Welcome to the Love at First Book Blog Tour with Berkley Publishing Group. (This Blog Tour post is also posted on my Tumblr book, art, & fandom blog Whimsical Dragonette.)
Synopsis:
When a librarian moves to a quaint Irish village where her favorite novelist lives, the last thing she expects is to fall for the author’s prickly son… until their story becomes one for the books, from the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading .
Emily Allen, a librarian on Martha’s Vineyard, has always dreamed of a life of travel and adventure. So when her favorite author, Siobhan Riordan, offers her a job in the Emerald Isle, Emily jumps at the opportunity. After all, Siobhan’s novels got Em through some of the darkest days of her existence.
Helping Siobhan write the final book in her acclaimed series—after a ten-year hiatus due to a scorching case of writer’s block—is a dream come true for Emily. If only she didn’t have to deal with Siobhan’s son, Kieran Murphy. He manages Siobhan’s bookstore, and the grouchy bookworm clearly doesn’t want Em around.
When Siobhan’s health takes a bad turn, she’s more determined than ever to finish her novel, while Kieran tries every trick in the book to get his mother to rest. Thrown into the role of peacemaker, Emily begins to see that Kieran’s heart is in the right place. Torn between helping Siobhan find closure with her series and her own growing feelings for the mercurial Irishman, Emily will have to decide if she’s truly ready to turn a new page and figure out what lies in the next chapter.
Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars.
My Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would at first. For the first quarter or so I thought it was cute but kept getting pulled out of the story because the language felt clunky and kept tripping me up. I kept running into phrases like “she threw off the throw” which are grammatically fine, but sound really weird. And the language in general felt a little bit simple or juvenile.
But then, around a third of the way through, the story hooked me. I fell in love with the characters and the language stopped tripping me up. I don’t know if the story found its groove and flowed more smoothly, or if I just stopped noticing it because I was too focused on what was happening in the story. Either way, from that point I loved it.
And that ending! I cried, like a lot. More than I’ve cried at a book in quite a while. I wasn’t crying at the romance for a change, but for the story as a whole and the relationships between all the characters.
I think I would place this more in the category of ‘character discovers herself’ rather than strict ‘romance.’ It’s a romance, sure, but that’s not all it is and it’s not always even the driving force. The romance is just a piece of what drives Emily to reinvent herself into the person she was always meant to be.
I would also recommend reading with a box of tissues beside you.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.
Welcome to the Lavash at First Sight Blog Tour with Berkley Publishing Group. (This Blog Tour post is also posted on my Tumblr book, art, & fandom blog Whimsical Dragonette.)
Synopsis:
Sparks fly between two women pitted against each other in this delectable new romantic comedy by Taleen Voskuni, author of Sorry, Bro .
Twenty-seven-year-old Nazeli “Ellie” Gregorian enjoys the prestige of her tech marketing job but is sick of the condescending Patagonia-clad tech bros, her micromanaging boss, and her ex-boyfriend, who she’s forced to work with every day. When Ellie’s lovingly overbearing parents ask her to attend PakCon—a food packaging conference in Chicago—to help promote their company and vie to win an ad slot in the Superbowl (no big deal), she’s eager for a brief change and a delicious distraction.
At the conference, she meets witty, devil-may-care Vanya Simonian. Ellie can’t believe how easy it is to talk to Vanya and how much they have in common—both Armenian! From the Bay Area! Whose families are into food! Their meet-cute is cut short, however, when Ellie’s parents recognize Vanya as the daughter of the owners of their greatest rival, whose mission (according to Ellie’s mother) is to whitewash and package Armenian food for the American health-food crowd.
Sworn as enemies, Ellie and Vanya must compete against each other under their suspicious parents’ scrutiny, all while their feelings for each other heat to sizzling temps.
About the Author:
Taleen Voskuni is an award-winning writer who grew up in the Bay Area Armenian diaspora. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in English and currently lives in San Francisco, working in tech. Other than a newfound obsession with writing rom-coms, she spends her free time cultivating her kids, her garden, and her dark chocolate addiction. Her first novel, Sorry, Bro, received starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist, was named an Amazon editor’s pick, and was favorably reviewed in The New York Times. Sorry, Bro is also winner of the 2023 Golden Poppy award for best romance. Lavash at First Sight is her second published novel.
My Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This was really cute. There was definitely instalove, or like, ‘I just met you but you’re perfect for me’, but it was balanced with ‘buuuuuut our families hate each other so I guess we have to sneak around’ which is a dynamic that I really enjoy.
Nazeli was so committed to her life in the tech world that she didn’t see how unhappy it was making her and how it was constraining her. The weekend with her parents at the food convention, and with Vanya, opened her eyes to possibilities she hadn’t considered. It was such a joy to watch her blossom and start to realize what horrible, horrible people her coworkers were.
The family feud was absolutely hilarious and I found myself grinning as I read most of the book. I also flew through it in one day because I was so into it I couldn’t stop. I also really love that as much as it finally ended up bringing the two families together, it brought Nazeli closer to her parents so they could finally appreciate each other and what each had to offer.
I loved all of the Armenian Lebanese foods – they sounded absolutely delicious – and phrases and bits of culture that the author brought into this book. It really gave it that extra something that made it so much more engaging than your standard family feud book. Even the way Nazeli and Vanya’s parents spoke and treated their daughters felt very authentic to immigrants to the US.
I love when an author includes a different culture *and clearly knows what they’re talking about.* The culture really permeates this book and you can’t separate it out.
I also love the way Taleen Voskuni wrote about San Francisco and Tech culture (which I am somewhat familiar with, and it was definitely recognizable) and also the way she wrote about Chicago. It made me want to explore Chicago when I’d previously had no desire to do so.
