Review: All of Us Murderers

All of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“I hope and pray none of you see it, but if you do, don’t look at its face. Turn away and you may, perhaps, be spared." 

All of Us Murderers was a fun romp of a Gothic mystery and romance. As any Gothic worth it's salt, this starts with our lead Zeb arriving to Dartmoor at the looming, dark, and cold stone, Gothic mansion Lackaday House. His cousin has written and begged Zeb to visit for them to get to know each other. When Zeb arrives he's greeted by a night-gowned young woman dramatically running out of the house and his former lover Gideon. Zeb clearly has ADHD (he uses the original fidget spinner, a rosary) and with that not being understood or respected in Edwardian times, he struggles with keeping jobs. When he worked with Gideon, it had Gideon covering for him at times and trying to keep their romance a secret, it was the first time for Gideon being in a relationship with a man. They ended up getting seen and they both got fired, with Gideon blaming it on Zeb. 

Wynn looked around the table. “It is very simple. One of you shall marry Jessamine, and have my fortune with her.” 

Along with Gideon, Zeb's brother, his wife, and two other cousins are houseguests. Wynn tells them all that he's changed his inheritor from Zeb's brother to whomever will marry Jessamine, a distant cousin and the previously night-gowned fleeing woman. It's a plot set-up that has family members turning on each other for money and a setting that brings in the spooky, hauntings, legends, myths, and similarities to moments from their grandfather's published Gothic books. The first half focused more on the Gothic mystery, it's a little foggy mystery with introducing all the characters and working out, remembering who's who and the relationship dynamics between them all. 

He was a serious man, but Zeb knew, none better, how much his eyes could warm and crinkle at the edges, how his face could light up with amusement or desire or love— 

The second half brought in the romance more and we got Zeb and Gideon working out their past relationship issues with a clearer understanding of who they are individually and how that means they will work together. I enjoyed how neither character was perfect, in how they previously reacted but visibly grew into their selves more and worked and learned how their chemistry puzzle pieces fit together; they developed their relationship. There were bedroom scenes to bring in the heat before the latter second half brought the mystery back in and delivered reveals and answers. 

“It was razed to the ground because of the corruption of the monks.” 

“Well, that was the point of the Reformation.” 

“I mean, it was a place of great cruelty,” Jessamine said. “Cruelty and secrets, presided over by evil men, until the people of Dartmoor tore it down because no such acts of darkness should be concealed in a house of God.” 

“Gosh,” Zeb said, nonplussed by the sharp left turn into melodrama. “Odd site to pick for a house, then.” 

There were numerous nods to other Gothic works (The Yellow Wallpaper, etc.) and the foggy atmosphere you want from the genre was there. I did think some of the twists and turns got a little convoluted towards the end but even if the vengeance, justice, and retribution ride got a bit bumpy, it was still fun. Gothics are always great at getting Satan to take a back seat to the true horror, family dynamics, and this story definitely delivered on that vibe.

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Review: Episode Thirteen

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Definitely reads like a found footage movie, epistolary story with video scenes, diary entries, interviews, and text messages. 

A husband who claims to have had a ghostly encounter when he was a kid grows up forever searching for proof of ghosts and ends up dragging along the college scientific PhD woman he fell in love with when they get an opportunity to do a reality tv show hunting for ghosts. The wife plays the skeptic and works to debunk what the husband and his crew find, an actress added to the show to liven things up, a tech guy who was a former police officer who claims to have meet a demon, and the camera guy just taking a job. 

They're coming to the end of the season and looking for a way to end on a high note and ensure they get a second season, with the wife wanting to bounce because she's sick of dealing with pseudoscience. Their last job is the Foundation House, a place where in the sixties two professors conducted experiments on a group of people trying to further the Human Potential Movement but as the wife reads through the papers left by the profs, realizes they were doing unethical experimentation. 

The first half starts off a little slow with getting to know the characters and their intra/interpersonal drama and then the house starts to wake up and eventually reveals a well with a door at the bottom that has the group doing an Alice in Wonderland and traveling, what the wife comes to realize is a Mandala loop. 

It all starts to get a bit out there, a little bit of a The Cabin in the Woods down the rabbit hole, and I ended up feeling like this was more SciFi (think movie The Abyss like) and less horror. I also struggled a bit with the flow of the story that was probably a personal issue with the epistolary style and not novel form. 

You'll get a fantastical major ending that also stutters epilogue final endings, the last epilogue I felt delivered the best chill, and a story that will work to expand your mind while delivering some creeps.

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2025 Master Halloween Bingo

 Getting a late start but I desperately need a break and to lose myself in some books, so I'm narrowing my focus and jumping into Halloween Bingo. 

Look at my beautiful card made for me this year!

Currently Reading:

for the bingo square   (Relics & Curiositites) 

Squares and the books I read for them, clicking on title brings you to my review

Arcane Archives - Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

Gothic - All of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles

Review: The First Liar

The First Liar by M.C. Rising
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.7 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“I don't care if you tag along, but I'm warning you. You might not be able to tag back out.” 

Tori buckled her seat belt. 

From the moment Tori sees her boss killed in a hit and run and she tries to chase after the driver, she finds herself thrown into a world of monsters and the hunters that chase them. With some tv show Supernatural, a lot of mythology (mostly Greek), and real historical events and figures, The First Liar takes you on a ride full of mystery, emotions, and battles. Told mostly from our twenty-something software engineer bored with her day job in Atlanta, Tori mourns the loss of her brother while feeling she's meant for something greater. When she meets up with a younger guy, Vincent, who gets his own povs more in the second half, she gets brought into a world that only a few knew about. 

There was so much more to Greek mythology than its heroes and villains. 

