Hey all, it’s February! Whatcha reading?
Tara: I finished the duology from Lee Winter that I was reading last time. The Fixer was great, but Chaos Agent… ( A | BN | K ) I can’t stop thinking about it. Together, they make for a contemplative, thought-provoking interrogation of whether a villain can be truly redeemed, as well as an excellent romance.
Claudia: This sounds amazing! Unfortunately I’m not very enthused by the stuff I’m reading right now, hoping something good will come along soon!
Elyse: I just finished [Redacted due to HarperCollins Union strike], which is a great character-focused, twisty thriller. I just started The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz ( A | BN | K ) so clearly I’m in a mystery-mood
Shana: I’m reading A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. Political intrigue in space! I am here for it.
Sarah: Adam really enjoyed that book and the sequel.
Shana: Oooh! [squeals in sequel] I’m excited to know that there’s a second book. I’ve read a few novels lately with main characters who feel incompetent so I’m enjoying having a 26 year old heroine who is smart and flawed.
Susan: I just finished Yellow Jessamine, a novella by Caitlin Starling. The best way I can describe it is that it’s one of those stories that starts off claustrophobic and just keeps collapsing inwards on the protagonist from there. I can’t tell if that’s because “dark, isolated, obsessive f/f” is Caitlin Starling’s wheelhouse, or if I’m just self-selecting in her works because it’s my wheelhouse
What are you reading this month? Tell us below!
Currently reading: Jasmine Guillory – Party of Two. Only at the beginning, but Guillory’s books usually work for me.
Recently read:
Libba Bray – The Diviners. Good fun, loved the 1920s setting and the mystical stuff. Will probably read more of the series.
Stephen King – Billy Summers. A reread. Once again I cried my eyes out at the end.
KJ Charles – The Price of Meat. Gruesome. Liked it, though.
Alexis Hall – Something Fabulous
[warning: rant and spoilers ahead]
Hall has lately been one of my favorite authors, but I was astonished by how much of a misstep this book was. What I’ve read from Hall seems more and more to be leaning into wacky scenarios and outsized humor but this one was just…mean? First of all, perhaps the absolute worst fictional character I’ve ever read in the person of Arabella Tarleton. But her brother, one of the supposed heroes of the book, is not much better. Poor Valentine spends basically the entire book being gaslit into thinking he’s wrong and bad for…being rich? For not wanting a young woman without resources to be wandering around the countryside alone putting herself in very real danger? Trying to help a family connection because of what he believes his father wanted? Being a virgin? (can’t speak to authorial intention but to me this character was definitely demisexual and he’s repeatedly and vociferously shamed for it until he magically discovers Sex Is Great, Actually and I just…no thank you.) Even Valentine’s own mother was horrible to him. I’m all for cutting the rich white men down to size, but I don’t think this character ever once did something bad on the scale he was being punished for.
I kept reading this book because it was honestly baffling to me, but it left a bad taste in my brain. I’m actually somewhat intrigued by the forthcoming sequel (featuring about the only character from Something Fabulous who had a modicum of sense) but I’m not sure I can overcome my distaste to actually try it.
[end rant. Phew.]
Red Blossom in Snow – Jeannie Lin
I have much less Strong Feelings about this one, but I liked it! The mystery aspect was interesting, and I do love a rule follower character like Magistrate Li, but I did find myself wishing he went a little more…outside the rules. While I believed the love story, I think it was kind of wrapped up too neatly and too well…I needed a little bit more passion. KJ Charles’s review shows up on my Goodreads page, and she describes it as melancholy (in a good way)…I think that’s a good word for it. These are grown-up, temperate characters and its a romance built around the tragedy of lives already lived, it definitely is a more melancholy type of book. And that works. I’m just not sure it’s going to really stick with me, at least for the romance aspect of the plot.
In early because my husband and I are heading out of town to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary. It seems as if I should have read more than three books in the past two weeks, but I’ve been busy at home and at work, and that has cut into my book-reading time, alas.
After a hiatus while she was dealing with some personal challenges, Kati Wilde is publishing again, and I couldn’t be happier! SHERIFF’S BAD BEAR is the latest in Kati’s Wolfkin & Berserkers series of shifter romances. This time out, the hero is a bear shifter & berserker, the heroine is a deputy sheriff. Although Kati provides enough context that SBB can be read as a stand-alone, I would strongly recommend reading TEACHER’S PET WOLF first (the heroes of the two books are brothers, and the heroines are sisters) because it provides a richer background for the story of Brandon and Samantha. The couple dance around the possibility of a relationship while Sam deals with an outlaw motorcycle gang led by a psycho former cop (there’s a full run-down of trigger warnings on the book’s copyright page; nothing is too graphic, but there the book does have a certain level of violence). As always, Kati packs a lot of heat and heart into a relatively short novel, and the story features great discussions about consent (“I know better than anyone that what a body wants and what a brain chooses are two different things,” Brandon says at one point when Sam explains her ambivalence about pursuing a sexual relationship with him), along with Kati’s trademark scenes of super-hot sexy-times. Highly recommended.
