Perhaps unsurprisingly, after reading House of Earth and Blood, I posit that the best barometer of whether or not you will enjoy this book is whether or not you have enjoyed Sarah J. Maas’ other books. All the hallmarks of Maas are here: a beautiful, semi-outcast heroine hiding an incredible power; a super-powerful, much older hero with a dark past; a jam-packed cast of intriguing secondary characters; loads of snarky and sassy dialogue, and nonstop, … Continue reading House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas →
The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso presents a strong entry in the annals of badass fantasy heroines in the form of Queen Talyien of Jin-Sayeng. She is the first queen of her small martial country. During the book’s first sentence we learn that she is known as the “bitch queen” and the “She-wolf” because she murdered a man on the eve of her coronation and (purportedly) exiled the husband who was supposed to be … Continue reading The Wolf of Oren-Yaro →
In Chasing Cassandra, the sixth book in the Ravenels series, railway magnate Tom Severin finally gets his turn to be the hero. I have been hoping for a book about Tom since he was introduced in the first book in the Ravenels series. After all, I love to read about a Sad Historical Businessman brought low by love! Unfortunately, while I enjoyed this book, it also pained me because I felt like it could have … Continue reading Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas →
CW/TW: sexual assault, violence A Witch In Time is billed as the story of magically star-crossed lovers, both artists, cursed to be reincarnated and live out their doomed affair again and again throughout history. Based on the description and premise, I thought this book was going to be an atmospheric, poetic, romantic, and maybe slightly sad book with some occult elements. Not only was it not really any of those things, it was also an … Continue reading A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers →
I love lube. It is an oft-overlooked and quite versatile tool in erotic life. In my not-at-all-humble opinion, it is one of the simplest and most straightforward ways to improve the experience of vaginal penetration. Unfortunately, I don’t think romance loves lube nearly as much as I do. Recently, in a very un-scientific experiment, I searched through my extensive, romance-dominated Kindle library to see how many books mentioned the use of lube during sex. I … Continue reading Once in a Lube Moon: Why We Need More Lube in Romance →
I love modern-day witches. I love queer romance. I love mysteries. I’m not typically a huge YA reader, but I like the first three things enough to give queer YA witch romance mystery These Witches Don’t Burn a try. While this book was not without its flaws, there was something quite fresh-feeling about These Witches Don’t Burn that I appreciated. It took a lot of common YA tropes, such as “I’m trying to be a … Continue reading These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling →
I came close to crying more than once when reading A Delicate Deception. Sometimes I think of myself as a jaded reader; many books entertain me, but few impress me, and even fewer really move me. But then I read a book like this one and it turns me into a giant mush-ball and I think maybe my book-reading heart and brain are not so hardened as all that. A Delicate Deception is about Amelia … Continue reading A Delicate Deception by Cat Sebastian →
This book is kind of a weird read. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I think I mean it in a good way? It’s mostly charmingly bizarre. This book puts a lot of plates spinning in the air, and while some of them end up crashing to the ground and breaking, the show is fun while it lasts. The basic premise is that Grace and Sebastian are two scholarly nerds who are friends. … Continue reading My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh →
I keep reading books that are very hard for me to grade, because I have conflicting reactions to them. The Bridge Kingdom started out incredibly strong, but things that happened in the last 15% or so of the book soured the reading experience for me. The fact that I enjoyed the book quite a lot until that point made my disappointment even more intense. I’ve been a fan of Danielle L. Jensen since her debut … Continue reading The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen →
This intrepid comics correspondent has been trying to fill the void left by Midnight Secretary (which I read thanks to this very site!) for lo these many years. I am sorry to report that Bride of the Water God does not fill that void. How hard is it to find a romance comic with beautiful art, a winning heroine, both humor and high-stakes over-the-top soap-style drama, and a surly supernatural hero with a heart of … Continue reading Bride of the Water God by Mi-Kyung Yun →
This YA graphic novel is very sweet and perfect for fall. I’m not sure that much about it will stay with me, but it was a good use of a leisurely autumn lunch break. Mooncakes tells the story of Nova, a teen witch, and her childhood friend Tam, a werewolf, who is back in town after a several-year absence. Tam is trying to defeat a local demon who has possessed a horse (unlike most of … Continue reading Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu →
