The Unmatchmakers (2022) Jackie Lau Leora may find her mother frustrating, but she’s looking forward to a week at the vacation house her mother bought with her two best friends–even if she hasn’t seen the kids she nearly grew up with in years. It’s a bit weird, us all hanging out as adults. Different than […]
Feral Dust Bunnies (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes, #4) Vikash pulled a glove from his pocket, which made Wolf wonder if he always came to parties prepared for a crime scene. Probably. This was Vikash, after all. “It’s all right to be anxious about things sometimes. And you know it’s okay to ask for help. […]
Skim Blood and Savage Verse (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes, #3) How could he have even thought about not celebrating his thirty-fifth birthday? Especially if it meant it gave her an excuse to invite all the old money and local officials to the affair. And outside? Of course it had to be outside. The weather […]
The Pill Bugs of Time (2015) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes, #2) It was the first time Vikash had experienced Greg’s particular talent being useful. He heard emotions, but only negative ones and only avian ones, and not just any birds, but only waterfowl. It was one of the most absurdly specific paranormal talents Vikash had […]
Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters (2015) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes, #1) (T)he pink and neon-blue raven folded his wings and waddled over to snap at Carrington’s pen. “Stop it, Edgar.” “You couldn’t get laid at a clusterfuck!” “I don’t really do anything,” Soren answered as he hefted the empty coffeepot. “Guess I’ll make fresh since […]
A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience (2024) Stephanie Burgis (The Unexpected Adventures of Lady and Lord Riven #1) Set in an alternate 19th century England. After being kept awake for 48 hours by her unscrupulous aunt and uncle, Margaret has been forced into marriage she didn’t want. Margaret set her teapot and cup on a side […]
Dangerous Sanctuary (2012) Michelle Diener (Susanna Horenbout and John Parker #1.5) Set in London in 1525 This is a novella set between In a Treacherous Court and Keeper of the King’s Secrets. Today the King’s procession through London from Bridewell would end here, in a ceremony of thanks to God for the capture of the […]
Love Language (2024) Jax Calder Dominic and Ashton have shared an office for three-and-a-half years. Despite the fact that much of their conversation consists of insults and griping, all of Ash’s friends insist he has a crush on Dominic. “You must be the most annoying person on the planet,” Dominic says. I ignore him. Because […]
A Christmas Dance (2014) Alissa Johnson It was a nightly ritual for them. Mrs. Meldrin would have her glass of warm milk, Mr. Meldrin his brandy and the two of them would sit before the fire and share a few quiet moments alone, discussing the events of the day. Patience sometimes left her door open […]
Phantom Pond (2023) Juneau Black (Shady Hollow #4.5) Mischief Night, or Gate Night as some folks called it, was an annual tradition throughout the woodlands. She jumped in surprise but then realized it was only a spider dangling from a silken thread. The spider must have come inside during the day, looking for a warmer […]
Not So Cookie Cutter (2019) Aidan Wayne He clasped his hands behind his back, at-ease stance so he wouldn’t cross his arms. He’d been told enough times that it made him look like a thug, so he tried to avoid doing it. He tended to hyper focus when it came to certain subjects, and to […]
Evergreen Chase (2021) Juneau Black (Shady Hollow #3.5) The committee selects promising trees years in advance and assigns someone to tend each one right up until it’s cut down. … “Wow, that’s more serious than I’d guessed. I thought someone just went for a walk and picked one out.” “No way. Other towns can do […]
A Queer Trade (2015) K.J. Charles (A Charm of Magpies World) “It’s the way of things. Burn your love letters, or have ’em put in the ground with you, or they’ll be tomorrow’s packing paper.” Hall gave a slightly rueful smile. “I put ’em aside for packing, when I notice, rather than foul use.” “Is […]
Agents of Winter (2022) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency #2) “I’m sorry, which one is B-837?” “Romantic or sexual involvement with another agency employee or contractor.” “I… um…” Arthur felt his cheeks flush and didn’t know what to say. It had never crossed his mind to fill out the “Fucking Form” as it was referred […]
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency #1) It was seven when he walked into Martin’s room and found him tying his tie. “Wes hAl,” he greeted him with one of the dozen phrases the children had managed to teach him. Martin’s face had yet to retreat fully back into the silent blankness […]
Not Your Valentine (2023) Jackie Lau Helen is done with romance. And not unreasonably so. Charlie Kung broke up with me at a restaurant last Valentine’s Day, a break-up that practically everyone in the world witnessed. But everyone keeps asking her if she’s moved on, and it’s annoying, so the obvious solution is to create […]
