The Duchess War (2012) Courtney Milan (Brothers Sinister #1) Set in Leicester, England in 1863 “Your Grace,” Stevens finally said, “your concern does you justice.” The man’s toad-eating did him none. Robert met Stevens’s eyes. “No, it doesn’t. It’s called basic human decency, and I deserve no credit for doing what every man should.” “You […]
Secrets in the Mist (2016) Anna Lee Huber Set in East Anglia in 1812 It was balm for my bruised pride to hear him apologize, but it did not change what had happened. The hurt did not miraculously vanish, nor did the discomfort his presence caused me. I knew what was coming, like following a […]
A Sanctuary for Soulden (2021) J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry (The Lords of Bucknall Club #4) Set in alternate England during the Napoleanic Era he caught sight of Lord Christmas Gale, on his hands and knees, searching under a table in the near-empty Green Room. This was a bit unusual, even for Christmas. Soulden walked […]
Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper “Hey.” Susanna’s voice was sharp. “You mean a lot to me. Stop thinking whatever you’re thinking.” Lincoln must have been snacking on frosting all day and gone without real, solid food. His eyes were very bright. The words in those books weren’t always meant for him, but they […]
A Power Unbound (2023) Freya Marske (The Last Binding Book 3) Set in England in 1909 Spinet House was a young thing, built by a master carpenter-thaumoluthier and his energetically creative wife. It was a fortress. It was a musical, magical puzzle box. It was a fucking headache. When Alan had written up his fawning, […]
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 […]
A Restless Truth (2022) Freya Marske (The Last Binding, #2) Set in England and across the Atlantic Ocean in 1909 There was a parlour game: one stared at a tray of objects before it was taken away, adjusted, and placed back in front of one’s eyes. Some things added. Some things removed. Robin was excellent […]
The Holy Thief (1992) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #19) Set in Shropshire, England in 1144 At first glance a lovely innocent, as open as his wide eyes, and with the silken pink and whiteness of a girl, but a more penetrating study revealed that this childlike colouring was imposed upon an oval face […]
A Marvellous Light (2021) Freya Marske (The Last Binding, #1) Set in London in 1908 They left Miss Morrissey in a halfway tidied office. At a certain point in the re-filing process, she’d given up all pretence that she wasn’t seizing the opportunity to impose order on what seemed to have previously been a rather […]
The Ruin of a Rake (2017) Cat Sebastian (The Turners #3) Set in London in 1817 Radnor’s secretary sent Courtenay an infuriatingly proper letter suggesting that Courtenay take himself as far away from Simon as humanly possible until the scandal died down. It was heavily implied that the scandal would die down at some point […]
Think of England (2014) KJ Charles Set in England, 1904 It had been an extraordinarily modern creation at that time, equipped with the very latest innovations, with running water in all the bathrooms, heated by hot-water radiators and illuminated throughout by electricity from his own hydroelectric generator. This country is heading for a crash, mark […]
Proper English (2019) KJ Charles Shropshire, 1902 The table was inevitably unbalanced, due to the odd number and informal make-up of the party, with two sets of brothers and sisters to be separated plus the married couple. “I’m so sorry. That’s wholly inadequate but I don’t know if there’s anything else one can say.” “Not […]
Subtle Blood (2021) KJ Charles (Will Darling Adventures #3) Set in England in 1924 Lord Arthur recently became notorious for the killing of man-about-town Johnnie Cheveley in shocking events at Lord Waring’s ancestral home. No blame was attached to Lord Arthur by the Coroner’s jury. “They commended him, you shits,” Will growled at the paper. […]
The Sugared Game (2020) KJ Charles (The Will Darling Adventures, #2) Set in London in 1924 “Do you ever have the feeling the whole world changed while we were away and nobody bothered to mention it to us?” “I know you’ve thought about this,” Will said. “But there are men in the world who aren’t […]
Slippery Creatures (2020) KJ Charles (The Will Darling Adventures, #1) Set in London in 1923 “My grateful nation wasn’t grateful enough to give me a job. I pawned my medals to keep a roof over my head and food in my belly, and I’ll tell you what, the Military Cross doesn’t fetch a great deal, […]
Grilled Cheese and Goblins: Adventures of a Supernatural Food Inspector (2018) Nicole Kimberling Lulu’s Flapjack Shack inhabited a space that had certainly been continuously used as a hospitality venue since linoleum had been invented. “Mass media doesn’t cover actual vampire deaths,” Keith remarked before he realized how callous his statement sounded. “Have you seen a […]
The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #18) Set in Wales in 1144 It is a blessed thing, on the whole, to live in slightly dull times, especially after disorder, siege and bitter contention. Have you ever seen the sea?” “No. How could I? Until I joined the bishop’s […]
