The Change is a flawed novel, but by golly it sure cheered me up at times. This book is about three women in their late forties who develop magical powers and use them to avenge murdered young women. I’m forty-nine-and-a-half and my only perimenopausal superpower so far is the ability to give progressively less of a shit, and this book fit right in with my current mood. Unfortunately, the book was somewhat superficial and problematic … Continue reading The Change by Kirsten Miller →
At this point, Laura Griffin’s books are a one-click purchase for me. I know that with her books I’m safe. I’ll have competent heroines, strong heroes and a great mystery. This book is no exception. Although, warning: there are cops. Ava Burch is a corporate lawyer who has moved to a small town in west Texas. She’s been given custody of her dad’s search-and-rescue dog and she’s set up a small law practice with her … Continue reading Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin →
The Spare Man is most frequently described as The Thin Man in space, and the cover copy does a better job of summarizing than I could: Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her … Continue reading The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal →
This guest review is from Aidee. Aidee recently graduated from law school, where romance novels provided a much needed break from reading court opinions. She started reading romance in high school, but isn’t quite sure which was her first romance read—Jean M. Auel, Fern Michaels, or something that she has completely forgotten by now. She loves reading, writing, chocolate, tea, and listening to music, although not necessarily in that order. The books she keeps thinking … Continue reading Guest Review: Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews →
You know, I love a series that’s connected enough to be rewarding, but separate enough to be dipped into at any point. I did not enjoy the first book in Mimi Matthews’ Belles of London series, but I decided to give book 2 a try and I’m so glad that I did. As with so many of my reading kinks, they are so different from my real life preferences in human companionship. And as it … Continue reading The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews →
CW: emotional abuse by parents The first thing you need to know about Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club is that it will make you hungry. Sophie is a matchmaker in Toronto, and she loves food even more than romance. Sophie and her clients eat their way across the city, evocatively describing curry buns, guava candies, duck egg congee, nasi goreng, fruity pavlovas, and Krispy Kreme donuts. The second thing you should know is that while … Continue reading Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club by Roselle Lim →
Crystal Anne With An E comes to us from a sunny clime, though she is an indoor cat that prefers to remain pale. She is an autism consultant by day, and recently completed a degree in information science, mostly because she could and it was fun. She likes to read (obviously), watch TV while cross-stitching something geeky, play video games, beg her plants not to die in the hell heat of summer, and walk while … Continue reading Guest Review: The Princess and the Scoundrel by Beth Revis →
CW: Death/Murder, Bugs, a scene where a character is deadnamed The minute I saw this cover (we featured it on Cover Awe!) and heard the series name was Midsolar Murders, I was sold. Honestly, I didn’t need to know anything else. In the most succinct genre description, it’s a sci-fi cozy murder mystery. While that definition holds true, it’s also a chaotic blend of world-building, an inventive cast of aliens, and serendipity. For as long … Continue reading Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty →
I’d never heard of a space opera before. Having just read my first, I’m not sure that I’m qualified to define it, but I can tell you that I absolutely love it! This is 429 pages of reading joy. That this is book one in a series fills me with delight – so many happy reading hours ahead! As I see it, a space opera seems to be part romance, part space adventure. Let’s dive … Continue reading Only Bad Options by Jennifer Estep →
I have a few tests for cookbooks I want to try. First, I borrow them digitally and read through, bookmarking recipes I might want to try. Once I reach four or five bookmarks, I put the book on hold at the library so I can borrow and use post-it notes on a physical copy. This book passed both of those tests in record time. In fact, I started reading it digitally while on vacation, and … Continue reading I Dream of Dinner (So You Don’t Have To) by Ali Slagle →
How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is a surprisingly intense book about a young woman’s efforts not only to survive dating a superhero, but also her efforts to overcome the trauma that she experienced as collateral damage in a fight between a different superhero and a supervillain. Even though the story revolves around Astrid’s love for her superhero boyfriend, Max, it’s not a romance so much as it’s an exploration of trauma, … Continue reading How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez →
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 →