I think CD Reiss is right up there with Julie Kriss for being one of Romancelandia’s most underrated writers. She writes smart, sexy romances full of smart, sexy people; and she seamlessly weaves important information into her narratives (this is a woman who clearly does her homework) without resorting to info-dumps or paragraphs of dull exposition. For the last couple of years, Reiss has released mostly mafia romances (which are hot, but—beware—super-duper dark), so I was thrilled that her latest book, FAKE CROWNE, returns to the Crowne Family series about the lives and loves of five brothers (and one sister) from a fabulously wealthy California family. In FAKE CROWNE, music producer Colton Crowne has been wallowing in the aftermath of a love affair gone wrong, but when he meets singer Skye Phillips, he feels energized once more—giving Skye the opportunity to become a successful singer and thereby avoid her annoying helicopter parents’ insistence that she leave L.A. and attend medical school. Skye suffers from acute anxiety & panic attacks, and Reiss does a good job of showing us the exhausting inner monologue that Skye must try to combat every day (“Anxiety knows that everything should be harder than it is. Easy things are lies,” is one of Skye’s ruminations). To maintain interest in Skye’s upcoming EP, Colton & Skye agree to a fake relationship—but this is Romancelandia, so you know where the fake relationship is going. I enjoyed FAKE CROWNE, it’s well-written with flawed but decent MCs and some interesting insight into the music industry. Recommended.
COERCION (after BLACKMAIL & EXTORTION) is the third and final book in Amelia Wilde’s Controlling Interest trilogy in which Bristol Anderson initially embezzled funds from Will Leblanc’s company and had to pay the money back in a most “unorthodox” manner (well, unorthodox in the real world, in dark romance, not so much). By the end of EXTORTION, Bristol & Will are happily in love, so COERCION focuses on external threats to the couple: Bristol’s compulsive gambler father, the kidnapping of her younger siblings, the return of Will’s long-absent mother, and Will’s propensity for participating in underground fights. What I think surprised me most about COERCION is how family focused it is: both Bristol and Will come from large families, and the storyline is focused on the positive (and not-always-positive) aspects of being part of an interconnected group of relatives. Recommended—but read BLACKMAIL and EXTORTION first.
@DDD, congrats on the anniversary! 34 may not be a round number, but it sounds like things are ticking along well.
God, if it wasn’t for informal mother and son book club, I’d have almost nothing good to report. Many DNFs, many not official DNFS but books languishing on the pile that I suspect I’m lying to myself when I say I’m going to finish them.
Son and I read LOOT by Jude Watson and it was really fun. A boy who has grown up with a cat burglar father has to go on the run and find the jewels from a famous necklace his dad stole. But one thing, the necklace was cursed and his dad may have been lying to him his whole life. . . It was twisty and funny (but not over the top slapstick farce) with a nice found family vibe to it. Definitely recommended for middle grade readers. Son is reading the sequel now and I hope I get a turn!
I read the first issue of ONE SIX: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan, the start of a 4 issue series about an alternate history where rioters on January 6th succeeded. Obviously not a fun or light read, but not super dark, yet. Also, as a DC person, I loved the shout out to Ben’s Chili Bowl.
I read FOR VACATION ONLY by Mila Nicks, which was a C read, competently written, nothing objectionable. It honestly might be the book that convinces me to cancel my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I haven’t read anything off of it for months and now the first thing I read is a dud.
A man gets dumped at the altar and decides to go on his luxury cruise honeymoon alone. He hits it off with the cruise’s singer and they decide to be “just friends” for the length of the cruise but of course they catch feelings. It was all very low conflict and fluffy, which I like sometimes! But I think if you’re written something with low conflict in plot, you’ve got to make sure there is some “zing” somewhere else. The best example I can think of is YA writers like Becky Albertalli and Jenny Han. As far as I’m concerned, they write YA rom coms par excellence (can I use that for two writers or is it like the word unique, where only one thing can be unique?). Most of the stories I’ve read by them are not high in conflict. What they do have going for them is witty dialogue and very fleshed out detailed worlds (mundane worlds, but when Albertalli’s characters go to Target it’s like I’m there with them), depth of characters (including side characters), etc. In other words, every other element has to really sing when the plot is light.
This was not bad, but it did not sing. The characters were both very good looking (the heroine has beautiful lavender hair, that was cool) and sweet. They had external conflict problems. Nothing they said was particularly memorable. The traveling around the Mediterranean element was fun, but nothing was very surprising or interesting even there. If it wasn’t for the fact I was reading it for a TBR challenge, I would not have finished it. It might have made an interesting set or cruise line commercials (anyone remember the Love Over Gold Nescafe couple? Giles before Buffy!) or maybe a plot thread on THE LOVE BOAT. I love THE LOVE BOAT, so that’s not the dig that some people might think it is. ;-), I’m just saying if it was a plot thread on Pacific Princess, it would be the one where I get up to check on the clothes in the dryer.
Anyways, onward!
Just finished The Loving Spirit by Lucy Gordon-KU regency. Bawled my eyes out. Highly recommend.
Still in a reread the IN DEATH series mood. I think I’ve read three since the end of last month.
Currently about halfway through ENCORE IN DEATH because I got in early on the library request list. So far, it seems to be a pretty good mystery.
Did spend the first few chapters gnashing my teeth every time the scent of cyanide was described as “almonds” rather than “bitter almonds.”
I can accept the fiction that everyone has the gene that lets you smell it and can identify the scent, somehow, but at least get the right scent.
Wow it has been a bad couple weeks for reading, I’m mostly either not enjoying books as much as I expected to, or trying books because why not and and being shown very clearly indeed why not. Ugh.
There are a couple bright spots, beyond KJ Charles, and Cat Sebastian, who seriously should get medals or something for keeping me going.
The City We Became by NK Jemisin is fabulous if you’ve somehow missed it. No discernible romance to it, unless I suppose you count being in love with a place. And I do actually heart NY so that doubtless helps, but I think she did a great job bringing it to life even if you don’t know the city. I don’t necessarily agree with all her choices (I’m side eyeing Jersey City for example, and Hong Kong, and there are…doesn’t matter) but even so they are fascinating and convincing. She’s undoubtedly one of the best sci-fi writers in…ever.
