Book ReviewsContemporary / historical romance / New Adult / Reading lists / Series / Thriller/Suspense21 Comments
I’ve been doing quarterly “what I’ve been reading” posts pretty faithfully for a while now. Usually I have close to ten books on the list, but for various reasons I haven’t been reading much, and so I only have three to review (I also reviewed two books with Janine – ... more >
A Reviews / Book Reviews / DNF Reviews1880s / botany / Cornwall / duchess / fish-out-of-water / gardener / heroine in disguise / historical romance / joint review / redemption / Road Trip Romance / runaway bride / snobbery7 Comments
Janine: Layla and I reviewed Joanna Lowell’s last two historicals and when I saw that this one was coming out, I asked her if she would like to review it together as well. She agreed. The Runaway Duchess is the story of Lavinia Yardley, who was engaged to Anthony, Duke ... more >
Book Reviews / Reading Lists / Top Ten Listsalternate England / Best of 2021 / businessman / Earl / f/f / family / Fantasy / heroine in disguise / historical romance / land steward / marriage-of-convenience / nun / paranormal romance / reframing / revenant / revenge / scholar / Scotland / secret society / self discovery / sportsman / suffragette / Thistle Grove Series / traumatic-past / Urban fantasy / werewolves / witch / YA fantasy9 Comments
Freya Marske, A Marvellous Light This was probably my favorite book of the year. I don’t read m/m romance much, but this book had me hooked. Full of angst and tension, containing a swoon worthy romance and with a very compelling magical world, it was hard to put down. The ... more >
Book Reviews / Top Ten Lists#ownvoices / angels / Best of 2021 / best of list / bonded-mates / class differences / enemies to lovers / f/f / Fantasy / Fantasy Romance / forbidden-love / friends-to-lovers / historical romance / horror elements / India-based world / Indian characters / LGBTQIA+ / m/f / m/m / magical school / military hero / missing persons / noir mystery / Opera Singer / paranormal romance / POC / POC author / redemption / reframing / teens / Urban-Fantasy / village / werewolves / widow / YA23 Comments
It’s a cliché to comment on how quickly a year has passed and in the Covid era the months sometimes pass slowly. 2021 wasn’t an easy year so I’m glad I found some great books to make it feel a little lighter. There weren’t an entire ten but I’ve had ... more >
ConversationsContemporary / enemies to lovers / enemies with benefits / Fantasy / genre history / genre tropes / historical romance / mystery / Paranormal / recommendations / rivals to lovers22 Comments
Janine: In our conversation about our reading in 2021, the enemies-to-lovers trope came up. I loved some of what you said and thought we could have a wider and deeper conversation about it. Here are some questions to start us off: Do you enjoy the enemies-to-lovers trope? Why or why ... more >
Book Reviews / Reading ListsBiography / classic fiction / Essays / historical mystery / historical romance / psychological thriller / Reading lists / Regency Romance13 Comments
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 >