Welcome back to Whatcha Reading? Here’s how we’re wrapping up November:
Lara: I just started Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban ( A | BN | K ) and so far I’m charmed!
Shana: I’ve been wanting to read that, Lara!
I just finished Game On by Seressia Glass. ( A | BN | K ) It’s about a gamer and who streams her scathing critique of a game that lacks racial diversity…and the hot, nerdy CEO of the game company who responds to the public rebuke by enlisting her help in diversifying the company’s offerings. I’m not a gamer, but I loved this book so hard!
Sarah: So System Collapse came out on the 14th and I’ve read it twice now – once in print and then the audiobook. Kevin R. Free does a superb job of the narration, and there were jokes I missed the first time reading through that I caught in audio.
Elyse: I’m getting caught up on Harper St. George’s Gilded Age Heiresses before her new series comes out next year. I’m reading The Duchess Takes a Husband.
I’m very much in a gilded age mood since I started watching The Buccaneers.
Sarah: Have you watched The Gilded Age aka Real Housewives of 1882?
Elyse: I have been yes!
Sarah: How do you like it?
Elyse: It’s ridiculous and fun.
Amanda: A new series by Harper St. George?!
Claudia: Oh that is news to me too! Meanwhile I’m on a reading lull.
Tara: I’m reading a really cute f/f holiday romance called Make Her Wish Come True by A.L. Brooks. ( A ) It has a single mom and a woman who’s recently finished raising her sister.
Whatcha reading right now? Let us know!
I’m getting a lot of reading done for my Thanksgiving. Thanks to long car rides, in-laws who do most of the hosting, and waking up at 4 am and having a hard time going back to sleep. They can’t all be fun reasons. . .
I read in one big gulp on Thanksgiving Day (between family time) FAKING CHRISTMAS by Kerry Winnfrey and it was just delightful in a silly Christmas romcom kind of way. It has a little bit of the vibe of the old movie CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT. Woman who is a hot mess lies to her boss about running an adorable goat farm that actually belongs to her twin sister. Then she gets stuck living the lie when her boss gets snowed in for Christmas. Of course there’s a grumpy friend of the family there who she thinks she can’t stand who has to pretend to be her husband. Look, this is a book with both a disaster heroine and a ridiculous premise and if that’s going to be an issue, I would not recommend it. It is chockablock with hijinks and shenanigans. It’s also closed door. But but (!) it has lovely, snappy banter, no real heavy conflict, fast pace and no one is a celebrity or a millionaire and nothing hinges on going viral. I laughed a lot, whooping with laughter more than once. Yay! Contemporary romance, it’s been so long. I don’t want to break up. . .
In the cozy mystery front I read DOUBLE SHOT DEATH by Emmeline Duncan and HOMICIDE AND HALO-HALO by Mia Manansala. They were both delightful, but more palate cleansers than the main dish for me.
I may get one more book done this weekend or may keep marathoning MONK. Either way, onward!
I read the new Nora Roberts, the first of the Lost Bride Inheritance trilogy, which was quite pleasant, though I thought there were too many ghosts. The romance seemed a bit understated for Roberts, but I was ok with that for a change.
Also read We Could Be So Good – I haven’t got on with Sebastian’s books too well before, but this was ok though didn’t blow me away.
Reading a biography of one of the daughters of Charles Dickens, Katey, by Lucinda Hawksley, which is interesting and I’m horrified all over again by how Dickens behaved to his wife, and his sending of most of his sons overseas.
Just started Grave Expectations by Alice Bell, which I’m enjoying – it’s a mystery, though I haven’t got to that bit yet. Interesting set-up. Country house setting with ghosts. It was a Radio 2 bookclub book and has rave reviews from people like Ben Aaronovitch.
I knew I could rely on my girl Kati Wilde to pull me out of the book doldrums—and her latest Dead Lands fantasy-romance, THE HARVEST BRIDE, did not disappoint. Although THE HARVEST BRIDE can be read as a stand-alone, I would recommend reading THE MIDSUMMER BRIDE first because Bannin, the hero here, is a supporting character in that book, and there is continued fallout (almost like a barbarian form of PTSD) in HARVEST from the curse that turned people to stone in MIDSUMMER. After being encased in stone for ten years, Sarya finds herself alone—her fiancé long remarried, her parents having “adopted” her fiancé, his wife, and their children. She lives by herself in a cottage and keeps her eyes on the monsters that occasionally threaten the land. Bannin, a fellow soldier, loves Sarya, but does not pressure her; as he puts it, “…there was blunt and there was badgering. He would not nag her into a decision she wasn’t ready to make.” As Bannin & Sarya fight together to bring down a particularly gruesome monster, Sarya gradually comes to see Bannin as less the blowhard she thought he was and more the good-hearted, loyal, and brave man he truly is. If THE MIDSUMMER BRIDE was about love being the greatest magic, then THE HARVEST BRIDE is about kindness being another form great magic too. Highly recommended.
