The Ice Swan is a slow-burn and rather tender romance about two people building a relationship after their worlds have crumbled around them. It is set in the Russian emigré community in Paris during the final months of the Great War, and then in rural Scotland in the War’s aftermath, and it manages to be both angsty and gentle. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Princess Svetlana Dalsky fled the Bolshevik uprising in Russia with her mother … Continue reading The Ice Swan by J’nell Ciesielski →
Content warning: This book has ALL the triggers, and I’m a bit worried I’ve forgotten one, but here goes. Abusive/manipulative/neglectful/controlling parents. Alcoholism. Suicide of a parent (witnessed by the child – off page, but remembered rather vividly). Forced marriage and rape (off-page). Infidelity. Hero is orphaned at an early age and is not acknowledged by his father’s family. Plane crash. People who stress you out just showing up and letting themselves into your apartment to … Continue reading Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev →
If I Never Met You is a sweet, but very angsty, fake-relationship romance that is let down terribly by its advertising and blurb: If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real? When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and … Continue reading If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane →
The Beast of Beswick is what you get when you put Beauty and the Beast and The Taming of the Shrew into a blender with a whole lot of feminism and drink the results. The heroine, Astrid, is beautiful, bookish and prickly; full of feminist rage; and determined to protect her sweet, pretty, but surprisingly shrewd younger sister, Isobel. The hero, Thane, is horribly scarred; very brooding and moody; and rather inclined to embrace the … Continue reading The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard →
Consumed by JR Ward is an angsty contemporary romance with lots of dark themes and a hint of romantic suspense. I really liked the heroine, but the hero never clicked with me, and I felt like there was too much going on with the plot at times. Anne Ashburn is a New Brunswick firefighter who loves her job and carries a torch for her coworker, Danny McGuire. Anne and Danny had a mind-blowing one night … Continue reading Consumed by JR Ward →
Wrong to Need You is a novel that is so engrossing, so engaging, that as I was reading it I didn’t realize that at that very moment in time, I was being peed on. Yes, that’s right. Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai is so good that it will keep you from noticing you’re sitting in urine. There’s a story here (obviously) and you’ll get it, but first I need to talk to you about … Continue reading Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai →
If you’re going to read Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh, plan on calling in sick to work. Trust me–just do it. Either you’ll need the day off to power through the book because putting it down is not an option, or you’ll need time to recover from the crushing weight of your own feels and the emotional hangover you’ll have. I recommend calling your boss and starting off with “I got dinner from a … Continue reading Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh →
Welcome to our reviews and recaps of BBC’s Poldark, starring Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson, based on the novels by Winston Graham! lets get started with the angst, shall we? It’s woods, in Virginia, 1781. A party of redcoats are camped in the woods, and two of them are playing cards. One, a ruggedly handsome Aidan Turner without his LoTR dwarf get-up, puts in a ring as his stake, and another man snarks “Gambling again? … Continue reading Poldark, Episode 1 →
