September is wrapping up and that means it’s time for our second Whatcha Reading of the month. We want to hear all about your reading highs and lows!
Elyse: I just started The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) It’s spooky season and I want spooky!
Lara: I was influenced by Sarah. I’m reading Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn and I’m loving it!
Claudia: I am at the very beginning of Sailor’s Delight by Rose Lerner!
Sarah: I am reading A Restless Truth, ( A | BN | K | AB ) the sequel to A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske.
Tara: I’m listening to The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monae ( A | BN | K | AB ) and it’s sooooo good.
Shana: Ooh, good to know! I have The Memory Librarian on hold at the library.
I’m midway through The Bad in Each Other by Tasha Harrison. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s a second chance romance, and the hero was enough of a jerk in the backstory that I’m going to need a LOT more groveling. And it better happen soon.
Susan: I marathoned Sailor’s Delight and loved it, so I hope you enjoy it too, Claudia!
So, whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments!
I borrowed A River Enchanted from Libby. Thanks @Amanda for the rec. tomorrow is supposed to be rainy (a perfect reading day) so I’ll hold off starting it till then.
I think it’s been a while since I’ve made it to WAYR and I can’t quite remember where I left off, but one read I want to highlight is The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins. Frances Langton (honestly I’m not sure what marketing went into the titling choice because she’s almost always called Frances, once or twice Fran) is initially born enslaved on a Jamaican sugar plantation, and ends up in England as the servant of a eugenecist. She is writing her memoirs as she stands trial for the gruesome murders of her master and mistress.
I absolutely loved this one. It is dark, and deep, and the writing is just incredibly well done. All the content warnings in the world, but I highly recommend it. There’s lots of depth of discussion of the intersections of race and sex and power. In certain ways it reminded me of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace, but of course it was also its own amazing thing. There were points where I wanted to highlight every other line- which means I’m certainly going to buy my own copy. Not a romance, in any sense of the word, but for those of you who read historical fiction, I think this was a standout.
Back in March for some reason I cannot quite fathom I decided that I wanted to reread The Brothers Karamazov. I figured it would take me to about October, and lo and behold, I finally finished it. There are some sparkling moments in the midst of all the long, long wanderings (nineteenth century serialized novels, shudder, so much filler.) But. Well. Two reads in one lifetime is probably one time too many.
For my new romance book club, I read The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel. I kind of bounced off it, it was mostly a B-/C+ for me, but it was fine. Part of why I do book clubs is to get out of my comfort zone so on that front it worked.
A short list, but with some ranting, from me:
SAILOR’S DELIGHT by Rose Lerner. Cool Jewish history, cool naval history, and a seasonally appropriate release! (The whole thing takes place around Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; Rosh Hashanah starts tomorrow night.)
But I feel totally misled by the cover—the topless dude with the sultry, come hither look made me sure there was going to be hot, steamy sex in this book. What we get is a VERY slow burn with lots of pining and some very limited on-page action (mostly just alluded to/nothing explicit.) Elie and Augie deserved hot, steamy sex! And I was disappointed.
FROM BLOOD AND ASH by Jennifer Armentrout—I am beyond baffled at how this book has 4.29 stars on over 322,000 Goodreads reviews. The premise is fine—we have a kingdom ruled by fear and obfuscation, with the heroine Poppy/Penellaphe/the Maiden, a central player in a mysterious Rite and Ascension thing. Characters of questionable motives and intentions abound. We have the arrival of Hawke, a member of the Royal Guard who is supposed to protect Poppy.
And then it all kind of goes off the rails. Poppy is opaque, petulant, and, frankly, boring. Hawke is handsome, fearless, a killer, a creep, and also annoyingly opaque. No backstory, no motivation aside from a mention of his missing but not dead brother. We have horrible people being horrible, a lot of sturm und drang, and some sex that might have been hot but I had to skip it because it was so inappropriate. And then, omg, the ending. I can only describe the big reveal about Poppy’s identity as a sad trombone sound and Hawke’s isn’t any better because it makes all of his past behavior (including the sex) look so much worse. There’s also a really gross scene where Hawke kills/dismembers and leaves for dead some characters who attacked Poppy and then invites her to parade in front of them and admire his handiwork. It’s just So. Gross.
The whole book was so bananas that I thought I’d stick around for book 2, but that ending was a Nope.
Currently mostly done with WITCH PLEASE by Ann Aguirre and it’s okay. I really like the heroine, Danica, but Titus, the hero, is…questionable and there are a lot of dreadful family members running around (Danica’s grandmother and Titus’s father in particular; Danica is supposed to be close to her cousin, Clem, but I’m not really buying it.) I’m finding I really have a hard cap on how many shitty family members I can stomach in a book. After a while, I start to doubt the HEA because the hero and heroine don’t seem to have any positive role models for what a healthy romantic relationship looks like.
Up next: the new Mia Vincy!
I’m starting that Rose Lerner too! I’m so excited to read it.
I’ve recently read Megan Bannen’s The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, which was an enjoyable read, but personally I liked the family relationships and friendships more than the romance.
I’ve also read Alma Katsu’s The Fervor (loved), and Alexis Henderson’s The Year of the Witching (loved, loved, LOVED, and now I can’t wait to read her new book House of Hunger).
FORCE OF NATURE by Skye Warren & Amelia Wilde is the first book in their Deserted Island romantic-suspense trilogy about a couple stranded on a rain forest island and their eventual relationship with the solitary man who lives there. Photographer June is flying to a photoshoot on a small plane piloted by college biology professor Carter when the plane experiences engine failure and crashes on a (presumably) deserted island. It becomes obvious that the plane was sabotaged and that Carter is far more than the mild-mannered (if inordinately hot) professor he purports to be. While attempting to find food, create shelter, and dodge bad guys sent to finish the job the plane crash was supposed to accomplish, Carter & June encounter Theo, a man who has lived on the island since being brought there as a child. Theo has had limited contact with other people in his life, and his actions and thought processes are imbued with his late mother’s apocalyptic “the world is an evil place” beliefs. None-the-less, he feels helpless to resist the pull that both June and Carter exert over him. The escalating sexual tension between the three characters is really well-developed (with Carter being very much the dominant person of the triad) before the inevitable (and very hot!) three-way episode takes place. Warren & Wilde are especially good at being in the heads of people whose sexuality begins expressing itself in unexpected ways. This being the first book of a trilogy, I wasn’t surprised at the cliffhanger ending; now I just have to wait for NATURAL DISASTER, the next book in the series. I recommend FORCE OF NATURE—but if you’re not sure it’s for you, the first few chapters are available as a free novella titled THE CRASH.