Rogue Protocol (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #3) Pretending bad things aren’t happening is not a great survival strategy in the long run. I was getting an idea. It was probably a bad idea. (When most of your training in tactical thinking comes from adventure shows, that does tend to happen.) Or Miki was […]
Nine Goblins (2013) T. Kingfisher It’s not that Nessilka wanted to be in charge of this squad of goblins, it’s just that there wasn’t anyone else to do the job. Smart goblins became mechanics. Dumb goblins became soldiers. Really dumb goblins became officers. So when, in the midst of battle, they are pulled away and […]
Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue (2023) Cat Sebastian (The Cabots #3.5) Set in North Carolina in 1953 This is a story about being injured. Billy was no prince when he was hurting, either. He always felt, idiotically, that giving in to pain was some kind of character flaw. He knew it wasn’t, he […]
The Masquerades of Spring, Audio Book (2024) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Rivers of London) Set in New York City in 1926 (B)ecause the landlords knew that the coloured folk couldn’t get lodgings in the white neighbourhoods, they could charge more than twice the normal rent. Since coloured folk mostly got paid half of […]
Help Wanted (2018) J. Emery (Ashveil Academy #1) Em wants to get her best friend the best gift this year for her birthday. Except that she’s broke, and her alchemy skills are terrible. So she decides to get a job, so she can buy Thaian the gift she wants to get her. Calpurnia West, sister […]
Exit Strategy, Audio Book (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #4) (Deleting memories like that doesn’t work. I can delete things from my data storage, but not from the organic parts of my head.) I “liked” these clothes. Maybe I actually liked them enough to remove the quotation marks around […]
Artificial Condition, Audio Book (2018) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #2) 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. Spending that much time with something that didn’t want you there, or that […]
All Systems Red, Audio Book (2017) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #1) I don’t know why, because it’s one of those things I’m not contractually obligated to care about. But the company would access all those recordings and data mine them for anything they could sell. No, they don’t tell […]
For Better or Worse (2017) R. Cooper (Montgomery Firefighters #2) Jimmy had been a boxer during his years of community college, and it showed in his face and how he moved. He was graceful but rarely still, and he watched everything as if a punch might come from any direction at any time. You should […]
Hottie Scotty and Mr. Porter (2016) R. Cooper (Montgomery Firefighters #1) He knew that kind of sweetie. She thought he was being dumb, but didn’t think he was smart enough to get that she was insulting him. “Caramel-stuffed snickerdoodles,” Cole remarked. “I’ll make a note that you liked them.” Scott couldn’t say how he knew […]
Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne “Serves you right for being the smart one,” he said, shouldering his phone so he could clear away his dishes. “Shut up.” Tatyana always got touchy when Jaxon brought up that he was the stupid one in the family. He didn’t know why; it wasn’t like their parents hadn’t […]
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency Book 1) “Do you have anyone running a Super Bowl pool up here?” Arthur hated football but he couldn’t handle another sideways promotion, even if that meant sticking his head up. “Agent Sims used to do it, but he bashed a fax machine to death with […]
A Moveable Feast (2025) Jennifer Ashley (A Below Stairs Mystery #7.6) Set in London in 1884 Mrs Bywater really is a horror. On Saturday morning, the day before Easter, Mrs. Bywater, the mistress of the house, sailed into my kitchen in a rather somber gray frock and announced that I would be cooking Easter dinner […]
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (2025) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #2.5) Did I read this online when it first came out? Yes I did. But I read it again once I downloaded the copy Tania gifted me to my ereader. Because even if there is no appearance of Murderbot, it’s still a Murderbot story. […]
Gumption & Gumshoes (2013) Alex Kidwell I wanted to shift. I didn’t often, because seriously, what would be the point? None of us did. Personally, I was just really hooked on the opposable thumbs thing that I had as a human. But right then, I wanted to be smaller. And why would you want to […]
Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists (2017) Angel Martinez They half-watched late-night television and tried to pin down what Taro had witnessed. The large sentient insects possibility didn’t make him feel better at all. “You’re a very kind person, Mr. Not-a-Root Vegetable.” “Thank you, Mr. Absolutely-Not-Named Jack.” Characters: Taro Torres, Mr. Manny Torres, Mrs. Lise Torres, Ben, Luka, […]
The Monster of Lightower Library: A Lamplight Short Story (2025) Morgan Stang (Lamplight Murder Mysteries #1.5) Evie, Isabeau and Penny need more information about the monster they are hunting, so they head to the library, of course. Unfortunately, the library seems to have it’s own unexpected monster. These stories really are fun. They make monster […]
