Amanda

Oh my god, just talk to each otherUpdated review 3/16/21: I really wanted to enjoy this book, because I've loved the author's YA romances, but this felt like a rehash of [b:When Dimple Met Rishi 28458598 When Dimple Met Rishi (Dimple and Rishi, #1) Sandhya Menon https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1475687488l/28458598.SX50.jpg 48593860], but somehow with even less maturity from the characters. Annika was just kind of a brat all the way around - she finds out pretty early on that Hudson didn't steal the idea for his app from her (and honestly, the two aren't very similar anyway), but she continues to accuse him of doing that and really behaves lihe she's the victim throughout, when it's pretty clear that she ghosted him after their earlier hookup. Anyway. There's even a big competition for funding of their various apps, like the contest in Dimple, and I just couldn't bring myself to be all that invested in any of it, which was disappointing. I'll probably stick with the YA from now on.

I am so behind on my reviews, but this was such a good book! I'm shelving as ‘fantasy,' but it's really more of an alternate history of the American West after a plague kills 90% of the population and women's fertility becomes all-important. I wish the rest of the gang were a little better-differentiated but I'm not going to complain too hard about a book that's as much fun as this one - content warnings for violence and probably several other things, so it's not all fluff, but it was a compelling read, so much so that I had to consciously make myself put it down so I wouldn't read it in one sitting. Also, almost everyone in the gang (besides Ada, it seems) is some variety of LGBT/non-binary and it's amazing.

I was all in on this one until the last 50 or so pages, when Harry gets knocked out and kidnapped by a character who never appears on the page at all and is just mentioned in passing because reasons? I also thought Catherine's big reveal should've happened a lot earlier, and also seriously, everyone in these books is related to each other, even the non-Hathaways. I still love this family dynamic that Kleypas is so good at writing, and I also love a good marriage of convenience/enemies-to-lovers, so I ended up about 75% in on this, which is about good for three stars.

Childhood sweethearts isn't my favorite trope and this still has a little bit of the Roma exoticization that I disliked in the first book, but I really liked Win. The villain was not quite developed enough for me, but overall I enjoyed this one.

Absolutely delightful high-heat, low-conflict fluff. There's some mild angst, and this is an employer/employee romance, but I think it's handled well, all things considered. Turn your brain off (in a good way) and relax into reading about a tall, tattooed, ginger-bearded caregiver and a brilliant cardiac surgeon falling in love.

Really enjoyed this, but I think I would've benefited from at least skimming the first book in the series before starting this one - I read it, but it was right when it came out a couple of years ago, and this one starts right after the events of that book, so it took me a second to get back up to speed and remember who everyone was. The blurb says this is a retelling of Taming of the Shrew, and ... it sort of is, but not really? There's an outspoken woman and someone who wants to court her younger, less combative sister, but there's no taming to speak of (and no payments or anything like in Ten Things I Hate About You). There's growth and change on both sides here, but most of the journey is the duke realizing what a jerk/asshole/etc he's been (and that he has a problem with alcohol) and deciding to finally grow the hell up. I wasn't a real fan of him in the beginning - he doesn't come off well in the first book and his stupid prank almost gets someone killed at first, but I thought the character development was done well and believably. Cassandra and Hyacinth are delights from the beginning, as is their mother. I thought the villain's motive was a little undercooked, but I didn't really mind, since the resolution is done so well. I don't think it'll happen in this series, but I'm gonna need Hyacinth to get a book of her own at some point as well.

I'm not quite sure how to review this one - there were some elements I really liked, some that I didn't, and a pretty troublesome amount of racism/othering of the Roma hero. I guess let's start there; Cam, the hero, is Roma and there is a LOT of use of slurs to refer to him, details behind cut: mostly g*psy, but also at least a few instances of things like "half-breed," since his father was Irish. No slurs from the heroine, but the narration uses the g-term and also there's quite a bit of exoticizing of his “dark” coloring and eye color (I read in print so I don't have exact quotes, but it was pretty constant throughout the book). This was published in 2007, so it's 14 years old as I write this - not ancient, but old enough to have aged poorly in this regard, at least. I'm not sure if there's a good way to write a Roma main character without veering into this weird sort of fetishization, but even if there is, this isn't it.

Okay, other things I wasn't really here for. There's a lot of possessiveness/jealousy from the hero, particularly towards the end of the book, stuff like him getting upset because she was talking to another man (an architect! Doing some work on the Hathaway estate! What a shameless hussy, right), which I absolutely hated. Benefit of the doubt, maybe it was meant to be funny, but if so, it didn't land. It was also explained as being because he's Roma, and ... again with the racism, sadly. I also didn't really love the supernatural element here, honestly. I feel like it would have been more effective to have Leo just mourning Laura and that leading to his depression/substance abuse, instead of bringing in the Roma legend and having him be literally possessed/haunted/whatever it was.

