Happy June, everyone! We’re quickly entering “beach reading” season in the States. Here’s what we’re digging into at the beginning of this month:
Lara: I’m having a bit of a tumultuous time of it, so I am comfort reading GA Aiken’s Dragon Kin series. It’s compulsive reading!
Elyse: I just gave up on The Shadows Between Us. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s a YA fantasy with a villainous heroine, but it just wasn’t working for me
Sarah: I’m reading Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood. ( A | BN | K | AB ) It’s very charming and poignant, and I’m very excited that I’m doing a podcast interview with the author soon.
Tara: I’ve been reading A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s probably the messiest friends-to-lovers romance I’ve ever read and I had no idea how much I needed that.
Susan: I’m reading Therapy Game Restart by Meguru Hinohara and goddddddddddddd I forgot how much I love her stuff. It’s messy and fun and both of the main characters are trying really hard to not be disasters about each other and not managing it
(Also, for people who are familiar with BL tropes: the dicks are not invisible!)
Shana: I’m reading Isabel and the Rogue by Liana de la Rosa ( A | BN | K | AB ) and loving the sister dynamics so far. Isabel was a mysterious side character in the first book in the series and it’s fun learning more about her. This one of those books where I read the first paragraph and already knew I’d love it.
Sneezy: I’m reading The Duke’s Fake Sister by Jyagan (original novel by Rose Line) on Manta.
I’d initially dismissed it at first, but it turned out to be a bit of a dark horse. Props to the translation team! Their work really made the story immersive for me!
Whatcha reading? Tell us in the comments!
Like many others here at the Bitchery, I keep starting books and not liking them enough to finish. But one I *did* really like since the last WAYR was Lilith Saintcrow’s A FLAME IN THE NORTH. Cleary Tolkien-inspired, but with a female druid-ish protagonist and her valkyrie bff/shieldmaiden. (This is not a lesbian romance, and there may be a male love interest, but if so, it’s slow burn.) This is only book 1 of a trilogy, but at least book 2 is released on June 11.
My comment above was clumsy: the development of a romance between the druid and her valkyrie bff is not the central narrative arc of this book. For some of us, a lesbian retelling of LOTR would be catnip, but I don’t think that is where this series is headed. Of course, I could be wrong! Apologies!
I like to tackle some type of project for my summer reading and this year I decided to try the The House of Niccolò series by Dorothy Dunnett. It took me three tries to get into her other, more famous series, The Lymond Chronicles but once I was in, I was in. This series is set in the late 15th century in Bruges with the dyer’s apprentice, Claes. Claes at first seems like a bit of a good natured idiot, but as the book develops you realize he’s actually brilliant and plotting against everyone. The series about his rise to fame and fortune.
These books are good, but very hard to describe. As I told my husband “it’s set in 1460 and it feels like it was written in maybe 1760.”(The first in the series was written in the 80s). Very dense, very historical, plots within plots and lots of characters (many of them historical figures). A lot of characters are kind of nasty or morally gray at best (especially the hero). If you’ve ever read Patrick O’Brian or Lawrence Norfolk you probably can have at least an idea of the language. Nicholas/Claes (like Francis Lymond) is annoying at time in the sense that he’s dashing, clever at almost everything without even trying, and always 5 steps of everyone else in the book. I would ordinarily find that character pretty annoying but Dunnett makes him suffer a lot so I can’t help but feel for the guy. He’s the type of person that you’re never quite sure how far he’ll go for something. Plus everyone is so witty, so that’s fun. There’s some romantic threads, but it’s definitely not a romance. It also has some pretty morally repugnant things in it – slavery, child abuse, etc.
It’s definitely something you have to sink in and read in larger chunks, so this is my time to shine! 1 book down, 7 more to go. If I read the whole series in one summer, it will be a miracle.
Happy reading everyone!
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET is the first book in Nicky James’s new Shadowy Solutions romantic-suspense series. Before you embark on this book, I strongly recommend you read the prequel, INVISIBLE SCARS, which sets up the dynamic between former-cop-turned-private-eye Diem Krause and Toronto PD records clerk Tallus Domingo (just go with the names). Diem is a huge, scarred recluse, barely keeping afloat emotionally or employment-wise, severely damaged by an abusive childhood (check the content/trigger warnings before deciding to read). Tallus is vibrant and loquacious, but he sees something in the hulking Diem that calls to him (the feeling is mutual on Diem’s part, although he has trouble articulating this). In INVISIBLE SCARS, we see how the men met and worked together on their first case. In SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET, Diem is hired by a widow to look into her husband’s affairs (in all meanings of the word). Eventually, Diem caves and calls on Tallus to assist him as the case starts to encompass events going back over ten years. James is obviously developing the relationship between Diem & Tallus slowly—and I give her credit for including sex scenes that aren’t very successful because of Diem’s inability to be clear about his needs. As he notes, “Communication was my downfall. It was why I avoided it.” I’m really enjoying this odd-couple pairing and look forward to finding out where James is taking these guys. Recommended.
