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 →
A Holly, Jolly Diwali is a contemporary romance and a story about finding a place in one’s community. I really enjoyed it, but I can also see where some readers may feel the romance elements took second place to the main character’s journey of self discovery. Niki Randhawa is a first generation Punjabi-American. She’s done everything to be the perfect daughter. She stayed out of trouble as a kid, got a degree in tech, and … Continue reading A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli →
CW: discussions of sexual harrassment and an instance of non-graphic sexual assault. Friends, I stayed up all night reading this book. And this was no ordinary night…I had just had surgery (with great results!) but the after effects of anesthesia (which usually leaves me super sleepy) were powerless in the face of this tremendous romance. Two foolish peers have fought a duel over an opera singer. The outcome? The object of the duel, our rising-star … Continue reading After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long →
Thanksgiving is a bit shorted in the romance world. I suppose this is because some people think that fighting with your family, consuming your body weight in pie, and entering a food coma are not romantic activities. To them I say…what kind of pie are we talking about here? After all, one of the most romantic lines in all of literary history refers to Thanksgiving – I refer of course to Rose saying “He ate … Continue reading A Match Made For Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau →
Hark and LO, bitchery! It is I, your intrepid fantasy romance correspondent, delighted to inform you I have found a winner. The Shadow and the Sun is a fun, sexy, pretty well-written, and unabashedly FANTASY romance novel. The setup is this: in a medieval-ish fantasy world called Quoregna, a warrior woman named Halina, who is the bastard daughter of the king of Ursinum, is charged with a mission to convince a reclusive wizard, the Shadow … Continue reading The Shadow and The Sun by Monica Enderle Pierce →
In this second chance romance, the food is more memorable than the love story. After reading First Love, Take Two, I was left feeling vaguely annoyed at the happy couple. But I also wanted to eat my way through Houston. Daniel and Preeti were each other’s first loves, until she let his wealthy Black parents, and her prejudiced Desi aunties, break them up. Preeti has weathered the ostracism and gossip in her close-knit Hindu community … Continue reading First Love, Take Two by Sajni Patel →
Miss Eliza’s Kitchen has a fascinating subject and lots of detail, but this historical novel (not a romance) skips over the most interesting parts of the story. I wanted to love this book, but in the end I was not filled up. The material is fascinating, and the use of language is lovely, but be prepared for some frustration if you expect answers to all the questions raised and an unambiguous ending. The book tells … Continue reading Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen by Annabel Abbs →
You Sexy Thing involves characters, settings, themes and tropes that are pure catnip for me. One of these themes is cooking. I have therefore translated the book into a recipe so as best to convey its nature. Before we begin the recipe, here’s a quick overview. You Sexy Thing is the space opera tale of a group of both military veterans and civilians who run a restaurant on a space station and who find themselves, … Continue reading You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo →
TW: child abuse and abandonment, rape (off page), manipulation, bloody violence, the death of a horse (off-page) All of you readers who love feminist, progressive takes on fairy tales will love Little Thieves, a very loose retelling of “The Goose Girl,” a fairy tale made famous by Brothers Grimm. “The Goose Girl ” is one of the more macabre of the Grimm tales, which is saying a lot. In this version,the story of a maid … Continue reading Little Thieves by Margaret Owen →
This is a very odd book that I have read one or two chapters at a time, and then told people about, usually starting with, “Can I tell you about this weird-ass book I’m reading that I can’t stop thinking about?” The format follows a dialogue between a student and a philosopher, a follower of the Adlerian theory of psychology. While the subtitle reads, “The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and … Continue reading The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga →
The Liar of Red Valley is kind of awesome, despite an abrupt ending and some world-building issues. This is a book of suburban/rural fantasy in which a young woman has to make some desperate choices to save her own life and the life of her small town. Here is the publisher’s description of what is, frankly, a fairly confusing plot: Don’t trust the Liar. Do not cross the King. Never, ever go in the River. … Continue reading The Liar of Red Valley by Walter Goodwater →