The story works to keep the players true identities hidden as long as possible, Vincent's “parents” Roy and Brooks, who rescued Vincent when he was a boy and taught him how to fight, are two men who always seem to know more than they're telling. Tori learns from them that around fifty years ago, someone or something seems to have awoken mythological beings and they're now running amok. Roy, Brooks, and Vincent have been fighting them and trying to piece together a puzzle of what their main plan seems to be. Orion, Narcissus, Asterius, are seen the most but there are numerous other mythological characters you'll recognize throughout. 

“After all this is over.” 

The first half's pace is slower as, along with Tori, the reader gets some introduction to a world that exists in the shadows. This is also set in the future (I think I worked out the year to be 2046) and climate change with political upheaval has taken it's toll on the United States. Tori's feeling like she's stuck in life, grief over brother, societal issues, along with Vincent's unresolved trauma from his childhood, will have you feeling for the characters. There's a little romance with Tori getting drawn to Roy and a character that comes in later, Grace, slowly penetrates Vincent's wall around himself. You'll get to feel like you'll know Tori, Vincent, and Grace but Roy and Brooks remained a little too distance for me; it serves the plot but I just personally wanted to know them more. 

So she couldn't let this be a happy ending. Or a sad one. 

It had to be a new beginning. 

The second half really brings in answers and action, almost too fast and furious the last fifteen percent as battle after battle is raged. I really enjoyed the melding of real historical events (Atlanta building fires), mythology themes and characters, and supernatural elements; made for an interesting and fun story. There's an ending but it felt more like a closing chapter with room for our group to definitely go and fight more battles, it is alluded to there are more on the horizon. Interesting, chaotic at times, characters that will intrigue you, and a story that was emotional and fun. If looking for something different, definitely give this one a go, especially during the spooky fall season.

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Reading Update: 22%

 

"I hope ghosts aren't real. I hope that time does soothe suffering-that instead of being stuck here, that girl is sunning herself in a field of flowers, free in whatever afterlife she believed in." 

This has some tv show Supernatural vibes I'm enjoying!

Review: The Baby Dragon Bakery

The Baby Dragon Bakery by Aamna Qureshi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.3 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

She was in love with her best friend. And everyone knew but him. 

The Baby Dragon Bakery was an extremely soft and cozy smalltown read with some fantasy elements. I jumped into the series here and had no problems, there is a big supporting cast, with the couple from the first and obvious future couples but they add to the smalltown setting and make you feel at home more than lost. This second in the series stared Lavinia and Theo, two midtwenties who have been friends since childhood. Getting point-of-views from each, readers can see that both have started to develop romantic feelings for the other but are scared to tell in case that ruins their friendship. 

And that was how Lavinia found herself enlisting the help of her best friend (who she had feelings for) to help her get with someone else (to get over aforementioned feelings). Which wouldn’t be complicated. Or messy. And that wasn’t a bad idea. Not at all. 

Readers get to see them going through those quarter life growing pains, Lavinia is in her second year of veterinary school while working part-time and living at home while Theo is starting to think he wants to use his business degree and make baking his hobby again, instead of his job. They're figuring themselves out while still dealing with some childhood issues. Theo's parents were extremely cold, leading him to never feel good enough and his angst keeping him apart from Lavinia, he thinks she's too good for him and while Lavinia had loving parents that has lead to her putting pressure on herself to copy the formula of their love. Lavinia is the same age her parents were when they fell in love, so she's determined it must happen now. Not knowing Theo's feelings or wanting to ruin their friendship, this causes her to date someone else, which works because it forces Theo to expose his feelings. 

He stroked her cheekbone with the curve of his thumb, his pulse quickening.

As I mentioned, this had cozy, soft vibes, Theo's issues with his parents and how it makes him feel is the lowest it gets in the smalltown of Starshine Valley. It started to feel a bit dragged out with Theo not feeling good enough and Lavinia purposefully, what it felt like anyway, not seeing that Theo did in fact have romantic feelings for her. We do get a little flashback to an emotional moment in their childhood friendship for some depth building blocks in their relationship but this was mostly kept in the sweet friendship romance vibe, with a quick dash of spice opendoor scene (bonus Ghost movie like moment!). 

If he had her, he didn’t need anything else. 

The fantasy elements are almost purely the baby dragons that appear here and there in scenes, not the stars but add a dash if looking for that element. After feeling like they were dragging their feet, their declarations of love felt kind of rushed to lead to a clunky feeling ending where we rehash Theo's not feeling good enough issues once more and then suddenly plop down the happily ever after. This was a cozy and sweet new adult (the characters had big thirties is old vibes) that had a fantasy smalltown setting that was a delight to spend some time in and the little tease between two characters who seem lined up to become enemies-to-lovers will have me checking out the next in the series.

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Review: The Battle of the Bookshops

The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

Because she needed extra complications like a hole in the head, and nothing good ever came of a Capelthrone having anything to do with a Montbeau. 

It's been thirteen years since Jules embarrassed herself in front of her forbidden crush, Roman, but of course he's the first person she sees and has to share a cab with when she dashes home from London when her mother calls her saying her great-aunt Flo had an emergency. And of course, he's opening a rival bookstore right across the street from her decades owned family one. When Jules finds herself staying longer than she thought, she's all-in with battling Roman, and her inopportune crush on him. 

Roman liked a challenge, and Jules, he suspected with some pleasure, was a worthy adversary. 

If you're a frequent reader of this author, you'll immediately feel at home in this little English countryside town, where many of her previous couples make their home and make appearances (The Littlest Library). You could start here as there's not a important backstory or plot threads to know but you'll probably be curious about some of the romances featured and want to search out their books. This followed the previous books' vibes and formula, cozy atmosphere, a little awkward not quite sure of herself but determined female main character, a handsome male main character that gently pokes at her but also tries to take care of her in little ways, some family drama/issues, and small town issues. 