FEN, by new-to-me writer Barbara Elsborg, is well-written & angsty romance featuring one character who has a life-limiting medical condition (a form of muscular dystrophy) and another who is trying to avoid any romantic entanglements because of a devastating loss in the past. How these two disparate men meet, gravitate toward each other, and reluctantly fall in love is told in a episodic way as supporting characters (both sympathetic and not-so-much) flesh out the story. Fen, who generally walks with the aid of a crutch, meets Ripley, a barrister, when Fen (who repairs and restores antiques) purchases some of Ripley’s belongings that were donated to an auction accidentally-on-purpose by Ripley’s mother. The relationship between the two men develops slowly as both of them have reasons for being cagey about falling in love. Elsborg writes some incredibly witty banter—which is both funny and feels true to the characters—while at the same time delving into the lives of two people who feel limited by their circumstances. I really liked Fen’s refusal to feel sorry for himself (even when I felt sorry for him and even when he is beset by circumstances beyond his control or making); and I especially enjoyed how Elsborg showed Ripley finally moving away from the tragedy of the past. FEN is marred slightly by a set-way-too-far-in-the-future epilogue, but other than that, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Emily Spady’s DUKE FOR THE SUMMER is a gorgeously written travelog of a romance with a very misleading title. Had it not been for the illustrated cover featuring two people on a Vespa, I would have assumed the book was a historical romance and never looked at it twice. Nate—a bit of a slacker from the Pacific Northwest—discovers he has inherited an Italian dukedom through his unknown father (think “King Ralph”—but not quite as drastic). Jacopo is the caretaker of the house in southern Italy where Nate has to live for three months in order to claim the dukedom (just go with it). Over the course of the summer, the openly-gay, laid-back Nate and the tightly-wound, completely-closeted Jacopo begin to fall in love while both of them (especially Jacopo) deal with the pressures weighing them down. Much of the book is a love letter to Italy—or at least an idea of Italy: I defy anyone to read DUKE FOR THE SUMMER and not want to catch the first plane to Naples. Despite leaning heavily into many cliches (the nonnas who make fresh pasta from scratch every day, the enormous get-togethers full of food and prosecco, the endless smoking, garrulous, loud, and nosey friends & family), there’s a warmth and kindness to the book that makes it a comforting warm hug of a reading experience. Recommended.
With SO HECTIC, Eve Dangerfield at last completes her Silver Daughters Ink trilogy about three sisters (last name DaSilva) who have to step in and run their father’s tattoo studio when he suddenly goes AWOL. I’ve been waiting for years for Dangerfield to finish this series (for a while, it appeared that she wasn’t going to), so perhaps that’s why I found the story of Tabitha DaSilva and her friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-fuck-buddies-to-lovers boyfriend Toby a bit of a letdown. That’s not to say SO HECTIC is a bad book, but Dangerfield is trying to wrap up a lot of loose ends (I strongly recommend reading the first two books, SO WILD and SO STEADY, so you won’t be completely lost) in addition to presenting us with a heroine who is often so self-destructive you want to simultaneously protect her and yell at her. When another character suggests that Tabitha is using her D&s/somewhat BDSM-y relationship with Toby as a way to administer self-harm, I couldn’t help but nod my head a little. Toby, it should be said, is a total golden retriever/cinnamon roll, but is also willing to accept without question that what Tabitha asks for is really what he should give, even when it’s not healthy for either of them. Both MCs felt a little too immature for my taste. As Tabitha says of their relationship, “It was so good and so bad and so fucking awful.” And as Toby thinks of his bitcoin billionaire status, “He thought money would help him deal with his baggage, but it had only made it easier to ignore.” These people need therapy stat! SO HECTIC is worth the effort to find out what happens to the DaSilva sisters, their long-gone mother, and their more recently disappeared father, but I only recommend reading it if you’ve already read the first two books and want to know how the story ends.
I’m looking forward to BOOKS & BROADSWORDS by Jessie Mihalik, which comes out next week.
Waiting on my TBR pile are DUNGEONS AND DRAMA by Kristy Boyce and EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by Heather Fawcett, which I have seen a lot of good reviews for.
I’m also planning to continue the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. Up next for me is book #2, THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE.
Hope everyone has a great weekend! 🙂
I enjoyed Truly, Madly, Deeply. It was fun even if I can’t remember a single detail.
I did NOT enjoy Never Blow A Kiss. It was excruciatingly boring.
Currently Reading:
Love At First Book by Jenn McKinlay
The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson
All three books are too new to recommend them or not but I am hopeful after a string of DNFs that my bookish luck is changing.
Been a little slow on the reading front of late, although I enjoyed Susanna Allen’s A MOST UNUSUAL DUKE and A DUKE AT THE DOOR. They’re Regency shifter books, but a bit different in that there are lots of different types of animal shifters and, you know, the Prince Regent is a bear shifter. Nothing too serious going on here, but totally acceptable fluff.
Can’t remember if I mentioned it in a previous WAYR, but Julie Anne Long’s MY SEASON OF SCANDAL was also solid. Really liked the banter and character development. (The cover isn’t great; ignore that.) It’s number 7 in her Palace of Rogues series but I think you’d be okay reading it as a standalone.
I am currently waiting impatiently for THE UNDERMINING OF TWYLA AND FRANK to come out (hurry up, July 2nd!!!) The first book in the series (THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY) was my top read for 2022 and I am desperate for the sequel.
My favourite so far this month is one of @DDD’s recommendations from May:
RENT: PAID IN FULL by JESSE H REIGN. M/M contemporary.
And boy, was this a whole heap of smutty fun. Proper enemies (college roommates) to lovers. Rich boy pays poor boy for ‘services’ while secretly yearning for him. Delightful. I bought and read the sequel immediately – WORK: STRICTLY PROFESSIONAL (TBR, what TBR??). Not quite as good as RENT but still pretty damn good. Recommended if you like that sort of thing.
I do.
