Sarah and I both read and enjoyed The Phantom Tree by Nicola Cornick, which is interesting as our reading tastes are fairly divergent. I finished the book in one day, and I was super excited to talk to her about it later. Sarah: I finished it in a day and a half and shamelessly bothered Elyse for a week or more to ask if she’d read it yet, had she? Huh? Had she read it? (FINALLY SHE … Continue reading The Phantom Tree by Nicola Cornick
I have one thought about the trailer for the upcoming movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and that thought is: “Dat is purty.” I’ll be reviewing the movie, and I know it’s important to approach the film with an open mind. However, I strongly suspect that my movie review will also boil down to: “Dat is purty.” In keeping with this theme, my review of the first Valerian graphic novel The City … Continue reading The City of Shifting Waters by Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin
This guest review comes from Suzanne! In addition to raising two valkyries and tending a growing menagerie, Suzanne reads and reviews romance and comics in Southern New Hampshire. She’s just launched a site devoted to romance comics and looks forward to sharing it with you all! … Here’s the thing about pain in fiction: the more realistic the writing, the more it hurts to read. Tiffany Reisz is a master of realistic dialogue and her … Continue reading Guest Review: The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz
A Murder in Time is a book I’ve mentioned a couple times on the site. It was also recently on sale! The premise of an FBI agent heroine traveling back in time to 1815 London and getting involved in a serial murder case was too tempting for me to resist. At its heart, this story has a great mystery, but too many unnecessary or ill-fitting details slowed the book to a slog. I just wanted more … Continue reading A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain
Fair warning: if faux-dialect is not your thing, you will have a tough time with Must Love Chainmail. Even the ‘modern’ character’s POV gave me some trouble, but I am a grumpy old lady before my time. I also did not particularly like the modern heroine, who seemed at once a bit hyper-modern but at the same time too quick to blend seamlessly into medieval Wales. Must Love Chainmail is the second in the ‘Must … Continue reading Must Love Chainmail by Angela Quarles
This was my first book by Angela Quarles, and I picked it purely because of the name. Must Love Chainmail is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read alone. The best way I can describe this book is to compare it to my experience with Lynn Kurland’s time travel romances: light-hearted, fun but rather forgettable, and with absolutely no explanation of how the time travel works. Katy is a busy professional … Continue reading Must Love Chainmail by Angela Quarles
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 Infinite Loop is a comic book series consisting of six issues. The limited number of issues allows for a single, contained story with a happy ending that should make romance readers very happy. The last issue was released on September 30th, 2015, so you can get that nice satisfying feeling of eating up all the issues at once, if, like me, you’re a comics binger. The comic is a romance between two women, and … Continue reading The Infinite Loop by Pierrick Colinet and Elsa Charretier
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
I heard about Downtime from the Bitchery when its name came up as a book on sale. Obviously, I'm gonna have to read a m/m romance about a FBI agent who time travels to Victorian England and tries to solve the mystery of Jack the Ripper while falling in love with Ezra, a psychic. That's pure crack right there. The book did not live up to expectations, but I could see why it has a … Continue reading Downtime by Tamara Allen
This RITA® Reader Challenge 2013 review was written by Harper Grey. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Novel with Strong Romantic Elements category. The summary: York , 1577: Hawise Aske smiles at a stranger in the market, and sets in train a story of obsession and sibling jealousy, of love and hate and warped desire. Drowned as a witch, Hawise pays a high price for that smile, but for a girl … Continue reading RITA Reader Challenge: Time’s Echo by Pamela Hartshorne