As if she could ever have truly loved a Montbeau. 

There's obviously some play with their last names, Capelthorne and Montbeau, and the Romeo and Juliet themes are brought up a good amount. It's centuries old family drama, with Jules and Roman not quite sure exactly what divided and caused the bad blood in their families but it does play into some of their current drama. Roman's rival bookstore (there is credible reason he opened a bookstore) and though it takes a while to be revealed, an obvious looming issue that will deliver the third act breakup between the two regarding the lease of Jule's family bookstore that is held by the Montbeaus. With a smattering of Roman's point-of-view readers get a look into his family issues, an overbearing father, and mostly told from Jule's pov, we see the distance between her and her mother and the closeness between her and her great-aunt Flo. There was also a fascinating plot thread with a diary/grimoire found in their bookstore that belonged to one of Jule's female ancestors that brought in historical elements about wise women/witches and the witch trials in England in the 1600s. I wish the story had kept the focus more on the romance, bookstore rivalry, and witch elements, when it veered into some women's fiction meandering, Jules just living her days and flitting around the town, the pace dragged for me, especially in the second half, I feel some just needed to be edited down/out. 

And it just felt so right. 

The romance had the tension from the bookstore battle but all kept pretty light, I wouldn't call it an incredibly strong focus in this but it was an enjoyable additive. There was some, feeling, forced righteousness to Jules being angry at Roman for things he couldn't change but they get a sweet HEA. The bookstore battle, with the help of the ancestral grimoire plot tie-in, ends in a way not easily predicted but, mostly, happily. All-in-all a cozy and sweet look-in at the newest romance in this little English town setting.

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Review: Living Dangerously

Living Dangerously by Katie Fforde
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1.5 stars 

The 1996 publishing date was strongly felt here. It's wild how technological advances in just my lifetime make 1996 seems like another world. Writing phone numbers down on piece of paper and exchanging them, asking the bartender for the phone to ring up a cab, asking for an ash tray in a cafe, and not answering the phone because you think it's your mom but you don't know who it is. 

Really takes you back. 

Also, mainly, this story made me want to buy an older generational woman a cup of tea or coffee and makes me sad again that I wasn't older/mature enough to give my grandma maybe a little more grace before she died. The way fear around men was prevalent in this and used in a way that the male main character was obviously showcased as a good man because all those times "he looked like he wanted to hit her" he didn't do it. The physical abuse threat hovering, lurking around in this was stomach churning, the MMC make-up is set to never to do but ugh, the threat in the wind with the female main character thinking it quite a lot. Not an older pub I'd suggest worthy of a revisit.

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Reading Romance Bingo Challenge

 That's What I'm Talking About (Twimom227) 2025 Romance Reading Bingo Challenge

2 BINGO! 

*clicking on book title takes you to my review

Sports - The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan

Snow/Ice on cover - Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

Forced Proximity - A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon

SciFi/Fantasy - Order of Swans by Jude Deveraux

Non-US/UK setting (real country) - A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera

TBR over 1 year - The Liar's Dice by Jeannie Lin

LGBTQ+ - Les Normaux by Janine Janssen with S. Al Sabado

Non-US Author - Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki

One Word Title - Prophecy by M.L. Fergus

Royal MC - Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell

MC name starts with a "M" - Too Hot to Handle by Portia MacIntosh

Shirtless Man on Cover - Sweet Starfire by Jayne Ann Krentz

Food on Cover - Time Loops & Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau

Borrowed From Library - Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

MC Over 35 years old - Seize the Fire by Laura Kinsale

MC Works on a Farm - Look Before You Leap by Virginia Heath

Fake Dating - Love is A War Song by Danica Nava

Review: Love Is a War Song

Love Is a War Song by Danica Nava
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

I was public enemy number one. 

Love is a War Song was about a Disney childstar actress trying to grow into becoming a pop star but getting wrapped up in a media frenzy when she showcases her Muscogee heritage in an ignorant way on the cover of Rolling Stone. If you're a fan of Hannah Montana vibes, then you'd probably enjoy this more than I did, it read and came across in a young way to me that I had trouble getting into. 

We were in on the joke. Taking back this Native maiden stereotype. Reclaiming it. But it backfired, because of my ignorance. It wasn’t powerful. It was problematic. 

Avery's only ever known her mother, who's also her manager, for family. She's constantly being pushed by her mom and has no real idea about her Native American heritage. When she dresses in a war bonnet for Rolling Stone, social media goes into a frenzy condemning and arguing if she has a right to wear it. When it looks like her new record deal could be in danger, her mom decides that she should go escape to Avery's grandmother's ranch in Oklahoma. There, the story has Avery trying to learn about her family, being a fish out of water, and arguing and getting turned on by a cowboy on the ranch, Lucas. 

Under these stars, I wasn’t disgraced singer Avery Fox. Right now, I was just a girl (with terrible insomnia) free to do whatever I wanted. 

This was told from Avery's point-of-view and for the first half, I honestly felt like I knew more about her Golden Goose shoes than Lucas. The second half we get Avery inserting herself into Lucas' family drama by pretending to be his girlfriend and going to a family dinner with him. Readers finally learn some about him, he comes from money but has disappointed his father by “only” becoming a ranch hand, and had addiction problems in the past but he's now clean and sober. Their relationship was a lot of Lucas eye-rolling at Avery because he doesn't like how she utilizes her Native American heritage in her celebrity persona and how helpless and naive she is on the ranch, Avery likes to poke at him because he comes off stuffy to her, but there's always the looking at each other's lips factor. There were some rom-com moments ran through for lighter moments and Avery wanting desperately for her grandmother to talk to her about not only her immediate family history but also cultural for some emotional pings. 

Love is a war song, a battle cry. Something to fight for. And I would fight for us. 

