Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About Mrs. Julien

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My stays are quite binding. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Mrs. Julien's Quick Questions interview.)

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Bringing More Precision to My Captious Bitchiness

Victorian Fashion by Jayne Shrimpton

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Victorian Fashion is a slim volume that provides exactly what is described in its title. Jayne Shrimpton gives an overview of British dress between Queen Victoria’s ascension to the throne in 1837 and the closing of her reign in 1901. Given that I don’t enjoy earlier 19th century costume, no matter how much more comfortable it looks, the Victorian era is my sartorial splendor sweet spot.  As we all know, the Edwardians had the best hair and hats, but my beloved decades for western women’s clothing […]

Strong Starts to the Devil’s Bastards Series

Stacked by Aviva Blakeman

Say My Name by Aviva Blakeman

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When we were little and my mother got lost while driving she’d say, “Well, children, this is a part of the country you haven’t seen before.” I feel that way about Aviva Blakeman’s recently published debut novels Stacked and Say My Name from her Devil’s Bastards MC series. The Biker/Tattooed Badboy/Legally Dubious Characters corner of the kissing book genre is not one I have visited much. They are not a group I find appealing, even secretly in a wish fulfillment genre, so the fictional criminal activities, particularly in […]

Good Old Reliable Mary Balogh

Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh

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A forgotten pre-order delivery to my Kindle! Huzzah! A Regency romance with a custody battle, Someone to Honor is the sixth book in Mary Balogh’s current Westcott series. I’ve read all of the novels, but only reviewed a couple. She’s a writer whose work I don’t bounce in anticipation of, but she is a confident writer who can be turned to for effective and sometimes fantastic romance (Only Enchanting). Her characters are generally sensible people attempting to manage their lives in practical, pragmatic ways then find […]

Florand’s Formula Doesn’t Quite Work This Time

Trust Me by Laura Florand

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An American Commando and Parisian pastry chef? Whyever not? More time spent with some of the world’s finest pastry chefs? Yes, please. Laura Florand’s frequent theme of learning to be brave in new ways or discovering that you already are? Absolutely! Trust Me is the third book in Florand’s Paris Nights trilogy, each of which marries up a pastry chef or chocolatier heroine and a covert ops hero, including All for You and Chase Me.  This was the least successful of the three books for me and […]

A Long Awaited Return to Historical Romance

Palace of Rogues: Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long

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Huzzah, Julie Anne Long has returned to Regency historical romances. Granted, the cover is displeasing, but the contents are not. Delilah, Lady Derring is not only recently widowed, she’s also discovered she is virtually penniless, and had the delightful experience of meeting her husband’s mistress, Mrs. Angelique Breedlove, immediately on the heels of the first two shocks. Showing disregard for the notion that they are competitors,  and demonstrating intestinal fortitude and chutzpah, Delilah and Angelique take the jewels they have from the erstwhile Earl Derring […]

Lavender’s Blue, Dilly Dilly, Lavender’s Green

A Kiss in Lavendar by Laura Florand

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Short Version: I liked Laura Florand’s A Kiss in Lavender, though it felt more serious than other books in the La Vie en Roses series. The love story was heartfelt, the happy ending earned, and it had a substantial, forthright hero and a deeply vulnerable, but assertive heroine with the heart of a lion. I’ve read it twice now and while it’s not as swoony as some Florand, it has a kind of grounded solidity that I appreciate. For the Long Version, including a mondering […]



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