Master Wolf by Joanna Chambers is the second and final book in the Capital Wolves-series that started with Gentleman Wolf. I think I read that last year. The sytem of werewolves in this book is different from the standard mythology and it was a bit confusing at times with what they could and couldn’t do. I had a hard time getting into the first book but I liked it a lot in the end. Same here with this one. It was also a bit too angsty for me – at least right now. It did have a HEA so it was all good in the end though, and I do recommend it if you are into werewolves, m/m, and 18th/19th century romance.
The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher is the second and concluding part of The Clocktaur Wars that started with The Clockwork Boys that I read last month. I really liked this series – or book in two parts really. The world building was excellent, it was super innovative and I had no clue what was going to happen or how they were going to resolve the story but when the end came it felt natural and obvious and so satisfying. The stakes were high and not everyone walked home again. Highly recommend!
A Lily among Thorns by Rose Lerner, about a former prostitute in Regency-era London and a chemist. It gave a lot of fun insights to tailoring and cloth dyeing I didn’t know I wanted to know. The story is pretty straight-forward but still enjoyable. For the longest time I wondered about how this could ever lead to a HEA but it did. I was surprised when the POV suddenly started involving a second pair of MCs. I wasn’t prepared for that but it was nice. Although I do think I would have liked reading this story with them as the main focus instead.
The Way of a Man with a Maid also by Rose Lerner, is a short story, available on the author’s website about the sister of the MC from A Lily among Thorns and her first weeks as a married woman. At the beginning I was ready to chuck the husband out but he came around and it was nice and sweet. I do not like the title though – mostly because I have read parts of a story with the same name published in Victorian times – and it gives a bad taste in the mouth so to say.
A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch was a short story set in a magic-filled fantasy world with feuding sorcerers and reformed-not-reformed thieves. The story is a heist-story reminiscent of his Locke Lamora stories and if it had been built out and made into something longer it would have been just as enjoyable. It was fun and mad and improbable. More plz.
In For a Penny by Rose Lerner. Another romance. Girl meets boy. Marriage by convenience, but done in a slightly different way than before. The plot is a bit more meandering than it really had to be but this is a debut and the later books I have read by Ms Lerner are better. I like how she writes Regency but doesn’t only focus on the Dukes and Earls but brings in the emerging middle class and the working class as well. Last year I read the first in her Lively St Lemeston series and I have book 2 of that series lined up on my Kobo.
Introducing Mr Winterbourne by Joanna Chambers is the first reread of the year. It’s a short story about two very different men who find that they have more in common than they first realise when they are forced to spend a few days in each other’s company. It’s a fun, sweet read and quick too at only 60 pages.
Tikka Chance on Me is a novella by Suleikha Snyder. I read her short story collection in January and loved it. This one was also good but a bit trope-y. Pinky Grover is working in her parents’ Indian restaurant when bad boy Trucker Carrigan deicdes to make it the local biker gang’s prefered hangout. Sparks fly and the bad boy turns out to be almost anything but .. of course. Still cute yet steamy.
True Pretenses by Rose Lerner is book 2 in her Lively St Lemeston series. I enjoyed the first one when I read it last year. Ms Lerner prefers to write not only about the landed gentry, dukes and earls etc. In this book a Jewish orphan turned thief turned swindler married an heiress in need of her money. It was fun and it gave an interesting insight into a part of Regency Britain not often touched on in romance novels.
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher. I’m working my way through the T. Kingfisher backlog. At least the books related to the Clocktaur Wars. Another lovely book about Halla who inherits her in-law uncle and is then thrust into an adventure with a magic sword and its inhabitant when the will is challenged and she needs legal help. Several fun characters who have popped up before in the Clocktaur universe. Highly enjoyable.
First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn. The last book in the Bridgerton prequels. More of a long novella than a novel. It was cute and fun but not as good as the previous books. The Rokesby’s are also very absent in the original series so it feels like a bit of a pasted on prequel. The connection to the Bridgertons is fun and I think a huge draw for many, but since they married into eachother and there are lots of cousins and not having any of them show up in the Bridgerton series makes this feel like it could just as well have been a separate series about two different families. Still enjoyable during a pandemic.
All or Nothing by Rose Lerner is a novella about a gaming house hostess and a failed architect who gets to know each other during a scandalous house party. A lot more erotic than other Rose Lerner books I’ve read (this is not a complaint but could be something to be aware of. Very much NSFW.)
My Imaginary Ex – Mina V. Esguerra is book 1 in the Chic Manila series about Jasmine and Zack who were sweethearts in highschool – or so they tell everyone. And once the lie is out there it sort of takes on a life of its own. The book is an insight into a different culture and while I can’t really relate to much of the characters motivations and opinions it was fun and a very quick read. I might pick up the rest at a later date.