Once Ghosted, Twice Shy is a contemporary, F/F romance novella. It’s part of the Reluctant Royals series but it works fine as a stand-alone. I loved this ramble through New York City and although the romance is a bit too rushed to be completely plausible, I’m certainly rooting for these two. The story begins with Likotsi Adele, the personal assistant to the prince of Thesolo. She is on vacation in New York City when she runs … Continue reading Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole →
TW/CW: A brief scene of self-harm, child deaths, murder, though none of these things are graphic in description. Nightchaser is the first book in the new sci-fi romance series by Amanda Bouchet. If you’ve been bopping around the site for the last few months, you’ve probably seen me mention it or at least, heard me discuss it on the podcast. Since I’m always looking for new sci-fi romance and I loved Bouchet’s previous series, I’ve … Continue reading Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet →
CW/TW: domestic violence, violence against sex workers, depression, child neglect, and of course, murder, since it’s a murder mystery. I mentioned in my review for Murder on Astor Place, book one in the Gaslight Mystery series, that I tapped out after this book. In this installment, Sarah Brandt is called to what she thinks is a birth, but turns out to be a call to help Agnes, a pregnant mother whose younger sister, Gerda, has just … Continue reading Murder on St. Mark’s Place by Victoria Thompson →
CW/TW: in this book there is child assault, child sexual assault, incest, murder, more murder, and history of sexual assault revealed but not depicted on the page. I described the plot of this book to Elyse, and she, who reads all kinds of things that would scare me sleepless, said, “Holy mother of god. That is a PLOT.” Oh, yes. Yes, it is. Now, I can hear you thinking, “Sarah. Whoa. Why did you read this?” … Continue reading Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson →
Colette was a remarkable woman whose quest for freedom allowed her to accomplish great things, although it also led to her being hurt by, and hurting, many people. The movie Colette simplifies her into a woman who only needs to rid herself of a domineering husband to blossom into fabulousness. This makes for a satisfying arc with sumptuous scenery and costuming and wonderful acting, but at the cost of character complexity. The movie begins as … Continue reading Movie Review: Colette →
A Midnight Feast is Book 4 (a novella) in the Fly Me To The Moon Series. This series is set in the early days of the space race. I enjoyed Earth Bound from this series. A Midnight Feast is also good, but not as well developed. This story is about Margie Dunsford, a recurring character in the series. She is the undisputed leader of the astronauts’ wives. She cooks for funerals, she cleans for exhausted new moms, … Continue reading A Midnight Feast by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner →
Please note: this review is for both the plot and the audiobook performance. I mentioned on a recent podcast that I’ve been listening to the Evan Evans series by Rhys Bowen on audiobook while I cross stitch and cook (not at the same time – too many stains on the aida, I should think). I realized that listening to an audiobook is both very soothing and avidly addictive for my brain as long as two … Continue reading Evans Above by Rhys Bowen →
Tikka Chance on Me is a bad-boy-falls-for-good-girl romance that, according to the author’s Twitter, was inspired by this photo: Which begs the question, how many 2018 romance novels (and to-be-released 2019 titles) have been inspired directly by Evans? I feel like at this point he might have started his own subgenre. Or at least his beard did. Anyway, the Evans inspired hero of Tikka Chance on Me is Trucker Carrigan, enforcer to a local biker gang … Continue reading Tikka a Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder →
Zero Sum Game is an awesome, fast-paced, inventive science fiction thriller about a mercenary whose superpower is her ability to do complicated math almost instantly. She uses this to calculate trajectories and angles and so forth in order to navigate both crime scenes and combat sequences with incredible speed and precision. Cas takes on a simple job which drags her into a conspiracy involving her mysterious childhood, an evil psychic, and a lot of violence. She … Continue reading Zero Sum Game by S. L. Huang →
The Boneless Mercies is a female-led loose retelling of Beowulf. The main character, Frey, is one of a group of women (and one man) who travel from village to village throughout Vorseland, hired to give mercy kills to the suffering. When Frey hears of a monster that is terrorizing a community, she sees a way out of the Mercy trade for herself and the road-weary group. Their journey takes them through a war of witches, personal … Continue reading The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke →
I recently described this book’s plot as a road with several roundabouts in a row, in which the story gets stuck before moving on. It’s the best description I can come up with to explain why this book frustrated me both in terms of plot development and character development. The story opens with Rosie Radeke, a teenager from a small town in Ohio, on her first international flight to Paris. She’s been accepted into a … Continue reading Love à La Mode by Stephanie Kate Strohm →