I liked Illuminations by Kingfisher, although not as much as most of hers. It was too kid’s book for my taste but it’s not her fault I dislike coming of ages stories, it’s not as though the book isn’t up to her incredible standards. I just prefer a romance, and it isn’t. Still worth it.
Everything else was a fail, but there were a few that didn’t work for me that I nevertheless think might really for others here. Sorry Bro by Taleen Voskuni has a great premise. I was super excited for a f/f Armenian diaspora romance, and there lots to like, the writing isn’t bad and the food alone will doubtless make some people really happy. I found the main character intolerable, but if you can feel any sympathy for two faced liars who won’t stand up for themselves – and doubtless some people will think it’s an admirable thing, or at least relatable, to want to placate and please your family of origin, plus, you know, everyone else, all the time – this book could be a great experience. I have no doubt she will find a backbone and some competence eventually, but I couldn’t wait around for it. I thought Alexis Hall had a more endurable people pleaser in the Rosie whatsername Cake book, but I didn’t like her or it much either, if that’s a helpful point of reference.
The Reanimator’s Heart was another one that I couldn’t slog through, it was just not well written. There is so much explaining – all tell no show. But if you have the patience to wade through it as she explains the plot to herself, repeatedly, I suspect there’s a really sweet story there. I still can’t believe a gentle m/m zombie romance /didn’t/ work for me, so hopefully others can love it.
The Magic Between by Stephanie Hoyt had the same kind of appeal and problems as The Reanimator’s Heart. There’s m/m romance with a hockey player and a rockstar so there’s some catnip for most everyone, right? The whole fated mate thing from the blurb is a minor point – if you like that it’s there, if like me you don’t it’s not too oppressive. However. The book is extremely repetitive, characters are posited and unconvincing, with lots of side characters whose only purpose appears to be preventing the already glacial pacing to proceed. But the concept is fun, and it’s probably sweet if you’re more patient than I am. Which most people are.
On a crafty note, Crochet that Fits didn’t have lots of patterns that I was in love with as is, but it has techniques and an approach that seem very promising, and instructions for adapting the patterns that I think I can actually follow (crochet patterns are the only challenging aspect of crochet for me).
I accidentally listened to [Redacted HarperCollins title due to strike] from my audio library because I didn’t realize it was HC until I went to Goodreads to log it. I hid my review in the notes of another title (that I know I will reread), so I will eventually log it after HC gets its shit together.
Hey, Smart B’s! Hope you are all doing well!
First off — did I reread Derek Craven’s book, DREAMING OF YOU by Lisa Kleypas? You bet your sweet butt I did, and I got my 20 year old to read it, too! She loved it (as you will, too, if you have forgotten how great it is).
This morning I was reviewing my reading and realizing that most of it was solid, entertaining, satisfying, but not great. I’ve been reading when I’m exhausted in the evening, and haven’t had the mental energy to try stuff that’s more risky.
If that sounds like the kind of “lite” book experience you need this week, may I recommend:
Suzanne Wright – I have read most, if not all of the DARK IN YOU series, about the demon society, over the last couple of years. Fun, if formulaic. Now I’ve moved on to the OLYMPUS PRIDE series. Similar to the demon peeps, these are shifters who have to contend with an “other,” somewhat sociopathic, entity within them. I am skipping around to read the ones that sound good to me – you will not be confused if you go out of order – read WHEN HE’S AN ALPHA, and WHEN HE’S SINFUL, so far. Not going to rock anyone’s world, but dependable. Like a Starbucks hot chocolate, if you will.
K. M. Shea — Similarly, I have bee digging into her trilogies, all of which take place in the same world, around a city called Magiford. This author has a strong formula – supernatural lady in crisis, other kind of supernatural being who is very powerful gives them a place to stay and access to found family. He is, though kind to the heroine, largely indifferent to her. Over three books she figures out how to tap into her powers/agency, and over time they realize they are in love. There is external conflict, and the development of side characters is pretty well done, if clunky. Read the one with the cat shifter if you are a cat person, KING’S SHADOW of GATES OF MYTH AND POWER series. My only complaint is I keep waiting for the sexy times. On a heat meter, these are at zero – not even anything off page! I would strongly recommend these to a young person home sick from school – or someone who really needs something LITE. Lest I sound dismissive, I’ve read five or six of them. GATES OF MYTH AND POWER series was my favorite, then HALL OF BLOOD AND MERCY, then PACK OF DAWN AND DESTINY. I also recommend skipping around to match your fancy – you will not get lost in Magiford – it’s very straightforward, for a magical world.
Eliot Grayson – I found most of the MISMATCHED MATES books, M/M shifter series, to be stronger than the above. That being said, the one I just read, THE ALPHA’S GAMBLE, was the weakest of the lot – the premise just didn’t hold for me. So read the rest of the series, again, I don’t think the order matters. Generally, they are sweet and sexy, and I’ve even reread a couple of them.
Lillian Lark – FOUND BY THE LAKE MONSTER – M/F monster romance, novella, entertaining, but over before you know it.
COURT OF TRICKSTERS by S.L. Prater was the most interesting book I read over the last couple of weeks – my favorite book in recent reading. M/F paranormal. World building was unique, but not onerous. There was a cliffhanger, so be warned, but it was not just a gimmick – it makes sense in the series. I am really looking forward to the next book. Even though this has many trappings of high fantasy, we were let into the main characters minds in a way that fantasy often doesn’t do well. I also found the prose to be lovely. Enjoy!
Take care, folks! It’s rough out there – make sure you get yourself the books you need!
I recently came across THE BOOK OF THREE by Lloyd Alexander online. I remember reading it when I was younger and really enjoying the series so I’m hoping to re-read it.
I also want to check out GO HEX YOURSELF by Jessica Clare and FAKE by Kylie Scott.
