Whatcha Reading? October 2022, Part One

The woman in yellow coat jeans and boots sitting under the maple tree with a red book and cup of coffee or tea in fall city park on a warm day. Autumn golden leaves. Reading concept. Close up.It’s October! My favorite time of year! For me, this is the start to cozy reading.

Here’s what we’re kicking off the month with at SBTB HQ:

Elyse: I’ve been knitting A LOT lately so I haven’t been reading as much. I’ve been rereading 52 Weeks of Socks by Laine. ( A | BN )

Sarah: I just re-read Hither Page by Cat Sebastian, and it was just as lovely the second time.

Susan: That’s a weird coincidence because I just did the same! I needed a refresher before I went into The Missing Page.

Sand Talk
A | BN | K | AB
Both books are so charming.

Sarah: Oh how funny! And yes, SO charming and intricate, too. “Agatha Christie but make it gay” is the perfect descriptor.

Tara: I’m listening to Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta and it’s VERY good. It’s a nonfiction book, I’m not very far yet, but the subtitle seems correct so far: “How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World.”

Shana: I’ve had a bunch of DNFs lately. I’m just starting Talia Hibbert’s Damaged Goods ( A | BN | K ) so hopefully that will break the curse.

Carrie: I’m reading The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell ( A | BN | K | AB ) – beautiful details and language, but not a happy story.

What are y’all reading? Tell us below!

Comments are Closed

  1. Vasha says:

    Spooky? I just finished The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling, and it has ghosts, sort of (their exact nature is unclear), and they are definitely the scary sort, not ones you could have a romance with — nor, friendly ancestors in the tradition of Dia de los Muertos. This is a science-fiction suspense/horror novel about a weeks-long solo descent into a cave that has already killed many — but although dangers and discomforts take a toll on Gyre, the explorer, she’s ultimately less threatened by those than by the mental pressure of having no one to talk to but her one remote-linked handler (one! when it’s normally a team — and why? that turns out to be an important question). Gyre has past issues with abandonment and isolation, and it turns out her employer/handler, Em, is even more emotionally damaged, and has made bad choices that got people killed — they have their figurative ghosts to deal with… is Gyre seeing literal ones too? Em and Gyre struggle with each other, and bond strongly, and it feels like romantic love to them. It’d take a dedicated romance believer to think they’d really be good for each other as a couple after the end of the book. I have seen a remarkable number of long and meaty reviews for this novel, meaning it makes people want to ponder, and write about their ponderings. It’s got me going on at length too.

  2. Lynn says:

    By the time October comes around I’m usually too deep in my seasonal depression to read anything really spooky so I’m sticking to middle grade horror and paranormal romances. This year I’m all about witchy books so I’m currently making my way through the “Stay a Spell” series by Juliette Cross. The series follows six witch sisters and every book focusses on one sister and her romance with another magical being (werewolves, vampires, grim reapers, etc.). There’s also a Christmas short story collection with some of the couples that got released after the third book. The fifth book comes out at the end of the month and is about a couple that has been hinted about since book one so I’m really excited. Right now I’m listening to the audiobook of the second book “Don’t Hex and Drive” and the audiobook narrators are doing a superb job. I keep on grinning while listening on my commute and I got to the steamy bits in the middle of the supermarket which was interesting, hah.

    I’m also reading a middle grade horror called “The Girl in White” by Lindsay Currie which is one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Like Currie’s other middle grade horrors it’s a standalone about a 12-year old girl who gets haunted and tries to solve a mystery to help the ghost(s) move on. It’s way better than my description. My favourite book by the author is “Scritch Scratch” which is set around a ghost bus tour in Chicago and the book has a map with all the haunted stops and on the author’s website you can read about the real history of the locations/legends. So good and spooky but because it’s middle grade you have that safe feeling that it’s gonna work out somehow in the end.

  3. Mikey says:

    I’m reading a self-published crime novel. You know how some people think that self-publishing is for writers that lack the talent to be accepted by regular publishers, even though there’s actually tons and tons of good self-published stuff out there?

    Well, uh… This particular novel fits the old stereotype. I won’t name it, because I don’t want to be mean to the old lady who wrote it. (She’s at least 70, the Internet tells me.) Maybe she googles her book, after all.

    For the same reason, I don’t think I’ll even write a review. I know that if somebody puts a novel up for sale then they need to accept that some people will dislike it and say so–especially in a case like this, where the horrid punctuation in particular makes it clear that the writer didn’t put much effort into the book.

    Still, though, I genuinely don’t know how to write a review without coming off as mean, so I think I’ll just stay quiet.

    Anyway.

    The plot is the same old standard. A murder’s happened, and two police officers need to find the culprit.

    The punctuation is awful. Sentences will lack periods, or they’ll have the finishing quotation marks right in the middle of a sentence instead of at the end where they ought to be. There will be tons of ellipses in the middle of the narration. Not only the dialogue, but the narration. Like “He went in… and looked at the big… ladder in the middle of the room…” There’s no clear point to it.

    A character you only know by his last name will suddenly be referred to by his first name, in a context where it’s not clear who is being talked about. Like, a character will always have been known as Smith, and suddenly a scene will start with “Robert walked into the bar,” with no indication that “Robert” is Smith’s first name.

    “It’s” is very often spelled “its”.

    We get visual descriptions of the side characters, but not of the two police officers that are the protagonists.

    The narration will be from one character’s POV, and then we’ll suddenly read the thoughts of another character.

    A scene won’t really be shown, dialogue and all. Instead the narration will give us a sort of summary, as the scene happens (that is, it’s not a flashback), but the summary is so long that it’d have been better to just write out the scene.