Between fish out of water scenes, Avery does slowly start to learn not only about her culture but about herself, and a big event comes up where Avery had to decide if she wanted to continue on the same path or make an effort to live a more true life. I was looking for more emotional depth while this had a lighter, younger, vibe to it, so a different audience, the aforementioned Hannah Montana fans, would more than likely end up enjoying this more.

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2024 Roms Wrap-up

 2024 Roms Wrap-up

*Clicking on book cover brings you to the post with all the nominees

I didn't finish before the end of January and ended up losing a ton of energy for this project and became incredibly busy. I never finished it but I've finally gotten into a grove with things, so here is what I did complete and my favorite books from the year list.

Favorite Cover                     Favorite Secondary Character

                             

Favorite Scene                              Favorite Quote

 

 Favorite Books of 2024

Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken

The Swans of Harlem by Karen Valby

They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar

Principles of (E)motion by Sara Read

Sleeping Beauty by Judith Ivory

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

The House At Watch Hill by Karen Marie Moning

Blackness is a Gift I Can Give Her by R. Renee Hess

Mister O Lauren Blakely

Cabinet of Curiosities by Aaron Mahnke with Harry Marks

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley

Summertime Punchline by Betty Corrello 

Can't Help Falling in Love by Sophie Sullivan

Don't Look Back by Rachel Grant

After Hours by Cara McKenna

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun

Blood and Mascara by Colin Krainin

Meet Me in Tahiti by Georgia Toffolo

The Story Collector Evie Woods

Favorite Book of 2024

Review: August Lane

August Lane by Regina Black
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“What do you think I regret, Luke?”
He’d turned it over in his mind so many times, rewound every choice that led to this: lost moments, misspoken words, every chance he had to love her the way she deserved, but saved himself instead. He gathered it all in his mind, held it there, and said, “You never should have met me.”
She smiled the worst smile he’d ever seen. Like a gaping wound. “You’re wrong. I never should have lost you.”
Luke was too stunned to respond. She used his paralysis as an opportunity to gather her things. There was so much to say. But none of it mattered. “You didn’t” was all he could manage as she slipped out the door.

After I finished reading this, all I could think/feel was Oooof. Get your book clubs to read August Lane because you're going to want to talk about the million and one things in this and not have to condense it down into a short enough review people will read and be tortured like me. Constructed like a song, the story of August Lane starts off with a podcast interview being given by her famous first crowned Black Miss Arkansas Delta Teen mom who had to relinquish the crown after it was found out she had a one year old daughter and then turned country music star. I, obviously, want Jojo Lane's own book but you'll get a good amount of her story in this one, because it gives context to August's character. While we have Jojo's perspective and storytelling in current 2024, the story also goes back and forth into 2023 with August and Luke reunited and 2009, when they first met in high school.

Even now, thirteen years after “Another Love Song” hit the top of the country charts, Luke couldn’t play the first chords without fumbling.

In 2023 Luke is a down and out former country star who got his big break from a reality tv competition show. He's broke, from signing bad contracts, and been on a long separation from his pop sensation wife, who is bisexual and in a relationship with a woman, so careers and media frenzies keep them from going through with divorce. He's doing the bar circuit and singing his one hit song, that destroys him every time because while he wrote the music, he didn't write the lyrics to it and he knows it's stolen. It's when Jojo Lane's manager comes up to him and asks him to sing a duet to that song with her at her country music hall of fame induction, taking place in his hometown, that he may finally get to apologize and try to make things right with August.

He played the music again and sang the revised chorus, changing the tempo to make it more vulnerable, the way she wanted. August sang along and Luke let his voice fade. He watched her while he played, too caught up in the melody to notice he was tumbling into something vast and endless.

The first twenty-five percent or so of this felt like set-up but it's also context, you're going to get an amazing understanding/look into these characters and secondary characters in their lives. August still lives in the hometown her grandmother raised her in, later she was her grandma's caretaker and just lost her three months ago. She has that vulnerability of not feeling like her mother wanted her and the confinement of not being able to break out of how a small town can keep you tied down to any reputation you gained as a kid, undeserved or deserved. The 2009 flashbacks not only show us how August and Luke met but the instances in their lives that made them the adults they are today, August's self-worth from family issues and betrayal from Luke and Luke's inherited self-medicating with alcohol from his mother, who suffered from undiagnosed fibromyalgia. Luke's been sober five years but, obviously, still battles with it as his emotional trauma from his childhood is unresolved.

One strap of her sundress had collapsed, and he leaned over, kissed her bare shoulder, her collarbone, the swell of her breast.

I went into this with my romance reader cap on, and while this was one of the fullest stories I've ever read, the romance didn't feel quite the star of the show that I like in romance genre. It takes a while to really get there but it's because of all the context to understand these two characters, so wear your romance caps but maybe pair them with your contemporary fiction/book club fiction hats too. So while we have August justifiably angry at Luke, Luke feeling incredibly guilty for feeling like he stole August's song, there's also that delicious tension drawing them together, the 2023 parts draw on all this and end up providing a heat inducing open door scene. You'll feel it between these two because the emotional groundwork and development between these two was solidly constructed up to this scene; they have intimacy!

“For people to love me, I mean. I can be a lot.”
“You’re the easiest person to love I’ve ever met.” The words slid so quickly from his mouth that it was like he’d been possessed. No halting half sentences. No long stretches of gathering his thoughts. He nodded at her journal. “It’s right there on paper. You see the world in colors I never knew existed. The rain plays you symphonies. You are so special, August Lane, and I can’t imagine anyone not seeing it.”