I have a bunch of James Bond, Captain America, and Winter Soldier comics waiting on my TBR pile, along with WINTER SOLDIER: COLD FRONT by Mackenzi Lee (which is a book). Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier is one of my favorite Marvel characters so I’m looking forward to that one.
Read three that I quite enjoyed:
THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY—was totally charmed by the world building and loved all of the characters from Mercy and her family to Hart and his colleagues to the nimkilim (postal clerks who used to be messengers of the Old Gods.) Hart’s character arc is particularly well-done and includes some really interesting growth around loneliness, grief, and companionship. I didn’t spot any obvious sequel bait, but would definitely read any other book that the author writes in this world! Definitely in the running for one of my best reads of 2023.
FIRE SEASON by KD Casey deserves all the kudos it’s gotten around these parts. Casey’s attention to detail and the character arcs for the leads are great. My only quibble is that their books are written in the present tense. It mostly works, but I’ve just started UNWRITTEN RULES and there’s a flashback from three years ago and it’s still written in present tense.
DELILAH GREEN DOESN’T CARE. Enjoyed the complexity of the family and friend relationships in this book. I also appreciated that Delilah’s one night stand at the beginning of the book leads to a major professional opportunity for her (as opposed to shaming or moral approbation or as a signal of how damaged she is.)
January was a slump for me, and I can’t believe February’s half over already
I’d been re-reading an old comfort book I can’t rightly recommend to anyone here when I came home from work last week to discover my cat had torn it to shreds. No idea why. And it’d been one of those long, long days when I just stood there and stared at it for a minute while feeling absolutely nothing inside. I’m going to try to find a replacement physical copy but it’s far from a priority with everything else going on. (My cat is adorable, just…very destructive when you aren’t watching him. Almost more like a puppy than a kitten…a puppy with springs in his legs to help him reach onto the top of the dresser…)
Been catching up on a lot of classics I hadn’t read in high school through a free book site during downtime at work; Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD, John Steinbeck’s OF MICE AND MEN and THE GRAPES OF WRATH, some of Ray Bradbury’s short stories…nothing that works as romance. I have ~opinions~ on them but seeing as this isn’t a high school English class I don’t really have anyone to share with, so I’ll just shout I GET IT THE DYSTOPIA IS EVERYTHING WE HAVE EXCEPT BACKWARDS I GET IT SHUT UP. Anyway I liked most of them, even if there’s a strong undercurrent of ‘technology scares me & it should scare you too!’ and ‘women: are they really people? not convinced myself’ and just general Old White Man tomfoolery.
DNF’d several free/cheap M/M ebooks. Quite a few authors seem to think gay men act like sex-obsessed aliens and I’m getting tired of it. Still working on THE BALLAD OF CROW & SPARROW, a western M/M by VL Locey. Needs an editor or at least a beta reader (the MC makes a healing herbal slave at one point, and there’s quite a few less egregious but similar problems), and runs into the same “have you ever talked to a gay man in real life” vibe at times, but I’m into the idea of an Old West outlaw and good-boy-gone-bad falling in love and I’m willing to keep reading.
Started Octavia Butler’s THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. Haven’t gotten far yet. Interested to see where it goes, mostly because I’ve heard Butler is one you can’t miss. Dystopia set in the near future about how humanity regrows in the aftermath of societal collapse, not a romance as far as I can tell. Reading it mostly on the quiet moments at work.
@Heather M: I skimmed most of “Something Fabulous” a few months back and Arabella was completely obnoxious, always shrieking and overeacting like the heroine in one of her Gothic novels. The book read like a spoof of historical romance and I really didn’t like it at all.
I’ve been reading the manga “Even Though We’re Adults”, a Sapphic romance – with very pretty art – but because one of the women is married, the theme of infidelity may be a hard pass for a lot of folks. It’s very slow building, because the heroines have only kissed and I’ve read 5 volumes, and the marriage between the one woman and her husband seems more like a marriage of convenience and liking the routine, rather than because they actually loved each other. I think I’m missing some cultural information that might make it make more sense.
I reread “Annie On My Mind” by Nancy Garden for the first time in a few years. I could see Annie and Liza settling down into a lifelong relationship like their teachers did.
Not getting much reading done because work gets crazier and crazier. Well, now I have a week off and may get to some more reading!
Got the reissue of Alexis Hall’s GLITTERLAND and reread it. Still a great read, funny and heartbreaking – and very different from some of Hall’s newer books (I was a bit on the fence on Something Fabulous too… but I love several of his other books). The extra content was good, though the annotations didn’t quite work as they should in the e-Book version.
Just started Annabelle Greene’s THE SERVANT AND THE GENTLEMAN, which is part three of a trilogy and I first had to go back to the previous two books to get back into this. M/M Regency, not bad, though not the same level as KJ Charles or Joanna Chambers IMHO. But I need a bit of escapism right now and I think for that it will be perfect.
I’ll finish Shelley Puhak’s The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World later today. If you want to read about 6th-century Merovingian SILs doing (almost) all the things, this is your book. The body count racked up by the one queen is staggering but spoilers.
So I’ll mention my favorite secondary character, their kinda-MIL who has become a kinda-abbess and has all her nuns spending hours a day in reading and copying books. It’s not easy being a bookaholic in the Dark Ages.
I had the extreme pleasure of spending time with Sibling Dex and Mosscap this week. A PRAYER FOR THE CROWN SHY was absolutely beautiful and thought provoking. I could spend a thousand hours travelling with these two. A perfect read. I hope Becky Chambers hasn’t said all she wants with these two.
The KU binge of J. Saman’s backlist continues. Mostly enjoyable, but the 4th billionaire doctor had some consent issues. Having cut my teeth on old skool romances, I feel I’ve achieved some growth here recognizing that the MMC pushed some boundaries big time. On to her rock stars series.