    The dialogue is forced. When the protagonist sees the arrogant forensic technician William Thurston, he says, unjokingly, “Look, it’s the arrogant forensic technician William Thurston!”

    Finally, the typeface used is Arial. In a novel. That’s something you never, ever do.

    I’m only reading it for the horrified fascination of how the author does pretty much everything wrong. I’m really getting the impression that this is the kind of writer whose motivation in writing a book isn’t to make it as good as it can be, but rather just to hold the finished product and proclaim that she has Written A Book.

  4. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    Rachel Ember released two books at the end of September: WONDERLAND and WHEN THE RIVER RISES. Both are beautifully written m/m romances featuring lovely descriptions of the natural world. WONDERLAND is part of the In Vino Veritas series (itself an offshoot of the Vino & Veritas series from Sarina Bowen’s Heart Eyes Press). WONDERLAND’s MCs, Riley and Peter, were childhood best friends, spending the summers exploring the abandoned amusement park owned by Riley’s grandfather. As the boys became young men, their friendship gradually morphed into love, but “something” happened years ago, and the men haven’t been in contact for almost a decade. Peter is now a Harvard-educated lawyer, Riley has moved back to Vermont to help his ailing grandfather. Peter & Riley reunite to try to find where in the amusement park Riley’s ornery grandfather buried a substantial sum of money (which he needs to pay delinquent property taxes), and love reignites. (There’s a meta moment when Peter insists, “My life is not a romance novel.” But, of course, because he’s a character in a romance novel, it is.) Every Ember book I’ve read features at least one animal that basically becomes a secondary character in the story; in WONDERLAND, that animal is a giant tortoise: I don’t think I’ve read a romance before with the MCs bonding over their shared love for a tortoise, but Ember makes it work. Recommended.

    WHEN THE RIVER RISES is the fifth book in Ember’s Wild Ones series, and it cannot be read as a standalone. Although, like all the other books in the series, there is a self-contained romance, there are so many threads that have been weaving in and out of the other books and WHEN THE RIVER RISES is the one that sews them all neatly together. You really will be lost if you try to read it in a vacuum. WHEN THE RIVER RISES goes back and forth in time as it tells the story of Jake and Cam, who have both been secondary characters in the prior books. Jake and Cam (for different reasons) have become entangled with criminal enterprises, and Jake has to essentially become Cam’s bodyguard. They hide out in rural Nebraska near a ranch owned by Jake’s cousin (the hero of LONG WINTER), where they take care of two horses and eventually fall in love. Of course, because the story’s timeline is jumping around, we know that something is poised to destroy the couple’s happiness. I really liked how Ember resolved all of the open story lines from the previous books but did not overwhelm the central romance between Jake & Cam. Recommended—but you must read the previous four books first.

    Maisey Yates’s BEST MAN RANCHER is the latest in her Carsons of Lone Rock series of cowboy romances. The heroine is a young widow still processing the grief of losing her husband in an automobile accident several years before. The hero—dealing with grief of his own—is one of the many Carson siblings who are all involved in ranching and/or rodeo. The couple have always had a never-acted-upon attraction which finally gets acted upon when they work together to arrange the wedding of her sister to his brother. Two months later, a positive pregnancy test sets both their lives on an unexpected path. I enjoyed BEST MAN RANCHER and recommend it, but I think the romance is almost secondary to the analysis of grief and how traumatic loss will infuse everything a grieving person feels, thinks, and does.

    I found Cara Dee’s HOSTILE TAKEOVER (the latest in her long-running BDSM series, The Game) rather tedious—and, despite a plethora of stylized scenarios featuring various kinks (exhibitionism, voyeurism, consensual non-consent, humiliation, sadism, masochism, group play), very stilted. Dee is a prolific but uneven writer. I’ve enjoyed some of her books (IF WE COULD GO BACK, A NEW ENEMY/I’M NOT YOUR ENEMY), but struggled with others (WE HAVE UNTIL DAWN, THEIR BOY). HOSTILE TAKEOVER, like the other books in The Game series, feature MCs whose lives revolve around their total immersion in the BDSM lifestyle—this includes things like partners referring to each other as “Pet/Owner/Master/Daddy/Son/Baby Boy” in non-sexual situations. Franklin is newly-divorced and newly-out; he also has custody of his young daughter. Jack is Franklin’s nephew (by marriage, they are not blood relatives); he’s younger and completely out. Faster than you can say “Daddy role-play,” Franklin & Jack are involved with each other. They quickly progress to poly-amorous play with a number of people who have been MCs in Dee’s previous books. The speed with which Franklin goes from being unsure about his sexuality to diving whole-heartedly into a very intense BDSM scene was both baffling and unrealistic, and when Franklin and Jack referred to each other as “Daddy” and “Son” (even though Jack is the dominant party), it left me feeling nothing but second-hand cringe. Even for BDSM romance aficionados, I can’t recommend HOSTILE TAKEOVER.

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  6. FashionablyEvil says:

    How do I love WAYR? Let me count the ways…

    Really enjoyed Mia Vincy’s A SCANDALOUS KIND OF DUKE. I sometimes wonder if I should read Vincy’s books a little more slowly to savor the banter and the depth of character, but they’re so good I usually finish them in 24 hours. Leo and Juno are great and if Leo’s brother, Tristan, doesn’t get his own book, I will be very disappointed. This book also has what manages to be my favorite romance novel epilogue (which is saying something given how much romance as a genre loves an epilogue!)–it manages to be both charming and lovely without being overly sentimental or all babies!!

