The Charm Offensive (2021) Alison Cochrun I am having a really hard time writing this review. Because I keep diving back into the book and reading passages an getting sucked back in. Charlie Winshaw was forced out of the company he helped found, and now he’s hoping to rehabilitate his image by appearing on a […]
Network Effect (2020) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT Murderbot has gone off on a research expedition with several of Dr Mensah’s family members. Thiago: “You trust it that much?” Mensah: “With my life, literally. I know what it will do to protect her, and you, and the rest of the team. Of course, it […]
Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne Jaxon is a cab drive–and a good one, despite the fact he can’t read. He turned on the light in his car and squinted. Those were letters, all right. Probably there was even a sentence. Caleb had written something on the receipt. Huh. Curious, Jaxon bent over the words, […]
Hither, Page (2019) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers) Set in England in 1946. Leo Page works for a government agency that kept him going all over the continent–first to try and keep England from war, and then trying to help get them out of it faster. He has no illusions about what he does, and […]
Model Exposure (2017) Lissa Kasey (Haven Investigations) This picks up immediately after the end of the previous book. Ollie is healing, but so is Kade. But Kade doesn’t like having to admit that he needs help, and fears that if he needs help, he’ll lose Ollie. “Ollie needs me.” He was healing from a (thing). […]
Model Investigator (2017) Lissa Kasey (Haven Investigations) Back to Ollie, this book takes off after the events of the previous book–which ended on a cliffhanger. First and foremost, this is one of the few mysteries I’ve ever read that actually has characters deal with some of the real-life consequences of repeated concussion. The sparkles around […]
The Devil in Music (1997) Kate Ross (Julian Kestrel) Set in Italy in 1821 & 1825 I put it off for awhile, but finally read the last Julian Kestrel mystery. I don’t know for certain, but I feel like she knew this would be her final book, and so made sure to give us Julian’s […]
Blank Spaces (2016) Cass Lennox (Toronto Connections) Devon took a hefty gulp, then pressed his mouth to Toned’s. Vaughn saw liquid dribble from one corner as the gulp passed from mouth to mouth. His stomach rolled. That couldn’t be hygienic. He couldn’t really say much about Jonah’s clothes, except that they were so tight they […]
Shores of Desire (1997) Tracy Grant (Lescaut Quartet) Set in Scotland, Belgium, and France in 1815 “I’m sorry.” Melton’s eyes warmed with sympathy. “I wish there was more I could say. But if there are words that ease such a grief, I have yet to discover them.” “Don’t worry, Em. Leave it to the men.” […]
Monstrous Regiment (2003) Terry Pratchett (Discworld) Forget you were ever Polly. Think young male, that was the thing. Fart loudly and with self-satisfaction at a job well done, walk like a puppet that’d had a couple of random strings cut, never hug anyone, and, if you meet a friend, punch them. A few years working […]
Whom the Gods Love (1995) Kate Ross (Julian Kestrel Mysteries) Set in England in 1825. So there you have it, Mr. Kestrel. I’m appealing to you as a father, as a man of law, as a British subject— Why can I never say anything simply? After twenty years at the Bar, a man forgets what […]
Dark Angel (1994) Tracy Grant (Lescaut Quartet) Set in Spain and England in 1813 Caroline had not understood why he chose instead to go to India as private secretary to a private citizen of scholarly bent who could offer him no hope of riches or advancement. “The Company don’t employ men of mixed blood,” her […]
A Broken Vessel (1994) Kate Ross (Julian Kestrel Mysteries) Set in England in 1824 “I know you think my life is somewhat lacking in purpose.” “I think you fritter away your time, if that’s what you mean.” “I liked the way I put it better.” “We require them to confess their sins, as the first […]
And Everything Nice (2016) Ada Maria Soto “He might not be gay, and he’s probably already got a boyfriend.” “Prescouted. Single, new in town, currently into Elder Scrolls online, and has a pride flag bumper sticker, so out and proud.” “Why are you helping me?” “Because I’m your bro, and bros help bros get laid.” […]
The Wolf at Bay (2018) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper and Oliver are trying to figure out their partnership–both at work and on a more personal level. Cooper doesn’t want to admit he has feelings for Oliver, because that means he’ll be hurt if/when Oliver leaves. We all know how well that works. When […]
Family Matters (2018) Angel Martinez (Brandywine Investigations) My feelings for this book are summed up in just how WONDERFUL this cover is. Because it’s awesome, and so is the book. Plus: Why do you wear a kilt? It’s the tail, isn’t it? Though kilts are cool. As with the previous book, there are three stories: […]
These Old Shades (1926) Georgette Heyer Set in England and France in the mid 1750s. The Duke of Avon has well-earned his nickname of Satanas. ‘And you came to Paris with a fortune.’ ‘Quite a considerable one. I bought this house.’ ‘Yes. I wonder how you reconcile it with your soul?’ ‘I haven’t one, Hugh. […]
Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper I am struggling pretty hard right now, so I needed a story that was going to let me feel things, but in a soft way, and that would be a hug. This is a love story in two parts. First, of Jericho’s love for his family and their […]
All Systems Red (2017) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Let me remind y’all: I generally don’t like science fiction. I just don’t. But everyone who has similar tastes to me has recommended this book so highly–and recommended it as a comfort read–I decided to see what I thought. After all, it’s a novella, not a […]
Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne Let me state first that the cover may be innocuous, but it also gives you completely the wrong idea about the book. There are no car chases are action scenes, it’s just that one character is a cab driver in the city. Jaxon may be a high school drop […]
Cry Wolf (2008) Patricia Briggs (Alpha & Omega) Going through this series for comfort reading. Charles and Anna’s wolves have decided they are mated, but the two humans still need to get to know one another, and Anna has a lot of damage to overcome–as does Charles after dealing with the pack that tried to […]
Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper Jericho Candelario has spent his adult life helping to raise his siblings and his niece. His father is now sober, but between his past alcoholism, his PTSD, and his health, he wasn’t much help to the family after their mother left them. For five years, Jerry has enjoyed […]
Feet of Clay (1996) Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #19, Watch #3) Commander Vimes needs to figure out who has been murdering citizens of Ankh-Morpork. And also who is poisoning Lord Vetinari, since the Assassins’ Guild swears it’s not one of them. People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, and not only because they’re standing […]
Men at Arms (1993) Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #15, Watch, #2) Someone has stolen something from the Assassins Guild. No one knows what it is, but they’re pretty sure it isn’t a good thing. And this was right. And it was fate that had let Edward recognize this just when he’d got his Plan. And it […]
A Caribbean Mystery (1964) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) This was my first Miss Marple, and remains on of my favorites. This is Miss Marple at her fluffiest and most dithering, yet still able to cause action to be taken. And still a product of her time. “Sex” as a word had not been mentioned in […]
Turning Darkness Into Light (2019) Marie Brennan Audrey Camherst, grand-daughter of the famous Lady Trent, is a scholar in her own right. But it’s so hard when I can feel everyone looking at me, waiting to see what I’ll do. Not my family, of course; if I decided I wanted to retire to a country […]
The Grimrose Path (2010) Rob Thurman (Trickster) Trixa has avenged her brother, and now she has to live as a human until she regains her powers. But now I was human, and had discovered living off diner food. . . . It was less than a block away; what could I do? I packed on […]
The Immortal Conquistador (2020) Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville) Set in the Americans, 1500s to present. This has four stories and a surrounding tale. “Conquistador de la Noche” (2009) Subterranean Online “El Hidalgo de la Noche” (2015) First time in print “El Conquistador del Tiempo” (2019) Original appearance “Dead Men in Central City” (2017) Asimov’s Science […]
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) These stories were published between 1927 and 1957. “(S)o many people seem to me not to be either bad or good, but simply, you know, very silly.” The Thirteen Problems (previously published as The Tuesday Club Murders) (1932) The Tuesday Night Club (1927) The […]
The Countess Conspiracy (2013) Courtney Milan (Brothers Sinister) Set in England in 1867. Violet Waterfield, Countess of Cambury, has been keeping secrets all her life. But this secret belongs also to her best friend, Sebastian, and he is done with this secret. He’d agreed to this charade years ago, when he hadn’t understood what would […]
Band Sinister (2018) KJ Charles Set in England in the early 1800s A lot of us are struggling right now, so this is a good time for comfort reads. If you’ve read Georgette Heyer’s Venetia, you’ll be familiar with this story: younger sibling is hurt and has to stay at manor of notorious (and wealthy) […]
Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in England in 1812. After reading Death Below Stairs I wanted to re-read a favorite of mine that also features a woman working as a cook in historical Britain. Every time I read this I love it a little bit more–there is just so very much […]
Play It Again (2019) Aidan Wayne Dovid and his sister Rachel are YouTube stars. They actually make their living from it, first becoming famous after Rachel recorded Dovid ranting about how he hated it when people didn’t pronounce his name correctly. But he also spends time going to schools and talking abut bullying because that’s […]
Rend (2018) Roan Parrish (Riven) Oh. My. God. So much crying. I hate crying. Yet, I kept stifling tears as I read this story. Kids in the system slipped through the cracks in school because they didn’t have a support system. They didn’t have people helping them with their homework, or telling them they could […]
