JayneA- Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads1930s / aristocrats / Business woman / England / First-Person / high society / Historical / self discovery / slow burn / Womens-Fiction6 Comments

In early 1930s England, a young firebrand finds herself on a fraught and dangerous road to independence. In 1931 England, Astra Davies defies all the conventions. Clever, witty, and determined, Astra smokes, drinks, plays a mean piano, and gallivants around London with her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. But Astra ... more >

LaylaB+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Readsfemale friendship / forced-marriage / Historical / historical-Scotland / Late Victorian / League of Extraordinary Women Series / photography / suffragette4 Comments

Going toe-to-toe with a brooding Scotsman is rather bold for a respectable suffragist, but when he happens to be one’s unexpected husband, what else is an unwilling bride to do? London banking heiress Hattie Greenfield wanted just three things in life: 1. Acclaim as an artist. 2. A noble cause. ... more >

JayneB Reviews / Book Reviewsautobiography / Ballerina / ballet / biracial heroine / body image / Dancer / eating disorders / emotional abuse / fat shaming / Filipino American / First-Person / New York City / non-fiction / POC author / racism / sexism4 Comments

Award-winning New York City Ballet soloist Georgina Pazcoguin, aka the Rogue Ballerina, gives readers a backstage tour of the real world of elite ballet—the gritty, hilarious, sometimes shocking truth you don’t see from the orchestra circle. In this love letter to the art of dance and the sport that has ... more >

JanineBook Reviews / Open ThreadOpen Thread26 Comments

Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general?

SiriusB Reviews / B Reviews Category / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsFantasy / Historical / mystery / VeniceNo Comments

To the legendary clairvoyant Maestro Nostradamus, the future is forever in motion. But for young swordsman Alfeo Zeno, his apprentice and protector, the present is hard enough to contend with. His days are spent poring over astrology charts and making calculations, his nights learning arcane magic or transcribing Nostradamus’s nebulous ... more >

LaylaA Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Readscats / Historical / Late Victorian / League of Extraordinary Women Series / publishing / suffragette15 Comments

A lady must have money and an army of her own if she is to win a revolution—but first, she must pit her wits against the wiles of an irresistible rogue bent on wrecking her plans…and her heart. Lady Lucie is fuming. She and her band of Oxford suffragists have ... more >

KaetrinB Reviews / Book ReviewsBDSM / Contemporary / interrracial romance / kink / pansexual / POC / queer / trans womanNo Comments

CW: Transphobia, misgendering, discussion of racism, sexual abuse (mainly emotionally) abusive adult BDSM relationship) Dear Penny Aimes, I was keen to read your debut novel which features a white trans woman and a Black cis man navigating a relationship, particularly because you are a trans woman yourself. While I don’t ... more >

JayneB- Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews / C- Reviews#ownvoices / Alternate POV / Asian Americans / Cancer / caregiver burnout / Chinese American heroine / Contemporary / dysfunctional family / family relationships / fiction with strong romantic elements / First-Person / musician / neurodiverse / neurodiversity / POC / POC author / Vietnamese Americans / Womens-Fiction13 Comments

When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment. And when her longtime boyfriend announces he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides that ... more >

JayneB- Reviews / Book Reviews1970s / doctor hero / England / London / Netherlands / nurse5 Comments

A CHARMING PURSUIT OF HEARTS AND FLOWERS What a maddening, impossible man Constantijn van Lindemann is! Wherever Augusta goes, there he is—inviting her out, paying her compliments, sending her enormous bouquets of tulips, even kissing her on occasion. Augusta must admit she does enjoy it, especially the kisses. But until ... more >

JayneB- Reviews / Book Reviews / C+ Reviewsdysfunctional family / England / English countryside / English Historical / estranged family / family relationships / Ghost / Historical / inheritance / Paranormal / Regency / Will12 Comments

Sir Barnabas’s Will requires granddaughter Nerissa Wingate and godson Miles Courtenay to live together chastely in his house for six months in order to inherit his estate. He assumed they’ll fail. Fuming but penniless, they accept the challenge, but a host of hopeful relatives is determined to throw them into ... more >