I would absolutely read more about Nazeli and Vanya and their romance and their adventures with their families. I’ve had Sorry Bro on hold at my library for a while now – I actually hadn’t realized this was written by the same author – so I’m excited to dive into that one now.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.
The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered.
1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.
Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died – a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders’ for their charm and talent – only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?
As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby’s killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?
Some secrets are better left buried…
From the bestselling, acclaimed author of The Magpie Lord and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen comes a chilling historical mystery with a sting in the tail. You won’t be able to put this gripping story down!
My Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This was incredible. I have long loved KJ Charles’ books and this one, while a mystery rather than a romance, is no different. I love it just as much. Her romances have long contained mysteries, so this wasn’t *that* much of a departure from her usual fare.
I found the story, told alternately between past and present, to be completely gripping in both timelines for the entirety of the book. I had no idea who murdered Toby, and like Jem I vacillated between which of the former friends I most suspected up until the end.
I like that it didn’t end there. I liked that it was a complex issue. I really liked all the themes explored.
The friend group was charming and wonderful and terrible and I slowly fell in love with each of them over the course of the novel. I love the way everything wrapped up, and I loved the healing and growth that happened at the end. It was everything I wanted.
The setting of Oxford was so tangible and concrete. Despite never having been myself, I felt Jem’s ambivalence for the place, the way he loved and hated it, and the way it had such a hold on him. It felt real. For that matter, each of the characters felt real and three-dimensional and present.
The writing was stellar as always and it was a joy and a pleasure to read. I will absolutely be reading any and all future mysteries KJ Charles chooses to write, in addition to her romances.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for providing an early copy for review.
Favorite Quotes
He wondered as he walked if he would stand at the pillar box hesitating, if he’d walk up and down, plagued by doubt and fear and second thoughts, but in the end, it was too damned cold, so he just dropped the letters in.
Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
Ignore any knocking; it will be students, thus unimportant.
Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
Jem didn’t know anyone else who’d use semicolons in a brief scrawl, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed that sort of thing.
Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
He could put on his coat and shoes over his night things to go and ask; he’d look highly eccentric, but this was Oxford.
Welcome to The Love Remedy book blitz with Berkley Publishing Group. (This blog blitz post is also posted on my Tumblr book, art, & fandom blog Whimsical Dragonette.)
Synopsis:
When a Victorian apothecary hires a stoic private investigator to protect her business, they learn there’s only one way to treat true love—with a happily ever after.
When Lucinda Peterson’s recently perfected formula for a salve to treat croup goes missing, she’s certain it’s only the latest in a line of misfortunes at the hands of a rival apothecary. Outraged and fearing financial ruin, Lucy turns to private investigator Jonathan Thorne for help. She just didn’t expect her champion to be so . . . grumpy?
A single father and an agent at Tierney & Co., Thorne accepts missions for a wide variety of employers—from the British government to wronged wives. None have intrigued him so much as the spirited Miss Peterson. As the two work side by side to unmask her scientific saboteur, Lucy slips ever so sweetly under Thorne’s battered armor, tempting him to abandon old promises.
With no shortage of suspects—from a hostile political group to an erstwhile suitor—Thorne’s investigation becomes a threat to all that Lucy holds dear. As the truth unravels around them the cure to their problems is they must face the future together.
Author Bio:
Elizabeth Everett lives in upstate New York with her family. She likes going for long walks or (very) short runs to nearby sites that figure prominently in the history of civil rights and women’s suffrage. Her series is inspired by her admiration for rule breakers and her belief in the power of love to change the world.
This is an engaging story about two people who are each carrying heavy burdens learning to let each other in. There are fun cameos from the women scientists books if you recognize them, but you can also read it without reading the other series.
I really liked all the characters. They were complex and felt very real. I loved Sadie and her gleeful recounting of all the facts she learned at her science school. Lucy was strong and determined but also bent to the point of breaking under the weight of her responsibilities. Thorne was closed off and rigid and desperately in need of someone breaking him out of his self-imposed shell.
The romance wasn’t swoony but was more subtle, a gradual and reluctant giving in to a partnership of mutual appreciation and aide. I really liked that. I prefer a quiet partnership to a grand passionate romance anyway.
What I appreciate most about this story though, is how fiercely feminist it is. Lucy is determined to continue running the apothecary and providing real cures to people who can’t afford them. Her sister Juliet works to provide medical and reproductive care to women in need. Her brother David seems flighty but has his own crusade. Lucy is also determined that every woman should be given the method and means to prevent pregnancy and induce menses if that choice is taken from them.
All of this flies in the face of Thorne’s upper-class upbringing of what a ‘good’ woman should do and know, and serves to create the major conflict between them. Lucy refuses to compromise on her ideals and she shouldn’t have to.
The author’s note at the end brings that struggle into even starker relief. Elizabeth Everett makes it very clear where she stands on the issue of women’s reproductive rights and more power to her. It’s an issue that deserves fighting for and taking a strong stance on.
I would say that the writing and character development of this is even better than the women scientists series and I look forward to her next book.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.
Non-Exclusive Excerpt:
THE LOVE REMEDY by Elizabeth Everett
Berkley Romance Trade Original | March 19, 2024
Excerpt
Lucy’s guilt had been squeezing the breath from her lungs for weeks.
On the counter, slightly dented from having been crushed in her fist, then thrown to the ground and stepped on, then heaved against the wall, sat a grimy little tin. Affixed to the top was a label with the all-too-familiar initials RSA. Rider and Son Apothecary.
Rider and Son. The latter being the primary reason for this very worst of days.