I did think the way Luke provided the way to their happily ever after felt a little, he just went and did it, rushed but him doing it probably out weighed the rushed feeling. If you've been looking for an Ooof story, this is it. These characters felt real as they battled, endured, thrived, lost, and loved through physical and sexual assault, racism, colorism, sexism, substance abuse, betrayal, small-town b.s., abortion, cost of fame, and all the little moments that build to make a person and a life. Along with some country music history and shout-outs (DeFord Bailey), the secondary characters were incredibly rich, Luke's brother Ethan and mom Ava, Jojo's manager, the town sheriff, Jojo who I mentioned wanting her own book with this insight about herself: It was the press about me being a good mother. I’m not. I never was. That was forced on me, by Theo and Birdie. August knew that, which made it hard to get close to her. I could never relax with that girl because she was always working so hard to prove she wasn’t a mistake. But all she did was drag me back to that time where I had no control over my life. and also Mavis, August's cousin, I NEED her to get her own HEA. Mavis had this insight about Jojo: “I think she survived terrible things and did the best she could.” She paused. “I also think people can only give what they have. Some of us don’t have much.” and this insight about herself: It’d be easier for him to love me if I loved myself.”. So yeah, read this if you want those ooof feelings and get your friends/book clubs to read it with you because this was rich with elements you're going to want to talk about.

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Review: Heated Rivalry

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I buddy read this on StoryGraph but quick thoughts, 

We were supposed to stand alone at the top, but we will always be there together. We will keep climbing until no one else can reach us, but it will always be together. There had been nothing apologetic in Hollander’s eyes, but there had been no gloating either. And by the time Ilya had shaken the last Canadian hand in the lineup, he was smirking to himself. Because soon the real battle between himself and Shane Hollander would begin. And he couldn’t fucking wait. 

An erotica with good tension and hockey talk! I liked how the story started with a grab you bang and then went back and showed how the eight years had progressed for the two. 

Shane started off the vulnerable hurt your heart with him walking that shame and safety line while Ilya was the more outgoing, you can see how both of their personalities gave and received from each other. As the story goes on, their roles kind of reverse and we get Shane having to be there for Ilya as he deals with emotional abuse from his family and the danger of his home country of Russia. I thought Shane was a little naive here, thinking about/understanding the danger Ilya could be in but his character has that cloak of sheltered throughout; not sure it totally fit. 

I love when erotica has deeply emotional moments, it makes the sex scenes better. Instead of trying to get readers blushing with dirty words, the emotional groundwork has you feeling the connection, which makes the sex scenes feel more intimate, leading to hot scenes and that was done here often. 

He wanted to tell Shane that the closest he felt to home was when he was with him. 

YesYesYes, this always what I want to feel between my leads in romance! 

I liked the ending, it had them together in a HEA way but also one that emotionally resonated in a believable way. 

The old 24/7 Pens & Caps HBO doc shoutout, was much deserved, MASTER PIECE lol

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Review: The Gilded Heiress

The Gilded Heiress by Joanna Shupe
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

The Pendeltons ruined my father's life and my family's future. I'd never forgive it. And someday, I'd find a way to even the score. 

The Gilded Heiress had the beats of the Anastasia cartoon movie, with great historical additives but the romance lacked intimacy and depth for me. Told in dual first person pov's, Leo lives in Boston, hustling as a confidence man to try and take care of his mom and five sisters. His father used to be a gardener for a rich family in New York but when their toddler daughter was kidnapped, an investigation started to point fingers at him and he was sacked without references. This made it hard to find a job and he ended up drinking himself to death. Leo knows his father was innocent and holds a huge grudge against the Pendletons, so when he sees a young woman singing on a corner in Boston that closely resembles Mrs. Pendleton, a scheme is hatched. 

I would need to be more careful with Josie. She had a strange power to make me confess things, apparently. 

Even though this told in both Leo and Josie's povs, I got more of a sense of Leo's character, his scheme to pose as Josie's singing manager to get her to New York and then somehow introduce her to Mrs. Pendelton, convincing both Josie's the kidnapped baby and collecting the reward money, is the plot of the book. We get the bare bones of Josie's character, she grew up in a Boston orphanage, she has a bestfriend Pippa, who we barely see, and she's very judgmental about Leo's past and how he's made money to help his family survive. Josie can hardly lie, could barely understand what would possess someone too, and is that all round sweet, good-hearted character that comes off a little too goody-two shoes, to me anyway. The reader knows the third-act break-up is going to be Josie finding out about Leo's original plan, even though Leo falls in love with her and plans on telling her his original scheme but, obviously, not in time. 

“Careful,” I warned, my voice husky. “Or I might attempt to corrupt you.” 

Her mouth twisted slyly, like she had a secret. “Perhaps I'll let you, tomcat.” 

The romance was pretty much insta-lust, a lot of gazing at lips and body parts that make them have the hots and want to jump into bed together. I struggled with feeling the depth in their romantic relationship, I believed them as friends, but if you're more into the physical, these had some good open-door scenes. If you've been a historical romance reader for years, this will feel like a clearly written stylistic choice to try and catch a newer reader, if the dual first person povs didn't already tip you off. I'm not sure how years long fans of the subgenre will take to it and I'll be vastly interested if the change to pick up new readers works. 

Looking down, I used my pinkie finger to lightly touch the back of her hand---and her breath hitched. 

Shupe is always great with her historical additives (Lotta Crabtree plays a decent part!) and I had a fun time catching things I knew and going on to learn about things I didn't. I wish we could have gotten more scenes with Leo and his family, who he's doing this all for, and gotten Joise's character a little more flushed out, more out of the “I'm here to be lusted after by Leo and shame him for having been a confidence man”. Romantic relationship depth wasn't really here to be found for me, but if third person historical romance hasn't worked for you, this would be something different for you to pick up and if you were looking for some Anastasia movie beats.

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Tip Review: Heart Quest

Heart Quest by Robin D. Owens
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Do not attempt to jump into the series here like I did, save your sanity and start at the beginning.

