didn’t like as much: this is very much First in a Series and sometimes the large ensemble cast introduced seemed indistict, there were some minor things that are personally annoying to me (one main character being repeatedly called by first + last name–also hated that in the one Sarah MacLean book, a word choice that threw me straight out of a sex scene, etc.), didn’t care for the suspense-ish subplot at the very end, and what most made me drag out my reading of this book was that Evan and Luz Alana agree to a marriage of convenience and then when they catch feelings get offended when the other is treating it as the business arrangement it began instead of just, like, telling the other that they were having feelings. It’s a lot, especially because they haven’t known each other that long (so it’s a little bit insta-love) and of course it’s natural to not want to be vulnerable and trusting, but it felt repetitive to me until they finally admitted to their mutual feelings after resolving the prior back-and-forth as like a trust issues thing rather than an intimacy-grows-over-time thing?
Non-romance:
THE EMPLOYEES: A WORKPLACE NOVEL OF THE 22ND CENTURY by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken: Poetic prose that reads like “”Severance”” the show crossed with “”Star Trek”” (TOS or TNG); absolutely devastating.
THE GRAVE ON THE WALL by Brandon Shimoda: A profound meditation on memory and memorial.
Up next:
I put in a library hold for PART OF YOUR WORLD by Abby Jimenez after Amanda was raving about it on a podcast episode from a while back, so that’s in and I should start reading because its waitlist is still quite lengthy.
Currently reading The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish. I am accidentally embracing the Christmas of July thing. This is my second holiday book ARC.
I got THE STAND-IN by Lily Chu based on the SB post earlier in the week. It sounds really fun.
I also want to check out NOT YOUR SIDEKICK by C.B. Lee; THE GIRL WITH NO NAME by Lisa Regan; and ON TARGET by Mark Greaney.
Also, I watched THE GRAY MAN on Netflix. Overall, it was fun. Chris Evans was delightfully villainous, although I did think the book was better.
Also, a brief rant: I watched ALL THE OLD KNIVES with Thandiwe Newton and Chris Pine which was billed as a “thriller/romance.” Friends, it is EMPHATICALLY not a romance. (Having two beautiful people who were once romantically involved =/= a romance. Romance=HEA or HFN, and there is none in sight.)
The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray and it was SO GOOD! My favorite book of the year so far. I thought Gray did a wonderful job of catching the voices of all the original Austen characters, I loved Juliet and Jonathan and the Edmund Bertram/Mr. Elkin Bible verse duel was fantastic.
What Moves the Dead by T.R. Kingfisher: The creepiest Kingfisher horror yet, and I do not say this lightly. Twisted Ones scared the crap out of me, and this was worse (well-written, but worse). You will re-think many things, including bunnies. This book needs to win some sort of ‘horrific bunny cover’ award.
On a bad note: Ms. Morton and the English House Party Murder by Catherine Lloyd was a disappointment. I’m a fan of the Kurland Hall series, but I found the heroine too self-rightous and the plot was too convoluted.
The only book I’ll mention for this WAYR is THE BOOK BOYFRIEND by Kris Ripper. First, I really, REALLY dislike the extremely misleading cartoon cover. While one is told not to judge a book by its cover, the cover provides a baseline context for what is inside the book. Covers DO matter, hence the delight of COVER SNARK! Okay, on to the inside of the book. Hmmm. In some ways, I loved it. I loved how the characters weren’t put in boxes early in the book — except by two of the main character’s parents — and each character was allowed to emerge and change through time. I’m not even going to give much of a plot summary here, just a few impressions. The basic conflict in the book was that one MC was and had been in love with another for many years (since university and through the other MC’s commitment to another) and the “only” way MC1 could think to let MC2 know of that love was to write a book about that love WITHOUT TELLING THE OTHER THAT IT WAS BEING WRITTEN and “accidentally” picked up for publication and PUBLISHED. In the end, I would give the book a solid B+, but I was left with the feeling that there would be a test at the end. You know how some books have study questions at the end? I assume that those are for book clubs or very young readers, but what do I know? Anyway, by the end of the book I felt like I was supposed to tick off boxes about all the ways the author managed to transgress expectations. Those transgressions were both the best AND the clunkiest parts of the book for me. I will read THE BOOK BOYFRIEND again sometime, although I imagine that it will be a very different read the second time around.
Not much romance to report this time. I’ve been rereading some favorites like ICE CREAM LOVER by Jackie Lau and PALADIN’S STRENGTH by T. Kingfisher.
Sci fi:
TO BE TAUGHT, IF FORTUNATE by Becky Chambers – stumbled onto it in Kindle unlimited. Scientists in space doing science painstakingly for the greater good of humanity. Quiet, thoughtful, sometimes boring, sometimes terrifying. Not for every mood.
THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL ANGRY PLANET is also in KU at the moment, as are several MURDERBOT books.
Fantasy:
DISCWORLD books by Terry Pratchett – previously binged 6 books in the City Watch arc, which gets intense and gave me All The Feels; now hopping around the series looking for more lighthearted fare. THE LIGHT FANTASTIC: inept wizard shenanigans, Conan the Barbarian riffs, MOVING PICTURES: Hollywood magic meets actual magic, MASKERADE: witches meet the Phantom of the Opera.
Audiobooks:
Rotating some of my favorite funny ladies: MISS FORTUNE cozy mysteries by Jana DeLeon narrated by Cassandra Campbell; MO AND DALE middle grade mysteries by Sheila Turnage narrated by Lauren Fortgang; and LOVE IS A MANY TROUSERED THING by Louise Rennison narrated by Stina Nielsen.
TV:
TASKMASTER – the latest series 13 is excellent, top notch banter. If you are outside the UK it’s available to buy on Amazon prime video or unofficial copies can be found on the internet with some digging. Taskmaster New Zealand series 2 is pretty great too.
Rachel Ember has become one of my “discoveries” of 2022. I tore through the four books in her Wild Ones series (another book is due later this year): LONG WINTER, SIGNS OF SPRING, BURNING SEASON, and AS THE TALLGRASS GROWS. These are interconnected m/m romances set primarily in rural Nebraska. They are all gorgeously written with lots of descriptions of animals (especially horses) and the natural environment. The first two books, LONG WINTER and SIGNS OF SPRING, are a duet that features a number of tropes (slow-burn, age-gap, best friend’s brother, enforced proximity, bi-awakening, found family) handled so beautifully that they don’t seem like tropes at all, but instead individualized elements of a character-driven story of two lonely people who grow closer when stranded in a barn’s loft apartment during a snowstorm. In LONG WINTER, model/photographer Lance flees his controlling partner (Ember is good at showing how a person abused and neglected in childhood might gravitate to a similar situation in adulthood) and contacts the only person he thinks can help him: his childhood best friend, Danny. Danny’s significantly older brother, Robbie (object of Lance’s long-ago unrequited teenage crush), brings Lance to his ranch where, essentially snowed in, the two keep a baby calf alive and, eventually, give in to their mutual attraction. Ember moves back and forth in time so that we understand the incidents and elements that made both Lance and Robbie the people they are today—and she also makes it clear that Robbie (who has never had a male partner before Lance) was never attracted to Lance when he was younger, thereby removing what might have been an ick factor. Of course, the specter of Lance’s awful ex hangs over the couple’s halcyon time together and, inevitably, past and present collide. In SIGNS OF SPRING, the couple must journey from Nebraska to Chicago to confront Lance’s ex and ensure Lance is given credit for a series photographs he shot. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, puzzling events (a house fire, a cut fence, a new neighbor who knows nothing about ranching) indicate something more sinister than mere accidents is afoot. Beautifully written and deeply emotional, taken together, LONG WINTER and SIGNS OF SPRING, are on my list of favorite books read in 2022. Highly recommended.
BURNING SEASON, the next book in the series, takes place in 1972 and is categorized as “Historical Romance”. I was a teenager in 1972 and have very vivid memories of the 1970s, so designating BURNING SEASON as “historical” gave me pause…but, of course, 1972 was 50 years ago: post-Stonewall but a long time before anyone thought same-sex marriage would one day be legal. There’s definitely more than a trace of Brokeback Mountain in BURNING SEASON as two cowboys, Bo and Dylan, fall in love and try to hide their relationship from the ranching community where they live and work. They long to find a place where they can live openly and continue to do the horse ranching work they love (Bo has a touch of the Horse Whisperer in his personality). The book also connects to the characters in LONG WINTER & SIGNS OF SPRING: I kept having to remind myself that the young kids in BURNING SEASON would grow up to be the father and uncle of Robbie from the first two books. Despite a few anachronisms (along with a hero who has the unlikely-to-have-been-given-to-a-boy-born-in-1953 name of Dylan), I enjoyed BURNING SEASON and it reinforces my feeling that Rachel Ember is a unique and very talented writer.
The fourth book in the series, AS THE TALLGRASS GROWS, moves the action from Nebraska to a horse ranch in California. Bo & Dylan, the heroes of BURNING SEASON, are now old men who have been partners in life and work for 50 years. Dylan’s great-nephew Johnny (brother of Robbie from LONG WINTER) arrives at their horse ranch. Johnny is down on his luck—both his romantic life and his Hollywood career having nose-dived. Owen, who is essentially Bo & Dylan’s godson, is also staying at the ranch, and he and Johnny make a fast connection. But Johnny has a history of leaving whenever things get tough—and this time is no different. Although as well-written as the previous three books, I didn’t like AS THE TALLGRASS GROWS quite as much, perhaps because Johnny’s self-centered justification for leaving irritated me or possibly because Owen, although he is in his twenties, came across as being so young, almost adolescent, in his thoughts and attitudes. Nonetheless, AS THE TALLGRASS GROWS reveals more about the series of “accidents” that have taken place on the Nebraska property and leaves me highly anticipating the next book (WHEN THE RIVER RISES) scheduled for September.
