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 […]

And Everything Nice (2016) Ada Maria Soto This in adorable romance about baking as a way of saying I love you. Or at least, I’m interested in you. He held out the plate. He’d gone for his chocolate-chip cookies, always a good icebreaker. They weren’t too large, making them harder to justify refusing. He used […]

Kneading You (2016) C.S. Poe (A Lancaster Story) Christopher Hughes desperately needs a job, and when the position of small town librarian opens up, he leaps at the opportunity. But the library is under threat, since a developer wants the land for a cell tower and shopping mall. “This library is not cost-effective. It’s really […]

Joy (2017) C.S. Poe (A Lancaster Story) The pandemic is about to get worse. The election is Tuesday. We hit a deer on the interstate and our car is now in the shop. Nothing by comfort reading for me right now. This story is just so adorable, it’s precisely what I needed. I noticed over […]

Three Stupid Weddings (2018) Ann Gallagher The world is terrible. I wanted something cute to re-read, without any boinking. This fit the bill. Please note that one character is trying to deal with an eating disorder that developed from emotional abuse from his ex-boyfriend, but it’s not heavy. the “you need to gain weight” crowd […]

Ben’s Bakery and the Hanukkah Miracle (2018) Penelope Peters Adam Bernard has spent the last ten years caring for his father and coaching his pee-wee hockey team. He could have made the NHL draft, but caring for his father was more important than hockey. But now his team has been invited to a tournament in […]

Elements of Retrofit (2017) N.R. Walker (Thomas Elkin) Thomas Elkin is 44, divorced, and a senior partner in a prestigious architecture firm. What he doesn’t expect is to fall for one of the summer interns–a man who is also a friend of his son. So. Yeah. Not my thing. I don’t love the age difference […]

Blind Faith (2013) N.R. Walker (Blind Faith) Carter Reece has moved to Boston to take a position a veterinary clinic. One of the unexpected things is that the clinic still does house calls for a few people–one of whom is Isaac Brannigan–a man who uses brashness and arrogance to hide his fear of losing those […]

For Real (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires) This was really really not my thing. Yet I couldn’t stop reading. Laurence Dalziel has grown weary of the local BDSM scene. It gives him some of what he needs–but so much else of what he wants is nowhere to be found. So it is as much a shock […]

Glitterland (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires) I kept reading the synopsis of this story and thinking, “I don’t know if this is my kind of story.” But I utterly adored Boyfriend Material as well as Waiting for the Flood, so I decided to try it. It opens with a the aftermath of a one-night-stand and the […]

Death at La Fenice (1992) Donna Leon (Commissario Brunetti) A famous conductor is found dead during the intermission of the opera he was conducting. The police are called, and so we are first introduced to Guido Brunetti, Comissario of the Venice police. What surprises me every time I re-read this is just how good it […]

A Study in Honor (2018) Claire O’Dell (The Janet Watson Chronicles) Here’s the deal. I don’t like SF. I don’t like dystopias. But I love mysteries, and I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, although I really dislike Sherlock Holmes stories that were NOT written by ACD. So this was not going to be an easy […]

Passing Strange (2017) Ellen Klages Set in San Francisco in 1940. Haskel is an artist who makes her living doing pulp covers. She and her friends live on the edge of polite society, either because they aren’t white or because of their sexuality, but they are found family. “Ah, Jack. You failed the three-garment test […]

Galaxies and Oceans (2018) N.R. Walker I know it’s only been a month since I read this the first time, but it came to mind for a recommendation request, and I went to look for a specific quote, and, well. I re-read the entire thing. Grief was like the great Southern Ocean; it moved in […]

Eight Skilled Gentlemen (1990) Barry Hughart (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox) Year of the Horse 3338 (a.d. 640) This is my least favorite of the three stories. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, just that I don’t like it as much as the first story. A vampire ghoul has killed an important […]

Two Rogues Make a Right (2020) Cat Sebastian (Seducing the Sedgwicks) Set in London ~1817-1818 Will Sedgwick’s best friend, Martin Easterbrook, had been found fevered and somewhat delusional in the attic of Hartley Sedgwick’s home (a home that by rights should have belonged to Martin). So Will stole him away to the country in the […]