    Also really liked Mimi Matthews’ THE WORK OF ART. Her books are always closed door which is not totally my jam (I prefer at least a little heat), but her characters and, in particular, the psychological depth she gives her villains, are always great. I also enjoy how the hero and heroine are clearly the sort of people who are not for everyone, but are perfect for each other.

    I was kind of “meh” on Sarah MacLean’s HEARTBREAKER, the second in her Hell’s Belles series. I really like MacLean’s approach to plot and her feminist slant, but she’s just too interested in dysfunction and grovel for my taste. I think I heard her say on a podcast that nice, normal, emotionally healthy men don’t interest her as a writer at all, but you know, there’s a place for those guys! Dysfunction just get so tiring after a while and I feel like MacLean’s novels too often tip in that direction. That said, I am excited for the next book (featuring Imogen, the Belles’ explosives expert and Tommy, a Scotland Yard detective) and I will be very disappointed if book 4 isn’t about Duchess, the Belles’ patron and ringleader.

    Non-Fiction: Loved Ed Yong’s AN IMMENSE WORLD which is about animal perception. The book is absolutely fascinating and deftly describes the limits of our senses and how much more information is out in the world that we simply cannot perceive because of our senses. (Among my favorite factoids: Stripes on zebras do not confuse lions; lions cannot see well enough to distinguish the stripes. The stripes confuse flies. Also, living creatures have evolved only ONE way to perceive light and human beings have among the best visual acuity (aside from raptors) which often biases how we see the world and what we think other animals perceive.) Yong is a talented and skilled writer and this book flies right by. Highly recommend.

    Also read THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS. I can only wonder at how this was nominated for a National Book Award because I would describe it as narcissistic navel-gazing masquerading as insight and spirituality. Among my irritations: the author does not seem to acknowledge AT ALL the ethics or confounding factors associated with keeping animals in captivity, massively overshares about other people’s personal situations, and seems incapable of understanding basic math or statistics.

    Up next: T. Kingfisher’s SWORDHEART. I love me some T. Kingfisher and am looking forward to diving in.

  7. I’m reading DANCE WITH THE DEVIL by Kit Rocha. I hope they write more books in their Mercenary Librarians series.

    Maybe it’s the cooler fall weather, but I’m also in the mood to read some thrillers, like SKI WEEKEND by Rektok Ross and LITTLE GIRLS SLEEPING by Jennifer Chase.

    I’m also accumulating holiday romances to read, including the MISTLETOE CHRISTMAS anthology by Eloisa James, Christi Caldwell, Janna MacGregor, and Erica Ridley.

    Question: Does anyone know of any historical western holiday romance books or anthologies coming out this year? I’m looking for a gift for my mom. Thanks! 🙂

  8. Escapeologist says:

    Is it whatcha reading already? This time of year always seems to fly by.

    Slightly spooky reads are my jam too. Some favorites I’m rereading – middle grade mystery Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, webcomic with sapphic witches Sunny and Rainy.

    Finished the Thornfruit fantasy trilogy by Felicia Davin, still thinking about it and rereading because I gobbled it too fast the first time around. There is a good review of the first book here on SBTB. First book is free on kindle and the rest are on hoopla.

    Started Shifters in the Night by Molly Harper, another Mystic Bayou romance. So far so good about a quarter in.

    The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett for the tor.com book club. Inept wizards go to the Discworld version of Australia, hijinks and hilarity ensue.

  9. kkw says:

    I think my favorite book I have read of late is Charlie Adhara’s Pack of Lies. I couldn’t say if it’s that good, or if queer paranormal detective romance is my niche. Preferably also historical, but I will take what I can.

    Speaking of, finally finished the Kate Kane series which I had been hoarding for a bad day. It utterly works for me, despite being so meta, so I can’t claim that’s the reason I didn’t even mildly care about Murder Most Actual. Dunno why Alexis Hall is so hit or miss with me.

    I couldn’t be bothered with the latest Ilona Andrews though, and they are reliably good for me, so you never know.

    Did I mention that In Other Lands has reinforced my theory that queer magical boarding school romance YA is the only YA I can tolerate? It was delightful.

    I also enjoyed The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo despite every part of the structure not being my thing – it’s short form, it’s first person, there’s some of my least favorite plot contrivances… Zen Cho is just a really talented writer.

    The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was charming but the big misunderstanding toward the end…basically the last quarter? of the book made me incredibly impatient. I dunno where that leaves me with recommending it, but it was super fun while it lasted. But then they were both so jarringly, casually, stupidly, selfishly cruel to the other in order to protect their squishy feels. These people are way too bad at communicating for me to believe their HEA.

    Also worth mentioning: I liked Cait Nary’s latest despite not liking rock star or caring about sports romances as such. Although the proliferation of m/m hockey would make any observer suspect it was my favorite. Well no, any observer would be concerned about how much of my life I spend rereading KJ Charles, but wow there sure are a lot of gay hockey stories. I found a copy of Tough Guy, the Rachel Reid I hadn’t read, and another Taylor FitzPatrick (probably my favorite of these hockey romances, even though they’ve probably got the most hockey in them?) that I had missed, oh and Avon Gale’s Goalie interference, which is a lot of hockey for a couple weeks reading!

  10. DonnaMarie says:

    Literally just finished KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE. What can I say about a novel featuring four sixty-plus female undercover agents? It was AWESOME! I feel seen. Why did no one come recruit me as I drifted through four years at BSU? After 40 successful years as political assassins Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie are looking forward to retirement. Their employers have even gifted them with a lovely cruise as a thank you. It’s all first class and champagne until they notice that one of the crewmen is very familiar. Who can you trust when your employers put a bounty on your head, and all your former co-workers are all too happy to collect? Each other, of course, along with one previously clueless spouse, a Ukranian orphan, a former lover and a very surly cat. Was one of the twists was not so twisty? Yes, but that’s a very minor quibble. There are two pieces of art mentioned that sent me straight to Google. Sadly, one doesn’t exist and the other is as glorious as described and worth the search. More please.