I’m sure that when Serena Bell was putting the finishing touches on A LITTLE WILDER (the latest in her Wilder Adventures series), she had no idea her “unplanned pregnancy” romance would drop just after Roe v. Wade was overturned. So it was with some trepidation that I picked up A LITTLE WILDER (a book I’d once been looking forward to reading) in which one of the Wilder brothers has a one-nighter in Vegas; months later a woman arrives at the family’s company to redesign their “glamping” RVs—and it’s the woman from Vegas…she’s pregnant with his child (the story makes it plausible that the two would not have had a way to get in touch with each other after their ”encounter”). The hero—often overshadowed by his loving but bossy siblings—encourages the heroine (a “free spirit” who spent her childhood on the road, lives in an Airstream, and rarely stays in one place for very long) to give him, his family, and his town a try. There was a lot I liked about A LITTLE WILDER: the book is well-written (I don’t think Bell could write a bad book) and includes nice elements about truly seeing and being seen by the person you love. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the hero’s photography and the couple’s visit to Black Magic Canyon in Idaho (which I knew nothing about and, when I did a Google Image search, is visually stunning). I also liked how Bell accurately captures the sleep-deprivation and mood swings of the first few days of new parenthood—and how helpful a supportive group of family & friends can be during that time. But no matter how good A LITTLE WILDER is, it can’t help but be eclipsed by the social/cultural upheaval we’re currently living through (Bell does make some oblique references to the heroine’s choices in her Author’s Note). If you’ve liked Bell’s books in the past and you’re ok with the “unplanned pregnancy” trope, you will probably enjoy A LITTLE WILDER. However, I’m just not sure that I want to continuing reading romances that feature unplanned pregnancies. It’s not Bell’s fault that her book dropped during this watershed moment, but when continuing a pregnancy is a choice, the heroine is empowered; but when continuing a pregnancy is a mandate, even the brightest “unplanned pregnancy” romance is going to take on Handmaid’s Tale vibes.
Still reading sports romances (hockey). I highly recommend the Vancouver Wolves series by Odette Stone all in Kindle Unlimited. The first is Puck Me Secretly. TW: the hero is a product of rape and a very minor character does get raped (very mild description, imo)
I’m on the second book and really loving the series.
am slowly reading Ken Liu’s book of speculative fiction short stories, “The Paper Menagerie.” So far they have run the gamut from “almost made me cry” to “bad Black Mirror episode” — an impressive variety.
“A Lady for a Duke” by Alexis Hall: Like a lot of commenters, I really enjoyed this book, which has a lovely slow-burn childhood-friends-to-lovers romance and overall very good writing. At least I really enjoyed the first 75 percent of it. After that, it focuses on a conflict that doesn’t do anything for the development of the leads and feels like sequel bait, except I’m not sure there are any plans for a sequel? I hated the one-dimensional villain who gets no particular comeuppance and I hated the brothel scene where he sexually taunts/threatens the leads (I hate brothel scenes in romance generally, which always feel so dehumanizing even when the writer is clearly trying to telegraph a progressive attitude toward sex work). Completely unnecessary and while I was happy to reach the HEA, I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had come 100 pages sooner.
Despite that, would still recommend, I always love when when a character’s arc goes from “I’m okay with giving up my chance at romance for my other priorities in life” to “I really do want romantic love with this person and I deserve that” and Hall does a great job of that with Viola.
“Hither Page” by Cat Sebastian: A m/m romance mystery. While the resolution of the murder case wasn’t the most memorable, this was a fun take on the “small town people with secrets” Agatha Christie style mystery. I will read the sequel!
“The Galaxy and the Ground Within” by Becky Chambers: Finally got around to reading the latest (and I think last?) in Chambers’ Wayfarers series. It’s about a group of travelers of different species who are stranded together at the intergalactic equivalent of a roadside motel. I tend to click more with Chambers’ shorter books but thought this was a good entry in the genre I guess you’d call “cozy sci fi”. The subplot about one character trying to decide whether to have a child, which her species only has one or two chances in a lifetime to do, felt refreshing and well-handled in light of Current Events.
“River of Teeth” by Sarah Galley: Alternate history novella set in a world where the US imported hippopotamuses as a meat sources and developed a cowboy culture with hippos as mounts. This was mostly a light romp but with some moments of discordantly dark subject matter. Read for book club and I have a feeling the main response is going to be “eh, it was fine.”