All that said, I did like a lot of this book! I liked Amelia and her determination to keep her family together and provide for her younger sisters, and I liked all the sisters (Leo was kind of an ass throughout, but there were Reasons). I enjoyed the connection to the Wallflowers series, and I thought it made sense in this case instead of being shoehorned in like “hey look, here are these characters you liked!” Lisa Kleypas is still one of my favorite historical writers, and I'm still going to read the next book in this (and probably finish the series, honestly), but I don't think this one is one of her best. Start with the Wallflowers or Ravenels series instead.

I liked each individual chapter - I think my favorite was the one about the Tate family and the rise of the idea of victim's rights. I wanted a little more connection/analysis between the chapters, though; I didn't feel that there was much of a through line to them all and I would have liked more trying to connect the dots about why women in particular feel drawn to true crime, and what leads people to focus on one aspect of true crime instead of another. (Also I would have been really interested to read more about whether being interested in true crime is as much of a middle-class white lady phenomenon as it seems - I say this as a middle-class white lady myself, but an unscientific survey of my friends seems to indicate that this is the case.) In reading the notes at the end, apparently most of these were published previously online or in magazines, which is not a problem at all; each chapter is obviously meticulously researched and well-written, but I did want some more connective tissue between them all.

3.5 stars, rounding up because of the hedgehog. Longer review to follow.

(Won an ARC via Goodreads contest, yay and thanks to the publisher!) This is a super-fun friends-to-lovers Regency with a lot of banter and some amusingly bad sex early on. I love novels that take place at a big country house full of scandal and feelings that people are trying to deny that they have, so this was perfect for that. The plot got a little convoluted in the last third or so of the book, but overall if you like Tessa Dare and Julia Quinn, you will like this series. I'm already excited for the next book (and the one after that, I bet!).

Not bad, just ... basic? I'm not sure what I wanted it to be instead, maybe deeper instead of so broad, but this didn't quite hit the spot for me like I was hoping it would, unfortunately.

Not a lot really happens in this, per se - the big argument/conflict between Mike and Ben is before the novel starts, and is only referenced in flashback. Even Mike's section in Japan is still pretty slow/meditative. This isn't bad, it's just a change for me, since I don't read a lot of literary fiction. I did have quite a bit of feeling “oh my god, you two, just break up,” but this is so much more about character than plot, and I enjoyed the time spent really getting into each character's head. I also liked how this was about two working-class gay men of color in Houston, instead of my (kind of mean) impression of literary fiction all being about white male lit professors in New York who want to sleep with their students. I'd like to read this again to get a clearer opinion of it, and also because the writing is just beautiful.

(Not really a romance, but there is a romance in it, so let's call it that as well.)

Oh my god, this book was so funny and sweet and gentle and just perfect. There's not a ton of conflict, just Linus breaking down his own walls and discovering where he's meant to be. Found-family isn't always my thing, but I just loved all the children in the house - I would try to pick out a favorite (and I will confess an extra soft spot for Theodore and Chauncey), but they were all realistic characters and easily distinguished from each other. This book deals with some heavy things - CWs here there are descriptions of child abuse in the past (though not detailed), and some verbal attacks on magical people from the villagers - but the tone is consistently hopeful and optimistic. I never doubted for a second that things would work out for the best, which is a nice feeling to have in the middle of, you know, everything.

3.5, rounding up - really enjoyed the longer pieces, especially “Confessions of a Human Shield” and the profiles of showrunners. The criticism was always well-written and interesting, but there were things I just didn't get that much out of from time to time, particularly for shows I haven't seen (or haven't seen in a while).

Suffers a bit from the novella problem - insta-love, not quite enough characterization. Still a lot of fun and I need to read more from her!!

(3.5, rounding up.) I love a good slow burn, but holy cow, this was glacial. I think I was at something like 65% of the way through before they kissed? I did enjoy both MC's journeys - Agatha letting go of her old life in London and Penelope finally starting to live for herself. I also learned some history in this! Most of the time, Regency romances just use that era as a setting to mean “empire dresses and lots of balls and The Season” (which is not a complaint, I love that stuff too), but this has no one with a title (except the villain) and actual political persecution, which is much more in line with most people's experiences during this time. Don't get me wrong, “realism” in any historical romance isn't a thing, but a perspective that's focused on working-class people is absolutely refreshing.

