A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in England in 1819. Phoebe Hillier has always done everything she was supposed to, following all the rules. But when the man to whom she was betrothed (and her father’s insistence) breaks their engagement, she seemingly has little to lose any more. Impotent rage, her old […]

Emperor’s Conspiracy(2012) Michelle Diener (Regency London) I reread the second book, so then I had to go back and reread the first book. “Em.” Lord Durnham watched as his sister ushered her children out the door in front of her with disbelief. “I don’t understand . . .” He caught Charlotte’s eye as she waited […]

The Remaking of Corbin Wale (2018) Roan Parrish Romance plus bakery The best bakeries had a cohesive vision. You didn’t want a counter selling bran muffins next to key lime tarts next to baklava next to polvorones. The menu needed to have range, but not feel chaotic— provide surprises, but not overwhelm. Even the bits […]

Curse on the Land (2016) Faith Hunter narrated by Khristine Hvam Nell Ingram is now officially a member of PsyLEDs Unit 18. She’s finished he training at Spook School and is officially a problem. This is the story with the underground working and the slime mold and things coming to a head with Paca and […]

The Voyage of the Basilisk: A Memoir by Lady Trent, Audio Edition (2015) Marie Brennan narrated by Kate Reading Six years after her return for Eriga, Lady Trent and her companions set out for a two year journey around the world, to study dragons. For my own part, I found my quarters at first shockingly […]

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (2021) Kimberly Lemming (Mead Mishaps) This is utterly ridiculous. My self-preserving habits made me a bit of an outlier with the other girls in town. “Who wouldn’t want to go off on a grand adventure with a bunch of hot heroes also chosen by the goddess?” […]

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World (2017) Laura Spinney This one took me a bit to get through, but mostly because I completely stopped reading non-fiction for awhile last year. This is another story about the Spanish Influenza, this time focusing upon the changes the diseases wrought upon […]

The Missing Page (2022) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers) Set in England in 1948. It has only been a few months since James and Leo met during a murder case, but Leo is now claiming James “spare room” as his landing place when he is home from whatever missions he is sent out on. But […]

Valor: Wands (2018) Isabelle Melançon, Megan Lavey-Heaton Editors “The Prince’s New Clothes” by Isabelle Melançon and Megan Lavey-Heaton “Mom Knight and The Centipede” by Sara Goetter “The Magnificent Daji” by Alex Singer and Diana Huh “Maleen” by Nicole Chartland “Marie and The Nutcracker” by Emily Hann “The Laughing Queen” by Gisele Weaver “The Princess with […]

A Christmas Dance (2014) Alissa Johnson Set in historical England. William Renwick, Earl of Casslebury, always has a plan for everything. He was four-and-thirty, and it was time he did his duty to the title by producing an heir. Never mind he hadn’t expected to outlive two cousins and an older brother to inherit the […]

The Tropic of Serpents: A Memoir by Lady Trent, Audio Book (2014) Marie Brennan Narrated by Kate Reading (A Natural History of Dragons) This is such a delightful book, and the audio is just as good. if you are likely to be deterred by descriptions of violence, disease, foods alien to the Scirling palate, strange […]

Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? (2016) Paul Cornell (Shadow Police) The third–and seemingly final–book of the Shadow Police series. The story opens with a bank robbery. ‘I won’t tell you!’ she shouted. ‘I can!’ Kevin insisted, pointing at himself. The stormtrooper paused awkwardly again. He obviously had as little idea as she did what Kevin’s weird […]

Murder Most Fair (2021) Anna Lee Huber (Verity Kent) Set in England in 1919. I’ll be honest, I haven’t enjoyed this series as much as the Lady Darby series, and have been borrowing the books from the library because of that. But this book I very much enjoyed. The Ardmore problem is mostly in the […]

Thud! (2005) Terry Pratchett (Discworld) I think this might be one of my favorite Discworld novels. Vetinari waved a languid hand. ‘But full carts congesting the street, Vimes, is a sign of progress,’ he declared. ‘Only in the figurative sense, sir,’ said Vimes. It’s coming up on the anniversary of Koom Valley, and things are […]

London Falling (2012) Paul Cornell (Shadow Police) Me, to myself. “I haven’t read the Shadow Police series in awhile”. Also me, “It’s really dark.” “I know it’s dark! I read it and listened to it!” “Are you sure you’re up for that right now?” (stomps off in a huff to read London Falling.) Oh. Yeah. […]

Riven (2018) Roan Parrish (Riven) This book is full of so many strong feelings and so much angst, yet bits and pieces of it kept tugging on my mind, so I decided to reread. “Don’t ever apologize for doing what you need to be okay,” he said. But still the shame trickled through me like […]