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency) It hasn’t been that long since I read this, but I really wanted to revisit it, and it was actually better than I had remembered, since I picked up more details the second time through. Arthur Drams is an analyst for The Agency. He may have […]
Upside Down (2019) N.R. Walker This was precisely the story I needed to read. I have a ton of books on my TBR, but none of them were pulling me in. Jordan O’Neil is a librarian who is tired of his love life never ever working out. When his co-worker (and best friend) Merry encourages […]
Trick of the Light (2009) Rob Thurman (Trickster) I had not read this book in years. It’s been on my list of books to purchase as ebooks (since I only had the paper book) but it never went on sale,so I finally broke down and bought it. Then I worried it wouldn’t be as good […]
Thrown to the Wolves (2019) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper has spent the past several months recuperating, and being taken care of by Oliver, who has been on suspension (both the result of Cooper’s visit home to see his father and brother). Every official communication was carefully uninterested about the private lives of their […]
Feral Dust Bunnies (2017) Angel Martinez This is one of my favorite stories in the collection. Alex Wolf is a member of the 77th. His partner is a giant lizard of unknown origin, but his own origin might be odder. “Are you all right, sweetheart?” Mom stopped on her way past his room with a […]
Deadly Assessments (2018) Drew Hayes The fifth Fred the Vampire Accountant book finds Fred dealing with a challenge to his fitness to lead a clan–and as a vampire. However, the vampire sent to evaluate Fred is not anything like he expected. “That, in my view, is your fundamental problem,” Deborah continued. “You are kinder than […]
Play It Again: A Slow Burn Romance (2019) Aidan Wayne Dovid Rosenstein and his sister Rachel run the popular YouTube channel Don’t Look Now, with Rachel behind the camera and Dovid starring in the videos–many of which focus on accessibility and anti-bullying, since Dovid has spent most of his life navigating a sighted world. Dontlooknowdovid: […]
Barrel Proof (2017) Layla Reyne (finishes previous book) (literally scrambles to start this book) Don’t even bother reading this if you didn’t read the previous two. You have no reason to read this without the others, and you shouldn’t, because she does a fabulous job building the characters and their relationships and everything in the […]
These Old Shades (1926) Georgette Heyer I finished some good books, which left me unsure what I wanted to read next, so I turned to a favorite, These Old Shades. It’s an historical romance where the heroine is pretending as a boy, the hero is a horrible person to is believed beyond redemption, and there […]
Footsteps in the Dark (2019) L.B. Gregg, Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Dal MacLean, Z.A. Maxfield, Meg Perry, C.S. Poe and S.C. Wynne Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne Blind Man’s Buff by L.B. Gregg A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean Pepper the Crime […]
The Holy Thief (1992) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1144. The 19th Brother Cadfael book. Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, is dead. The war rages on, but the Abbot of Ramsey was able to return and assess to damage to his abbey. He then sent out members to call for the return of […]
Secrets in the Mist (2016) Anna Lee Huber Set in England in 1812 Ella Winterton has spent the past four years dealing with loss and grief and anger. The deaths of her mother and brother sent her father into an alcoholic decline, and being jilted by the man she thought she loved while still in […]
Fair Chance (2017) Josh Lanyon Elliot Mills and Tucker Lance are settling into something akin to domestic bliss. Things are still uncomfortable with Roland, after they put his father’s good friend and old radical partner in jail for murder. Elliot must have looked fairly horror-struck because Tucker laughed. “Listen, your father gets caught up in […]
Salsa Nocturna: Stories, Audio Edition (2012/2014) Daniel José Older, narrated by Daniel José Older This is a collection of stories set in his Bone Street Rumba world. “Tenderfoot” published in The Innsmouth Free Press (2011) “Salsa Nocturna” published in Strange Horizons (2010) “Skin Like Porcelain Death” “The Collector” published in The ShadowCast Audio Anthology (2010) […]
The Furthest Station, Audio Edition (2017) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith This actually comes after The Hanging Tree, but I ended up reading it prior, and it didn’t matter. This is a novella that features Abigail as much as it does Peter, which I really enjoyed, since I love little bits, like this conversation […]
Whispers Under Ground, Audio Edition (2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith The third book finds Lesley May moved into the Folly, having become the newest apprentice (it’s understood this is allows only because of the damage done to her in the first book). A body is found in the Underground, and as much as […]