(Side note: this cover is the most awkward thing I've ever seen. The models don't even appear to be in the same room, let alone sitting on the same piece of furniture. Neither model looks overcome by passion, more like they're fighting to not sneeze, and they're both probably twenty years younger and quite a bit thinner than the descriptions of the characters they're supposed to be representing. I ‘m all about a cover with real people, but ... if you don't want to use models who are accurate to the characters, that's not saying much great about whoever's doing the selection here.)

I wanted this to be longer because it was so well written and I learned so much from it! I'm not Appalachian but I think a lot of the writing off or pathologizing residents of a region you disdain that Catte talks about here can apply to other areas (like every “red state,” just a thought). I want to read more about Appalachian history and this was a great introduction to the activism and courage that have been there all along.

Slow slow burn with an arranged marriage/marriage of convenience that happens before the start of the book. It makes the pacing a little wonky - there's a lot of exposition/background stuff that's told instead of shown at first, and I think maybe a flashback to their first meeting would have been good? As it goes on, though, I really came to enjoy the slow burn of their relationship and Sanyu dealing with his difficult upbringing and anxiety as a result.

Shanti's motivation was a little underdeveloped for me - I never really got why she wanted to be a queen, specifically, as the way to make positive change in the world, when there are a million other ways to do that, even politically, without trying to marry royalty. I liked her a lot, and I loved her interest in helping her adopted home, but I think a little more background would've been useful here. My only other nitpick is that the tie-in to the next book was more than a little clunky, but I also am very excited for that next book, so I won't fuss too hard.

I loved the cameos-via-text of previous characters from the Reluctant Royals series and I love how fully realized the world of these novels is, and I SUPER-loved the reveal late in the book of what happened to the former queens of Njaza and the missing/erased goddess. I know this is a new series, but the continuity with Reluctant Royals is so satisfying and fun. Very much enjoyed this one!

Fake dating is one of my favorite romance tropes and it was done really well here! I honestly didn't get a lot of Pride and Prejudice from this, certainly not as much as other retellings like Unmarriageable or Aisha At Last (which are both excellent). This had similar names and maybe an awkward/bad first meeting, but beyond that I didn't see many parallels, so if you're expecting this to be a straight retelling, it's not. It is very good, though, and quite charming. I loved Margo and Brendon and the Christmas in Seattle setting. Darcy and Elle were also adorable in that grumpy/sunshine way, and all in all this was a lot of fun, especially this time of year.

I shelved this as “true crime” because the subjects of this book are all linked by Jack the Ripper, but I really loved how this didn't focus on the murderer at all, really, and didn't delve into all the gore and details of the murders themselves. There are a lot of ethical issues with true crime, especially when it comes to murder, but I feel like this did a good job of avoiding those and really telling the stories of these women. I got really drawn into the stories, and even though I knew how they would all end, I found myself hoping that they'd find a way to escape what I knew was going to happen. The author gets so much detail from public records and really manages to make these women into fully realized people.

(Probably 2.5 stars, rounding down?) I was intrigued by the premise here but the writing/plot were just not as strong as I wanted them to be, unfortunately. The whole big thing about Clara's family being upper-class/socialites with a scandalous history was really underdeveloped - a lot of showing, not telling, and it never really goes anywhere. I don't think either of her parents ever appears on-page, and the book skips over any sort of reveal/confrontation with Clara's family and straight to a happy holiday dinner a couple of years later with both families, which seemed like a real cop-out after it was mentioned so often.

I also felt like both leads were really flat/underdeveloped, unfortunately. I wanted more insight into Clara and why she would go from getting a PhD and having a job lined up to trashing all that to move across the country to live with her longtime crush. Like, what? I'm not opposed to characters making big decisions that seem out of character, but give me something to work with here. Josh didn't seem to grow or change a lot either. I was thinking about what was missing from the book this morning, and I realized that neither of the main characters have friends, really - Clara works with her aunt's PR firm, and they both talk with Naomi (mostly about the project), but that's it. There's no other characters that they really talk with or vent to or anything like that, which I think makes them come off more one-dimensional. They're either alone or with each other, basically, and there's no other facets of their personality that might be shown if they interact more with other characters.

Finally, aaaaaaahh please consult a lawyer before writing a legal subplot into your romance! So the big thing is that Clara is working on the re-election campaign for the Los Angeles district attorney. She appears to be running on some type of reform platform (I think, it's not really clear), and Josh gathers a bunch of evidence about the Big Bad Porn Company committing labor law violations (wrongful termination, sexual harassment, unsafe work environment) and refusing to hire people who've worked on Josh and Clara's project. He gives all that info to the DA, she files charges just before the election, and gets re-elected, while the company and CEO are found "guilty," and Josh goes to work for the DA as an "expert witness." Everyone's happy, right? Except that's not how any of this works! Labor law violations are not criminal offenses (for the most part, but none of these are). Refusing to hire someone because they're working with a competitor isn't nice, but it's not a crime, either. The district attorney doesn't investigate stuff like this - it'd be the state Department of Labor or maybe something federal, but sure as hell not the county DA. If the company was found "guilty" (not the term but okay), there would be fines, not jail/prison time. Expert witnesses don't work for the district attorney's office - for obvious reasons, it's a huge fucking conflict of interest, any competent defense attorney would tear them apart. Experts have to be independent so they don't torpedo their credibility. (Also expert witnesses need actual expertise in things like psychiatry/law/medicine.) She could maybe have meant a victim advocate, because DA's offices do employ those, but that's extremely different from an expert witness. None of that probably matters too much to anyone who's not an attorney, but it honestly just took me out of the last quarter or so of the book, and it wouldn't have been hard at all to run by a lawyer and change up. Just sloppy and no need for it to be.

Also, this book needed more Naomi.

I love this series and Lucy Parker's writing is like a warm bath - just relaxing and so nice to sink into and forget about everything else for a while (not sure about this simile, but bear with me). Wasn't quite sure about the age gap but it's not too ridiculous.

Like watching a reality show in book form - an addictive read and lots of fun! Not quite sure whether I'd call it rom-com or romance, since it doesn't really seem to fit into either too well, going by genre conventions: no POV sections for her eventual pick; not first-person or really even all that close third for Bea; the sex on-page (not explicit) isn't with the hero (though I did kind of love that). I'd probably call this general fiction, since it ends up being more about Bea's journey to truly believing she's deserving of love and someone who'll treat her well. Some of the things she goes through on the way there can be tough to read, especially if you've ever been treated badly or made fun of due to your weight - honestly, after the first night of the show, I considered DNF-ing this because I didn't want to spend time in a book where a character my size (or close to, there are no numbers given, which is great) is mocked and mistreated constantly. Luckily, it doesn't go on throughout the book, but just kind of a content warning if that's tough for you.

Loved the diversity and representation, with a couple of nitpicks: didn't love that the ONLY guy who wasn't a muscular/athletic type turns out to be the biggest asshole in the show, and also didn't love Luc basically being the "slutty bisexual" stereotype with a French accent, but loved the ace/aro character, which is definitely underrepresented, so. One more spoilery nitpick: unless I missed it, no one seems to acknowledge that Asher's ex-wife seemed to have a pretty clear-cut case of postpartum depression (maybe coupled with seasonal depression, imagine living in upstate New York and knowing no one else and having two babies?), and maybe it was supposed to be so obvious that no one remarked on it, but ... that complicates the story and her supposed villainy significantly for me, and does the same for Asher's character/decisions as well. ANYWAY. This was so much what I needed right now - from the outfit descriptions to the finale in Paris, this was escapist and delightful. Can't wait to see what's next from this author!

Pretty average historical romance (mid-Victorian), nothing too offensive, nothing too outstanding. A ton of appearances from the leads in previous books in the series, not surprisingly, since this is the sixth book in the series and everyone is related. Could've done with a little less Plot Moppet, and was a little surprised by the seemingly hanging thread of Tom's relationship with his family - when he put it in the "contract," I thought surely it would come up again, but not so much. Anyway. The only real nitpick I have here is that Cassandra is described in the text of the book as being bigger and the cover model, while definitely beautiful, is not plus at all. I enjoyed this, because Lisa Kleypas is wonderful, but it might not stick with me for long.

Finishing this for bingo reasons, but it's like 85% of the book and they just now got to the made-up country that Makeda is possibly princess of. I don't mind a slow burn but the pacing here was bizarre, with most of the time spent on a cargo ship and a ton of interchangeable characters (except the dude that's clearly setup for a third book in this series). This just absolutely did not click for me and I would probably have DNFed under non-bingo circumstances.

Adding after finishing this one: woof. The pacing is even more bizarre once they get to Ibarania, with a completely out of left field resolution to the princess/inheritance situation, and absolutely no denouement or even an epilogue. Just really weird and by far my least favorite Alyssa Cole.

(2022 Summer Romance Bingo: takes place in made-up country.)