This wasn't the first book I started in 2024, but it is the first book that I finished. Short, sweet, and sexy Erzabet Bishop's HEDGING HER BETS is tThis wasn't the first book I started in 2024, but it is the first book that I finished. Short, sweet, and sexy Erzabet Bishop's HEDGING HER BETS is the perfect distraction when you're feeling a bit under the weather. It's fun if you're feeling fine, too, but let me tell you - fresh out of the Emergency Room and barely able to see out of one eye this was exactly the book that I needed.
What better than to be swept away by the voluptuous, anxious hedgehog-shifter Natalie Erinaceaous as she learns to come into her own? Especially when that learning is aided by a sexy cat-shifter and bear-shifter who own the local BDSM club and are looking to complete their triad.
Fat positive, kink positive, and polyamory positive - this book has a bit of something for everyone it seems. Your fingers will fly through the pages and the steamy Happily Ever After will be enough to put a smile on your face.
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This... might be one of the strangest reading experiences I've ever had.I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This... might be one of the strangest reading experiences I've ever had. Nevertheless, as a previous reviewer stated, I found myself craving more by the end of it. While the book comes in at a slim 56 pages, it is nevertheless action-packed. True to its genre, there are a fair number of sex-scenes, but unlike other bits of erotica I've read, this book still had a fair bit of plot jammed in between the smut.
Big Al was a lovable character, slowly learning more about human mores and expectation. Tanis is a compelling protagonist, coming into her own and very much taking charge where need be. She's here to protect her... Dino Man even as he protects her in turn. They were a good interspecies pair, and the author was careful to portray the dinosaurs as just as intelligent as humans to avoid any iffy consent issues. Also, very much appreciated the content warnings at the front, even if they are baffling to read.
Lola Faust is a fun author, and I'd be happy to read more of her. Also, kudos to include the beautiful (and likely scientifically accurate!) plumage on the dinos. Pity that isn't on the cover. But hey, the more feathered dinos we get the better....more
There are layers to the narrative that rewards rereading. There is very basic question of where Heathcliff comes from - reading between the lines of the text hint at the possibility of him being the result of an affair that Catherine's father engaged in. Is that then why her father looks upon her romance with him in horror? Is that why he forgives Heathcliff his every bad behavior? Questions pile upon questions, but some answers are undeniable. Nature itself seems to punish the romance and respond to Heathcliff and his "heathen" ways.
Dittmer wrote extensively about the interplay between the weather and the character's emotions. Throughout the book the weather seems to respond to the moods of Catherine and her convictions - the point that even the return of her spirit is accompanied by the gust of wind and the storm. This connection with nature was something eventually - briefly - severed by her becoming 'civilized'. Something Heathcliff, in turn, attempted to do with limited and complicated results.
There is so much in this book. Since I finished reading it nearly a year ago I still continue to think about it, and long to reread it once more. The book remains strong within popular culture, and with good reason. It is a strange, haunting story. It is a romance, but a horrific toxic one in which one's identity is swallowed up by the one that they adore. Lately, I have been thinking about how much of it is echoed within the TWILIGHT series by Stephanie Meyer. What is it about all of this that draws us to it?
I don't entirely know, but I love the way it consumes me.
Fangs by Sarah Andersen was a book that I came across in the library. Reading the description, I immediately snatched it up. The hardcover edition i Fangs by Sarah Andersen was a book that I came across in the library. Reading the description, I immediately snatched it up. The hardcover edition is quite frankly gorgeous. The hardcover is thick, and the page lining is black - appropriate for a love story between a werewolf and a vampire, no? The inlaid cover grants it that extra gothic flare that should endear it to, well, anyone.
Sarah Andersen is famous for the Sarah's Scribbles comics, which I've seen shared around the internet a great deal. I would love to get my hands on that book at some point, though, because I've honestly enjoyed every bit of her that I've read. Her art style is indeed a bit scribbly, thick pen lines and wide-eyed emotions off-set by sly little grins and winking amusements. It's appealing as all hell, and it comes through in this gothic tale as well.
