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Book Review: Sub Rosa (Valerius Mystery #1) by Jennifer Burke
In my experience, the best historical fiction involves stories that show the more things change, the more they stay the same. After all, people are people throughout history, just occasionally with better hygiene. Valerius is the highlight of this extended cast of characters for a story in which Burke effortlessly blends modern voice with a…
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Book Review: Peter Cabot Gets Lost (The Cabots #2) by Cat Sebastian
Read my review of “Tommy Cabot Was Here” (The Cabots #1) as part of the He’s Come Undone anthology. Sometimes I don’t highlight much of a book when I read it on my Kindle because otherwise, I’d end up highlighting the entire text. This is often the case with Sebastian’s work for me. I thoroughly…
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Review: Subtle Blood (Will Darling Adventures #3) by K. J. Charles
Read my reviews of the previous books in the Will Darling Adventures series: Slippery Creatures (#1) The Sugared Game (#2) In most series in the suspense/thriller realm, even as a subgenre, the overall sense of danger starts small and then grows larger to encompass a threat to more people. Charles subverts this pattern for the…
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Review: Revolver (Boys of Bow Street #1) by Vera Leigh
Disclaimer: I received an advance electronic copy of this novel from the author. I’m not quite sure how this book ended up on my radar, but I decided to take a chance on accepting a review copy by a debut author because I know how difficult the publishing industry can be to newcomers. I tend…
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Review: The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K.J. Charles
Charles brings many of my favorite things about her writing to this book, such as dynamic and memorable characters and the politics of family and society. Robin and Hart clash immediately, which of course means that they are meant for each other. Hart sees through Robin and his sister’s fortune-hunting scheme and sets out to…
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Author Interview with J.K. Knauss
One of the best things about being an “indie” author is having the ability to re-brand yourself or your works whenever necessary. Check out the gorgeous new cover for J.K. Knauss’ Seven Noble Knights in celebration of her relaunch with Encircle Publications! Below, I’ve also included an interview with the author that has previously been…
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Review: The Sugared Game (Will Darling Adventures #2) by K.J. Charles
Read my review of the Will Darling Adventures #1, Slippery Creatures. Charles has such a fantastic gift for crafting worlds that I want to fall into, populated by characters I want to befriend. In fact, beyond the plot and romance of this particular novel, one of the elements I love best about it is the…
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Review: Slippery Creatures (Will Darling Adventures #1) by K.J. Charles
The bad news: This book does not end with a happily ever after. The good news: Because it’s book 1 of a trilogy! Will and Kim have fabulous and intense chemistry that only enhances the plot they’re embroiled in, and I look forward to seeing their relationship develop throughout the next two books. As always,…
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Review: Wild Seed (Patternnist #1) by Octavia E. Butler
I devoured this novel on a travel day, starting in Baltimore and ending in Indianapolis. I enjoyed many separate elements of this book, from the two very different main characters and their interactions to the historical and scientific elements. Doro and Anyanwu are fantastic foils to each other. While their interactions were sometimes uncomfortable, great…
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Review: A Little Light Mischief (Turner Series #3.5) by Cat Sebastian
This story can be read without the others in the Turner Series, though I highly recommend them. It also shows how women have both more and less freedom to choose their paths in life during this time period. Molly and Alice are both trapped by financial circumstances, but their ability to share a room is…
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Review: The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter (Lilywhite Boys #0.5) by K.J. Charles
One of my favorite things about K.J. Charles’ writing is how she weaves together emotion, intrigue, and suspense. Another of my favorite things is how she inserts non-straight and nonbinary characters without unnecessary fanfare into historical fiction that too often lacks such representation as it it never existed before the twentieth century. In combination, she…
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Review: The Clockwork Witch by Michelle D. Sonnier
Disclaimer: I consider the author a friend; however, I purchased the hardcopy version of this book for full price. As a reader who loves period dramas where the characters are often committed to the correct manners and more, importantly, the correct clothes, I couldn’t go wrong with a version of England with TWO forms of…
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Review: Winter Tide (Innsmouth Legacy #1) by Ruthanna Emrys
I enjoyed and was intrigued by the original novella that set up this world, but the world created within intrigued me much more than the characters. However, I enjoyed it enough to pick up this novel to get it signed by the author at a convention, and I don’t regret any of the time spent…
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Review: “Eidolon” (Whyborne & Griffin #1.5) by Jordan L. Hawk
This short story takes place near the beginning of Whyborne and Griffin’s relationship, and reading it after seven full novels is an interesting trip into the past. In this story, there’s still a bit of relationship angst that I now know to be completely unfounded, but it’s not so angsty as to make me roll…
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Review: “Remnant” (Caldwell & Feximal/Whyborne & Griffin Mystery) by K.J. Charles& Jordan L. Hawk
This short story is available as a free download from K.J. Charles’ website. It is best read after Stormhaven (Whyborne & Griffin #3) by Jordan L. Hawk and the full collection of The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K.J. Charles because it contains significant spoilers for both.
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Review: Threshold (Whyborne & Griffin #2) by Jordan L. Hawk
This book was an excellent follow-up to the first in the series, proving that Hawk is now comfortable with their world and their characters. We leave behind the Lovecraftian city of Widdershins for a company town in the Appalachian mountains, haunted by creatures who are both horrifying and unique.
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Reviews: “Interlude with Tattoos,” “The Smuggler and the Warlord,” and “Feast of Stephen” (A Charm of Magpies short stories) by K.J. Charles
The following short stories are part of the Charm of Magpies series, an historical fantasy-romance world by K.J. Charles. They are best read as companions to the main trilogy.
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Review: Think of England by K.J. Charles
If you’ve ever watched Downton Abbey and thought, “This show could use more espionage, blackmail, and murder,” this is the book for you! What I especially enjoyed about this book is that it is primarily a mystery/thriller with an excellent romance subplot. But more importantly, the romance subplot informs and adds to the tension of the…
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Review: Band Sinister by K.J. Charles
I have become very spoiled by how so many of Charles’ books are series that revolve around a group of people, because I desperately want more books featuring these characters. It was a bit overwhelming, being dropped in the midst of so many names and personalities, but it quickly became what made this book so…
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Review: An Unseen Attraction (Sins of the Cities #1) by K.J. Charles
Thanks to real-life drama dragging me down, I’m back on a kick where I just want to read about happy endings. Therefore, K.J. Charles is the perfect author for me to binge-read right now. I’m so glad that a friend recommended that I check out the Sins of the Cities trilogy next, and I read…