Currently a third of the way through Richard Osman’s THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB. It is a delight so far. Underestimated Joyce and her diary. Elizabeth with her secret past watching her beloved husband fade. Still looking for some onsite into Ron and Abraham. And PC Donna has no idea what she’s gotten into.
Currently reading “The Decagon House Murders” by Yukito Ayatsuji (mystery novel translated from Japanese) and “The Whole Picture” by Alice Procter (history of museums and colonialism). Both are good so far.
“A Restless Truth” by Freya Marske: F/f historical fantasy, the second book in a trilogy and won’t make sense without reading the first. Idealistic Maud Blyth has to solve a mystery on an ocean liner with help from Violet Debenham, a closed-off magician and stage performer. I thought at first there was going to be too much going on in this book for it to come together, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. I like this world, and the characters and plot ended up coming together in a fun and satisfying way. Also just a big fan of Marske’s writing style. I will say that it doesn’t end on a note of finality or long-term commitment for the main couple, but I’m fine with that because a) they are very young b) it’s a very short time frame c) there will be another book in which I’m sure we’ll see them again. Excited that the third book already has a release date for this year.
“The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter” by KJ Charles: Short novella prequel to KJC’s Lilywhite Boys series, m/f historical, asexual romance between a trans woman and a cis man. There wasn’t enough page count for a lot of development but I am planning to read the full-length books soon and will be happy to see these characters again.
“The Priory of the Orange Tree” by Samantha Shannon: This lengthy epic fantasy novel took me quite a while to read, but I was intrigued and invested throughout. This book spans a whole world and has lots of significant characters, but I’ll summarize by saying it starts out following two women: one is training for the most prestigious position in her country, as a dragon rider, and the other is a servant at court in a different country that regards dragons as evil. I liked all the POV characters, although Ead and Niclays were definitely my favorites. There is a f/f romance that’s one plot thread among many, but really well-done, I teared up at the end of their story arc. I have been wanting to read more truly immersive fantasy and this was a perfect book for that experience. Loved this world, very excited for the prequel that’s out at the end of this month.
“Nightwood” by Djuna Barnes: Read this 1930s modernist novel for a book club and truly struggled through the prose. Admittedly haven’t read many books from this period lately, other than early Christie, but I know they weren’t all like this. Couldn’t get into it at all.
“Ducks” by Kate Beaton: Graphic memoir about Beaton’s experiences working in the oil sands of Canada to pay off her student loans. This is very different from Beaton’s webcomics and far more personal. It deals with a lot of heavy topics including being born in an area you have to move away from in order to make money, economic destruction, and being a woman in a very male-dominated industry that overlooks harassment and sexual assault. I thought this was beautifully done in terms of both the art and the storytelling. Will definitely stick with me for a while.
“Allow Me to Retort” by Elie Mystal: A book of essays focused on problems with how the US constitution is written and interpreted and how it’s been used to reinforce racism and other forces of oppression. I read this because I enjoy the author’s columns and Twitter presence, and his voice is definitely consistent in this book. I don’t think I learned much new information because it’s a subject I’m already super familiar with, but if you’re not and would like to learn more, you should pick it up.
Currently reading:
Bound for Perdition by Celia Lake
JUST came out this week, it’s another romance in her WWI-affects-the-mages-of-England world. It’s a cross-class romance, which I really enjoy, and the female lead is a book-binder, so it’s a whole craft I’ve never learned about before. The male lead is a former soldier, invalided out of trench warfare. I really love her male characters. There’s a lot of neurodivergence in the lot, with a number of them being quite emotionally aware.
I’m looking forward to her upcoming M/M romance, which goes back in the late 1800s, about some background characters.
Jane and the Fenland Felonies by Sarah Waldock, a short-story collection that’s part of an Emma (Jane Austen) continuation featuring Jane Fairfax. I really do enjoy the other lead character Caleb Armitage
Madly, Deeply, the Alan Rickman diaries
I’m a huge Rickman fan and this is my second readthru. This time, I’m noticing all the gaps, where the days were edited out. It’s very typically Rickman, who was noted for his silences on personal topics.
I can’t remember the last time I posted so apologies for books previously mentioned.
Read/listened to BLITZ by Daniel O’Malley and loved every word. The early history of the Chequy and its impact today was fascinating. Also very funny. Many of the lines delivered were delightful.
STARS UNCHARTED by SK Dunstall was highly and rightly recommended by Kareni. Space opera at its finest. In line with that, I finally read CONFLUENCE, the third in the Linesman series by the same authors. Kareni, I get it, I understand why these are your comfort reads.
Kate Canterbary’s THE WORST GUY. Once more a believer in the recommendations here, just picked up BEFORE GIRL to complete me.
SOMETIMES PEOPLE DIE by Simon Stephenson, a thriller about mysterious deaths in a London hospital. I’ve read the author’s other books and enjoyed them. Stephenson is also a doctor so the story seemed quite plausible, also incredibly twisty. Recommended.
HOW TO BE EATEN by Maria Adelmann. Loads of good book noise and a completely unexpected ride. Classic fairy tale take on women in a NYC trauma support group. Funny, dark and violent. Ultimately, however, very satisfying, especially how the group becomes the support they each needed. “Ruby, once devoured by a wolf, now wears him as a coat.” Oh, yeah.
WHAT IF YOU AND ME by Roni Loren was excellent catnip: two characters finding their way back to themselves and–bonus–to a newfound other. They have conversations! They listen to each other! Mostly, but you get the idea. I have relationship hope.
