I read this book in snatched moments and stolen hours and I adored it. It features tropes that I’m not all that interested in: single dad, nanny x boss, and small town romance, but the writing is so immersive and rich that these didn’t feel like familiar tropes. They felt original and fresh. Like this was the first nanny on the planet to fall in love with her boss. THAT original. But I’m getting ahead … Continue reading Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone →
Lara, who is South African, has some questions about contemporary cowboy romances that she’s trying to puzzle out. I (Sarah), who have a lot of stock image credits, added some to this post purely for the lols. Enjoy. … I’ve been feeling adventurous lately. Maybe not in my real life where I favour pattern and routine, but in my reading life I’ve been reaching for new-to-me things. It started with my quest for indie- and … Continue reading Cowboy Contemporaries – Yeehaw? →
Did you watch the Miss Fisher TV series and long for more of the same? I have something similar that might scratch that same itch: this book! It’s set in the sweltering summer of 1925 in New York City. It is stiflingly hot and the ceiling fans can only do so much. Meanwhile hemlines continue to rise and bathtub gin is a thing. Freddie, our heroine, has generational wealth but chooses to work as a … Continue reading Murder in Manhattan by Julie Mulhern →
The only way to review a book this late in a series is in a lightning review. There’s only so much you can say without spoiling the entire series. Suffice to say, spoilers for the preceding eight books lie ahead. It is finally Zeus and Hera’s turn! PRAISE BE! I was one of the chumps who thought this would be book 3. Anyone else? Can you believe?! Things are happening! The threat of Circe has … Continue reading Tender Cruelty by Katee Robert →
This is a book about a quiet, steady woman in her 50s who is dogged in her pursuit of justice. Margaret is a research assistant and she’s perfectly suited to the job: she’s methodical, reliable and devoted to science. When her boss dies unexpectedly, it is Margaret alone who suspects murder. In the way of these things, she is dismissed and not believed. As to that disbelief: the book is frank about how older women … Continue reading The Botanist’s Assistant by Peggy Townsend →
I was delighted when I saw this book was being released. I devoured book one in the series, Rules for Ruin, and ended that review with a note about how I was looking forward to the couple I guessed would be in the next book. I was delighted to be right! Nell is one of the earliest cohorts at Miss Corvus’ school and when she was younger, she felt destined for great things. But a … Continue reading The Marriage Method by Mimi Matthews →
I’m continuing my adventures through the Tails from the Alpha Art Gallery series, but we’re heading directly to book four. I can’t be sure what exactly went wrong with my reading of the third in the series, but something definitely went wrong. Could be that I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Could be that the story was as disjointed as it felt to read it. Whatever the case, I’m glad I persevered because … Continue reading Love Binds by Cynthia St Aubin →
What is this book about? Let’s give the blurb its moment to shine as it is one of the good ones (i.e. it matches the content of the book well) Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have been academic rivals since they first crossed paths as undergraduates in the literature department thirteen years ago. Now that a highly coveted teaching opportunity has come up, their rivalry hits epic proportions. Jonah needs the job to move closer … Continue reading An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister →
With fewer and fewer historical romances being traditionally published, I’m finding it harder to find arcs of books that scratch that itch for me and I’ve pretty much exhausted my small town library’s supply of historical romance. Where I was going wrong was letting myself be intimidated by the self-pubbed and indie-pubbed world. It seemed vast to me and I had no idea where to start. Who could I trust to deliver the kinds of … Continue reading Going Hunting: Self-Published and Indie-Pubbed Historical Romance →
This series focuses on exiled members of the French royal family, and this is Princess Danielle’s book. Not that she knows she’s a princess at the start. At that stage, she’s just Dani, a 22-year-old ‘village girl’ from Ivy Hill, Kent, who lives with her adoptive parents. She’s forthright, passionate about her community and looked to as a leader by that community despite her gender and age. It’s still a pretty quiet life though. That … Continue reading Claiming the Princess by Charis Michaels →
Content warnings for the series: Some pretty graphic violence, some questionable consent around bodily autonomy (but not by the characters we’re supposed to like). We’re dealing with immortal beings here who break ennui by doing ever more extreme things, both sexual and physical, so do be prepared for that. Don’t worry, the characters we’re supposed to like break free from this ennui through love and become ever more humane. … I’m not a huge fan … Continue reading Squee from the Keeper Shelf: Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter Series →