And along similar but much, much darker lines, I came upon a dark M/M series and just decided to run with it: UNDER HIS HEEL by ADARA WOLF. I’m just going to repeat ‘dark’ once more and follow it up with ‘bleak’. Like nothing else I’ve read before. A series of four books following the same pairing: Tracht, a spaceship captain, and Alex, the criminal he buys as his bondservant (ie: sex slave). I think I must have read about it in a piece discussing unlikeable protagonists because these two are about as unlikeable as it gets. I had to skim some of it as it veered way past BDSM and flew too close to torture porn for my taste but for whatever reason, the stories and characters held my attention and I read all four books. The series has its charms but proceed with caution.
Needing something lighter after that, I decided that some billionaire shenanigans would be just the ticket. I turned to one of my reliable billionaire writers: NICOLE SNOW (see also Annika Martin, Olivia Hayle). In ALMOST PRETEND, rich grump August rescues, then gets fake engaged to artist Elle. There’s a bit of an age gap and a family business to sort out. Does exactly what it says on the tin and very satisfactorily too. Fun.
Then, along the same lines, I saw TRAPPED WITH MR WALKER by ELLE NICOLL on offer and thought I would give a new author (to me) a go. Not quite so successfully though. I never thought I would hear myself say that a book has too much sex but this one just shoehorned it in everywhere. No advancing the storyline, just banging(!) it in there at every opportunity. It contributed to the book being too long and too repetitive. Not an author I will come back to. Felt like writing by rote.
Luckily the next book I picked up, FIGHT OR FLIGHT, by SAMANTHA YOUNG, was a solid four stars. M/F contemporary, frenemies with benefits. I liked the cast of characters, all pretty grownup in their approach to life. At nearly 400pp, it could have done with a bit of an edit but it’s sexy, absorbing and a satisfying read.
Haven’t read much historical lately but A DUKE OF ONE’S OWN by EMMA ORCHARD caught my eye. It’s very witty, sexy and heartfelt. Feisty, rule-breaking miss accidentally woos starchy Duke. You know how it goes. It’s very well done and I shall seek out more from the author. Recommended if you don’t mind a ‘modern’ take on period drama.
And finally… I finished the LINESMAN trilogy (LINESMAN, CONFLUENCE, ALLIANCE) by S K DUNSTALL. Another Bitchery recommendation. Huzzah! Excellent, character-driven space opera. Will re-read.
Happy reading, all.
While I wait for all the June releases I want to read, my library hold on THE INDIFFERENT STARS ABOVE by Daniel James Brown came in. Reading about brutal winters during the summer is a thing for me. I read THE BEST LAND UNDER HEAVEN by Michael Wallis a few years ago and recall it being far more comprehensive on the Donner Party, but it had the benefit of later scholarship. (I still can’t believe Abraham Lincoln was almost a trail guide. That’s one hell of an alternate history.) What I did like about The Indifferent Stars above was the focus on Sarah Graves giving it a more defined perspective, if speculative at times. The attention to the fact that just as many women went out to try to find help and had far better survival rates is a good reminder that 19th century division of labor is a far more middle-class conceit than applies to the rest.
@AnneUK – If you enjoyed the Linesman trilogy, I can strongly recommend S K Dunstall’s STARS UNCHARTED duology! Both Linesman and Uncharted are comfort rereads for me 😉
I just finished BELLADONNA by Adalyn Grace, and enjoyed it quite a bit. It is described as “… highly romantic, Gothic-infused …” and I can go along with most of that. The FMC, Signa, is 19, orphaned as a baby, an heiress waiting to turn 20 so she can claim her inheritance, who has been shuffled between distant relatives who only care about her for the stipend she brings with her intended for her care and upkeep. The MMC is Death, as in the Grim Reaper. I thought that aspect was handled very well and he was a believable character. And the author didn’t make Grimmy an alpha-hole! The story primarily revolves around a murder mystery, and it’s quite well done. I was more involved in the mystery aspect than the romance! As for the romance it does end satisfactorily, but the end of the book is the setup for the next book. The mystery is also resolved, though I thought the motivation for the bad actor didn’t make a lot of sense.
I also just reread Michelle Diener’s DARK HORSE series, for the umpteenth time, and enjoyed it just as much as ever! My only quibble with these books, and it is a small one, is the music. I always hang up on the Earthers’ (iykyk) ability to remember the lyrics to every song they have ever heard. I can’t independently remember the lyrics to songs I have listened to and loved for years, though I can sing along and remember the lyrics when I hear them on the radio. Or at least most of the lyrics 😉 But that’s a “me” thing, and doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of the books!
I also read SHARDS OF GLASS by Michele Sagara, and enjoyed it. It is related to her Elantra series, but Kaylin and Severn aren’t in it or even mentioned. Like all of her books there comes a point where it gets a little mystical, but they’re good stories so I keep reading them!
I can strongly recommend ONE DARK WINDOW by Rachel Gillig, book one in The Shepherd King series. I’m anxiously awaiting my library hold for the second book! Sadly, I’m very far back in the line 🙁
Happy reading everyone, and I hope where you are isn’t too hot! I’m sadly under the “heat dome” the meteorologists are warning about …
For other biography lovers out there, I just finished THE EDITOR: HOW PUBLISHING LEGEND JUDITH JONES SHAPED CULTURE IN AMERICA by Sara B. Franklin. I loved learning about Jones who did so much like pulled The Diary of Anne Frank off the slush pile, edited Sylvia Plato’s first book of poetry for the US market, and was most famous for editing Julia Child and many other cookbook authors including Edna Lewis and Maddhur Jaffrey. The author actually was able to interview and work with Jones a little too which obviously doesn’t happen very often, and I think it made this profile work so well. Highly recommend just for the fascinating mid-century publishing history alone, but any bio that makes me cry at the end with the subject’s death is tops for me because I feel like I knew them so well.
