I’m generally meh on Christmas romance because I’m kind of meh on Christmas itself. It’s a really busy, stressful time of year for me and at some point during our family Christmas celebration, I inevitably wind up in tears. Plus Christmas romance tends to be treacly sweet. When I saw A Pirate for Christmas I decided to take a risk on it because Scottish pirate! Plus–shit, it was 99 cents! This Regency novella takes place in … Continue reading A Pirate for Christmas by Anna Campbell →
It’s pretty easy to write a glowing review or a scathing review – but writing a “meh” review is truly tricky. No one wants to read a review that goes, “IDK, it was fine, whatever.” However, my feelings about Newt’s Emerald are basically, “IDK, it was fine, whatever.” Newt’s Emerald is a Regency romance with magic, which is totally my catnip. It also has a heroine who dresses as a guy for strategic reasons, which … Continue reading Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix →
Let me start by saying that The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean is my favorite book of hers to date. If you’ve read her, or know me, then you know that I just said a thing. I mean, there is a scene in this book where the hero sensually rubs honey on the heroine’s body while she dreamily describes the bookstore she’ll own one day. Damn. The Rogue Not Taken is the first in … Continue reading The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean →
I love the Pennyroyal Green series by Julie Anne Long. The fictional village in Sussex is one of those places I firmly believe really exists (or I really want to believe exists) and her books have a standing place on my “fibro sucks” reading shelf. When It Started with a Scandal came out I was super excited. I really enjoyed the story, but unfortunately, I felt that a lot of the actual development in the … Continue reading It Started with a Scandal by Julie Anne Long →
Zoe Archer has been one of my favorite authors since that one time she basically saved my sanity (even if she was also the indirect cause of one of the worst reading experiences of my life). No matter what, I can always count on her for strong, determined heroines with all sorts of agency, and heroes that also were strong and worthy and respectful of the women that chose them. While I like the adventure … Continue reading Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh →
I read A Lady’s Guide to Skirting Scandal at the dentist while waiting for two fillings. I’m horribly phobic about the dentist so when I say that this story was comforting, it’s high praise indeed. It’s too rushed to go down in literary history as the best story ever, but if you need a quick comfort read you can’t possibly do better than this tale of a social climber who falls madly and inconveniently in … Continue reading Lady’s Guide to Skirting Scandal by Kelly Bowen →
While all of us here at the Bitchery love Mario Kart, I would probably say I’m the gamer amongst us. I played World of Warcraft very seriously (Burning Crusade expansion) for end game content. At one point, I was the second best geared in my class on my server, first on Alliance side. (I’m sorry if this all sounds like a foreign language!) I frequently helped host LAN parties for Halo tournaments. My favorite game … Continue reading Game Review: Regency Love →
If you’re going to read Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh, plan on calling in sick to work. Trust me–just do it. Either you’ll need the day off to power through the book because putting it down is not an option, or you’ll need time to recover from the crushing weight of your own feels and the emotional hangover you’ll have. I recommend calling your boss and starting off with “I got dinner from a … Continue reading Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh →
Everything about When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare worked for me. Everything. Bust out the squee mop, y’all because this review is just going to be a flappy-hands Good Book Noise® mess. Things this book has: 1. A sexy Scot hero I pictured as Sam Heughan. 2. A heroine who is a naturalist and illustrator. 3. Tons of UST. 4. A completely crazy sauce plot that Dare pulls off flawlessly. 5. A … Continue reading When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare →
Once upon a time, the best selling comics weren’t about superheroes – they were romance anthologies. You can find my review of a collection of the oldest romance comics line, Young Romance, here. These romance comics were unabashedly soapy and melodramatic, but not very diverse. Now we have a new romance comic magazine, Fresh Romance. In my review of the first issue, I said that the first issue was too short but that the stories … Continue reading Fresh Romance #2, Ed. by Janelle Asselin →
There’s been a trend- not a huge overwhelming trend, but a noticeable one- of heroes in historicals to have some form of neuro-atypicality. Sometimes it’s OCD (The Duke’s Holiday) sometimes it’s dyslexia (Unveiled); sometimes it’s handled well and sometimes it’s cured by the love a good woman. Like pretty much anything in any genre, it’s a mixed bag. In this case, Quint (er, Damien Beecham, Viscount Quint) thinks he’s going insane. His father did when … Continue reading The Lady Hellion by Joanna Shupe →