The longer she stared at the tin, the less Lucy felt the strain of responsibility for running Peterson’s Apothecary and keeping her siblings housed and fed. Beneath the initials were printed the words Rider’s Lozenges. The ever-present exhaustion that had weighed her down moments ago began to dissipate at the sight of the smaller print beneath, which read “exclusive.” The more she stared, the more her guilt subsided beneath a wave of anger that coursed through her blood. “Exclusive patented formula for the relief of putrid throats.”
Exclusive patented formula.
The anger simmered and simmered the longer she stared until it reached a boil and turned to rage.
Grabbing her paletot from the coatrack and a random bonnet that may or may not have matched, Lucy stormed out of the shop, slamming the door behind her with a vengeance that was less impressive when she had to turn around the next second to lock it.
Exclusive patent.
The words burned in her brain, and she clenched her hands into fists.
One warm summer afternoon four months ago, Lucy had been so tired, she’d stopped to sit on a park bench and had closed her eyes. Only for a minute or two, but long enough for a young gentleman passing by to notice and be concerned enough for her safety to inquire as to her well-being.
While the brief rest had been involuntary, remaining on the bench and striking up a conversation with the handsome stranger was her choice, and a terrible one at that. Lucy had allowed Duncan Rider to walk her home, not questioning the coincidence that the son of her father’s rival had been the one to find her vulnerable and offer his protection was down to her own stupidity.
Now, as Lucy barreled down the rotting walkways of Calthorpe Street, she barely registered the admiring glances from the gentlemen walking in the opposite direction or the sudden appearance of the wan November sun as it poked through the gray clouds of autumn.
Instead, her head was filled with memories so excruciating they jabbed at her chest like heated needles, rousing feelings of shame alongside her resentment.
Such as the next time she’d seen Duncan, when he appeared during a busy day at the apothecary with a pretty nosegay of violets. He’d smelled like barley water and soap, a combination so simple and appealing it had scrambled her brains and left her giddy as a goose.
Or the memory of how their kisses had unfolded in the back rooms of the apothecary, turning from delightfully sweet to something much more carnal. How kisses had proceeded to touches, and from there even more, and how she’d believed it a harbinger of what would come once they married.
A shout ripped Lucy’s attention back to the present, and she jerked back from the road, missing the broad side of a carriage by inches. The driver called out curses at her over his shoulder, but they bounced off her and scattered across the muddied street as Lucy turned the corner onto Gray’s Inn Road.
Halfway through a row of weathered stone buildings, almost invisible unless one knew what to look for, a discreet brass plaque to the left of a blackened oak door read:
Tierney & Co., Bookkeeping Services
Lucy took a deep breath, pulling the dirty brown beginnings of a London fog into her lungs and expelling it along with the remorse and shame that accompanied her memory of Duncan holding her handwritten formula for a new kind of throat lozenge she’d worked two years to perfect.
“I’ll just test it out for you, shall I?” he’d said, eyes roaming the page. Duncan and his father had long searched for a throat lozenge remedy that tasted as good as it worked. Might Duncan be tempted to impress his father with her lozenge? His lips curled up on one side as he read, and Lucy recalled the slight shadow of foreboding moving across the candlelight in the back storeroom where they carried out their affair.
“I don’t know,” she’d hedged.
Too late. He’d folded the formula and distracted her with kisses.
“I’ve more space and materials at my disposal. I know you think this is ready to sell, but isn’t it better that we take the time to make sure?”
It might have been exhaustion that weakened Lucy just enough that she took advantage of an offer to help shoulder some of her burdens. However, the decision to let Duncan Rider walk out of Peterson’s Apothecary with a formula that was worth a fortune was due not to her sleepless nights, but to a weakness in her character that allowed her to believe a man when he told her he loved her.
Now, four months later, somehow Duncan had again betrayed her.
Having already lost the lozenge formula to Duncan’s avaricious grasp, Lucy had been horrified to find a second formula missing. She’d come up with a salve for treating babies’ croup, a remedy even more profitable than the lozenges. What parent wouldn’t pay through the nose to calm a croupy baby?
Lucy was certain that Duncan must have found out about her work and stolen both the formula and ingredient list for the salve.
This time, Lucy would not dissolve into tears and swear never to love again. This time, she was going eviscerate her rival and get her formula back.
From Hafsah Faizal, New York Times–bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame, comes the first book in a hotly-anticipated new fantasy duology about an orphan girl and her crew who get tangled in a heist with vampires, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.
On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone.
Calling upon a band of misfits, Arthie formulates a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not every member of her crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.
My Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This book was a rollercoaster that took me days to sort out my feelings on.
I was disappointed in this at first, because I have been highly anticipating it since it was first announced and have had it preordered for literal years, but I had a hard time getting into it. It was interesting but somehow the characters weren’t clicking with me. I think maybe it was the love triangle? I despise love triangles in general (unless they all end up together and it’s done well) and I think maybe it makes me distance myself from the characters a little bit. Whatever the reason I was sort of tuned out for the first half and even considered setting it aside.
However. Once I got to the second half I suddenly was in love with the characters and the setting and the plot and I’m really not sure what happened? Things definitely picked up – in fact there were so many twists and reveals in the last 10% of the book that my head was spinning by the end – but I’m still not sure what changed for me. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it at first.
As soon as I finished that frankly explosive ending I immediately went back and restarted it to figure out where I’d gone wrong the first time around. And I don’t know because the second time through that first half was so much more engaging.
I’ve been pondering this review for days now because I don’t know how to rate it since my experience with the first and second halves were so different for no reason that I can figure out. But I think since I came away loving it in the end that I’ll go with that?
The audiobook was well done and I liked the different accents the different characters had. The narrator did a good job differentiating the characters and bringing them to life. It was definitely immersive and kept my attention.
*Thanks to NetGalley, Bookishfirst, and Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy for review.