Skye Warren, this time writing alone, also published TWO FOR THE SHOW this month. It’s the second book in her Hughes Family series featuring Eva Morelli and Finn Hughes who have appeared as supporting characters in other Midnight Dynasty books. At the end of the previous book, ONE FOR THE MONEY, Eva discovers that she is pregnant. TWO FOR THE SHOW focuses on Eva’s pregnancy and Finn’s ambivalence about becoming a father because of a genetic trait in his family that he is afraid will condemn his child to early dementia. Another cliffhanger ending, so now I have to wait for THREE TO GET READY to find out what happens.
Taylor Fitzpatrick posts much of her work-in-progress to An Archive of Our Own, but she has only published four novels, all m/m hockey romances: YOU COULD MAKE A LIFE, THROWN OFF THE ICE (which is beautifully written and utterly heartbreaking), COMING IN FIRST PLACE, and its recently published sequel, AND THEN. Having read the other three, I finally got around to reading YOU COULD MAKE A LIFE (published in 2015). There are many similarities between LIFE and Fitzpatrick’s other books: all feature two professional hockey player MCs (one gay, one bi), told from only one MC’s POV, with heavy detail on the training, discipline, focus, and physical wear & tear that are required to play any major sport at the professional level, along with the homophobia (and fear of being outed) that imbues much of men’s sports. LIFE is told from Dan’s point-of-view. Like Mike in THROWN OFF THE ICE, Dan is a big guy, generally used as an “enforcer”. He lacks the flair and brilliance of his smaller teammate (and eventual lover) Marc. Dan is gay, but very closeted. He loves Marc (who loves him back) but fears the repercussions of coming out. There’s a lot of technical detail in LIFE, which for all but the most ardent hockey fan will be rather eye-glazing. I suspect Fitzpatrick wanted to show how much players are at the mercy of inter-league politics and trades as she described the endless drives Dan & Marc have to make to see each other after Dan is sent to another team, but I found on-going busyness about how far one city is from another and how long the drive between the two takes utterly boring. Fitzpatrick pared back a lot of that “inside hockey” detail in her subsequent books, which I think makes them better reads. I recommend YOU COULD MAKE A LIFE but read it back-to-back with THROWN OFF THE ICE to see how Fitzpatrick took essentially the same set-up and wrote two completely different stories (with, be forewarned, two completely different endings).
No one writes an amnesia romance like Maisey Yates (her 2016 HP, CARIDES’S FORGOTTEN WIFE, is one of my all-time heart-breaking favorites). Two of Yates’s recent books have featured the amnesia trope: THE SECRET THAT SHOCKED CINDERELLA, an HP where the heroine wakes from a coma after an automobile accident and has no memory of the past year of her life, and RANCHER’S FORGOTTEN RIVAL, a cowboy romance where the hero briefly loses his memory following a fall from his horse. Although the storylines of the two books are very different, in both books, the non-amnesiac MC views the situation as an opportunity to rectify past wrongs:
I wish I had read THE SECRET THAT SHOCKED CINDERELLA before the recent Rec League asking for books that feature heroes who reject the heroine and then realize they’ve screwed up and spend the rest of the book trying to make it up to her. SECRET features the de rigueur billionaire, the beautiful innocent woman who falls for him without knowing about his wealth, a brief season of happiness, and then a terrible rupture where the hero rejects and abandons the heroine—a situation made even worse by the heroine’s subsequent accident and amnesia so that she remembers neither the hero nor their child (delivered while she was in a coma). The humbled hero is determined to give the heroine the courtship she deserved, so he lies about their pre-amnesia relationship. His lies are for a good cause, but we know what they say about two wrongs. What will happen when the heroine inevitably regains her memories and realizes the hero has lied about their past? Let’s just say the angst gets dialed up to 11! Key quote: “Our past is erased. And so we must make what we can of today so that we might find tomorrow together.” Side note: the hero of THE SECRET THAT SHOCKED CINDERELLA has Italian and Cambodian ancestry, and it’s refreshing to see a recognizably Asian hero on the cover of an HP (although Sergio Valenti—the name of the hero’s Italian father—gave me flashbacks to the popular designer jeans brand of the 1980s).
Yates’s RANCHER’S FORGOTTEN RIVAL reminded me in some ways of Caitlin Crews’s 2021 HP, THE SICILIAN’S FORGOTTEN WIFE, in that each heroine (not without cause) takes advantage of the hero’s lack of memory to convince him that he works for her, which is patently untrue, and during the time that the hero cannot remember why he’s supposed to feel antagonism toward the heroine, true feelings blossom between the two. I suppose how you feel about the heroine’s subterfuge depends on how much you feel the hero’s pre-amnesia behavior makes him deserving of being mislead. The MCs of RANCHER’S FORGOTTEN RIVAL come from families who have been fighting over land and water rights for generations. There’s been a lot of antagonism between the MCs (along with unacknowledged pants feelings) for years, but when the hero loses his memory, he and the heroine grow closer and share confidences about the burden their family dynamics place on them: the heroine believes she must save the ranch that was her grandfather’s dream; the hero has never addressed the grief he experienced following a devastating family tragedy. I liked RANCHER’S FORGOTTEN RIVAL slightly more than THE SECRET THAT SHOCKED CINDERELLA; it’s not quite as angsty, but I enjoyed how the MCs worked out both their personal and families’ antagonism with maturity and negotiation.
In addition to THE SECRET THAT SHOCKED CINDERELLA, I read two other HPs this month: Jackie Ashenden’s STOLEN FOR MY SPANISH SCANDAL (step-siblings and an unplanned pregnancy) and Clare Connelly’s EMERGENCY MARRIAGE TO THE GREEK (marriage-of-convenience between a recently divorced heiress and her first love, the man who was her late-brother’s best friend). Angsty, tropey, and full of the operatic highs and lows for which Harlequin Presents is rightly famous. You know if you like this sort of stuff. I do—and recommend both books, with a slight edge to Ashenden who tends to be a little sexier in her style.
