This book is ludicrous and not in a fun way. Before I let my rant get away with me, the blurb: Eoin Aucourte, the newly minted Duke of Foxglen, always played by his grandfather’s rules. But now that the old man is dead, Eoin’s first decision is to track down his long-lost mother. The only problem? He’ll have to visit the infamous Black Sheep Coffeehouse to begin his search. Rumor has it that the owner, … Continue reading Miss Wick and the Duke Dilemma by Violet Marsh →
I am always delighted to find new-to-me historical romance authors and this one is a treat. I started mid-series, which isn’t ideal, but I followed the story with glee. I will, however, be going back and starting with the first book because this series has so much Lara catnip. You all know I’m a bit of a blurb hater at this point, but this one did a good job, so I’ll share it here: Ivy … Continue reading Never Spar With a Viscount by Lindsay Lovise →
CW: Self-harm (historical), violence, death of secondary characters. AJ reviewed the first book in the series, Slippery Creatures and enjoyed it and so did I. There is a simple reason for this being a review of the next two books together rather than one: when I finished The Sugared Game I was in agony, desperate for the rest of Will and Kim’s story in Subtle Blood. This is the second time I’ve read this trilogy. It … Continue reading The Sugared Game and Subtle Blood by KJ Charles →
I’m a big KJ Charles fan so it was inevitable that I would read this book one day. I read it this weekend and I had a great time, with a couple caveats. Aaron is a police detective in London in the 1920s. He is told about a graphologist, Joel, who can decipher people’s personalities from their handwriting with impossible accuracy. Aaron is sure that Joel is a charlatan or a con artist of some … Continue reading Copper Script by KJ Charles →
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 rather enjoyed the last third of A Lady Would Know Better. Granted, I read that last third of it at about 2AM while trapped in the bathroom (health problems) and while substantially hopped up on prescription painkillers (use only under care of a physician please; the opioid crisis is real). Is it a coincidence that this was the part I most enjoyed? I think not. The rest of the story suffered due to heroic … Continue reading A Lady Would Know Better by Emma Theriault →
Georgie Radcliffe finds herself acting as an amateur sleuth because she a) pays attention and b) is a keen horticulturalist. She lives at Radcliffe Hall in Buncombe-upon-Wooly, a small village in the Cotswolds in the 1930s. In that tiny village, there have been four murders, three of which she solved through her horticultural knowledge. So far you’re thinking that this is about as cosy as cosy mysteries get, and you wouldn’t be wrong, but there … Continue reading And Then There Was The One by Martha Waters →
This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at @thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next … Continue reading Miss Caroline Bingley: Private Investigator by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar →
This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at @thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next … Continue reading Look Before You Leap by Virginia Heath →
This is my first Bad Decisions Book Club of 2025. Sleep became a distant memory with this book. For context, I have a newborn. I had the opportunity to sleep, but chose not to because this book was much more important. It is also the start of a series and it’s a series I’m now very excited about! Euphemia Flite was raised in a school for girls on the outskirts of Victorian London. Her origins … Continue reading Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews →
By the time The Trouble with Anna made its way to me through the library hold list I heard so many people complain about the characters that I fully expected to hate it. Turns out I didn’t hate it all but I also didn’t love it, and that was frustrating because I ALMOST loved it. I would have loved this book about fifteen years ago, but these days I just don’t have the patience. The … Continue reading The Trouble With Anna by Rachel Griffiths →
