If you are even remotely on bookish social media, then you are aware of Fourth Wing. It’s been much-hyped and sold out and everywhere I look online there are rave reviews for this YA-fantasy-romance. I am not here to yuck anyone’s yum. If you read Fourth Wing and you loved it, I am totally happy for you. I want people to love what they read. This was not a book that worked for me, though, … Continue reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I picked up The No-Show because based on the blurb, I thought this would be some sort of feminist revenge fantasy. Said blurb: Three women who seemingly have nothing in common find that they’re involved with the same man in this smart new rom-com by Beth O’Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare. Sadly this does not end in a sisterhood pact over this man’s grave. Despite my wrong assumptions, I hoovered up this book in … Continue reading The No-Show by Beth O’Leary
The Wrong Marquess is a Regency-set romance between sought-after bachelor Brandon, the Marquess of Hullworth, and Elodie Parrish, a 25-year old spinster who is waiting for her childhood friend, George, to propose to her. While the story managed to use some of my least favourite tropes in some very clever ways, it also contained an incredibly frustrating love triangle that extended so far into the book that I really questioned Elodie’s judgment. Brandon is the … Continue reading The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret
CW: Off the page suicide attempt of a minor character. Classism, including jokes about hobos. The blurb for Last Tang Standing recommends it for “fans of Crazy Rich Asians and Bridget Jones’s Diary.” I liked those books, and I can see the superficial similarities—this is a humorous diary set in wealthy Singapore—but this book doesn’t bring much of an original perspective to the story of a 30-something finding themselves. Last Tang Standing tries so hard … Continue reading Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho
Content warning: References to child abduction, the sexual abuse of children, and sexual exploitation generally. It is all referred to in fairly vague terms and is not depicted on the page, but there is a lot of upsetting back story. There is also a subplot that hinges on infidelity. The Road to Ironbark is two stories in one. At the tail end of the Gold Rush, Aurora Scott, a respectable widow with a less than … Continue reading The Road to Ironbark by Kaye Dobbie
The sinking of the RMS Lusitania might not sound like a great setting for a sweeping historical adventure and romance, but I cut my young romance-loving teeth on the Titanic movie, and I am here to challenge your shipwreck tragedy notions. As historical fiction The Glass Ocean works beautifully. It had espionage, intrigue, a love-triangle and a truly horrifying talent show. That said, my romance-reader heart wasn’t entirely satisfied with how the romance played out, and craved a … Continue reading The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White
The Beautiful Ones is a book that includes many genres, including fantasy, romance, manners, and just a little bit of Gothic. I enjoyed it more as a soap opera than a romance, but your mileage will vary depending on your interpretation of the characters. The setting is an alternate world in which some people have telekinetic powers. It takes place during the Belle Époque (anywhere between 1871-1914). Loisail is the Big City where the upper … Continue reading The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Oh, you guys. I have to review this book for you because I laughed so loud and so long that my husband had to kick me out of the room. This is the third Dahlia Moss book and every one seems to get better and better. In these stressful times who doesn’t need a book that makes you laugh out loudly and often? Dahlia Moss is NOT a private detective because she doesn’t have her … Continue reading The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone
Always by Sarah Jio is romance’s version of What Would You Do mixed with some seriously awesome 90’s nostalgia. It’s not the type of book I typically read as it involves a love triangle, but that triangle was handled so well and so differently from other fiction that I’ve read that it didn’t bother me at all. Kailey Crane has it all–she’s getting married to Ryan, who is basically a Disney prince in three dimensional … Continue reading Always by Sarah Jio