DISSENT: A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY is a collection of stories contributed by over 100 romance writers (you’re sure to find some of your favorites when browsing the Table of Contents) with all proceeds going to reproductive rights organizations in the United States. This is definitely a “dip into” collection. I looked for the writers I’ve enjoyed in the past and read their contributions. I would describe most of what is here as either “post-HEA epilogues” and/or the introduction of characters who will appear in upcoming books/series. One thing my English-major/copyeditor/proofreader brain struggled with was the organization of the book: alphabetical by the authors’ FIRST NAMES. It was odd, but once I realized someone like Amelia Wilde was going to be at the beginning rather than toward the end of the book, it was fine. And, idiosyncratic alphabetization aside, less than $10 for this big a collection is a great price–and for an important cause too! Recommended.
Lots of books waiting on my TBR pile, including ROGUE PRINCESS by B.R. Myers; COWBOY EVER AFTER by Jennie Marts; and KIT MCBRIDE GETS A WIFE by Amy Barry.
I’m also ready to dive into holiday romances. I’m looking forward to SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS by Jenny Holiday and ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS by Maggie Knox, along with several other holiday books.
I am also ridiculously excited that one of the new Hallmark holiday movies this year is titled A ROYAL CORGI CHRISTMAS since royal-themed romances and Corgis are two of my favorite things. LOL.
I’ve been reading “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter” by Ben Goldfarb. Very interesting, even if the events are often sad or frustrating… I’m definitely getting a better idea what it takes for beaver to help save our ecosystem.
When bored, I’ve been watching the Vampire Academy adaptation on Peacock. It’s got a lot of changes from the books, which I barely remember anyway so nbd, but overall it’s…kind of bonkers. The first episode wasn’t exactly good, and overall I’d say there’s a good few things that just don’t work, but it’s at least getting *fun* now that I’m thru four episodes. I like the cast, they picked a good Dimitri, imo. I never liked the author’s pick for him; I’m glad they found someone almost brand new to acting.
I am reading three excellent books and have another (hopefully) excellent book lined up.
THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB by Robert Thorogood is a small town, cozy mystery with great characters. I wish the location were drawn a bit better but there is always the sequel. A solid B/B+ so far.
A VISIBLE MAN by Edward Enninful is the autobiography of the editor of Vogue UK and the most prominent editor in fashion (sorry, Anna). It is a fast read and really interesting. It’s an A so far and I am 1/3 of the way through. Plus bonus Margaret Thatcher criticism!
HER LESSONS IN PERSUASION by Megan Frampton is a NetGalley arc that is just plain fun. I am a huge fan of Frampton’s and am enjoying the heck out of this book so far.
My TBR is out of control but I do have DRUNK IN LOVE by Jasmine Guillory on it which I think I am going to end up passing on. I love the author but avoid books with too much drinking. I wasn’t thinking when I bought it.
I have SOMETHING IN THE HEIR by Suzanne Enoch & a NetGalley arc of PARIS DAILLENCOURT IS ABOUT TO CRUMBLE to read this month. Also thinking of picking up FREEMAN by Leonard Pitts. Anyone read it?
Happy reading everyone!
I don’t know about you, but my Facebook feed is full of book ads. I don’t mind. I love books. I love reading them, reading about them, looking at them, smelling them, but it’s taken me a while to sort the wheat from the chaff. I recently hit the motherlode of wheat that is the Julie Saman’s Boston Billionaire Bachelors. None of this is my catnip. Billionaires? Meh. Billionaire doctors? I work in the medical field. Books set in this are usually a head banging exercise for me due to inaccuracies. Not one, not two, but FIVE billionaire doctor brothers? Stretches the credulity a bit. And yet… they are totally working for me. Including the parts involving medical practice which is more the second book than the first. The first book, DOCTOR SCANDELOUS has Billionaire doctor rescuing his firsst crush from one of the mean girls at their ten-year HS reunion. They agree to pretend they are engaged before entering the party, as you do. No one’s going to be mean to the fiancée of one of the princes of the city and she gives him a shield from the narcistic bitch who broke his heart. She epically protects him. Like me she is much better at standing up for someone else than she is for herself. I’ve stepped into a reunion party without my peeps. It can be pretty intimidating, so that level anxiety was handled pretty well. I think that’s what hooked me. I’m two books in with the third downloaded as well as the book from another series that is about the billionaire doctor brothers’ baby sister. And I cannot tell you how excited I am to see just how big that back list of hers is.
Currently reading book two of Shelly Laurenton’s Honey Badger Chronicles. I enjoyed the first book a lot, but IN A BADGER WAY had me can’t breathe laughing at six o’clock in the morning. I know at some point Shen and Stevie are going to be tossed into bed together, but it’s really not that important to me. Most of her books lately are more about the overarching story filled with characters from previous books and sequel bait for the future than the romance between any two characters, and that’s fine with me as I am so enjoying the ride.
Seriously wheeze cackling.
Just finished book 2 of the Gardener’s Hand fantasy trilogy starting with Thornfruit by Felicia Davin (on hoopla). Immersive world, slow burn f/f romance, acton, adventure, and cliffhangers, oh my! Publisher’s summary promises a happy ending eventually but beware the story goes to some dark places.
The middle eastern flavor of the world in Thornfruit reminded me of the Woven comic on Webtoon. It has only one season so far, beautiful artwork and lots of depth in the fantasy worldbuilding. No romance or possibly super slow burn, as the female protagonist is very young. There is a mysterious and attractive male lead. And dragons.
Graphic novel – Another Castle by Andrew Wheeler and Paulina Ganucheau. Kickass princess, himbo prince, fun side characters, a satisfying plot with some great twists, gorgeous artwork inspired in part by the art of Disney’s Tangled. More action/adventure than romance, though side characters do get happy endings.
Dipping in and out of this one – Hungry hearts: 13 tales of food & love, a YA collection of interconnected short stories about “the intersection of family, culture, and food” with a bit of magic. Mixed bag, some stories are romantic, some not, mostly heartwarming, though the very first story is about grief (Rain by Sangu Mandanna). I quite liked the Grand Ishq Adventure by Sandhya Menon.