I thoroughly enjoyed DELAY OF GAME, the second in Ari Baran’s Penalty Box series of m/m hockey romances. If the first book, GAME MISCONDUCT, was a rough & gritty antagonists-to-lovers, then DELAY OF GAME is a gentler exploration of friends-to-lovers, with two long-time teammates, Nate & Zach, moving from being close friends to being hook-up bros to being something deeper. Nate is the extremely serious team captain, plagued by anxiety & insecurity. Zach is a reformed party boy, completely at ease with his bisexuality and coasting along on his charm (as he puts it, he relied on “his smile, his dimples, and his abs” to smooth his path). Nate & Zach dance around their feelings for each other, but because Baran puts us in Nate’s and Zach’s heads, their “big mis” is understandable: we know their pasts and their assumptions and their feelings, so why they end up at cross-purposes is completely plausible. DELAY OF GAME reminded me very much of two of my favorite m/m sports romances: Cait Nary’s SEASON’S CHANGE and KD Casey’s UNWRITTEN RULES (although in DELAY OF GAME’s teammates-to-lovers/bi-awakening set-up, it might be closer to Casey’s FIRE SEASON). Highly recommended.
Annika Martin’s THE GRUMPY BILLIONAIRE is the next in her Billionaires of Manhattan series of rom-coms wrapped around serious centers. GRUMPY is a trope-fest—grumpy-sunshine, opposites-attract, boss-employee, older brother’s best friend—but wonderfully individualized and well-written. As a young girl, brightly outgoing Stella felt misplaced alongside her serious mathematician parents and older brother. She also had a huge unrequited crush on her brother’s best friend, Hugo. Years later, through a series of circumstances that are gradually revealed, Stella finds herself working for Hugo. He is in pursuit of a perfect system that will explain all human behavior, while Stella is still the irrepressible and optimistic person she has always been. The chemistry between Hugo & Stella is off-the-charts (the book has some smoking-hot sexy-times), but can two people so fundamentally different make things work long-term? Martin brings in characters from the previous Billionaire books—and there’s also a set-up for the next book—and, as she has in all of the previous books, Martin addresses some serious issues, including how family dynamics can inadvertently alter a child’s self-perception in damaging ways, but as always she keeps the romance front-and-center. Highly recommended.
UNHOLY TRINITY is the latest book in Garrett Leigh’s Rebel Kings series of motorcycle club romances. I would not recommend reading this book before reading the other books in the series because situations and characters do recur. UNHOLY TRINITY is an MMF story between Orla & Nash (an established couple throughout the series) and Locke, an older man who has recently joined the Rebel Kings club. As is often the case with Leigh’s books, the sex tends to be easier than the emotional turmoil the characters must address: in TRINITY, Nash still grapples with the toxic homophobia he was exposed to during his upbringing, while Locke has to deal with the physical & psychological injuries he sustained when he was part of another club. As Locke puts it, this “thing between the three of us, it was delicate, and most of it had nothing to do with sex.” The book is full of the standard triggers for MC romances, including significant violence (most of it in the past, but still referred to), so proceed with caution if this is not your jam. Leigh also does what appears to be a bit a retconning here: connecting characters in the Rebel Kings universe to characters in some of her other books (for example, Locke is the twin of Logan from CHRISTMAS ON FIREFLY HILL and Nash is the cousin of Finn from LUCKY MAN). The book ends on not one but two cliffhangers—there’s another book featuring Orla, Nash, & Locke scheduled for 2024. Recommended—but you have to read the previous books first.
Despite its corny title and snark-worthy cover (what is that guy doing to his nipple??), THE STEP BRO SITUATION by new-to-me writer Jessie H. Reign is a well-written N/A m/m romance with a surprisingly sensitive portrayal of a young man who hides his sadness and fear behind a façade of sarcasm and cynicism. After living with his mother in Australia during the covid shut-down, Jesse moves back to the United States to live with his father and his father’s new wife and her son, Luke. Luke is a total cinnamon roll/golden retriever of a person, but he reveals hidden depths when helping Jesse to deal with his mother and how Jesse tries to hide the way she hurts him. While I would have preferred more about how Jesse finally broke the co-dependent & toxic dynamic he has with his mother, I found the romance between Jesse & Luke engaging throughout. Although there is no domestic discipline or Daddy role-play in THE STEP BRO SITUATION, the writer Reign most reminds me of is Misha Horne with the focus on relatively young but extremely sincere characters coming to terms with their sexuality and/or the person they love. Recommended.
After finishing THE STEP BRO SITUATION, I tried TRIPLE TROUBLE, the next book in Reign’s The Situationship series. This one features two best friends who experience a double bi-awakening when they meet an out-and-proud young man nicknamed “Trouble” and eventually join with him to become a throuple. There is a lot of sex in this book—and I do mean a lot (and there’s a scene late in the book that features an act that I’m not sure is actually anatomically possible)—but it’s the emotional side of things that is best about the story, especially when it focuses on the issues that arise when three people are trying to figure out how their relationship will work: the story addresses things like jealousy and how the characters will interact with each other individually. Like THE STEP BRO SITUATION, TRIPLE TROUBLE is much better written than its title, cover, or blurb would suggest. Although I didn’t like it quite as much as STEP BRO, I still found TRIPLE TROUBLE to be a worthwhile read. Recommended for any fan of MMM.
