A woman has been stabbed on the hike and bike path around Ladybird Lake in Austin, Texas. Detective Jacob Merritt is on the case, but he and his partner Kendra are convinced there’s more to it than the opportunistic attack it appears to be. It doesn’t take long for the Feds to swoop in and take the case off their hands – confirming suspicions that there’s something big going on – but Jacob does not … Continue reading Hidden by Laura Griffin
If you’re anything like me, you need some comfort in your life and quite urgently. If you do, consider The Baby-Sitters’ Club, the new series on Netflix, a prescription-strength balm for the soul. It will ease your tired mind and your sore heart and make you feel hopeful for what is to come. First a little background. Books were my first real friends. Hell, they still are my friends. And it started with Sweet Valley … Continue reading The Baby-Sitters Club (Netflix 2020)
If you love Ru Paul’s Drag Race like I do, then you might have fallen in love with Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova. Trixie, with her deep love for Dolly Parton and Barbie, and Katya, who is ultra-flexible and deeply honest about recovering from addiction, have to be two of the most popular drag queens to have graduated from RPDR. If, like me, you’re a bit of a superfan, you might have also watched their … Continue reading Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood
CW: general violence, discussion of past child abuse, off-page murder Are super dramatic connections between mates your catnip? This is your book! Want to solve a mystery? Again, pick up this book! Are you okay with mild to moderate violence? Good, because this book has that too. Ethan Night, an Arrow, and Selenka Durev, the Alpha of the BlackEdge wolf pack, mate in the opening scene of the book. Not in the sense of sexy … Continue reading Alpha Night by Nalini Singh
Content Warning: Child abuse, sexual abuse, attempted suicide, torture (all off the page) Every moment of this book made me feel better. I’m in an ocean of chaos at the moment (as many of us are*) and this book was the door to which I clung in these frigid waters. Did it magically solve my problems? No. But as with all the best escapist fiction, it made me feel like things would be okay again … Continue reading Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian
I love tropes. I could talk tropes all the live long day. But you know what I really love, when there is a trope trifecta… Office romance? Fake relationship? Marriage of convenience? Tick! Tick! TICK! This book literally ticks all the boxes. Garrett Song, the man about to be announced as CEO of Hansol Incorporated (his family’s company) is super-hot, super-driven and super-not-into-marriage. Garrett’s grandmother, the overbearing matriarch, has other ideas though and has arranged … Continue reading Temporary Wife Temptation by Jayci Lee
The first thing I heard about this book was that it wasn’t very good. But I’m a romance reader and so I care not a fig fancy for others’ opinions of my reading preferences. It didn’t hurt that my love for vampires was (and still is) so tremendously strong that any qualms I had were quickly squashed. When it became clear to me that the heroine would be gifted with a vampire hero, I launched … Continue reading Keeper Shelf: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
In a world of lockdowns and panic-buying, I want two things in a romance novel: suspense and sex. This book gave me both. Meet Carter Warren, a Special Agent with the FBI, who moves from one undercover assignment to the next with nary a home base in sight. He’s buff, smart, and a little cocky. Now, allow me to introduce you to Lincoln Monroe AKA Mr Homebody. He’s a professor at Quantico and a silver … Continue reading Variable Onset by Layla Reyne
CW: child harm, threatened rape, bloody violence How do I love thee, let me count the ways. Specifically, there are six ways in which I love you, Poison Study. Reason, the first: Yelena Yelena is a badass. She survives cruel General Brazell’s torturous “children’s home” by killing her torturer, the General’s son Reyad. Of course, Brazell is now all aboard the SS Vengeance, destination: Yelena. But Yelena has an unlikely hero in The Rules. More … Continue reading Keeper Shelf: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Content warnings: childhood sexual abuse, murder, sociopathy I have read and reread Jane Doe (Book 1 in the series) more times than I can feasibly count. So it was with an intense case of Grabby Hands that I dove for Problem Child, a novel that follows Jane during the next step in her life. And…well…. It pains me to say this, but it was okay. It’s a solid, capable book, but it never reaches the … Continue reading Problem Child by Victoria Helen Stone
You’re going to see the DNF and think that this is a terrible book but the heartbreaking reality is that this is actually a good book with some bad moments. On a whim, Sara takes part in a project that sends cards to the troops for Easter. Her card ends up on Major Gabriel Randall’s desk. Cue an adorable conversation of emails, messages and FaceTime conversations. And I do mean ADORABLE. But Sara is conflicted; … Continue reading From Alaska with Love by Ally James
