bluesalamanders 2022

Favorite books from 2021:
Six Harvests in Lea, Texas by Sam Starbuck
Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire
Tea Dragon Festival by Kay O'Neill
You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

I did a book poll for 2021!

Previous challenges:
50 Book Challenge lists: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
75 Book Challenge lists: 2011, 2011.2, 2012.1, 2012.2, 2013.1, 2013.2, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

Here's hoping for a less bad 2022.

Blue’s back! Yay!

Hope you have a great year of reading!

Welcome back, Blue!

Happy reading in 2022, Blue!

Starring your thread, Blue. :)

Finished Book 1: Redshirts by John Scalzi
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 7h 41m

I’ve reread this a number of times now and it’s still a funny and occasionally poignant book.

Currently Reading:
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (audiobook)
Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (ebook)
Blood Trail by Tanya Huff (dead tree)

>1 bluesalamanders: I have not yet gotten to either The Galaxy and the Ground Within or Fugitive Telemetry, but I am hoping to get to at least the Wells book soon. Thanks for the reminder, Blue. Glad to see you thought so highly of them too.

>7 bluesalamanders: Yeah, I need to re-read that one too. . .I just need like 72 hour days!

>8 alcottacre: I hear you! We could all use more time. Enjoy the books when you get to them!

>7 bluesalamanders: Excellent choice for first book of the year. I'm looking forward to Scalzi's upcoming book, The Kaiju Preservation Society, as the premise sounds pretty fun.

>10 MickyFine: Ooo, yes, I am looking forward to that one too!

Happy New Year, Blue! I did your book poll when I was here several days ago, but I see I didn't post.

>12 ronincats: Hi roni! Happy New Year! I saw you did the poll. Looks like you're easily third in who's read the most of those books. Unsurprisingly (to me, at least), my sister is 2nd and my friend Carol is 1st.

I got distracted from my currently-reading by a new book I got in the mail and just couldn't resist:

Finished Book 2: Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 7
New read, young adult, fantasy, dead tree, 150p

After she was briefly captured by the Drowned Gods during the events of Come Tumbling Down, Cora is worried that they will never let her go and she will never see her beloved Trenches again. Her final desperate hope is the Whitethorn Institute, the sister school to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. The school for those who don’t want to go back. The school for the ones who want to forget.

I love Cora. I love most of the Wayward Children protagonists, but Cora is one of my favorites, up there with Nancy, so another book from Cora’s perspective is definitely my jam. I wouldn’t recommend starting here if you haven’t read any of other the books yet, but it’s a great next book in the series.

Content warnings: conversion therapy analog, fatphobia, bullying, brainwashing

Currently Reading:
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (audiobook)
Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (ebook)
Blood Trail by Tanya Huff (dead tree)

Finished Book 3: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
New read, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 16h 10m

I agree with the general sentiment I’ve seen that if you liked The Martian, you’ll probably like this as well. I’m not sure I agree that it’s better than The Martian, but it has been a while since I’ve read that.

There were two things (minor, in the scheme of things) that bothered me about the book. The first is how often the main character used the word “lame” (mostly early on). The second is when Stratt said that the past was 50,000 years of unrelenting misery and that up until the industrial revolution, human civilization put all its time and energy into food. Which is just a load of crap and I was irritated by that, but it was one paragraph in the whole book and not even a particularly important one.

So aside from those fairly minor things, the majority of the book was pretty good, some of it was very good, and the end was fantastic. Definitely recommended if you like this kind of hard SF.

Content warnings: amnesia, death, discussion of suicide

Currently Reading:
Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (ebook)
Blood Trail by Tanya Huff (dead tree)

ETA: There were two other things that bothered me that I forgot to mention before, and I realize that this is a lot of negativity but I really did like this book. These are largely very nitpick things.

One is a couple of characters decided it was important to let the main character know that they were involved, which is fine and made sense in context, but the way they did it was appalling. They told him they were in a sexual relationship (so far so good), then went on to talk about how much they enjoyed it (what), in some detail (no), and then had a conversation right in front of him about getting together after the meeting to go bang in a bathroom (what the actual fuck). I was literally yelling at the characters to shut up at that point.