I have not been in a book reading or listening mood, so delayed a bunch of the library holds that became available.
I’m listening to THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. I almost DNFed because I’m done with dystopia, but the characters are very interesting. I Googled to see what happens and doubled the reading speed, so I might finish it before it’s due.
I’m behind on the Mercy Thompson and Alpha/Omega books. Just finished reading STORM CURSED after reading it in bits and pieces this whole month. I enjoyed it but forget details easily so wonder if I missed a book or two prior in the series. (Reader: I did not).
Listened to CHARGE by Cat C. Wells. I enjoyed it but probably shouldn’t listen to any more in the series during my commute. The evil characters made me so mad and that exacerbates my road rage.
I was listening to the ICE PLANET BARBARIANS series but I’m nearly done with that. Exploration of the world and how to adapt is mostly done, so it feels like it’s slogging now. I’ve tried ICE HOME but find those characters a little more annoying. It’s possibly due to the narrators for that series but would love to know if the author purposefully mimicked the first generation/ second generation migrant bias.
I need more humor in my books. I have the Ilona Andrews serial for each Friday, at least.
Happy weekend, Smart Bitches!
THE THIEF (THE QUEEN’S THIEF #1) – Megan Whalen Turner — Not a romance, solid YA, fantasy. SPOILER ALERT — If you are going to have the whole plot hinge on a reveal at the end, please don’t give it away in the title to the series. Please. I am still annoyed, two weeks later. Yes, the book was a little obvious anyway, but that just pissed me off. Anyone else annoyed by this? Probably not going to read the rest of the series.
KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE – Deanna Raybourn — Not a romance. This has become the book I am recommending to everyone. Co-workers, my daughter, my husband, my friends – just so damned entertaining! Reads like the action movie I’ve always wanted to see, full of badass ladies. Loved it.
NICKY THE DRIVER – Cate C. Wells – M/F contemporary, mafia. All the content warnings, esp. around disordered eating. If you liked Run, Posie, Run, by this author, you will like this. If not, don’t bother. Same brand of mafia/obsession/damaged heroine trope. Sometimes I am totally in the mood for this, and I ate it up with a spoon, but it is dark, and twisted, and really not how I want the real world to work, so proceed with caution.
Alice Coldbreath deep dive – Every once in a while, I find an author who has written exactly what I feel like reading. This week, it was AC. I saw a tweet that showed a picture of a hot, Victorian pugilist, with a request for books that had that vibe. Her three Victorian Prizefighters books were recommended, rightfully so, and I read all three, complete with bad decisions book club late nights that I do not regret. I especially liked these books because the heroes handled the heroines’ sexual inexperience in very hot, but realistic ways. I also liked them because they almost totally avoided any discussion of the danger a pugilist faced and faces every time they are in the ring. Which I think is unrealistic, but I also appreciated it in these books. Check them out – start with the BRIDE FOR THE PRIZEFIGHTER, but order is not that important. I read one of her pretend medieval-like series and I liked that, too. Many similar themes despite the different world/setting. Thank you, Alice Coldbreath!
Looking forward to everyone’s recommendations!
I just finished Mariana Zappata’s new book, When Gracie Met the Grump. I enjoyed the change of theme (it is a superhero book, has sci-fi elements), and the action elements that are normally missing from her books. However, as much as I love slow burn romance, I feel like I have started to outgrow her books – her herone’s monologs in this one were really grating on my nerves, they felt like fluff. The immatureness I could handle but the repetitiveness was really off-putting. That said, I’ll probably pick her next book too, especially if she keeps with the sci-fi/superhero theme.
Re-read Tamsyn Muir’s GIDEON THE NINTH. Re-read HARROW THE NINTH in a single day. Stayed up till two before a workday to read NONA THE NINTH in a single day. Regret nothing.
Whoa! September went fast! I don’t know if it was due to the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth (I live in England) or just going really quickly because I have some time back to myself with daughter at school. My KU membership ends this month and the amount of books in interested in reading on there has dwindled in the last month. I don’t think I’ll miss it but knowing my luck, there’ll be an influx of new reads come October. Oh well, will have to wait for another free trial.
I gave up reading ice planet Barbarians, the plots were getting samey. I guess there isn’t much else to do on a primitive planet except chug out babies. In fact every sci fi romance seems to end with a baby epilogue which get tiring after a while. I seem to get series fatigue very quickly lately.
My daughter is very happy today as she found a book about a fairy with her name on. She loves the rainbow magic fairies, me? Not so much, only so many times you can make finding a magical object interesting. However, she enjoys them and if it gets her interested in reading it’s a win.
I’m part way through Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir, and I’m really enjoying it.
Would have finished, but a whole bunch of crap went wrong and I haven’t had the brain space for reading this week.
Other than that, I’ve been reading collections of comic books and silently cursing the person who still hasn’t returned Volume 12 of one series to the library system.
Thank you SBTB for bringing my attention to THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY by Megan Bannen. This is one of those books that you want to crawl inside of and have babies with. Everything about it was so wonderfully crafted from the grumpy (Hart) sunshine (Mercy) pairing to the competence p0rn to Mercy’s sweet doggo. I smiled, I cried (several times) and I dragged reading it out over a week because I didn’t want it to end. Yes, it’s quirky, and is a fantasy romance with minor zombie appearances and that may be a no go for some readers, but if I could recommend one romance this year, this would be it.
I’m reading A Scandalous Kind of Duke by Mia Vincy and thoroughly loving it! The characters are deep and appealing, the conflicts relatable, and loads of pining-and-denial. Friends to lovers. Part of the Longhope series, which can be read in any order.
I intended to read more of my TBR, using Libby to delay any books that showed up before I was ready.
Andrew Cotter’s DOG DAYS, his recounting of pandemic life with Mabel and Olive. Completely and utterly charming, I’m sure the audio book in Cotter’s voice would be outstanding.
Currently reading EQUAL RITES by Terry Pratchett and had to stop because can’t-miss library books began to show up.
THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES by Sangu Mandanna was great, recommended here iirc. Funny, heartbreaking, I really enjoyed how multiple wounded parties worked through their problems and created a new dynamic for witches.
