Strange Beasts is so much fun that the minute I finished the book, I downloaded the audio for my husband to listen to. This is a paranormal adventure meets gothic mystery with a sapphic love story intertwined in all of that. It has shades of Penny Dreadful, non stop action, and it’s just a blast to read. The novel takes place in an alternate Victorian era where paranormal creatures openly exist with human beings. Sam … Continue reading Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris →
This is a hard book to review because there were a few elements that didn’t work for me, but I don’t think they’d stop other readers from loving Second Night Stand. But before I dig into everything I adored about this book, and how everything I didn’t like is my own fault, let’s describe the plot. Lillian is the aloof dance master of a Very Serious™ ballet company on the brink of disaster. Her backers … Continue reading Second Night Stand by Fay Stetz-Waters and Karelia Stetz-Waters →
To Cage a God is a fantasy novel with romantic elements that I think will work well for a lot of readers. It’s got similar vibes to the Grisha/ Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, has a sapphic romance, has a morality chain romance, and has disability rep. All of that is topped off by a unique magic system and some really fun world-building. The world in To Cage a God is reminiscent of … Continue reading To Cage a God by Elizabeth May →
She’s Too Pretty to Burn is an intriguing, but uneven read. It opens like a teen romance, and ends like a thriller, but the transition between the two is jarring and disruptive to the reading experience. It’s also supposed to be inspired by The Portrait of Dorian Grey which I didn’t get at all from the text. The novel centers around three people: Mick, a high school swim star with a troubled home life; Veronica, … Continue reading She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard →
O hai! Hello there! Come join the webtoon emporium that’s been helping me keep content and mellow. Towards the end of the Hell Year, my brain decided to tell everything other than web toons to fuck off. Even *gasp* novels??? What is this buffoonery??? However, I’m far enough on my mental health journey that I didn’t fight this and oh GOD did I fall into a rabbit hole. Which is why I will now take … Continue reading Sneezy Loves Webtoons: The Sea in You By Jessi Sheron →
Her Magical Pet is a collection of SFF short stories featuring women in love and their magical pets. It was put together as a fundraiser for OutRight Action International, an organisation that fights for the rights of LGBTIQA people worldwide. It is a collection of gentle, low-tension stories about women in love with women, or women falling in love with women, featuring cute magical pets and happy ever afters. About half the stories are traditional … Continue reading Her Magical Pet, edited by Rachel Manija Brown →
Hey there! Welcome back to Wednesday Links! Here, we share some fun, insightful, or otherwise pretty neat things that we’ve seen around the internet recently. It’s a nice way to take a break in your day, maybe over lunch or a much-needed afternoon cup of coffee. … Have you seen that nickname Lord Byron had for William Wordsworth? … In the NY area? Berkley is having a fancy shindig with some authors on the 18th! … Continue reading Links: Cats, Rats, & More →
Warning: While I had several issues with this book throughout the story, the thing that really inspired this rant happened right at the very end. Here be spoilers. Here be massive, massive spoilers. Also, rage. I picked up Thief of the Heart for its set up: female FBI agent on the trail of a female jewel thief, and they fall in love. I mean. Women excelling in traditionally male-dominated professions! Enemies to lovers! Career versus … Continue reading Thief of the Heart by MJ Williamz →
This book is not going to be for everyone because it’s an erotic romance with a boss/employee scenario, although if that pairing is your jam, you will almost certainly love it. I totally understand and respect that not everyone is comfortable with that power dynamic in fiction. Personally, I like it, and I particularly enjoyed how this book handles it because it addresses and challenges that dynamic head on, rather than brushing past it (more … Continue reading The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair →
Gideon the Ninth has been parsed into four words that gave me instant grabby hands: “Lesbian necromancers in space.” It was one of my most coveted books to try and snag at BEA, and I preordered it because my goth-loving heart was swayed by the black-stained edges of its first printing. All of this leads to a very tough situation: will a book I’ve been anticipating (and many others, too) will live up to its … Continue reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir →
A Month of Sundays is a contemporary f/f romance that tries to do too much at once. The slow progression of the romance, the value placed on family and friends, and the celebration of food are lovely, but this book needed to either leave some plot developments out entirely or be longer so they could be fully explored. I’d have voted for the latter because I enjoyed these characters. Rachel is an accountant for a huge … Continue reading Month of Sundays by Yolanda Wallace →
