Welcome back to Whatcha Reading!
This month came and went way quicker than January (thank god). Here’s how we’re wrapping up February:
Lara: I’ve just started the next book in Katee Roberts Dark Olympus series, Sweet Obsession, ( A | BN | K | AB ) and I have a new theory: the last book will be Hera, Zeus and Circe! I need to know how this story ends.
Claudia: I am reading The Beast Takes a Bride ( A | BN | K | AB ) and it may just be one of my favorites in the Julie Anne Long’s Palace of Rogues series.
Elyse: I started the English translation of Save Me by Mona Kasten ( A | BN | K | AB ) coming out this summer. It’s the series the Maxston Hall TV series is based on.
Shana: I’m reading This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan and I’m obsessed. It’s been a while since I read a book that compelled me to read it during all my waking hours, but this one is working for me.
Sarah: I’m listening to the full cast production of the Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews. ( A | BN | K | AB ) I hadn’t listened to one before but the production is pretty good. Sometimes I can hear some of the edits (the volume and vocal style abruptly changes) but it hasn’t been that distracting. Poor Dina. Her life is really stressful.
So whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments!
How We Learn to Be Brave by Mariann Edgar Budde, Hail Mary Project by Andy Weir and Buried Deep (stories) by Naomi Novik.
My last three reads were good but flawed. Tender Mercies by Eli Easton (about an idealistic city dweller who sets up an animal sanctuary and an Amish man who was driven out for being gay) was not as good as the previous book in the series because the romance was fairly perfunctory and the book was mostly about saving the farm.
Till Death Do Us Part by John Dickson Carr (a Golden Age specialist in locked room mysteries) was my first by this author. The plot was intriguing and it all made sense in the end but the characters were very cardboard and there were not quite enough clues to make it a fair play mystery. Whenever I read one of her contemporaries I realise why Agatha Christie is still widely read today: readability, engaging characters and a genius ability to hide the the clues in plain sight.
Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez was also my first by that author. It worked fine as an audiobook, helped by the excellent narration (Zachary Webber has my favourite romance hero voice) but the romance was overshadowed by external events and the FMC sorting out her mental health issues. It’s the third in a series but I didn’t feel that I needed to have read the earlier books. I’ll listen to more of her books while I’m doing other things.
I enjoyed two short story collections which is extremely unusual. Naomi Novik’s BURIED DEEP and Hisashi Kashiwai’s THE KAMOGAWA FOOD DETECTIVES were both delightful. Short stories are sort of disappointingly over before they’ve begun for me, but I’d recommend either of these, former is folkloric fantasy, the latter is food porn merged with detective stories, do not read when hungry.
Mostly my reading has been disappointing, I keep bouncing off everything. I am relying heavily on KJ Charles as usual. I actually went back and reread her only contemporary, NONSTOP TILL TOKYO which I still love because I am a completist, but it’s got problems, and if it were by anyone else I suspect I would not care for it at all.
I spent an insane amount of time rereading all of TEENAGE MERCENARY, one of my favorite webtoons, but the art is just so rewarding. Very golden age, very mod, very much its own thing. The fight sequences are so well done and the action has such incredible movement, I was utterly hooked from the beginning. It’s actually the wholesome everyday life and character development that I love the most, though. It’s not a romance, and I mostly ship the main character and therapy, but if he were to end up with pretty much any of the other characters I would be happy because they are all interesting and have unexpected depth. I would cheerfully die for some of them. The female characters are all going to have some intense back problems, though.
An anniversary trip and several family & work projects, kept my reading time way below average the last couple of weeks, and I only finished two books. On the plus side, one of them immediately went on to my favorites of the year list.
Julie Kriss’s YOU GIVE ME THAT FEELING is not only one of the best fake-relationship romances I have read, it’s also Kriss’s best book since TAKE ME DOWN—and, for someone like me, who loves Kriss’s work and thinks she’s one of Romancelandia’s most underrated writers, that’s high praise indeed. The first thing I liked about YOU GIVE ME THAT FEELING is that the reason for the fake relationship is completely plausible with both MCs looking for a way to change their images. Katie is a made-for-streaming-services rom-com queen, having worked steadily for over a decade in such fare. But as her early-thirties inch closer to her mid-thirties, she finds herself chaffing against constantly being typecast as the good girl who finds love. Katie is grateful for her career, but she knows she needs to break out—especially after, for the first time, she’s offered a script where she would play, gulp, a mother. Travis is a faded rock star with a (somewhat deserved) reputation as a dissolute trouble-maker. (You do not have to have read Kriss’s Road Kings series of rock band romances where Travis occasionally appears, mostly in a negative light, but it helps ground his character somewhat if you have.) When their agents team up to suggest Katie and Travis enter into a fake relationship to “sex-up” Katie and “soften-up” Travis, the plot is set in motion. One of the great things about YGMTF is how Kriss develops the nuances and layers of the fake romance: there’s an air of a military campaign in how public dates are arranged and how social media announcements are released. And I loved how “fake” gradually morphs into the “real” for both MCs: “I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t. I don’t know what’s just for the cameras or the internet or our agents or our parents, and I don’t know what’s just us,” one of them comments. The fake relationship works with Katie realizing she can spread her wings creatively and Travis taking steps toward redemption by writing and recording new songs…at the Road Kings’ studio! As Travis notes at one point, “So I needed the fake relationship in order to be good enough for a real one? How’s that for a mind fuck?” And Katie agreeing that Travis “was as confused as I was, because the situation was confusing.” There’s a scene toward the end of the book where I actually teared up as Travis arrives unexpectedly at the airport just as Katie is leaving (Katie notes and dismisses the “Love, Actually” comparison) which is a perfect moment of love and joy. As usual with Kriss, there’s no third-act break-up or big-mis, just two decent people trying to negotiate a situation that they never expected. A wonderful book—one of my favorite reads of 2025! Highly recommended.
If you can hand-wave a couple of the set-up situations in Julia Connors’s CROSS-CHECKED (the third book in her Boston Rebels series of hockey romances), you will find a well-written romance that addresses the driving need for perfection for women in high-profile positions and the toll that takes on their personal lives, plus quite a spicy romance between that woman and a younger-than-her hockey player. AJ is the first GM of a professional hockey team: she lives and breathes hockey. Since her divorce from her awful husband a number of years before, AJ has maintained her distance from romance. She’s now forty and fabulous, but perhaps just a little lonely (not just for love but also for friendship). Single dad Ronan McCabe is a player with whom she has a tangled (non-romantic) history going back almost a decade. They are polite to each other in public, but there’s a lot of tension (not all of it sexual) between them in private. As a result of a series of events, AJ ends up stepping in when McCabe’s nanny is suddenly unavailable and then getting hurt protecting McCabe’s daughter from a fight in the stands. Naturally, AJ has to move in with McCabe and his daughter so he can help her while her injury heals. This is where the hand-waving comes in: Would a millionaire hockey player really have trouble finding a nanny on short notice? Would the wealthy GM of a professional hockey team really not be able to find someone to help her with domestic tasks while her wrist is in a cast? These things aside, I found the romance between AJ and McCabe well-developed and sexy. The book does address the appearance of inappropriate behavior with a GM dating a player on her team, along with some interesting side issues like how hard it sometimes is for executive women to establish solid female friendships and the non-stop social media misogyny that is an every day part of life for most women—not just those with prestige jobs. My advice: go with the flow on the set-ups and enjoy CROSS-CHECKED. Recommended.