I just finished HIS AT NIGHT by Sherry Thomas and thoroughly enjoyed it. Sherry Thomas is a new to me author and I’m looking forward to reading her whole backlog. Romance, spies, martial arts, mystery! Sign me up!
I’ve DNF’d a lot of novels recently so this list will be short.
I did enjoy IRIS KELLY DOESN’T DATE by Ashley Herring Blake, the last book in her f/f series that started with the superb DELILAH GREEN DOESN’T CARE. The whole series, even with a token Black love interest in the second book, was kind of overwhelming white but IRIS KELLY DOESN’T DATE was a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. The whole series must be read in order though. Also I am such an easy mark for ️ created family.
The other book I did not DNF was IT HAD TO BE A DUKE by Vivienne Lorret which is a) a great romance novel b) a great character study of the heroine and c) a nice portrayal of female friendships. It earned a place on my keeper shelf and was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. Warnings for depictions of panic attacks if that is an issue for you.
I am currently reading CHAOS TERMINAL by Muir Lafferty which features a sentient space station. It is essentially Murder, She Wrote in space. I am also reading CALIFORNIA AGAINST THE SEA: VISIONS FOR OUR VANISHING COASTLINE by Rosanna Xia which is about dealing with coastal erosion.
I hope everyone had a better reading month than I did!
I’m debating what to read next. Lots of holiday romcoms waiting on my TBR pile, including UNLEASHED HOLIDAY by Victoria Schade; A CAT CAFE CHRISTMAS by Codi Gary; and THE TAKEDOWN by Carlie Walker, which also features an undercover spy.
A friend recommended THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman, so I’m hoping to check it out soon.
Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! 🙂
I recently read SYSTEM COLLAPSE by Martha Wells. Sarah B.’s excellent review does a much better job of talking about the story than I can, so I’m not even going to bother trying to explain why it’s such a great book. Even if you, like me, almost exclusively read romance and are wary of anything that doesn’t at least have a romantic subplot, I’d take a look a the Murderbot series and give it a serious thought. So many of the things that give me joy in the romance genre – the emotional intelligence, the focus on relationships, the need we all have for human connection – are present in these novels.
Thanks to this blog, I discovered FANGIRL, by Rainbow Rowell, which has to be about the best new adult novel I’ve ever read. The characters come across as real, unfinished adults whose dramas result from being young, not TSTL. The book focuses on a college student, Cath, who is an enormous fan of Simon Snow. She loves the novels, the community, the creative outlet of writing fan fiction, and the positive reactions of the community to her writing. Unfortunately, other things in her life are not going so well. She’s worried about her father’s health. She’s feeling abandoned by her twin sister. She’s feeling disconnected from her writing professor, who sees fanfic as stealing. There is a romance here, and it’s a nice one, but it’s more of a subplot than your usual romance.
IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros: like FOURTH WING, this book is looooooong but keeps moving and ends on a cliff hanger. When I read Fourth Wing, the world building and story telling kept me in the moment enough that I was able to look beyond the obvious absurdities. This time around, the inexplicable politics and policies around the war college were a little harder to overlook. My guess is that the author heard a lot about these criticisms and that is why she tries to address them in this story, honestly without a great deal of success. Having said that, this is a rip-roaring good time of a novel. If you can watch silly movies and enjoy them in spite of their logical fallacies, you can read this book and love the delicious chemistry between the leads, the dragons (because dragons!), the fighting, the absurd bad guys, and all the other melodrama along the way.
Last night’s edition of bad decisions book club was a true winner for me so I thought I’d add my own kudos to Roan Parrish’s THE HOLIDAY TRAP. The book was lauded in a recent SBTB post (thank you all who post so diligently). It does have a set-up similar to the movie, THE HOLIDAY, except with queer protagonists and set in Maine and New Orleans. Rather than over-the top rich Hollywood mansions and post-card quaint rural England cottages, Parrish gives us exceptionally picturesque middle class rentals (and renters). THE HOLIDAY TRAP focused less on the romance and more on the personal growth of the four main characters, each of whom has a different familial entanglement they need to address including narcissism, codependency, neglect, and caretaking for a parent with dementia/Alzheimers. These were not background problems to the romances, either. I was blown away with Parrish’s sensitivity to each character but also her firm hand in not allowing any one of the characters to brush the issues to the background. I don’t feel it was preachy, just an outstanding display of how to set boundaries and acknowledge one’s needs and desires. It’s just what I need right now. Parrish made the locations/landscapes/environments as much a part of the narrative AND character building as the myriad secondary and tertiary people. She even added a reclusive author and a series of (imaginary?) fantasy books as part of one character’s journey, quite literally. It was a book well worth reading in my continuing journey of learning to be present in mind, body and soul. (It’s coming along!)