    BADGER TO THE BONE was not as LOL funny as IN A BADGER WAY, but it had its moments. Unfortunately, it also had a pretty abrupt feeling ending. I thought I had finished the Honey Badger Chronicles, but it turns out that Max has four badger bffs and there’s yet another sister. This madness will be continuing into the foreseeable future, and I’m here for it.

    I continue to work my way through J. Saman’s backlist on my Kindle. This has not always worked to my advantage. I mostly use my Kindle for bedtime reading. I don’t need the light on, and therefore do not need to wake up enough to turn it off, and the Kindle turns itself off when I fall asleep. I usually go for books I think will be average in quality to avoid the Bad Decisions Book Club, and Ms. Saman is not cooperating. I am staying up way to late reading about billionaire doctors, their sister, her friends.

  11. Jess says:

    I missed the last WAYR so this is a few weeks’ worth of books, although not too many since I’ve been video gaming more and reading less lately.

    “The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximel” by KJ Charles: Finished this and read the follow-up short story/novelette “Remnant.” Really enjoyed both, great mix of short, creepy stories and a consistent narrative following the MCs’ relationship development. The Holmes/Watson style investigator and biographer pairing is a favorite for me.

    “The Raven and the Banshee” by Carolyn Elizabeth: f/f historical romance. Julia Farrow never thought she would see her childhood sweetheart Branna Kelly again, after breaking off their relationship days before Branna boarded a ship with her family that was lost at sea. Years later, Julia is held captive on a ship and is rescued by Branna, now a pirate captain known as the Raven. Another attempt to find a good f/f romance with pirates, and I really wanted to like this one! Unfortunately it’s pretty solidly mediocre. In the first chapter, teenage Julia ends her relationship with Branna in such an obvious “I’m telling you I don’t love you for your own good” way that you roll your eyes at Branna accepting it. The rest of the book is better plot-wise, but definitely inclined to telling instead of showing, and I never felt the characters had enough development to get super invested in their relationship. I think this is a subgenre that’s doomed to disappoint me, lol.

    “Count Me In” and “Strum Me Hard” by Renee Dahlia: Two f/f contemporary novellas following members of a formerly successful rock band who’ve fallen on hard times finding love. The first was a short but sweet roommates to lovers story, enjoyable enough albeit with some stilted dialogue. The second just annoyed me — instalust/love, weird smugness from the Australian characters about America’s pandemic response (yeah, more people died here — great material for comedy!), and a gratuitous aside about the wealthy entrepreneur love interest paying for sex, which I ranted in my last WAYR comment about as a weirdly common turn-off in f/f romance. Was interested in reading Dahlia’s longer historicals but I probably won’t pick them up anytime soon.

    “Enticed by the Enemy” by Leighton Greene: m/m mafia romance. Everyone in NYC law enforcement knows Angelo Messina is connected to the mob, but they’ve never been able to prove it. Now he’s the prime suspect in a series of murders, but FBI behavior analyst Baxter Flynn is convinced Messina is the wrong man. When Flynn’s colleagues refuse to listen, the two reluctantly team up to catch the real killer. Big suspension of disbelief buy-in with this series, but I thought the plot was done better the first book and really enjoyed the MCs’ mutual “this is a terrible decision but I can’t stay away” dynamic. A fun read.

    Non-romance of interest:

    “Siren Queen” by Nghi Vo: A book club pick; I didn’t like Vo’s previous novel “The Chosen and the Beautiful,” but thought I might like this better since it isn’t a retelling of another work. I did prefer this one and it does a better job pulling off its magical realist setting than TC&TB did, but I think Vo’s prose just isn’t for me — it always feels oddly distant from the protagonist, like you never get full insight into their thoughts and emotions. The structure also doesn’t quite work (Vo said in the author’s note it started as three novellas, and it shows).

    “Living With a Wild God” by Barbara Ehrenreich: Ehrenreich is a writer I admire a lot who died recently, and this is probably her most personal book, a memoir about her teenage search for the meaning of life and eventually for a non-religious explanation for a transcendent/mystical experience. This felt so unflinching and honest, and even the excerpts from Ehrenreich’s teenage journal were wonderfully written. Loved it.

    “Carville’s Cure” by Pam Fessler: Really interesting nonfiction about the official American hospital for leprosy/Hansen’s Disease, where patients were involuntarily confined for decades because of prejudice and misunderstandings about the public health risk of their disease. Although many patients were kept at the hospital against their will, it also became a source of community and the launching place for activism against stigma and research that helped cure the disease. Good account of a surprisingly recent chapter in history.

  12. Crystal says:

    :::spooky music!!!:::

    It is MY SEASON.

    Anyway, it’s all magical and spooky all the time here. Anyhoo, I started things off with the spoils of Netgalley and read Dead Man’s Hand by James J. Butcher. He’s the son of one Jim Butcher, has made no attempt to hide his parentage, and is playing in his dad’s urban fantasy sandbox. It had some significant first book problems with pacing, but I did like the main character and the fact that he is what you get when you have a medical practitioner that is living with a significant disability, and there’s some decent dry humor. I did appreciate that Butcher did a good job differentiating his narrative voice from is father’s, mostly by writing the book in third- instead of first-person. Then I moved on to his dad and read The Law, a Dresden Files novella that came out a couple of months ago. The man is a pro. It was a nice way to see the aftermath of the Battle of Chicago that took place in Peace Talks and Battle Ground (which I maintain should have been one epic book as opposed to two books with weird pacing issues) and gave us the humor and the sneakiness that we have come to expect from Dresden. We were also introduced to a couple of new characters that I foresee becoming integral to the over some upcoming books. Which brings us to now, in which I’m reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King. Like a lot of King stories, he spent a lot of time in setup (like almost 200 pages), but ya know, it’s King. He’s good at keeping your attention even though you’re mostly reading a pretty mundane tale with hints of magic and the supernatural that tell you at some point, we’re going to be in Oz or Wonderland or some other place where the magic is real and a bit mean. Also, there’s a dog, I love her, she better not die. So on that note, don’t have to get spooky if you stay spooky.

