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
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
Mild trigger warning for deeply negative, damaging descriptions of mental illness common during WWI. I love epistolary novels, especially those with a solid thread of romance, so Last Christmas in Paris was a hefty dose of my catnip. While I was entirely absorbed by this novel when I was reading it, I found the ending and the finale of the emotional journey way too rushed, and not as finely wrought as the first 85% of … Continue reading Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Mary Robinette Kowal fan. She’s gracious in person and challenging, inspiring, and funny in print, and she does puppetry and hand sews Regency dresses, so I’d be disposed to follow her around like a puppy even if she never wrote a word of fiction. As it happens, she also writes great fiction, and her Regency fantasy series Glamourist Histories is delightful (you can read my reviews for that … Continue reading Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
Here at the Bitchery, we’re dedicated to finding you the best tentacle butt sex book available, and I’m sad to say we haven’t been doing a great job of it. What we’ve found is that there are a wealth of covers that imply “t in b” action (I’m looking at you, Someone to Cuttle) but so far none have really followed through with the money shot. I regret to report that First Watch by Peter … Continue reading First Watch by Peter Hansen
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