Stupid iPad autocorrect; hopefully everyone knows that was supposed to be Sylvia Plath (not Plato). 🙂
I, too, am currently reading “A Flame in the North” by Lilith Saintcrow and enjoying it immensely as a female-focused fantasy. I may pivot next to re-read “The Afterward” by E.K. Johnston.
I’m also reading Vanessa Riley’s excellent, complex mystery with very slow-burn romance elements, “Murder in Drury Lane.”
After DDD mentioned JUST A TASTE last WAYR (iirc), I jumped on that. Based on the title, I was expecting a little more “oops, one thing led to another…” or the angst just a bit more angsty on both sides (only one character feels truly conflicted), but it was still a satisfying read.
I picked up Faking with Benefits after it was mentioned in the comments of a sales post. It’s a reverse harem that was less fun than I wanted it to be; every character had too much unresolved baggage that coincidentally comes to a head while exploring this fourway relationship. Also, to twist a saying, two boyfriends are company, but three’s a crowd. I think my toe dipping for RH is mostly over.
After plugging away at the Bridgerton series, I thought I was done with hist rom for some time, but I tore through Amy Rose Bennett’s Byronic Book Club trilogy after the first one was featured in a sales post. The first and second were on sale so they averaged to a good price for the three. They were enjoyable and entertaining but not superb. A solid choice if you’re in the mood for intelligent and independent heroines.
Since last time, I’ve read several winners!
CLAIMING HIS BILLION-DOLLAR BRIDE by Michelle Douglas, who I think more people should read. It’s the fourth in a quartet, but I read it without having read the others, and it stands alone well. I think Michelle Douglas writes characters so well, and Rose and Lincoln are no exception. Rose has always been the one to take care of her sisters, and it is lovely to see her flourish under Lincoln’s care, and more important, to see that she is also worth that doting care. I really enjoyed this lovely antagonists to friends to lovers!
Julia Connors’ FAKE SHOT is the second in her Boston Rebels hockey series. ules Flynn has crushed on Mathieu Colter, aka Colt, for a long time. Too long, in fact, as she’s felt unable to move ahead from these ill-advised feelings for her older brother’s best friend, who obviously does not return those feelings in any way, shape, or form.
Julia Connors’ writing is page-turning, and her characters’ emotions vulnerabilities feel all too real. Jules very much has a tender side despite the cool, competent successful contractor-in-a-man’s-world image she tends to present, and Colt very much does as well, though he guards his behind a devil-may-care player front. When Colt finally recognizes the depths of his feelings, I loved how all in he is, and I loved his determination to be there for Jules, come what may. She’s safe to reveal herself fully, as he is to her, and once they both realize this, all bets are off. This older-brother’s best friend, reformed rake, fake relationship story really worked for me.
EXHIBITED is the third in Nellie Wilson’s Museology series, and is a lovely m/m romance between Jeremy Rinci, an exhibit designer, and Nathaniel Davis, a forest ranger who opts to go simply by Davis. It’s set in Colorado, where both have unexpectedly come to find a home for themselves.
Nellie Wilson writes beautifully, and I loved Jeremy and Davis’s story. She gives them space to be their imperfect selves, and surrounds them with a supportive community that both provides room for them to grow and nudges them when needed. I found Exhibited to be a deeply moving story, and I can’t wait to read more from this talented new-to-me author.
I also enjoyed Lori Foster’s WORTH THE WAIT and COLT, in her Guthrie Brothers series–at some point I need to go back and read DON’T TEMPT ME, the first in the series, LOL!
Can’t wait to catch up with what everyone else is reading!
Patio reading season has just begun and I’ve already found the book to beat with two worthy contenders in the wings.
“You mean so much to me, Miles,” I say. “So much, but you can’t be everything. You were right that I’d love it here. I do. And you’re a huge part of why I want to build a life here. But I can’t afford to build it around you. If this ends, I need to know that I don’t just disappear. I need to have my own stuff that’s not about anyone else.”
Emily Henry’s FUNNY STORY was everything that I’ve come to expect from her. Relationships that grow over time, characters that grow individually as they grow together, characters exist in the world, not just the relationship.
The first chapter header is a countdown to how many days are left before children’s librarian Daphne can leave the town of Waping Bay forever. Her fiance moved them to his hometown to live their happy ever after, then decided that the happy ever after he really wanted was with his bff, Petra. Cast adrift in a place where she has no friends of her own, and now no home, she ends up moving in with Petra’s cast-off boyfriend, Miles. They are as unalike as two people can be: Daphne, buttoned up and risk averse, while Miles is open and gregarious. Daphne has no friends in town that aren’t Peter’s, while Miles knows everyone. After a night of drowning their sorrows, a friendship blossoms and grows as Miles shows Daphne the pleasures of life on the shores of Lake Michigan. Along the way Daphne makes new friends, plans an epic event for her library and changes the focus of her countdown. Everything about this was a sheer delight to read.
In contention are my current patio read THE HAZELBOURNE LADIES MOTORCYCLE AND FLYING CLUB by Helen Simonson, the author of one of my desert island/top 10 romances: MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND. The story follows Constance Haverhill as she negotiates the changes that the end of the war have brought to her life. She is spending the summer at the shore as companion to a family friend while she tries to find a job. There are all the issues of culture clash and class differences. The ability to adapt to a changing world vs clinging to tradition. She falls into friendship with Poppy, the living breathing epitome of the modern woman and is welcomed into her circle of friends who are operating a motorcycle taxi service and riding club. It has such an engaging sense of time and place and finely drawn characters. Just waiting for the threat of rain to move off so I can get back to it.