Robert Galbraith’s THE INK BLACK HEART was a doorstopper of a book, good, possibly unnecessarily complicated and it’s likely to take yet another book before Robin and Cormoran figure out their relationship. A creepy, stalkerish, on-line community/game, toxic fandom story with bodies, blackmail and overwhelming pressure for the agency’s entire crew. I do not *think* this book is about JKR and her own role in on-line toxicity, but of course ymmv.
Halfway through the 1,000-page book above, THE BULLET THAT MISSED by Richard Osman showed up. OMG, my love for these characters–not just our elderly four, but Bogdan, Stephen, Chris, Donna, and only 60% through, I must add Victor. The writing imo gets smoother and snappier and so, so clever. I hope there’s a real adult community like this that would welcome me one day, possibly soon.
Waiting in the wings, because I won’t skimp on the Osman book, is NONA. I will be patient, I will breathe, and then I’ll be gone for a while.
Loved ‘Killers of a Certain Age’ – that you SBTB for recommending!
Katie Cotungo’s BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA was immersive, and I wasn’t sure how she was going to land that romance but she did. It’s about child actors who reconnect as adults and how they navigate their history, the challenges of being performers, and holding people in their lives accountable and have a relationship. Although I wasn’t trying to read about actors, I also read Katherine Center’s THE BODYGUARD and Ava Wilder’s HOW TO FAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD both of which were enjoyable.
I’m not a big historicals person but based on some recs. here I tried Evie Dunmore’s BRINGING DOWN THE DUKE and very much enjoyed it. It addressed the legal, political, economic etc. challenges of being a woman in the late 1800s the reality of which makes those books tough for me to read, but did it in a constructive way that ended up working for me. I have put the next book on my TBR.
Someone here also mentioned Kate Meader’s books, which started me on a path of reading her hockey books. So good – I am really enjoying those. Good characters, strong women, interesting relationships. I got them a bit out of order and am currently reading the Chicago Rebels series on Libby while also listening to the Rookie Rebels series on Hoopla.
I finally got around to listening to the audio book of Julia Whelan’s MY OXFORD YEAR, and it was predictably wonderful. I felt like I was in Oxford and hanging out with all the characters, and I was compelled to go read some of the poetry referenced in the book. Just so well done. As mentioned in a prior post, I also loved her most recent book, THANKS FOR LISTENING. She is such a beautiful writer. And her narrations are just amazing.
A few more things that I read and recommend – MAGGIE MOVES ON by Lucy Score (h is a kick-ass home flipper who does a lot of the manual labor herself, and falls for a landscaper she hires for one of her projects), THE LESBIANA’S GUIDE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL by Sonora Reyes (YA book about coming out, culture, class); ONE TRUE OUTCOME by KD Case (m/m book where a younger player being mentored by an older player at the end of his career; explores topics like overinvesting in a career, figuring out what to do next etc. – reminded me a bit of EVERYTHING FOR YOU by Chloe Liese); THE HOOK-UP PLAN by Farah Rochon (workplace romance between h who is a doctor at a struggling hospital and H who is a consultant brought in to work on plans to possibly sell the facility) and KISS AND CRY by Mina Esquerra (romance btwn figure skater and hockey player in Manila – I listened to audio book and particularly enjoyed being transported to Manila.)
Like @Fashionably Evil, I have been disappointed by Ann Aguirre’s FIX IT WITCHES series. I read the first on last fall, and just finished the sequel, BOSS WITCH. I disliked a lot of the surrounding characters, and I felt like I could see all the work that went into the writing. I like her other books, but I think I’ll pass on anything else that comes out in this series.
I’m reading KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE and really enjoying it. I love how competent they are (even though they’re old) and how the men always underestimate them.
Not a book, but I just saw a spectacular film: Good Luck, Leo Grande, starring the incomparable Emma Thompson. Essentially a two-hander with a marvelous young actor, the film is about a widow in her 50s who hires a sex worker so she can experience pleasurable sex. Incredibly well scripted and sensitively and subtly acted, it touches on many current issues: the value of pleasure, women’s feelings about their bodies, the difference between sexual and personal intimacy, etc. Absolutely marvelous. I saw it in a cinema but understand it’s streaming on Hulu.
Still on limited time to read, but had a few days off, so yay for reading!
SAILOR’S DELIGHT – Rose Lerner. New to me author but when I saw this mentioned in the new releases, I knew it was a must. M/M, Regency era… ticks all boxes. I liked it, though like it was already mentioned, no on-page sex, so the sexy cover is a little misleading. Still, I liked it, slow burn and lots of things being mentioned that I knew nothing about.
GALAXIES AND OCEANS – N.R. Walker. Contemporary m/m set in Australia. I like Walker’s writing, though I’ve mostly read her more humourous books. Anyway, this is a bit more serious. One of the MCs flees his controlling/abusive partner (the abuse is off-page but mentioned, so take care if that’s a no-no for you) and fakes his death in a bush fire. Makes his way in the end to a remote village on Kangaroo Island where he meets a lighthouse keeper who is still grieving his previous partner’s death. It’s a lovely book, nice sloooow burn. Aubrey’s ordeal made me tear up a few times. The baddie gets found out in the end and gets what he deserves. The only nit-pick I have is that Kangaroo Island was portrayed as being a bit more remote than it is in reality. Yes, it’s an island, but also a tourist hot spot… But I kind of managed to turn that off in my brain and really enjoyed this book. Save for the dramatic beginning and end, not a lot happens plot-wise – but it’s not boring at all, really does slow burn at it’s best.
THE SUNNY SIDE – Lily Morton. Contemporary m/m. Another book set in her loosely connected universe of the Mixed Messages/Finding Home/Close Proximity series. There are a couple more books/novellas that are loosely connected to this world. All these books are perfectly fine as stand-alone reads, but it is kind of fun seeing familiar characters pop up here and there. This book is the start of the Model Agency series, and one of it’s MCs is Dean, the gorgeous but constantly stoned model that first turns up in Deal Maker as Jude’s hook-up in the first scene – and Asa’s stepbrother. He turns up again in a few of their follow-up stories. The other MC is the owner of the model agency, Jonas, and it’s kind of typical Lily Morton – age gap, grumpy/sunshine, lots of snark, lots of heart. We get to understand how Dean came to be as he is (and he’s given up on the weed), he and Asa clear up a few things from their youth (we already know Asa’s side from his book, but it was even worse for Dean), Jude also appears of course – and Malachi, the super snarky model from SPRING STRINGS (as well as one of the Jude & Asa short stories) and his farmer, Cadan. I liked it like all the other books, though I couldn have done without the sex scene in the car – that was too much and per se they could’ve gone back to the hotel for that.