This morning I read an article that said that over half of the adults in the US do NOT read a single book for pleasure in a given year. Astounded by that, I mentioned it to my son-in-law who then schooled me well on how younger adults (40 and younger) simply don’t have the time to read because they are working too hard — and with too many jobs — to pay for rent and food. He then walked me through the current prohibitive cost of even the most basic (and crappiest) housing and the fact that minimum wage jobs will not keep a person housed and fed. Clearly emerging from about eight years being cut off from the world while caretaking (hermitting?) means facing realities that one might prefer avoiding. Parrish’s book gave some interesting insights into facing some of that hard stuff on the interpersonal level. Now, if only I could figure out how to help with the housing issues on a wider scale …
I’m currently reading “Blood & Steel” by Helen Scheuerer – it’s a fantasy romance. I also bought a signed paperback bundle from Elisabeth Wheatley’s website as a treat, so I’m looking forward to getting those, too. I’m really on a fantasy romance kick at the moment, but am avoiding SJM like the plague. I need to get started on “Iron Flame”, which I bought the day it came out, but otherwise am looking for recs of lesser known/indie fantasy romance authors who are really good.
One of the books I enjoyed most this year is Tessa Bailey’s Window Shopping. The contemporary romance I expected when I started her My Killer Vacation got off to a great start. Then it veered into fantasy. Schoolteacher FMC saved up to take her brother on a week long beach holiday. Why? To cheer him up following the death of the 22 year old panda he was caretaker of at the panda rescue and rehabilitation center. “Displaced or abandoned pandas are brought to the animal sanctuary…Some are so young they haven’t learned to survive on their own yet.” This book is not set in China.
Emma Melbourne’s Miss Fleming Falls in Love, and The Mysterious Mr. Oliver, are enjoyable Regencies. Despite the premise – following her father’s suicide, Miss Fleming contacts the man he was indebted to – the novel is suffused with flashes of humor. The second novel is her sister’s story. Emma Melbourne is another author I don’t recall reading much about here, but her books are a welcome pleasure.
I’ve also been reading Elizabeth Cadell. She wrote from the late 1940s through the 1980s. In the early 1990s, my library was discarding her books. Recently many are republished as ebooks, and I’m enjoying their availability. All those I’ve read are gentle, and most are charming, family-relationship, falling unexpectedly in love stories.
Didn’t get to much reading in the past weeks, tried a book from a street library that was so depressing I had to stop. I was travelling the other week, but found that listening to podcasts is great for long train journeys as I love to look at the scenery passing by, so I caught up on my favourite podcasts instead of a lot of reading.
THE CHRISTMAS VETO – Keira Andrews (m/m contemporary). This is a very fluffy, sweet holiday story with fake boyfriend and best friend’s brother tropes. Connor, one of the MCs was the angry, hurt teen in THE CHRISTMAS DEAL. The Christmas Veto is perfect as a stand-alone, but reading The Christmas Deal first will give you a bit more background as maybe make you understand some of Connor’s motivations better – and double the holiday feels! The first book is a bit more angsty though, but the ending is all the more rewarding (and one to have tissues ready for!). Yep, I had to go back for a reread!
I’ve just started EMMETT by LC Rosen but am not far in yet. I love Jane Austen, Emma and Clueless, so I am all in for this modern m/m Emma retelling!
All hail Murderbot. I had to pause for an emotion or two reading SYSTEM COLLAPSE. And my book club group loved ALL SYSTEMS RED, several members flew through the entire series. Conquering the world, one SecUnit at a time.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT KITTY KARR by Crystal Smith Paul: Hollywood then and now, a fictional examination of race, gender, family and fame on multiple generations of Black women. Outstanding.
OLD GOD’S TIME by Sebastian Barry: All the trigger and content warnings, all the red flags. A lyrically written, utterly devastating story set in Dublin and centered on the crimes of Irish priests. The completely unreliable narrator is a retired Garda who is asked by former colleagues what he remembers about an unsolved murder. I’m glad I read it. I hate that I read it.
In happier reading, THE HOLIDAY TRAP by Roan Parrish is a delight and just what I needed. More, please.
HER FAVORITE RIVAL Sarah Mayberry: Thank you to the SBTB reader who mentioned this novel! I enjoyed it so much. Workplace rivals to friends to more, filled with Mayberry’s trademark warmth and insight into characters, families, and falling in love.
HER FAVORITE TEMPTATION Sarah Mayberry: I had no idea that there were two books about both sisters and I’m thrilled. Currently reading and enjoying very much.
LUKE AND BILLY FINALLY GET A CLUE Cat Sebastian: This novella had my whole heart even though I have zero interest in baseball.
COURTING SAMIRA Amal Awad: While there’s romance it’s more of a coming of age story. I was rooting for Samira to find happiness however that worked for her.
SYSTEMS COLLAPSE Martha Wells: Obviously not a romance or love story unless you factor in that I would die for this Sec Unit, so there’s that.
