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 >
B Reviews / B- Reviews / Book Reviewsfamily-reunion / Friends of the Westcotts / hero in pursuit / Historical / joint review / NetGalley / Regency / traumatic-past9 Comments
Janine: Kaetrin and I have been reviewing Mary Balogh since her Westcott series of historical romances began eight books ago and this review continues the tradition. Someone Perfect is Westcott-adjacent and the start of Balogh’s “Friends of the Westcotts” series; its heroine, Lady Estelle Lamarr, is Viola Westcott’s stepdaughter. Estelle ... more >
A- Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Readsathlete hero / dog / family relationships / Older-Woman-/-Younger-Man / POC author / pro athlete / soccer / Sports / traumatic-past / Widowed Heroine13 Comments
Sunny. Sexy. Sweet. Shelly Paige has never been one to take risks. Even less so since the loss of her husband. She’s content to stay in the town she grew up in, surrounded by the safety of family. A lost dog leads her to a handsome young athlete and the ... more >
A Reviews / A- Reviews / Recommended Readsangels / bisexual hero / childhood friends / China / disappearance / dual-timeline / estrangement / friends-to-lovers / friendship / Guild Hunter series / LGBTQIA+ / m/m / mystery / Nalini-Singh / Paranormal / POC / POC author / Recommended Reads / slow burn / traumatic-past84 Comments
Dear Nalini Singh, Illium—playful, loyal, kind, and powerful—has been a charismatic presence in the Guild Hunter series since the first book, Angels’ Blood. Aodhan hasn’t been quite as prominent a character but his light-refracting beauty, artistry, and remoteness give him an almost haunting quality. Their fast friendship was always intriguing ... 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 >
B Reviews / B Reviews Category / Book Reviews / DNF Reviews1910s / ableism / Belgium / class differences / dependency / disability / England / historical m/m romance / joint review / non agency / post WWI / traumatic-past / veterans / World War I3 Comments
A tender and triumphant story of forbidden love in the aftermath of war. When Captain Ashleigh Arthur Dalton went to war in 1914, he never expected to fall in love. Yet over three long years at the front, his dashing batman, Private West, became his reason for fighting—and his reason ... more >