Casee
I read a book called Rise (Rock God #1) by Cassandra Robbins this week. It’s one of those gritty, dark, steamy romances that I’ve been into lately. It ticked off all my boxes plus some. I’m about to start Echo (Archer’s Creek #1) by Gemma Weir. I love a good MC romance & finding new authors so this could be a win-win for me.
I’m listening to The Lion’s Lady by Julie Garwood. I always knew that I loved this book, but listening to it has made me love it even more.
Holly
I am still reading Anna Carven. I finished reading Electric Heart and Darkside Blues, then Brilliant Starlight. That rounded out the Dark Planet Warriors series. Then I went back to the spinoff series, Darkstar Mercenaries. I read Shattered Silence and now I’m reading Fractured Souls.
I also listened to Pride and Prejudice on audio. It was my first time listening to the Rosamond Pike narrated version and I highly recommend it.
My favorite read this week was Serena Bell’s WALK ON THE WILDER SIDE, the second in her Wilder Adventures series about a family-run outdoor adventure company. This book features the “best friend’s younger sister is forbidden” trope, which is not a favorite of mine, but I knew Bell would put her own spin on it and she did. Highly recommended.
Since last time ~
— I stayed up late to finish Swordheart by T. Kingfisher; this was definitely a fun fantasy read with lots of enjoyable banter.
— I did a fair bit of reading for my challenge from another site. This week’s challenge was to read something under the LGBTQIA umbrella.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot Book 1) by Becky Chambers
This novella is set in Panga (perhaps a wiser future earth?) where some centuries earlier self-aware robots moved into the wilderness and disappeared. The story centers around a tea monk (non-binary) and the robot who arrives on the doorstep of the monk’s caravan to ask what people need. This was a genuinely nice (charming, lovely) story, and I recommend it. It’s the first in a series, and I look forward to reading on.
**
The Only Way Out is In by Lyn Gala
This science fiction story was written for a prompt for the Love Has No Boundaries promotion in 2013.The focal character is Jacqs (heterosexual) who is a gunner on the Candiru; quick to fight, he’s considered a troublemaker. Alex (pansexual) is a new commander on board; he sees the real Jacqs and is attracted to him. During the story, Jacqs considers what attracts him to others and ultimately declares himself stenosexual. I was intrigued by and researched the term and determined that it was created by the author. She defines it as “an individual who is sexually attracted to those who possess particular traits rather than being sexually attracted to a sexuality or gender.” I also learned that the story is the first sixteen chapters of the author’s Turbulence which I’d now like to read!
**
Sharing a Pond by Alex Whitehall
This book had a unique premise. Brent lived his first ten or so years as Brenda being raised by wolves (I couldn’t resist; his parents were shifters). On his first shift, he surprised the pack by shifting to a frog and transitioning to male. At eighteen, he was kicked out of his home and ended up in an abusive relationship. The story begins when he is rescued in a snowstorm by a pair of frog shifters, Corey and Shane, who he had been traveling to see. He met them as a child and believed them to be his mates. I particularly enjoyed the few scenes where the trio were frogs. This was a pleasant story, but I don’t expect to re-read it.
**
Ignite by Nora Phoenix
In the not too distant future, the US has split into several new countries; this story is set in the Conservative United States where homosexuality is illegal and begins at a brutal reintegration camp for young gay men. Tan (imprisoned three years), Austin (imprisoned six months), and Mack (new arrival) escape/join forces when a strange meteor shower takes out the power. The men soon learn that this is the start of an alien invasion. I enjoyed seeing these very different men bond as they worked together. This ends with a ‘to be continued’ and is the start of a completed trilogy.
**
The Year of Soup by Howard Reiss
Tess, age 30, is questioning everything — she’s had three careers and three relationships (two with men, one with a woman) — well, everything except her ability to make soup. When the book begins, she’s just opened a soup restaurant in a college town; soon she befriends Beany, an 80+ year old English professor with whom she shares soup and wine every Thursday night for a year (The Year of Soup) until he commits suicide. He leaves her a stack of letters from WWII to the present, and she reads one weekly. I REALLY enjoyed this book (I’ll admit to having a fondness for books with epistolary content); be prepared to crave soup if you read this!