Is it time for whatcha reading already? What day is it? What even is time?
Haven’t finished any books lately, I keep starting new ones and abandoning them. Been rewatching Big Fat Quiz on YouTube and listening to podcasts – “Brydon &” is so comforting, I could listen to uncle Bryn talk all day.
Nothing much to report, folks. Been working a lot and getting ready for Thanksgiving.
Renewed my library card so that I could get books online again. Best thing ever! Our regional online library system is called CW MARS (Central and Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing). You can use the Kindle or Libby apps to access the books. Really fantastic!
Of course the first thing I borrowed was Julie Garwood’s THE SECRET to reread. It has aged very well, and though I’m not sure if any single woman in the 1100’s would be actually self-training as a midwife in real life, I still enjoyed the discussion of controlling your own body and birth. Will probably reread some more of her backlist interspersed with other books.
Julie Kriss’ Road Kings series was good. Definitely a mood thing.
Also reread OPEN HEARTS by Eve Dangerfield. Excellent story of people bringing out the best in each other.
Stephanie Burgis’ GOOD NEIGHBORS was a fun read, though I felt that the related short stories could have been spiffed up into one more cohesive and deep diving book.
Short story THE HARVEST BRIDE by Kati Wilde (Dead Lands 4.5) was excellent. More Dead Lands books, please! Never knew that I was into barbarian romance books until I read KW and Milla Vane’s, but I sure am! I like the fact that the women are allowed to be sword wielding bad-asses, too.
Listening to THUD! By Terry Pratchett, which is a favorite. Love to hear all the different British accents used to depict the different characters. Very satisfying.
Very thankful for the Bitchery! Hope you all are having a safe, healthy holiday season and taking good care of yourselves with lots of wonderful books!
Flew through what I have of the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig which cheered me up as I hoped it would. Now I’m reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer which is making me depressed all over again. I’m finding it very dark and my Editor Brain, which never turns off, is gritting its teeth over the many incorrect or inappropriate word choices. Didn’t this book have a copy edit? Don’t know what I’m reading next but NOT continuing on with this series.
I should have included in my post a re-read of Susanna Kearsley’s Named of the Dragon. Published in 1998 – some elements have not lasted that well (including the baby’s name, Justin). Want to re-read her The Shadowy Horses, which I remember loving.
Over the past two weeks ~
— For my book group, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. I’d read this last April so decided that a reread was in order. Repeating what I said then, “I very much enjoyed it (well, except for the parts that made me sad). I received my PhD in Chemistry in the latter eighties, and the book reminded me of how grateful I need to be for women of earlier decades who fought battles that I did not.”
— Last Ship Home by Erica Rue was a quick read about a soldier left behind on an alien world. It’s currently free for US Kindle readers.
— Ignition Point by Jami Gray is a prequel work to her Arcane Transporter urban fantasy series and can be found in the collection, Arcane Transporter Box Set I by Jami Gray. Be aware that it has a lot of deaths.
— Bump in the Night (Medium at Large Book 1) by Meredith Spies. This was a contemporary paranormal m/m romance featuring a medium as well as an out of work professor who is hired to serve as a skeptic on a television show about a haunted house. It was a pleasant read, but I don’t see it as a book I’ll reread.
— a very pleasurable reread of The Book of Firsts PLUS Four Kings by Karan K Anders; this duet features young adults in a very exclusive high school and then in their first year of college. It’s a reverse harem story set in a fictional Greenland. The books are a comfort read.
— Last night I finished LIGHT of the MAGOS: The Spark Within by T.A.C. Wilson. I won this book and felt compelled to finish it even though it was a bit of a slog; it’s a young adult fantasy novel featuring teens with magic whose families have been feuding for generations.
How is it the end of November already?
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
4.5 stars
Engrossing, thought-provoking, unabashedly weird SF classic that feels remarkably fresh today (despite some outdated language).
You could read it just for the exploration of how language shapes how and what we think. You could read it, as I initially did, for the queer history – written by a bi Black man, with a bi protagonist and polyamorous characters. Or you could just go along for the ride and enjoy a rollicking space adventure.
Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe by Emma Törzs – fantasy
4.25 stars. Immersive, compelling debut fantasy with magic books and family secrets. There are two low key romances (f/f and m/f) but the most important relationships are family – birth and found. The pacing is a little off and the payoff wasn’t quite as strong as the setup but I really enjoyed this debut.
The Honeymoon Mix-up by Frankie Fyre – ff contemporary
3.5 stars. I wanted to enjoy this Sapphic romance set at a couples only queer resort more than I did. I couldn’t suspend disbelief about the (ridiculous even by romancelandia standards) fake dating set up and more importantly, I didn’t care about the couple. It’s by a new to me author and I liked her voice, but this book wasn’t for me.
Hope everyone’s having a great couple weeks, with lots of great reads!