The other issue is structural. The main character wakes up with amnesia and he's gradually remembering things, so the story is told in his present with flashbacks as things trigger his memories. But at some point halfway through the book, the story seems to forget that the flashbacks are specifically the main character's returning memories and instead just starts just alternating the story between the present and the past. It's not a huge issue, it didn't impact my enjoyment of the book particularly, but it was jarring when, toward the end, it was suddenly obvious that that particular flashback definitely was Something He Just Remembered.

Like I said, none of these issues especially impacted my enjoyment of the book as a whole, they're just little nitpicky things I enjoy complaining about in a book I otherwise liked a lot.

Finished Book 4: Blood Trail by Tanya Huff
Blood series, Book 2
Reread, Adult, Fantasy, dead tree, 304p

Henry asks Vicki to help his friends, who are being murdered one at a time. His friends, it turns out, are a family of werewolves.

I really like the characters in this one - as usual I like Henry, Vicki, and Mike when he shows up, but I really like the werewolves, who live in a much more family atmosphere than many werewolf packs in fantasy stories. It helps, possibly, that in this universe one can’t be made a werewolf. You’re simply born one or you aren’t, so they actually are a family and there’s little need to worry about how new members would fit into pack dynamics.

Content warnings: brief discussions of incest, murder

Finished Book 5: The Dispatcher by John Scalzi, read by Zachary Quinto
The Dispatcher, book 1
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 2h 19m

Sometime in the recent past (I forget exactly when, maybe 20 years before the story takes place?) people who are victims of deliberate murder just…stop dying. Or rather, they die, but then their bodies immediately disappear and reappear somewhere else (usually at home), naked and without having experienced whatever happened over the previous few hours. Their minds remember, but their bodies don’t.

The protagonist’s job is to be a Dispatcher - to stand by in a situation where someone may die accidentally and to step up before it happens and kill them intentionally instead.

It is a creepy-ass universe (because on the one hand, people will kill more indiscriminately if they know it’s not permanent, and on the other you know there’s got to be loopholes somewhere, because some people will still want to murder permanently) but it’s an interesting story and Quinto is a good narrator.

Also, there is no explanation for how or why it happened and I’ll be honest, I hope Scalzi never gives one, I’d rather it just be a mystery.

Content warnings: basically the whole book is death and discussion of death, death with various causes including a “dispatching” tool, shooting, and probably some others I forget, suicide, vehicle accident, cancer, torture, starvation

Currently reading:
Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi (audiobook)
Blood Lines by Tanya Huff (dead tree)
Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (ebook)

>15 bluesalamanders: I really want to read that one. I need to get to it soon.

>17 alcottacre: It's good! I enjoyed it. And the audiobook has some fun effects, if you go that route. Not a lot, like some of the full cast types, but some things that really add to the story.

Finished Book 6: Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi
Dispatcher, book 2
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook 3h 33m

This has largely the same content warnings as the previous book. I wonder if he’s going to write any more in this universe?

Finished Book 7: Down Among the Sticks and Bones By Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 2
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook, 4h 4m

Content warnings: neglectful/abusive parents (not physical or sexual), death, moderate gore, fatphobia

Finished Book 8: Beneath the Sugar Sky By Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 3
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook, 4h 11m

Content warnings: fatphobia, internalized fatphobia, brief discussions of dieting and eating disorders, brief discussion of racism

Currently reading:
Blood Lines by Tanya Huff (dead tree)
Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (ebook)

Finished Book 9: In an absent dream by Seanan McGuire
Wayward children, book 4
reread, Young Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook, 4h 57m

Finished Book 10: Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
Wayward Children, book 5
Reread, young adult, fantasy, audiobook, 3h 52m

Content warnings: ocd, panic attacks, moderate gore, murder, major character death, drowning

Pearl’d: Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
I got a good chunk of the way through this one and realized I just wasn’t particularly enjoying myself. I’m still curious what happens, but not enough to read it. It’s a well-written book but just not really my thing.

Pearl’d: Cursed Luck by Kelley Armstrong

This was recommended to me by multiple people, so I gave it more of a chance than I usually do, but it's just not my thing. The apparent love interest (although as I understand it, they don't get together until later in the series) is just really beyond unpleasant. He’s rude, he’s condescending, he’s classist and self-centered. He lies to the main character to get her to come to his office, then locks her in a conference room so she can’t leave.

