Last Christmas, I saw a meme that said “It’s the time of year when I put away my regular anxiety and take out my fancy holiday anxiety,” and, man, do I feel that. The holidays are always a challenging time of year for me (and a lot of other people). The season can come with a lot of obligations (family, social, work, school) and it’s easy to get burned out. For the past few years … Continue reading Elyse’s Knitting: Advent Knitting
The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen is a ridiculous book. I had hoped that it would transcend into glorious F+ territory, but sadly, despite all of its WTFery, it doesn’t. I also thought it might be romantic suspense, but it’s not. The Shape of Night is a thriller with erotic and paranormal elements (BDSM ghost sex, for real) but it fails to stick the landing on the thriller portion, it isn’t particularly erotic, and … Continue reading The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen
The Duke’s Stolen Bride by Sophie Jordan is about a young woman who wants to be a courtesan in order to support her siblings and needs a foxy duke to give her sex lessons. It’s not erotic, per say se, although I will say it’s hotter than a fair amount of historicals, and while I felt the hero and heroine had a ton of chemistry, I also thought the book relied too much on external … Continue reading The Duke’s Stolen Bride by Sophie Jordan
I am not in the mood for Christmas yet. Generally speaking, I’m not in the mood for Christmas on December 23rd even, but mid-fall is WAY too early. That said, my brain has been pretty tired lately and some Regency novellas sounded like the perfect way to unwind without investing in a full length novel. Since How the Duke Stole Christmas includes novellas by some of my favorite authors, I was willing to set aside … Continue reading How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan and Joanna Shupe
I love creepy romance; before I started reading romance novels I read Old Skool Gothics by Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney. The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox contained some Gothic elements, but it’s really a historical romance with suspense elements. I enjoyed the spooky atmosphere, but I found the romantic development to be a little weak and I wasn’t happy with how the mystery was laid out. The novel is set in Pale … Continue reading The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox
TW: This book contains the graphic depiction of a rape. The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea is billed a Gothic mystery set in 1686 in Iceland that has shades of Jane Eyre to it. It’s about the dangers of rumors, and how they can poison a community. It’s wonderfully atmospheric and creepy…at least at first. About two-thirds of the way through the book, The Glass Woman shifts from a traditional Gothic to something more like … Continue reading The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea
Jill Shalvis is one of my go-to “feel good” authors, so when I needed a lift I picked up The Lemon Sisters, and, man, it did not disappoint. This book was cathartic. It made me laugh and it made me cry, and it helped me let loose some of my own bottled-up feelings. I left this book feeling recharged and satisfied, which was exactly what I needed. The third book in the Wildstone series can … Continue reading The Lemon Sisters by Jill Shalvis
The summers when I was 11 and 12 years old stand out more clearly in memory than other points in my childhood; I was too young to have even a babysitting job, but old enough to roam the neighborhood with my friends largely unsupervised. It was a stage where I was starting to be aware of the adult world, but was still pretty naïve. The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone taps into that period of … Continue reading The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean
I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to get a little bit personal in this column. Since I began knitting about ten years ago, I’ve used the craft to address my anxiety. Specifically I have PTSD, and I’ve found that certain anxiety-combatting techniques, like mindfulness, don’t always work well for me when I’m feeling panicked: I’m already hyper vigilant during an anxiety episode due to the trauma part of PTSD. Being mindful often makes … Continue reading Knitting for Anxiety and Pain
After thirteen episodes, this season of The Bachelorette is finally wrapping up. Chris Harrison promises us that this will be the most shocking season finale ever, which he promises before every season finale. Literally. I’m not making that up. I will say this, it is a ride, so buckle up. And pour some rum into your Diet Coke. Here we go. The show opens with Hannah getting ready for the finale. Neil Lane meets with both … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelorette–S15 E13: Thank God It’s Over
We open with Chris Harrison live in LA letting us know that The Bachelorette finale will stretch over four hours and two nights, and FML. Then we cut back to Greece. Peter, Tyler and Jed are still discussing the fact that Luke P showed up and was (eventually) sent home (again). Chris Harrison moves the rose podium back from where Hannah moved it away from Luke. Tearfully, Hannah tells the three remaining dudes that she feels … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelorette–S15 E12: Four Times
