Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance
Book Review

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

This is a book about loneliness, about living a life when constantly dealing with death, and about being seen and heard and understood. If you like grumpy, taciturn characters with squishy, gooey insides, characters who struggle to become who they are or be recognized for who they are, and, above all, you like a major epistolary element to your stories (I have raised all my hands to that list) you will really like this. Hart … Continue reading The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

Book Review

The Shadow and The Sun by Monica Enderle Pierce

The Shadow and the Sun

Hark and LO, bitchery! It is I, your intrepid fantasy romance correspondent, delighted to inform you I have found a winner. The Shadow and the Sun is a fun, sexy, pretty well-written, and unabashedly FANTASY romance novel. The setup is this: in a medieval-ish fantasy world called Quoregna, a warrior woman named Halina, who is the bastard daughter of the king of Ursinum, is charged with a mission to convince a reclusive wizard, the Shadow … Continue reading The Shadow and The Sun by Monica Enderle Pierce

Book Review

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper

Payback’s a Witch

Payback’s a Witch was a fun, spooky, sexy way to kick off my autumnal reading. With enjoyable characters with clear development, a sultry queer romance, a delightfully magical setting, and beautiful prose, there’s lots and lots to like here. At the outset of the story, Emmy Harlow is returning to her magical hometown of Thistle Grove after a whopping nine-year absence, during which time she has not seen any of her family or childhood friends … Continue reading Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper

Book Review

Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray

Briarley

Content warnings: Internalised homophobia. Use of the word sodomite (historically appropriate, but still pretty awful in its impact). Briarley is the story you get if Beauty’s father had been a country parson with enough backbone to tell the Beast no, and enough compassion to stay with the Beast in his daughter’s place. It is touching and kind and charming, and often very funny, and I was absolutely delighted by it. There was once a country … Continue reading Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray

Book Review

The Nightborn by Isabel Cooper

The Nightborn

The Nightborn is just a whole heap of fun, and was precisely what I was in the mood for this week. It straddles the genres of high fantasy and romance, and balances these elements beautifully, providing both a satisfying romance and a nicely twisty high fantasy plot. Branwyn is a Sentinel, a magically-enhanced warrior bound to a spirit sword and tasked with fighting demons and other monsters. She is sent on an errand of diplomacy … Continue reading The Nightborn by Isabel Cooper

Book Review

Guest Review: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Silver Flames

This review was brought to you in high-definition and surround sound by Crystal Anne with An E. Crystal is a Hufflepuff who works as an autism consultant by day and goes to Library School at night. She reads a lot, she cross-stitches a lot, and is always ready to make someone a reading list. … CW/TW: The protagonist of this book has experienced significant trauma, including sexual assault. Stay safe, my friends. So in recent … Continue reading Guest Review: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Book Review

Paladin’s Strength by T. Kingfisher

Paladin’s Strength

Content warning: there is a fair bit of violence, some of it quite gory, because the adventure part of the plot involves killer zombie-golems, were-beasts, gladiatorial arenas, kidnappers and more. Quite a few minor characters die. There is, however, absolutely no sexual violence in this book, despite certain aspects of the premise that might suggest it. If someone asked me if I wanted to read a romance that was sweet and comforting and funny and … Continue reading Paladin’s Strength by T. Kingfisher

Book Review

The Stormbringer by Isabel Cooper

The Stormbringer

Once I got past the quite misleading blurb, I found The Stormbringer to be a lot of heartwarming fantasy fun with a hefty pour of romance. The story also contains some pretty bold character choices that I (mostly) appreciated. While I enjoyed it thoroughly, I think primarily due to the boldness of said choices, this is a book that will either really work for people or really not work for them. Let’s get into it! … Continue reading The Stormbringer by Isabel Cooper

Book Review

The Lord of Stariel by AJ Lancaster

The Lord of Stariel

Sometimes a book is just exactly what you need right when you need it, and The Lord of Stariel was that book for me. I had been saving it up for a while because the blurb sounded wonderful, but I was nervous about whether it would live up to my expectations. One night in the weeks leading up to the US presidential election, I was in desperate need of a distraction and I finally started … Continue reading The Lord of Stariel by AJ Lancaster

Book Review

Her Magical Pet, edited by Rachel Manija Brown

Her Magical Pet

Her Magical Pet is a collection of SFF short stories featuring women in love and their magical pets. It was put together as a fundraiser for OutRight Action International, an organisation that fights for the rights of LGBTIQA people worldwide. It is a collection of gentle, low-tension stories about women in love with women, or women falling in love with women, featuring cute magical pets and happy ever afters. About half the stories are traditional … Continue reading Her Magical Pet, edited by Rachel Manija Brown

Lightning Review

The Princess Knight by G. A. Aiken

The Princess Knight

CW: gruesome violence, discussion of rape and slavery I DEVOURED The Blacksmith Queen, the first book in this series. I’ve read it and reread it and will probably read it again. So it was with VERY grabby hands that I reached for this sequel. I present for your edification and delight (hopefully!) 5 Steps to Loving The Princess Knight. Step 1: Get Ready for Some Violence This book is brutal in its portrayal of violence. … Continue reading The Princess Knight by G. A. Aiken

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