To be fair, he does unlock the door and apologize and admit that it was a shitty thing to do - but only after she points a gun at him and fires a warning shot.

I was assured that he got better soon and that the main reason he seemed so rude was social awkwardness, but it just wasn't working for me.

I’m not going to recommend against this, since people whose opinions I generally trust liked it, and obviously things that bothered me might not bother you. But I just didn’t care for it at all.

(Edited because I think I was in a bad mood when I wrote this and while everything I wrote then was true, it was a little overboard.)

Finished Book 11: Proof by Seduction by Courtney Milan
Carhart, book 1
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 308p

Content warnings: secondhand embarrssment, explicit sex, classism, depression, drinking, lying

There’s a significant amount of secondhand embarrassment in the first half of this book, but it’s pretty easy to avoid most of it and I didn’t feel like I missed much of the story by doing so.

That aside, I enjoyed the rest of the book; Milan has a knack for writing characters who I come to care about quickly and I always like how Milan demonstrates that the love interest actually comes to know the main character as an individual, not just some sort of idea or ideal.

So if you don’t mind, or don’t mind skipping past, some secondhand embarrassment, this is a pretty fun book.

Currently reading:
Blood Lines by Tanya Huff (dead tree)
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss (audiobook)
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrals by India Holton (ebook)

>20 bluesalamanders: >21 bluesalamanders: Good on you for Pearl ruling books you did not care for!

>23 alcottacre: Thanks :)

>22 bluesalamanders: I do love Courtney Milan but I hate secondhand embarrassment so we'll see if that one makes The List.

>25 MickyFine: Yup, same, which is why I warned so strongly about it. I still enjoyed it, but I enjoyed the second half of the book a whole lot better.

Finished Book 12: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
The Athena Club, book 1
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 13h 39m

Finished Book 13: The cat who could read backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who, book 1
Reread, Adult, Mystery, 191p

Jim Qwilleran, crime reporter and war correspondent, gets a job at a new paper and is unceremoniously dumped onto the art beat, where he finds strange things and stranger people.

While it's interesting to see how Qwill and Koko first meet, the characters haven't developed into anything interesting yet and the plot is a little lacking. Despite it being book one, I don’t recommended it as a starting point for this generally charming series.

(Edited because my previous review, while not inaccurate, was a bit harsh.)

Finished Book 14: Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott
The Sun Chronicles, book 1
New Read, adult, science fiction, ebook, 528p

I liked this, but I read the first 3/4 of it last year, so I can’t really write a review of it.

Currently reading:
Blood Lines by Tanya Huff (dead tree)
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss (audiobook)

Finished Book 15: Changling by Molly Harper
Sorcery and Society, book 1
New read, young adult, fantasy, ebook, 276p

One comment I’ve heard a lot about stories with separate magical and non-magical worlds is, why do the people with magic hide? Why don’t they just take over and rule the world? Well, here’s a book where that’s what happened.

It’s not what I expected, since most of Harper’s books are romance and I didn’t check what this was about before I read it, so I wasn’t expecting a magical boarding school YA, but I liked it.

Content warning: slavery, bullying

Finished Book 16: Finder by Suzanne Palmer
The Finder Chronicles, book 1
New read, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 400p

Fergus Ferguson is a Finder, a sort of interstellar repo man, traveling space retrieving missing items. His current job is a ship stolen by a petty gangster in another system and little does he know that his attempt at retrieval will kick off a civil war that’s been simmering for years.

Definitely enjoyed this and plan to pick up the sequel immediately.

Content warnings: major character death, child abuse, bugs, suicide

Finished Book 17: Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer
The Finder Chronicles, book 2
New read, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 416p

Set directly after Finder, Fergus ends up on a new adventure trying to rescue his friends who were abducted from the space port. As usual, he hatches outlandish plans, makes surprising new friends, and occasional enemies while stumbling through various unexpected events.

Fergus Ferguson reminds me in some ways of October Daye, in that neither character is particularly skilled at their job (in his case “finder” or essentially repo man, in her case private detective), but it’s something they’re willing to do that nobody else really is, and they’ve got a few tricks that people don’t expect (for instance, in his case, the confuddler and later his electricity trick; in her case, her marshwater charms and later her invulnerability) so they manage to succeed, but often in a way it’s like how someone tripping and falling while throwing a dart, but still managing to hit a bullseye, is technically succeeding. Also, they both start with a strong belief that they want and need to work alone and don’t have or need friends, which they both gradually learn is not true.