Execution in E (2020) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) Gethsemane Brown is frustrated that her landlord has rented the lighthouse for a wedding–though not as annoyed as Eamon, the ghost whose house she rents. The bride is an Instagram Influencer–and an all-around horrible person. “Ms. Markham’s parents’ money buys a great deal of tolerance of Ms. […]

A Delicate Deception (2019) Cat Sebastian (Regency Imposters) Set in England in 1824 Amelia Allenby fled London to escape what she felt was an impending madness. She’s now comfortable in Derbyshire, but still tries to avoid everyone. But a hulking man interrupts her daily walk, and eventually her annoyance changes to something else. Sydney may […]

Fatality in F (2019) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) It’s summer break, and Gethsemane has taken a gig playing and conducting for a local flower and garden show–a show where her friend and co-worker has a chance of taking a prize. He’d hybridized the rose himself and christened it the ‘Sandra Sechrest’ in honor of the […]

Ice Cream Lover (2019) Jackie Lau (Baldwin Village) Drew Lum has sworn off dating. His fiancee left him standing at the alter, and then wrote a book about “your inner ice cream sandwich” that accuses Drew (under a pseudonym) of stifling her, being a terrible boyfriend, and someone who would make a terrible father. Chloe […]

Killing in C Sharp (2018) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown) Gethsemane Brown is mostly settled in to Dunmullach and teaching teenage boys, as well as the occasional foray into solving crime. Kent reached out and laid a hand on her arm. “Don’t be nervous.” Gethsemane patted Kent’s hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not.” She’d performed live all […]

The Fifth Elephant (1999) Terry Pratchett (Discworld) A new Low King is about to be coronated in Uberwald, and for some reason, Vetinari has decided to send Vimes (the Duke of Ankh-Morpork) to the coronation. “Let me see if I’ve got this right,” said Vimes. “Uberwald is like this big suet pudding that everyone’s suddenly […]

4:50 from Paddington (1957) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) This might be one of my favorite Miss Marple mysteries. It’s definitely one of the most memorable. At that moment another train, also on a downline, swerved inwards towards them, for a moment with almost alarming effect. For a time the two trains ran parallel, now one […]

A Caribbean Mystery (1964) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) The story that started my love of Miss Marple. I saw this (I was probably babysitting) and immediately went, “It’s AJ Simon! What is this?” And then I fell in love with Helen Hayes and Miss Marple. “As far as I can make out,” said Miss Marple, […]

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 […]

Death in D Minor (2017) Alexia Gordon (Gethsemane Brown Mysteries) This book is set three months after the first, Murder in G Major. Gethsemane Brown has decided to stay in Carraigfaire to keep teaching music, but now the home where she has been staying may be sold to a hotel magnate–a man who turns historical […]

Starcrossed (2020) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan) Set in New York in 1925. This is set immediately after the events of the first book. Rory and Arthur are in Hyde Park where Rory is helping to authenticate some of Arthur’s brother’s supposedly antique compasses, and Arthur is visiting his family. “Speaking of children,” Arthur said […]

Spellbound (2019) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan) Set in New York in 1924. Rory Brodigan works for a woman he calls his aunt, helping assess the authenticity of antiques. But there is no science–only magic–behind his abilities. Arthur Kenzie needs someone who can read the history of objects, and he thinks Mrs Brodigan is the […]

At Bertram’s Hotel (1965) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) I’m not sure what it is that makes this story feel so weak compared to the others, but it is. Miss Marple gets a vacation to Bertram’s Hotel, but something just isn’t quite right there. “But how can that pay you?” “It’s a question of atmosphere… Strangers […]

The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) This is the first Miss Marple novel. I’d somehow forgotten that it’s told from the point of view of the vicar, and Miss Marple is only a secondary character–even if she does solve the mystery. Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, […]

The Moving Finger (1942) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) This is the third Miss Marple mystery, and one I’ve reread multiple times, yet this time through I picked up some things I’d not noticed before. Which isn’t unusual, but is fascinating, as things I have learned elsewhere shine a different light upon things I’ve read before. […]