Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Is this sapphic spy romance fun but frustrating, or frustrating but fun?

If I Told You I'd Have to Kiss You by Mae Marvel

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Mae Marvel’s If I Told You I’d Have to Kiss You is a good read. For the most part, the spy shenanigans and the romance are well balanced, and the characters are fun. It’s a second chance romance and a spy hunt for a MacGuffin. In the last 20%, when KC and Yardley have officially decided to get back together, the tension slackens when it should ramp up. The MacGuffin hunt for the bad guy is less compelling when separated from the yearning for lost love […]

“Because you never know when the person you meet at a bar might turn out to be the most interesting thing to happen to you in all your life.”

Madly by Ruthie Knox

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A May-December romance that actually tries to meaningfully deal with an age difference without ignoring the reality that people are not only more than their age, they are *mostly* other stuff. Plot: Allie’s parents are about to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, and she’s planning the party. Only mom has fucked off, again, and they have no idea when or if she’s coming back. So Allie hacks into her mom’s bank accounts (yes, using a password to access an account without permission is still hacking), […]

When I’m with him, anything can be true.

Big Boy by Ruthie Knox

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Ruthie Knox’s Big Boy is an escape. Professor Amanda “Mandy” Sharp needs an escape. She suddenly became a single parent when her sister died, leaving behind a baby boy. Between her grief, new (not well paying) teaching job, and all consuming parental responsibilities, she’s lost herself. For an outlet she goes to a dating website and finds a man with 8 different dating profiles. That’s when I found him. Viscount Curzon. In his profile picture, he wore a cravat and a monocle. In another one, […]

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike… (Bingo)

Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox

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#CBR11 Bingo: Travel Tom is a brooding loner with a past, who gave up the corporate life and now works as a bike mechanic. He’s estranged from most of his family, with the exception of his sister. Determined to cycle the Trans-America trail, from Oregon to Virginia, he’s annoyed when he discovers said sister has been e-mailing someone (as him) to arrange for a riding partner. When he finds out that the “Alex” his sister has been e-mailing is, in fact, a Lexie, he is […]

The tech millionaire and the secretary this is not

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Katie Clark went with her boyfriend when he wanted to move to Alaska and worked to save up for her own college education while putting him through college. Knowing that her family weren’t huge fans, she didn’t tell them that she actually got married while they were there. By the time it was Katie’s turn to go to college, it was too late. Her husband had emptied their joint savings account, leaving her a note saying he was off to find himself, hiking in Nepal. […]

I don’t think two single consenting adults hooking up are misbehaving all that much

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3.5 stars Having really enjoyed Along Came Trouble, I wanted to check out more of Ruthie Knox’ Camelot series, and as they are extremely reasonably priced (this, for instance is only $0.99), I went out and bought the entire thing. This novella is a sort of prequel, showing how Amber, Caleb (the hero in Along Came Trouble)’s older sister met her husband Tony. Amber Clark is your quintessential good girl, working as a program director at the Camelot Community Centre, spending quiet nights in the […]



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