I enjoyed the sequel possibly even more than the first one. Time to queue up book 3!

Content warning: drowning, claustrophobia, kidnapping, torture, murder, alcohol abuse

Currently reading:
Blood Lines by Tanya Huff (dead tree)
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss (audiobook)
The Scavanger Door by Suzanne Palmer (audiobook)

Finished Book 18: The scavenger door by Suzanne Palmer
The Finder Chronicles, book 3
New read, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 14h 48m

Content warnings: bugs, moderate gore

I didn’t find the ending of this one quite as satisfying as the other two, but overall it's an excellent series that I definitely recommend.

Finished Book 19: Paladin's Grace by T Kingfisher
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 12h 30m

Content warnings: Betrayal, spousal abuse, "berserker" fits, murder, attempted murder, zombie monster things, moderate gore

Finished Book 20: Spelunking through hell by Seanan McGuire
Incryptid, book 11
New read, adult, fantasy, dead tree, 352p
Content warnings: Body horror, torture, betrayal, major character death, attempted murder, memory manipulation, kidnapping, implied rape,

Definitely enjoyed it, although there is a very gross part in chapter…4, I think? That I skimmed rather than reading every detail. Because ew. But overall it was great.

Finished Book 21: European travel for the monstrous gentlewoman by Theodora Goss
The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, book 2
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 24h 27m

Finished Book 22: The Shockwave rider by John Brunner
Reread, adult, science fiction, ebook, 246p

Content warnings: sexism, racism, homophobia, involuntary medical experimentation, psychological torture, child abuse, attempted murder, probably some other things that I can’t remember or don’t think to warn for since i’ve read this a million times

It’s been over a decade, I think, since I read this last. It was one of my favorite books through high school and college, and while I’m not sure I’d call it that anymore, I still like it for a lot of the same reasons. There’s a pointed optimism at the end of the book, it ends with a question and assumes the answer is so obvious that everyone will agree. And I think it is, and I think the people who would give the wrong answer are not people I would want to know.

Finished Book 23: Kaiju preservation society by John Scalzi
New read, adult, science fiction, dead tree, 272p

Content warnings: bugs, murder, major character death, gross biology stuff, covid 19, oblique That US President references

Jamie’s 6-month performance review doesn’t go as she hoped, but she unexpectedly finds a new job that will solve all her problems. Her current problems, anyway.

It's not the best book Scalzi's ever put out, but that's ok. He himself calls it the literary equivilent of pop music in the afterward. He was clearly working through some things when he wrote it (the pandemic, the previous US presidential administration, and the shitty behavior of the super-rich, to name just to most glaringly obvious) and unsurprisingly it's both entertaining and kind of cathartic to read.

Currently reading:
Blood Lines by Tanya Huff (dead tree)
The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss (audiobook)

I don't think I have read any of the books you have read this year, Blue, but I do have Redshirts on the shelves and will break my duck soon!

Wishing you a great weekend.

Welp, time to get caught up with all the reading I've done in the past two months. I'm actually at *checks* book #69, so it's going to take a while.

Finished Book 24: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Wayfarers, book 1
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 14h 23m

Finished Book 25: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
Wayfarers, book 4
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 9h 55m

Finished Book 26: A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
Lady Trent series, book 1
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook: 10h 16m

Finished Book 27: Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan
Memoires of Lady Trent, book 2
Reread, Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook, 10h39m

Finished Book 28: Fete for a King by Sam Starbuck
The Shivadhverse, book 1
New read, Adult, Romance, ebook

The crown prince of a small European country accidentally hires a celebrity chef to cater his coronation banquet.

The somewhat stiff and buttoned-up prince gets to know the flamboyant celebrity chef and surprisingly, sparks fly. This is a light and fluffy romance and I loved it.

Content warnings: Literally none that I can think of

Finished Book 29: Infinite Jes by Sam Starbuck
The Shivadhverse, book 2
New read, Adult, Romance, ebook

Michaelis, former king of Askazer-Shivadlakia, is a bit at loose ends since handing over the reins to his very competent son Gregory. The answer to this is clearly to start a podcast.