Here are mine:
– NOT FAKING IT WITH THE COLONEL by Tracy Brody. The basic premise is that a widowed army colonel is being expected to remarry in short order to lay to rest the concerns of his team and commanding officer that he might otherwise behave inapproriately. Despite the fact that this idea made me want to grind my teeth in frustration that this could possibly be a thing (in the same way that many dress codes invoke my ire), Ms Brody did a great job with Graham and Erin, the heroine. As slightly older characters, they juggle not only their only feelings but the concerns of their grown children, and I enjoyed their story.
– Jennifer Bernard’s THE DO-OVER is the seventh in her Lake Bittersweet small-town series. As you might guess from the title, it’s a second chance story for Jenna and Billy, who married very young, and then divorced when Billy’s professional baseball career took off. Ms Bernard portrays them very well, and it felt very believable how they’d changed and grown over the years.
– WRECK THE HALLS by Tessa Bailey was a library hold, and I picked it up a day before it was due and read the whole thing. Melody and Beat are the famous kids of. two former rock stars who’ve had a falling out. They agree to try to get their mothers to agree to a Christmas Eve reunion, and. Ms Bailey makes it work. I found the two of them clueless at times but charming, and I couldn’t put it down.
– Taryn Quinn’s BABY, BE MINE, the next in their baby-crazy small town of Crescent Cove. This installment has restaurant owner Mason and mom-to-be Emmaline in a sort of work-place romance. I found it cute and funny.
– Like @DiscoDollyDeb and @Big K, I loved THE HARVEST BRIDE. Kati Wilde can’t miss as far as I can tell. And it’s just about time to reread her Christmas contemporaries… The Wedding Night, Secret Santa, and All He Wants for Christmas (they’re available in a handy-dandy boxed set called Three Nights Before Christmas).
And like @DDD, I also loved DELAY OF GAME, and also loved how succinctly @DDD explains some of why. So, ditto?
Wishing you all lots more great reads!
Apologies if this is a duplicate–having trouble posting, LOL…
Hope everyone’s having a great couple weeks, with lots of great reads!
Here are mine:
– NOT FAKING IT WITH THE COLONEL by Tracy Brody. The basic premise is that a widowed army colonel is being expected to remarry in short order to lay to rest the concerns of his team and commanding officer that he might otherwise behave inapproriately. Despite the fact that this idea made me want to grind my teeth in frustration that this could possibly be a thing (in the same way that many dress codes invoke my ire), Ms Brody did a great job with Graham and Erin, the heroine. As slightly older characters, they juggle not only their only feelings but the concerns of their grown children, and I enjoyed their story.
– Jennifer Bernard’s THE DO-OVER is the seventh in her Lake Bittersweet small-town series. As you might guess from the title, it’s a second chance story for Jenna and Billy, who married very young, and then divorced when Billy’s professional baseball career took off. Ms Bernard portrays them very well, and it felt very believable how they’d changed and grown over the years.
– WRECK THE HALLS by Tessa Bailey was a library hold, and I picked it up a day before it was due and read the whole thing. Melody and Beat are the famous kids of. two former rock stars who’ve had a falling out. They agree to try to get their mothers to agree to a Christmas Eve reunion, and. Ms Bailey makes it work. I found the two of them clueless at times but charming, and I couldn’t put it down.
– Taryn Quinn’s BABY, BE MINE, the next in their baby-crazy small town of Crescent Cove. This installment has restaurant owner Mason and mom-to-be Emmaline in a sort of work-place romance. I found it cute and funny.
– Like @DiscoDollyDeb and @Big K, I loved THE HARVEST BRIDE. Kati Wilde can’t miss as far as I can tell. And it’s just about time to reread her Christmas contemporaries… The Wedding Night, Secret Santa, and All He Wants for Christmas (they’re available in a handy-dandy boxed set called Three Nights Before Christmas).
And like @DDD, I also loved DELAY OF GAME, and also loved how succinctly @DDD explains some of why. So, ditto?
Wishing you all lots more great reads!
Although I missed the last WAYR, I still don’t have that much to report – for those who celebrated, I hope your Thanksgiving was yummy. Now on to books:
Excellent:
None
Very Good:
None
Good:
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING LITTLE: WHAT YOUNG CHILDREN REALLY NEED FROM GROWNUPS by Erika Christakis (Nonfiction – Child Development): A deep dive into what is wrong with early childhood eduction, but where the book faltered somewhat was offering actual concrete examples of solutions and going into detail on those solutions. Still, I would recommend it for parents with young children.
MEH:
SHIELD OF WINTER by Nalini Singh (Paranormal – M/F – Psy-Changeling #13): While the overall storyline in the Psy world moved forward well, the romance here was blah because it was basically insta-love and insta-lust. The only conflict for the romantic couple was external. The books are still strong enough that I am continuing on with the series.
