Holly Black’s first novel marketed for adults is a gritty urban fantasy in which magic allows people to control their own, and sometimes other people’s, shadows, and in which the rich and powerful trade in secrets and books of lore while jockeying for power. The protagonist, Charlie, lives in the world of normality, where she is a bartender hoping to put her sister through college, and the world of magic, in which she is a … Continue reading Book of Night by Holly Black →
Bombshell is a Victorian age romance with a ton of pining, and a heroine who belongs to a girl-gang out to dismantle the patriarchy. One of them specializes in explosions. Objectively I can look at this book and say that some readers may have an issue with how much time spent on the girl-gang scenes versus the romance, but also ONE OF THEM SPECIALIZES IN EXPLOSIONS. I think part of this imbalance is to set … Continue reading Bombshell by Sarah MacLean →
I never thought I’d say this, but The Hellion’s Waltz is just too darn nice. This historical f/f romance is beautifully written and full of kind, courageous, intelligent characters. It is also boring. I never would have thought that I’d get tired of reading a book in which people say kind and encouraging things to each other, but it turns out that yes, I really can have too little conflict in a story. The book … Continue reading The Hellion’s Waltz by Olivia Waite →
I love a good heist story: Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s 8, (we’re pretending the other Oceans in between don’t exist), The Italian Job, the TV show The Catch, all of them are my catnip. It’s no wonder I absolutely loved To Catch an Earl since it’s a love story about a thief and the man charged with catching her. It’s a heist story, and a game of cat and mouse all in one. It’s just wonderfully, … Continue reading To Catch an Earl by Kate Bateman →