Regarding CROSS-CHECKED above: AJ is the first FEMALE GM of a professional hockey team. Talk about leaving out a key piece of information!
I didn’t even post for my last Whatcha Reading b/c it was so dismal. I did end up finishing two historical romances but none of them were anything to write home about. Good enough to finish, but really good enough to talk about. I also dnfed a contemporary rom com b/c the hero just did not sound like a cisgender straight guy to me. To be clear, I don’t need male characters to be super macho (and I don’t need all romance heroes to be cisgender and straight! But this one was supposed to be). I’m not really into the Navy SEAL tough/alpha guy thing. But you can make a guy gentle or unconventional and secure in his masculinity and still have him sound like a dude. This was. . . not that.
I’m plugging away with a year long read along of WAR AND PEACE with Simon Haisell. It took me a while to get into it and I still don’t have the huge cast of characters straight in my head, but I feel like I’ve really gotten into the swing of it now. Having a guide definitely helps.
My recent successes have been more mysteries. I’ve jumped back in with Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters.This time I read THE DEVIL’S NOVICE. I may have even read that one before, but I don’t care. When it is the coldest, dreariest part of the year, I find Brother Cadfael’s no-nonsense “let’s just get on with things” approach to life very invigorating. He’s wise but never pretentious, kind hearted but rarely fooled or manipulated. It’s especially heartening to read considering how much more people in the 12th century had to live with the elements compared to now. If Cadfael can go out and track a murderer in the cold and snow, I can surely go for a 25 minute walk outside with my audiobook and insulated coat 😉 Just to switch it up a little bit, I read THE NOVICE”S TALE by Margaret Frazer which is a historical mystery with a *nun* in 12th century England solving mysteries. Totally different 😉 They were written a little bit later than Brother Cadfael (30 to 20 years ago instead of 50 to 40 years ago) so the language is a bit more modernized but still more formal than historical fiction today. One of the things I love about both series is that it does feel so old-fashioned and more immersive into another world. People talk differently. People think differently. I miss that in a lot of historical fiction today. I love me some time in fluffy Romancelandia, but I want grittier/denser reads too and they seem thin on the ground.
In nonfiction I read THE LAZY GENIUS WAY by Kendra Adachi b/c I like her podcast. It’s very self-helpy but gentle and more about guiding principles than a list of dos and don’ts. Fair warning, it’s ‘coupled up woman with kids’ focused and she’s also a Christian who does mention her religion a few times. I felt like I got enough out of it to make it worth reading, YMMV as always. You could always listen to her podcast first and see if it’s for you.
I am in a slump and I’ve been in a slump for a while. I keep finding myself re-reading books I love rather than trying anything new. I’m also kind of, sort of, in the middle of a million books at once and I’m not finishing any of them, which is not a good sign.
I started THE BLIGHTED STARS by Megan O’Keefe, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to finish it. It started off really strong with great world building, but then everyone landed on a blighted planet and the plot slowed to a rather glacial pace. This could just be my perception, though, because I’m struggling to read dystopia at the moment.
I started THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY by Brendan Slocumb a few weeks ago before I remembered that I’m not really a mystery person. As much as I love music and the music rep in the book, I’m ready to acknowledge that I’m not going to finish it.
PRIESTESS by Kara Reynolds, on the other hand, I’m rather enjoying. The world building is good. There are gobs of great female characters. This definitely passes the Bechdel test! The FMC is a regular woman just trying to live her life, which is resonating with me right now.
I started SPARE by Prince Harry last night (see what I mean about being in the middle of too many books?) and this is a page turner. Wow. I’m not someone who makes an effort to follow the British royal family, but this book is pretty fascinating so far. And I guess that I am a teeny bit of a follower of Prince Harry and Meghan’s story because it was just all over the news when they came to the US. From this side of the pond, it seems so clear that the British monarchy is quite toxic and racist, but my relative in London really had the opposite take when I talked to her a few years ago. So it just goes to show how culture and media can change your perception of stories where the facts, such as they are, are subject to interpretation.
I’m reading A WIZARD’S GUIDE TO DEFENSIVE BAKING by T. Kingfisher. I love reading (and writing) about food, so I am really enjoying the heroine’s power to magic/manipulate bread, gingerbread men cookies, and more.
Up next, I will probably dive back into my romantasy TBR pile and check out THE SERPENT AND THE WOLF by Rebecca Robinson and A DAWN OF ONYX by Kate Golden.
I am reading:
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett. It is awful. Do not pick up this book. Wendell is insufferable and Emily is badly characterized. The writing is nothing like the quality of the first two books. Trees have more romantic chemistry.
54 Miles by Leonard Pitts Jr is wonderful. The writIng quality is there in spades and the story is compelling.
I finished:
The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell. It was fine but I won’t be picking up the sequel.
Till There Was You by Lindsay Hameroff was okay. It was a solid C. Read it on an airplane if it appeals to you.
Can’t Help Faking in Love by Swati Hegde was a solid B. I would rec it if the tropes were your thing.
Happy reading everyone! See you in March!
Not a lot of reading lately because work has been a mentally and physically exhausting slog, and my fellow romance reader co-worker left the practice. Yay for her, boohoo for me.
Also, quilt retreat! Planning, shopping, prepping, packing. I always bring a book and get no reading done. Who wouldn’t prefer handwork in front of a roaring fireplace while the below zero wind chill blows off the fields of rural Wisconsin?
All that is in aid of explaining why the only book I’ve got for this round is Maria Vale’s MOLLY MOLLOY AND THE ANGEL OF DEATH. I loved her Legend of All Wolves series, so I was always going to read it but with a little trepidation due to the many diametrically opposed reviews I’ve read. I’m sure it must have been a scary step for Vale to publish something that is such a complete departure from the Legend books. Some readers are open to the new and different from an author, some not so much.
“…’Since you don’t know anything about death, try to be a little sensitive.”
‘She said the same thing! What do you people think I’ve been doing all this time?’
‘Bookkeeping, little soul. Bookkeeping.'”
Death has been collecting souls for recycling for a very, very long time. From the time of caves to modern metropolis. His fellow angels have ostracized him for “going native”, existing in linear time along with the steadily growing population. They call him “Ragpicker” and complain of the way he smells (of humanity). Then one day he makes a mistake. He saves the life he was meant to collect. Even more startling is that now Molly Molloy can see him, interact with him. This does not sit well with the powers that be, and he is told to collect her soul. No ands, ifs, or buts. Fortunately for us, he can’t do it and is clever enough to work around the limitations of his cohorts. Thus begins Death’s journey to becoming more than a witness to the end of lives. He becomes part of life. Yes, it’s a romance because, of course, he and Molly fall in love. She doesn’t make it easy for him. There’s banter and soul searching and disagreements, but ultimately, there is beautiful, wonderful, lifelong love. And seamless, intricate worldbuilding. And beautiful lyrical prose. Vale is a true wordsmith. I laughed, I cried, I pondered, I cheered, I cried. This is a true marvel of a story.
