NB: We have a doozy of a book rant this Saturday, but after spending some quality time with family members, we might all be in need of letting out a little aggression. The Ladies of Missalonghi also sounds like a pretty good candidate for an intense hate read. This particular book rant comes from author Marian Perera. Marian Perera lived in Sri Lanka, Dubai and Texas before settling in Toronto (for now), where she runs … Continue reading Book Rant: The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough →
This is going to be a somewhat brief review. I have a longer and more in-depth review scheduled for elsewhere later in the week, and Carrie is working on reading this book as well. But A Study in Scarlet Women releases today and I couldn’t let the release go by without telling you HOW MUCH I ENJOYED IT OH MY GOSH. You might have heard my podcast interview with Sherry Thomas last week wherein she talked a … Continue reading A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas →
First of all, Bohemian Gospel needs to come with a trigger warning for EVERYTHING: rape and attempted rape, domestic violence, scenes of torture, and violence to animals and children. The last one was especially hard for me and I had to skim some scenes. A lot of historical fiction can get pretty gritty (history is not pretty, ya’ll), but this book was just goddamned depressing. Bohemian Gospel takes place in 13th century Bohemia (obvs) and … Continue reading Bohemian Gospel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter →
Here are some things that might make some of you grab this book immediately: It’s a novella. The hero, the Duke of Olympia, is in his 70s. He’s also a spy, but he’d probably get very sniffy if you called him that. The heroine, Mrs. Penelope Schuyler, is in her 50s, and is an American widow and now paid companion to a young heiress named Ruby. They’re on a steamer ship crossing the Atlantic, and there’s caper-ing and … Continue reading The Duke of Olympia Meets His Match by Juliana Gray →
THIS BOOK WAS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS. (I was promised ridiculous and then I got it.) The premise is this: Berni, a New York socialite, dies of a heart attack, and ends up in Purgatory. She hasn’t led a bad life compared to some, but she doesn’t have enough credit to make it to heaven without performing some good deeds. She’s assigned Nellie Grayson, a good, kind doormat of a heroine, who’s got a terrible family, food … Continue reading Wishes by Jude Deveraux →
The Immortals (Olympus Bound) is an urban fantasy with tons of action and mythology and a very ass-kicking heroine. Selene DiSilva is actually the goddess Artemis, and she and the other gods from Olympus are living semi-human lives. They age slowly, and some are losing their powers bit by bit as they are no longer worshiped on earth. When a woman is murdered in a ritual that is connected to Artemis, Selene investigates. She has to … Continue reading The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky →
The Lake House by Kate Morton is part historical fiction, part gothic mystery and part family saga–which means it’s 100% Elyse-bait. The mystery that binds this book together involves the disappearance of an eleven-month-old baby, Theo Edevane, in 1933. The Edevanes were a prominent family in England, and they were hosting their annual Midsummer’s Night party at their summer home in Cornwall the night he vanished from his nursery. The book centers around three women: Alice … Continue reading The Lake House by Kate Morton →
I love any type of book that promises an immersive experience in another place, culture, or world that is different from my own. My desire for travel doesn’t match my travel budget any more than by reading desires are satisfied by my book budget, so books like this one are always tempting to me. Unfortunately, there were two parallel storylines in this book, and I didn’t like one of them. Genevieve is getting a divorce, and … Continue reading The Paris Key by Juliet Blackwell →
Carmilla is an early vampire novel (it heavily influenced Dracula, which was written twenty-six years later). More specifically, it is Victorian Lesbian Vampire Erotica. People who think the Victorians were prudes clearly haven’t read Carmilla, in which a lesbian vampire seduces her victim night after night and day after day with “languid” movements and many “caresses.” To be honest, I pretty much just summed up the plot for you in the paragraph above. The narrator, Laura, is … Continue reading Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu →
NB: Heather T. saw this book among yesterday’s cover snark and said, “I think I need to read this.” For science, I presume. Whatever the reason, we’re grateful! Welcome, Heather! The cover of this little missive showed up on the Bitchery because the cover and the concept were just So Fucking Funny. The cover showed this guy wearing nothing but glasses and a huge bejeweled codpiece. A MAGIC BEJEWELED CODPIECE. I volunteered to take one for the team and … Continue reading Guest Review: Emily’s Magical Bejeweled Codpiece by B. Snow →
Welcome to our reviews and recaps of BBC’s Poldark, starring Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson, based on the novels by Winston Graham! lets get started with the angst, shall we? It’s woods, in Virginia, 1781. A party of redcoats are camped in the woods, and two of them are playing cards. One, a ruggedly handsome Aidan Turner without his LoTR dwarf get-up, puts in a ring as his stake, and another man snarks “Gambling again? … Continue reading Poldark, Episode 1 →