The punk vampire and the druidic werewolf fall in love, and the comic follows the ups and downs of their relationship. The ice cold woman trope is made literal, and hilarious, in the undead mystery girlfriend who can't show up in any photos. As is the hot-headed man... the werewolf who literally is hot as a furnace, but meditates often in the forest and lights his incense. It's adorable, it's endearing, and it made me grin more than once.
My only complaint about this book is that I wish it were longer. I'd love to continue to read the trials and tribulations of this couple, as long as none of them were too terrible because I'm honestly rooting for them both. Bravo, with this cute little book....more
I read this book on recommendation from a couple of people, but ultimately it wasn't really for me. I can undersIt took me a while to get to this one.
I read this book on recommendation from a couple of people, but ultimately it wasn't really for me. I can understand the appeal of the book - I can fully understand why people are drawn to it and why they devour it and have become downright obsessed with it. I can understand why it moves so many to tears, too. It just... didn't quite work that way for me. The book is perfectly engineered for popularity, you know?
I have a lot of difficulties with this book. A lot of them other reviewers have already explained better than me. Mainly, how where it is being written about is being written about - there are geographical and cultural errors there, that are... difficult for me to look over. Some of it is also in how clearly delineated a lot of the lines are - people who speak one way in the book are good, another way bad. It's very cut and dry.
My biggest issue with the book is how our dear Marsh Girl changed the way that she did. She is the epitome of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. It's difficult to suspend disbelief that someone with zero education is suddenly reading and understanding Einstein. I mean, even Shakespeare, who people argue didn't exist constantly due to classism, made a ton of errors due to the nature of his education. She'd be similar, wouldn't she?
I dunno, man. This book just didn't really do it for me....more
I am being generous with my stars. This book is more around a 3.5 from me, but I'd rather round up than round down since I genuinely enjoyed this readI am being generous with my stars. This book is more around a 3.5 from me, but I'd rather round up than round down since I genuinely enjoyed this reading experience.
I'm not typically a reader of romance, let alone historical fantasy romance, but after a brief adjustment period I really got into the book. I found the characters well written, and with compelling depth and motivations behind their actions. The depiction of being LGBT during the time period felt well done to me. In particular, I found the magical world that was created a particularly good one. There was good attention paid to how magic would be treated based upon class and gender within Victorian society, which created some good discussions between the members of my book club.
While I agree with other reviewers that I badly want to hear more about what happened with the four girls sixty years prior to the events of this book, I genuinely think more of that has potential to be revealed. I trust the author, and will be following them with interest.
I also genuinely want to read more in this genre. It was such a delight! ...more
This is a book. Somehow. It is in my library system... somehow. I came to know of its existence and I had to read it. I me Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend.
This is a book. Somehow. It is in my library system... somehow. I came to know of its existence and I had to read it. I mean, who wouldn't, right? Well... I did read it. I'm not entirely certain what I read, though.
Shiels is our main character. She is head of the Student Council and she wants the reader to know it. This is a job that she takes seriously, and the bulk of the book is her concerned with the various things that she is responsible for as head of the Student Council. These are things such as dances, ensuring new students of any species are not discriminated against, and football games for some reason. She also badly wishes to go to college to apprentice under a political anthropologist that everyone else in the books thinks is insane. Shiels has goals and her life is going according to plan until Pyke shows up.
Pyke is the pterodactyl. He has pecs and abs as well as an extremely long "dangerous" beak and a crest that turns crimson when he is aroused. He barely speaks English and is a freshman at the age of 18. He has maybe 10 lines in the entire book. Why? Again, he is a pterodactyl. Literally a pterodactyl. Where he came from, how he exists - none of that is ever explained. He also has a fetish related to yellow running shoes. This is also never explained.
It's lust at first sight for Shiels and this pterodactyl. The problem is that Pyke is already obsessed with someone else and Shiels is dating someone else - his name is literally Sheldon. The book is all... that. Her lusting after Pyke, Pyke squawking at her and starting a band. Pyke turning people's noses purple when they sexually desire him. Shiels "wrangle-dancing" with Pyke. No, I don't know what wrangle-dancing is. I don't know why people's noses turned purple. I don't know why Pyke is desirable or why people are dreaming about him. I don't even know why Shiels is obsessed with running suddenly.