“Because in the beginning when we understand nothing else, there’s touch. And at the end, when we understand nothing else, there’s touch.” IYKYK
The best thing I’ve read over the past couple of weeks was a reread of a couple of space operas, LOCAL CUSTOM and SCOUT’S PROGRESS by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (both are contained in the collection The Dragon Variation). These romances are part of the Liaden Universe which spans more than 20 novels, but they are a reasonable entry point to the series which has a publication order that is completely unrelated to its internal chronology. I likely first read these books 20 years ago, and I loved them then. I still love them, but recognize that I’m completely incapable of being objective about it. Perhaps a quote or two to set the stage?
And this observation from Sinit, the anthropology studying younger sister of the FMC in Scout’s Progress:
Liaden society is very ordered, think of it as being a bit like Regency England. All interpersonal interactions are governed by the Code, which carefully defines the role the individual is to undertake in a given interaction. In addition, Liaden belong to houses or clans, and they do not expect affection from those outside the clan. It is meant to feel fey or even alien to us.
In broad terms, Local Custom starts as a billionaire secret baby trope. But what makes it interesting the clash of Terran and Liaden cultures. For Anne’s Terran sensibilities, having a child with a friend who will soon be leaving on a trade mission meant honoring her friend. For Er Thom, finding out that his child was living apart from the clan was like finding out his child was doomed to a fate worse than death. So, we forgive Er Thom for setting a course whose destination is designed to put the child under the clan’s control rather than Anne’s. It’s a romance, so it all works out, but there’s lots of good angst along the way.
Scout’s Progress works with a disguised billionaire trope, with the billionaire in question being Er Thom’s foster brother Daav. Aelliana is a Liaden math professor, with a specialty in probability, and a terrible, abusive home life. Her older brother has done his best to break her so that she won’t be a threat to his standing as heir to the clan leader. And when she realizes that things will never get any better, she decides she has to leave Liad and stumbles into a bit of luck. She manages to win a space ship at a game of chance, which is berthed at the same shop where Daav (no-last-name) is working with some old friends from his Scout days. As she learns to pilot her new ship, she and Daav become friends, but the best part is watching Aelliana find her self-confidence, which her brother had done his best to destroy.
1. Wikipedia tells me that Scout’s Progress won the Romantic Times Book Club Reviewers Choice Award for Best Science Fiction Novel back in 2002.
2. The authors called these “Space Regencies” and credit Georgette Heyer for inspiration in the introduction.
3. As much as I love these books, the series as a whole is a little uneven in terms of quality. They really are very enjoyable in a pulpy adventure kind of way, and rise above that with memorable characters. But best to go in with reasonable expectations, okay? (For example, all the main characters are too good at almost everything. Their stat sheets were created with weighted dice, and I love them anyway.)
4. Mouse and Dragon is the direct sequel to Scout’s Progress, but it ends on a bit of cliff hanger that isn’t resolved until the Theo Waitley arc, so approach with caution.
5. Calling them billionaires might actually be underselling their wealth and influence.
6. Er Thom and Daav are inspired by regency heroes, not contemporary alpha male heroes.
ALPHA AND OMEGA (novella in a collection called On the Prowl) and CRY WOLF (An Alpha and Omega Novel) by Patricia Briggs. Another reread, because it was shelved next to Scout’s Progress and I was curious to see how well it had aged. This series takes place in the same universe as the author’s Mercy Thompson series, which means that shapeshifters, witches, and other things that go bump in the night are going about their business mostly out of sight of human society. These stories cover the initial meeting and first adventure of Anna (an omega werewolf) and her mate Charles (an alpha werewolf). In this universe, rare omega wolves have protective personalities but are outside the pack dominance hierarchy, and they have special sort of pack magic. The romance portion is fairly sweet, though Anna does have some abuse and trauma to work through.
DARK ANGEL – A Bratva Arranged Marriage Romance by Ariana Fraser. Mafia romance doing mafia romance things. (Kindle Unlimited, with KU editing: Chapter 14 preceded chapter 13 in the text.)
MY DARK ROMEO: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Dark Prince Road 1) and MY DARK PRINCE: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Dark Prince Road 3) by Parker S Huntington and LJ Shen. So, this series has some contemporary fairy tale retelling vibes. I skipped the 2nd book because I didn’t think I could suspend disbelief enough to handle “I caught her trying to rob me so I decided to hire her as a maid”, not even for Cinderella vibes. Technically, they are on the darker side, but honestly, I found them to be so over the top that they jumped over romcom landed somewhere in the middle of farce. YMMV, but I found them to be hilarious. (Kindle Unlimited)
“I wondered what kind of heinous crimes I’d committed against the human race in a previous life to deserve these two nutjobs as my love interests.”
“I haven’t man handled the ham candle in sixteen hours now.”
“No offense, but I need more money like the Duggars need more kids.”
@DDD—because of your recommendations, I’ve picked up and really enjoyed Julie Kriss’s Road Kings series. Thank you! I’ve just gotten book 5 and now I’m looking forward to the newer titles too.
I said in my last WAYR post that I was about to read CUSTODIANS OF WONDER, a nonfic recommended by Amanda, but a bunch of other library holds came in and I’ve pushed that one back. I still have it on my shelf!
I’ve recently loved:
EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT by Benjamin Stevenson—I glommed all three mysteries in this series after seeing an SBTB deal about the first one, and while I liked them all, TRAIN was my favorite. Around the edges of a clever locked-room (well, locked train) mystery, the author tackles some deep issues about men misusing power/exploiting women. I thought it was handled thoughtfully and well, but be alerted in case that’s not a subject you want to read right now.
THE MUSE OF MAIDEN LANE by Mimi Matthews—A marriage of convenience historical romance between a physically disabled artist (brother of a heroine from her Parish Orphans of Devon series) and an overlooked artist/horsewoman whose awful brother takes away her choices. I call this an MOC, but it’s pretty far into the book before the characters get to that point and they’re already wayyy into each other. Matthews writes closed-door romance, yet there is such chemistry between the two MCs from moment 1 and I adored it.
Now listening to Lucy Parker’s (!!!) newest, MISDIRECTED, an Audible Original. It has an enemies-to-lovers vibe and takes place on the set of a TV show clearly inspired by Bridgerton. I love, love Parker’s writing and it’s great to have a new romance from her. Bonus: this book is fabulously narrated by Nicola Coughlan, an actress on Bridgerton, and Gwilym Lee.
I went to the library yesterday and was about to leave without borrowing anything for myself (was loaded down with board books, though!) when I saw The Burden, by Agatha Christie in her Mary Westmacott persona, on the returns trolley. I’d never read that one, so took it out and raced through part one in the afternoon.
I’m also revisiting Proper English (KJ Charles) for an online readalong.
Whoa, time’s a flyin’ right now.
Recent standouts:
DJ Jamison’s RESTING BEACH FACE, the fourth in DJ Jamison’s warm and welcoming small-town Swallow Cove series. Cash Hicks has acquired a bit of a reputation for being a flirty playboy and though he’s pretty much only has eyes for quiet and gruff B&B owner Declan Sullivan for the better part of a year, that reputation is hard to overcome. It’s a good thing that ultimately Ms Jamison and the good people of Swallow Cove give enough grace and space for these two to know better, more deeply, and to see beyond the first glance. Or the fifth…
DJ Jamison’s small-town goodness continues to shine in this last story set in this scenic lakefront locale, and while it stands alone well, I loved seeing characters from previous stories play a part in Declan and Cash’s sometimes unsteady journey to getting what their hearts desire, or even being able to better define what that is. I appreciated Ms Jamison’s nuanced portrayal of some of the wide gamut of the sexual spectrum, and the reminder to treat each other with tenderness and grace. It’s a real pleasure to see Cash and Declan come to better understand each other and to become that safe place for the person they care for the most. A fantastic close to this chapter!
