So We Meet-Cute Again (2019) Geneva Vand Aiden and Jason keep seeing each other everywhere–at the coffee shop, and the local market, at the grocery store, on the street–so much that each feels like he’s stalking the other. There was nothing at all wrong with this story. My problem is that once the two had […]
An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good (2018) Helene Tursten translated by Marlaine Delargy “An Elderly Lady Has Accommodation Problems” (2013) “An Elderly Lady on Her Travels” (2013) “An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmastime” (2007) “The Antique Dealer’s Death” (2018) “An Elderly Lady Is Faced with a Difficult Dilemma” (2018) Maud is 88 […]
Little Wolf (2015) R. Cooper (Beings in Love) Tim Littlewolf ran to Wolf’s Paw to try and (at least briefly) find sanctuary on his run from his uncle and his uncle’s henchman. “Who meant well, Tim?” Nathaniel was right in front of him, larger than before, as if he’d straightened in response to a threat. […]
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 […]
A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder (2019) Dianne Freeman (A Countess of Harleigh Mystery) Set in London in 1899. I have officially decided this series is delightful. I leaned toward her as we walked out. “Very well done, dear. But a ranch in Brooklyn? What were you thinking?” She released a merry laugh. “That […]
A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate (2015) R. Cooper (Beings in Love) Zeki Janowitz has returned to Wolf’s Paw while trying to figure out what to do with himself now he’s finally graduated college. If attending high school in one of the longest surviving werewolf refuges in the country had taught him anything, it […]
The Unfinished Clue (1934) Georgette Heyer Sir Arthur Billingham-Smith and his wife Fay are throwing a house party. Except that the general didn’t want to have the party, doesn’t want to see his son and the woman he wants to marry, and is pretty much a complete bastard. He dislikes his son almost as much […]
Not So Cookie Cutter (2019) Aidan Wayne Jerrell is content being second baker, but he doesn’t mind taking over the kitchen when his co-worker is out sick. What he doesn’t expect is to be called out front so a customer can talk to him. He clasped his hands behind his back, at-ease stance so he […]
A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder (2018) Dianne Freeman (A Countess of Harleigh Mystery) Set in England in 1899 Frances Wynn, Countess of Harleigh, is finally done with her mourning and is more than ready to move on with her life. When her husband died a year ago, he managed to be an even […]
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 […]
A Christmas Dance (2014) Alissa Johnson Set in London in an indeterminate time. William Renwick, Earl of Casslebury needs a wife. He knows his is disciplined, so he hopes to find a woman who smile and laugh. But he wasn’t in need of additional efficiency in his house. He was drowning in efficiency. He was […]
The Shattered Tree (2016) Charles Todd (Bess Crawford) Set in France in 1918. Bess Crawford is back towards the front when a soldier in a French uniform is brought in, suffering from blood loss, his feet torn up because someone stole his boots before he fled across no-man’s land. But when the soldier unconsciously yells […]
A Pattern of Lies (2015) Charles Todd (Bess Crawford) Set in England and France in 1918. Stuck in Canterbury waiting for a transport train to take her to London, Bess meets a soldier she had helped nurse back to health. Invited to spend the night with his family when the train is further delayed, she […]
Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford (2015) Charles Todd This collection is four short stories with Bess Crawford and Ian Rutledge. “The Kidnapping” “The Girl on the Beach” “Cold Comfort” “The Maharani’s Pearls” “The Kidnapping” – Ian Rutledge, London 1920 I actually have a copy of this short story, but it had […]
The Deserted Heart (2018) Mary Lancaster (Unmarriageable) Bringing her brothers home from school, a thick fog forces them to stop at an inn. But they enter to discover not a soul around, even though the doors were unlocked and everything inside looked normal. Since it is too dangerous to continue, they settled in, and are […]
Gay All Year (2020) Richard May These are twelve short stories–one for each month of the year–with a variety of men in a variety of situations, including age differences, second chances, friends to lovers, some supernatural elements and a BDSM story. Which is a lot. As with most anthologies, I didn’t love all the stories, […]
There Galapagos My Heart (2020) Philip William Stover (Love Beyond Boundaries) Mike Davis is perfectly content being an account manager. Of course he’d rather be an artist, but after his mother got sick he needed a job and it’s not a bad thing to be comfortable. I can never go back to not knowing where […]
Everything I Ever Wanted (2003/2015) Jo Goodman (The Compass Club Series) Set in England in 1818 Matthew Forrester, Viscount Southerton and his four friends created the Compass Club when they were in school together, based upon the titles it was possible they could (but were unlikely to) inherit. India Parr is a stage actress of […]
