To my great delight, The Boxing Baroness is about a female prize fighter in Regency England, and yes, that was a thing. This sumptuous historical romance has great characters and a swooping, gorgeous romance. The plot gets a little wonky but overall I enjoyed this book. Marianne was adopted as a small child by her uncle who owns a small traveling all-female circus. It has the fabulous name ‘Farnham’s Fantastical Female Fayre.’ Marianne was sent … Continue reading The Boxing Baroness by Minerva Spencer →
This guest review is from Babelfish, who is a California librarian, historical fiction enthusiast, lizard person, and ADHD-prone daydreamer. … Long-time reader, first-time contributor. I find the reviews on this site some of the most entertaining writing on the internet, and the number of quotes with which I spam my coworkers (and my best friend) is a mite excessive. I *really* appreciate you people, is what I’m saying. 🙂 Y’all got me into reading romances in … Continue reading Passion Play by Beth Bernobich →
A Very Merry Bromance is the fifth book in the Bromance Book Club series, and while it can be read as a standalone, the sheer number of characters from other books can be distracting. It’s a Christmas romance, but it deals quite a bit with toxic families and childhood trauma, so I wouldn’t consider it cozy reading, which is what I had been expecting. Gretchen Winthrop had a one-night-stand with country music star Colton Wheeler … Continue reading A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams →
The follow-up to Donut Fall in Love is an opposites-attract romance with a deeply introverted heroine and a larger-than-life hero. Although it can be read as a standalone, I enjoyed revisiting characters from the first novel. While I loved the romance, the depictions of the hero’s job fell flat, sometimes pulling me out of the story. Quiet, reserved Vivian Lao is going to be a bridesmaid in her roommate Lindsay’s wedding to actor Ryan Kwok. … Continue reading The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau →
Two Wrongs Make a Right is inspired, very loosely, by Much Ado About Nothing. It lacks most of the conflict of the play, but has its own charm. What you really need to know is that this is a cute book with neurodivergent characters and a fake-dating romance that is endearing if not fully believable. For each thing I liked about this book there was something I felt grumpy about. Here we go! Our heroes … Continue reading Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese →
Tara: A few weeks ago, Sarah slacked me with the following: Tara Season of Love is so good It’s so freaking good. So, I did what any other smart person would do and started reading it. And guess what? She was completely and totally right. Sarah: I do like it when I’m right. Tara: Miriam Blum lives in Charleston with her fiancee, who she loves but is not in love with, and she’s weeks away … Continue reading Season of Love by Helena Greer →
Friends, I have to tell you that Legends and Lattes is absolutely, utterly delightful. It was as comforting as the coffeehouse setting that the protagonist attempts to create. It’s a cinnamon roll of a book which, by the way, contains actual cinnamon rolls. I am in love. Our tale begins with our main character, an orc named Viv, seizing a magical thingamajig that brings luck. She promptly quits her life of breaking heads open for … Continue reading Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree →
A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts is so much more than the book I thought I was getting. This book tells a lot of ghost stories, but it is also an examination of why so many ghost stories are by and/or about women and what they say about our culture and history. It’s also a critique of the business of Ghost Tours, demonstrating how they can exploit historical suffering at … Continue reading A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts by Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes →
Okay, so first of all, I need us all to understand that I’m going to write this review without telling you much about what actually happens in the book. That’s because, and I’m not exaggerating when I say this, every single event is a spoiler. The plot of this series is a giant Gordian knot where each new revelation changes everything else you think you know, so you really can’t discuss any part of it … Continue reading Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir →
One of my favorite movies as a kid was The Creature from the Black Lagoon and I always felt bad for The Creature. Sea Creatures Prefer Redheads played into that nostalgia wonderfully. Opal Prince is a costume designer and make-up artist for Neptune pictures in 1947. She’s the genius behind Kel, the monster in The Kelp-Dweller from Fathoms Below. Kel is a mishmash of her own forbidden monstrous fantasy and her secret crush on the … Continue reading Sea Creatures Prefer Redheads by Brianne Gillen →
If you like colorwork and making socks, then Charming Colorwork Socks is a must buy for you. This book contains 25 adorable patterns, including holiday themes, animals, and my personal favorite: coffee socks. Most of the patterns involve only working with two colors at the same time, so it’s ideal for colorwork beginners who don’t want to manage too many strands at once. There isn’t much in the way of tutorials in the book, although … Continue reading Charming Colorwork Socks by Charlotte Stone →
I have read this webcomic on Tapas several times now. Whenever I want a quick read that’s visually adorable and emotionally sweet, I re-read it. When I learned there was a print version and there were extra panels within, I borrowed the book from the library. It doesn’t take long to read this book, in print or online, but I’m so happy I borrowed it. My intention was to read it while still in the … Continue reading Fangs by Sarah Anderson →