TEXTBOOK DEFENSE is the fifth in Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James’s Hockey Ever After series. Defenseman Jordan Shaw and his six-year-old, Kaira, are frequent attendees at their local library’s story time. Librarian Rowan Chadha might not know anything about the sport, but he recognizes a DILF when he sees one. Running into each other at a fundraising gala leads to a fake date with much more real attraction. The resulting fledgling friendship leads to a temporary nanny/roommate situation that benefits them both.
I really enjoyed this story despite the fact that Jordy and Rowan are sometimes among the worst communicators on the planet. Loved Kaira and their relationship with her. And loved getting peeks at players from other books in the series. I ended up going back and rereading most of the previous books and enjoyed them all over again.
I also enjoyed AM Arthur’s Clean Slate Ranch and Amy Lane’s Search and Rescue series, thanks to Hoopla. Both of these series include a lot of second-chance, found family themes, although Arthur’s and Lane’s writing styles are totally different. I loved the settings, and enjoyed both series quite a lot.
Half-heartedly trying to figure out how to download some of my vast kindle library and taking deep breaths. Can’t wait to see what everyone else is reading!
I’m completely hooked MA Nicols Generations of Love books. The writing is emotional and the characters are well defined. Just finished A Passing Fancy. (historical romance)
Home with the flu so had a chance to do some reading and really enjoyed two books by new to me author Jessica Joyce. I first read The Ex Vows …a second chance romance…and then her debut You, with a View….a romance that deals with being stuck in life and the role of grief due to loss of beloved grandmother.
What I genuinely liked about both of these books, being a long time romance reader, was that while they were well written with good dialogue, well defined characters, and banter, they dealt realistically with people working through their real life issues. I kept waiting for the inevitable miscommunication or misunderstanding, but there was none of that which was refreshing. And the storylines in both were interesting too.
So if you have to be home on the couch being sick, it was nice surprise to come across two very enjoyable books
I almost DNFed “Three Mages and a Margarita” but I’m glad I finished it. I think i found the characters a little too broad in the beginning but they were fleshed out very well by the end.
I have the next books on hold already.
I DNFed Bull Moon Rising. I saw the trigger warnings in the front, tried a few pages, and decided I wasn’t in the right headspace for it right now. I may try again later. I like the author’s alien series. Closely You was super cute.
DNFed The Spider Heist. I think it was supposed to be a fun caper but I couldn’t understand the main character’s thinking process.
I am still taking advantage of my KU trial. Ariana Fraser’s books are all readable but the Morozov books (at least the first two) stood out for me because the female main characters actually had lives before they met the guys and their individual characteristics play a strong part in the story. The Toscano books were good, too, but I think that was because the guys were not complete jerks from the get go.
Captive of the Horde King was great. I think someone here recommended it and I liked the world-building.
Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren was a cute holiday novella. Set up almost like same time next year and the shop around the corner but without cheating or lying.
@Sarah: I have to respectfully disagree with you on this point:
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett. It is awful.
I can’t say that I loved it, but I liked it A LOT! I agree that the author didn’t know how to handle the romance part of this 3rd book — so it’s no wonder that Emily and Wendell are separated for a big chunk of the book’s climax. I still every much enjoyed Emily’s work and learning more about Wendell’s Otherlands.
SOMETHING HUMAN by A J Demas was just what I needed. Set in an alternative Greek or Mediterranean world, it does my favorite thing – drops you right into the action. As a battle is winding down, A soldier hears something under an overturned wagon on a battlefield, lifts it up, and rescues the trapped soldier, one of the enemy. Together they make their way to an abandoned temple, and the rescued guy now tends the other, who was shot with a poisoned arrow. I have been starting and putting down books that seem pretty good, that wasn’t the case here. The different time period, stakes, and protagonists all kept me reading. Highly recommended!
@C, I’m a big fan of Liad as well, maybe time for a reread. I most recently reread AGENT OF CHANGE, one of those I most revisit. “THE MAN WHO was not Terrence O’Grady had come quietly.” Kind of like ” There was no possibility of a walk that night,” I’m instantly in.
I had surgery in October so focusing on books has been hard for me. I’ve been reading a lot of romance/isekai manga, currently on volume 7 of Villains are Destined to Die.
I’ve also been listening to a lot of the Graphic Audio full cast fantasy romance books, I just finished A Kilt for Christmas (#3 in Enchanted Highlands Series) by Tricia O’Malley (with one of my favorite GA voice actors Danny Gavigan as the love interest *swoons*) and moved on to Sin & Spirit (#4 in Demigods of San Francisco) by K.F. Breene which has 2 of my other favorite VAs in it (Rayner Gabriel and Gabriel Michael).
I found the Graphic Audio books back when I wanted an alternative to the ACOTAR audio books (the narrator grated on me) and honestly they’re the only way I enjoy Audiobooks now! I know they are divisive and people either love or loathe them.
I’m hoping at some point to shake off this slump and get back to my giant TBR pile, but we will see what happens.
I’ve read all of Ali Hazelwood’s books except BRIDE, and her new novel DEEP END, along with 2024’s NOT IN LOVE, are my favorites. Both are darker in tone than some of Hazelwood’s previous works, but I like these two angst-filled stories of troubled FMCs who find their way to improved self-perception (plus romance) even more than those featuring her somewhat-frothier FMCs. Also, I don’t recall ever reading a sports-themed romance set, like DEEP END, in the world of competitive (Olympic-level) swimming and diving— I learned some things about sports I follow closely only once every four years or so. (As is noted ruefully by characters in DEEP END about many fans of swimming and diving.) FMC/American diver Scarlett and MMC/Swedish swimmer Lukas are both biology/pre-med students at Stanford, so some fun cameos by MCs from THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS are part of this book, too. Scarlett was more interesting to me than Lukas, but Hazelwood provides a lot of thoughtful development of the way both characters navigate control issues— in their consensual “kinky” sex scenes, in the complicated friendships both have with diving team member Penelope, and in other parts of their lives as well. There’s also lots of good banter and other kinds of good communication among characters, a reasonable amount of the science-y talk I expect from a Hazelwood story, and the HEA epilogue provided a satisfying conclusion.
I picked up LOVE OF MY AFTERLIFE by Kirsty Greenwood when it was on sale recently and concur wholeheartedly with the endorsement from @SBSarah in her “best reads of 2024”. The story reminded me of themes from the play “Our Town” about appreciating your life while you’re living it (friends, family, big moments and the small, seemingly insignificant ones, too)— but with a lot more humor, and with many, many romance tropes that are all intermeshed elegantly inside one novel. Haven’t yet gone back to listen to @SBSarah’s podcast with the author, but that’s on my to-do list.
