#WhatchaReading ? I didn't love the style and tropiness of Eight Dates and Nights, but I did love reading a Hanukkah book that was really focused on Hanukkah. And it's really cool to read about Jewish history in a rural area of Texas.
Favorite moment: It's not a queer romance, but the MMC has a bumper sticker with a Pride flag and the words "Shalom Y'All Means Y'All."
@willaful I met a Jew from Texas in college. I don’t think Becky came from a rural area, but it was something to hear “Shalom y’all” in a Texas accent. I remember another woman, from the Midwest (but born in Israel), who objected to y’all for some reason. So Becky would say “y’all and [her name].”
#WhatchaReading ? I finished the most waste of time old Harlequin, The Wild Side by Diana Hamilton. One of those awful misogynistic old skool books that's pretty fun if you're in the right mood -- but then there's the most lukewarm ending! Why did I suffer through all that angst?! Where is my payoff?!
#WhatchaReading? On my third try, I finally finished The Wake Up Call. I liked it fairly well by the end, but I don't read Beth O'Leary for tropiness and this was all trope all the time. And I'm just not that fond of the "she's a childish pain in the ass and somehow he loves her for it" relationship dynamic. There was some nice tenderness and angst... the supposedly stoic MMC really gets punched in the gut, poor sweet baby.
@willaful I agree, not my favorite O’Leary. I finally finished listening to Elle Maxwell’s “Us, Again” and I don’t know why I didn’t DNF it; it really wasn’t what I was after and I didn’t like the MMC much (or understand the relationship, I suppose). Now on to listening to BK Borison’s “Lovelight Farm” which I like more already. @romancelandia@romancebooks
@willaful@romancelandia@romancebooks I'm avoiding reading my ARC of Evergreen by Devin Greenlee for my read ahead #readathon for #COYER. It's just not capturing me, and the reviews have the same complaints I already notice, so I really want to DNF. Instead I decided to relisten to Eight Winter Nights by Liz Maverick after recommending it, so maybe I can read the next 2 novellas. Definitely more my mood right now.
#WhatchaReading ? I finished Evvie Drake Starts Over and am so glad I gave it a chance. (I had read it was NOT a romance, which made me very nervous. 😂 But any book with such great banter between the leads and a happy ending is romance enough for me!)
Also read Let it Snow by three YA authors and... meh. It has not aged at all well, is kinda racist, and I only really liked Maureen Johnson's story anyway.
I have vague memories of liking Maureen Johnson's work in category--but it's vague, likely pre-blog.
I just started reading another cozy mystery, Death by Demo by Callie Carpenter, and i am really liking the writing voice; there's very good deep point of view from the heroine, without being first person.
#WhatchaReading ? I read the lovely Agents of Winter by Ada Marie Soto. Third in a series and you should really read them in order; also you want to read them all. 😁 (Unless you are very agin gentle and/or asexual romance.)
@willaful@romancelandia@romancebooks Say You’ll Be Nine by Lucy Lennox. It was cute and fun and combined two of my favorite things: home renovations and RVs. 😀
#WhatchaReading ? My last two romances were Lies and Lullabies and Love at First Spite and they were prefectly cromulent ways to pass the time but I don't have much to say about them. (Except the MMC has a rather unusual disability in LaFS. And it irked me that we don't see any decision process when the FMC gets pregnant in L&L.)
Also listening to Evvie Drake Starts Over, which is thoughtful and funny. Wonderful narration by Julia Whelan, as usual.
@willaful Now I want to listen to Evvie Drake (even though I read it) to see if Whalen’s Downeast accents are as faithful as Holmes’s setting was. @romancebooks@romancelandia
#WhatchaReading ? I just finished Seeing Blind by Poppy Dale, a very sweet, sort of "shop around the corner" romance which is my catnip. Part epistolary, which is also my catnip. Kisses only. Kiss only, really. 😁
One character has prosopagnosia, which is a significant disability for him. Can't say if it's an accurate portrayal but it was very interesting.
Slightly disconcerting that it's set in Manhattan and CA but the author is quite obviously British. 😁
@willaful@romancelandia@romancebooks I'm reading/listening to The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis, hoping to finish before #HoHoHoRAT2023 ends tomorrow. It's exactly what I enjoy with Shalvis, easy, with just enough depth. And even though it's not Christmas, the winter scene fits the mood.
@pretensesoup@willaful Katherine Center's latest ("Hello Stranger") leans hard on prosopagnosia for the plot, but apparently Center did a good bit of research to back it up. (Also kisses only, which is not usually my preference, but I like Center's books too much to mind.) @romancelandia@romancebooks
#WhatchaReading ? I just finished Dionysus in Wisconsin and I'd feel a little delicate about mentioning it since the author is on this instance, but fortunately I loved it. 😁 It's kind of like if Neil Gaiman and Cat Sebastian collaborated on a m/m historical fantasy romance. Magic, myths, high stakes, true love.
#WhatchaReading ? I listened to With Love, From Cold World and just like with Love in the Time of Serial Killers, I almost DNF'd because I found the FMC so obnoxious, but kept on and loved it by the end. Maybe her theme is even really obnoxious women deserve love? 😁 Score for me!
Liked how queer the book is for an m/f pairing, especially since it's set in Florida. (MMC is bisexual.) More red state queer books please! (Sensitive readers should note the CWs.)
@willaful I was lucky to get a low number in the holds list for Ali Hazelwood's YA "Check & Mate" which released on Tuesday. It lines up with the observation I've read that "YA is trending older" (the characters are largely 18+) but aside from that it's good to see that PG-13 Hazelwood is as engrossing to me as NC-17 Hazelwood. She can really draw you in to the story and move the story along; I could chuck a chess set through the plot holes but I barely care. @romancelandia@romancebooks
#WhatchaReading ? I finished Thrown to the Wolves, the third in Charlie Adhara's series, and it just gets better and better. Real change and growth for the characters.
#WhatchaReading ? I'm reading Upside Down by N.R. Walker and am confused, because there is so much kvelling about its asexual rep. And so far, in a support group for asexual and aromantic people, the leader/MMC has only talked about people not wanting to have sex, which as I understand it isn't even true of all ace people and is certainly not true of all aromantic people. Perhaps more nuance will appear later in the book?
@willaful Reading Vanessa Riley's first Lady Worthing mystery, Murder in Westminster; I'm compelled to keep reading, even though the narration sometimes feels a bit stream-of-consciousness (first person, part tense), in what feels like an established universe I've just been dropped into without warning.
@willaful@romancelandia@romancebooks it's definitely a spectrum (of which I'm on)...I really hope it gets better, because I had that book on my radar, but I appreciate at least acknowledgement of the spectrum for ace rep.
I'm almost finished my reread of Fairytale by Maggie Shayne, and just started listening to my ALC of Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree!
#WhatchaReading ? I just finished a very soft, sweet romance called Kit & Basie, which I was lucky enough to snag for free. (It's no longer free but is on KU.) It's m/m cottagecore whimsy but somehow manages not to be twee. Also about grief and may be iffy for disabled readers, so check the CWs. Kisses only.
@willaful One of our regional libraries went on a Serena Bell spree following the release of her "Hott Shot" earlier this month, so I'm catching up on her Tierney Bay series - currently "So True". (Apparently I'm reading them out of order, and apparently it doesn't matter. Much.) I'm a fan and biased to like this. @romancelandia@romancebooks
#WhatchaReading ? I finished The Culmination of Everything by Christina Jones. (KU) Two grieving main characters, one highly grumpy. (Sensitive readers should check for trigger warnings.) It's got possibly the most non-commital ending I've ever encountered in a romance -- a true HFN -- but it works. I mostly liked it except for one very recurrent author tic.
@willaful@romancelandia@romancebooks I’m actually something interesting that is shadow-banned on the big Amaz and I’m so looking forward to sharing about it!
#WhatchaReading ? There's nothing like a really good audiobook for making my work get done. Two loads of laundry and a lot of gardening done, thanks to 10 Things That Never Happened. The narrator is just fantastic, such distinct voices and accents. And you can really hear the emotions growing between the characters.
(But now I have nothing to listen to, so I guess housework is done for the day!)
@willaful@romancelandia@romancebooks I’m finally listening to Spare by Prince Harry (16 hours!!). He does a good job of reading it. And the ghostwriter is very talented. I will definitely run out of housework before I run out of book. 😀