This one is less light and fluffy, but only a tiny bit. Michaelis meets Noah, a teenager with a podcast, and his parent Jes, who also has a podcast, and decides to ask them for help with his idea. This sets off a chain of events involving a flood, a library, fishing trips, drinking games, and an unfortunate encounter with an old stairway.

Content warnings: Discussions of family-related trauma, kind of a lot of alcohol use

These two are not-yet-published books by Sam Starbuck, also known as the fanfic author Copperbadge. The unedited pre-publication versions are up on AO3 here and I think the print and ebook versions will be available in a month or two.

Finished Book 30: Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
Memoirs of Lady Trent, book 3
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11 hrs and 52 mins

Finished Book 31: In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan
Memoirs of Lady Trent, book 4
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 10h 31m

Finished Book 32: Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan
Memoirs of Lady Trent, book 5
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 10h59m

Finished Book 33: Fete for a King by Sam Starbuck
The Shivadhverse, book 1
Reread, Adult, Romance, ebook

Yes, I reread it almost immediately. It's a very sweet book and I was in that kind of mood, apparently.

Finished Book 34: Firefighter Dragon by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters, book 1
New read, Adult, Romance, audiobook, 3h 41m
Content warnings: kidnapping, lying, miscommunication, mild secondhand embarrassment, explicit sex scenes

Finished Book 35: Firefighter griffin by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters, book 3
New read, Adult, Romance, audiobook, 7h 45m
Content warnings: fatphobia, kidnapping, body horror, a really obnoxiously incorrect trial scene, very bad dispatch call center behavior, self-sacrifice, explicit sex scenes

Finished Book 36: Firefighter pegasus by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters, book 2
New read, Adult, Romance, audiobook, 5h 9m
Content warnings: Betrayal, gambling, infidelity, attempted murder, explicit sex scenes

Finished Book 37: Firefighter sea dragon by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters, book 4
New read, Adult, Romance, audiobook, 9h 34m
Content warnings: misogyny, transphobia, internalized fatphobia, attempted murder, murder, betrayal, and explicit sex scenes

I wanted a silly romance and that's exactly what I got with these Zoe Chant books. The basic plot of all of them is a shifter firefighter trying to win the love of their fated (usually human) mate. The details vary (in one she's scared of shifters and this causes some tension and miscommunication, in another there are complications with the woman's ex-boyfriend, etc) but they’re all entertaining and kind of like potato chips - I couldn’t just read one, I read every one that my library had available.

Finished Book 38: Wildfire griffin by Zoe Chant
Wildfire Crew, book 1
New read, Adult, Romance, audiobook, 8h 22m
Content warnings: ableism (autism), internalized ableism (autism), misogyny, miscommunications, explicit sex

Finished Book 39: Wildfire sea dragon by Zoe Chant
Wildfire Crew, book 2
New read, Adult, Romance, audiobook, 8h 59m
Content warnings: Bigotry against certain kinds of shifters, misunderstandings/miscommunications (deliberate and accidental), explicit sex, almost certainly some things I don’t remember since I’m writing this later

Finished Book 40: In the sea by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, short story
New read, adult, fantasy, ebook, 34p

The very description of this short story is a spoiler for up to like…book 14 of the series, so. August begins her new life in the undersea

Finished Book 41: Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan
Memoirs of Lady Trent, related
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11h 35m

Finished Book 42: The master shark's mate by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters, book 5
New read, Adult, Romance, ebook, 132p

Possibly the sweetest of the bunch, though also possibly the least plotty (not that there's anything wrong with that!).

Finished Book 43: Still just a geek by Wil Wheaton
New read, adult, nonfiction, audiobook, 23h 51m
Content warnings: child abuse (emotional, sexual, financial, physical), depression, anxiety, suicide, death, homophobia, misogyny, gaslighting, drugs, alcohol, ptsd

Finished Book 44: Band Sinister by KJ Charles
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 59m

When Amanda Frisby breaks her leg and has to recuperate in the home of the notorious Sir Philip Rookwood and his hellfire club, her brother Guy rushes to her side in an attempt to protect her and ward off scandal.

After finishing Still Just a Geek, I asked some friends for a recommendation for something fluffy to read and this delivered in spades. Specifically I wanted a fluffy romance with no consent issues (which I know are a common thing in romance novels and it’s fine, but aren't my favorite and definitely not what I wanted to read right then). This is a delightful book and as you will see, sent me down a rabbit hole reading many more of Charles’ books.

Content warnings: Explicit sex, broken bone, financial abuse

Finished Book 45: Unfit to print by KJ Charles
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 4h 32m
Content warnings: explicit sex, homophobia, internalized homophobia, racism, attempted murder

Two old friends who haven’t seen each other for years work together to find a missing person.

This was lovely.

Finished Book 46: The gentle art of fortune hunting by KJ Charles
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 1m
Content warnings: explicit sex, discussions of child abuse, classism

This one started a bit slow but in the end turned out to be one of my favorites, with a gradually building plot, some very fun foreshadowing, and a whole cast of characters I really came to care about.

Finished Book 47: Spectred Isle by KJ Charles
Green Men
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 34m
Content warnings: explicit sex, child abuse, body horror, panic attack, trauma/ptsd, homophobia

This isn’t my favorite of these books, but it’s still pretty good. It looks like there’s a book of short short stories also set in this world (The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal) and a free short story that’s a crossover with a series by another author (here) but no other novels (yet, hopefully).

Finished Book 48: An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 1
New read, adult, romance, Audiobook 7h 38m
Content warnings: murder, torture, explicit sex, ableism, alcoholism, abusive family, implied rape, homophobia, suicide

Absolutely love this one.

Finished Book 49: The lady and the tiger by Sam Storyteller
The Shivadhverse, book 3
New read, adult, romance, ebook,

Third book in Sam’s new romance series! This one is mostly political intrigue with a little bit of romance.

Finished Book 50: An unnatural vice by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 2
New read, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 54m
Content Warnings: explicit sex, hate sex, murder, torture, abusive family, homophobia, cult, lying

Finished Book 51: An unsuitable heir by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 3
New read, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 28m
Content warnings: cult, explicit sex, body dysphoria, murder, homophobia, ableism

I really love this whole trilogy.

Finished Book 52: A Fashionable Indulgence by KJ Charles
Society of Gentlemen, Book 1
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 47m
Content warnings: explicit sex, murder, classism, misogyny, police brutality

Finished Book 53: A seditious affair by KJ Charles
Society of Gentlemen, Book 2
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 22m
Content warnings: explicit sex, bdsm, murder, betrayal,

Finished Book 54: A gentleman's position by KJ Charles
Society of Gentlemen, Book 3
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 1m
Content warnings: mutilation (in a fairy tale), classism, child abuse, spousal abuse, attempted murder

Finished Book 55: The ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ Charles
Society of gentlemen 0.5 (short story)
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 53p

Finished Book 56: A confidential problem by KJ Charles
Society of gentlemen 2.5 (short story)
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 21p

Finished Book 57: A private miscellany by KJ Charles
Society of gentlemen 3.5 (short story)
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 27p

I like this series, too, but not as much as I liked Sins of the Cities.

Finished Book 58: Wanted, an author by KJ Charles
Short story epilogue to Wanted, a Gentleman
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 15p

Finished Book 59: Wanted, a Gentleman by KJ Charles
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 255p

Finished Book 60: The rat-catcher's daughter by KJ Charles
The Lilywhite Boys, book 0.5
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 108p
Content warnings: torture, murder, kidnapping, transphobia

Finished Book 61: Band sinister by KJ Charles
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 59m

I had a terrible migraine, so I decided to reread a book I’d enjoyed recently and still had checked out. Just as fun the second time around.

Finished Book 62: Any old diamonds by KJ Charles
The Lilywhite Boys, book 1
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 265p
Content warnings: explicit sex, murder, betrayal, dubious consent (explained in the next spoiler tag) To expand on one of the warnings: a couple of times during D/s sex, one character pushes the boundaries of what the other actually wants, either because he doesn't care or is pretending not to care or because he's angry. He apologizes later.

I should stop being surprised with how many of Charles’ books make me go “I love this so much!” but, well. Kind of surprised how much I loved this one, especially the last about third or quarter of it, which was fantastic.

Finished Book 63: Gilded cage by KJ Charles
The Lilywhite Boys, book 2
New read, adult, romance, ebook 247p
Content warnings: explicit sex, miscarriage, murder

Really liked this, too.

