Jane Litte's Blog, page 92

Review: Duking It Out (Royal Powers #1) by E.J. Russell

Royal dukes from rival countries, shipwrecked on a deserted island. The grudge match of the century—or a love story of super-heroic proportions?

Sander Fiala, Duke of Roses, is fourth in line to the South Abarran throne, even though his rogue power earned him the nickname “The Monster of Roses” and got him banished from the Castle. But right before he’s about to set off on his annual birthday sailing trip, the Queen asks him to meet with the notoriously volatile North Abarran Duke of Arles.

Tar...

REVIEW: Explorers of Deep Time by Roy Plotnick

Paleontology is one of the most visible yet most misunderstood fields of science. Children dream of becoming paleontologists when they grow up. Museum visitors flock to exhibits on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. The media reports on fossil discoveries and new clues to mass extinctions. Nonetheless, misconceptions abound: paleontologists are assumed only to be interested in dinosaurs and they are all too often pictured as bearded white men in battered cowboy hats.

Roy Plotnick provide...

REVIEW: Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon

Spoiler alert: There are probably spoilers. I’ve tried to keep them mild. Read at your own risk.

CW: discussion of sexual assault (non-graphic), graphic violence

Dear Diana Gabaldon,

The long-awaited book 9 of the Outlander series is a doorstopper (like most of the earlier books). Ordinarily it would be supremely difficult to sum up such a long book in a review. As it happens, the TL;DR is this:  It’s very long, not a lot happens but at least no-one is raped. And there are a lot of bees.

At this ...

REVIEW: Cinderella After Midnight by Mary Burchell

Time is running out for Elaine to find her perfect match…

England, 1967

Having been orphaned as a child, twenty-two-year-old Elaine Telleen has always been dependent on the charity of her domineering godmother, Aunt Gabrielle.

But when Aunt Gabrielle decides to remarry and move away with her new husband, it seems that Elaine may at last be free to pursue her independence. Hoping to eventually support herself, she begs her godmother to help her enter the working world.

However, Aunt Gabrielle h...

CONVERSATION: Enemies to Lovers

Janine: In our conversation about our reading in 2021, the enemies-to-lovers trope came up. I loved some of what you said and thought we could have a wider and deeper conversation about it. Here are some questions to start us off:

Do you enjoy the enemies-to-lovers trope? Why or why not? What are examples of the most successful books with romances between people who begin as enemies? Which enemies-to-lovers books have been least effective for you? Whether you like or dislike enemies to lovers, h...

Sirius’ Best of 2021 list

I am going to do the same thing as I did last year. The first book on my list is the best book with gay romance in it that I have read this year. The rest of the list I enjoyed very much, but the placement on the list does not show any differences in my enjoyment.

 

A Marvelous Light (The Last Binding) by Freya Marske.

I loved this book. I am getting upset when I start thinking that I may have decided not read it after I looked at the price. From my review:

“Of course even the most wonderful lan...

REVIEW: A Heart Adrift by Laura Frantz

It is 1755, and the threat of war with France looms over colonial York, Virginia. Chocolatier Esmée Shaw is fighting her own battle of the heart. Having reached her twenty-eighth birthday, she is reconciled to life alone after a decade-old failed love affair from which she’s never quite recovered. But she longs to find something worthwhile to do with her life.

Captain Henri Lennox has returned to port after a lengthy absence, intent on completing the lighthouse in the dangerous Chesapeake Bay,...

REVIEW: Crash Site by Rachel Grant

Dear Rachel Grant,

I recently listened to Dangerous Ground on audio and loved it so when I saw the second Fiona Carver book at NetGalley I was impatient to find out what was next. I read it almost straight away even though as I write this it’s October and the book isn’t out until January.

In Dangerous Ground, archaeologist Fiona Carver met wildlife photographer Dean Slater and they had a suspenseful adventure together. However, Dean carries so much baggage it was too soon for a HEA by the end of ...

REVIEW: The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

Dear Simon Jimenez,

This beautiful standalone science fiction novel was one of the novels on my “Best of 2020” list. I read it in December of 2020 and have put off reviewing for over a year because I felt hard put to do it justice. I’m finally taking the plunge after a conversation about it that made me realize I love it even more than I thought I did back then.

Nia Imani captains a ship that travels through folds in space. A megacorporation owns most of the galaxy and Nia works for the corporat...

End-of-2021 Open Thread for Readers

Do you have great reads from 2021 to talk about? What were your favorites? Which books were weakest or frustrated you most? And which books are you most looking forward to in 2021? As always, chatting about stuff in general is welcome too.