February was a lot more productive in terms of reading than January was. 11 books is quite a lot for me but a few of them were quick romance reads that I usually finish in a few days. What stood out this month was Paladin’s Grace. It may be contender for best book of the year even though it’s early days.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

A Rustle of Silk is a murder mystery set in early 1600 England. Queen Elizabeth has recently died and there is a new king on the throne – not that he has much or even any influence on the story. The MC, Gabriel Taverner is a retired ship’s surgeon and he is trying to establish himself as a counrty doctor in his home county, Devon.
The book was fun and the murder mystery was mysterious but I’m not picking up the second in the series just yet, even though it is supposed to be even better.
I’m not sure if it’s my prejudice about the 1600s or if I’m just not well read enough about it but so much of the setting felt ”too modern”. Gabriel especially. I have since read up on coroners in rural England of the 17th century and realised that it had much to do with my ignorance but I think I’ll leave Dr Taverner in Devon for now and maybe come back to him later this year.

Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn is a spin-off from her early 2000 series about the Bridgertons. Here we meet the girls in the Smythe-Smith family who treat the ton of London to a musicale each year which is always well visited even though it is not really clear why since the girls of the Smythe-Smith family are mostly tone deaf and not very proficient musicians. Most of them are also not aware of this deficiency. Just Like Heaven follows Lady Honoria in her quest for a husband so she can be allowed to NOT participate in the musicale (only death and marriage is an excuse) – being one of the few Smythe-Smith girls who do know that she is not cut out to perform. I have read the Bridgerton-series and I enjoyed them all and I enjoyed this one as well.
(The Bridgertons, by the way is due to become a tv-show on Netflix, I think. They have had cast announcements for it and I believe filming is underway.)

Unlocked by John Scalzi is available online here. It is a prequel to his novel, Lock In (which I read in 2016). The prequel is an oral account of the ficticious virus Haden syndrome that is at the heart of Lock In and its sequel Head On. Very enjoyable, but maybe not the best thing to read as the Corona virus rage in current day China.

A Night Like This is the second of the Smythe-Smith-series. Another Smythe-Smith is getting (in this case) his HEA. I liked this less than the first.

The Hollow of Fear is the third book in Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series. Very enjoyable and a very tricky mystery. I was on tenter hooks most of the time. It was really suspenseful. I highly recommend the whole series (the first three, I haven’t read the fourth and the fifth is being released later this year).

Meat Cute finally the book about the Hedgehog Incident we first heard about in Soulless, i.e. the first meeting of Miss Alexia Tarabotti and Lord Maccon, Earl of Woolsey from the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. Very cute, very short, lots of fan service! Loved it.

The Sum of All Kisses is the third Smythe-Smith book and while I liked the couple best so far I didn’t like the end scenes. It was too chaotic and dramatic – I suppose it was fitting the characters but there was way too much shouting and a very charicature villain who all but twirled his moustache. I don’t know, that part felt overdone but the beginning and the love story itself made up for most of it.

The Winter Companion is the fourth and last in the Parish Orphans of Devon-series by Mimi Matthews. I have adored them all and this was no different. Everyone is kind and considerate and lovely. The couple is excellent and a perfect match for each other – everyone derserves their HEA. Reading her backlog now.

Paladin’s Grace was a joyous experience. So much love for that book. I have read T. Kingfisher before (Bryony and Roses in 2017) and enjoyed it but not enough to go hunt down her other stuff. Not so this time. Paladin’s Grace is about a paladin whose god has died and a perfumer with a dark past. It’s a fluffy, slow-burn romance with a pretty high head count. And I love it!
There are a couple of books set in this same universe and I intend to read those soon.

The Work of Art is a stand alone romance by Mimi Matthews that I picked up because I enjoyed her Parish Orphans of Devon series. I didn’t like this as much. The heroine was not to my liking and the whole trope of ”Heroine is in danger, but the hero won’t tell her, but instead cut her off from the world and lock her away in a little box” is not one I usually enjoy. I didn’t really this time around either.

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy after at least liking the first three books in this quartet I was all set to enjoy this one, but then I went a bit deep into the Goodreads reviews of it and I felt only apprehension as I started reading. It was not as bad as I had feared but it wasn’t one of my favourites. The hero is keeping a pretty huge secret from the heroine and given that he quickly learn about how steadfast and intelligent she is I grew impatient with all his half-truths and evasions. He could have come clean a lot faster and she would have come up with the solutions as she did within days of the reveal. *shrug* is pretty much my feelings about it.