“Salt Slow” by Julia Armfield: A book of wonderfully creepy short stories, mostly modern twists on monstrous mythical figures. Looking forward to reading Armfield’s novel “Our Wives Under the Sea,” which just came out in the US.
Finished “Work Won’t Love You Back” by Sarah Jaffe, which was great. Another nonfiction recommendation for “Bodies on the Line” by Lauren Rankin, which is a history of the abortion clinic escort movement.
My goal to finish all 15 books I had already started as of July 1 is sort of still there. I finished 5 of them and read 7 others. 10 to go and 8 days left. I will not make it.
My last book was really disappointing. I finished The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe last night and the only thing that saved it from being a 1 star is that JS is a good writer. I read it in 5 days hoping that it would get better. Preston Clarke is the worst romance hero since Diana Quincy’s first Duke book. Didn’t believe in the romance, didn’t believe in the HEA.
I also read City of Veils and Kingdom of Strangers by Zoe Ferraris. Both were such good mystery stories and I’m disappointed that she didn’t write any others.
Also read The Benighted by A. M. Dunnewin and it’s an unusual setup in that the story is almost a dream sequence told in non-sequential flashbacks. Lots of swoony moments and I thought the end was a good lead in to the next book. I have no idea how I stumbled across this book since it was first published in 2013, but glad I found it.
Also read the second of Kenley Davidson’ Legends of Abreia. Swoony moments abound culminating in only one horse. I have the third book ready to go on my nightstand.
@Jess—I had the same feeling about the villain and the ending of A LADY FOR A DUKE. Because I’m a person who always reads through the author’s note and any material at the back of a book: in the reader’s guide (which Alexis Hall wrote), one of the questions is, “Is it obvious that [villain] is sequel bait?” He also hints at possible sequels for other characters named for Shakespearean heroines (obviously Miranda). So, sounds like he’s definitely planning on a sequel for the villain and we might also get Miranda’s story (which I don’t think I would read. She starts out fine and gets way over the top.)
@FashionablyEvil Thanks, I skipped the reader’s guide! I can see a Miranda book having potential (presumably it would be set when she’s not an immature 17 year old) but [villain guy] reads as a straight-up sexual predator to the extent that I’m kind of put off from Hall’s work — ALFAD was my first — by the idea that he could be a future hero. Ah well, I will remember the majority of the book fondly and leave it there!
I’m having a post-vacation issue. The last time we went to North Carolina I had Adrian Anders’ WHITEOUT for down time reading so I decided to take the next book in the series, UNCHARTED, this time. Reading about people in cold palces when it’s 85 degrees with 95% humidity is its own kind of refreshing. I managed about six chapters in between picnics, highland games, flower arranging and oogling Duncan LaCroix, but now I CAN’T FIND IT! It’s not in my suitcase, not mixed in with the tbr library book pile, not under the coffee table. I am coming to believe it is sitting on the table on the porch of my cabin. Heavy sigh.
An ad on my Facebook wall successfully seduced me into a free downlaod of Joey W. Hills’ ICE QUEEN. Up front I will say that BDSM “romance” is not my thing. Mostly because the word romance is a stretch in most offerings. I generally make exceptions for this author because she so clearly understands the world, the kink and the need for emotional grounding in her characters. I rarely see her mentioned in Bitchery posts, but I always recommend her to people wanting darker romance. ICE QUEEN is no exception to her expertise in balancing eroticism and intimacy. I wish I had known going in that it’s the only two book story in the Nature of Desire series… Oh well, I’ve spent more on less worthy books.
And that reminded me that some time ago I had downloaded a copy of the eponymously named first book in her pnr Arcane Shots series. It takes place in the same world as her Vampire Queen and Daughters of Arianne series, but decidedly lower on the BDSM scale than the Vampire Queen books. Witches and wizards, dark and light forces, some pretty gut-wrenching backstory and soul mates. Also, a really good handling of the being of infinite age and twenty-something love interest trope. Do I need another series in my life? Yes, yes I do.
I enjoyed T. Kingfisher’s What Moves the Dead a great deal, but I’ll recommend that people who don’t like horror tread cautiously. I don’t like most horror, but I’ll read dark fantasy if I like the author or have a strong rec.
Kingfisher’s brand of horror doesn’t register as super-creepy for me – I stayed up a few minutes past midnight to finish this one – but I can see where it would get to others more. On my personal Kingfisher creepy scale, there are a couple of places near the end of The Wonder Engine (which isn’t horror) that creep me out a bit, The Twisted Ones is a little beyond that, and this is somewhere further out.