On deck is THE OTHER SIDE OF DISAPPEARING, Kate Clayborn’s latest. It’s the snuggled in for a lazy morning read I started today. Jess Green has been keeping a secret for years. When her mother ran out on her for the second time, leaving behind Jess’s 10yo half-sister, Jess hid any communication from her mother, as well as the fact that she left town in the company of a rather famous con-man. Now the podcaster who made her name telling the story of Lynton Baltimore is on Jess’s doorstep looking for the end of the story. Now she’s hitting the road with sister, podcaster and Adam, the hunky and haunted producer tracing the trail of postcards sent thru the years. Yum!
I, sadly, have had no time to really read lately — just a few minutes here and there when I’m too tired to appreciate anything. Busy with work, a baby shower, graduations, and a wedding. That time of year!
I have a HUGE TBR pile to jump into, and my family is doing a summer reading challenge again, so more to report next time.
Going to finally finish NEVERNIGHT by Jay Kristoff, which is excellent (I will say more once I finish it), and also reading A FATAL THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, a non-fiction about murder in ancient Rome by Emma Southon (one of the family summer reading challenges categories is true crime).
Thank you all for your recommendations! Have a great weekend!
Two of the books I loved this week feature the movie industry. I’m racing through an ARC of THE ROM-COMMERS by Katherine Center, releasing this coming Tuesday, and resenting every minute spent it away from it. It hits that perfect note that all great romcoms hit. I’ve read several of the author’s books now and she just keeps topping herself. The MCs are both screenwriters, he’s famous, she’s not, and they end up collaborating in an attempt for her to fix his epically bad romcom script.
The second movie centered book that I loved is EVERYONE I KISSED SINCE YOU GOT FAMOUS by Mae Marvel – smart, sapphic, sometimes a bit too introspective, but nonetheless a really good read, with a famous actress reconnecting with her best friend from high school and both of them discovering they’ve had feelings for each other all along.
I also enjoyed FOR THE LOVE OF SUMMER, by Susan Mallory, a good women’s fiction/beach read kind of book featuring lots of found family, and GRIMALKINS DON’T PURR by Kim McDougall, the 4th in her Valkyrie Bestiary UF series which features a strong, sympathetic heroine and lots of sometimes cuddly and sometimes scary paranormal creatures.
I’ve been slowly making my way through A POWER UNBOUND by Freya Marske. I’m enjoying it but I keep getting distracted by other books. It may just be my subconscious’ way of savoring it.
An earlier post about Nicky James’ new novel prompted me to pick up the first book in her VALOR AND DOYLE series. I liked it enough to immediately read the second one. My favorite crime solving m/m (normal human) couple are Dominic and Levi in the SEVEN OF SPADES series and Valor and Doyle aren’t close to replacing them in my heart, but I thought the plots were good and I’ll read more.
I also read Only James’ UNHINGED, the first in her NECESSARY EVILS m/m romance series, about a group of sociopaths who were adopted as young children by a wealthy man and trained as assassins to kill pedophiles and rapists who evade the law. The first book is about one of the “brothers”, Adam, and Noah. It’s obviously dark and the descriptions of the murders are grisly but there isn’t any cruelty in the main relationship once you get past the disturbing reason they come together. I’ll probably pick up the next book but not right away.
Started THINK LIKE A FREAK (the authors of Freakonomics offer to retrain your brain). This is the third Freakonomics book – I read the first two books many years ago and lost track of the fact that there were more. These guys very cleverly apply economic theory to human behavior. Some people find some of their ideas offensive (notably, their data-based argument that legalizing abortion contributed to the decline in crime rates) but I find the diversity of topics and the creativity of their analysis interesting and entertaining.
Over the past two weeks ~
– enjoyed browsing through The Collage Workbook: How to Get Started and Stay Inspired by Randel Plowman. Also browsed through Collage Cards: 45 Great Greetings by Mary V. Green but did not find it inspiring for the collaged bookmarks I make.
– enjoyed the contemporary male/male romance Life Lessons by Kaje Harper which featured a high school teacher and a detective who meet when the teacher reports that a fellow teacher has been murdered. And then happily read the follow on novella And to All a Good Night which featured the same characters some months later. I would like to read more in this series.
— read several books (for children and young adults) for a bookmark I’m planning. All of these were good, but I most enjoyed the first two. The graphic novel also incorporated some humor. Ice Story: Shackleton’s Lost Expedition by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel; the graphic novel Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi; and The Endurance: Shackleton’s Perilous Expedition in Antarctica by Meredith Hooper.
— For my distant book group, I read The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. I found the first half of the book to be a tad slow, but I sped through the second half. The book is set on Jeju Island in South Korea from 1938 to 2008; the main character is a haenyeo, a female diver, as is her best friend. I learned quite a bit about Jeju in the post-WWII era; some of the book made for a brutal read.
— enjoyed the first two books in a young adult science fiction series, Nyxia and Nyxia Unleashed both by Scott Reintgen. In Nyxia, a teenager is offered a great, off-Earth, opportunity which he believes will enable him to save his mother who needs a transplant. Things do not go as promised.
— quite enjoyed the (mostly Australia set) contemporary romance Sexy as Sin by Rosalind James. This features a very (VERY) wealthy real estate developer and a chef who has just spent most of her money buying part ownership of a catering company. It is quite over the top with a shark attack and poisonings, but it also has realistic elements such as grief and someone with a broken bone that is not magically healed. I will happily read more by this author.
