A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / C- Reviews / D Reviews / DNF ReviewsCanada / Contemporary / enemies to lovers / enemies with benefits / Game Changers series / hockey players / hockey rivalry / LGBTQIA+ / m/m / New York City / Out for You / Reading lists / Russia / Russian / star-crossed lovers / Toronto / values conflict25 Comments
Earlier in the year I read (or in one case, tried to read) the first three books in Rachel Reid’s m/m contemporary romance series, Game Changers, which follows queer NHL players as they fall in love and have to deal with the conflict presented by the heteronormative culture of the ... more >
B- 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 / joint review / 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 >
Book Reviews / C- Reviewsbaker / baking / Contemporary / enemies to lovers / family relationships / found family / London / rivals to lovers / Royalty22 Comments
Ready… Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild charmed the world as a contestant on the hit baking show, Operation Cake. Her ingenious, creations captivated viewers and intrigued all but one of the judges, Dominic De Vere. When Sylvie’s unicorn cake went spectacularly sideways, Dominic was quick to vote her off the ... more >
Book Reviews / C- Reviewsclergy / diversity / elves / Fantasy / funeral / goblins / grief / investigation / LGBTQIA+ / loner / murder / mystery / opera / queer characters / steampunk / traumatic-past16 Comments
Dear Katherine Addison, I am a huge fan of your 2014 steampunk fantasy novel The Goblin Emperor. It was my favorite of all the books I read that year and I’ve read it three more times since. When the novel was nominated for a Hugo, I was thrilled; when it ... more >
Book Reviews / C Reviews / C- Reviews / DNF Reviews / Reading Lists#ownvoices / contemporary fantasy / Ghost / gods / Harlequin Historical / historical romance / immigrant / long lost heiress / Malaysia / POC / POC author / Reading lists / Regency6 Comments
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho I enjoyed Zen Cho’s two books in her Sorcerer Royal series, with their lovable characters, whimsy, humor, and Heyer homages, so when I saw she had a fantasy novel set in modern-day Malaysia coming out, one that was initially billed as a third installment, ... more >
Book Reviews / C- Reviews#ownvoices / 1920s / colorism / Dancer / dancer heroine / dual-timeline / First-Person / Historical fiction / Jazz Age / organized crime / POC / POC author / racism3 Comments
1925: Chicago is the jazz capital of the world, and the Dreamland Café is the ritziest black-and-tan club in town. Honoree Dalcour is a sharecropper’s daughter, willing to work hard and dance every night on her way to the top. Dreamland offers a path to the good life, socializing with ... more >