KJ Charles’ The Henchmen of Zenda is just amazing. I read Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda for the first time to ground myself, and about a third of the way in I got impatient and started reading Henchmen. From there, I alternated chapters until I was through Prisoner. I though this worked fantastically for keeping up on some of the smaller elements Charles is working over. One of my best reading experiences of this year.
I just finished XENI by Rebekah Weatherspoon and didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book, RAFE. I do love how this series immerses the reader in some amazing wish fulfillment (Rafe: hot nanny, Xeni: MOC with hot Scot required to inherit millions). I liked the romance in Xeni but thought everything else was OTT. There’s SO MUCH (characters, subplots, drama) in this relatively short (~200pgs) book but most of it ends up being kind of irrelevant to the romance. The MCs sharing meals and the sexytimes were the best parts. And the Scottish LI is pretty delicious.
Currently reading THE LADY MOST LIKELY… by JQ, Eloisa James, and Connie Brockway but it’s slow going. I might not be in the right mood.
I have a bunch of ARCs, including most recently PARIS DAILLENCOURT… by Alexis Hall (available “read now” on NetGalley!) and I’m paralyzed trying to decide which to read next. A good problem!
@Jess—when the villain was first introduced, I was like, “ooh, he seems like a possible anti-hero/potential to be a morally gray, but internally consistent sort of character once we know his back story,” but then there’s that scene in the brothel and it’s like, “sir, you are entirely tedious, boring, and nowhere near as clever as you think you are.”
Not romances, but I’ve been reading the Greenwing and Dart series by Victoria Goddard and just loving them! I have read the first four, and then took a break to read The Hands of the Emperor, also by Victoria Goddard and set in the same world(s), because I borrowed it from the library and so had a deadline for finishing it Hands is a very long book, almost a thousand pages, but such a good story! The Greenwing books are more plot driven, with a story complete within the book but also furthering the overall story arc. Hands is more about the main character, Kip, and his relationship with the Emperor and his family and his job. It got a little slow in parts, but I never though about not finishing it because I really loved spending time with Kip and the Emperor and the rest of their friends.
I had read a sample of Stargazey Pie, the first Greenwing book, and had been intrigued but also passed because it seemed like it was going to be written in a stilted pseudo-Jane Austen style and I didn’t think I could hang. Reader, it is not! Jemison, our main character, is so sweet and a lovely person to spend time with. There is humor, adventure, snark, mystery, a little Eeek!, some lovely supporting characters, and wonderful friendships. The books are very well written, and I am already wanting to re-read this series even though I haven’t finished it! Currently there are 6 books, but my aunt – who recommended them and is loaning them to me – thinks there will be more in the series. I am already here for them if that is the case
Oh, yeah, guess I should say that the books are – for lack of a better term and I think I’m using this correctly – steampunk fantasy, set in a world with magic but also airships and mechanical devices and some technology. For time era I would say more analogous to Victorian than earlier eras. And I definitely imagine everyone with a British accent
Strongly recommend!
Since last time ~
— very much enjoyed Season’s Change (Trade Season Book 1) by Cait Nary, a contemporary m/m romance featuring two hockey players. The story showed the leads moving from strangers to friends before the relationship moved to a romance.
— reread Any Given Lifetime by Leta Blake. This is an unusual romance set in the near future that begins with a young man mourning the tragic death of his partner. Meanwhile a baby (a furious baby!) is born with all the memories of the dead man. The story covers a time span of some twenty years before the leads meet and then time thereafter.
— stayed up late to finish Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher. This is classified as horror, so I was leery of reading it as I have an aversion to being scared. I’m happy to say that while there were a few icky (note highbrow vocabulary) things, I found the book very enjoyable.
— also enjoyed rereading the no longer available Prelude to Claimings, Tails, and Other Alien Artifacts (Claimings, #0.5) by Lyn Gala.
— The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf for my local book group. This was an incredibly detailed book about a man of whom I’d known nothing, and (after a bit of a slow start) I quite enjoyed it.
— enjoyed The Suite Spot by Trish Doller which features the sister of the heroine of the author’s Float Plan but which can stand alone. I think it’s described as women’s fiction, but it seemed like a romance to me.
— reread Murmuration by TJ Klune which I enjoyed once more. If you know the author from his recent popular The House in the Cerulean Sea be aware that this m/m book has a different vibe that is, at times, reminiscent of the Twilight Zone.
— read Mary Balogh’s newest historical romance ~ Remember Love (A Ravenswood Novel Book 1). I enjoyed it, but the premise seemed a little farfetched.
@FashionablyEvil, that is scary. Glad to hear that your husband is okay.