The fate of a cursed kingdom rests on ancient secrets, broken promises, and fierce friendships in this gasp-worthy final book of the bestselling twisted fairytale Bone Spindle series.
**Perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson, Holly Black, and Marissa Meyer**
Not all curses should be broken. Not all fairytales end happily ever after.
Fi is a prisoner. Briar, a monster. Shane’s a warrior. And Red is a traitor. What was once a formidable group of four fighting to reawaken the kingdom is now ruptured, torn apart by the wicked Spindle Witch.
Confined to a tower with the monstrous Briar Rose, Fi is caught in the Spindle Witch’s ever-tightening web. With the Spindle Witch on the verge of finding the Siphoning Spells and crushing Andar—with Fi’s help, no less—Fi’s only hope lies in decoding the ancient riddle of the Rose Witches before she loses Briar forever.
Shane is desperate to save Andar—and her partner. She’s on the hunt for a weapon left by the mysterious Lord of the Butterflies, which holds the key to the Spindle Witch’s demise. Her love for Red has only fortified. But Red’s betrayal puts her in danger from a new enemy—the Spindle Witch’s executioner, the Wraith, a witch as powerful as he is cruel.
The future of Andar lies in the secrets of its past. Fi and Shane must take on the greatest lost ruin of them all—the Tomb of Queen Aurora.
Filled with vicious bone monsters, new alliances, and surprises at every turn, prepare to be swept away by this taut, clever, and heart-filled series conclusion.
My Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This was a fantastic end to the trilogy and one of my favorite books of 2024 so far. I was surprised at how quickly everything from the previous books came back to me once I started reading, even though I was sure I didn’t remember much. There are no obvious “this is what already happened” sections either. Once I started reading I couldn’t put it down and finished it in two days.
I love how Leslie Vedder took what is on the surface a Sleeping Beauty retelling and completely transformed it, giving it a hefty dose of Indiana Jones and so much more depth than the original tale. The characters are also fantastic, complex and compelling and difficult. I was absolutely hooked from the first moments of the first book to the final moments of the last. I love how, even when things seemed to be wrapping up, there were so many surprises and unexpected moments. I never knew what to expect.
The writing is fabulous and sucked me in immediately. The magic is both beautiful and ominous. The setting is incredibly vivid as well, and there are so many scenes that would make amazing paintings.
I am sad to come to the end of Fi and Shane and Briar and Red’s tale. I would love to see a spinoff series of their adventures after the events in Andar. Especially if Perrin and the Paper Witch were to make cameo appearances. I will be keeping an eye out for Leslie Vedder’s next book – she’s jumped onto my shortlist of autobuy authors at this point.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Razorbill for providing an early copy for review.
This captivating sequel to The Buried and the Bound draws readers into the twisted and irresistible world of the Fair Folk—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Hazel Wood .
As a new coven, Aziza, Leo, and Tristan faced evil and triumphed. All that’s left is to put their lives back together, a process complicated by the fallout from painful secrets, the emotional and physical scars they now carry, and the mysteries that still haunt them.
But with the approach of the solstice comes the arrival of strange new visitors to Blackthorn: the Summer Court, a nomadic community of Fair Folk from deep in Elphame. They’ve journeyed to the border between the human world and fairyland, far from their usual caravan route, to take back something that belongs to them—something Leo’s not willing to lose.
Refusing to give up without a fight, he makes a risky deal with the Summer Court’s princess and regent. The challenge she proposes sends Coven Blackthorn into the farthest, wildest reaches of Elphame.
But when you play games with the Fair Folk, even winning has a cost.
Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
If I were sorting this (and the previous book) based on vibes – which, honestly, is a large part how I sort books – then I would put it with the Cruel Prince trilogy. It’s dark and creepy, but just exactly the right amount. It’s also heartwarming and adventurous and full of brute force human magic borne of desperation and tricky, insidious, charming, treacherous fae magic.
It’s a story of love lost and love found and hubris and naievety and political treachery. It’s a story of bargains and tricks and alliances. I flew through it in a little over a day and absolutely hated every time I was forced to put it down. If I hadn’t had to stop to make dinner for my kid, I would have finished it that first day, my own dinner be damned.
I was instantly transported back to the world and characters of the previous book as soon as I started, as if I’d never left. There was no struggling to get into it or remember what had happened – it was all fresh and immediate and vital. Now that I’ve finished, I want nothing more than to jump into the final book. Unfortunately, It’s not out yet. Barring that, I want to jump back into this one and get caught up in the frenzied rush of it again. And I desperately, desperately want Leo and Tristan and Aziza to succeed and find happiness.
I want more of the characters and their bonds, more of the world and its traps, more of the tentative allies that were never clearly on one side or the other, more of the shifting sands of never clearly knowing what the sides even were because they kept changing.
An instant favorite and one I will definitely go back to. I instantly purchased the audio so I could experience it again in a new format.
*Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, and Roaring Book Press for providing an early copy for review.
Favorite Quotes:
Of all the things that kept him up at night, Leo had always been his favorite
The Summer Queen by Rochelle Hassan
“You do get attached to your librarians.”
The Summer Queen by Rochelle Hassan
Tristan had his doubts that a crowdsourced spell would be sufficient defense against Beor, but he didn’t have any better ideas.
The Summer Queen by Rochelle Hassan
“Forget the pep talk. We need a game plan. Someone tried to kill you.”
“And Beor. I don’t think it was personal,” he said brightly, as if being collateral damage to someone else’s assassination was somehow better than being personally murdered.
Welcome to The Lily of Ludgate Hill book tour with Berkley Publishing Group. (This blog tour post is also posted on my Tumblr book, art, & fandom blog Whimsical Dragonette.)