MAN HANDS by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby. Laughed all the way through. A fresh and painful divorce for one; a TV star facing public fallout for the other; immmediate and consensual sex; all of which led to one of my most fun reads this year. And it’s part of a series.
@Jill Q: You know you can buy a novelization of the Nescafe Gold commercials, right? My sister and I were reminiscing about those wonderful spots a few years ago, and I picked up a used copy of almost nothing. Still haven’t read it, but at least it’s there if I ever want to!
Found a lovely new-to-me (and the rest of the world, I think): Carley Fortune, who released EVERY SUMMER AFTER last year. It’s beautiful story of a child-hood love turned sour and then eventually, sweet again. The author is Canadian, and most of the story takes place in the cottage lake country north of Toronto.
Also enjoyed the very clever FINDING MRS. FORD by Deborah Goodrich Royce. A large part of the story takes place in 1979, so for those of us old enough to remember that time (not me, of course! ahem) it’s a particularly interesting account of how decisions made then affected the protagonist for the rest of her life.
And I also enjoyed a romantic suspense that’s been hanging out on my Kindle for a couple years: WHITEOUT, by Adriana Anders. It didn’t grab me in the beginning, and I thought seriously of ditching, but a few Goodreads reviews persuaded me to hang on, and I’m glad I did. It’s your typical Sourcebooks Romantic Suspense – lots of anxious, high-tension moments interspersed with hot but never scorching sex.
Over the past two weeks ~
— finished my reread of the Touchstone series with Caszandra, Gratuitous Epilogue, In Arcadia, and Snow Day by Andrea K Höst. I enjoyed them all once again.
— enjoyed Setting the Hook (Love’s Charter Book 1) by Andrew Grey which is a contemporary romance featuring two men who have to make life changes to be together.
— The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain for my old, now online, book group; it’s about a man facing retirement who begins a search for his long ago teen love. While I enjoyed the book, I felt a little distant from the characters. I did find it very British which was fun.
— I am partway through two other books.
— read a boatload of samples on my Kindle.
I’ve been in a new book slump for months, Nothing new pleases me, so I have/had been filling the void by re-reading favorites and hate-reading on KU. Sadly? Fortunately? my KU subscription expired and Amazon isn’t trying to lure me back with a third discounted offer, so it’s all re-reading now. Which is why I was extremely excited to see that Tantor Audio had released a new audiobook version of Jayne Ann Krentz’s THE GOLDEN CHANCE, a single-title contemporary romance originally published in 1990. The story features a classic Krentz conservative businessman hero trying to manipulate a “liberal do-gooder” heroine who has inherited a sizable chunk of stock in his family’s company from her childhood best friend, an illegitimate daughter of the company’s feckless co-founder. It hovers on the edge of being one of those 1980’s glamorous/scandalous soap opera-y novels, but lacks the indiscriminate sex required of a bonkbuster.
Anyway, I was excited by the new release because I hoped the narrator would be Amy McFadden, who has done a great job narrating a number of Krentz’s older contemporary romances (Family Man, Hidden Talents, Silver Linings) released as audiobooks in recent years and because the female narrator on the older dual-narration version THE GOLDEN CHANCE manages to make every female character except the heroine sound horrible. (In Franette Liebow’s defense, all of those women are actually written to be horrible, but I feel as if someone can be horrible without me wanting to bury my head under a pillow every time they speak. The accents. Ugh.)
Alas, the narrator for the new version was NOT Amy McFadden. I won’t name her, since I have nothing positive to say about the narration except that it competently strings together the words from the book. She continues the trend of female narrators of Krentz’s work who bring absolutely no energy to their performance. I have no idea how these narrators are cast and if the author has any input, but — with the notable exception of Amy McFadden — Krentz’s books get narrated by performers with slow, sonorous, plodding tones. I suspect there’s a post-it note on some casting director’s callsheet with the words “mature, sober, serious” on it.
And since I’m being so pro-McFadden, I will say that the best example of Amy McFadden’s work isn’t the handful of Krentz titles she’s performed (although she pulls out a subtle Canadian accent for a side-character in her performance of BETWEEN THE LINES. What a pro!) but Camilla Monk’s SPOTLESS series. So many crazy hijinks, so many different accents and languages.
Covid finally caught me so I spent most of last weekend in a daze rereading most of my Tessa Bailey collection. And then I hit a limit and couldn’t focus on words on the page. I was struggled trying to reread RJ Blain’s Blood Bound because the sequel is in my TBR stack. I liked these vampires the first time I read this but I could not focus on more than a paragraph at a time this time around. I started a DNF/TryAgainLater category in my kindle collection and this is the inaugural book. Last night I finished the audio version of The Dragon Conspiracy from Lisa Shearin’s SPI Files. I’m starting Vanessa Riley’s A Duke, A Lady, and A Baby tomorrow.
I’m reading Laura Frantz’s backlist on Kindle Unlimited and it’s fantastic!! I’ve read Tidewater Bride and The Colonel’s Lady and just those are romantic for the historical clean romance reader who wants to feel like they are “there in the story. I recommend them as gifts for your females friends or relatives who only read Christian or clean fiction with a heavy dollop of romance and protectiveness towards. So far,the characters seem a little older and mature than the standard romance novel. She is a definely an auto buy author at ful price for me now.
I also read Pushing 40:by K. Bromberg which was a steamy sweet and story reverse age gap fake dating plot. Light but satisfying.
I also read the Denver Mountain series 4 book football series by Emily Silver I looked book 2, 3 and 4 in the series best. All books mentioned in this post are in Kindle Unlimited
I read Exiles by Jane Harper. It’s a very good mystery, but let me warn that the last couple of chapters are EXTREMELY creepy. I can’t go into why without spoiling the book, but I ended up heavily skipping those chapters to get to the final resolution, and even with that, I had trouble falling asleep that night. So, be aware. It’s a straightfoward mystery for, like 85% of the book, then it’s a hard exit to YikesVille.