BEAUTIFULLY UNEXPECTED – Lily Morton. Contemporary m/m. I was headfirst back into the Lily-verse, so I finally got this too. It’s short-ish (around 200 pages) and a little different with two middle-aged MCs. Still, snark, banter, fun and and heart.
I tried to get into REMEMBER LOVE, Mary Balogh’s latest but the beginning is one long info-dump, pages and pages of set up, description of the house and the village… The start into a new series I guess, but I think this could have been really shortened. At 14% still very little has happened and I honestly put it away again because of the two new releases above. I love MB and I will get back to it, but I hope more will happen soon!
In non-romance: UNCROWNED QUEEN – The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch by Nicola Tallis. I’m still on my history roll! Not far in yet, but it’s started well and I am really looking forward to learning more about Margaret, who is mostly just a side character or mentioned on the side and only too often painted in a not very favourable light. And it’s a nice follow up to the Red Prince, that I read a couple of months ago, after all she’s a descendant of John of Gaunt.
@Msb – my most recent cinema trip was also to see Good Luck, Leo Grande! It was on at my favourite plushy retro cinema, so it was worth it. You said it very well, and it is a very, very good film! I’d only say, from the trailer one might expect something more comedic, but it’s really not a comedy. It has funny moments, but it goes a lot deeper.
@DonnaMarie, I am so with you on J. Saman’s Boston Billionaire Doctors. Not my usual thing at all, but I started with the last in the series (DOCTOR UNTOUCHABLE) and it utterly grabbed me, so I’m planning on starting back with the first one and reading them all and her back catalog. Swoony and scorching, yes.
The same thing with Nina Levine’s OLIVER NORTH, the fourth book in her Escape With a Billionaire series the same way. Steamy office romance + billionaires = yawn (I thought!), but OLIVER NORTH grabbed me that same way DOCTOR UNTOUCHABLE had but is a little lighter.
So I guess I’m only done with some office romances? Some billionaires?
Also really enjoyed Susannah Nix’s PINT OF CONTENTION, where a tightly bound consultant, hated by the town because she’s here to fix an ailing ice cream company the town depends on, meets her friendly neighborhood fireman who is hiding from the world that his bio father had ALS and he may have inherited the gene (all this is out very early in the story so not a spoiler). Angsty and steamy and swoony. I’ve liked this whole series so far.
Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone’s A Merry Little Meet Cute is so much amusing fun and I liked the main romance and characters a lot. The setting was a little much for me, but right for the story. This is about a plus-size adult film start who gets cast in a family-style holiday romance with a former bad boy from a boy band. She had a huge crush on him when the band was active, and he’s currently a fan of her Closed Door account (read Only Fans). They’ve both got to keep it clean!
Also like Jenny L. Howe’s THE MAKE-UP TEST about two competitive grad student exes both hoping work with the same faculty member who can take only one of them for reasons.
I wasn’t sure I’d like Sally Thorne’s ANGELIKA FRANKENSTEIN MAKES HER MATCH but should have had more faith. She really does manage to pull off a young scientist sister to Frankenstein making the man of her dreams. Great details about the characters, and the world. And the prologue is gorgeous.
@DonnaMarie Learning there is a series with not 1 or 2 but 5 billionaire doctors is why I read SBTB. I will be on that stat!
I’m currently reading There’s Something in the Heir by Suzanne Enoch. It is wonderful. The two orphans are hysterical and the marriage of convenience couple are so entertaining.
On a serious note I just finished The Daughter of Auschwitz by Tova Friedman. I heard her interview with Scott Simon on NPR and immediately bought it. Listen to the interview and read the book. I finished it in time to watch Ken Burns US And the Holocaust. Heavy stuff but so important.
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/03/1120917838/survivor-tova-friedmans-new-memoir-reflects-on-life-as-the-daughter-of-auschwitz
*happily adds Saman’s Doctor Scandalous to her KU queue*
MURDER IN ALL FURY by Anne Cleeland – B – As an independent author, Cleeland doesn’t list her books for pre-order on Amazon, nor does she advertise a specific release date. So every March and September, I go through a daily ritual of searching the site to see if her latest book is out. Obviously, I’m excited to buy the books, but I kind of miss the ritual when it’s over. Acton and Doyle have two children now; otherwise little has changed in their lives and I fear nothing ever will. (It’s a conundrum: I don’t want the things I love about them to change, but I feel like they should be significantly less guarded with one another at this point and Acton still feels like an enigma to be explored, so let’s explore him!) The mystery being solved is the murder of a beloved (by me) secondary character who died in the previous book, and I am still disgruntled by his death.
SWEETWATER AND THE WITCH by Jayne Castle – B- – Krentz rehashes the relationship setup from 2001’s Dawn in Eclipse Bay: the heroine is a professional matchmaker and the hero is a troubling client with multiple failed dates who insists that the matchmaker fulfill their contract. I love the idea of this (in both books, the hero is deliberately torpedoing his dates because he’s attracted to the matchmaker..and both the heroes and I apparently lack consideration for the women who wasted their time on them), but Krentz doesn’t execute it to my satisfaction. There’s a lightheartedness missing, no joy in discovering the “secret” cause of the professional failure. Of course, this being a Harmony novel, we also have dust bunnies, Arcane, guild bosses, and a centuries-unresolved villainous conspiracy to use alien tech to enhance psychic abilities that inevitably leads to madness.
OBSIDIAN PREY by Jayne Castle – B- – I re-read this in anticipation of Sweetwater and the Witch, since OP’s hero is also the SaTW hero’s older (?) brother. Among the many Sweetwater family gifts is the ability to immediately recognize their true love. Unfortunately, Cruz Sweetwater screwed over his true love before their book begins by romancing her undercover in order to claim some kind of corporate domain over the deposit of alien crystals she discovered in Harmony’s catacombs. But what should have been a grovelmance wasn’t: he’s not sorry for what he did, only that he had to do it. And even though the heroine resents the loss, she also claims to understand he had no other choice. *I* don’t understand it and wish Krentz had done a better job of defending this corporate monopoly, because frankly the hero and his family come off as very Corporate Rim (Murderbot reference). Once upon a time, the protagonists in Krentz’s romances had a transformative impact on one another. Thirty years ago, this heroine would have modified — not eliminated, but adjusted — his corporate ways. I can kind of understand why Krentz isn’t advocating that fantasy anymore, but I miss it and this book could have used it.