  13. Sarah says:

    A VISIBLE MAN BY EDWARD ENNINFUL is the autobiography of the EIC of Vogue UK and the most powerful editor in fashion (sorry, Anna). It is a very good quick read that touches on a ton of different subjects. Bonus: He drags Margaret Thatcher.

    AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY BY DIPO FALOYIN is a polemic, yes, but a very good one. It examines how the countries of Africa have been flattened by racism and colonialism into ‘Africa’ instead of being seen as a collective of countries and people with diverse stories and interests and lives. If you want to see the people of Africa’s countries being whatever the current crisis is, this is a great place to start.

    On my radar are DUKE MOST WICKED, THE SUITE SPOT, and I just preordered THE BANNED BOOKSHOP OF MAGGIE BANKS.

    Happy Reading Everyone!

  14. Mikey says:

    @Lynn: “because it’s middle grade you have that safe feeling that it’s gonna work out somehow in the end.”

    I used to have that feeling too, but then I read Anthony Horowitz’s horror stories for children, and, well, they don’t all have unhappy endings, not even most of them as far as I remember, buuuut…

    Heck, come to think of that, even some of the Goosebumps novels have unhappy endings. Though again, I won’t spoil which ones.

  15. Anne says:

    First past the post for me recently: Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean. It was everything I wanted it to be. Just divine. I came into it with muted expectations because I didn’t love Bombshell, the first in the Hell’s Belles series. But I was blown away. Tempted to read it again which is not something I do often.

    From the sublime to the WTAF: Passion by Lisa Valdez. Picked this up because of a Twitter thread regaling readers with the size of the hero’s ‘accoutrements’ and the wild storytelling that results. The sex scenes can be pretty gynaecological at times, lots of talk about opening “the door to her womb”… I think it was Suleikha Snyder who commented that he didn’t so much open the door as rip it off its hinges! It’s pretty bonkers all round but offers quite a lot of warmth (as well as the heat) to the story for all that. I quite enjoyed it and would be happy to read the second in the (truncated because of backlash to the explicit writing, apparently) series, Patience. I have it on my wishlist so I can stalk it for a price reduction.

    Enjoyed The Return of the Duke by Lorraine Heath. It’s pleasant enough, spies and deposed Dukes, plenty of action, angst and pining. If you like her, you’ll enjoy it. For me though, not much rivals The Duchess Hunt by the same author. And the good news at the end of this book is that she is returning to that world (King makes a cameo appearance in this) for her next book.

    After Heartbreaker, I was a bit spoiled for historicals, so I took more Twitter recommendations and started Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark paranormal series. I read the first three back to back, starting with A Hunger Like No Other (technically book two but I think book one was written later, as a prequel) Books four and five dropped through the letterbox this week. Perfect autumnal afternoon reading, plenty of action, enough heat to keep me warm(!) and decent banter.

    I also started Ann Aguirre’s Sirantha Jax series which has been keeping me company on my Tube journeys. Hoovered up Grimspace (actually I cheated and read it at home as well, I was so taken with it) and have just started book two: Wanderlust. Space opera with sex, what’s not to love. And ‘proper’ pulp fiction, so they are easy to carry around. I am entertained.

    I will save my Kindle readings for part two later in the month, as some of them are pretty wild. What can I say, I’m going through a phase…

    Happy reading all.

  16. Janice says:

    I’m in such a reading slump right now, but I did enjoy “Grave Reservations” by Cherie Priest. Refreshing to have light comedy elements well-balanced in a paranormal romantic mystery story! Thanks to SBTB for the recommendation there.

    I’m going to dive into “The Relentless Moon” next as a reward once I finish an overdue work task. This way I can read Mary Robinette Kowal’s new release, “The Spare Man”, that I have pre-ordered. I have a few other pre-orders but they’re not coming out as soon: why isn’t it October 25 already so I can be reading Jackie Lau’s “The Stand-Up Groomsman”? I love everything that she writes!

    I feel a bit out of touch from my home genre of Regency romances. I haven’t seen any gripping new releases in my news-feeds, but that may be more a judgment of my own scattered mind sucked up by job concerns. I have a reminder in my calendar for next Friday, when hopefully I’ve caught up on work, to trawl through SBTB recommendations and see what is interesting.

  17. Kareni says:

    Over the past two weeks ~

    — finished The Evasion-English Dictionary by Maggie Balistreri, a short non-fiction book on language usage. A review I read mentioned a similarity to Ambrose Bierce, so I was expecting some humor/wit. I was rather disappointed.
    — a science fiction romance by Michelle Diener which I enjoyed ~ Trailblazer (Verdant String Book 3) by Michelle Diener.
    — several romances by Kathryn Moon featuring reverse harems (who was recommended here last time).
    **Lola & the Millionaires: Part One and Part Two. These have a contemporary setting.
    **Also Good Deeds which is a science fiction romance. All three were enjoyable.
    — The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady (The King Henry Tapes Book 1) by Richard Raley; I quite enjoyed this urban fantasy and may actually (gasp!) spend money to read on. The title is very apt as there is a lot of foul language. It’s written in an intriguing/interwoven way that covers three times in the lead character’s life (teen years as a student at a school of magic; working in his twenties; later as the parent of a teen).