The Sicilian Method (2017/2020) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli There are only a few Montalbano books left. This one was quite disappointing, considering how few books there are left. We did have the typical banter between Montalbano and his men. As soon as he reached the landing, Augello and Fazio popped out of the […]
No Wind of Blame (1939) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hemingway) Ermyntrude Carter married Wally Carter, but has come to regret doing so, as Wally isn’t a great human. Yet Ermyntrude and her daughter Vicki Fanshawe, and Wally and his ward (and cousin) Mary Cliffe lived together on the money Ermyntrude inherited from her fist husband. Although […]
Sergeant Delicious (2020) Annabeth Albert I shouldn’t have started off today with a Josh Lanyon short story. No other short story was going to measure up (unless it was another Josh Lanyon short story, which I don’t seem to have on my TBR pile.) Xavier is going to be discharged in just a few weeks. […]
New Game, Start (2017) C.S. Poe This is a perfectly fine story. I just feel like it needed to be a lot longer for what happened, because what did occur happened so fast it was almost out of left field. I mean, it took place over the course of a week–and during that week they […]
Requiem for Mr. Busybody (2020) Josh Lanyon Michael misses his days as a crime reporter. His life now consists mostly of his apartment building and his research. But when his elderly neighbor disappears, Michael reaches out to his ex, Detective Leonard Drake with his concerns. Here’s the thing about Josh Lanyon: She’s really good at […]
Angels Sing (2019) Eli Easton (Daddy Dearest) Jamie Bailey has been a single dad since he was eighteen. He still managed to go to college, but stayed in his small town to help his uncle run his bookstore (after all, his uncle gave him a job when he was an eighteen-year-old single father trying to […]
Kitty’s Mix-Tape (2020) Carrie Vaughn “Kitty Walks On By, Calls Your Name” (2020) “It’s Still the Same Old Story” (2011) Down These Strange Streets “The Island of Beasts” (2018) Nightmare, December 2018. “The Beaux Wilde” (2014) Urban Fantasy Magazine, December 2014. “Unternehmen Werwolf” (2013) Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre “Kitty and the Full Super […]
The Remaking of Corbin Wale (2017) Roan Parrish Alex Barrow broke up with his boyfriend and lost his job so he has headed back to Ann Arbor and taken over his parent’s coffee shop–turning it into his dream bakery. The best bakeries had a cohesive vision. You didn’t want a counter selling bran muffins next […]
The Rook (2012) Daniel O’Malley (The Checquy Files) I love this story so much. (T)he most effective psychics are the ones who never realize they’re psychic and instead manage to live excellent lives by consistently making the right decisions. Their powers effectively guide them through the shoals of life without their knowing. So very very […]
Iron & Velvet (2013/2019) Alexis Hall (Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator) Kate Kane is a paranormal private investigator, called when something goes wrong i the supernatural world. She’s called out to Velvet–an expensive nightclub–to investigate the exsanguiation of a werewolf in the back alley. It doesn’t look like he had been killed by a vampire, but […]
The Duke Who Didn’t (2020) Courtney Milan (Wedgeford Trials) Set in England in 1891. Chloe Fong may have spent time pining, but she is certainly not doing so any longer. She is going to help her father sell his sauce and get back at the men who stole his formula and left him with nothing. […]
Tic-Tac-Mistletoe (2020) N.R. Walker Hamish Kenneally is moving to the US. His sister has been there for four years, and there is nothing for him in Australia, so he has a two year visa, is going to remote work, and see if a change will do him good. But he arrives in the US just […]
Best Laid Plaids (2020) Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures) Set in Scotland in 1928. Well, I’ve now completely ruined my search history, trying to find when top and bottom were first used as gay slang. And the worst part is, I didn’t find the answer. Joachim Cockburn fought in WWI. He’s now trying to finish his […]
Eight Tiny Flames (2018) Crista McHugh Set in Belgium in 1944. Lt. Ruth Mencher is a nurse in the 64th Evacuation unit. Like many of the other nurses in the unit, she’s had a bit of a crush on Capt. Joseph Klein. Unlike the other nurses, she has a plan to see if she can […]
Love All Year: A Holidays Anthology (2020) Stacey Agdern, Hallie Alexander, Savannah J. Frierson, Felicia Grossman, Farah Heron, Celestine Martin, Ekaterine Xia This is an anthology of romances set around holidays that are NOT Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Valentines Day. Three Stars in The Sky by Stacey Agdern It Happened One Yule by Celestine Martin Queen […]