A Matter at New Year’s (2024) Ashley Gardner (Robert Archer Paranormal Mysteries, #1) Set in Alt-London in 1824 Robert Archer, back from war, left the New Year’s celebrations thinking of little more than his bed, when he came across three were-beats. It was said that weres couldn’t be killed with ordinary weapons. There was rumor […]
A Kiss for Midwinter (2012) Courtney Milan (Brothers Sinister #1.5) Leicester, England 1864 This is one my my favorite historical novellas. He hadn’t chosen to become a doctor so that he could foretell the death of children. He’d been seduced by the stories—the stories of John Snow saving hundreds of lives by careful observation, of […]
Daydream (2022) A.M. Rose (Daydream, Colorado #0.5) There are a few corners of the world where magic lives and thrives. Little nooks straight out of fairytales, full to the brim with wonders and oddities. Daydream, Colorado is one of those places. Never heard of it? It’s not surprising. The residents like to keep their town […]
Fugitive Telemetry, Audiobook (2021) Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R Free (The Murderbot Diaries #6) I guess if you were really determined, you could find a way to get yourself killed by exposing the power connectors under the panels and shielding and, I don’t know, licking them or something, “What controlled circumstances?” I said, “Isolated […]
Exit Strategy, Audiobook (2018) Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #4) Ship’s drones gathered to watch me, confused as to why I was going out the wrong door and beeping sadly about it. (Humans never think to tell their bots things like, say, don’t respond to random individuals wandering the outside […]
Rogue Protocol, Audiobook (2018) Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #3) Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really thought its humans were its friends, because that’s how they treated it. I signaled Miki I would be […]
Artificial Condition, Audiobook (2018) Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #2) (Constructs sometimes fall under the same category as bots, sometimes under the same category as deadly weapons. (FYI, that is not a good category to be in.)) How the hell was I supposed to know there were transports sentient enough […]
All Systems Red, Audiobook (2017) Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free (The Murderbot Diaries #1) The hostile that had just exploded up out of the ground had a really big mouth, so I felt I needed a really big gun. So we didn’t lose our ramp when the hostile came up under it, big […]
A Measure of Menace (2024) Jennifer Ashley (Kat Holloway #7.5) Set in London in 1883. Kat Holloway is once again asked to assist in a mystery–this time by Lady Cynthia’s father, Lord Clifford, who is more than a bit of a cad. Couldn’t you have used that to pay back the moneylender?” Lord Clifford regarded […]
The Masquerades of Spring (2024) Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London) Set in New York City in 1926 This novella is everything. It’s NYC during the jazz age. Prohibition, that bizarre aberration of the American spirit, could be dashed confusing to someone raised in the free and easy metrop of old London. And Nightingale has come […]
Fugitive Telemetry (2021) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #6) The bag had lights but turning them on would just be stupid plus I didn’t really want to see what was happening. Farid came into the room, spotted me, and came over to say, “Uh, we’re making tea. Do you—” I paused my feed and told […]
Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #4) Ship’s drones gathered to watch me, confused as to why I was going out the wrong door and beeping sadly about it. I “liked” these clothes. Maybe I actually liked them enough to remove the quotation marks around “liked.” I was having an emotion, and I […]
Rogue Protocol (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #3) (There needs to be an error code that means “I received your request but decided to ignore you.”) Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really thought its humans were its friends, […]
Artificial Condition (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #2) Constructs sometimes fall under the same category as bots, sometimes under the same category as deadly weapons. (FYI, that is not a good category to be in. I could feel ART metaphorically clutch its function. I closed the story by reflex, like that would make it […]
All Systems Red (2017) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #1) I said, “It’s part of my job, not to listen to the System feeds when they . . . make mistakes.” That’s why you need constructs, SecUnits with organic components. But she should know that. Before she accepted delivery of me, she had logged about […]
Hen Fever: A Sapphic Victorian Romance (2022) Olivia Waite Set in England in 1856 The Bickerton Christmas Poultry Show is the event of the year, but one that has driven apart the citizens of the town. They’d been fast friends once, until they’d caught the fancy. Now rumor was Miss Inch had trained her Pinwheel […]
Curio (2024) C.S. Poe Llewellyn and his aunt Julia run the Curio Cabinet Sunday between noon and six o’clock was basically when Curio made any money at all—lockets with broken chains, weathered vintage postcards, vinyl records sans sleeves, and creepy doll heads missing one eye were the bad decisions locals made after one too many […]