    — quite enjoyed the contemporary novel Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan. Parts of this book strained credulity, but it was a fun read. This author excels at witty banter, and I laughed aloud several times. Be aware that this could be difficult to read if a loved one has/had dementia.
    — Appropriate for the season, I read and enjoyed A Gift of Ghosts (Tassamara Book 1) by Sarah Wynde which was a thankfully not scary contemporary paranormal romance…and a book I’ve owned since 2016. BONUS: it is currently free for Kindle readers!
    — After reading the first King Henry Tapes, I enjoyed reading this collection of shorter works in the same urban fantasy world. Note that these do not stand alone: King Henry Short Pack One (The King Henry Tapes) by Richard Raley.
    — enjoyed a reread of the young adult science fiction Earth Girl (Earth Girl series Book 1) by Janet Edwards.

  18. Neile says:

    I love October, though spooky isn’t so much my thing. Neither is noise of the concrete my neighbours are having poured right now.

    Also ditto kkw on IN OTHER LANDS. I’ve read it and listened to it and loved it both times. Fun, inventive, deep, and all. So, so witty, like all Sarah Rees Brennan’s books.

    Recent reads I loved

    Becka Mack’s CONSIDER ME was totally my jam. It’s very long–I read it on audiobook and it was *20* hours, but honestly it didn’t seem that long at all, in fact it sped by, and I realized I was walking around listening with a big grin on my face. It’s a fuckboy-athlete-meets-his-match story, and utterly charmed me. (In general I’m a fan of meets-his-match, though the fuckboy-athlete doesn’t always work for me.) The characters leapt off the page, there was much pining and the author gave the characters time to be in their growing relationship and show how deeply they were falling. I will re-read this just for the joy of it.

    Kate Canterbary’s IN A JAM was also my jam. Again, great characters who were given time to fall for each other. The delightful banter I’ve come to expect from Kate Canterbary, and wow, the child character who could have been over-the-top unbelievable but somehow worked in the context of the story. I loved all three of these characters so much. This was a life falls apart inherit a place in your old small town romance. Such a good one. Kate Canterbary is definitely a buy and read asap writer for me.

    Reads I really liked

    Kelly Siskind’s 50 WAYS TO WIN BACK YOUR LOVER is the story of guy torn out of his teenage life when his father’s actions get his family whisked into witness protection. Finally the threat to the family is over and he goes back to his former small town to try to get his one true love back. His sudden disappearance messed with her badly and messed with his friends and it’s a rough road for him to win the town (and the girl) back over. It felt rewarding, and the forthcoming books about his brothers trying to get their lives back together seem promising, too.

    Jasmine Guillory’s DRUNK ON LOVE is the story of an over-achiever winery executive meeting her match, a guy who seems to be not-so-much of an achiever, though he is. Likable characters and story. I probably would have rated this higher in my reads had I not loved those other stories quite so much.

    Also quite liked Anna Bradley’s MORE OR LESS A COUNTESS, bluestocking-meets-rake tale which had some depth.

    A read I went huh about

    I’m not sure why, but Jodi Ellen Malpas’s ONE NIGHT WITH THE DUKE felt like it was written in another language to me or by a brain adjacent to mine. I understood literally what was happening in the novel but it somehow none of the characters’ actions ever made sense to me. I don’t know what was happening here. I’ve only one of book by her, a recent contemporary, and remember quite liking it but this one confused me throughout. I stuck with it because I was sure it would all come together but for me it never did.

    I read more but I’m bad bad bad about writing things down. I started this year but it all fell apart by March. I’m grateful Libby tracks returns and I can page through my Kindle and Audible with the Read/Finished tags on…

  19. Jcp says:

    I seem to read based on troupes. Right now, I’m in my MOC troupe. I’m reading Blame It on the Vodka. I finished Courting His Amish Wife by Emma Miller. So sweet.both are in KU right now. I also enjoyed Roommates by Sarina Bowen last week.

  20. suzanne says:

    I am currently reading THE KISS CURSE and really liking it so far. I just read SOUL TAKEN, the latest Mercy Thompson; it was pretty good and I liked it better than some of the other recent books in the series (they tend a little too horror for my taste). Before that I read MAGGIE MOVES ON, which was mixed – I loved Maggie, and that house! I wanted it! but the male lead was a little too pushy/overbearing in my opinion. On the other hand I did actually laugh out loud at a few scenes so on balance I enjoyed it even if I wanted to shake the guy several times. I’ve got THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES out and hoping to dive into that soon. (It’s unusual for me to be so themed but I am into witch books this year I guess?) I’ve slowly been reading THE SIREN OF SUSSEX but struggling with it – this is a me problem, I don’t love historicals – I wish I could get more into it though, because it’s a good one. Also recently read ONE NIGHT ON THE ISLAND and didn’t like it – couldn’t get past the big issue with the hero.

  21. Susan/DC says:

    HOW THE WORD WAS PASSED by Clint Smith, which was part of the DC Library’s DC Reads program. Clint Smith is a journalist who visited several locations in the US and Africa with ties to slavery, and each presents a different insight into that painful, poignant history. Beginning in his home town of New Orleans, he leads the reader on a tour of monuments and landmarks – those that are honest about the past and those that are not – that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history and ourselves. It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than 400 people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation turned maximum security prison that is filled with black men whose sentences are almost uniformly significantly longer than those of white men who committed the same crimes and who work across the 18,000 acre land for virtually no pay. It is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers. I knew the basic outlines of some of the history Smith relates, but he makes the stories both personal and representative of the larger narrative we tell ourselves about American history.