A Case for Christmas (2021) J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry (The Lords of Bucknall Club #2) Set in alternate England during the Napoleanic Era Chant was well versed in the difference between rudeness for rudeness’s sake and rudeness born from an anxiety that was rapidly becoming unmanageable. “What do you need from me?” Gale hesitated. […]
The Missing Page (2022) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers #2) Set in Cornwall in 1947 “James has gone to Cornwall.” She said this as if announcing that James had taken up a life of crime and perversion. The more Leo thought about it, the less he liked it. Leo had read this detective story and […]
Hither, Page (2019) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers #1) Set in England in 1946 What I love best about this book is she makes the time period (and much everything else) exactly like it does in the Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series. Only with some boinking. You can’t hold it against him. He had a […]
The Potter’s Field (1989) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #17) Set in Shrewsbury in 1143. “Earth is innocent. Only the use we make of it can mar it.” It takes a very short time for earth to seal over the traces of humankind. …he could have his freedom to go and become a monk, […]
The Heretic’s Apprentice (1989) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #16) Set in Shrewsbury, England in 1143 ‘There is no sin unless through a man’s own will, and hence the reward when we do right things also of our own will.’ Let Elave commit that to memory, and he could quote it in his own […]
Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family #1) Set in England during the Napoleonic wars She pushed forward again, into the noise and smell and great wall of people. She’d never seen so many people. She felt as if she were on the verge of being trampled. Panic began to slither along her skin […]
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (2024) Laurie Gilmore (Dream Harbor #2) Hazel Kelly is about to turn 30, and is starting to feel like she’s been wasting her life, doing nothing more than managing a bookstore in the small town where her family lives. She’s certain that the town flirt would never be interested in […]
The Siren of Sussex (2022) Mimi Matthews (Belles of London #1) Set in London in 1862 Ahmad Malik and his cousin Mira came to England after her mother died, and after her father died, Ahmad took whatever work he could to care for her. Now he is a tailor, hoping to make his marking designing […]
The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #15) Set in Shrewsbury, England in 1143 A moraine of crumpled, untidy snow hills formed along the frozen drainage channel, and one unwary brother, who had failed to hear or heed the warning shout from above, was briefly buried by a minor avalanche, […]
Mistletoe and Mishigas (2023) M.A. Wardell (Teachers in Love #2) Not only is Sheldon moving to a new school in the middle of the term, he has also discovered the wedding invitation from his ex. Who broke up with Sheldon last year. On Christmas Eve. Sheldon’s favorite time of the year. But Sheldon is nothing […]
Bidding for the Bachelor (2021) Jackie Lau (Fong Brothers #2) Cedric Fong was a success with his first book, but hasn’t been able to get further than chapter 5 on anything he’s started since. Brian Poon is a party boy whose father cut him the previous year after learning he dated men as well as […]
Legends & Lattes (2022) Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes #1) In the dimming light she surveyed the interior, amidst horse apples of antiquity and the dust of neglect. She didn’t know much about buildings, but it was clear that this one needed an unbelievable amount of work. But at the end of it? Something she […]
Do Me a Favor (2024) Cathy Yardley Willa, still picking up the pieces after her husband’s long illness and death, moves out to the house she inherited from her great-aunt, in the hopes it will help her get back on her feet. What was it going to do to her? Her bank account was minuscule […]
Cry Wolf, Audiobook (2009) Patricia Briggs narrated by Holter Graham (Alpha & Omega #1) Sarai had often thumped him soundly on the head for looking at other women, though she’d known he’d never stray. Now that she was gone, he seldom even looked. Flirting didn’t make him feel disloyal to his dead mate, but he’d […]
Confounding Oaths (2024) Alexis Hall (Mortal Follies #2) Set in England in 1815. Mr. John Caesar wants his sisters’ coming outs to go well, so they can make good matches and be taken care of. But it won’t be easy, because they aren’t quite like the rest of society. Alexis Hall comes out the gate […]
Paladin’s Faith, Audiobook (2023) T. Kingfisher narrated by Joel Richards (The Saint of Steel #4) Apparently one of the problems they had solved was bribery. You couldn’t bribe a Rat-priest. (Well, you probably could, but only by offering to donate the money to the poor.) Shane wondered if there was a term for feeling guilty […]