The Affair of the Mysterious Letter (2019) Alexis Hall Captain John Wyndham has returned to the city of Khelathra-Ven after five years of war. He needs rooms, but anything nice is beyond what he can afford–until he sees a posting. Co-tenant required. Rent reasonable to the point of arousing suspicion. Tolerance for blasphemies against nature […]
The Bone Jar (2016) Candace Robb (Owen Archer) Set in York, possibly in 1366. It’s not stated when this story is set, but with Lucie being pregnant, and Owen worried about how the child will react to him, I’m guessing it’s set around the time of The Nun’s Tale. Magda has to leave, and asks […]
A Conspiracy of Wolves (2019) Candace Robb (Owen Archer) Set in York in 1374 It’s been a year since Archbishop Thoresby died. Owen has spent the intervening time on the estate he was gifted because of Thoresby, but now both Prince Edward and York want him to decide what he is going to do. York […]
Real Men Knit (2020) Kwana Jackson I absolutely love the idea of this story. Four young men take over their mother’s knitting store after she dies unexpectedly. That is a fantastic premise and I adore it to death. Sadly, I didn’t love it’s execution. First thing I didn’t enjoy was on me: Jesse is a […]
Glass Tidings (2016) Amy Jo Cousins Eddie Rodrigues is back on the road, heading to Texas–like he should have in the first place. But a breakdown and then witnessing a hit and run leaves him stuck in the small town of Clear Lake, an unwelcome guest of a man who owns a Christmas shop. Grayson […]
Conventionally Yours (2020) Annabeth Albert (True Colors) I tend to really like Annabeth Albert’s writing, but I generally dislike enemies to lovers tropes, so I wasn’t sure this was for me. until someone mentioned that not only was there no hate-boinking in this story, there was no explicit on-the-page sex. Conrad Stewart and Alden Roth […]
Boyfriend Material (2020) Alexis Hall I don’t care that I just read this. I managed to hold off before re-reading, and then tore through it, no better able to put it down in a second read than it was on the first read. In fact, I’m lucky I didn’t just go back to the beginning […]
His Mossy Boy (2017) R. Cooper (Beings in Love) This story has problems, most of which are editing related. But I was also unable to put it down. Martin Dyer is a mess. He drinks too much and smokes too much weed in an attempt to escape from his brain and the pressure his mother […]
A Vigil of Spies (2008) Candace Robb (Owen Archer) Set in England in 1373. Archbishop Thoresby of York is dying. There is about to be a power vacuum in York, and various power brokers are trying to influence the selection of his successor. Princess Joan, married to the heir to the English Throne, has come […]
A Boy and His Dragon (2013) R. Cooper I was perusing ebooks on sale and came across an R Cooper fantasy romance. Then I saw that it was available from the library. So I checked it out. And then realized they didn’t have the kindle edition so I had to read it on my phone. […]
The Deadly Hours (2020) Susanna Kearsley, Anna Lee Huber, Christine Trent, C.S. Harris Theses are four novellas, each connected by a cursed time piece. “Weapon of Choice” by Susanna Kearsley “In a Fevered Hour” by Anna Lee Huber “A Pocketful of Death” by Christine Trent “Siren’s Call” by C.S. Harris “Weapon of Choice” by Susanna […]
Spells for the Dead (2020) Faith Hunter (Soulwood) The fifth Nell book begins with Nell trying to sort out her life. She hopes to soon become the guardian of her younger sister Mud, and has to work all that involves into her schedule. Also, her very pregnant older sister Esther is having marital problems, and […]
Gifts for the Season: Winter & Christmas MM Charity Anthology (2020) This is an anthology of short stories, which are always to have some stories that don’t work for me. The issue with this anthology is that there were short stories–most of which were quite good–and there were tales that could not stand alone outside […]
A Pretty Deceit (2020) Anna Lee Huber (Verity Kent) Set in England in 1919 Verity and Sidney are still searching for evidence of the crimes they know were committed by Lord Ardmore, but in the meantime, Verity’s parents guilt her into visiting her aunt, whose house had been damaged by the RAF soldiers living there […]
Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection (2020) Ben Aaronovitch This is a collection of Rivers of London short stories. About half the stories are are Peter stories, the others features other characters from the world, including Abigail and Dominic Croft (from Foxglove Summer). PART ONE: THE PETER GRANT STORIES The […]
Emerald Blaze (2020) Ilona Andrews (Hidden Legacy) I used to pre-order all Ilona Andrews books and then devour them as soon as I got them. But to be honest I still haven’t finished the Kate Daniels series, and I have not found the Hidden Legacy series as enjoyable as their other series. I started this […]
Secrets in the Mist (2016) Anna Lee Huber (Gothic Myths) Set in England in 1812. Ella Winterton has been struggling since her brother died. Her mother’s death troubled her father, but after her brother died fighting France, her father descended into alcoholism–an open secret that Ella can’t admit even to her best friend. Why could […]