Synopsis:
Lady Anne Deveril doesn’t spook easily. A woman of lofty social standing known for her glacial beauty and starchy opinions, she’s the unofficial leader of her small group of equestriennes. Since her mother’s devastating plunge into mourning six years ago, Anne voluntarily renounced any fanciful notions of love and marriage. And yet, when fate puts Anne back into the entirely too enticing path of Mr. Felix Hartford, she’s tempted to run…right into his arms.
No one understands why Lady Anne withdrew into the shadows of society, Hart least of all. The youthful torch he once held for her has long since cooled. Or so he keeps telling himself. But now Anne needs a favor to help a friend. Hart will play along with her little ruse—on the condition that Anne attend a holiday house party at his grandfather’s country estate. No more mourning clothes. No more barriers. Only the two of them, unrequited feelings at last laid bare.
Finally free to gallop out on her own, Anne makes the tantalizing discovery that beneath the roguish exterior of her not-so-white knight is a man with hidden depths, scorching passions—and a tender heart.
Author Bio:
USA Today bestselling author Mimi Matthews writes both historical nonfiction and award-winning Victorian romances. Her novels have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, and Shelf Awareness, and her articles have been featured on the Victorian Web, the Journal of Victorian Culture, and in syndication at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes a retired Andalusian dressage horse, a Sheltie, and two Siamese cats. Learn more online at www.mimimatthews.com.
Author Photo Credit: Vicki Hahn
My Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I loved this. It was exactly the sort of banter-filled stubborn hero and heroine who are gone for each other but refuse to admit it story that I love. It’s easily the best of the Belles of London series. Anne and Hartford are perfect for each other but it takes them a while to admit it.
The only problem I had with it was that it was *extremely* predictable. I knew exactly how it was going to go from the beginning and there was no deviating from that. I actually stopped about 75% of the way through and checked goodreads to make sure I hadn’t already read it before. I hadn’t. And yet I had predicted every. single. thing that happened. It was like deja vu but more so. The last quarter unfolded exactly as I expected it to. I don’t know if the foreshadowing was just really intense or what but that did lessen my enjoyment of the story.
Aside from that, however, everything else was exactly as I like in a historical romance. I am curious about the next one, as well, after meeting who will obviously be the new wheelchair-bound, artist hero. I have high hopes because neither of those is something we typically get in a romance hero.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.
Favorite Quotes:
“I wish I were more eccentric,” Anne declared, rousing her spirits to the cause. “I might have traveled to Yorkshire weeks ago and saved Julia from her fate.”
The Lily of Ludgate Hill by Mimi Matthews
Non-exclusive Excerpt:
The twin fragrances of pipe smoke and parchment met her nose. Lemon polish, too, though there was no sign that the maids had done any recent tidying up. The library was a place of spectacular clutter.
Bookcases lined three of the walls; leather-bound volumes on botany, agriculture, and natural history were pulled out at all angles as if an absent-minded researcher had wandered from shelf to shelf withdrawing tomes at random only to change his mind midway through extracting them.
The fourth wall was entirely covered in framed sketches of flowers and greenery. Some images were produced in pencil and others in delicately rendered watercolor. They were-along with the teetering stacks of botanical journals and drooping maps that spilled over the sides of the earl’s carved mahogany desk-evidence of his prevailing passion.
Lord March’s love of exotic plants was legendary. He’d spent much of his life traveling the globe, from the wilds of America to the highest peaks of the Himalayas, bringing back rare seeds to nurture into bloom.
A distracted fellow at the best of times, but a kind one, too, as far as Anne recalled. It had been a long time since she’d darkened his doorstep. A lifetime, it felt like.
She tugged restlessly at her black kid-leather gloves as she paced the worn carpet in front of the library’s cavernous marble fireplace. She’d never excelled at waiting for unpleasantness to arrive.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long.
“Hello, old thing.” A familiar deep voice sounded from the library door.
Anne spun around, her traitorous heart giving an involuntary leap in her breast.
Mr. Felix Hartford stood in the entryway, one shoulder propped against the doorframe. Lord only knew how long he’d been observing her.
She stiffened. After all these years, he still had the power to discompose her. Drat him. But she wouldn’t permit her emotions to be thrown into chaos by his attractive face and figure. What cared she for his commanding height? His square-chiseled jaw? For the devilish glint in his sky-blue eyes?
And devil he was. The very one she’d come here to see.
“Hartford,” she said. Her chin ticked up a notch in challenge. It was a reflex. There was no occasion on which they’d met during the course of the past several years that they hadn’t engaged in verbal battle.
This time, however, he made no attempt to engage her.
He was dressed in plaid trousers and a loose-fitting black sack coat worn open to reveal the dark waistcoat beneath. A casual ensemble, made more so by the state of him. His clothes were vaguely rumpled, and so was his seal-brown hair. It fell over his brow, desperately in need of an application of pomade.
There was an air of arrested preoccupation about him, as if he’d just returned from somewhere or was on his way to somewhere. As if he hadn’t realized she was in the library and had come upon her quite by chance.
An unnatural silence stretched between them, void of their typical barb-filled banter.
Greetings dispensed with, Anne found herself at an unaccountable loss. More surprising still, so did Hartford.
He remained frozen on the threshold, his usually humorous expression turned to stone on his handsome face.
At length, he managed a smile. “I knew one day you’d walk through my door again. It only took you”-withdrawing his pocket watch from his waistcoat, he cast it a brief glance, brows lifting as if in astonishment at the time-“seven years to do it.”
She huffed. “It hasn’t been seven years.”
“Six and half, then.”
Six years and five months, more like.