Just finished IN A RUSH by Kate Canterbary, a new book by a new-to-me author. For the most part I enjoyed this story of friends-to-lovers combined with marriage of convenience, but despite a lot of good banter, the book dragged at times— seems like a few of the scenes with MMC Ryan demonstrating his love for FMC Emme could have been cut with no harm to the book overall. Plus, Ryan is a SuperBowl winning quarterback with limitless money, influence, and helpers to facilitate his big (and medium and small) gestures, and “billionaire takes care of ‘regular person’ girlfriend” is not my favorite trope. I learned when I got to the end of the book that this was the second in a series so I’ll probably try the first one and then decide if I want to read more from Canterbary’s collection.
I saw some favorable mentions for MAKE ROOM FOR LOVE, the debut novel by Darcy Liao, so I downloaded it from KU. The characters were interesting—butch lesbian (as she’s described numerous times) Isabel is an electrician who meets trans woman Mira by helping to extract her from an uncomfortable encounter with Mira’s ex-boyfriend. Then Isabel offers Mira the room in her apartment that’s empty since Isabel’s ex-girlfriend has moved out. Mira, who eventually realizes she’s bi, is a grad student seeking a degree in classics (she reads ancient Greek and Roman poetry to Isabel!) while helping with the campaign to organize a graduate student union. (I appreciated the verisimilitude of those parts of the book, which coincided with my own experiences in higher education unionism.) Also, Isabel is Chinese and Mira’s heritage is Indian and Jewish, so there are many brief comments about favored foods and cultural traditions. However, I thought the pace of the novel was a bit slow overall, and in a lot of places I would have liked more “show” and less “tell” in recounting the emotional turmoil experienced by both of these intensely earnest characters.
I’m still finding Christmas-themed books on my Kindle— THE CHRISTMAS SWAP by Talia Samuels was a just-OK debut novel. This British F/F story progressed from fake dating to falling-for-fake-boyfriend’s-sister, with dramatic mood swings affecting all three of those involved in the fake dating / real dating triangle, and several plot points that seemed greatly contrived. I read this one in part because of a cover blurb from Rachel Lacey, whose books I generally like, and I was hoping for more.
I’m reading Rebecca Yaros – finished Fourth Wing and half way through Iron Flame. I’m having a mixed reaction there. They are compelling so I keep reading but I definitely won’t buy Onyx Storm until it is in paperback. They are also too violent for me to re-read, I think.
Love Liad, so I may go back to re-read those once I finish Iron Flame.
Since I don’t see anyone mentioning this, and in all fairness it’s not very well documented on the internet, I will do so. If you use the drm removal tools 10.0.9, which is a beta, but works fine, you can remove drm from more recently published books. I used it on ones published last year. The most recent version of Kindle for PC which seems to work for this is 2.4. Why this is so poorly documented, leading to the continued spreading of information about downloading older versions and older plug-ins, I don’t know. For what it’s worth, I just use the software, since I don’t have a physical kindle device. I suspect Amazon will close the loop, and then someone will try to crack it again, but this is what’s available now.
@sarah, how do we find the immersive audio of the Innkeeper books? There is very little that can get me to listen to vs. read a book, but that right there may be it!
Currently in the middle of THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern and enjoying it tremendously. Thanks to all who recommended.
Again, somewhat in order of favourites.
In B.K. Borison’s f/m contemporary romance FIRST-TIME CALLER a mother catches her daughter calling in to a Baltimore radio station’s loveline program and ends up talking to the disillusioned DJ and ratings go up for the struggling station. So they arrange for the mother to return to the show. I was charmed, through I wish my own current work-life hadn’t been so life-invasive that I couldn’t give this as much attention as it deserves. Will re-read.
I’m an Ali Hazelwood fan, and loved her f/m romance DEEP END. I can kind of almost maybe see why her books aren’t for everyone, but I love her nerdy characters and how they eventually fall for each other and along the way improve their lives. This is about a champion-level diver recovering from an injury and an Olympic-level swimmer in college.
I’m with @Laura George: while I didn’t love EMILY WILDE’S COMPENDIUM OF LOST TALES as much as the previous two I still found it a way above-average read and enjoyed being in the Otherlands and other-England with Emily and Wendell for another adventure as Wendell takes his kingdom.
Though in general I hate reading about violence, I truly enjoyed Brynne Weaver’s murderous and gory contemporary f/m romance SCYTHE & SPARROW, the third and final book in her Ruinous Love series. Sparrow is a circus motorcycle performer and tarot reader who helps women escape abusive spouses–until she decides to start helping by murdering those spouses. Badly injured in the course of her first attempt she breaks into a health clinic to ask for help. The doctor happens to be the brother of the two men in the previous novels. He’s the youngest and is hiding out from heartbreak and his need to be the perfect man. What I especially appreciated in this one is the depiction of the details in the couple’s relationship–about the ways they cared for each other and things they did for each other and how they saw each other added up to a lovely romance in the midst of all the mayhem.
Also really liked Lauren Kung Jessen’s YIN YANG LOVE SONG. She’s a new author to me, but I had a good time reading this quite f/m contemporary about woman who runs a traditional Chinese herbal company and retreat for the broken-hearted with her family. There’s also a family curse that love will never work out for them and lots of family stories to back that up. At a party where she is trying to promote a new line of teas, she runs into a cellist famous as a heartbreaker and they end up deciding to fake date to help both of their ambitions. This is a quieter but enjoyable one.
Tessa Bailey doesn’t always work for me but I liked the third in her Big Shots series, DREAM GIRL DRAMA, mostly because I liked the characters so much. Again, a f/m contemporary. The FMC is, yes, a previously spoiled pixie dream girl. She’s coasted in life as a rich girl with a controlling mother and being a harp prodigy and when she meets a hockey player (he’s a sweetheart) she decides (with his help) to spreads her wings to change her life and grow up.
I found Lyra Serene’s f/m romance fantasy A CROWN SO SILVER a little much to listen to in audio and ended up reading it quickly on my e-reader, almost skimming but not quite. This is the second in a series and I like the world the author created and really like the FMC but I wanted it to feel a little more open and important and to move more quickly.
Holly Gramazio’s THE HUSBANDS had a great concept–a woman suddenly has a husband appear out of her attic and the details of her life immediately change to suit that relationship. If he goes back into the attic a new husband (and life) emerges. It shifted for me between being intriguing and a little slow. I skipped a whole lengthy husband and wished I’d skipped a few groups of short-time husbands. I found it at times Too Much and Not Quite Enough but definitely well worth checking out in the end.
@EditChief, I agree with you about Ali Hazelwood!!
I would also recommend with Kate Canterbury starting with her Walsh series about a family of preservationist architects in Boston. I began with the second in the series THE SPACE BETWEEN and that was the first step in a reading obsession. I LOVE the Walsh family and it made me a total Canterbury fan.
@DiscoDollyDeb clearly I have you to thank for pointing me toward reading Julie Kriss. I’ve loved all I’ve read of hers and as soon as the audio comes out for the new one I will be inhaling it. The Road Kings and the allied stories are just so good. And yes, unfortunately, haven’t yet receive the attention they deserve.
As for what I’m reading, since I haven’t yet reestablished much of a reading habit outside of book club, my selections will be ones from Book Club. For my history book club, I read Rome is Burning, which about the great fire of Rome. This topic seems like it would be interesting, but the book was definitely written in a way that I think that only specialists could enjoy. I didn’t go into the book knowing even the outline of this event, and that would have helped. It’s not that I don’t like learning about ancient Rome though. For romance book club, I am reading Taken by the Alien Next Door, a romance with aliens, or an alien, who has come to Earth to find a mate. I wasn’t sure if I would like this, but I’m enjoying it so far at about a quarter of the way in.. I began Meet Me in the Margins, based on that Shop Around the Corner rec, which I submitted, and while I might come back to it, I am currently stalled out because I don’t really like her family.