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Reading Update: 20%

 

I can struggle with Shupe but an Anastasia retelling will always get me to come running. 

I'm thinking more about how this is going to be received, it's clearly written stylistically trying to update historical romance for booktok/new readers and that's already telling me there's a problem in my lack of getting emerged into the story. 

(Y'all I didn't bat an eye at the 3some, that fit to me, lol)

TBRChallenge Review: Callista

Callista by Cordia Byers
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

*This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub discussion. 

This month's TBRChallenge was “Back in my Day” and since I'm perpetually behind, I just dove into my garage sale box of books and looked for a publishing date that matched my birth year. I paid for my laziness. Let me save everyone some time, don't read this book, don't even feel you have to read my review, just click away and waste/save your time elsewhere. 

But, since I'm an informed decision reviewer who personalizes what worked and didn't work (ALL OF IT) for her personally, for inquiring minds..... 

There had been no one to protect her, and there would be no one. 

That quote is patently false, men come out of the woodwork for this empty vessel of a female main character. 

Anyway, our “young breasts” (I deserve something! for how many times I had to read these two words together) FMC is currently working to escape her Aunt Nesseilda (this name might be the only thing I liked) after her aunt betroths her to Lord Condor, an evil man old enough to be her grandfather. There was also the beating she took from her cousin Edwin when she refused to marry. In what starts off as the first of cliches/tropes (although 1983 so maybe more fresh?) Callista decides to hie off to the docks to pose as a cabin boy and get passage back to her home, Tallanton, in Scotland. She was with her aunt because her dad abandoned her after mother died and went off to search for fortune. 

“You won't escape, Callista, until I decide to let you go.” 

On the docks, Callista ends up with a man named Rawlings, they get drunk together and as first mate, he hires her to be cabin boy on his ship. Like me, Callista pays for just jumping in and the ship is going to America, not Scotland. The Captain, Corbin Wolfram is a woman hating, mommy issues from her leaving his dad for a Lord Condor (don't get exited for this plot weaving, it doesn't come into play until last 10%), psycho. We get the elements of her having to wash his back scene and her falling ill for him to realize she's a woman. From there he rapes her (I don't think dub-con can be rightfully argued here), Rawlings and Wolfram fight because Rawlings has, obviously fallen in love with her, Rawlings gets swept out to sea (I seriously almost laughed at how abrupt this was), a hurricane shipwrecks them, they boat to Georgia. 

Callista at this time has those “confusing” feelings of maybe she likes Wolfram, they sex on the beach, they fight, he leaves her, she now gets rescued by a Native American, Brave Fox, he falls in love with her, Wolfram finds her, Brave Fox leaves her to him, Wolfram beats her unconscious, they get to Savannah where a deal is struck that she'll be his mistress for six months. 

Callista also has “visions” and she “saw” her dad mining for gold. It's 1820s Georgia, Gold Rush!, so obviously he's going to be around. Things are seemingly going on track for Callista and Wolfram until he brings back a woman to be her lady's maid that he couldn't get it up for because his head was full of Callista and Callista gets jealous and breaks her promise to stay and leaves. She meets up with John Ross, who she met at a dinner with Wolfram and his business associates. Ross gets the hots for her! He takes her along with a Jim, a Scot who has fatherly feelings for her, to the gold panning area to try and find her dad. She bangs Ross trying to get over Wolfram. 

She meets up with her dad! Ross leaves for some reason but says will be back. Historically the 40 acre lottery is going on and guess who wins the lottery for Callista's dad's plot of land? But she's prego with the woman hating/beating/raping Wolfram. She at first plans on giving up baby after born but falls in love with it and Wolfram again when he shows up to take her dad's land. They talk, Wolfram says he'll sell the land to her dad but comes back beaten up because daddy mad. Callista goes out there to talk to her dad and finds him dead with his wife. She collapses. 

Brave Fox comes back into the picture to rescue her but her baby is stillborn. Brave Fox leaves the picture again. When Callista goes to check on her stepbros, she sees Wolfram and loses her shit calling him a murderer. He cries over the loss of their baby and leaves. 

“Callista, can you ever forgive me for the misery I have put you through?”

“FUCK NO.” You'd think this would be the answer given here, but it wasn't. Scot Jim comes back into the picture along with Ross to take Callista and her stepbros home to Tallanton in Scotland. Jim is a big ole' softy and he books passage on Wolfram's ship to get these two love birds back together, Callista believed him when he said Wolfram didn't kill her parents. On the ship Callista and Wolfram admit their love for one another (?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????), making Ross angry. 

Evil old man Condor comes back into the picture when Ross kidnaps Callista and her stepbros, Ross turns out to be Reaper, a man we saw Condor hire to find Callista (spoiler: he murdered her parents). Condor gets Callista to tell Wolfram she won't marry him. There's a shoot out between Reaper, Wolfram, and Condor. Callista and Wolfram live happily ever after with an epilogue that has Callista saying “Welcome home, my beloved.” to Wolfram when they make it to Tallanton (Screaming into the abyss) 

This was full of racism, physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault (the random trauma dump of the lady's maid talking about how her older brothers raped her?!?), and hopped from one over used romance genre element after the other. Callista was not a fully formed character and came off airy as one man after the other moved her from one situation to another. Because of the rape and beatings, it's not like I really wanted Callista and Wolfram to spend time together but they hardly do, there is no development to their romance (I feel sick even typing that word to describe anything between them). Numerous povs and side characters that felt empty and made situations feel dangling as some plot threads seemed to want to weave together but didn't quite come off cohesive and abruptly ended. Recycle this one, don't waste time reading it. 

