Things have been pretty crazy for us Book Bingers, and we fell a little behind. Today we’re playing catch-up.
Holly: Since last time, I finished Shield-Maiden: Under the Hunter’s Moon and Shield-Maiden: Under the Thunder Moon by Melanie Karsak. I ended up really enjoying the series. A key plot-line from the first book was wrapped up here, and I plan to hold off on reading any more in the series for now. Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai was super wonderful. This is the Hades/Persephone story I’ve been waiting for. I wish there had been more. I read Wicked Wish by Veronica Douglas and Linsey Hall, a new to me duo. I enjoyed the book as a whole, though I did have some minor gripes with it. I plan to read further in the series.
I started the Dragon Dojo Brotherhood series by Olivia Ash without realizing it features a “reverse-harem” (a term I hate). Reign of Dragons, book 1, was really great. A little long and repetitive in places, but I really enjoyed the story and the world-building. Fate of Dragons, the second book, felt more like a placeholder novel. I didn’t dislike it, but nothing really happened. I do plan to continue the series at some point.
I listened to the Half-Life of Marie Curie, an Audible play by Lauren Gunderson. It was very well done for being so short. I loved it. I also listened to Snow Day by Julie Lipson, another Audible production. It was a cute short story. I liked it. I enjoyed Pause by Kylie Scott, which features a character we met in Repeat, but it wasn’t as good as I expected it to be based on my unholy love of Repeat. It was good, but not great.
I DNF’d Apprentice of Magic by K.M. Shea. The story was mostly just boring and I was really frustrated with the heroine and how she pretended to be “sweet and nice” all the time. From a review I read, it sounds like that doesn’t change. Frankly, I wasn’t invested enough in either the story or characters to continue on. I’m currently reading Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas for my book club Zoom meeting this weekend.
Rowena: Happy Friday, everyone! I’m reading my second book of the week and I’m ridiculously happy about that. I just finished Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs and enjoyed that one a lot. The case that they were working on was interesting to me and everything that happens with everyone had me gripped with anticipation so I’m really looking forward to where the series goes from here…especially after that ending. Just..wow.
I started Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas so I’m hoping to get that done before tomorrow cause my book club meets on Sunday to discuss it. So far, so good on that one too.
After I finish Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas, I’ll be jumping into my May review pile of Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane and The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He. Wish me luck!
What are you reading this week? Any new favorites or books that drove you crazy? Share!
Over the past week ~
— the science fiction novel In the Quick: A Novel by Kate Hope Day. It definitely strained credulity and the ending was … curious; however, it was a quick read and I enjoyed it.
— Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor, the second Binti novella; this one definitely ends on a cliffhanger. I will likely continue on to the third story. These definitely need to be read in order.
— The Cold Between: A Central Corps Novel by Elizabeth Bonesteel. There are a few things I’d quibble with, but overall I enjoyed the book and hope to read on in the series.
— a reread of Stray (Touchstone Book 1) by Andrea K. Höst which I enjoyed once again. This book is currently FREE for Kindle readers.
— continued my reread of the Touchstone series with Lab Rat One (Touchstone Book 2) by Andrea K Höst; I enjoyed it once more!
Interesting to note that my reading was entirely science fiction this week.
I’m reading Roan Parrish’s IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE. It was published in 2015, but this is the first time I’ve read it (it was available as freebie ebook earlier this week). It’s an M/M romance between a college professor who has just moved to rural Michigan to teach at a small college and a local handyman/furniture-maker. It’s very good—I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read a Roan Parrishbook!
I binged over the last couple of weeks on Elizabeth Stephens’ TAKEN TO VORAXIA SF Romance series. I had previously read the first book and had the second on my TBR pile. I won an ARC of the fifth book but realized I needed to read a couple of the earlier books to properly enjoy it. This series is fantastic and the world building is quite a bit better than is common in SF Romance with alien/human fated mate pairings. (TW though for threatened rape and dub con due to cultural misunderstandings between the aliens and humans).
I also read JUST LAST NIGHT by Mhairi McFarlane and I loved it, but although it is romance adjacent and has a HEA, it is most definitely NOT a romance. There was lots of great banter, but it’s also all about grief, so sometimes it was pretty heavy going. Finally, I read ACCIDENTALLY ENGAGED by Farah Heron, which was absolutely adorable, complete with cinnamon roll hero, sourdough bread baking, and absolutely mouthwatering descriptions of Indian food.
I finished Grace Burrowes’ How to Catch a Duke just last night and really enjoyed it. Before that I read the Storm and Shelter anthology, and I’ve been reading Jean Brashear’s various Texas Heroes’ Trilogies.