The Rose Rent (1986) Ellis Peters (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #13) Set in Shrewsbury in 1142 He had been in the cloister since he was three years old, and knew nothing outside it. Unacquainted with sin, he was all the more haunted by it, as by some unknown monster, and assiduous in confession, he […]
The Raven in the Foregate (1986) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #12) Set in Shrewsbury in 1141 “Domine, ne in furore—O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy displeasure … Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak.” The vast inverted bowl of sky, dark blue almost […]
Paladin’s Hope, Audiobook (2020) T. Kingfisher narrated by Joel Richards (The Saint of Steel #3) I think I’ve finally figured out why I find this story so disappointing. It’s not that it’s a bad story, because it isn’t. The problem is that it doesn’t really match the rest of the series. For one, it’s significantly […]
An Excellent Mystery (1985) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #11) Set in Shrewsbury in 1141 As a brother of the Order I would wish to keep my hands from violence against any, but for all that, I hope I would not turn my back if I saw innocence or helplessness being abused. He looked […]
Paladin’s Strength, Audiobook (2021) T. Kingfisher narrated by Joel Richards (The Saint of Steel #2) “Do you have a name?” he asked. “I do. Do you?” His lips twitched. “Yes?” “Excellent. We are both named beings.” “You will treat her well.” “Yes, ma’am.” “You will not beat her.” “No! Certainly not!” “You will not make […]
The Pilgrim of Hate (1984) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #10) Set in Shrewsbury in 1141. “Then your only resort is confession and penance,” said Hugh lightly. “Not until Brother Mark is full-fledged a priest!” Young Mark was gone from his mother-house and from his flock at Saint Giles, gone to the household of […]
Galaxies and Oceans (2018) N.R. Walker 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. Sometimes you have to listen to the silences. When things aren’t said. That’s where […]
Paladin’s Grace, Audiobook (2020) T. Kingfisher narrated by Joel Richards (Saint of Steel #1) “What in the name of the little household gods is that?” “An abomination,” said Stephen. “I believe the cook called it gravy.” “Gravy is not that color.” “I did not say the cook was correct.” “Can we burn them at the […]
Swordheart, Audiobook (2018) T. Kingfisher narrated by Jesse Vilinsky “Begin asking unexpected questions until everyone in the conversation starts doubting their senses. It’s a talent. Like some strange form of diplomacy that goes so far in the wrong direction that it comes out the other side.” “I am the servant of the sword,” he said. […]
Dead Man’s Ransom (1984) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #9) Set in Shropshire, England and Wales in 1141 “If none of us ever fell short, or put a foot astray,” said Cadfael sadly, “everything would be good in this great world, but we stumble and fall, every one. We must deal with what we […]
The Devil’s Novice (1983) Ellis Peters (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #8) Set in Shropshire England in 1140 The other two, infant oblates given to God by their parents, are already twelve and ten years old, and are settled and happy among us, it would be ill-done to disturb their tranquillity. But I am not […]
The Virgin in the Ice (1982) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #6) Set in Worcestershire, England in 1139 There had been other women, before her and after. He remembered them with gratitude, and with no guilt at all. He had given and received pleasure and kindness. None had ever complained of him. If that […]
The Leper of Saint Giles (1981) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #5) Set in Shropshire England in 1139 “I hope she may be beautiful,” said Mark. “Prior Robert would be interested to hear you say so,” said Cadfael drily. blessedness is what can be snatched out of the passing day, and put away to […]
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 […]
A Dangerous Madness (2014) Michelle Diener (Regency London #3) Set in London in 1812 “I can’t marry you, Pheebs. I know that’s going to make things difficult for you and I want to go through with it, of course I do, it would solve a number of problems, but I don’t have the time for […]
Monk’s Hood (1980) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #3) Set in England in 1138 The tide of civil war between King Stephen and the partisans of the Empress Maud had receded into the southwestern borders, leaving Shrewsbury to recover cautiously from having backed the weaker side and paid a bloody price for it. Pope […]
One Corpse Too Many (1979) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #2) Set in England in 1138. This is set with the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud in the forefront of the story. In this early summer of 1138 the fratricidal strife, hitherto somewhat desultory, was already two years old, but never […]