Eric is a 40-year-old hockey player with the New York Admirals. He eats clean, is deeply invested in daily yoga workouts and doesn’t drink. Kyle is a 25-year-old trust fund kid studying an MA in art history, but really, what he wants is to be a bartender. An unlikely pairing? Yup. But life pushes them together. They meet through mutual friends just as Eric is ready to admit to himself and others that he is … Continue reading Common Goal by Rachel Reid →
I found Like Lovers Do, which is the second book in the Girls’ Trip series, to be frustrating. I like the focus on friendship and work/life balance in this series, but wow, did this book make me want to plead, “GET SOME THERAPY!” I admired many things about the characters but their inability to manage relationships made me want to scream, as did the evil ex-girlfriend character. This series is about a group of Black … Continue reading Like Lovers Do by Tracey Livesay →
Deathless Divide has women killing zombies while building complicated friendships, and that was delightful enough to make me (almost) happy. If I could excise the parts of the books that frustrated me, I would be even happier. The first book in this series, Dread Nation, was a near-perfect book, so my hopes for Deathless Divide were high. This series is set in an alternate-history 19th century United States, where Civil War ends after the walking … Continue reading Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland →
As a Canadian, my little ears perk up whenever I hear about an f/f romance that has anything to do with Canada. So, when I saw that Hairpin Curves is a road trip romance that takes the characters from Florida to Quebec, I said “Oh yes, please and thank you!” Although we see very little of them in Canada, I still enjoyed parts of this story because the angst is low, which is my speed … Continue reading Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters →
How do I even begin to review Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga? There were parts of it that made me squee with delight, and parts that made me laugh because they were so true, and also parts that made me just cringe in horror and want to hide under the couch or throw things at the TV…and these parts followed each other in such quick succession that it’s honestly hard for me … Continue reading Movie Review: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga →
A Jane Austen Tarot Deck by Jacqui Oakley features beautiful art and thoughtful associations between Austen themes and tarot themes. Alas, it claims to be a tarot deck despite only having 53 cards (as opposed to a standard tarot deck’s 78 cards). Had it stuck with being an oracle deck instead of also trying to be a deck for tarot “and gameplay”, I would have been much happier with it. Note: This deck is not … Continue reading A Jane Austen Tarot Deck by Jacqui Oakley →
I took a chance on this book because it has a dog in it, and for the most part the chance paid off. It took a lot to make me laugh during the first days of Sacramento’s stay-at-home Covid-19 prevention policy, and while this book did the trick despite discussing a hefty amount of trauma, I need to stress some TW/CW for public hostage situations, death by gun, ableism, and domestic violence. Our story begins … Continue reading Butterfly Bayou by Lexi Blake →
Tara was kind enough to alert me to the existence of a book about Charlotte Lucas, who is Elizabeth Bennet’s friend in Pride and Prejudice. We had so many feelings about this very strange book, which involves Gothic emotion and SO MUCH SEX, plus at least two flights across the moors, which I can only assume were dutifully wuthering. For those who are rusty on their Austen, here’s the background: Charlotte Lucas agrees to marry … Continue reading Lucas by Elna Holst →
When I read the blurb for Pursuing Pandora I was overcome with a burst of excitement. I immediately messaged Shana, with the comment “this book sounds so bananas that I’m tempted to check it out” and she agreed that I must. Check this out: Corporate lawyer Winter Carlyle is the first to admit that she’s become jaded with romance after a very messy public breakup. When her bossy aunt asks her to visit a high-end … Continue reading Pursuing Pandora by Maggie Brown →
In Chasing Cassandra, the sixth book in the Ravenels series, railway magnate Tom Severin finally gets his turn to be the hero. I have been hoping for a book about Tom since he was introduced in the first book in the Ravenels series. After all, I love to read about a Sad Historical Businessman brought low by love! Unfortunately, while I enjoyed this book, it also pained me because I felt like it could have … Continue reading Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas →
As an Australian living in Melbourne, I always feel a bit sad that there aren’t more romances set in my part of the world. While there are plenty of amazing Australian romance authors out there, it seems that there isn’t much of a market for romances set in Australia…and so our local authors write stories set in the UK or Europe or the US – exotic for this reviewer, but rather a pity for everyone … Continue reading A Girl’s Guide to the Outback by Jessica Kate →