Here are some of the lovely books helping me get through these rather stressful times we are living in…Thank you so much to the authors who are continuing to share their talents with all of us.
HAMMER & GAVEL by C.T. Whistle is a book I read based solely on its cover and I got really lucky that the story was amazing. This is a shifter/omegaverse novel but with an interesting twist of having the (new to me) designation of Sigmas. Oliver Reed and Lucas White were great MCs who meet over the course of an investigation into a trafficking ring. I really enjoyed the secondary characters, particularly Oliver’s brother and Oliver’s workmates. I felt the author did a great job of balancing romance and mystery and I look forward to reading more in this series.
THE STABLEMASTER’S HEART & THE ROYAL ROGUE by Sarah Honey If you can get past an MC named Mother then you have an absolutely wonderful treat waiting for you in book 2 of the Tales of Lilliforth series. In a plot that only makes sense in Romancelandia, Vasily (the fourth son of the king of Koroslova) is traveling incognito and decides to take the job of royal groom. He begins falling for the stablemaster, Mother Jones, who of course has no idea Vasily is a visiting royal. When Mother reciprocates Vasily’s feelings, he is elated, but also worried about how/when to share his heritage. This book was an absolute hoot – my favorite of the series so far. Sweet, tender, and oh, so funny. The Royal Rogue finds the captain of the guard, Thomas Malone continually rolling his eyes at scatterbrained, inept Evan Devere. Evan is stupidly handsome but also…well, stupid. However, as a plot comes to light endangering the royals that Thomas is sworn to protect, Evan becomes his unexpected ally and partner in finding out who is behind the plot. Lots of enjoyable scenes and an easy-to-root-for HEA wrap this one up in a tidy bow.
GHOST MOUNTAIN WOLF SHIFTERS series by Audrey Faye (ALPHA, HEART, REBEL, BREATH, RAVEN, BEAR, ELDER, SENTINEL, SHIELD, POET, & CATALYST) This series is all of my personal catnip wrapped up into one insanely well-plotted, well-written group of books. I hoard new releases like Golem’s precious until it is time to reread from book 1 to catch up with all of the many, many (MANY) characters who inhabit these books. The basic premise is a desperately fractured wolf pack comes to the attention of an alpha, Hayden Scott, and his two friends whilst they are out hiking. They come across an omega and her son who are on the run from another alpha who is intent on killing them all. When Hayden kills the murderous alpha and becomes the new alpha of the Ghost Mountain Wolf Shifters, he isn’t at all prepared for what he will find. The stories are beautiful and heartbreaking…each book is told from multiple POVs while also still focusing on the titular character. Every new book carefully expands the author’s world and layers are continually uncovered & revealed while new & existing connections are forged and re-shaped. I love that knitting, cooking, engineering, and pinecone wars become the vehicles for healing and reconnection.
TWO CAN PLAY by Ali Hazelwood is a great audiobook experience. Viola Bowen is desperate to be brought on board the design team for a new game based on her favorite book series. The only issue is that Jesse Andrews, her arch-nemesis, is lead on the project. When their bosses decide a retreat is the only option to bring the teams together, everything starts to fall apart. Bailing on the project is not an option so Viola works to create a truce with Jesse. Problem is, it’s hard to create a truce, when you don’t even know why you are at war. I listened to this all in one go on a long drive and loved the pacing of discovering just what had gone wrong all between Viola and Jesse.
PART 2
A MATCH MADE IN EVAN by Anna Sparrows features James Durant whose daughter Mia is desperate to get into a private school with an amazing drama program. James soon finds himself fake-engaged to his best friend Evan (because reasons) and what follows is watching these two long-time best friends begin to reckon with the new romantic turn their feelings are taking. Both men are great characters and do a pretty good job of communicating as their feelings develop and change. I also enjoyed Mia’s character as well as a few of the drama kids who become her friends. A nice addition to the Dads and Adages series.
IT’S IN HIS KISS & HE’S SO FINE by Jill Shalvis Books #10 & 11 in the Lucky Harbor series both provide solid contemporary romances that I enjoyed gulping down. IT’S IN HIS KISS features Becca Thorpe a commercial jingle-writer and Sam Brody, one of three friends who one a deep sea fishing business. Becca is down on her luck while Sam is determined to steer clear. We all know how that will go. HE’S SO FINE follows Olivia Bentley who has an interesting past as a former child actor and boat captain Cole Donovan who is open to spending time with Olivia but doesn’t expect the relationship to really gain any depth. Cole also has an interesting history that took center stage for a while as he moved past the scars left by a friend who died leaving resentment and guilt.
ALDO by Melanie Moreland was fairly predictable but still enjoyable. Aldo is the right hand man to the mafia boss in Niagara Falls. Violet Nelson is hired to work in a diner housed in the casino Aldo helps manage. No new ground was broken, but it didn’t need to as the basic story worked for me. Watching these two fall in love was fun. I don’t know if the story will stay with me, but I plan to read book 2 featuring Aldo’s boss Roman sooner than later.
THE REVENGE AGENDA by Saxon James is book three in the Accidental Love series. MC Rush shows up in a naughty elf costume to surprise his boyfriend, only to find himself surprised when his boyfriend’s fiance opens the door. Humiliated, he runs out, leaving his bag behind. Hunter is stunned when his engagement party is interrupted with proof of his fiance cheating. When he leaves to cool down, he finds the sad elf in a predicament and human decency forces him to lend Rush a hand. When fate finds Rush and Hunter working together, it takes some time and some communication but both men realize that the only one at fault truly was their ex. They play around with the idea of getting revenge and slowly begin to fall for each other…I loved revisiting the boys who live in Big Bertha, and I especially loved watching sweet Rush find his HEA.
HONEY & STARLIGHT by LA Lambert was an entertaining fantasy romance featuring a straightlaced omega chosen by a king to put his lackadaisical alpha son on notice. Watching these two characters let down their walls and fall in love was sweet. March & Nero might have all the wrong perceptions about each other to begin with but they also have some compelling reasons for going along with the king’s plan. As each learns more about the other, reasons for choices come to light and some interesting conversations about privilege occur. Add in dragons and you have a winner!
It was at this point that I got sick for the third time in 2025 and began mainlining all of AJ Sherwood’s fantasy romances including A MAGE’S GUIDE TO HUMAN FAMILIARS, A MAGE’S GUIDE TO AUSSIE TERRORS, A MAGE’S GUIDE TO WICKY, A FAE COIN TRANSPORTED ME INTO ANOTHER WORLD AND NOW I’M THE GAY HOLY MAIDEN, THE MAGIC THAT BINDS, A (NON) COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO SEA SERPENTS, and DEALING WITH MAPINGUARI AND DOGGED ENGINEERS. I don’t care how many times I read these books, they are always enjoyable. I love, love, love this author and hope they continue to write for many, many more years. And yes…these comfort reads did indeed bring me all the comfort during my illness and following recovery. I have a feeling these books will be in regular rotation over the next four years.
