We think readers who like their romances rooted in real history, who also appreciate hopeful historical stories that acknowledge the discrimination characters had to face, might like this. The pacing and the other issues we mentioned made this fall a bit short.
If you’re a fan of Connie Willis, I would suggest you give this series a try. It doesn’t take itself quite so seriously, and Max as a heroine and audience surrogate is a lot of fun. It’s potentially a commitment, given that there are 9 books and a bunch of novellas, but I’m looking forward to making a dent in my TBR pile to read the next book.
RECOMMENDED: The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare is $1.99! This is the first book in the Girl Meets Duke series. Elyse really loved this book and gave it an A grade:
I totally recommend reading The Duchess Deal, but preferably while sober so you can really appreciate all of it. It’s the perfect blend of two of my favorite fairytale tropes, it’s got a hero who never an alpha-hole, it’s funny, and it’s got female friendship. What more could you want?
RECOMMENDED: How to Tame a Wild Rogue by Julie Anne Long is $1.99! This made our Best of Reviews 2023 list at number five. Lara gave this a Squee grade:
This book made me swoon IRL. Reading it was a fever dream and not just because of the sex scenes. I was so immersed in it that the real world and its troubles didn’t even occur to me for the duration of the book. (I am anxious by nature, so this is a feat.)
I enjoyed this story a lot. It contains many of the elements that feel like a traditional Western to me – scenes of blizzards and horse-breaking, confrontations in the local saloon, slick shysters from out East come to take advantage of the locals – but the central characters buck the stereotypes in numerous ways.
Overall I liked this book, though some parts were much more swoony than others, especially as the tension between them became mostly me, the reader, waiting for one of them to admit their feelings to the other already. While the waiting part wasn’t my favourite, the emotional development and vulnerability between Pet and Matthias was delicious.
It’s also worthy of note that even though I didn’t grasp the big picture here, I still wrote “who WE are fighting” not “who the characters are fighting.” It’s one of those Freudian slips that indicates how quickly I became attached to the main character, Kai, the Witch King, a person who, when referred to as a demon, grumbles, “You idiot. I’m THE demon.”
RECOMMENDED: Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is $2.99! This is Kindle Daily Deal, so grab it while you can! AJ gave this on an A grade. This is the third book in the Locked Tomb series, which certainly should be read in order.
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle is $2.99! This is Chuck’s first full-length novel. Carrie gave this a C+:
Even though I didn’t enjoy this book completely, I think the author (who I admit to shamelessly adoring in general) has a lot of potential in terms of this kind of full-length work. It has a big heart and a lot of arresting scenes (I won’t forget that fly vomit any time soon). It will work best for horror fans who don’t mind body horror, flies, worms, and surrealism. I will be reading the next full-length Chuck Tingle book for sure.