Reads (mostly genre romance). Crafts. Rabble rouses. Rants. She/her. Doesn’t look like Rita Hayworth. Sweary. Blocks with abandon.
@willaful I finished _Murder in Belgravia_, by Lynn Brittney; very much a historical procedural, set in Edwardian London. Read it in one long gulp, and now I’m struggling to write the review. Positive: a lot of historical fact woven into the narrative in ways that make sense. Negative: setting up a love triangle for the series, and a slight tendency towards exposition…
@willaful Struggling with _Death at a Scottish Wedding_, the second in a cozy series by Lucy Connelly/Candace Havens. The ARC needed a serious copy editing pass, and the setting (snowed in an old Scottish castle with some 50 strangers and murder) has been for the most part wasted.
Ah well.
@willaful I have to be in a very specific headspace for them, for real.
And even then, it can be iffy whether I can finish them.
@willaful Reading 'Nathan Burgoine’s “Handmade Holidays” and crying my heart out in the best possible way.
(seriously)
ETA: it’s low angst, it’s just incredibly heartfelt and so real.
I have vague memories of liking Maureen Johnson’s work in category–but it’s vague, likely pre-blog.
I just started reading another cozy mystery, _Death by Demo_ by Callie Carpenter, and i am really liking the writing voice; there’s very good deep point of view from the heroine, without being first person.
@willaful Reading a short cozy mystery, involving finding a precious antiquity in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay. Not terribly impressed so far, I’m sorry to say.
@willaful I’ve stalled in reading my TBR Challenge book–Darynda Jones’ _First Grave on the Right_. For once, it’s not the first person (Charley Davidson is a sarcastic flippant smartypants, and so far I like her) but me.
@willaful Reading Vanessa Riley’s first Lady Worthing mystery, _Murder in Westminster_; I’m compelled to keep reading, even though the narration sometimes feels a bit stream-of-consciousness (first person, part tense), in what feels like an established universe I’ve just been dropped into without warning.
@willaful I’m reading an ARC for _Slashing Through the Snow_, the third in a cozy mystery series; I sort of get what it’s going for, but the twee Christmassy sweetness grates on me, and the writing can get pretty tortured in parts:
“I shook my twenty-eight-year-old head” (Chapter 4)
Next up is _A Moment in Crime_, which is just the most fabulous title; it’s the second in the Santa Fe Revival cozy series–fingers crossed (author is Amanda Allen aka Amanda McCabe)
@willaful I’m reading an ARC _Friends Don’t Fall in Love_ by Erin Hahn; it’s loosely tied to her release last year (_Built to Last_), and so far, so good: despite generally not liking first person, present tense, the characters grabbed me from the get. It’s about two longtime friends who once had a one-night stand and now are convinced the other doesn’t want to go back there, ever.
It releases next Tuesday, and I hope to have a review up tomorrow or Saturday.
@willaful I’m reading Lisa Peers’ _Love at 350 degrees_, and f/f romance with protagonists over 40, set in the context of a “reality tv” baking competition.
So far it’s so, so good (I’m at 39%)
@notTheAudience Personally, I think the #CinnamonRollHero should show the sweetness openly, not just to their chosen one/group.
I think we need a term for the crusty-exterior-gooey-center, but cinnamon roll isn’t it, IMO
@Anthro_CLH @lenoreo @Diva007 @romancelandia @romancebooks @OliviaWrites
From the same world, but easily read as a stand alone, I recommend _Honey and Pepper_; Nikias is absolutely a cinnamon roll hero who takes charge in the bedroom.
My review: https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2022/03/25/honey-pepper-by-a-j-demas/
@Diva007
I second the recommendation wholeheartedly!
Here’s my review:
https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2022/06/03/strange-love-by-ann-aguirre/
@willaful I started KJ Charles’s _An Unnatural Vice_, second in the Sins of the City trilogy (which I’ve had in the TBR for seven years, as I hoard her backlist for hard times). And then I immediately started the third and last in the trilogy, because of course once that door was opened, there was no shutting it close again.
@romancebooks