Just in time for Halloween, here is a historical horror romance in which a woman builds her own boyfriend out of an assemblage of attractive parts, a deed that I do not endorse. This is a strange, off-beat book that won’t please everyone, but once I settled into it I quite enjoyed this funny romance, in which Dr. Frankenstein’s sister builds a boyfriend and learns a little something about basic ethics and empathy in a … Continue reading Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne →
Killers of a Certain Age is a sharp mix of heist, thriller, mystery, and the type of story where, besides all that action, the four main characters are shifting from one phase of their lives to another. There’s a lot of chemistry, both literal and interpersonal, murder, plotting, hunting, and scheming. There’s also a lot of on-page murder, but because everyone who is dispatched is quite terrible, it didn’t bother me too much, especially not … Continue reading Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn →
There are a few reasons that this book and I were destined to meet. I love hockey romances, specifically m/m hockey romances. This book uses one of my favourite tropes: fake relationships. Catnip! I was specifically on the hunt for books similar to ones that I’ve loved as I was heading for surgery and needed the comfort of the familiar but the excitement of something new. Distracting yourself is a fine art. So that’s three … Continue reading Contract Season by Cait Nary →
The Science of Women in Horror is disappointing in the sense that there’s very little science in it. Instead, it’s an overview of women as depicted in horror, along with interviews with women who have worked behind the camera. As such, it’s pretty basic, but it did add several films to my To Be Watched List. The cover promises “The Special Effects, Stunts, and True Stories Behind Your Favorite Fright Films,” but very little of … Continue reading The Science of Women in Horror by Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence →
CW: period-appropriate homophobia and racism, raid on a gay bar at the end of episode 6 I wasn’t planning on watching A League of Their Own when I heard it was being turned into a TV series. The original film was such a foundational part of my childhood, how could I possibly enjoy an 8-episode series as much? Also, I’d heard it was super gay, which made me concerned about what traumatic events we’d see, … Continue reading Series Review: A League of Their Own →
If you had told me I’d be thoroughly charmed by a romance between a human and a mothman, I’d have thought you were imbibing too many berries of a fermented nature. I really enjoyed this story, which is equally cozy and erotic. The book has extremely explicit sex and lots of it (the first line is “She was too horny to think”) as well as a fully developed and very sweet romance, with realistic conflicts … Continue reading Sweet Berries by C.M. Nascosta →
Don’t start Our Crooked Hearts unless you have time to finish it. It’s such a wonderful, spooky, thrilling story that it’s hard to put down. It’s a book about imperfect parents, teenage dissatisfaction, and female empowerment and it unfolds beautifully. It’s also a remarkable ghost story. While this book has horror elements to it, it wasn’t especially scary and would be appropriate for a teen. I do want to warn readers about some violence to … Continue reading Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert →
This is a book about loneliness, about living a life when constantly dealing with death, and about being seen and heard and understood. If you like grumpy, taciturn characters with squishy, gooey insides, characters who struggle to become who they are or be recognized for who they are, and, above all, you like a major epistolary element to your stories (I have raised all my hands to that list) you will really like this. Hart … Continue reading The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen →
Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films was balm to my nerdy little heart. I got into horror much the same way I got into romance, which is to say I thought I didn’t like it, then realized I had been liking it all along somehow without noticing, and then I couldn’t get enough of it. There are some interesting intersections between romance and horror as genres, and I know we have some fans here … Continue reading Nightmare Fuel by Nina Nesseth →
This book is a magical heist set in DC in the 20s. For those folks who just headed over to find a copy, I hope you like it! For those who need a bit more detail: I started this book on a chaotic morning when there was a lot of noise in my house and a lot of barking because of the noise, and despite all that, I could not put it down. Each chapter … Continue reading The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope →
