If you are looking for sunshine and soothing fuzzy animals, this is not the book for you. Rape and murder are mentioned on the very first page of Atone and it just gets darker from there. I read a lot of gory mysteries and am not generally a squeamish person but this book got to me, and not in a good way. Trigger warnings: child rape, sexual assault, sex trafficking, child abuse, forced sterilization. The … Continue reading Atone by Beth Yarnall →
Rogue Desire is available to preorder for 99c! This is an anthology being released July 20th, featuring resistance/protest themed romances. It includes stories from Amy Jo Cousins, Tamsen Parker, Adriana Anders, and more! I’m really excited about this and I know Redheadedgirl is as well.
Continue reading →
So I need to start this review with a whole host of content warnings. Rape mentions including: sexual abuse/rape of children and teens, sexual slavery of children and teens, and prison/revenge rape (i.e. the Heroine “hopes” one of the antagonists is repeatedly assaulted in prison as a punishment for him taking part in the enslavement/abuse) Emotional abuse/manipulation Alcoholism (with some emotional abuse attached to it) Dubious/lack of consent between the Hero and Heroine (their first … Continue reading Atone by Beth Yarnall →
It’s time for Romance Wanderlust, the column in which I find yet more reasons to leave my everyday cares behind and visit romantic locales instead. I haven’t been to any of these locations, so this is neither an endorsement nor a review – just daydreaming with the help of the Internet. For those of us who love Victorian literature, there’s a new reason to head to England. Norton Conyers is finally re-opened to the public … Continue reading Romance Wanderlust: Norton Conyers, Inspiration for Thornfield →
I started 2017 with the purpose of experiencing new things, places and even authors thus chose this book from RITA review list. While reading this book I was in major dilemma about my personal two beliefs. “Don’t quit just as the going gets tough” and “Life is too short to read depressing books.” Okay, so this one is verbatim Susan Elizabeth Philip (SEP) quote which I wholeheartedly agree. This book just didn’t do anything for … Continue reading Make Me Sin by J. T. Geissinger →
This year, I was early enough to choose a couple of my favorite authors for the RITA Reader Challenge (yay!), but I also wanted at least one new-to-me author to read and review. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I chose Pansies solely because I thought the title was pretty and different. I’d never heard of the author or The Spires series, and I had no idea that it was a m/m romance. Not … Continue reading Pansies by Alexis Hall →
Uh oh, it’s Whatcha Reading time! This is the post where we talk about what we’ve been reading and try desperately not to send our TBR piles into epic proportions. We also get to kvetch a little bit about our reading struggles. Gird your loins, or rather book budget, accordingly! Sarah: I’m in a new place reading -wise. I’ve read 5 books on vacation and am now reading the same book as Adam, at the … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? July 2017 Edition →
This book was so charming. SO charming. Hamster wrapped in a blanket eating a carrot charming. Smart and funny with adorable visual descriptions, intense chemistry, and fizzy sparkling prose. It should be at the tippy top of your summer reading pile. The main characters are drawn to each other first through their clever vocabularies. It is a book about smart people who think about things and enjoy witty banter, my ultimate catnip. Naturally, they are … Continue reading Hot in Hellcat Canyon by Julie Anne Long →
Spider-Man: Homecoming is simply adorable due to a storyline and cast that stays firmly rooted in the crisis of adolescence. I didn’t find Spiderman to be as emotionally compelling as some other Marvel movies but I enjoyed it, and the young teens I took with me LOVED it. It’s the first Spiderman movie I’ve seen that really feels like a Spiderman movie. Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place right after the events of Captain America: Civil War. … Continue reading Movie Review: Spider-Man: Homecoming →
This story has a lot of numbers, a ghastly middle, a moment of love and bravery, and a quiet, sort of happy present and ever after. It’s also superbly self indulgent because essentially you’re looking at photos from my travels. It’s like being trapped in my slideshow about my vacation. I will try not to be boring. Recently we traveled for vacation to the island of Rhodes, in Greece. (I took a lot of pictures … Continue reading We’re Still Here: Kahal Shalom Synagogue in Rhodes, Greece →
Elyse and Sarah interview Super Karen, librarian, knitter, romance reader, and co-host of the Knit One, Geek Two Podcast. We talk about childhood fandoms, and the fandoms we love currently, like geek culture, knitting, and romance. We discuss gate keeping, internal snobbery, and the welcoming joy of finding people who love what you love, and are eager to talk with you about it. We also talk about Rhinebeck, and there’s some mild geeking out about … Continue reading 255. Finding Community in the Things You Love: Elyse Interviews Super Karen from the Knit One, Geek Two Podcast →
Over the years, I have read three Barbara Freethy books, the first of which, Golden Lies, came back into my life after a decade of searching because the Bitchery solved my HABO a few years ago. That book is still among my favorites. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will ever be able to say that about Tender Is the Night. While it isn’t a bad book, it also isn’t a good book. If there was … Continue reading Tender Is the Night by Barbara Freethy →
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole is $2.99! Simply put, GET THIS BOOK. It’s a Kindle Daily Deal and is being price-matched. It was our book club selection for April and Sarah completely loved it:
First, yes, you should absolutely read this book immediately, if you haven’t already. There is so much happening in the conflict within each of the protagonists, between the protagonists, and around them and their allies and enemies, I can’t possibly discuss all of it, but please know: if you are a reader (and why else would you be here, right?) this book is a marvelous, intelligent, respectful, breathtaking treat for your brain.
Continue reading →
Reader Katie C. wants to add more mysteries to her reading list, but she wants ones with detectives who are a person of color: I would like to a request a Rec League for mysteries with people of color detectives/sleuths. After the post about the lack of POC in HR, I was looking through the list of mysteries I want to read and the main characters were mostly white females (with a significant number of … Continue reading The Rec League: Diverse Detectives & Sleuths →
I know! It’s summer! That’s robots punching robots time, not super tiny independent rom-com time! YET HERE WE ARE. The Big Sick is a mostly autobiographical film about Kumail Najiani, a Pakistani-American standup comic and actor (Silicon Valley, Franklin and Bash), and how he met his wife, Emily Gordon. While they were dating, Emily got incredibly and mysteriously sick, and was put into a medically induced coma for several weeks. (She recovered! That’s why they … Continue reading Movie Review: The Big Sick →
No joke – when I started writing this review, I had to look up the name of the book because I totally forgot. That pretty much sums up my feelings for Ravenous. I swear I wanted to finish this book. I stopped and started reading it again multiple times in the hopes I would finally give two shits about the plot or the characters, but alas, it was not to be. When I got to … Continue reading Ravenous by M. S. Force →
Hi there! It’s time for some links! Are you ready? We hope these things give you a nice lift to your Hump Day mid-day slump and get you excited for the weekend! … Love theater? Then you’re going to want to check out these Scenery Bags: S C E N E R Y bags are made from retired theatre backdrops. Each bag donates a portion of its profits to take kids to see theatre. Every … Continue reading Links: Bags, Excerpts, & New Music →