The Kindle version you’re looking for will be 2.4.7, and then have several numbers after that. I presume this might work with download and transfer, since this set of software and plugins will remove drm on newer books, and therefor work on newer files, but I don’t know about that.
Reading was sluggish and getting sluggisher this month. Often I only had sufficient concentration for naughty husky videos and people who’ve made careers out of reading AITA posts. I feel like I could do comparative reviews of the latter, but I think I’ll retire from fb instead. Tomorrow. Next week. Soon. . . .
This Wild Heart by Karla Sorensen
The fifth book in Sorensen’s Wilder Family series is an emotional roller coaster in all the best ways. I’m kind of amazed at how much I’m loving this despite two of my least favorite tropes–the surprise Vegas stranger wedding and another one that remains nameless to avoid spoilers. Parker Wilder is still grappling with the toxic stew of grief, guilt, and anger stemming from his father’s death, when he encounters Anya in Vegas. Anya is dealing with a bad breakup from her cheating jock fiance. During an alcohol soaked evening, it makes sense to solve their problems with a 21st century marriage of convenience. There are no marital miracle cures to be had, but the new relationship inspires the beginnings of necessary personal growth and healing. I really loved the MCs in this one and the way they interacted with each other. The Wilders made their presence felt. as did Anya’s family, but the focus was unmistakably on Parker and Anya. Whole-heartedly recommend.
Weaving Hope by Celia Lake
This tale of magical Albion takes place in the mid 1920s and focuses primarily on the craft of weaving. There is also substantial information about production of organic materia used in magic. Master weaver Eda is invited to consult on the restoration of tapestries at Oakburgh Hall by Jeremy who has just inherited. As a result, Eda undertakes the project, and she and Jeremy become involved in solving some domestic mysteries. In time, they also become friends and more. Courtship in Lake’s world resembles a Regency cotillion with its formal figures and stylized flirtation. The result in Weaving Hope is utterly charming I really enjoyed this tale set in Lake’s alternate England post-World War I. Another perfect cozy read from Lake.
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
Hazelwood’s latest offering might end up being my favorite of hers. I enjoy sports romance most when the sport part is a solid portion of the book and includes lots of detail. Bonus points if the sport is unfamiliar to me. Scarlett is a competitive diver, while Lukas is an Olympic level swimmer–both at Stanford. Together they explore a shared interest in kink that leads to unexpected emotional intimacy. They also share academic interests and similar career goals as well as the found family that can develop within a group of athletes. Narrated by Scarlett, this story is so layered and gripping and gorgeously written that it is my favorite book so far this year. I had some mild reservations regarding the kink which is usual for me. Though the descriptions were explicit, the actual kink did not seem that extreme. My issues were around authenticity, which I’m actually not qualified to judge. However, I suspect that Deep End will still be in my top five come December.
Just a Heartbeat Away by Cara Bastone
After the many encomiums bestowed by the Bitchery on Bastone, I finally decided to check out her work. This novel was well written, and I found the third person, omniscient, past tense POV to be endearingly comforting. Widowed dad, Sebastian, is spiralling in the wake of his wife’s death, when a brief encounter with his son’s preschool teacher catalyzes the course correction that he needs. Two years later, he once again meets Via as a guidance counselor in six year old Matty’s school. This is an extremely tropey romance in that plot and character elements are easily identifiable: single dad, age gap, slow burn. This is a pretty down to earth, emotionally mature story, but there are no real surprises. I would recommend it, but, for me, it was a little bland. I will be reading the sequel, however.
Musical Tables by Billy Collins
I picked this up on sale, and it yielded unexpected delights. This short collection of short poems offered sly word play and moments of insight. It was doubly, tripley, infinitely a bargain because I can tell that each future reading will yield further pleasures and revelations.
Carnal Innocence by Nora Roberts
This work of romantic suspense by Roberts emphasizes suspense far more than romance. Set in rural Mississippi, it is notable for Roberts’s unmatched skill in character development, immersive scene building, and creating a sense of place. The MMC is Tucker Longstreet, scion of an old cotton growing family. Tucker is an outwardly lazy, charming womanizer and ends up being one of Roberts’s more complex heroes. When he meets Caroline, the troubled concert violinist who inherits a neighboring house, he is fascinated from the beginning. There is a huge cast of supporting characters and a serial killer subplot with some interesting twists. Originally released in 1999, Carnal Innocence is set in a South that feels older somehow than the turn of the 21st century. A little past the 50% mark, someone refers to it being the nineties, but so many of the details–from rotary phones to lacquered beehive hairdos to console TVs to Jello parfaits–seem like artifacts from an earlier era. I don’t know whether this dissonance is inherent to the novel or a factor of my unfamiliarity with this particular place and time. There is a nostalgic description of the plantation drowsing in time that refers to “silent black ‘servants.’” The whole passage is somewhat problematical in its dreamy evocation of a past and present anchored together in a single space, though, to be fair, there is no overt celebration of those earlier times. To be honest, I don’t know that I’d have noticed this if I’d read it in 1999. Also, I’m old enough at this point that elements of past decades tend to blur into each other. So, to conclude, Carnal Innocence is wicked well-written with a moody romance and a creeptastic murder mystery. It hovers on the border between Southern gothic and small town quaintness with hints of lost cause sentiment that may characterize the time and place or may be symptoms of nostalgia. I found it a fascinating read, but frankly Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott mysteries felt more authenticly Southern to me. So, a hearty YMMV.
In non-romance, I just finished THE AGE OF MAGICAL OVERTHINKING – Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell. I am not big on these types of books, but I loved Montell’s previous book Cultish, so I got this one. And it is good – amusing, entertaining and so very true. Very recommendable.
I finished Loretta Chases’ Lord of Scoundrels, and now I’m on to CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT, which is in the same series – because of course Esmond intrigued me and I wanted to know what his story is. I am a third in and it is feeling like a slow start. I hope the mystery here will pick up and keep me engaged.
On another note, having just downloaded all my Kindle books to my laptop, I noticed that Rachel Reid’s Gamechangers series books have all received new cartoon covers! I admit I’m conflicted. Yes, they look like the characters are described… but they’re still cartoons, and there are better cartoon covers out there IMHO. The original covers were admittedly not all super-great either (headless torsoes = uninteresting), except for Role Model, where I think they really found the perfect model for Troy – so I am sad to see that one disappear.
@Laura I will keep reading on your recommendation. I had reached the point where I usually DNF but I will give it another 50 pages.
I read RADIANCE by Grace Draven, which I guess is romantasy? For most of the book it was a cozy tale of a human/alien couple, and all the conflict was external, with the MCs allied against the world, a trope I love. Then there was a lot of violence towards the end, and a heavy paranormal element was introduced, which I didn’t care for. So as much as I liked the characters, I won’t be continuing the series.
I am STILL reading GRAVE MERCY. In my defense, it’s >500 pages. The world building is outstanding.
And I finished A DEAD BORE which is 2nd in Sheri Cobb South’s John Pickett mystery series. She’s a prolific author of fun cozy mysteries and romances, and John Pickett is a Bow Street runner who falls for a capital “L” Lady.
Sorry I don’t have anything more exciting to report!