— enjoyed a novella, Like the Taste of Summer by Kaje Harper. This featured two young men falling in love in Iowa in 1981. This is currently FREE for Kindle readers.
— quite enjoyed the 1960 set You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian. This is a romance between a baseball player who unwittingly alienates his new team and city and the newspaper book reviewer who is asked to write a running series about him. While I enjoyed the author’s previous book featuring other characters associated with the same newspaper, I found this a much more gripping read.
FINALLY made it through LITTLE, BIG by John Crowley. Damn that is one ponderous book. Not a bad book, really, just very long and full of over-erudite language. The story of a strange house, several generations of its inhabitants, and a prophetic deck of cards, all with strong connections to the Otherworldly, it is in its way very much a book of its time (the early 80s, when everyone was trying to out-Tolkien Tolkien) and the lugubrious pacing really wore on me, even though most of the characters were likeable enough that I wanted to know what happened to them. There’s also a large part of the later plot that rather eerily reflects the current times. If you don’t mind very long family sagas with heavy undertones of the Weird that pretty much literally decays to a bittersweet end, you might enjoy this fossil.
Right now reading ONE DANCE WITH A DUKE by Tessa Dare as a palate cleanser, and also to try and winnow out what really belongs on my keeper shelf. Enjoyable as a whole but I think the emotionally constipated ML and self-sacrificial FL are going to land it on the OUT pile.
@flchen1—I definitely read “Nellie Wilson” as “Willie Nelson” and was like, “Wait, WHAT?? Willie Nelson writes romance novels???”
@AnneUK: I’m so pleased to hear that you enjoyed Linesman (as I am a big rereader of the series).
THE DEAD GUY NEXT DOOR by Lucy Score: This was just plain fun. I enjoyed the characters so much, didn’t need to find anything believable, and look forward to more in the Riley Thorn series.
BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood: Wow. Every word of praise was true. Brutal and dysfunctional family dynamics, a lost friend and a vampire who agrees to marry a werewolf in order to further detente, to figure out/get away from everything. Misery Lark is a complicated, funny and sincere character. More, please.
A WOLF IN DUKE’S CLOTHING by Susanna Allen: A fun historical romance, although making the Prince Regent seem like a benevolent ruler really bothered me. The library tells me I borrowed the second book, A MOST UNUSUAL DUKE, in 2022 and I have absolutely no recollection of it.
ROYAL HOLIDAY by Jasmine Guillory: Enjoyable and I certainly appreciate older characters, it just felt rather … twee? I’ve read other books by this author, so it’s me, not you.
BLACKMAN’S COFFIN by Mark de Castrique: Contemporary North Carolina thriller featuring wounded CID officer Sam Blackman. He’s angry about the treatment of veterans at the VA, which hasn’t made him popular with the military. He’s presented with an unexpected opportunity to investigate the history of Asheville, the Vanderbilts and Biltmore, and the truth behind a journal from 1919 that points to crimes committed against a Black family. First in a series and highly recommended.
Ann Patchett’s TOM LAKE was a marvel, and it prompted me to think about basically everything — love, sex, family, talent, purpose, day-to-day existence, siblings, heartbreak, the enduring legacy of Our Town, energy and exhaustion, cherry farming in northern Michigan, and even the pandemic.
Emily Henry’s FUNNY STORY was delightful and also set in northern Michigan (a place I’ve never been but feel like I know after reading these two books).
In the wake of a visit to Bletchley Park to learn about WWII code breakers, I’m reading Kate Quinn’s THE ROSE CODE, which tells the story of three very different women who were part of the team that broke the Enigma codes. It’s a terrific read so far.
I’m past the halfway point of MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia More no-Garcia and still liking it pretty well.
Thanks, autocorrect. X(
I have been away on a 6-week trip, so I have read quite a bit!
NORTH OF THE BORDER – Judith van Gieson. Contemporary mystery, written in the 80s. A street library find. This was a quick read featuring Neil, a tough lady detective from Albuquerque. It was ok and I liked how the author drew the characters. The solution was no big surprise though in the end.
THE TEMPLE OF PERSEPHONE – Isabella Kamal. M/F Regency romance. This was mentioned here before. The premise sounded interesting, and so did the main characters, but it just lacked that “certain something”. It’s not really bad, but at some point I just wanted to end and to know what was going on.
BLANK SPACES – Cass Lennox. M/M contemporary. This was interesting, as one MC lives for anonymous hookups, and the other one is asexual. They still fall in love though, and finding out how to deal with their sexual preferences takes them a bit of time, including a third-act break-up, which felt ok here. Plus there is also an art theft mystery going on, though I found the resolution of that a little anti-climatic. When it comes to the MC’s, they get their HEA, though the resolution is a little unorthodox and may not be to everybody’s taste.
HIS SECOND CHANCE – Stephanie Lake. M/M Regency novella. The blurb of this sounded like total catnip to me, but it was a letdown. Didn’t deliver on the feels (it just went too quickly) and the resolution to how the MCs could be together was not the kind that I like (convenient lavender marriage on one side).
DEATH IN THE SPIRES – KJ Charles. Historical mystery with gay MC. Yes, not a romance, like she said, but there is maybe just a small hope of romance there for the MC… Anyway, it’s KJ Charles and it’s great, like anything she writes!
THE FOOTMAN – SM Laviolette. M/F Regency romance. Something off my TBR, can’t remember why I bought it. OK, but I didn’t like the male MC much, least not at the beginning. Yes, he suffered terribly, but that cold rage plot thing was just a bit too much for my taste. Also make sure you check the CW/TW first. Lots of (domestic) violence in the past that does get a mention.
