Because of its Christmas “meet cute” and other pivotal scenes that take place at Christmas, I consider the groundbreaking classic The Price of Salt (also published as Carol) to be a holiday book, although much of it takes place at other times in the year. With that in mind, December is the perfect time to read this short novel about two women who meet during the Christmas season in New York City and who find … Continue reading The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith →
I adored this book because of the heroine but I also had some serious problems with it. It pains me to say that although this book was fun, funny, sexy, entertaining, and has a heroine whom I adore, it was also problematic in its Gay Best Friend stereotype and the ending was rushed. The heroine of this book is a 46-year-old divorcee named Greer, a superheroine who has hot flashes due to early-onset menopause and … Continue reading Caped and Dangerous by Isabel Jordan →
Her Pretend Christmas Date is a novella comprised almost entirely of Catherine catnip. I am an absolute sucker for White Christmas settings, I love me a Fake Relationship (especially when they come with Only One Bed), I adore a buttoned-up hero who gets completely unravelled by a messy heroine but do you know what I really love? A Christmas gathering that devolves into a gingerbread house making competition that is run, commentated on and judged … Continue reading Her Pretend Christmas Date by Jackie Lau →
Her Magical Pet is a collection of SFF short stories featuring women in love and their magical pets. It was put together as a fundraiser for OutRight Action International, an organisation that fights for the rights of LGBTIQA people worldwide. It is a collection of gentle, low-tension stories about women in love with women, or women falling in love with women, featuring cute magical pets and happy ever afters. About half the stories are traditional … Continue reading Her Magical Pet, edited by Rachel Manija Brown →
I have so many feelings about this book, which hit on more than one of my nerdy passions, most notably the fate of the Lost Franklin Expedition. I expected historical fiction and got a mystery that kept me reading late into the night. Lady Franklin is the wife of Captain Sir John Franklin, an Arctic explorer who disappeared along with his crew. After many attempts have been made by men to find him have failed, … Continue reading The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister →
CW/TW: abortion consideration, biphobia from parent Finn is out of prison, building a new life for herself far away in Austin. When she visits a low-income clinic to get a prescription for migraine meds, Finn runs into the one person she least expects to see: Vivi, the nurse Finn worked alongside for two years at the prison’s pharmacy. Finn was devastated eight months ago when Vivi stopped showing up for work one day with no … Continue reading Get It Right by Skye Kilaen →
Ten Things I Hate About You is one of my favourite films and a truly great reimagining of a classic play. It takes Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew and strips out the misogyny, the violence, and the straight up gaslighting and abuse, while keeping the banter and the chemistry between Kate and Petrucchio. Ten Things I Hate About the Duke takes Shrew in one hand and Ten Things in the other, stirs them together, adds … Continue reading Ten Things I Hate About The Duke by Loretta Chase →
About a quarter of the way into When a Rogue Meets His Match, I realized the book was probably not going to be a particularly successful villain redemption or enemies-to-lovers romance. About three-quarters of the way in, I started to wonder what, exactly, the intended message of this book was, because it was verging in a startlingly uncomfortable way on emotional abuse apologia. Everything after that felt like too little, too late in terms of … Continue reading When a Rogue Meets his Match by Elizabeth Hoyt →
Slippers and Thieves is a clever YA urban fantasy retelling of Cinderella. On the whole, I think this is a conceptually clever story, but the characterization isn’t great, and for goodness sake don’t treat it as a stand alone book. Slippers and Thieves is the fourth book in the Fairy Tales of the Magicorum Series. In this series, magic users exist secretly alongside non-magical users in the modern world. Shifters, fairies, and witches are members … Continue reading Slippers and Thieves by Christina Bauer →
A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her @thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next good freelance job. This is her third … Continue reading Guest Rant: Night Storm by Catherine Coulter →
Our Tarot: A Guidebook and Deck Featuring Notable Women in History is a gorgeous tarot deck accompanied by a thorough book. My first impression was that this deck is pretty but maybe not very user-friendly. However, the more I use it, the more I realize how well it is organized, how well the book complements the cards and makes readings easier, and how beautifully each card is constructed. As a bonus, the book contains full-page … Continue reading Our Tarot by Sarah Shipman →