WHEN GRACIE MET THE GRUMP by Mariana Zapata – B- – In terms of plot outline and general mood, I thought this was a superhero romance done well. But like @Sunflower, I’m losing patience with Zapata’s heroines. This hyper-naive “but he’s my friend, he can’t possibly be in love with me” thing shows up in the last third of too many of her books. I would rather preserve my fondness for Under Locke and Kulti by not letting Zapata wear this denseness thin.
MARRYING WINTERBORNE/DEVIL IN SPRING/CHASING CASSANDRA by Lisa Kleypas – A+/A/C+ – Rereads all (I got trapped on an errand without a new audiobook to listen to, so I turned to Mary Jane Wells’ narration of Marrying Winterborne, which always prompts a re-read of all the Ravenel sisters’ books.) I love the protagonists in Chasing Cassandra, but I can’t get past the “modernness” of Cassandra’s weak-tea plotlines: body image and slut shaming/#metooism. It’s not that I don’t believe those were also issues for women in Victorian England; it’s that Kleypas fails to bring her signature historical research style to those issues (citing laws or backing up common practices by referencing historical figures, etc.) and all the “good” male characters’ responses are so 21st century, when Kleypas is usually unafraid to let her heroes display the occasionally appalling mindset of a privileged 19th-century white male.
September has been a busy month of reading although my TBR pile is not getting any smaller as there are so many good books out! I totally agree with @Midge about Mary Balogh’s new book REMEMBER LOVE”. I did finish it but feel that the other books in the series will help frame this better – perhaps a re-read once others in the series are out. Like @RoseRead, I loved Julia Whelan’s THANKS FOR LISTENING. I actually read it but would love to listen to it at some stage. Two other romances that I’ve enjoyed this month are THE ROMANCE RECIPE (F/F) by Ruby Barrett and NEVER FALL FOR YOUR FIANCEE (Historical) by Virginia Heath. I listened to IONA IVERSON’S RULES FOR COMMUTING by Clare Pooley which was a lot of fun and it covered issues like sexism and ageism in the workplace. In the non-romance category, I strongly recommend PORTRAIT OF A THIEF by Grace D Li (elements of romance) and BLACK CAKE by Charmaine Wilkerson (again, elements of romance but strong thread of family/community and Caribbean culture & identity.)
Over the past two weeks, I read ~
— The Power: A Psychic Paranormal Romance by Maggie M Lily which is second in the series after The Call which I read previously. This was an okay book, but I don’t plan to continue on.
— String Theory by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James; I quite enjoyed this contemporary male/male romance which is set after a one year long Covid pandemic.
— for my local book group Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This was a thought provoking read that was both lovely and saddening.
— Alpha (Ghost Mountain Wolf Shifters Book 1) by Audrey Faye was an enjoyable read; I’d happily read on if my library carried this paranormal series. This series was recommended here recently by a reader.
— enjoyed the contemporary male/male romance, The Caretaker (The Sin Bin Book 2) by Dahlia Donovan.
— two science fiction romance books, which I enjoyed: Breakaway (Verdant String Book 1) by Michelle Diener and Interference & Insurgency (Verdant String) by Michelle Diener. The last is a collection of two novellas. (Admittedly, my favorite book by the author remains Dark Horse.)
— Yesterday I learned that a new book in a favorite series had been released. I promptly bought and read (until midnight) Murder in All Fury: A Doyle & Acton Mystery by Anne Cleeland. It was fun revisiting these characters, but I don’t even try to solve the mystery.
Almost exactly halfway through an old time travel duology by Nora Roberts, TIME WAS and TIMES CHANGE, repackaged into a single volume TIME AND TIME AGAIN. (just finished the first and one chapter into the second.) Now, I have never been a huge Nora fan, but good gravy, were ALL 80’s romances this violent, sexist and rapey? And not a grovel in sight? Good thing I wasn’t reading them then or I’d have sworn off romances forever!
Hooray for fall! Yay for pumpkin donuts and yay for cozy fall reading under a blanket!
Excellent:
The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout: Second in the Nero Wolfe detective series, I just love the narrator Archie who does all the legwork to bring back information to the almost entirely housebound Wolfe. The characters are intriguing and the plot twisty. Note this was written in 1935 and there are offensive ablest terms used.
The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison: The first in the Tibetan-set, Inspector Shan mystery series, I loved the setting, the MC (a Han Chinese man banished to a re-education/work camp in Tibet for an unknown-to-him political offense), the mystery and the supporting cast. While the plot occasionally got bogged down with too much info-dumping or too many secondary stories, overall it was rich and deep and fascinating. And although I had a strong inkling of the killer’s identity, there were still so many knots to unravel and other viable suspects, that I thought it was a great mystery. Note that this is NOT an Own Voices story.
Very Good:
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski & Amelia Nagoski: I very much appreciated that this was aimed squarely at women and addressed what they call The Bikini Industrial Complex and called out a lot of the invisible emotional labor that is a major source of stress. My sister-in-law is a practicing psychologist and just finished the book too, so I am looking forward to discussing it with her.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: A woman kills her husband and then refuses to speak another word for 6 years when a new therapist tries to get her to talk. Were there plot holes and inexplicable actions by some of the characters? Yes. But it was compulsively readable (I finished it in 3 nights) and I appreciated the twist at the end.
Good:
None
Meh:
Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews: Book 6 in the Hidden Legacy series – the heroine and hero were just so boring. In fact, I was much more intrigued by a new character introduced here. Also, there was way too much plot in the last 20-30 pages of the book – they tried to wrap up way too many loose ends in way too short of a time. And I was hoping for a hint of an upcoming age gap romance with Arabella and Augustine, but I seemed doomed to disappointment.