BEING JOHN CHURCH – Neil S. Plakcy. Contemporary – mystery I guess though not a crime story. No romance though Plakcy also writes romance AFAIK. A man who is at a sort of dead end with his career delves into the story of his dead ex-boyfriend who, it turns out after his death, lied about his whole life. To everybody around him. This was interesting, and an interesting story that was slowly pieced together. The protagonist also finds a new life and career options along the way and it’s as much about him moving on as understanding his ex. There’s a moment where it looks like romance might happen but it doesn’t – and it’s totally ok. I very much enjoyed this.
THE LAST DANCE – Mark Billingham. Contemporary mystery. This looks like the start of a new series, set in Blackpool (UK). The protagonist is a police detective whose wife was shot and killed on the job. He’s still dealing with grief, sees and talks to his wife at home. They were also part of an informal dance club. The books sees him investigating a new murder case but also trying to find out who killed his wife. He also has a slightly unusual new professional partner on this investigation. So quite a few classic mystery tropes, mixed with some more unusual bits like the dancing. Liked it and I will be back for more!
MAGICIAN – KL Noone. M/M fantasy romance. This was a short-ish book, absolutely lovely, all feels and warmth and no 3rd act breakup. It also plays with a few fantasy tropes. Young prince sets out to find a mighty magician to rid the kingdom of a threat. Bonus no violence, plus sex with magical elements. Read this when you need something to make you feel good!
YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY – Cat Sebastian. M/M romance set in 1960. Does what was promised, and I loved it like anything Sebastian writes. Contrary to the review here on the blog, I didn’t not feel that they were constantly talking about Eddie’s need to not be seen as gay because he’s famous and in sports. Yes, it’s an issue and it gets talked about, but they deal with it in the end. I also loved the friendships in this book, which are wonderful. My only caveat is, Mark to me somehow reads a little older – more like mid-30s than late 20s. But that’s probably just me!
A GENTLEMAN IN SEARCH OF A WIFE – Grace Burrowes. Regency mystery. The Lord Julian mysteries continue! He has another mystery to solve and continues to declare his feelings for Hyperia. I am still keeping my fingers crossed for these two! Yes, they love each other but there are other hurdles to be cleared yet…
THE MEN FROM ECHO CREEK – NR Walker. M/M historical romance. Another lovely book, set in 1800s Australia on a mountain farm. Nice slow burn with two young MCs who pretty much know that they’re only into men but with no sexual experience – they learn together, sometimes also with slightly hilarious results. One inherits the farm when his father unexpectedly dies, the other comes to work there when times are tough. I loved this, tons of feels, also great side characters, plus a bit of a found family element.
SWIPE LEFT, POWER DOWN, LOOK UP – Amy Lane. M/M contemporary romance. This was a quick read, very cute, no 3rd act breakup. Touches on some important issues (one of the MCs is a soccer trainer), but it’s handled rather lightly – supportive team/school staff and teams. Though he says some things about being gay in sports that are extremely well-written and just so true!
@FashionablyEvil–I’m sorry, now I can’t stop laughing!
@Midge: You are not alone. I also felt that Mark seemed older than his stated age.
I recently finished Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath…le sigh and all other happy book noises. She never lets me down. Ever. She’s so good at mingling passion with emotions! I need to see if the youngest brother Austin gets his own book because omg he was the preciousest cupcake.
@ Jill Q. I am excited that you are reading the House of Niccolo! I discovered Dorothy Dunnett about 10 years ago and became obsessed. I am even a dues paying member of the Dorothy Dunnett Society. I have read both series a few times now and am currently working my way through the audiobooks, which are fantastic. (And that is saying something from me – I generally don’t like fiction in audio format.) Once you finish the series I hope you come back here to tell us what you thought of it. You’ll probably be inspired to reread Lymond as the two series are connected, I certainly was!
THE KIND WORTH KILLING by Peter Swanson. Man meets woman at an aiport bar who convinces him to kill his cheating wife. Detective assigned to the case starts stalking the woman from the bar and ends up falling for her.
This is the first in a series. I’ve already read the second book and liked the dynamic between Henry (the detective) and Lily (the woman from the bar). Lily is an interesting character, I’m enjoying the first book’s focus on her and her motivations.
It might not look like I read much over the past several weeks, but on the other hand, I stuck with one book for over a week (and slightly over 300 pages), before I was like “Well, this shit is depressing” and chucked it. That’s a lot longer than I stick with most DNFs. I was trying because of past goodwill toward the author, but that shit was just not sparking joy, kids.
Anyway, I read That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming, which was a quick, funny read that nonetheless had a wonderfully respectful approach to consent and absolutely stuck so many metaphorical hot pokers into incels I’m surprised some real ones didn’t spontaneously catch fire. Which would have also been funny. Then it was DNF time, and since I was annoyed with myself for how long I stuck with it, I broke the emergency glass on what I had been hanging onto for just such an incident, which was Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee. Lee is definitely a favorite for historical fiction. She just does such a wonderfully immersive job writing about the lives of Chinese-Americans in different historical time periods. This one is set in the 1920s and involves two young Chinese-American women drawn into the events surrounding the murder of a Chinese-American Hollywood starlet from their area of town (which would be the Los Angeles Chinatown, natch). It’s already so much better than what I was reading that it is damn near ridiculous, and a forceful reminder that, RIIIIIIGGHHT, I read for enjoyment dammit. On the audiobook end, I had to drive my daughter back from a camp on Thursday night so that she could make a dress rehearsal the next day, so yeah, you know what works really well for remaining alert for a 6 hours drive at night? Learning about some absolutely appalling history! To that end, I fired up the audiobook A Fever In the Heartland by Timothy Egan, which was about the rise of the KKK in 1920s Indiana, how it became a formidable and threatening social and political entity, and how that rise was brought down by its architect going on trial for the rape and murder of a young woman. It is very easy to stay awake and alert with a combination of Diet Coke for caffeine and screaming “WHAT THE F*CK?!?!?!” at your book every 3-5 sentences out of sheer horrified disbelief. So until next time, don’t make my mistake, rare for me though it was. If it ain’t sparking joy, ditch and move on. Toodles.
