Welcome to the latest edition of I Read This Shit So You Don’t Have To. Trigger warnings for discussion of rape and assault. When I picked up Scandal Becomes Her I was super excited for the gothic elements it offered. Instead I got a pile of WTFery and a hero who is solidly on Team Don’t Fuck That Guy. I’m pretty much spoiling the shit out of everything in this review, so if you actually want to … Continue reading Scandal Becomes Her by Shirlee Busbee →
RT is almost here! I’ll also be traveling today as my little baby brother is graduating from college and his Air Force program, then heading off to Texas. Expect lots of blubbering from me. After that, it’s RT time and the Bitches will be here. Hope you can all say hello! … For RT attendees, just a reminder that the SBTB crew is doing three separate events (plus Sarah is doing a gazillion panels). There’s … Continue reading Links: RT Events, Riddles, and Mr. Bean →
Look to the Stars was exactly the book I needed to read at exactly the right moment I needed to read it. Lately my brain has been in over-drive, catastrophizing and just generally keeping me from sleeping soundly. Look to the Stars was the perfect Regency novella to reset my mind – it’s light on conflict, although the conflict is still there, and I loved the main characters. It’s more a short chronicling of a … Continue reading Look to the Stars by Olivia Kelly →
The Duke Who Knew Too Much blends Regency romance, mystery and kink–a formula that I expect will intrigue a lot of readers (especially those looking for more erotic historicals). There are a lot of things going on in this book–a lot– but the author weaves them all together well. The only thing that really irked me was the hero’s insistence that he’s incapable of feels, mostly because I’m sick of emotionally constipated dukes. Anyway, the … Continue reading The Duke Who Knew Too Much by Grace Callaway →
Normally I’m pretty cynical about Christmas. I’m not a practicing Christian, and I’ve worked in either retail or logistics long enough that the commercialism and chaos that precedes the holiday season exhausts me (I once worked till 2 a.m. so a shipment of children’s bedsheets that were on sale would hit the store in time for Black Friday–then slept for four hours and went back into work). This year, though, I’m clinging to anything happy and … Continue reading All I Want for Christmas is a Duke by Valerie Bowman, Tiffany Clare, Vivienne Lorret, Ashlyn MacNamara →
If you like enemies-to-lovers romance, then you probably want to read When a Marquess Loves a Woman. It’s got all my prerequisites for a good Regency romance–loads of sexual tension, a heroine who owns her shit, and epic sass-battles. Also canoodling in libraries. Also a stock market crash. There’s a lot going on in this book. Maxwell Hardwick and Juliet White, Lady Granworth, didn’t start out as nemeses, and they have a complicated personal history. Max … Continue reading When a Marquess Loves a Woman by Vivienne Lorret →
NB: Welcome to Flashback Friday! If you didn’t catch it, Carrie had a disappointing experience reading Mary Balogh’s latest release, Someone to Love, due to racist stereotypes. But, if you’re hoping to read Balogh without DNF-ing, Elyse wrote a glowing review of Only a Promise. This review was originally published June 10, 2015. Only a Promise was the first book I read by Mary Balogh, and I rectified that situation pretty damn quick. It was so so amazingly good that … Continue reading Only a Promise by Mary Balogh →
When Jo Beverley passed away last month and we were discussing recommendations, several people mentioned Emily and the Dark Angel. I realized I had a copy but had never read it. It was just the sort of charming, quietly hilarious comfort read I needed. It has the best meet-cute I’ve read in a long time, too. Emily Grantwich is walking through her hometown, Melton Mowbray, when a man bumps into her. Another woman in an upstairs window, … Continue reading Emily and the Dark Angel by Jo Beverley →
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of The Survivors’ Club series by Mary Balogh. I devoured Only Beloved the minute it hit my hot little hands. The final book in the series features The Survivors’ Club founder, The Duke of Stanbrook. Stanbrook has suffered some serious losses in his life–his son died at war and his wife committed suicide. Now at the age of 48, he realizes how lonely he is, and he … Continue reading An Interview with Mary Balogh →
Rag and Bone is a mix of Regency, fantasy, and mystery, and while some parts were stronger than others, the two heroes and the rapidly developing plot kept me reading for hours longer than I intended. Crispin is a struggling magician whose prior tutor/master turned out to be evil, and he has a clandestine but passionate relationship with Ned, who is a waste paper dealer. Ned, who is the gentleman of color on the cover, lives … Continue reading Rag and Bone by KJ Charles →
When Emily Z. sent us an email about Regency Solitaire, I took one look at it on Steam and let out an audible “Huh?” But then I started reading the reviews and saw one by Felicia Day: “Um, Steam just told me I spent 32 hours on Regency Solitaire in the last 2 weeks.” And if it’s good enough for Felicia Day, who am I to judge? So I dropped the ten bucks and fired … Continue reading Game Review: Regency Solitaire →