    WEST WITH GIRAFFES by Lynda Rutledge. This is a fictional account of an actual event and a much smaller scale story. In 1938 two giraffes survived an Atlantic hurricane to land in New York. They were then taken to the San Diego Zoo, the first giraffes in southern California. The novel follows Rusty Jones, an actual person, and Woodrow Wilson Nickel, a fictional one, as they drive the giraffes cross country to San Diego. It’s really Woody’s story, and he narrates their adventures as a flashback from his nursing home on his 105th birthday. Only gradually do we learn his past. The giraffes are very much characters in the book, as people watch them pass by in amazement and Woody and others take comfort in their presence.

    WHEN WE CEASE TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD by Benjamin Labatut. At first I thought this was nonfiction, but it’s actually fiction, “an examination of the lives of real-life physicists/mathematicians whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining. It’s a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction. Fritz Habr, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger – these are some of the luminaries into whose troubled lives Labatut thrusts the reader, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence.” Can I just say that I powered through to the end but don’t think I understood half of what it was about? I hadn’t even heard of some of the men he writes about, much less knew anything about their work.

    THE HOUSE OF FORTUNE by Jessie Burton, a sequel to THE MINIATURIST. I liked although I didn’t love the first book and definitely liked the miniseries based on it. Didn’t care for the sequel as much, in part because some of Nella’s backstory made her unlikeable, and in part because I missed Johannes, her late husband.

    TRADE ME and YEAR OF THE CROCODILE by Courtney Milan, part of her Cyclone series (the series is named after Cyclone, a mega Silicon Valley company). Tina Chen is poor, Blake Reynolds is very, very rich – he’s the son of Cyclone’s founder – and they are both very young so this series may be considered NA. I found Tina’s father lovely and her mother sometimes exasperating but wholly amazing; the scene where she decorates a cake for Blake’s father is among my favorites of anything I’ve read so far this year. I find the dancing around the nature of the relationship between Adam Reynolds and his late CFO annoying – no need to be so coy. More books in the series are promised but only one has appeared so far.

  22. Karin says:

    I have both the newest Andrea Penrose(Murder at the Serpentine Bridge) and Anna Lee Huber’s Verity Kent mystery(A Certain Darkness) in hand, but actually I’ve mainly been watching the 2nd season of Bridgerton.
    I read a Betty Neels book which I would rate as one of her best; Emma’s Wedding.
    I realized I had fallen, like, around 10 books behind on JAK’s futuristic paranormals, so I read a couple of them, As always, they were fun and entertaining but forgettable.
    And I am literally counting the days until “The Belle of Belgrave Square” is released. The description sounds like all my favorite tropes combined.

  23. Vivi12 says:

    I just read Elisa Braden’s ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT KISS, which starts as an epistolary novella with letters between a stuffy gentlemen and his blue stocking secretary. There’s a missing box, a marriage required to inherit, etc etc, but really it’s just a sweet, charming delight.
    THE ORC FROM THE OFFICE by Kate Prior is a funny take on life after work has been taken over by an undead Lich Lord. The former CEO ‘s office becomes the inner sanctom, but in HR there are still forms to be filled out and rules to follow. Of course you might inadvertently bring on Blood Fever, a prelude to mating an Orc, just by bumping his nose with your elbow and causing a bloody nose. The book is both true to life, (who hasn’t worked for an undead boss?), and a light romance between an awkward orc and head of HR .

  24. Lena Brassard says:

    The streak I’ve been on doesn’t bear mentioning, but I blazed through half a book last night and was mad I had to put it down to sleep. Something something inspirational about all bad things coming to an end blah blah.

    The winner is BLOOD BOUNTY by Liza Street. A rift has opened, dumping demons, vampires, fae (not sexy elves but a catch-all for things that will drag you into a river or grind your bones to make their bread), shifters, and witches into the mundane Wild West and creating an industry of supernatural bounty hunters who, for instance, stop vampires from murdering everybody in your town. Gracie Boswell is such a bounty hunter, AKA charmslinger because, surprise, mundane means aren’t super effective against the supernatural. Despite her work being necessary to keep people alive, she’s not welcome most places because Magic Bad, Boo Hiss. You can generally gauge which way the wind blows by who calls her “bounty hunter” or “charmslinger.” She doesn’t have a kill-on-sight policy because it’s possible to coexist with the things that aren’t actively trying to kill you if you’re not actively trying to kill them. She’s a loner forced to learn the value of teamwork with a bounty hunting Rival Who Is More Than He Seems whom she resents but also thinks about kissing on occasion. Sometimes there’s A Clue I know right away what it means and sometimes there’s a clue-shaped depression I know I need a key to make sense of, and so far they’ve all been paid off. It’s really hitting all the spots.

    Currently free everywhere, which may be a temporary condition related to a new book coming out this month.

  25. LisaM says:

    I have had a bit of a slump, despite having some highly-anticipated books on the TBR stacks. I have to thank the person who recommended Chloe Neill’s Kit Brightling books. I love alt-Napoleonic Wars, especially with women-centered adventures and magic. I just finished the first one and really enjoyed it.

    Celia Lake has a new prequel novella about Carillon and Benton (AKA Peter Wimsey and Bunter), Ancient Trust (there’s a link in her newsletter). It’s about Carillon inheriting the title and trying to set things right with the land magics. In the process he meets and becomes friends with my favorite characters in her books, Richard and Alysoun Edgerton from Pastiche. I went on to re-read Goblin Fruit and On the Bias, and I’ve got two of her newer books on the TBR, Point by Point and The Hare & The Oak.