Not much has really stood out in my reading this month except for A LITTLE WILDER by Serena Bell. The previous three books in this series about a family that owns an outdoor adventure company have featured strong, silent, sometimes grumpy heroes. However, this one had the quintessential sunny, “boy next door”, the type who will always lend a hand to help someone else out even if it causes endless problems for him, an adorable, respectful, lovely, thoughtful cinnamon roll. When he learns that his out of character, one night stand in Vegas resulted in an unplanned pregnancy, he’s 110% all in. But, he’s also still completely respectful of the heroine’s wishes/choices and knows he can’t override her feelings and concerns with his own. It was the breath of fresh air that I needed in these trying times.
Next on my book queue is a book I’ve owned for several years, EMERALD BLAZE, by Ilona Andrews. The third book, RUBY FEVER, is finally releasing next month so I can read the whole series without an endless wait for the next book.
@DDD – the Wild Ones series sounds like what I need to read right now!
Still working way too much overtime, and been reading up random magazines at bedtime that have been piling up, so not much by way of romance reading.
If you sign up to Alexis Hall’s newsletter, he has a very tropey story going for newsletter subscribers that gets a new instalment every few months – GAY BOUGHT BY THE BILLIONAIRE. I have enjoyed it every bit so far!
Reread BAND SINISTER by KJ Charles, which have mentioned a few times before. One of my top comfort reads, it’s just so good. Parts of it make me laugh out loud every time, at the same time it has all the feels! It cheerfully riffs off traditional Regencies and is full of classic tropes (the rake and the country innocent, a “scandalous” gothic novel, rakes, purported orgies, a hellfire club…!) but of course that gets cheerfully subverted. It’s essentially a slow-burn m/m romance, a bit of enemies to lovers, of course the hellfire club is nowhere as bad as it’s reputation, there’s seduction by talking (really – I can’t tell you how much I love this bit!) plus lots of talk about consent (so good!) plus generally a lot of talking and smart observations about society, societal conventions and more. So much to love, on so many levels! I’d love to see an extended epilogue or something like that to that story, see how Amanda goes on with her gothic novels, how Guy and Philip go on and of course Corvin and John. And at the same time, I’d love to see Sherry and Salcombe’s story that only gets hinted at!
In non-romance, finished THE FOUR about the hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google by Scott Galloway. Very, very recommendable. An in-depth look at how these companies operate – and not just the well-known facts, but so many other aspects, like how their way of operating their businesses disrupts the economy. At the same time, it is well-written and not boring at all.
Found some Swiss crime thriller classics at a street library, so dipped my toe in there. KLASSENTREFFEN by Ulrich Knellwolf was a quick read. Written in the 90s, it’s about the after-effects of what the Swiss did during WWII. It looks at a few men’s stories, and was of course written at a time when a lot of people here seriously had to reconsider how our government and many people behaved during that time, and that a lot of what they’d been told had not been correct. It’s a crime thriller, but not a classic whodunit. I liked it, also in that it doesn’t give you a black-and-white “good” and “bad”. On the contrary, it shows the moral quandaries and lets the reader work it out. Interesting fact: Knellwolf is a pastor – and a well-known crime writer.
Thanks, @Kareni! He’s resting comfortably at home now, but it was two days at the hospital, a concussion, broken ankle, and some pretty nasty cuts and bruises. As bad as it was, it could have been SO MUCH worse—his bike helmet was cracked across the back in multiple places and I’m just so grateful he was wearing it. Thank you for the kind words!
@Kareni: OMG. Any Given Lifetime sounds like my perfect catnip. I want to ask you if you read (probably years ago) a classic reincarnation book that I think had a single word title (my mixed up memory is throwing out suggestions like “Ferby” – which I know is wrong). I know it was written by a man and had a sequel which wasn’t nearly as good as the first book, but I’m not finding it when I search online.
and @Jill Q: I LOVE your audiobook binkie reference – so perfect! I turn to them for comfort constantly.
Three recent reads that stand out: I loved LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonne Garmus, though as I’m typing, I’m wondering if I read it so long ago that I wrote about it last time.
I discovered indie author Samantha Young, and really enjoyed her first book HERE WITH ME, a fairly predictable contemporary romantic suspense (set in Scotland though – so that’s different) that nevertheless kept me completely engrossed.
And I also, finally, felt vindicated for finishing Beth O’Leary’s NO SHOW. I hated it from the beginning, but many reviews said to stick with it. They were right, and my final impression was WOW – WELL DONE, but I question the wisdom of keeping readers annoyed for so long.
I’m currently more than half-way through THE ROUGHEST DRAFT, by husband and wife team Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. It’s very meta, in that it’s about a man and woman who are denying their love for each other while writing a novel about a couple in the midst of a divorce. I’m enjoying it, but part of me feels like I’m being manipulated.
I’m currently reading “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett and it’s not really doing it for me–it started out engaging enough, with its portrayal of a town of Black people obsessed with lightness and Desiree Veanes’s departure and return with her very dark daughter, but the more I followed the story from the 1950s to the 1980s the more I felt the author kept choosing the most obvious cultural signifiers and character decisions, one overfamiliar choice after another.
