I am very confused by The Dead Romantics, a contemporary romance between a ghostwriter and an actual ghost. This book has a lot of parts to it, and I’m not sure how I feel about almost all of them. I will therefore write this review as a list of all the pieces and how I felt about them. Expect frequent use of words like “ambivalent” and “confused.” None of these are spoilers – they are … Continue reading The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
Off Script is a Hollywood enemies-to-lovers romance, where the heroine has good reason to hate the dude she’s fake dating. She forgave him, but I couldn’t. Jada is an actress who’s been struggling to land another role since getting kicked off a tv show for a love triangle with a co-star. Her luck changes when she’s cast as the sidekick friend in a time travel romance. The only problem? Her character’s BFF is played by … Continue reading Off Script by Ashley Marie
The Essex Serpent is slow, pretty, slightly creepy, and sexy in that “I can’t have you so I’ll stare at you with my brooding, metaphorically piercing eyes instead of having sex” sort of way that some people despise and other people adore. My idea of pure happiness on this earthly plane is Claire Danes digging fossils out of cliffs while wearing trousers and a floppy hat, accompanied by Tom Hiddleston in a sweater, so I … Continue reading Series Review: The Essex Serpent
Following the events of Written in the Stars and Hang the Moon, Margot is the only single person left in her tight-knit friend group. So, even though she’s not interested in a romantic relationship, Margot is starting to feel lonely and like an afterthought. That is, until her childhood best friend (who Margot was also head over heels for and had her heart broken by) drops back into her life—and her apartment. Recently divorced from … Continue reading Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
Based on the amount of Carrie’s Personal Catnip content alone, One for All should have been a SQUEE grade book. Set during the reign of Louis XIV, it features found family, multiple kickass women, and a heroine whose chronic illness doesn’t prevent her from being an accomplished fencer. And yet, Dear Bitches, it pains me so much to say that I found the book to be, for the most part, deeply boring. Our heroine, Tania, … Continue reading One for All by Lillie Lainoff
a.k.a. Pandagate: A Drama In Three Acts Act One: That Bear Has Seen Some Shit Interior, day. Smart Bitches HQ. It’s a large room filled floor to ceiling with books, like the library in Beauty and the Beast. Many of them are pink. Between shelves, there is an occasional tasteful painting of nipples shaped like fruit. The Bitchery are draped across various large fluffy chairs, reading or napping. Elyse is curled up on a sofa … Continue reading The Writer’s Baby Bear by Sophie Stern
Hoo boy, was this book a mixed bag. Here are my main takeaways for potential readers, sorted into the good, the bad, and the meh: The good: The premise and world-building are intriguing and fun once things get going, and the third-act action is genuinely a nail-biter (after an otherwise slow-ish plot). There are several very engaging lady secondary characters of supernatural origin. Also, most of the major secondary characters are queer. Finally, I love … Continue reading Shadow of the Swan by Nicola M. Cameron
CW: torture Holly’s first 30ish years as a vampire were pretty great, roaming around America with her maker/dreamy boyfriend, Elton. Then it all turned to shit when he got bored and abandoned her at a truck stop. Now, Holly’s alone, compelled to follow Elton from town to town (one of the vampire rules specific to this story), so she’s currently back in her hometown for the first time since 1987. Holly isn’t the only girl … Continue reading The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl
Summer in the City of Roses by Michelle Ruiz Keil is an engaging YA fantasy romance that, while it lovingly flirts with fairy tales and myths, unfortunately gets bogged down in an uneven engagement with magical realism. That situation isn’t helped by the inclusion of a parental figure whose selfish decision making supersedes just about any wicked stepmother out there, and an unfortunate ending that manages to perpetuate harmful tropes that are the opposite of … Continue reading Summer in the City of Roses by Michelle Ruiz Keil
Bitchery, I struggled with this book. Not with the reading of it, so much, but with trying to parse my feelings and opinions on it, which are complicated. I was very excited about this #OwnVoices book about a trans witch bound in a magical engagement with his childhood best friend, a fae prince. And the initial chapters really drew me in. I wanted to like this so badly!!! But I ultimately kind of did not. … Continue reading The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon
The Bookshop of Second Chances is of the “my life just imploded but I inherited something in a far away place so I can GTFO” genre. Thea Mottram’s husband cheated on her with a close friend, and Thea found out because he accidentally sexted her instead of his mistress. Thea then loses her job, but finds out (as she’s packing up her things to move out of her home and her marriage) that a distant … Continue reading The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