Loved Serena Bell’s WILDER AT LAST, the last in her Wilder Adventures contemporary series, about siblings who run an outdoor excursions company in Oregon. I can never put her books down, and this was no exception.
Also loved Erin Nicholas’s ROCKED BAYOU, the latest in her Badges of the Bayou series set in the Louisiana bayou. Warm, fun, funny!
And have been working on KD Casey’s UNWRITTEN RULES for the past week… an unanticipated road trip and change in work schedule definitely cut into my reading time, but I’m also finding Zach kind of stressful as it feels almost like he’s fighting to drag Eugenio into the closet with him…. Well written but not light.
Oh, and like @DiscoDollyDeb, loved Kati Wilde’s THE SHERIFF’S BAD BEAR.
And happy anniversary, @DDD!
@Darlynne, I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed those SK Dunstall books. And, yes, the Linesman series are definitely amongst my comfort reads!
Many good wishes, @DDD, for a happy anniversary!
@Meg, definitely aware of the novelization! I don’t own a copy but I’ve toyed with the idea of buying one for my friend as a semi gag gift. My best friend and I bonded over our love of those commercials and Mulder and Scully’s chemistry as tweens. Romances came only slightly later. 🙂
@Jill Q: I can still remember the excitement of a new installment of one of those commercials. They were magic.
I think maybe I have read more romance so far this year than all of last year? I will have to check last year’s spreadsheet to confirm…
Excellent:
None
Very Good:
Shadowdance by Kristen Callihan: Fourth in the Darkest London series (historical paranormal romance), this was a hot enemies to lovers story. The hero was literally tortured (in the previous book) and in a very dark place and the heroine had a similarly dark backstory. The ending got a little convoluted, but highly recommended. CW: suicide, sexual assault, torture
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn: First in the Veronica Speedwell historical mystery series, I loved the banter and tension between independent, unconventional Veronica and grumpy, pissed off and haunted Stoker. The ending stretched credulity, but I loved the characters enough that I will read the next in the series.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde: First in the Thursday Next series, I had this on my Mystery TBR, but I am not sure how to categorize this book – a quote on the back says “genre bending” and I agree. Set in England in an alternate history (Wales is an independent republic with bad relations with England and Dodos have been brought back from extinction and are now pets), people cross into novels and characters from those novels into real life with disastrous results. It was funny (in a sly amusing way, not a laugh out loud way) and compulsively readable. I plan to read the next in the series.
Good:
Of Mutts and Men by Spencer Quinn: Tenth in the contemporary mystery series narrated by faithful sidekick (and dog), Chet, I enjoyed this one more than the last. This series is a favorite of mine and this one did not disappoint.
Meh:
In Too Deep by Kira Sinclair: So much promise, but so boring. The heroine is an underwater archeologist with a secret and the hero a former Navy SEAL turned underwater salvage company owner. It was so very very boring and forgettable.
The Bad:
Winterblaze by Kirsten Callihan: Third in the Darkest London series, I disliked this one as much as I liked Shadowdance. The hero and heroine have been married 14 (!) years before the start of the book and it just felt like there was too much history that got skimmed over and almost dismissed. Then a twist about halfway through the story made me super uninterested in rooting for the romance – the paranormal part was interesting and kept me reading, but then the villain at the end was too stupid to even believe – if he really was that stupid, he would have been defeated at the beginning of the book.
I’ve had some good reading, but probably not as much of it. I am hip deep into a cross-stitch of a book dragon that I’m naming Sigmund. He’s going be the third and final piece of my dragon wall. Since I’ve been doing a lot of stitching, I’ve been tearing through The Americans (great show) and also started a rewatch of ER (it’s been a long time, might as well be a new show at this point, happy to announce it remains a banger). Let’s see, I read Gleanings, a series of short stories and novellas from Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe universe. He edited and wrote several of the stories. Several other authors contributed as well, including Jarrod Shusterman, David Yoon, Sofia LaPuente, Michael H. Payne, and Michelle Knowlden. Like any other story collection, there were variations in quality. My favorites were probably Never Work with Animals, A Martian Minute (Scythe Goddard was apparently a sociopath from the jump), and Formidable, which gave us Scythe Curie’s backstory. Then my library hold on All the Blood We Share by Camilla Bruce came in, which was a historical fiction about The Bloody Benders of Kansas. Not a lot is known about The Benders. They ran an ersatz inn and general store, and robbed and killed travelers that stayed with them, and right as things were closing in on them, decided to GTFO and were never seen again. The book is told from 3 viewpoints, Kate Bender, the daughter of the house and absolutely a psychopath, Elvira Bender, who doesn’t necessarily agree with what her family is doing, but does like the money that comes with it and does nothing to stop it from occurring, and Hanson, a neighbor boy that has befriended the family and eventually starts to notice the weird goings-on. Bruce has a lot to make up out of whole cloth, simply because not a lot is not known about them, except that Kate occasionally worked as a spiritualist and about 11 bodies were eventually found on their property. It was a quick, interesting read, and not as gory as you might expect. After that, I had been holding on to The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim. Lim just does really, really beautiful writing, from the lush descriptions of the dragon kingdom to the way she describes food (the heroine’s love language can best be summed up as “feed me”, which, samesies). Which brings us to now, in which I dived into my Netgalley pool and fished out Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier. It is a new entry of the “Rich People Are Assholes and Also Someone Gets Murdered” genre, set against the world of show jumping. So far, very much enjoying. So until next time, let your love language involve food.