The book is baffling from start to finish. I want to talk to everyone about it. I want to understand if this is satire or not. I want to just... somehow make sense of the fact that a human and a pterodactyl had sex more than once in this book. Did Shiels ever have sex with Pyke? Well, they wrangle-danced. Whatever that is.
So, he wanted to write a sequel to Phantom of the Opera the musical. So, he commissioned Frederick Forsyth to write a seWhy, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Why?
So, he wanted to write a sequel to Phantom of the Opera the musical. So, he commissioned Frederick Forsyth to write a sequel to it for him to adapt to a musical. This is a sequel to the musical, mind, not to Gaston Leroux's old, strange classic. The forward involves a lot of bashing of the novel and praising of ALW and the changes that were made between book and musical. Because of course it is. Cue, the new book.
This book seeks to redeem Madame Giry from what Leroux's book made her by putting her on her deathbed and penning a letter to Erik. A letter that will ideally find him safe and sound in Manhattan, the place that she sent him off to after the finale of the musical. Because she did save his life, after all, being the clever woman she is who knew he was a good man. There's news he needs, after all.
The letter finds Erik having risen to the very top of the ranks of the Manhattan elite through the worship of... Mammon. Yes. Somehow that is part of the book. Darius, his Persian partner in crime is apparently the part of the Persian but also not? They never really acknowledge what the hell is going on there. Also, Erik is building an opera house to have Christine and Raoul and little Gustave to come and perform there. Gustave being Raoul's son - or is he? Dun dun duuuun.
The trouble is Darius also worships Mammon and wants all of Erik's money when he dies. Yes. This is the entire plot.
No, it gets significantly worse. A lot worse.
This is a dumpster fire of a book that spends an entire chapter just ripping into Raoul and how terrible he is when he's... done... nothing wrong.
I expected this book to be a parody of Harry Potter after everything that went down with Rowling over the past few years. Something satirLove is Real.
I expected this book to be a parody of Harry Potter after everything that went down with Rowling over the past few years. Something satirical and something funny, the normal fare of the esteemed Dr. Chuck Tingle. Even though I've previously read his stories and knew his penchant for hard hitting sincerity and sweetness, good messages and surprisingly heartwrenching moments... I still wasn't expecting it with this book.
I was very much proven wrong.
Harriet Porber is a surprising tour-de-force. It's a touching story about a wizard spell-creator who is afraid she's nothing more than a one hit wonder getting back in touch with her creativity, and a bad boy bard finding out that there is more to life than he expected. It's a love story, and has all the trappings of the typical romance tropes but acknowledges them all through the clever use of... meta magic. It's also a bit of a mystery with a few moments of surprisingly taut suspense that makes me rather excited to read Straight at some point later this year.
Harriet Porber hit me harder than I expected, and I'm really happy that I got to read it along with my book club. I'm eagerly anticipating reading Chuck's horror novel and his sequel to this one at some point later this year and continuing to follow his career with baited breath. There's no other author out there quite like Chuck, and the world is a much brighter place for him existing in it.
In 2017 YUM Brands commissioned Catherine Kovach to write this novella, which she lovingly described as "KFC Victorian AU fanfic." It was a bOh, KFC.
In 2017 YUM Brands commissioned Catherine Kovach to write this novella, which she lovingly described as "KFC Victorian AU fanfic." It was a bizarre and hilarious marketing ploy, but KFC is pretty great at those. KFC crocs, Colonel Sanders dating simulator, KFC scented yule logs, and more are all things that they have actually done. Not to mention the brilliant romance movie they put out starring Mario Lopez as Colonel Sanders.
This story is not what the movie was based on. As previously stated, this is "KFC Victorian AU fanfic." The most surprising thing about this story to me was that it wasn't a joke - this was a well-written little romance story, hitting the tropes that it hit hard but earnestly. The male hero just happened to be Colonel Sanders. He didn't even smell like chicken.
Madeline is the Lady of a well-regarded house who wants to find adventure rather than simply be forced into an unloving marriage. She runs away from home rather than marry the unfeeling Duke - and happens to settle in a small seaside town. Colonel Sanders is, well, a mysterious sailor who enters the tavern that Madeline is working in. Love at first sight? It's Colonel Sanders, how could it not be?