Oh, I almost forgot the best book I read this month! It was a really old historical, MY LOVE, MY ENEMY by Jan Cox Speas. From the cover(which is really gorgeous art, take a look, it reminds me of a Howard Pyle painting: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1593127.My_Love_My_Enemy) and the publication date(1984) I thought it was going to be a bodice ripper, but no. It was closed door, and a real swashbuckler, with privateers and non-stop adventures at sea, from the Chesapeake to Bermuda, to France, Spain and England and back to the U.S. for the burning of the Capital during the War of 1812. Totally enjoyed it. Will look for more of this author’s books.
Of what I’ve read lately nothing was a clear A grade read, but I can recommend:
– A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin. A historical romance with one of my favorite female main characters in the genre. It’s the book I wish The Viscount Who Loved Me (Anthony’s book in the Bridgerton series) had been: two flawed older siblings trying their best and finding love and mutual respect with each other.
– The Wayward Child portal fantasy series by Seanan McGuire, which begins with Every Heart a Doorway. Not romance, but they are gorgeous novellas that demonstrate prose doesn’t have to be fancy or exclusively for adults to be brilliant and emotive. I bounced off of the fourth novella, In an Absent Dream, but enjoyed all the other works in the series.
I cautiously recommend:
– The Starlight’s Shadow sci-fi romance trilogy by Jessie Mihalik, which begins with Hunt the Stars. The books were enjoyable, but reading all three back to back was highly repetitive. They were so close, yet so far, from being my personal catnip, which I found deeply frustrating.
The political and military elements were eighty per cent of the way to elevating the story but didn’t quite make sense, which was distracting. The major relationships were M/F with pretty standard gender roles (which always feels like a let-down in a setting with spaceships and alien cultures), although there were minor characters that were queer and poly,
Still, if you’re in the mood for a relatively low effort romance series where fascist warmongers eventually get their just deserts, Starlight’s Shadow is a good pick.
I did not finish/ skipped to the end of:
– Evil Twin by Kati Wilde. This was a fantasy romance where I loved the premise – prince and princess embracing their villainy and acting in unorthodox ways to get what they want – but I loathed the execution. I find Wilde’s books often descend into farce, and in this case the descent was swift and steep.
– The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. Another fantasy romance where the premise was stronger than the execution. This dragged on and, despite the sheer amount of text, I felt the world-building was thin and unconvincing.
Over the past two weeks ~
— stayed up late to finish Alibi by Sharon Shinn which I quite enjoyed. I’d describe it as a futuristic urban fantasy with a mystery and some romance; it’s very different from the author’s Elemental Blessings series. The story is set in our future and teleportation is the means by which most people get around. The main character is an English professor who takes a part-time position tutoring the teenage son of an extremely wealthy (and vile) man. The son is likeable; sadly he suffers from a degenerative disease.
— enjoyed rereads of The Unlikely Heir and The Unlikely Pair both by Jax Calder. These are contemporary romances featuring two male leads; the second one has excellent banter and was one of my favorite new book discoveries last year. They feature characters in the English monarchy and government.
— read Being Set Up by Jax Calder. This was a fun novella about a gay man trying to avoid being set up by his best friend.
— enjoyed Arctic Fire by Keira Andrews; this is a contemporary romance novella set in (surprise!) the Arctic. It features a Canadian Ranger/school teacher and a military captain recently returned from Afghanistan.
— read the science fiction romance Choosing Theo: The Clecanian Series Book 1 by Victoria Aveline. This featured a woman abducted from earth and a man on a distant planet. The planet has a severe dearth of women, and thus women (including the heroine) are required to marry. This was pleasant, but I don’t see reading on.
— read Footprints by Clare London which is a short contemporary romance about two men who are anti-terrorist agents working for the British government.
— read a decidedly curious erotic romance about a young man and a sentient lamp, Light Me Up by Sabrina Cross.
— enjoyed Under His Sheets by R.L. Merrill, a contemporary romance set in Spain. One lead, a musician whose rock group has just disbanded following a robbery, is rescued from a political demonstration by the other, and they spend the night together. They next encounter each other at a private school where the musician has been hired to teach music. His rescuer is working there as the janitor and acts as though he does not know him. There are reasons….
— For my local book group, I read Red Clocks by Leni Zumas. This was a rather gloomy book that revolved around five women in a small Oregon town. It’s fairly contemporary, but this US has enacted laws which make providing or having an abortion a criminal offense. A law is also about to go into effect which permits only male/female married couples to adopt a child.
— read Thanemonger (The Ladyships Book 1) by Bex McLynn which is a science fiction romance between an abducted woman from earth and an alien whose adopted son has purchased/rescued her from a vendor selling sexbots. During the course of the book, the woman begins to communicate with a sentient spaceship. I would read more in this series.
— read a short work, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off by Andie Elliott. The story features two men who are to be groomsmen in a gay wedding. One would rather not be in the wedding party while the other is an actor who has been hired to replace a groomsman who is not present. The two men bond while stuck in a hotel elevator.
— also read a boatload of book samples.
Currently on a MASSIVE library manga binge. Currently reading The Invisible Man and His Soon To Be Wife, a rather sweet and low key slice of life romance about the aforementioned invisible man and a young blind woman who are coworkers at a private detective agency. Next up is catching up on the most recent volumes of the series Akane Banashi, a series about a girl determined to prove herself as a practitioner of rakugo, a form of traditional Japanese storytelling. Also snagged the third volume of Skip and Loafer, a cute high school rom com that’s fun so far. Then catching up on Dinosaur Sanctuary, a series that’s kinda like Jurassic Park except if it had competent zookeepers who actually care about the animals. And the first volume of a mystery manga I’ve never read but looks interesting, Don’t Call It Mystery? Handful of others, I basically put a hold on every series that I was behind on or that was new and caught my eye.
I am still reading mostly sci-fi and fantasy, including some re-reading in anticipation of new books coming out. I’m just finishing up the last two books in Martha Wells’ Rasksura series, THE EDGE OF WORLDS and THE HARBORS OF THE SUN. My reading has been slowed down by going back to re-read parts of the other five books. I love this series so much, especially the cranky Moon and Stone (who surprises everyone by starting a relationship with a non-Raksura sealing in these stories). I found myself wondering if Martha Wells ever thinks about what the Raksura are up to these days. I’ll also be reading DEMON KING again at some point to prepare for that new book.
Also re-read:
Mary Robinette Kowal’s THE CALCULATING STARS and THE FATED SKY, before her new book next month. I’ll be reading THE RELENTLESS MOON again too.
Katherine Addison’s THE WITNESS FOR THE DEAD, with the new book in March. The first time I read this I was still under the thrall of The Goblin Emperor and wanting more of Maia and his world. I appreciated it much more on its own terms, and I’ll be re-reading THE GRIEF OF STONES as well.
One new read I enjoyed was Tasha Suri’s THE JASMINE THRONE, but I had to take a break before continuing the trilogy. It’s such an intense story, full of effing patriarchy literally burning women.
I finally also managed to read some ebooks, after KJ Charles recommended Melissa Scott and Jo Graham’s 5 book “Order of the Air’ series. I’ve read the first two, LOST THINGS and STEEL BLUES, and really enjoyed them. I love the 1920s settings, the aviation company the MCs run, and the mystical magic associated the goddess Diana. I am also of course counting the days until Melissa Scott’s next Astrient novel, POINT OF HEARTS. She has become one of my favorite authors, with lots of backlist books to track down.