A happier reading experience was “The Annotated Arabian Nights.” What an amazing book–not just lovely to look at (the publisher even chose paper that’s a pleasure to handle), with interesting annotations by Paulo Lemos Horta, but above all there’s a new translation by Yasmine Seale that’s fresh, vivid and makes me love these stories all over again.
@Midge, you have me thinking that I definitely should read BAND SINISTER!
And, on an unrelated note, I can’t help but wonder if you play Wordle.
@Meg, I did some searching and found Ferney by James Long which I think I did read years ago.
It’s not reincarnation, but if you haven’t read it, I suggest Replay by Ken Grimwood.
Forgot to mention a couple noteworthy reads last time.
GENDER QUEER by Maia Kobabe was so good and helped me to understand more about nonbinary and asexual identity. Most striking, besides Maia’s very personal journey of what is/isn’t eir truth and explaining things to eir family, was the everyday things that felt like a violation, specifically pap smears. Highly recommended.
A RIP THROUGH TIME by Kelley Armstrong was so enjoyable. A contemporary police detective is murdered in her time, but falls through a “rip” to Victorian Edinburgh in someone else’s body. Of course, check your disbelief at the door, but the characters were outstanding. A modern woman trying to fit in when everything about society is designed to keep her down and submissive felt like an honest struggle. And she has her own murder to solve. Well done.
PHOSPHATE ROCKS: A DEATH IN TEN OBJECTS by Fionna Erskine is a fictionalized recounting of a body found in an abandoned fertilizer factory. The body is encased in phosphate, unidentifiable, except for the ten objects on a table in front of it. Erskine is also a professional engineer and she recreates the process to understand the objects through the eyes of the former plant manager. Absolutely fascinating, especially if you like chemistry and ALL the science.
ALL SEEING EYE by Rob Thurman reminded me why I’ve read all her other books. Dark, violent, also funny, this is the story of Jackson Eye, a loner whose sister was murdered years ago and he was involved in the bloody aftermath. As a result, Jackson can read anyone’s entire life history by touching them or an object they’ve owned. This means he’s completely isolated except for one friend and his dog, but is able to make a good living with clients who think he’s a mystic. More murders follow and Jackson’s journey to caring about other people makes him a target.
BOSS IN THE BEDSHEETS by Kate Canterbary: Y’all, I am a convert. I loved every part of this book and now need MOAR. I’m doomed.
Finally (I promise). I’m listening to WOMEN OF THE DUNES by Sarah Maine. Holy moly, is this good. West coast of Scotland, multiple time lines, missing relics and murders going back to the Vikings. The narration is lovely, I still have six of ten hours to go, and I’m enjoying every word.
Sorry for not including plot summaries!
Really enjoyed:
Balogh’s new REMEMBER LOVE was a good comfort read. I sank into it and sighed. I really like her characters and they all seems like people you might know (if you lived in that world) who make very human kinds of mistakes and conscious acts of kindness.
Annabel Monaghan’s NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT was a surprising delight. I’m a sucker for regular person meets celebrity romances and this one felt grounded. The h’s children, community, and family felt so real. The H’s interest in her and her world did, too, as did her surprise that it did.
Bolu Babalola’s HONEY AND SPICE–I love the h here–she was so sparky and working hard to navigate high school damage in the new world of a community of Black students in a very white British university. So many issues handled in a thoughtful yet powerful way. The nuances here were fascinating.
Enjoyed:
Julie Anne Long’s YOU WERE MADE TO BE MINE is part of her Palace of Rogues series. This one picked up for me partway in when the MCs suddenly started to feel more real. I always like her books but this one didn’t grab me as much as others.
Roni Loren’s FOR YOU & NO ONE ELSE is the last of a strong series. I read some complaints about the h being a therapist with so many issues but they seemed perfectly natural to me–why should someone who helps other people deal with their issues be perfect at dealing with their own? Anyway, I thought it well worth reading, and really like the characters this series included.
Ashley Poston’s THE DEAD ROMANTICS was an interesting mix of a woman seeing ghosts, a comic family who run a small-town funeral home, very real world grief, and a writer turned ghost writer. High readable.
Due to travel and then Covid (thanks, 3 hour delay in a mostly unmasked DFW!), I have been reading (and sleeping) a lot, mostly kindle unlimited. I was going to cancel but now glad I hung on for at least another month.
Just finished Royally Rearranged by Emma St. Clair which bills itself as a romcom which I usually avoid. This one was not as annoying as many. I liked it a lot. Princess due for arranged marriage, prince backs out, the wrong duke offers to be her fake fiance. Good solid story. I liked that the hero, while yummy and apparently tough, was dealing with significant and on-going trauma and is seen, at times, as vulnerable. Would recommend but CW for emotional abuse.