It's adorable, and it's a shame that it's more difficult to find than it should be. Let us love Colonel Sanders, world....more
Richard Siken is a poet that never fails to get under my skin.
Crush is a book that is as much about the sensation of being infatuated with another p Richard Siken is a poet that never fails to get under my skin.
Crush is a book that is as much about the sensation of being infatuated with another person as it is about the oppressive emotions that often come with such a feeling. The sense of being overwhelmed with desire, with despair, or with loneliness. The sense of loss when it is gone, or the worse emotions still when the love goes wrong. All of it is here between the pages, and made even more intense by the fact that the crush is that of a boy on another boy who might not feel the same way.
Siken pulls no punches. The poems cut straight to the bone, and they don't relent. I find it impossible to put the book down or to stop the momentum as I read his work. It's all at once or not at all, snippets remaining stuck in my mind long after the book is closed. While War of the Foxes is more near and dear to my heart, that doesn't make Crush any less potent a read.
Siken is most definitely my favorite poet, but he's also one I'm more hesitant to recommend. It takes being in a certain kind of mood to read him, and when you do read him... well. You tend to come away a bit different every time. He's never the same read twice....more
This book hovers somewhere between the two and three star ranking for me.
Ogre Enchanted functions as a prequel to Ella Enchanted that, in practice, This book hovers somewhere between the two and three star ranking for me.
Ogre Enchanted functions as a prequel to Ella Enchanted that, in practice, doesn't exactly fit the bill as much as one would expect. Yes, Ella's parents do appear in it, and we understand their relationship better by the end of the book. Yes, it takes place in the same world and builds upon the culture there. Unfortunately, it isn't quite as strong a book as Ella Enchanted if only because of its size. It takes a little bit longer than expected to reach its ending point, and some of the more interesting aspects of the book (see, Ogre and Dragon relations) aren't elaborated on to a point that truly pleases me. Nonetheless, it isn't a bad read.
This book is a good fairy tale, and one that I'm certain many younger readers will eat up. There's action and peril, a bit of delightful PG gore and grossness in the way ogre society works, and some truly hilarious concoctions that our healer puts together. The gross out factor of some the remedies is great, and sure to crack up younger readers. The complexity of relationships is also explained well, in particular in the form of Peter and how sometimes we don't see people's true colors until far too late. It takes a while to sort out feelings, after all. It's good to have that shown in a book.
So, while not exactly a timeless classic, this is still a pretty good read and one that kids will definitely enjoy. There's nothing at all wrong with simply digging a book, after all. Not everything has to teach lifelong lessons or be profound....more
I shamelessly devour Jennifer Crusie books, but apart from that and the odd classic novel that fits Romance isn't a genre I delve into all the often.
I shamelessly devour Jennifer Crusie books, but apart from that and the odd classic novel that fits into that genre (here's looking at you, Jane Austen you minx) it isn't something I'm altogether familiar with. I love the humor in romance novels, though. I love the give and take of a well-crafted one and the ridiculous scenarios the heroine inevitably gets into. What I hate is the trope of leaving someone you'e engaged to, the cheating and all. The rewards for terrible behavior and lack of communication...
Luckily, this book didn't offer up any of that. In a lot of ways, this was a bit of an anti-romance novel. A book about getting over, or failing to get over, an ex-husband. The trials and tribulations of letting go. The inevitable destructive behavior that doesn't get rewarded. The strange psychic (?) named Mama who will get colors around your head rather than black. Understand? I didn't either.
This was a funny book, yet one all too real when it comes to failed relationships. The obsessive behavior, the fixations, the failure of others to measure up even when they should. This is the messy, awkward side of relationships that's rarely explored this well and the ways the different sexes deal with it. At times I laughed at loud; at times I cringed and couldn't contain an eyeroll.
Of course, all of this was with Carrie Fisher and her great humor and weird perspective. It's difficult not to enjoy her at the best of times, and even though this book might qualify as the worst of times (c'mon, dealing with an ex is rarely good), man was it funny and fun....more
I'd heard a lot about this book prior to digging it. It had actually been recommended to me Spinning Silver was the July selection for my book club.