It had been early December of 1855, during the Earl of March’s holiday party. She’d been just shy of seventeen; young and naive and not formally out yet. Hartford had kissed her under a sprig of mistletoe in the gaslit servants’ hallway outside the kitchens.
And he’d proposed to her.
But Anne refused to think of the past. Never mind that, living in London, reminders of it were daily shoved under her nose. “You’re not going to be difficult, are you?” she asked.
“That depends.” He strolled into the room. “To what do I owe your visit?”
“Presumptuous, as always,” she said. “For all you know, I’m here to see your grandfather.”
Hartford was the only child of the Earl of March’s second son-the late (and much lamented) moralist Everett Hartford. Anne well remembered the man. He’d been as straitlaced and starchy as a vicar. Rather ironic, really, given his son’s reputation for recklessness and irreverence.
“My grandfather is in his greenhouse,” Hartford said, “elbow deep in chicken manure. If it’s him you’ve come to speak with, you’re in for a long wait.”
She suppressed a grimace. There was no need for him to be crass. “Really, Hartford.”
“Really, my lady.” He advanced into the room slowly, his genial expression doing little to mask the fact that he was a great towering male bearing down on her. “Why have you come?”
Anne held her ground. She wasn’t afraid of him. “I’ve come to ask a favor of you.”
His mouth curled up at one corner. “Better and better.” He gestured to a stuffed settee upholstered in Gobelins tapestry. “Pray sit down.”
Lemon polish, too, though there was no sign that the maids had done any recent tidying up. The library was a place of spectacular clutter.
Bookcases lined three of the walls; leather-bound volumes on botany, agriculture, and natural history were pulled out at all angles as if an absent-minded researcher had wandered from shelf to shelf withdrawing tomes at random only to change his mind midway through extracting them.
The fourth wall was entirely covered in framed sketches of flowers and greenery. Some images were produced in pencil and others in delicately rendered watercolor. They were-along with the teetering stacks of botanical journals and drooping maps that spilled over the sides of the earl’s carved mahogany desk-evidence of his prevailing passion.
Lord March’s love of exotic plants was legendary. He’d spent much of his life traveling the globe, from the wilds of America to the highest peaks of the Himalayas, bringing back rare seeds to nurture into bloom.
A distracted fellow at the best of times, but a kind one, too, as far as Anne recalled. It had been a long time since she’d darkened his doorstep. A lifetime, it felt like.
She tugged restlessly at her black kid-leather gloves as she paced the worn carpet in front of the library’s cavernous marble fireplace. She’d never excelled at waiting for unpleasantness to arrive.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long.
“Hello, old thing.” A familiar deep voice sounded from the library door.
Anne spun around, her traitorous heart giving an involuntary leap in her breast.
Mr. Felix Hartford stood in the entryway, one shoulder propped against the doorframe. Lord only knew how long he’d been observing her.
She stiffened. After all these years, he still had the power to discompose her. Drat him. But she wouldn’t permit her emotions to be thrown into chaos by his attractive face and figure. What cared she for his commanding height? His square-chiseled jaw? For the devilish glint in his sky-blue eyes?
And devil he was. The very one she’d come here to see.
“Hartford,” she said. Her chin ticked up a notch in challenge. It was a reflex. There was no occasion on which they’d met during the course of the past several years that they hadn’t engaged in verbal battle.
This time, however, he made no attempt to engage her.
He was dressed in plaid trousers and a loose-fitting black sack coat worn open to reveal the dark waistcoat beneath. A casual ensemble, made more so by the state of him. His clothes were vaguely rumpled, and so was his seal-brown hair. It fell over his brow, desperately in need of an application of pomade.
There was an air of arrested preoccupation about him, as if he’d just returned from somewhere or was on his way to somewhere. As if he hadn’t realized she was in the library and had come upon her quite by chance.
An unnatural silence stretched between them, void of their typical barb-filled banter.
Greetings dispensed with, Anne found herself at an unaccountable loss. More surprising still, so did Hartford.
He remained frozen on the threshold, his usually humorous expression turned to stone on his handsome face.
At length, he managed a smile. “I knew one day you’d walk through my door again. It only took you”-withdrawing his pocket watch from his waistcoat, he cast it a brief glance, brows lifting as if in astonishment at the time-“seven years to do it.”
She huffed. “It hasn’t been seven years.”
“Six and half, then.”
Six years and five months, more like.
It had been early December of 1855, during the Earl of March’s holiday party. She’d been just shy of seventeen; young and naive and not formally out yet. Hartford had kissed her under a sprig of mistletoe in the gaslit servants’ hallway outside the kitchens.
And he’d proposed to her.
But Anne refused to think of the past. Never mind that, living in London, reminders of it were daily shoved under her nose. “You’re not going to be difficult, are you?” she asked.
“That depends.” He strolled into the room. “To what do I owe your visit?”
“Presumptuous, as always,” she said. “For all you know, I’m here to see your grandfather.”
Hartford was the only child of the Earl of March’s second son-the late (and much lamented) moralist Everett Hartford. Anne well remembered the man. He’d been as straitlaced and starchy as a vicar. Rather ironic, really, given his son’s reputation for recklessness and irreverence.
“My grandfather is in his greenhouse,” Hartford said, “elbow deep in chicken manure. If it’s him you’ve come to speak with, you’re in for a long wait.”
She suppressed a grimace. There was no need for him to be crass. “Really, Hartford.”
“Really, my lady.” He advanced into the room slowly, his genial expression doing little to mask the fact that he was a great towering male bearing down on her. “Why have you come?”
Anne held her ground. She wasn’t afraid of him. “I’ve come to ask a favor of you.”
His mouth curled up at one corner. “Better and better.” He gestured to a stuffed settee upholstered in Gobelins tapestry. “Pray sit down.”
