I read this book through an interesting lens, because I was reading it in parallel with a how-to book on writing romance plots. And while I loved 90% of Lady’s Guide, the parts that clunked for me were all plot elements that the how-to book insisted were absolutely necessary plot elements in a romance. While that didn’t lessen my enjoyment of Waite’s book, it did lessen my inclination to take writing advice from the how-to book. This is a well-grounded historical romance between two women with unusual avocations: astronomical calculation and fine embroidery.
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The books in the Glamourist Histories series have been somewhat hit or miss with me. This one, I’m afraid, missed. I might have been more articulate as to why if I’d succeeded in reviewing it closer in time to reading. It mostly boiled down to the protagonists doing foolish things due to unwillingness to communicate or admit weakness, plus some contrived plot twists. At this point I doubt I’ll finish the series. I wish I’d liked it better because I think the author is an amazing human being.
A historic fantasy set in medieval Portugal and inspired by a legend of the miraculous transformation of bread into roses. But is it a miracle or a curse for your touch to turn food into flowers? This story explores themes of self-harm, disordered eating, and the legacy of religious intolerance, all tied up in a slow-growing romance between a future queen and the magical woman who may be her only hope of surviving. Pinguicha has the knack of framing her story with realistic historic attitudes, beliefs, and reactions without suggesting that it places a happy ending out of reach.
Evidently I’m making a habit of reading Vo’s Singing Hills novellas in odd contexts. I read the first sitting on a gurney in an emergency room, and this one hanging out in a park near the Apple Store waiting for my phone’s batter replacement to be completed. This has nothing to do with the content of the books, but is a testament to their convenient length and engrossing content.
Cole has been doing really fun things with the trope of “contemporary royalty romance” in both this and her Reluctant Royals series by creating an entire network of invented kingdoms throughout Africa and the Mediterranean through which her Black protagonists can romp without having to dodge around the legacy of European royal history. Both series now have an f/f entry. In this novella, two complex and difficult personalities clash (and encounter an awkward attraction) around the possibility that one of them is the heir to the mysteriously-disappeared ruler of an island kingdom.
I think the only word for this book is “delightful.” In a standard-issue medievaloid fantasy setting, a teenage apprentice baker and wizard finds herself thrust into the unexpected role of saving the city-state from plots and foreign invasion. With the help of an animated gingerbread man and a magical familiar in the form of a sourdough culture named Bob. I mean, what more do you need to know? The protagonist is believably complex and flawed and the baking-based magic (indeed, the general premise of how magic works in the world) is well-realized and woven into the plot and its resolution.
A story in O’Dell’s world of River of Souls, but starting a different series (Mage and Empire) that combines threads of romance, adventure, and mystery. You get plunged into the world with its rich geography, history, and politics pretty quickly, so it may help to have read other books set in the world to have a solid grounding. For some reason I didn’t love it as deeply as I did the River of Souls series and I’m not entirely sure why.
A graphic novel telling the romance between two women in service, set in a time of social change and opportunity. One character is unapologetically plain and plump, the other is a bi-racial daughter of the English presence in India. There’s lots of exploration of family, loyalty, community, and the tricky balance between security and making a life of your own. And sex. There’s lots of sex. Which I hadn’t quite expected to see on the page given the feel of the cover art and description. Not a problem, just not expecting that.
Being a massive Jane Austen fan, I’m also something of a sucker for spin-offs that do fun things with her characters. Though I have strong opinions on some of the ones that didn’t work as well for me. This is a fun, reasonably fluffy, series in which Mr. and Mrs. Darcy play amateur detectives while encountering all manner of characters from other Austen novels in the context of cozy murders. The writing is competent, though not scintillating (and without a serious attempt to mimic Austen’s own prose).
I'm still trying to figure out the factors that broke through my "reading block" in the past month. One definitely seems to be adding hard-copy books back into the mix, which is how I picked up this one. Another factor I'm beginning to suspect may have helped was trying to stop think about reading as "reading to review" and just read. It's not like I have a significant "voice" as a reviewer, and I started out posting reviews of books just to have a space to think about them a little more.
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