Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


“As Charlotte plummeted to the ground, still locked in Alex’s arms, she recollected Miss Plim’s warning that kissing a man was bad for one’s health.”

The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton

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4.5 stars Everyone knows there’s no such thing as witches, but if there were, they probably wouldn’t use magic in flashy and extravagant ways to fly houses around and try to rob and assassinate one another. If there were witches, they would probably use their magic in tidier ways, ensuring polite society was functioning properly. Possibly liberate those who have excessive financial resources of some of it to the betterment of those with less of it (like say, themselves). If there were witches, Charlotte Pettifer […]

Fond of Zombies, Are You? What about Zombies AND Pirates?

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

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Well now!  Steampunk with zombies and pirates, and a certain amount of historical fact to boot?  Welcome to turn of the century Seattle. IRL, Seattle suffered a devastating fire in the late 1890s which tore through the lumber constructed Pioneer Square, its original downtown.  There was also the issue of frequent rain-induced flooding, due to the steep coastal shoreline.  So the civic leaders swapped out timber construction for masonry, and rebuilt, streets and all, on the top of the original buildings.  The lower levels acted […]

Yo Ho! A Pirate’s Life for Me

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller

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Daughter of the Pirate King – 3 stars Daughter of the Siren Queen – 4 stars Alosa is a famous pirate captain in her own right, leading a crew of almost exclusively women. She also happens to be the only daughter of the Pirate King, who rules the seas with cruelty and intimidation tactics. Her father has one piece of a legendary treasure map, which will reveal the location of untold riches to the one who can locate and unite the missing pieces. Alosa needs to get […]

Pirate Gal meets Damsel in a Beauty and Beast remake

The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl  by Emily Riesbeck and Nora J. Barna

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The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl by Emily Riesbeck and Nora J. Barna is a mixture of the novel Legends & Lattes by Baldree, a bit of Vox Machina, a smidgen of Guardians of the Galaxy (think Yondu) and “that other thing I can’t remember off the top of my head.”  There are mature themes (pirates, GLBTQ romance, disowning by family, religion, revenge), but the humor and a little mystery are combined to take the edge off of things. This story is familiar, as it is a “be […]

CBRBINGO – ADULTHOOD: “For this scribe has read a great many of these accounts and taken away another lesson: that to be a woman is to have your story misremembered.”

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

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I loved this! I’m so glad I loved it, also, because I own two copies of it and I don’t want to get rid of either one. They are PRETTY. The American cover I love so much, I want a poster-sized print of it for my wall. And my other edition has a beautiful gilded map on the endpapers with Amina and Payasam on either end, and little ships and sea beasts sprayed on the edges. I would have CRIED had I not loved this […]

“So this is merely romance,” she frowned disapprovingly. “I was hoping for an epic adventure, or a gothic mystery at the very least.” Ned laughed. “Darling, don’t worry, the story has just begun.”

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

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Official book description, because I finished this book two months ago, and the plot is rather convoluted: Cecilia Bassingwaite is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up. Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is […]



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