I’d been interested in RPGs (role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons) for a long time, but the few times I’d joined a group to play it didn’t really work well for me. First of all, I was almost always the only woman. Secondly, I wasn’t a very experienced player and I felt like I annoyed the other players because I had to spend a lot of time looking things up and asked a lot … Continue reading Knitting and Role Playing Games or Crafts with Cthulhu →
Romancelandia is awash in dukes behaving badly, and the hero in Never Kiss a Duke by Megan Frampton, Sebastian de Silva, was a wonderful departure from that trope. Sebastian handles conflict with maturity and faces adversity with a sense of positivity. It was such a relief to see a duke wearing his grownup breeches for once. Even with a hero I adored, the conflict fizzled at the end and I struggled with the heroine, affecting … Continue reading Never Kiss a Duke by Megan Frampton →
Happy Bachelor day, Bitchery! Last week after a ton of back and forth bickering, Alayah went home after being dubbed “fake.” That was basically the entire episode. That’s the entire intro. Pour yourself a stiff drink. Let’s get this party started. The episode opens with Chris Harrison telling the contestants, “Good morning! C’mon in! We’re making biscuits!” They all assemble in the living room where there are no biscuits. Is that some sort of slang term … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelor–S24 E4: We’re Makin’ Biscuits →
Strange Love by Ann Aguirre is a delightfully weird, heartwarming romance featuring a virgin alien hero, an abductee heroine, and a talking dog. It’s a blend of Alien, The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. It’s also a middle finger to people who claim that romance novels are formulaic and rely on rich, handsome heroes to seal the fantasy. The hero in this book is Zylar of Kith Balak, a vaguely insectoid alien who comes from … Continue reading Strange Love by Ann Aguirre →
It’s time for The Bachelor and I regret to inform you that we are still talking about champagne. We open at the McMansion the day after the last group date, and Hannah Ann and Kelsey are both still crying about their feud. Kelsey is mad that Hannah Ann told Peter she was a bully, and Hannah Ann is mad that Kelsey accused her of champagne thievery. Also there’s a redhead on the show that I absolutely … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelor–S24 E3: We’re Still Talking About Champagne →
Promise of Darkness is a fantasy romance that intrigued me with its Gothic elements and excellent worldbuilding. The tone of the novel shifted midway leaving its Gothic premise behind for something more fantasy-adventure driven. While that shift felt abrupt and pulled me out of the novel momentarily, I was so invested in the plot it was fairly easy to jump back in. I will warn readers that this book ends with a HFN not a … Continue reading Promise of Darkness by Bec McMaster →
I’ve set aside my usual drink tonight for a glass of bubbly after I saw Twitter’s reaction to this week’s episode of The Bachelor. More on that later. Last we left with Peter asking Hannah B to come back on the show after they admitted they still had feelings for each other. That would mean Hannah B would have gone from The Bachelor to The Bachelorette to Dancing with the Stars (which she won) back to The Bachelor. That’s … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelor–S24 E2: The Champagne Crisis →
It’s a new year and with that comes a new season of The Bachelor. If you’re new to my recaps, please understand that I have exactly zero faith in the show’s ability to produce true love between its contestants. No, I watch The Bachelor under the premise that the last thing any of the contestants want to do is actually win. So why go on the show? Think about it: you get to live in a mansion … Continue reading The Bachelor–S24 E1: Pilot Pete →
CW: Domestic violence, violence against women, violence against animals, references to sexual assault A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh is a tightly plotted thriller that has pervasive feeling of rage coiled around it. Every character in this book feels angry and on edge, on the verge of snapping. This creates a superb tension that carries throughout the novel and, when combined with a perfectly plotted mystery and well-developed characters, results in a fantastic reading … Continue reading A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh →
The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle is a YA horror novel set in the Amish community, and it’s one of the most genuinely frightening books I’ve read in a long time. It’s far more scary than some adult horror novels I’ve read, and it doesn’t rely on themes like sexual violence or violence against children to be frightening. It’s also incredibly well-executed and uses the choice of setting (a small Amish community) to amplify the … Continue reading The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle →
Celebrity romance is one of my favorite tropes, so I was sure to scoop up Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren. This is a first love/ second chance romance as well, and it’s set in two parts: when the hero and heroine meet for the first time, and when they reconnect fourteen years later. I really enjoyed the first part of the book, but I felt like there wasn’t as much focus on … Continue reading Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren →
