Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

“You are mine until the grave makes ghosts of both of us.”

The Rain Maiden by Jill M. Phillips

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CBR18 Bingo: Or – Philippe is constantly having to choose between his relationships with Isabel and other women, who care for him on a personal level, and his relationships with the sons of Henry II, which line up instead with his grand ambitions. Isabel of Hainault is married off to the young king of France as a child. Her beauty and her charm makes everyone around her fall under her spell, but Philippe’s ambitions may be stronger than their relationship. This book is a work […]

A Book to Read with One Eye Shut

Dynasty of Desire by Elizabeth Zachary

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CBR18 Bingo: Wealth – The hope of massive wealth leads many people, including the main characters, to invest their money in the construction of the Panama Canal, and much of the action is driven by those trying to recoup that investment. Sisters Darcie and Petra are only two years apart in age, but they go down vastly different paths after a horrible crime turns their lives upside-down. Despite their differences, though, they will both end up deeply involved in the construction of the Panama Canal. […]

Green Island, Grey People

Caribee by Christopher Nicole

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CBR18 Bingo: Versus – Lots of conflict in this book – between the English and the Caribs and the Spanish, but also (with a strong Oedipal flavor) the conflict between father and son. Finding himself out of favor with the king, Tom Warner and his young son embark for the New World, hoping to find their fortunes in rainy Guyana. But it turns out that they may lay instead in lush green St. Kitt’s – if they can manage to keep alive, of course. About […]

The other hockey romance

Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks

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Back in 2023 Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks came out. It seemed to not get the attention that other graphic novels by her seemed to get. Or at least, I didn’t see the push for it. Which is sad, since it is a fun book with romance, theater, hockey, and how it relates to life. Hicks weaves an interesting story together that gets you thinking. There were a couple of bumps in the flow for me, but overall, it was a […]

The Charms of a Competent Man

Lord Ravenscar's Revenge by Barbara Cartland

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After Romara is beaten and thrown out of the house by her sister’s abusive lover, the last thing she expects is to wake up married to Lord Ravenscar, who wed her while extremely drunk. But when he steps in to help her solve Caryl’s problems, she starts to wonder if they will be able to make a real marriage work. I read a lot of historical romance, so of course I am familiar with the insanely prolific Barbara Cartland, though I haven’t read any of […]

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Abduct

Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers

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July 18, 2021 Ginny Brandon, a senator’s daughter, is sent to nominally ride a wagon train to California, but is actually smuggling gold to Mexico to support the Emperor’s cause. She is relentlessly drawn to the wagon train guide, Steve Morgan. But unbeknownst to her, Steve is actually a spy intent on thwarting her father’s plans. What can I say about this book? It’s a wild ride, but one I never wanted to get off of. Ginny and Steve are a quintessential, swashbuckling romance hero […]



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