The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin: First in the Golden Age Gervase Fen mystery series, this one had a lot of unlikable characters as well as a detective who had figured out everything in the first five minutes after the crime was discovered and then spent the rest of the book dropping cryptic hints and implying everyone else was stupid. That being said, it did keep me guessing on both the murderer and method (although the ultimate solution was lubriciously far-fetched).
The Bad:
None
The new Emma Thompson film is only available via streaming in the US (I’ve no idea why they decided it wouldn’t be shown in theaters here) and I don’t subscribe to Hulu, so when I was in London a few weeks ago I made a point of seeing it in a theater. I agree with all the positive things said about it. It should be noted that her character is most definitely not perfect, but she is fully human and relatable and in the end deserves the happiness she finds with Leo Grande (not romantically but through how he helps her discover herself).
@ Big K re the Megan Whalen Turner Thief books: I think when the book first appeared it was called simply The Thief, and even though the series may now be called the Queen’s Thief series, that title is actually somewhat misleading. I loved it and was glad I discovered it after several of the books had already appeared so I could gobble them down one right after the other.
Is there really a book with a hero named Oliver North? Maybe it’s because I’m of a certain age, but the only thing I think of when I hear that name is Iran contra (a scheme by President Reagan to sell arms to Iran – which was illegal as there was an arms embargo in place – and use the proceeds to fund the right wing rebel contras in Nicaragua) and the RL Oliver North who was in the middle of that American scandal, most definitely not a heroic character.
Well, I’m looking uneasily at the Gulf of Mexico, because lol we’re about to be so screwed. On that note, I kicked off this WAYR cycle with Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel by Beth Revis. Solid SW entry that takes place right after the fall of the Empire as Han and Leia marry and attempt to begin their lives together. I’m a sucker for a Leia-centric story, and this one also has Ewoks. The book is also really adept at showing the relationship dynamics between Han and Leia that make them very well-suited for each other but also highlight how those dynamics can become very difficult. I shan’t say more, though there is more to say (winky face). Then, since I had just picked up Desperation In Death from the library, I dived in. This is one of better recent In Deaths, and focuses on a nefarious organization that is kidnapping and trafficking young girls to sell into various kinds of slavery. It had good procedural and I particularly liked what happened to one of the bad guys. After that, I went in on another library book, Love In the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson. I definitely liked the snarky tone of the narrator, the way she relates a lot of things back to her strong interest (and dissertation subject) in true crime, and the hero was a sweetheart. However, this was a heroine that had A LOT of baggage, and was doing very little to address this baggage (TW/CW for parental emotional abuse and neglect and past suicidal ideation). I spent a lot of the book going “HOLY CATS, PLEASE GET THERAPY”. In a bit of a turnaround from a lot of books, it’s the heroine that is initially allergic to commitment and feelings, and she stomps all over the feelings of the hero, who is very much a sensitive type. That part got a bit hard to read, but she did do a nice grand gesture. She still needs to get all the therapy though. Which brings us to now, in which I’m reading Nothing More To Tell by Karen McManus. I really, really love her YA thrillers, and I think that she, Ruth Ware, and C.S. Harris are probably my current favorite murder writers. This one follows a character that is interning at a true crime podcast and investigating the unsolved murder of a teacher at her prep school 4 years earlier, in which her former best friend and 2 other kids found the body. It’s fun and twisty so far, with a callback to McManus’s other most recent book (You’ll Be the Death of Me) that made me snicker. So on that note, uh, let’s all hope that I don’t need the hurricane plans I’ll be spending the next few days making.
I recently finished The Storyteller by Dave Grohl. It was my standby read at work for the past six months. I have to say it deserved the excellent review that caused me–the nonmusical, genre fiction reader–to pick up a rock memoir in the first place. I loved Grohl’s starry-eyed romance with his vocation. His tone is self-deprecating, the very opposite of an ego-fest, and anecdotal rather than strictly chronological. I enjoyed the way he organized the book thematically though it took some getting used to. Grohl avoids the tell-all temptation, referring to a couple of what must have been major crises in a sentence or two. His discussions of several of his personal losses are subdued yet sincere, and he does a good job avoiding sentimentality. I particularly enjoyed the eclecticism of his musical tastes and his shameless fangirling over his idols.
Reading The Storyteller had one interesting side effect; it triggered a rash of rereads of favorite rock romances. I dragged out Louder than Love for the fourth or fifth time, finding it still enjoyable despite a clearer awareness of some issues. Then I dove into several of Karina Bliss’s Rock Solid series. I’m happy to report that Zander and co. held up very well and required no reservations on my part. I’m now trying to decide between Softer than Steel, Topper’s follow up to LtL or a reread of Kylie Scott’s first three Stage Dive novels.
For the time being, however, I’m immersed in Mariana Zapata’s rather odd latest, When Gracie Met the Grump. While this features Zapata’s typical slow burn, single first person POV, and door stop dimensions, the sff elements are kind of a departure for her.
Can anyone recommend a well-written fantasy romance with a Daemon Targaryen-esque love interest? (Morally grey/some villain characteristics)?
@Katie C: I loved THE SKULL MANTRA. Shan wasn’t the only one learning things both wondrous and horrible in a world I can never know. I came for the mystery and location, returned for the monks and Shan.
I just finished an ARC of Emma Barry’s Chick Magnet and loved it SO much. It’s just so charming, funny, and heartfelt, and I enjoyed every single moment – not just the abundant, wonderful humour (often involving the heroine’s backyard chickens) but how thoughtfully and maturely the hero and heroine argued over important things, and the ways they made each other better by being together.
@Susan/DC: The title is OWEN NORTH, not a hint of Oliver. (I too raised an eyebrow & thought, This can’t be so & lo, it isn’t. Thanks, Goodreads.)
@Susan/DC: yeah, I am so not down with a “hero” named Oliver North. Although in the crazy corruption that constitutes the right wing in our country today, secretly selling arms illegally to a totalitarian regime in order to fund another totalitarian regime seems almost quaint. On the subject of names, I can never quite get over the historical romance set in Scotland with a hero named David Cameron. Apparently neither the author nor anyone else involved in the production of the book knew there was a famous person named David Cameron who most readers would definitely not associate with being a romance hero. And I know I’ve shared this story before, but I once found myself unable to read a book I had been highly anticipating because the hero had the exact same name as one of my daughter’s ex-boyfriends. That was a big pile of NOPE for me.