What another delightfully funny, steamy, and romantic story from Tessa Dare. It’s the totally fantastical story of how Griffin York, Duke of Halford, wakes up confused in a carriage one day, having been abducted by his mother. She’s plain fed up with not having grandchildren, with Griffin well into his thirties and seemingly resolved not to marry, so she’s absconded with him to Spindle Cove with the idea that he, once and for all, will be forced to choose one of the women there and […]
Reads like a pipe dream
This may seem like a weird connection to make because of their very different background settings, but I feel like if you liked the movie Boyhood, you would like the novel Arcadia. Both stories have a very loose story structure surrounding the coming of age of a boy, and both prefer to offer seemingly random glimpses of moments, most rather innocuous, rather than focus on the most dramatic possible events in life. As such, depending on your attention span and personal preferences, some might see […]
Mindbending
So I finally read Alif the Unseen. Wow — what a genre-bender. So many questions about belief, ideology, loyalty, technology, humanity, and identity are explored across multiple metaphysical planes and in achingly familiar real-world contexts. To back up to a plot summary, which I’ll ape from Goodreads: “In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients—dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups—from surveillance and tries to stay out of trouble. He goes by Alif—the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and […]
Say yes to lady brewmasters
I’ll read essentially any historical romance recommended by Mrs. Julien or Malin, and particularly one whose review earns a comment from beloved author Courtney Milan. So that’s how my attention was drawn to Say Yes to the Marquess, which is now my favorite historical I’ve read since The Suffragette Scandal. Catnip alert: Beer. I am way, way, embarrassingly into craft beer. I have even brewed myself. The intersection of beer knowledge and ambition with “Surprise! Ladies beer too!” knowledgebombing was just the most delightful thing. So here’s a […]