Best Men by Sidney Karger
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC. It hasn’t affected the content of my review. First of all, I would like to say that “himbo” was absolutely 100% not a thing in the year 2003, so I hope some copy or line-editor catches that before this book goes to print. And no, don’t argue with me that it was first used in the 1980s (1988 specifically) and uses of it date from then, but it was absolutely not a term that anyone who was […]
Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble (Winner Bakes All, #2) by Alexis Hall
I don’t think this is a book anybody but Alexis Hall could have pulled off. This is a romance and a book about a baking competition, yes, but it’s also a book about a person with severe anxiety, and what that anxiety does to his relationships with the people around him. Paris isn’t an easy character to like, and his story isn’t an easy ride. But it was worth it! Paris Daillencourt ends up on Bake Expectations because his flatmate secretly put him up for […]
Wolfsong (Green Creek, #1) by T.J. Klune
So I’ve had this book on my TBR for a while, even before Klune got a traditional publishing deal and the The House in the Cerulean Sea broke out, but I didn’t bite the bullet and actually decide to read it until I saw that this gorgeous edition was being released in September 2022. I did end up ordering the Waterstones edition with the gorgeous sprayed edges, and I have no regrets (except for when my copy arrived completely ruined from water damage, but they […]
Meet Cute Club (Sweet Rose, #1) by Jack Harbon
This did not make for a good reading experience. The only reason I’m not rating it one star is because there was nothing egregiously wrong with it, and because I didn’t hate it. Not exactly a lot going for it if that’s the best I have to say. This had an extremely cute-sounding plot, but the book was the opposite of cute. I honestly think this might be the most poorly written self-published book I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot because of my […]
The Henchmen of Zenda by K.J. Charles
This honestly might be five stars on re-read, but I’ve been handing out five star ratings like they’re candy, and I’ve come off my book high now. This is a strong 4.5 stars for now. Firstly, this is a retelling of The Prisoner of Zenda, a Ruritanian Romance/Adventure/Swashbuckler from the late 1800s, written by Anthony Hope. I’ve never read the original, but before diving into this I did read the detailed summary of the book and I’m really glad I did that, because it was […]
A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
When I first finished this in July and gave it five stars, I predicted that most people wouldn’t love it as much as I did, and I was right. It also unfortunately came out at the same time as Alexandra Rowland’s A Taste of Gold and Iron, which is pretty similar in story and theme (I haven’t read it yet, though I do have it out from the library), and most people have preferred it to A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. I think this is […]
