Romola by George Eliot This is one of the last George Eliot books I had unread. I’ll confess that early on I thought about dumping it, but I persevered. As a book written in the 19th century about the 15th century and centered quite a lot on philosophy and the ... more >
Sadly, here are more books I wanted to enjoy which, for various reasons, did not work for me. The Master of Measham Hall by Anna Abney 1665. It is five years since King Charles II returned from exile, the scars of the English Civil Wars are yet to heal and ... more >
Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore I went into this knowing nothing about it but the name. It ended up being a bit of a slog, for a few reasons: dialogue rendered in impenetrable dialect, a lot of blah blah blah musings, and the fact that I didn’t really like the ... more >
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 >
I haven’t had the best experience with Lorraine Heath; both Sweet Lullaby and Waking Up with the Duke disappointed me. However, lately I’ve been desperate for an engaging historical romance and I was intrigued by the premise of book two in the Hellions of Havisham series, The Earl Takes All, ... more >
The first book on my list is the best book with gay romance in it that I have read this year. The rest of the list I enjoyed very much, but the placement on the list does not show any differences in my enjoyment. The Hanged Man (The Tarrot Sequence ... more >