The Writer by D W Ulsterman is not a romance at all though love plays a part in it. Journalism student gets a chance to interview reclusive author of her favorite book who may or may not have killed his wife. Set in the San Juans. Nicely written and plotted. Would recommend.
So Not Meant to Be by Meghan Quinn had good buzz and certainly a lot of potential. However, the h was so annoying I could hardly stand to finish it. So annoying. Tropes: he’s one of her billionaire bosses, enforced proximity
The Billionaire Player by Ali Parker. Her friend bids on a bachelor auction and gives her the date. He’s a new bitcoin billionaire, ex baseball player. Cute enough but I wasn’t that engaged though I enjoyed it while I was reading it.
Hunting Eden by VH Nicolson. One of triplets in golfy town in Scotland, hugely tragic backstory with TW loss of child and partner abandonment gets pushed into leaving her converted barn by her somewhat annoying sisters. He’s an American golfer there to recover a shoulder injury. It was OK but do not expect the read the others in the series.
Forgotten Mistress, Secret Love Child by Annie West. All the Harlequin goodness you are imagining and done well. He has amnesia and has forgotten their entire history. His evil stepmom did not tell him about her or that she had called about a potential baby. When he finds out about her, he hopes being with her will trigger his memory. She remembers all too well the past. Big trust issues. On both sides. I really liked that his memory never truly comes back, good authorial choice. Would recommend.
Forbidden by Karla Sorensen. I have been hoovering up her books. I really liked this one and have already re-read twice. Mid-20s woman managing MMA gym which is bought by the MMA fighter she crushed on as a young girl. She is emotionally awkward and traumatized by parental abandonment. He is a single dad and well aware he is a decade older. Would recommend.
Waking Olivia by Elizabeth O’Roak This was is mildly transgressive as he is her coach and in a relationship when they meet. But it is handled well. She is a runner with a poor reputation and was kicked out of her last college. She has significant childhood issues (TW child abuse) and also one of those weird medical things that I really love reading about. He is working as coach and trying to keep his family farm afloat. Initially, he really does not like her but starts to realize what is really going on with her. Enjoyed. Would recommend.
Think I may need a part 2 this time.
Promise broken, sorry. I forgot SLEEPING GIANTS, book one in the Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel. An epistolary story told through interviews/files, about the discovery of a *giant* metal hand buried underground somewhere in the Midwest. More parts are found years later and now we’re talking alien beings, national security, global alliances and the people who are trying to figure out what this is. Awesome.
@Kareni: REPLAY is a total keeper and should be on every Best Ever in Your Lifetime scifi reads. I love that you mentioned it.
Those were the audiobooks. I forgot (how) to include kindle reads.
Kate Stewart’s REVERSE is the angst-filling sequel to DRIVE, about the children of two of the characters in DRIVE. Stewart has a way of pulling me into her character’s attachments and pain and making me turn pages fast. It’s a spoiler for DRIVE to say who is involved in this story but the duology is an excellent red for anyone who can handle the angst.
Also really like K.A. Tucker’s RUNNING WILD, part of her THE SIMPLE WILD series but about a side character. She’s a vet in Alaska and I really, really, liked her and her conflicts and her love interest. So believable.
@Kareni: Thank you!! It was, indeed, Ferny I was thinking about, and I just ordered a copy of Replay, which somehow I had never heard of! Thanks also to @Darlynne.
I love this community so much!
Ok, Part 2.
My daughter recommended the Lady Hardcastle mysteries by TE Kinsey. There are set in 1908 and subsequent. The first person narrator is her lady’s maid who also knows martial arts. I read the first, A Quiet Life in the Country. It was cute and fun. This is not an era I have read a lot about and enjoyed something different. Would recommend and will keep on in the series.
The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford. This is a fictionalized telling of an episode in Agatha Christie’s life, a trip she took after her divorce and during which she met her second husband. It includes train travel and archeology and women’s lives as they were then, needing permission for their men for darn near everything. Not really a romance but Agatha does meet Max. I enjoyed it a lot. Would recommend.
After Care by LB Dunbar. Heroine in her 40s, s/p breast cancer and divorce, goes to Hawaii with her kids and meets hot ex-musician who dotes on her. Total fantasy/wish fulfillmnent which I am OK with but it’s first person and her thoughts are all, I am too old/dumpy/etc. So I did finish it and will probably not read the rest of the series.
I also read Signal Moon by Kate Quinn. This is a kindle short story. I am not sure how to classify it. Sci fi? Fantasy? Romance in the old fashioned sense? IDK but I liked it and you might, too. One of the radio girls in WWII starts talking with radio man on ship in 2020s due to fluke in transmission.