Welcome to the Game On book tour with Berkley Publishing Group. (This blog tour post is also posted on my Tumblr book, art, & fandom blog Whimsical Dragonette.)
Synopsis:
When an unexpected Player Two enters her life, a gamer must decide if their relationship is worth leveling up in this new romance from the author of The Love Con.
Samara Reynolds has built a large following as a gamer under an anonymous screen name, and uses her skills as a DEIA consultant to advocate for equal representation in video games. When she posted a video critiquing the popular game Legendsfall, she knew she’d get a reaction from her fans, but the video leads to hundreds of female gamers critiquing the game and its company, Artemis Games. The only thing more unexpected than starting an online movement is getting a job offer from the handsome CEO of Artemis.
Aron Galanis has been on a mission to get his company certified to create gaming content for people with disabilities. When he sees Artemis trending online for all the wrong reasons, he’s determined to right his wrongs and offers the originator a mea culpa, as well as a job offer to overhaul the character options in Legendsfall.
Working together turns Aron and Samara from adversaries into allies, allies into friends, and after that—something more. But once their relationship goes public, will Aron and Samara be able to weather the storm and fight for their happy ending, or is it game over?
Author Bio:
Seressia Glass is an award-winning author of urban fantasy, contemporary romance and paranormal romance. Her current series include the Shadowchasers urban fantasy series and the Sons of Anubis paranormal romance series.
Seressia lives south of Atlanta with her guitar-wielding husband and two bulldozer cane corsos and a senior poodle. When not working on her next story, Seressia spends her free time watching way too much anime and Kdramas.
author photo from goodreads
My Review:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I enjoyed this but unfortunately not as much as I was hoping to. I think it was trying to do too much and so everything felt a bit shallow and glossed over.
The diversity in gaming issue is a much needed take but it was occasionally a little too on-the-nose and I got tired of Samara constantly having to explain what things are like for women – especially women of color- in gaming to Aron. Yes, he is horrified and immediately takes action, but it’s the fact that it has to be explained over and over because he is consistently oblivious that bugs me. It’s realistic, but it gets old, maybe because its *too* realistic.
The romance was wonderful. Samara and Aron instantly clicked and they were so cute together, especially in their casual gaming personas. Hoodie guy was adorable and I totally understood why Samara fell for him so quickly.
The autistic brother storyline was a little odd to me in some ways. I wholeheartedly approve of Samara’s interactions with Benjy and Aron’s protectiveness of him. But I find it odd that Aron has all these “quirks” like hating to be touched and not being able to take crowds or loud noises and not understanding social cues AND a nonverbal autistic brother and yet there’s not even a whisper of a suggestion that he might also be autistic / on the spectrum? That felt like a missed opportunity.
I also thought the Mark issue was handled really oddly. Mark only appears a couple of times, always being all intimidating and trying to steamroll over Aron, when he finally is dealt with I found the entire interaction confusing. His rant was incomprehensible and I’m not sure if that was intentional or just clunky writing.
I also found the writing throughout to be clunky and choppy and full of telling not showing. There were a lot of info dumps, especially about the prejudice and racism and sexism Samara faces. The emotions and tone of the characters also sometimes bounced around wildly in ways that felt soap opera levels of Overly Dramatic. It felt almost like a draft that needed more polishing and smoothing out.
I really liked all the characters, and I wish we had seen more of Grayson because he was such a good and interesting character.
While I had some issues with the book I did overall enjoy it very much and I will be seeking out more of Seressia Glass’ books in the future.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.
Welcome to The Gentleman’s Gambit book tour with Berkley Publishing Group. (This blog tour post is also posted on my Tumblr book, art, & fandom blog Whimsical Dragonette.)
Synopsis:
Bookish suffragist Catriona Campbell is busy: An ailing estate, academic writer’s block, and a tense time for England’s women’s rights campaign—the last thing she needs is to be stuck playing host to her father’s distractingly attractive young colleague.
Deeply introverted Catriona lives for her work at Oxford and her fight for women’s suffrage. She dreams of romance, too, but since all her attempts at love have ended badly, she now keeps her desires firmly locked inside her head—until she climbs out of a Scottish loch after a good swim and finds herself rather exposed to her new colleague.
Elias Khoury has wheedled his way into Professor Campbell’s circle under false pretenses: He did not come to Oxford to classify ancient artefacts; he is determined to take them back to his homeland in the Middle East. Winning Catriona’s favor could be the key to his success. Unfortunately, seducing the coolly intense lady scholar quickly becomes a mission in itself and his well-laid plans are in danger of derailing….
Forced into close proximity in Oxford’s hallowed halls, two very different people have to face the fact that they might just be a perfect match. Soon, a risky new game begins that asks Catriona one more time to put her heart and wildest dreams at stake.
Author Bio:
Evie Dunmore wrote her USA Today bestselling series inspired by the magical scenery of Oxford and her passion for romance, women pioneers, and all things Victorian. In her civilian life, she is a consultant with a M.Sc. in diplomacy from Oxford. Evie lives in Berlin and pours her fascination with nineteenth-century Britain into her writing. Learn more online at www.eviedunmore.com.
author photo credit: Evie Dunmore
My Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
It took me a little while to get into this book. I wasn’t sure at first about the representation of Elias’s character, but I think it improved as the book went on. He and Catriona grew on me slowly until I realized I loved them, more than I have any of Evie Dunmore’s previous characters. I identified a lot with Catriona and that pulled me further into the story as it went along.
There was a point in the middle where it almost lost me, where there is basically one excruciatingly long extended sex scene that goes on for multiple chapters. As far as sex scenes go, it was well-written, but I am ace and don’t find such things particularly appealing or engaging. Luckily the last chunk of the book drops the sex in favor of emotional and intellectual connection, which is my personal preference in a romance.