*I almost forgot, John C. Calhoun, as vice president makes an extremely random quick appearance, in case that's a clincher for anyone

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Review: In the Veins of the Drowning

In the Veins of the Drowning by Kalie Cassidy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

For nearly three decades now, he had refused to worship the Great Goddess Ligea— the Queen of Sirens. He claimed Sirens were vicious and pitiless as the sea, that they took joy in destruction, and over time he’d stopped honoring the Great Gods all together. He made blood offerings to his water deity, Eusia, instead. 

In the Veins of Drowning was an impressive debut that I hope doesn't get lost in the sea of endless romantasy being published right now. I really enjoyed the world building where kings rule but serve gods and magic plays a role in good and evil. This is adult and for the most part I felt it read that way, you'll get gory and open door scenes for some horror and romance. This was mostly told from our main character Imogen, who in her later twenties is engaged to be married to a captain of King Nemea's guard, who she has been a ward of since she was a baby. The atmosphere clues readers into the fact that not everything is right in this fantasy medieval feeling world, along with the tension bleeding through Imogen's thoughts and feelings. It's when she accidentally exposes herself to her fiance that she's a Siren, beings hunted in this kingdom, that the story kicks off with romance and thriller aspects. 

“No.” I looked him squarely in the eye— I had nothing left to lose. “I came to bind myself to you.” 

Even though Imogen is King Nemea's ward, she has reason to fear him, so with a first meeting that struck something between them, Imogen decides that the King of Varya, Theo, is her way out. They end up doing a blood binding, Theo becomes immune to Imogen's siren calls and they feel a sense of protection towards each other and make a deal that Theo will get Imogen safely to his kingdom, also asking three things of her. They plan on breaking the binding once in his kingdom because Theo is engaged to a powerful empress' daughter. So you can kind of see where this is going, some road adventure with Imogen and Theo starting off a little at odds with one another but trying to fight that physical and binding attraction. I liked the byplay between them but overall I still wanted a feeling of more depth between their emotional connection. 

“Your purpose— the reason I agreed to bind myself to you— is to ensure that you will help me track down and kill King Nemea’s water deity, Eusia. And it’s your power that makes me believe you can. That silent lure you possess is Gods’ power. It’s beyond what a normal Siren can wield.”

While the romance builds between the two with obstacles stacked between them, the worldbuilding takes shape and I was pretty fascinated by it all. Imogen doesn't have all the facts or the truth about her origins and as she learns more, it builds the plot. I don't want to give too much away but her siren abilities point to a greater role she's destined for and the years she spent forced to worship the god King Nemea made her, Eusia, has empowered Eusia in such ways, she may be impossible to defeat. The imagery of sirens and how the wings tear out of Imogen's back, getting a prophecy from the mage seerer, and the nekgya, dead bodies powered by Eusia that hunt sirens in the water, was really cool and had me sinking into this world. 

“There’s too much against us,” I whispered. 

Even though this was mostly from Imogen's pov, I did think we got enough of Theo's backstory to get a good feel for him as a character. There was also a slight secondary romance between Agatha and a commander of Theo's that helped add to the world and made me wish we had a novella of their first time around romance. The romance could have had deeper depth but the fantasy lore building was more than worth the price of admission. This is the first in a duology, though, so prepare for that cliffhanger until next summer.

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Review: Silver Lining

Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I buddy read this over on Storygraph, but a few thoughts and feelings... 

In the end, their marriage was everyone's fault and no one's fault. 

For a book that started off with oozing pustules and vomit, this had my eyes watering at times. This is only my second Maggie Osborne (The Wives of Bowie Stone) but I'm catching a theme, hard tough exterior women with hurt vulnerable insides who survived trauma, and I am here for it. 

I'm going to be labeled a son of a bitch, and you're going to be seen as an unscrupulous temptress. At least in the beginning." 

Her eyebrows soared."Me? A temptress?" It was the most thrilling thing she'd ever heard. 

This starts off with the aforementioned vomit as Low Down is the only person that has stayed in the small gold mining town to take care of all the small pox sick. After the men recover, they need to find a way to repay her and ask her what her one wish is, Low Down replies with “have a baby”. This leads to the men drawing a marble marked with an X to see who will marry Low Down and give her a baby. You'd think all these men would be jumping at the chance to “poke” Low Down but remember the little thing of no indoor plumbing and Low Down has never cared for her appearance and, you know what, just go with it, lol. 

Instead, a solitary silver spoon stood against the wallpaper in the center of the mantel, propped against a scratched pewter watch case. 

One of the men Low Down took care of was Max and even though he's leaving the town that night to return to his fiancée, he gets pushed into the drawing. (I know, just go with it). Low Down knows Max from the letters to his fiancée and has a desire to be wanted like that and finds him good looking, so there's a little bit of foundation that from her that she'd be open to him. He, of course, draws the x marble and we have a forced marriage. 

But take a hard look, son. When you see that woman working up a sweat pitching hay like a hired hand … you're looking at character. 

Max doesn't treat her awful but he's cold and moody because his fiancée was a rich girl who's dad runs the town where Max's family ranch is and he knows the repercussions are going to be huge. As they journey and arrive at Max's ranch, we get the two talking and start to see the slow build of friendship that even more slowly builds to romantic attraction. Max spends some time with his head up his butt because of an unforeseen surprise reveal for him and it makes it harder for him to open up to Low Down. I wish we could have gotten more of Max but he gets some flushing out with issues about growing up seeing his dad controlled by his strong mother and so he's even more resentful about getting pushed into marriage by Low Down. 

"They're treating me squarely, not for my sake, but for yours, and that's all right. But it's true that I could die right now standing here about to wash up the supper dishes, and no one would weep a single tear. That's how it's always been, and that's a fact!" 

Abruptly Max realized that he had no idea what they were arguing about. Not an inkling. 