@Jill Q I adored the Lymond series when I read it… oh my goodness, it’s been 12 yrs now! Agree with how you describe the Dunnett books! You’re making me want to either reread the Lymond chronicles or start the other one!
I recently really enjoyed Icarus, by K. Ancrum (heists, queer teen love, found family, cw abusive parents), and A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows (fantasy with lots of political intrigue and a sweet queer romance, cw rape). Also liked Cat Sebastian’s latest more than I thought I would, based on reviews – it was a tougher read than some of her other books in terms of what the characters went through, but still a lovely love story.
So the past few weeks have seen me reading some decent standard romances, some lackluster series entries, and a few really good if not radically unique love stories. I’d been looking for something soothing to cover up some heavy duty procrastination, and most of these worked.
I enjoyed The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren though it was a mite wobbly when I started it. I have trouble with protagonists who perpetrate scammy little plots, though it depends a lot on the individual book. TPP had a semi-fraudulent fake relationship at its center, but I think the authors totally pulled it off with some exceptional character building and a few revelatory twists. I liked it better than The UnHoneymooners, which had a similar premise.
I reread Grand Passion by Jayne Ann Krentz which is my second favorite by JAK. As always, it totally hit the spot.
I picked up a couple of newish Karla Sorensens: Promise Me This (latest Wilder Family) and The Best Laid Plans (The Best Men #1). The Wilder Family books are an extension of her Northwest centered pro football series, sports adjacent more than sports romance, while The Best Laid Plans features a former football player who is mourning the death of his best friends who leave him their passion project fixer-upper. Unsurprisingly, the FMC is the renovation manager and an expert on historic houses. Sorensen does a lot of interlaced family stories and balances angst with humor very well. Both books feature likable, multidimensional characters that you can enjoy rooting for.
Thanks to an earlier WAYR, I read the first and second of Elizabeth O’Roarke’s Grumpy Devils series. The first one was by far superior. The grumpy devil in question is more a wealthy asshole (not alpha) who hires an unwilling but financially strapped temp to fill in for his personal assistant. The characters start out somewhat unlikable, especially the dude, but do some pretty spectacular adulting and personal growth over the course of the relationship. One of the things I particularly liked about A Deal with the Devil was the way O’Roarke depicted different ways of caring for loved ones–not limited to the central couple–and how becoming the focus of someone else’s care can change one’s view of oneself.
I read Shannon Mayer’s Golden about a badass werewolf who is cursed to be a golden retriever due to the machinations of her homicidal family. The premise was kind of silly, but this was no comfort read. It ended up being a cliffhanger (grrrr), and the sequel opened by skipping forward from where Golden ended and indulging in a chapter of torture porn before backtracking to “what actually happened next.” At that point, I was all “I’m outta here.”
In a total change of pace, I picked up the first Inn BoonsBoro novel on sale, realized I’d read it, then realized I had the boxed set, then decided to reread the rest of the series. I have to say that unless endless descriptions of construction and renovation, and a mawkish ghost story do it for you, this series does not hold up. So many elements of the story are familiar Nora-isms, only much, much more bland. There are also some misogynistic stereotypes that don’t hold up well at all, especially considering that this is not some artifact from the late 20th century. And finally, I can’t believe I spent money–albeit on sale–on something that is fundamentally a really fat advertising brochure.
Best reads of the month so far are Rosalind James’s newest, Catch a Kiwi, and Tarah DeWitt’s Savor It. Catch a Kiwi follows a pattern familiar to James readers with two American women in jeopardy–in this case from the wilds of nature–who encounter a big New Zealander dude–not a rugby player–with money and a powerful protective streak. There’s attraction, secrets from the past on both sides, a sassy younger cousin, family drama, and a chance to catch up with characters from earlier series entries. In short, a solid and well-paced comfort read.
Savor It was just charming (unless you loathe puns). Set in the small town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) the novel delves deeply into the different facets of small town life. The sense of place is intense and appealing without being cutesy. The FMC, Sage, is a lifelong resident of Spunes who finds her bliss looking after her students, her misfit pets, her gardens, and her neighbors. She is also hilarious. Fisher and his niece, Indy–refugees from NYC who are burdened with major baggage–move into the summer rental next door. I particularly liked that the FMC is the character with roots in the small town, while the MMC is the big city boy with no use for small towns. In this book people manifest affection by sharing laughter without meanness. I found myself caring profoundly for Sage, Fisher, and Indy, and look forward to rereading their story sometime in the future, because I’m positive I missed a bunch of the puns.
@Kareni – I often like your recommendations and finally picked up SK Dunstall’s THE LINESMAN – loved it! Read the other two in the trilogy and hope they have found a publisher for more books in that storyline. So good. Thanks for the rec.
@Queen Celeste: I am so very pleased to hear that! Like you, I would also love to read more in that world.