Welcome back to Wednesday Links! I’m currently in Austin, Texas for the next week. State government aside and everything that comes with it, I really love this place and briefly considered moving here. That may still be on the table and I believe this is my fourth time visiting. Oddly, a lot of my friends throughout life have ended up here – childhood neighbors, high school friends, grad school BFFs, and I’m reuniting with a … Continue reading Links: Blue, Barbies, & More →
CW: The death of a child, sexual assault, suicidal ideation The Lost Ones by Anita Frank lured me in with the promise of a Gothic set in WWI, but the pacing was massively slow and the characters largely unlikeable. As a result, I only finished the book because I needed resolution on the ghostly portion. This book actually made me grind my teeth, and at one point my cat, Dewey, shut the book on me … Continue reading The Lost Ones by Anita Frank →
Ignore your first impressions of the cover — yes, I’m already frantically googling that dress for the inevitable closing date of my Gothic mansion, but the cover doesn’t exactly scream romance novel. Rest assured, The Widow of Rose House is 100% a historical romance, complete with charming sequel-bait family members, protagonists smelling like sandalwood (it’s the heroine this time!), sex scenes with protection (more of this in historicals, please), and a central love story that … Continue reading The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller →
Halloween is just around the corner and it’s my favorite time of year. I love kids getting to dress up as adorable pumpkins or superheroes, my getting to buy bulk Reese Peanut Butter Cups and pretend like they’re for trick or treaters when the bag is totally going in my freezer, and my reading all of the spooky books and movies that get released. The Witch of Willow Hall immediately caught my eye with its … Continue reading The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox →
I love gothic mysteries and gothic romance. When I was a teen I found a whole shelf of Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney in our basement and devoured them. When I’d finished them, my mom gave me historical romances to read. Gothics were my gateway drug. The Darkling Bride is a gothic mystery set in Ireland with the requisite crumbling castles, ghosts, and family secrets. It also features a side romance. I found the mystery … Continue reading The Darkling Bride by Laura Andersen →
The first third of this novel is very slow, almost glacial, and the remainder flies with nonstop, eye-widening, what the hell did I just read seriously what. I think that change of pace is deliberate given what happens in the story, but I’m still debating whether the pace and the plot worked for me. The book opens with Sally and Peter’s wedding. Sally is happy but calculating, and sneaks away to deal with her mother, who … Continue reading Please Release Me by Rhoda Baxter →
Christmas Yet to Come is a great stocking-stuffer of a novella. It mixes the darker elements of A Christmas Carol with a sweet romance and some suspense to surprisingly good effect. Jason is a banker who lives alone. He doesn’t socialize during Christmas and he gives all his servants the day off. He doesn’t decorate or anything because he figures there’s no point in celebrating by himself. On Christmas Eve, Jason is astonished to discover … Continue reading Christmas Yet to Come by Marian Perera →
The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James (winner of a RITA for The Haunting of Maddy Clare) is a historical mystery set in post WWI England and it features a psychic heroine and a scarred and wounded hero. PUT IT IN MY EYEBALLS. Also the heroine on the cover? Her hat game is strong, girl. This book could be used to bait an Elyse-trap. Put it under a box being held up by a … Continue reading The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James →