Max's mom just about stole the show, if strong capable women do it for you, prepare thy self. She comes up with the plan to try and save face with the rich family, forced into doing something because of a surprise reveal, and the jilted fiancee ends up marrying Max's younger brother. The jilted fiancee ended up playing an over the top villain to me, you'll want to dive in and rescue the younger brother, lol. 

  

Now Sunshine laughed. "You do lots of good things, Aunt Louise! I 'spect you always have." 

"I 'spect so, too," Max said quietly, gazing at her above Sunshine's head. 

Her stomach tightened, and her heart pounded against her rib cage. His expression was unreadable, but he looked at her as if he really saw her, as if his sharp blue eyes penetrated to regions others couldn't see. 

I did literally laugh (a little bit of that lighthearted goofy like a historical Garwood) and cry during this. The story Low Down tells about how she got that nickname and telling Max her real name is Lousie Downe and how he reacts was hit you in the heart, it's vulnerable and subtle in that hurt you so good deep way and then Max getting flustered with Louise's huge nightgown was the laughing feel good relief. 

She had family. 

I do wish the romance side of this was a tad more deeper and played out but Louise's journey to getting a family was hurt so good. This will always be the book of a spoon and a marble making me emotional, so if you're looking for a little western feeling atmosphere and subtly in characters' connection and vulnerabilities, this would be one to go find. *A+ to the later descriptions of Max wearing a duster and Stetson

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Review: A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children

A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children by Haley Cohen Gilliland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

A group of fierce grandmothers formed the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, dedicated to finding the stolen infants and seeking justice from a nation that betrayed them. 

A Flower Traveled in my Blood is an historical and emotional account of how the dictatorships, juntas, and upheavals in 1970s Argentina lead to forty years of searching for disappeared family members and fighting for justice. Written by journalist Haley Cohen Gilliland, it takes into account historical documents and first hand accounting from people who lived it. When I started this, I thought the focus was going on to be solely on the group Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, but so that the reader gets a full understanding, Gilliland gives a full accounting and goes through the timeline of political events that lead to the forming of the Abuelas and the political atmosphere affecting their lives. It gives a fuller picture but also felt too scattered at times, it seemed like the story didn't know what it wanted to focus on. If you know nothing of the history of Argentina at this time, you might appreciate the context but others not looking for a full complete history lesson and more of a singular focus on the Abuelas, may get lost in all the historical players. 

The armed men who now roved the city as agents of the dictatorship were at once secretive— driving cars without license plates and obscuring their faces with women’s stockings— and brazen, abducting people off the street in broad daylight. 

While the story lays out the historical events and details about the Abuelas, it also has a solid backbone taking the reader through the timeline by following the Roisinblit family. Rosa was one of the founders of the Abuelas and came into it by searching for her daughter, Patricia. Patricia was earlier on politically active with her partner, Jose, but then had a daughter and was pregnant again, trying to stay off the radar. She was taken, her young daughter left, Rosa ends up taking care of her, and thus begins Rosa's search for her. With the government unstable, and others searching for the desaparecidos, we see how out of necessity Rosa and the other older women, join together to try and find their children. So, while we travel through the timeline of historical events starting in the 1970s, El Proceso (National Reorganization Process), Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, Noche de los Lápices (Night of the Pencils), Operation Condor, etc, we also follow the forming of the Abuelas and some of Patricia's, her children, and Rosa's journey. 

While the armed forces claimed to be targeting “terrorists,” they employed a conveniently loose definition of what that meant. In their crosshairs were not only militants but those on the further peripheries of the left. Students. Artists. Journalists. Union leaders. Lawyers who defended unions. Musicians. Poets. Priests who ministered to the poor. Nuns who helped desperate families looking for their missing relatives. In the eyes of the dictatorship, they were all “subversives.” 

The small beginning of the Abuelas to the organization it grew to was emotional and inspiring. There were the bonds of grief, the infighting from growing pains, the danger from the government and their infiltrators, and their sheer determination to never forget their children. When they start to get help from outside organizations, like the Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas, CLAMOR (Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in the Countries of the Southern Cone), and eventually an American scientist Mary-Claire King, you'll start to feel the power and achievement of collective power. 

The junta had tried to make thousands of people disappear, and to erase the identities of their children. But mtDNA was like an indelible ID tag that every mother seals in her children’s cells. What the Abuelas needed to find their grandchildren was already within them. In their blood, just as in Gelman’s poem, traveled a hardy flower, the mitochondrial DNA that contained the story of every mother that had come before them, and every child they had borne—no matter where in the world they had been taken. 

The later second half focused on the search for the grandchildren of the missing Abuela's children and how DNA research was the hope they were looking for. An important aspect I liked being touched on was how this didn't just devastate the Abuela's lives but the easy answer of finding DNA matches wasn't easy at all. The grandchildren ranks were full of children who had no idea about their origins, sometimes not wanting to know and others feeling torn up about feeling like they were betraying their adoptive parents by getting to know their biological families. Rosa's family thread continues as they find Patricia's child she was pregnant with when she was taken and he talks about how learning his true origins shredded his life. Injustices like this never happen in a vacuum and I'm glad the generational reverberations were shown. 

“It was an honor to scream when everybody else held silence,” 

There were at times I thought the organization of the storytelling felt too scattered but if you don't mind a pretty thorough relaying of the political historical events of the time, the eye-opening and emotional journey is worth it. The Roisinblit family doesn't get a full happy ending, no such thing exists in circumstances like this, but you'll learn some of what happened to Patricia. As the story takes us all the way up to present day, you'll learn about some of the court cases trying to get justice for these families forty years later, how the ESMA (Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada) prison is now a museum to try and tell some of the desaparecidos stories and serve as a warning when eyes turn away, and how many grandchildren have been found and how many are still missing. It's a time in history we shouldn't look away from and hopefully, learn from, and this covered the emotional toll of living through such time and standing up to it pretty well.

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