Going Postal (2004) Terry Pratchett (Discworld) Moist von Lipwig should not have come to Ankh Morpork. Apart from all those repossessions, bankruptcies, and sudden insolvencies, what had he actually done that was bad, as such? He’d only been moving numbers around. After being sentenced to death, he didn’t quite expect the afterlife to be what […]

Paladin’s Hope (2021) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel) The third book in the Saint of Steel series. Piper is the lich-doctor (think coroner) for the White Rat. He’d worked with several of the paladins of the Saint of Steel in solving the a series of murders. Now it looks like there is another murderer […]

The Lion Tamer (2018) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) As noted throughout the series, Scottie us a wreck, who is incapable of being a functioning adult. Scottie sat up slowly and glanced around to find the scenery had changed quite significantly. “Why the fuck am I in a hospital bed?” Taine placed a hand on […]

The Wanderer (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) This is a romance. With cancer. Graham languished in his bungalow on the water for two days. He never got sick, which made him the worst patient in the world. One of the things that makes this story so good is that it is unflinching in looking […]

Madison Square Murders (2021) C.S. Poe (Memento Mori) Everett Larkin works for the Cold Case Squad. And even among that group he’s considered odd. But he’s good at his job, even if he is often a bit overly emotional. I was initially distracted by the appearance of Neil Millett, Sebastian Snow’s ex, and someone I’m […]

The Truth (2000) Terry Pratchett (Discworld) William de Worde spread the word around Discworld. (T)he rumor came to the ears of William de Worde, and in a sense it stopped there, because he dutifully wrote it down. It was his job. Lady Margolotta of Uberwald sent him five dollars a month to do it. The […]

The Remaking of Corbin Wale (2017) Roan Parrish After his life blew up around him, Alex headed back to his home town to take over (and reinvent) his parent’s coffee shop. Down a boyfriend and a job in forty-eight hours, Alex hadn’t been sure which had been the bigger blow. Everything about this story is […]

Any Old Diamonds (2019) KJ Charles (Lilywhite Boys) Set in England in 1895. Alex wants revenge upon his father and step-mother, and he is going to get it however he can. So he decides to seek out the Lilywhite Boys–some of the best jewel thieves in London. Consider me the antithesis of a Romish priest. […]

The Fifth Elephant (1999) Terry Pratchett (Discworld #24) Sam Vimes is about to have something really terrible happen to him. He’s about to become an ambassador. “Let me see if I’ve got this right,” said Vimes. “Uberwald is like this big suet pudding that everyone’s suddenly noticed, and now with this coronation as an excuse […]

The Bellingham Mystery Series Volume 2 (2015) Nicole Kimberling One Man’s Treasure Birds of a Feather Pentimento Blues This book starts in 2011. Which is important since events changed quickly in the world (specifically the legality of gay marriage). “But,” Kjell continued, his brow still crumpled in confusion, “am I supposed to have card?” It […]

Better Than People (2020) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run) One of the things that resonated so strongly with me was the misery of being laid up after a bad break that requires you to stay off your feet. Every day had dilated to a month, every night to a year, and Jack found himself wishing for […]

The Ruin of a Rake (2017) Cat Sebastian (The Turner Series) Set in London in 1817 All Courtenay really wants is to see his nephew. But his past (and other circumstances) have made it so Radnor is refusing to allow him any contact. Courtenay was effectively stranded in London, a city populated by people who […]

Rogue Protocol, Audio Edition (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free (Murderbot) Murderbot, Book 3 ART’s official designation was deep space research vessel. At various points in our relationship, ART had threatened to kill me, watched my favorite shows with me, given me a body configuration change, provided excellent tactical support, talked me into […]

Artificial Condition, Audio Edition (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free More Murderbot. I didn’t care what humans were doing to each other as long as I didn’t have to a) stop it or b) clean up after it. Constructs sometimes fall under the same category as bots, sometimes under the same category as […]

All Systems Red, Audio Edition (2017) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free Murderbot. Audio version. I COULD HAVE BECOME a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or […]

Paladin’s Strength (2021) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel) Istvhan is a Paladin of a dead god. When the Saint of Steel died, every paladin went mad, sub-coming to battle rage, and only a few survived the madness. Those who were left went on to work for the Temple of the White Rat, assisting as […]

Kneading You, Joy, The Color of You (2019, 2017) C.S. Poe The Haven Investigation series was excellent, but emotionally rough. So I decided to reread the Lancaster series, for some comfort. No one deserved to lose access to books simply because of where they lived. Kneading You All I did was give a guy tacos. […]

