Kneading You (2016) C.S. Poe (A Lancaster Story) Reread. Because I can’t settle down into anything. Rating: 8/10

Network Effect (2020) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) 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 has its faults. In fact, it’s probably listening to us right now. Are you listening, SecUnit?” […]

Exit Strategy (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) I love Murderbot, but I also love the other tech. Ship’s drones gathered to watch me, confused as to why I was going out the wrong door and beeping sadly about it. Ship’s feed and system codes were trashed, but bot pilot was already reasserting control. SecSystem […]

Rogue Protocol (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Being a SecUnit sucked. I couldn’t wait to get back to my wild rogue rampage of hitching rides on bot-piloted transports and watching my serials. Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really […]

Artificial Condition (2018) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) Murderbot! 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.)) So they made us smarter. The anxiety and depression were side effects. I didn’t have any parts related to […]

All Systems Red (2017) Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries) MURDERBOT! We’ve been listening to Network Effect and so I needed to start rereading the Murderbot Diaries. After I secured the habitat, I went back to what was called the security ready room, which was where weapons, ammo, perimeter alarms, drones, and all the other supplies […]

An Unseen Attraction (2017) KJ Charles (Sins of the Cities) Set in London in 1873 The first book in the Sins of the City series. they said the eyes were the windows to the soul, and Clem didn’t feel comfortable peering into people’s windows. “Most people,” Clem said carefully, “most people think that I shouldn’t […]

Come Unto These Yellow Sands (2011) Josh Lanyon Something about this book works perfectly to pull me out of my head. Part of it is that Swift is a reformed screw-up who knows how and why he messed up, but also how easy it could be for him to fall of the wagon. Physical violence […]

Grilled Cheese and Goblins: Adventures of a Supernatural Food Inspector (2018) Nicole Kimberling This books is simply a delight. I mean, supernatural food inspector. What more could I want? Keith was momentarily too stunned by the idea that the vampire realm had a publishing industry to think of a follow-up question. Gunther saved him. I […]

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 […]

Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) I needed to reread this as well. For her, what people ate, and how they ate, was just as interesting as the stories they told. This one is also about food. Her voice was as bitter as burned coffee, and just as dark. But in addition to […]

Waiting for the Flood (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires) I got into another funk–nothing was working for me. Everything was meh and nothing drew me in. So I dove back into a favorite, and (as happens every single time I reread this) was shocked by how good and how beautiful it is. Edwin repairs and restores […]

And Everything Nice (2016) Ada Maria Soto This is another hug I treated myself to. This one is funny and silly. “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 […]

Nearly a Lady (2016) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family) Set in Scotland and England during the Regency. Lord Gideon Haverston and his brother are discovering the full duplicity of their step-mother, as his brother–the new Marquess–tries to straighten out the family finances. Their most disturbing discovery is a young woman who was supposed to be the […]

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 […]

Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones (2020) Ngozi Ukazu Jack has graduated and gone to the NHL. Bitty remains at Samwell, still playing hockey, and unable to talk about his relationship–both for fear or jeopardizing Jack’s career and because he still hasn’t come out to his own family. OMG IT IS SO SWEET! This […]

Check, Please! Book 1: # Hockey (2018) Ngozi Ukazu Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! I love this comic […]

Galaxies and Oceans (2018) N.R. Walker Apparently my brain things I need to be having feelings. Grief was like the great Southern Ocean; it moved in ebbs and flows, often turbulent and rough, or peaceful and settled, and even over time when I could navigate the waters, the tide never stopped. “(S)ometimes you have to […]

Not So Cookie Cutter (2019) Aidan Wayne This is a sideways sequel to Making Love, in that Jerrell is Carla’s target at the end of that book. It’s also about a baker. Maybe he could try some for tomorrow. And it would take way less time than cheesecake. Pumpkin-cheesecake inspired mousse, though? Or trifle cups! […]

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, […]

Love, Marriage, and a Baby Carriage (2016) CS Poe I love this story. I mean, it’s like someone dared her to put every single trope she could think of into less than 40 pages, and she made it perfect. I was attending a singles’ convention for special people like me to find their forever penguin […]

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 […]

Grilled Cheese and Goblins: Adventures of a Supernatural Food Inspector (2018) Nicole Kimberling This is such a fun book. I mean, supernatural food inspector! Keith could have epitomized the word “average.” Not good-looking or bad looking. Brown hair and eyes. Nothing beyond that to report. He was the kind of man nobody noticed for very […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) “Kinda wish I could take you with me, Mom,” Wolf mumbled around a bite of toast. “I wish I could go too, sweetie. But then all the other officers would want to take their moms and the poor board of inquiry members at State probably wouldn’t survive.” […]

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.” […]

Band Sinister (2018) KJ Charles Set in England ~1811 “It’s all perfectly decent,” Amanda said. “Or at least, if it isn’t, the indecent parts are only hinted at, which means they’re in your head. I can’t be held responsible for your thoughts going awry.” “Oh yes you can,” Guy said with feeling. “What do you […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Hottie Scotty and Mr. Porter (2017) R. Cooper (T)hey’d searched all around for suitable men for Cole. They hadn’t ever done that for Scott, and he saw nothing in Kathy’s expression that said she had ever considered it. He ought to demand why he wasn’t good enough, but he wasn’t going to like the answer, […]

Cut to the Quick (1993) Kate Ross (Julian Kestrel Mysteries) Set in England in 1823. “If everyone who died with unpunished sins on his conscience came back as a ghost, the living would be crowded out of every home in England.” “You’re cynical. I thought you would be. Can you sneer?” “With terrifying effect.” “Oh, […]

Work for It (2019) Talia Hibbert (Just for Him) “Everyone said he was handsome, but this is just silly.” “He’s staring a hole into you, Griff. No, don’t look, you donkey. Trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong?” I finally take my shot and fluff it. “Year 2, you told me to pick up […]

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.” […]

Upside Down (2019) N.R. Walker “If you do, I’ll be so embarrassed I’ll be forced to quit and move and join the witness protection program.” Merry stared at me. “Siri, what is an overreaction?” “How do you know? You can’t know. That’s an improbable equation, and you’re just guessing and that makes you a lying […]

Small Vices (1998) Robert B. Parker (Spenser) Since my name was anathema at Pemberton, I had to employ guile. I called the alumni office and said my name was Anathema and I was with the IRS. “We have an income tax refund for Ms. Glenda Baker, which has been returned by the postal service. Would […]

After the Scrum (2014) Dahlia Donovan (Sin Bin) Caddock Stanford lost his brother, lost his place on the national rugby team, and became the parent to his young nephew. So he wants a place to start over, to make a new life for himself and Devlin. “Looe’s a brilliant place for starting fresh. Oh, and […]

A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in May 1812, around the actual historical events of the assassination of the Prime Minister. I love this series so much! He bent his head and rested his forehead on hers. “I just wanted you to know, for me, there is no going back. […]

Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in 1812. Giselle Barrington fled Stockholm after witnessing the murder of her father. Now she has to find not only the killer, but also someone she can trust with the papers they were supposed to bring back to England. (H)e’d be looking for the […]

The Emperor’s Conspiracy (2012) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in 1811 Charlotte Raven is the ward of Lady Howe, and likely her heir. Despite that, she is almost a wall-flower in society, enjoying herself but never making splash. Emma tried to think if she had ever heard any whispers about Charlotte Raven, but […]

Waiting for the Flood (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires) If you’ve read Alexis Hall, you may think you know what to expect from this story. Chances are you are completely wrong. It has been two years since Marius decided he was no longer in love with Edwin, and moved out of the house they had bought […]