Having raved about the first book in the Kopp Sisters series, Girl Waits With Gun, I found the sequels (Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions) to be disappointing. I’m pleased to say that the series returns to form with the most recent book, Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit. As always, most of the story is either completely true or inspired by real events, and the title was the headline of a real news article. … Continue reading Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit by Amy Stewart →
I know I’m late to the party (again) but I finally read the first volume of Rainbow Rowell’s Runaways comic book series and I have to share the Squee! Volume #1: Find Your Way Home collects Issues #1-6 of Rowell’s run. I loved this comic when it first originated with Brian K. Vaughan as the writer. I followed his stories and the subsequent Joss Whedon run but stopped after the Whedon run concluded. I’m overjoyed that Rainbow … Continue reading Runaways, Vol. 1: Find Your Way Home by Rainbow Rowell and Kria Anka →
NB: Not the Duke’s Darling by Elizabeth Hoyt is the start to a new historical romance and we know many of you are curious about this one! Well big thanks to Ellen McCammon for submitting this guest review, so we don’t have to keep you waiting any longer. Ellen researches gender, sexuality, and sexual health in her day job and spends her free time reading, writing, and making textile crafts. You can follow her on Twitter … Continue reading Guest Review: Not the Duke’s Darling by Elizabeth Hoyt →
Last Chance Wife is a historical inspirational romance set in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. I picked this book up because I could not resist its premise, and I kept reading it because it’s fun and silly and short and easy to read and I was super stressed out so I needed that kind of book. I would say that your enjoyment of this book, which has a Pollyanna-like heroine who cheers miners by putting drawings in their … Continue reading Last Chance Wife by Janette Foreman →
TW/CW: Sexual assault and harrassment. How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days is a slow burn fantasy romance that (despite the slowness of the romance) takes place over a week. There’s magic and assassinations, but for all its perceived elements of adventure, it was a rather subdued and odd read. If a child is born when the twin moons align in the world of Aerthlan, they are known as Embraced, gifted with a variety … Continue reading How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days by Kerrelyn Sparks →
My Sister the Serial Killer is NOT a romance novel, but it might appeal to those of our readers with an interest in female rage and very dark humor. Set in Nigeria, the novel is narrated by a nurse named Korede. It opens as Korede is cleaning a crime scene. It’s clear that she has a lot of practice doing this: I bet you didn’t know that bleach masks the smell of blood. Most people … Continue reading My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite →
Sweet Agony by Charlotte Stein is an erotic romance with a Gothic twist, and it is pure unadulterated Elyse-bait. Please prepare for Squee. We have Squee inbound, so take cover and bring snacks. We might be here awhile. We have a recluse hero with an unbearably sexy voice and impressive lexicon, we have a Gothic mansion, and we have lots of sexy times that turn into something poignant. More than that, we have a Dom … Continue reading Sweet Agony by Charlotte Stein →
In The Good Place, there’s a moment in which Chidi, the anxiety-ridden philosophy professor, is knocked off a footbridge into some shallow and photogenic water, and as he falls, he squeaks, “Whyyeeeee?” This was my reaction to Aquaman. I’m into comic books and comic book movies, and I can suspend disbelief like a champ, but Aquaman broke me. I’m going to take you through this movie with me, so spoilers abound, but I promise you … Continue reading Movie Review: Aquaman →
I’m a fan of Laura Griffin’s Tracers series, so it’s no real surprise that I enjoyed her first book in the spin-off Wolfe Security series, Desperate Girls. Much like Griffin’s other books, this is very much a romantic suspense novel that heavily features procedural elements. When I first saw the cover and read the title, I wondered if Griffin had decided to try her hand at a psychological thriller, but no. Despite what the cover art … Continue reading Desperate Girls by Laura Griffin →
Sometimes a book comes along that is so fun, so unabashedly silly, and so clever that it makes you glad to be alive. Such is the case with My Plain Jane, which re-imagines Jane Eyre in such a bizarre and gleeful fashion that even in the grip of my regularly scheduled holiday depression I was overcome with bliss. The premise of My Plain Jane is this: Charlotte Bronte is real, and attends Lowood School. Jane Eyre … Continue reading My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows →
The Au Pair by Emma Rous is a slightly Gothic psychological thriller that focuses on one woman’s suspicion that she might not be physically related to her own family. The premise is excellent and while I kept turning pages well into the night, I found that when I finished the book, I was only slightly satisfied with the resolution. Part of that is because the final reveals are executed a little clumsily. The other part … Continue reading The Au Pair by Emma Rous →