Model Bodyguard (2016) Lissa Kasey (Haven Investigations) The second book in the Haven Investigations series switches from Oliver’s POV to Kade’s POV. Which is fantastic, because Oliver sees Kade as strong and almost perfect, whereas Kade actually? A huge mess. This was the stuff of nightmares— a mental hospital. It wasn’t my first trip. No, […]

Model Citizen (2015) Lissa Kasey (Haven Investigations) Oliver Petroskovic hoped that once he bought the house his life would start to be more settled. Sure, he’d do more modeling gigs, but with the house he was finally able to repay his brother for the years spent raising him. He’d paid for private school and attended […]

His Majesty’s Dragon (2006) Naomi Novik (Temeraire) Set during the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. Michael has been listening to the Aubrey–Maturin series, and I wasn’t quite up for that, but decide that a revisiting of Temeraire would fit the bill. Captain Will Laurence of the HMS Reliant does not expect his life to be […]

The Hanged Man (2019) K. D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) Occasionally, it takes time for me to realize how good a book is. Other times, I know it’s good, but don’t realize just how much the story is going to stick with me. The Atlantean World War was brief. The cost was high. Magically radioactive […]

The Last Sun (2018) K.D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) My name is Rune Saint John. I am, before anything else, a survivor: of a fallen House, of a brutal assault, of violent allies and complacent enemies, of life among a people who turned their back on me decades ago. KD Edwards recently published several short […]

Bloody Acquisitions (2016) Drew Hayes (Fred, the Vampire Accountant) Despite what film and television might have led to you believe, joining the undead does not inherently make one suave, cool, or even particularly more socially competent. Apparently, I need to become a vampire. While in life my reaction speed was always somewhere between “abysmal” and […]

Undeath and Taxes (2015) Drew Hayes (Fred, the Vampire Accountant) Learning about the parahuman world, through virtue of my own death, hadn’t been nearly as disturbing to me as learning there were whole sections of laws, tax codes, and deduction options for my kind. This meant that I’d been doing my job without all the […]

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant (2014) Drew Hayes I really adore this book. Without being crass, let me simply say an undead body handles normal food as a human one handles gum. While not built for nourishment, it is capable of disposing of such materials. I was more than […]

An Unsuitable Heir (2017) KJ Charles (Sins of the Cities) Set in London in 1873 “What does he do?” Pen paused. “He didn’t say, actually. We mostly talked about, well, me.” “No wonder you think he’s charming.” Pen blinked. “You’re an anarchist about the laws of nature?” “I’m not an anarchist at all, same as […]

An Unseen Attraction (2017) KJ Charles (Sins of the Cities) Set in London in 1873 (T)hey said the eyes were the windows to the soul, and Clem didn’t feel comfortable peering into people’s windows. Clem was not a man you could read like a book, or if you could, the book was in an unfamiliar […]

Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection (2020) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by: the author, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Ben Elliot, Felix Grainger, Sam Peter Jackson, Alex Kingston, Shvorne Marks, and Penelope Rawlins PART ONE: THE PETER GRANT STORIES The Home Crowd Advantage The Domestic The Cockpit The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny King […]

Play It Again (2019) Aidan Wayne Dovid had been a pretty typical child. Just that, thanks to medulloepithelioma— a type of incredibly invasive cancer— he grew up missing two parts a typical child possessed, after they were removed in order to get rid of the cancer entirely. But he kept bumping into chairs. The tables […]

Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists (2017) Angel Martinez “I drove … down to Dover a few weeks ago.” “To the farmer’s market?” Ben said around a mouthful of pie. “Long way to go for strawberries.” Luka gave Ben an odd look. “He didn’t say anything about produce.” “Well, no, but why else go all the way—” Ben […]

Arctic Sun (2019) Annabeth Albert (Frozen Hearts) “Food sounds good,” River lied. The alarm on his phone earlier had said it was time to eat, so he would. It’s partly control— I don’t like not having charge of what happens— but it’s also wrapped up in my body image stuff and the eating disorder. I […]

Feral Dust Bunnies (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) While he did hiss and snort, Krisk never spoke a word, probably because his mouth and throat weren’t the right shape for it. They got by, communicating in gestures and texts, and after four years, they understood each other damn well. Dinner. “Yeah, I’m almost done here.” […]

Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters (2016) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) Between them, in the chair a suspect would take while he was being booked, was a leather jacket. Not odd if the jacket had behaved normally and stayed draped over a chair arm like a good, proper jacket, but this one was sitting up with […]

For Better or Worse (2017) R. Cooper Everything looks like friendly teasing if you don’t know what sexual tension is. I get confused.” To this day he could remember the exact feeling of relief at discovering terms like demisexual and gray ace, and his immediate need to know more, and then still, always, that faint […]