A DANGEROUS CROSSING by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Contemporary Mystery – Khattak & Getty #4): I read this for my mystery book club and had not read the first three in the series, which left me extremely lost as events from previous books were mentioned frequently and figured into many of the side plots. This book also suffered from severe info dumping by the author – the story takes place mostly in a refugee camp in Greece and involves refugees fleeing the Syrian Civil War. Also there were two romantic subplots going on and gah, neither of those landed well as a romance reader. CW: Torture, human trafficking, abduction
The Bad:
None
I keep not managing to post, I have been crazy busy with the most absurdly protracted move and ongoing family stuff. I can’t begin to remember what I haven’t posted sorry. And all I care about at the moment is the Emily Wilson translation of The Illiad (not, technically, a romance, no) because y’all I am so excited about the fact that unlike every other version I have read she bothers to translate the names of Hector’s horses, in Greek (as we all know) Xanthus, Podargus, Aithus and Lampus.
Which means.
You ready for it?
Swiftfoot, Blondie, Flame, and godlike Sparkle.
That’s right. GODLIKE. SPARKLE.
Probably for the rhythm she changes the order, because Pod-argus now I think about it is totally foot-swift, but the fact that this is legit has absolutely made my week.
I’ve finally got into audiobooks mostly because the library had the CHILDREN OF THE KNIFE novella by Bujold and I was in. I’ve also been doing a re-read of T. Kingfisher’s Saint of Steel series because it looks like the fourth one is coming out in the near future. I am a simple woman who loves a convent of werebear nuns.
I didn’t expect to like Annabelle Green’s THE SERVANT AND THE GENTLEMAN as much as I did because I had been eye-rolling a bit at the whole Society of Beasts set-up but this was good enough to redeem the previous books for me. Some lovely handling of class and consent and power-dynamics while still being light and enjoyable. It engaged with the more problematic structural issues and managed an ending that was both happy and plausible, especially given she didn’t handwave away the legal problems of historical homosexuality (Sorry if that’s a muddle of a review. I just was surprised and impressed by the handling of tricky topics)
Currently wearing my Pumpkin King t-shirt, because it is seasonally appropriate.
So, often before a Thanksgiving break (I’m off for 5 days, and then two weeks over the Christmas/winter break, because working for a university is a cheat code), I will pore over my Kindle backlog looking for a big honkin’ book. Fortunately, I tend to hold onto Ken Follett for just these kinds of occasions, so I went in on the 2nd in his Century trilogy, Winter of the World. This one spans from shortly before WWII, as Europe is troubled by watching the beginning of the rise of fascism, particularly in Germany, to after WWII, showing the aftereffects of the invention and use of nuclear weapons on international relations and the beginning of the Cold War. As usual, the history is fascinating, and I really enjoy how this series is following a few interconnected families that are spread across different countries. Ended up falling into an internet rabbit hole about how Nazi Germany systematically murdered people with disabilities. I knew about it, of course, but was not as informed about how planned, systematically organized, and widespread that element was. It was horrifying (and I of course was doing this at like 12:30 at night, because sleep is for people that aren’t currently horrified). I have less than 100 pages left and will likely finish it today. On audio, while playing Powerwash Simulator of course (the kid and I have finished Career Mode, and are now working our way through the bonus jobs, I also finished the Final Fantasy DLC), I’m listening to America the Beautiful? by Blyth Roberson. It’s quite funny, and sharply interrogates such topics as eco-tourism, climate change, reproductive rights in different parts of the country, and what freedom looks like for a woman that is taking an extensive travel trip by herself (hint: it looks like everyone you know telling you the different ways you’re likely to get murdered). Am quite enjoying it, as is my daughter, who is now a huge Powerwash Simulator fan, and because of that is now essentially listening to the book with me.
So until next time, I’m about to tuck into some leftovers.
I don’t have a lot to report, I mostly reread stuff from my keeper box to see if I really needed to keep them. Lisa Klepas-LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON-still a keeper. DEVIL’S’S BRIDE-time to give it away. MY LORD SCANDAL by Emma Wildes-time to give it away.
I read an old historical by Marjorie Farrell, JACK OF HEARTS. This was a very good follow up to RED, RED ROSE, which is a 5-star book for me, and a real heartbreaker. It’s comparable to one of Carla Kelly’s military Regencies. Neither of these books are light reads, there are serious themes related to war, illegitimacy, homophobia, class differences, the plight of factory workers in the 19th century, and more. But the love stories are wonderful, with hard-earned HEAs and I highly recommend them.
I’m now halfway through with A DANGEROUS DUET, a Victorian mystery by Karen Odden. Very atmospheric. The heroine, a talented pianist, is cross-dressing as a man so she can earn money performing in a seedy music hall, which she needs to do to pay for her music school tuition. No lords and ladies in this one, but lots of interesting lower and middle class characters.
I’m also reading MURDER AT KEYHAVEN CASTLE by Clara McKenna, the 3rd in an enjoyable Edwardian mystery series. The H&h are both horse-mad, so lots of stuff about horses and horse racing.
@Kareni: Should we be calling you Dr. Kareni with that PhD in Chemistry? Wow. Doesn’t matter how long ago, well done, you.
Merry Pucking Christmas by Kelly Jamieson was pretty adorable. I’m not normally interested in hockey romances(bad Canadian) but I enjoyed this one. Nils and Harley are lovely , mature people and there’s a hint of a secondary romance. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series and no issues following along.