I'd heard a lot about this book prior to digging it. It had actually been recommended to me for years, and between that and a friend of mine who had been wanting to read it for years it seemed to be an apt pick. Naomi Novik was not an author who I had read before, but after finishing this I badly want to read more of her work. Spinning Silver had such a thoroughly unique voice; I can't wait to see what her other books might bring.
Spinning Silver could easily be summed up as simply a mishmash of fairy tale retellings deep in the depths of Russia, but that would be doing it an injustice. Novik has created her own literary fairytale here, with its own morals and lessons to be taught. She has also layered throughout the book itself a certain degree of Jewish mystical thought through the main character, Miryem, and the parallels between how the Jewish people are treated and the Staryk was a truly fascinating thing to explore. Likewise, the way that Wanda and her family viewed what Miryem did as magic - the art of counting, of writing and reading - created another really interesting avenue to explore.
Miryem is an amazing role model for any YA reader, and really, any reader period - as are the other girls in the story. The amount of thought put into the machinations of the plot and the question of mercy are just stellar.
I am hesitant to write much about the plot itself as the book was just so fun to dive into knowing nothing. It was a joy to let the story sweep me away into the chill of the North - especially with the terrible heat wave that is affecting my state right now. So, in short, this book does live up to the hype in my opinion. It stuck the landing swimmingly. I really look forward to reading more of her books. ...more
You're never too old to catch up on all those hip books you missed reading as a child. Right? Right.
Ella Enchanted was a book that I regrettably missYou're never too old to catch up on all those hip books you missed reading as a child. Right? Right.
Ella Enchanted was a book that I regrettably missed reading as a kid. I was in that cool phase of reading Animorphs and didn't think I wanted to read a silly girl's book. Probably. I don't really remember other than passing it over once and forever wondering about it in an abstracted way later. I didn't see the movie adaptation, but that sparked a curiosity in my mind again. Only I was too old to read it then, so I didn't. So here I am now, nearly 30 and reading a kid's book. No shame, just GoodReads.
Ella Enchanted is a fun update of the Cinderella story that I didn't fully realize was that until the pumpkin coach appeared. It's an adventure story more than a fairy tale, and a fun morality tale about the perils of obedience. Obedience is a good thing, you see, until you have no say in the matter and do everything people ask you to. Obedience, then, is a curse. There's joy in choice, and a balance does exist if only you're able to find it. Ella, cursed with obedience at birth, goes on a quest of sorts to break the curse... The step-sisters are arguably more horrendous in this book than in the original fairy tale. But is it fun? Oh, extremely.
This is part of the host of really great books for young girls out there. It's a good read for a younger set than, say, Dealing With Dragons, although it's a nice stepping stone to getting to that point. There's no objectionable material, plenty of good lessons, and enough action to keep even the more 'tomboy' kids interested. And romance for the less tomboy-ish set.
In short? Great solid book, although if you read it out loud to your kids be prepared for some fun fantasy languages that involve croaking, whistling, and snorting. It's a good time....more
My dear friend Sasha recommended this book to me - she had received it as a Netgalley release - and I eagerly swooped in to read it as well. It soundeMy dear friend Sasha recommended this book to me - she had received it as a Netgalley release - and I eagerly swooped in to read it as well. It sounded intriguing - a woman found dead in a windowless closet of a famous fashion magazine, possible plots and the conniving elite in a world of high fashion. It seemed an irresistible quick read, and proved to be just that. Barbara Bourland, a Baltimore native, has crafted an eminently readable first novel with acerbic wit and entertaining twists and turns.
While the book is a mystery, it is also an entertaining stab at the fashion industry an their mores, entwined equally with a mirror held up to the difficult state of feminist mores. As honorable as it is to try to change the industry from the inside out, such a view may well be impossible. The true changes may come from creating something new, rather than trying to operate from within an inherently oppressive system.
Barbara Bourland is a promising author. She's crafted something deeply entertaining, and already seems to have more on her plate. I'm curious how her writing will improve over time and what other fun stories are up her sleeves.
Hilary "Fox"
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