Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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A love letter to Arthurian legend told through inclusive re-imaginings

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices by Edited by: Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

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Thank you, llamareadsbooks for gifting this book to me in the CBR Book Exchange! CBR14 Bingo: “Time” – This anthology moves through time, from the ancient past to the far future. Sword Stone Table first came to my awareness through emmalita’s review.  When narfna reviewed it a few weeks ago, it prompted me to move it to the top of the read pile.  I have a deep affection for stories about King Arthur and Camelot that probably started with the Disney animated version, was strengthened by […]

starts out v fun but doesn’t quite stay there

Elven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean

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I think the first half or even 75% of this book was a 4 star, and then it started dropping towards the end such that I couldn’t in good conscience keep it there. As I have mentioned in the past, historical romances where the female character has some rationale for being utterly anachronistic are my jam. Here, we have Juliana Fiori who was raised by a single Italian merchant father after her mother, a fallen marchioness, abandoned them both to gallivant off with another man. […]

Hell’s Belles

Bombshell by Sarah MacLean

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Scandalous Sesily is the last of the Talbot girls left unwed, but her heart was captured long ago by her sister’s best friend and business partner, Caleb. Having found purpose as part of a group of vigilante women, Sesily discovers on Caleb’s return that he too has secrets of his own – and a dangerous enemy. Sarah MacLean’s books can be a hit or miss for me. They have so much to love – smart heroines, dashing heroes, engaging premises and plots, and an early […]

Two Hits and a Miss

Designs on a Duke by Ellie St. Clair

A Rogue By Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean

Fatal Affair by Marie Force

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You have to hand it to Sarah MacLean. While she takes romance seriously, her books are fun. The banter is good, the scenarios are imaginative, and the characters are self-aware. I had this realization early in A Rogue By Any Other Name, when, as part of his attempt to kidnap and marry our heroine, the titular rogue spanks her, a move that is equal parts sexy and comical. MacLean is especially good at writing conventional aristocratic women who find themselves plunged into a London underworld, which is the case […]

Such a forgettable book unfortunately–for once, didn’t care about the romance in a romance novel!

Bombshell by Sarah MacLean

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Hmm it was very okay, I think, but perhaps not one that I’d recommend. It’s almost a month later and I can’t really remember the book, which is probably a sign that I didn’t like it all that much–otherwise I would have talked about it with a friend. There’s a much more interesting story about the Hell’s Belles smothered by a romance with a guy who has such an OBVIOUS issue (he’s not actually an evil murderer, these romantic heros never are!) and is clearly […]

Pink Panties and Devilish Men

Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean

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  Hoo boy, do I chuckle at my newfound shamelessness. Perhaps one of the best parts of being in my thirties is my solid belief that I just don’t GAF what anybody thinks about me anymore. And in that vein, I have unabashedly thrown myself into a semi-regular consumption of delightfully trashy romance novels! This book easily fits the bill, being a welcome, fun, mostly brainless/unrealistic but somehow sexy lil romp through fantasy land. The story features ridiculous characters, including a comically “plain” female lead […]



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