@Jill Q. My inner pedant can’t resist answering on the offhand chance your question isn’t rhetorical: par excellence (can I use that for two writers or is it like the word unique, where only one thing can be unique?).
My rule is you can do whatever you want with words as long as other people can figure out what you mean with minimal effort, and you’re perfectly comprehensible there. Yes, par excellence, like best or greatest is something assholes will get all Highlander about, but life is not in fact a zero sum game, and it is absolutely possible to have multiple favorites – ask any parent with more than one kid. If anyone ever gives you a hard time about how many people can be preeminent just ask where they stand on diaeresis and leave them to lecture into the void.
Similarly, lots of things are unique, and ok sure, by definition they’d have to be one a kind in different ways, but so what, in this case you lump the two of them into a category, and that is group is unique in sharing all these traits you like. Anyone who can’t parse that is just gate-keeping. People will also get persnickety about degrees of uniqueness, but haters gonna hate.
Just finished THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY, and can recommend it. Nice, solid romance with lovely found family and fantasy world building tropes. I’m not a fan of enemies-to-lovers, and there were a few moments where I gritted my teeth over the “JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER” problem, but luckily the side plots were interesting enough that the story wasn’t too bogged down by it. Would love to read another story by this author set in this world, since I feel like there was an amazing amount of side detail for one book.
Currently reading AN UNKINDNESS OF MAGICIANS by Kat Howard. There’s some romance, but I don’t know if any of it will pan out — this is a lot more about hereditary magic, about the price of magic and the competition to find out which magical House will stay in control of the Unseen World. I’m 75% of the way through and liking it so far, but it’s intense and there’s some violence, although I’m personally squeamish and nothing is giving me the Eeks yet. Enjoying the nods to Shakespeare and Arthurian legends as well.
Thoroughly enjoyed Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman. It reminded me a bit of How To Fake It in Hollywood, in that it is a properly grown-up story. It’s set in two timelines: ‘now’ and ‘then’ (ten years ago) when the protagonists first met. He’s a Hollywood star and she’s a journalist; two intelligent people just trying to work out how to be together. It is a relatively angst-free, thoroughly swoony story. I loved it.
The Rebel and the Rake by Emily Sullivan held my attention. The second in her League of Scoundrels series. Historical m/f, featuring a gentleman spy, who isn’t really the rake he professes to be, fighting his attraction to our bluestocking heroine who ruffles his feathers. Set at a houseparty with all the opportunities for steamy encounters that you might wish. Enjoyable but not earth moving.
The Weekend Deal by Jaqueline Snowe is definitely at the fluffier end of my reading spectrum. Forced proximity, best friend’s little sister, frenemies to lovers, it brings plenty of heat. Fun and sexy.
Similarly, Sleepover by Serena Bell was an easy and fun read. A fairly lightweight small town story about single parents ending up as neighbours after a one-night stand. None of these are my favourite themes but it was free, brought some decent heat, with likeable characters. I even got quite emotional at one point. Part of a series which I may now explore.
Their Duchess is the second in Jess Michaels’ trilogy of three MMF erotic, historic novellas. Sensual and delightful.
On the subject of novellas, Alexandra Vasti has written two historical beauties which are free if you subscribe to her newsletter: In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation and In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint. Highly recommended.
And finally… I broke out an Emergency Kleypas: Again the Magic. Two relationships for the price of one. Joyous. I may have to break out a couple more.
I’m at a point where my TBR (physical and digital) contains too many books to read unless I live to be 100. I need to stop buying new books and read the ones I’ve got. Maybe…
@Anne: one of my favorite quotes is from Schopenhauer who said, “We buy books in the hopes we will live long enough to read them.” I think about that every time I add yet another book to good ol’ Mount TBR.
January was a weird reading month for me and how is February halfway over already? Yikes.
I’m reading “THERE SHE WAS: The Secret History of Miss America” by Amy Argetsinger, which I am thoroughly enjoying, being a sucker for anything behind-the-scenes as well as secretly fascinated by pageants. I have the first Witcher novel, “Blood of Elves” by Andrej Sapkowski, queued next and I’m about halfway through the audiobook of Sarah Waters’ “The Little Stranger”. I think it’s probably the best of her five books to date, but very underappreciated because it’s a ghost story of sorts rather than a lesbian historical. It’s a pity she’s sort of vanished since “The Paying Guests” came out; what’s up with that?
On the What I am NOT Reading side – I recently hurled Karin Robards’ “The Last Victim” across the room, metaphorically, having utterly failed to care about anything or anyone in it; it read like a talented 16-year-old read “Mindhunter” by Mark Olshaker on the train and then made their own. I knew it was going to be wonky but was not expecting it to be actively crap. Sigh. You can’t win them all!
@kkw, no worries about pedantry here! I’m an ESL teacher by avocation (and sometimes vocation) and love pondering grammar, word origins etc. I find how everything evolves fascinating. My husband and I nerd out over it together and if I could live my college years over again, I’d probably major in linguistics.
I have Very Significant Work Stress at the moment so my reading has been a bit all over the place, but I did fly through KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE by Deanna Raybourn in like 24 hours and it was glorious. Sure there was some suspension of disbelief required but it was like James Bond meets middle aged female rage and I was entirely here for it. Also continued with the Edge series by Ilona Andrews and read BAYOU MOON which was very good, although not quite as snappy as the first one in that series. And I read FAKE by Kylie Scott which was just OK for me. Her writing is good and the setup was cute but I felt like there were parts of the story missing and they were the parts that would have made me invested in the relationship so I just…wasn’t. Next up is HELL BENT by Leigh Bardugo so things are about to get creepy in my reading world.
I’ve fallen into the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, only to be thwarted with a hold list for #5… So I wait. But I devoured the first 4 over the weekend.