There’s an epilogue if you subscribe to the author’s newsletter.
@Darlynne: thank you for the kind words. I will also answer to ‘Hey, you!’
I’m going to take advantage of the fact that I’m super-late to this post and just go long with this comment:
SYSTEM COLLAPSE by Martha Wells (A+++++++) – I hope writing Murderbot brings Wells as much joy as reading Murderbot brings me. Also? Holism!
CHECK & MATE by Ali Hazelwood (B+) – The 18-year-old heroine (a former chess prodigy) captures the attention of the reigning world chess champion (the 20-year-old hero) when she defeats him at an open tournament.
1) I’m not the gatekeeper for young adult literature, but other than their ages and the heroine’s concern about being left behind by her bff when the bff goes off to college, I don’t get why this is categorized as YA. It reads no differently than Hazelwood’s adult romances.
2) I don’t think the heroine having multiple casual hookup partners because she’s so traumatized by her tragic backstory that she can’t trust people qualifies as being sex-positive. (Apparently I *am* the gatekeeper for sex-positivity. Who knew?)
3) Except for the recent Carlsen–Niemann cheating controversy, I know nothing about chess (I think knowing nothing about chess can only help with your enjoyment of this book), but a Goodreads review pointed to Magnus Carlsen and Anna Cramling as models for the protagonists. I find it interesting that Hazelwood is still leaning on fanfic/RPF for inspiration. (It also makes me uncomfortable, but I’m not sure that’s fair because romance writers take inspiration from real people all the time.)
ACCIDENTALLY AMY by Lynn Painter (B+) – The protagonists have an awkward meet-cute at a Starbucks when the heroine grows impatient waiting for her pumpkin spice latte and decides to pick up the order being called out for a woman named Amy. The MMC discovers she’s not Amy when she shows up for her first day at work and he’s introduced to her as her grandboss. (Although I’ve never actually watched New Girl, the heroine gives off quirky Zooey Deschanel vibes.) My highish rating is for the protagonists’ banter, which I found pretty charming. The narrative had the uncanny ability to bring me to the point of DNF because I would grow exasperated with whatever the current conflict was, then it would either resolve it or amp it up. I was impressed by the author’s timing, but wouldn’t it be better not to bring me to that point in the first place?
THE NANNY by Lana Ferguson (B) – Financially strapped and unwilling *for reasons* to resume her profitable OnlyFans channel to make ends meet, a graduate student takes a job as a nanny for a single father and his daughter. I expected the OnlyFans background to bring more drama, but it’s basically just a handwave to sex positivity. I’m very excited for Ferguson’s December release (The Fake Mate) based on the premise alone, so I decided to pick this up to check out her writing style. My hopes are still high, but I’m now prepared for her to just randomly drop a significant narrative ball in the forthcoming book, such as the protagonists’ shifter identity.
WRECK THE HALLS by Tessa Bailey (B-) – The offspring of two former rock stars are asked to do a reality show with the goal of reuniting their mothers’ band. I loved the mothers, with their estranged AbFab vibe, but the protagonists had multiple performative/exhibitionist/I-don’t-know-what-to-call-it-when-you’re-acting-out-your-relationship-in-the-public-eye moments that turned me off. Examples that are BIG SPOILERS:
2) When her mother shows up at her apartment for a heart-to-heart, the heroine expects her to discuss whatever it is under the lens of the always-present cameras.
3) In the climactic scene, when he walks off into the night because of manpain, she tracks him down with the aid of/under the eye of all their social media followers who have shown up for the mothers’ reunion concert: “he turned her in circles to the tune of applause and whistles, People cheered from the windows of apartment buildings above.” Eew.
LOVE INTEREST by Clare Gilmore (B-) – Enemies-to-lovers workplace romance where a woman working in the finance division of a buzzy website/internet media empire feels like her opportunity to be a project manager for a new subsidiary was stolen (via nepotism) by the board chairman’s son. I thought the protagonists had good chemistry and banter until the “nefarious corporate shenanigans” plot took over and ruined the romance.
THE ROM CON by Devon Daniels (C+) – An editor for a feminist media site decides to test the tips from a 1950’s dating guide on the manly co-founder of a rival (overtly sexist) men’s site. I like the premise, but the execution — and its conservative agenda — made my skin itch. Waxing nostalgic about the 1950s as a “magical…time that felt simpler and slower” is basically telling you’re a white supremacist without telling me you’re a white supremacist.
IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros (C-) – This is the second book in Yarros’s Empyrean series (aka Fourth Wing) and I am blessed to be buddy-reading the books with a friend willing to listen to my endless griping about…well, everything, but mostly the self-absorbed narrator, Violet Sorrengail. In Violet’s head, everything is about Violet. And to make it worse, all the other characters behave as if they’re side characters in Violet’s story. However, Yarros has roped me in to book 3 with her cliffhanger ending, so who’s the real fool here?