    I just found out that Ada Marie Soto is releasing a sequel to His Quiet Agent tomorrow, called Agents of Winter, and I’m going to be so very very tempted to call in a sick day.

  26. Vasha says:

    @Susan/DC – I got the impression that in Trade Me the nature of Adam and Peter’s relationship was left undefined because they never defined it, also that one of the multiple things that devastated Adam about Peter’s death was, they didn’t fully appreciate what they had, what a waste. May have to revise my thinking when/if CM publishes her full-length book about Adam.

  27. Susan/DC says:

    @ Vasha: Re Trade Me – You may be correct, that it is the undefined nature of their relationship that has so devastated Adam, even beyond the profound grief he feels at Peter’s loss and guilt he feels guilt over Peter’s death. It’s clear that the relationship was intense and romantic as well as professional, and that, as Blake says, he had two parents and one was Peter. I’m looking forward to future books in the series to clear up the ambiguities and to meet Blake’s sister and mother. I’m a little tired of Adam, however, as I’m a bit bored with his constant use of 4-letter words and in your face pronouncements. A truly self-confident person doesn’t need to try to shock or upset the straight-laced, as Adam frequently does, because a truly self-confident person doesn’t care what the Puritans think and doesn’t waste time with provocation, he just goes about his own business — in this case, a very successful business.

  28. Stefanie Magura says:

    Mom and I have begun reading books on our walk, because she wanted to check out some books from npr’s recommendations. Our first such try is with the Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. I find this book hard to review for a few reasons. I don’t like the pacing, and found it hard to get into this book for about the first hour. Furthermore, I have never read a book with multiple points of view, and since we are listening on audio, this means one narrator for each point of view, which is a style which might work if the book were dual pov/narrator. Secondly, we’re about three quarters of the way through, and are in the odd position of not really liking any of the point of view characters, but wanting to know what will happen anyway.

    I am also trying to tackle my large kindle/audible library, and reading Vicky Dreiling’s How to Marry a Duke, which while not perfect, is a much smoother experience. This book is one in which a duke gets a matchmaker to get him a wife, and she devises a bachelor style competition to make it happen. As you might guess, the Duke falls in love with the matchmaker, and she with him, which puts a wrinkle in things. While this set-up does put the story in the realm of suspending your disbelief, I am enjoying it despite it feeling a bit overstuffed because of the heroin’s secret past, and will continue with the author’s books.

    In non-romance, I’m reading Loretta Lynn’s memoir Me and Patsy kickin’ up Dust, which is about her friendship with Patsy Cline, and if you’re a fan of both like I am, this should be a fun read/listen. Lynn’s daughter, who was named for Cline, narrates this book.

  29. Vasha says:

    @Susan/DC: Gotta admit that Adam isn’t my favorite character in the series either — a little of that one-note brashness goes a long way! I can see why his son loves him, but his employees?

  30. Emily B says:

    SCANDALIZED by Ivy Owens was wonderful – super sexy, great banter. Journalist heroine has a one night stand with the big brother of her former childhood best friend, then finds out the next day he’s a South Korean superstar actor who also has some ties to a story she’s been investigating. Usually a journalist being involved with a source would be a huge no for me, but Owens acknowledges the grey area the heroine is in, and when her relationship has negative outcomes for her story she does face consequences. I didn’t realize until halfway through that Ivy Owens is one half of Christina Lauren. Their standalones have been a bit hit or miss for me, but I will say that the writing always feels very polished, and this was no different.

    KAMILA KNOWS BEST by Farah Heron worked okay for me. It’s basically an Emma retelling. I didn’t really buy the chemistry between the romantic leads and honestly found the heroine a little annoying, but then again, Emma is a little annoying.

    ANGELS FALL by Nora Roberts – I’ve been working my way through all Roberts’ old romantic suspense books. This one, about a chef recovering from a horrible mass shooting incident that caused lasting psychological harm, hiding out in a small Wyoming town, then being gaslit after witnessing a murder, has the trademark Roberts banter between the romantic leads and some great supporting characters (the salty diner owner was great), but it is a very slow buildup to a somewhat predictable climax.

    NEVER SAW YOU COMING by Erin Hahn was a beautiful young adult coming of age story about two teens who grew up in the church and are wrestling with their faith. There’s no sneaky Jesus – Hahn is very frank about the negative aspects of some church’s beliefs and the ways it has impacted not just the two leads but also their families. I’m not a religious person but I grew up in the south surrounded by mega churches, and I recognized so many of the people I grew with in this book.

    BET ON IT by Jodie Slaughter was a cute story about two people living with anxiety and panic disorders who fall in love while attending an old folks bingo game (the romantic leads are not elderly). The story itself was a little thin, but the depiction of living with mental illnesss was spot on.

    JUST ANOTHER LOVE SONG by Kerry Winfrey was a cute second chance romance about a country music star who’s come back home and his high school sweetheart who never left.

    SOMETHING WILDER by Christina Lauren starts off as a fun treasure hunt meets second chance romance, but the more violence parts felt a bit incongruous to me. It was a bit like Christina Lauren does a Nora Roberts romantic suspense, but the tone just felt kind of off.

  31. HeatherS says:

    I just read Rachel Lacey’s “Read Between The Lines” and I loved it. Was completely charmed by the characters, loved both heroines, and plan to buy a copy for my keeper shelf to reread later. I have high hopes of enjoying the next book, “No Rings Attached”, just as much.

    Also, the new collector’s edition of “Red, White, and Royal Blue” comes out today and I’m so here for it.

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