Perhaps because I love intellectual and emotional connection, and especially slow-burn, I found the amount of history in this book perfect. Catriona is a very intellectual person and it makes sense that her book would be more history-focused. I appreciated the discussion of the ethics of collecting artefacts in the UK when the countries they originated in wanted them back. I thought it went very well with the underlying suffragist theme.
I also really, really appreciated that Catriona is LGBT. This is something that hasn’t come up in Evie Dunmore’s books before that I recall, and that combined with Catriona being obviously not neurotypical made me love her and identify with her even more. I also appreciated that this doesn’t turn into a point of contention between them. Elias accepts it along with her neuroatypicalness as just another facet of her character.
The way Elias treats her quirks and sensory struggles is really heartwarming. He doesn’t make fun of her. He doesn’t try to get her to hide or mask them and pretend to be ‘normal.’ Instead, he accomodates her at every turn and offers suggestions of things that might help ease her way when she has to be surrounded by people. That is rare and shows his gentleness and care better than any of the sex can.
At first the chapters from previous characters’ POVs were jarring, but I came to appreciate the glimpses into their lives. I didn’t feel like they took away from Catriona’s story at all. The epilogue, set when they are all grandmothers and get to see women finally gain the right to vote, was emotional and heartwarming and was a great way to round out a series where women’s suffrage was so central to all of the characters and plots.
I loved this, and of all the books in this series, this is the one I will most likely revisit.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy of this book.
Favorite Quotes:
Lord Peregrin’s chin rose. “I doubt it will improve your opinion of me, sir, but for what it’s worth, I was forced into this appalling scheme by the lady herself.”
What kind of man are you, Elias thought, to allow yourself to be forced into idiotic, improper acts that endanger a woman’s name and safety? As he stared into Lord Peregrin’s perspiring face, he felt supremely annoyed because he himself had been exactly that kind of man.
The Gentleman’s Gambit by Evie Dunmore
Non-Exclusive Excerpt
Applecross, Scotland, July 1882
The breeze stirred and sent shivers across the loch, and the cold entered her bones, urging her to return. She swam with practiced backstrokes, her mind inattentive as her body knew the route to the eastern bank by habit. No one ever visited the small crescent of shoreline where she had left her clothes. The spot was shielded by a rare patch of forest, and only sheep and old gamekeeper Collins knew the path, neither of whom posed a threat to the daughter of Alastair Campbell, Earl of Wester Ross. Gooseflesh rose on her wet skin when she emerged from the water. She strode to the forest edge quickly. Her clothes were still laid out on the boulder, secured in place by a thick volume of Virgil’s Aeneid. With clammy fingers, she picked up the book and her spectacles. Then she noticed it: the presence to her right. She froze.
A man.
A man was blocking the entrance of the forest path.
Ice shot through her stomach.
She clutched the Virgil in front of her modesty; her spectacles clattered to the ground. He was five yards away. Watching her. Her heart was racing. He had already seen her . . . he had seen everything. She turned to him fully with the treacle-slow motion of a bad dream. His contours were fuzzy, but conclusive enough: still young, strong features, broad but lean shoulders in a fitted coat-he was in fine fighting form. Not good. And he was still staring. With an age-old expression of awe. As though he had unexpectedly stumbled through the doors of a cathedral and felt ambushed by the dizzying heights and the dusty taste of the eternal. It would have given her pause, except there was a pair of binoculars resting against his chest. A white-hot sensation rushed to her head.
“What do you think you are doing,” she snapped, the words shooting out cold and clipped.
The man came alive as if he had been released from a spell. He turned his face away.
“You . . . are a woman,” he said, sounding vaguely stunned.
“Astutely observed, sir,” she said, incredulous.
He made a noise in his throat, like a surprised chuckle.
The pulse pounding in her ears near drowned out her conscious thinking. “Of course you’re amused,” she said. “One would expect nothing but low humor from a cowardly Peeping Tom.”
He twitched, as though it cost him effort to not whip his head back round to her. “I was not . . . peeping.”
“So you did not, while walking along the ridge, spot me in the water, use your binoculars to ascertain that I was indeed an unclothed woman, and then creep all the way down through the forest to spy on me?”
Her tone had sharpened with every word and by the end, he should have lain on the ground in neat slices. He stood quite intact if a bit befuddled. His head tipped back on a soft laugh.
“That sounds like a lot of trouble just to see an unclothed woman,” he said. “You are very charming, miss,” he added, “but it’s nothing I have not seen before.”
Her cheeks stung as if she had been slapped.
“Then why,” she cried, “are you still standing there-oh!”
Her startled gasp did make him look back at her, just as a translucent shape flew toward him on a fresh gust of wind. Hell. Her untethered underclothes, fine like cobwebs, had taken off in the breeze.
“Blast.” She lunged forward and slammed her palm down on a remaining stocking. She cast a quick glance sideways. The man was straightening from a crouch with her chemise caught in his fist, as if he had swiped it from midair like a large cat. He eyed her pantaloons next-they had landed in a shrub, and it had to be the pantaloons because there were blurry pink ribbons, doing a saucy dance.
“Don’t touch that,” she wheezed.
He raised his arms over his head. “I won’t touch.”
Her chemise fluttered in his hand like a white flag.
“You really ought to take your leave now,” she suggested through gritted teeth.
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “See here.”
He turned around, seemed to survey the nearest tree, and then he deftly tied her chemise to the trunk by its decorative cords.
“Voilà,” he said and spread his fingers. “You shall never see me again.”
Without a backward glance, he strode into the forest at a fluid pace.
“Nearly gone now,” he called out before his elegant form disappeared around the bend.
Whimsical Dragonette 