Finished Book 64: An unseen attraction by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 1
Reread, adult, romance, Audiobook 7h 38m

I also started this one during the migraine.

Finished Book 65: An Unnatural Vice by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 2
Reread, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 54m

The migraine had finished, but after rereading the first one, I wanted to reread the whole trilogy. It was fun to see the points at which the books overlap, since they are sequels but significant portions of books 1 and 2 and books 2 and 3 take place concurrently.

Finished Book 66: An unsuitable heir by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 3
Reread, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 28m

I still particularly like this one and now upon having finished reading it for the second time within a month, I kind of want to just reread it again. I'm not going to, I don't want to get sick of it due to reading it too many times in too short a period.

Finished Book 67: The magpie lord by KJ Charles
A Charm of Magpies, book 1
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 6h 25m
Content warnings: explicit sex, suicide, depression, body horror, discussion of child abuse, animal harm, discussion of incest, homophobia

Finished Book 68: A case of possession by KJ Charles
A Charm of Magpies, book 2
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 6h 24m
Content warnings: explicit sex, homophobia, murder, moderate gore, animal harm

Finished Book 69: Flight of Magpies by KJ Charles
A Charm of Magpies, book 3
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 6h 27m
Content warnings: explicit sex, homophobia, murder, gore, body horror

I like these okay, they’re definitely not my favorite, it’s a romance series but they’re also fantasy verging on horror and horror is definitely not my thing.

Pearl’d: Boyfriend material by Alexis hall
Content warnings: homophobia, secondhand embarrassment

This narrator is absolutely terrible at doing women's voices, but frankly that was the least of my problems with this book. People kept saying “homosexual” instead of “gay”, which was odd (is that a British thing, or is it just an authorial quirk?). The setup for the fake boyfriend plot was wildly homophobic (the main character literally says if he thought he could find another job, he would sue). The main character is desperately in need of therapy. I might have enjoyed this book more if it were written in third person, but it’s in first person and the narration inside Luc’s head swaps between mortifying, horrifying, and exasperating.

I might try another book by this author, since someone recommended a particular book to me, but not now.

Finished Book 70: A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Fractured Fables, book 1
New read, young adult, fantasy, ebook, 128p

And now I’m caught up! I read this yesterday. I probably would have loved it if I was in the target age group, but as it is I thought it was fine but not amazing.

Finished Book 71: Shifters in the Night by Molly Harper
Mystic Bayou, book 5
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 236p
Content warnings: sex, stalking, kidnapping

I was so excited when my friend told me there was a new Mystic Bayou book out, and another one is coming! These books are so silly and fun.

Finished Book 72: Firefighter Unicorn by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters, book 6
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 247p
Content warnings: Explicit sex, kidnapping

I enjoyed this one, particularly the end. My one real complaint is that it's implausible that two virgins are going to have perfect, mind-blowing sex the very first time. It would have been more believable, and could also have been fun, to have first-time awkwardness and figuring things out instead. But that's just my opinion.

Finished Book 73: The gentle art of fortune hunting by KJ Charles
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 1m
Content warnings: explicit sex, discussions of child abuse, classism

I really exceptionally like this one. I think I’m starting to collect a list of Favorite KJ Charles Books and this, Band Sinister, An Unsuitable Heir, and Any Old Diamonds are on it so far. Possibly all of the Sins of the Cities books, actually.

Finished Book 74: Wildfire Pegasus by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 306p
Content warnings: explicit sex, practical jokes, lying, anxiety/mental health issues

Finished Book 75: Wildfire Hellhound by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 356p
Content warnings: explicit sex, possession, lying

Finished Book 76: Wildfire Phoenix by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 350p

Finished Book 77: Tithed to the Fae by Zoe Chant
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 212p
Content warnings: explicit sex, kidnapping, fantasy racism, torture

Really not my favorite of the much. It was ok, but overall kind of meh.

Finished Book 78: The Sea Dragon's Lion by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters: Friends and Family
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 94p
Content warnings: miscommunication, bullying

Finished Book 79: Coyote in the Sea by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters: Friends and Family
New read, adult, fantasy, ebook, 40p
Content warnings: fantasy racism, bullying, drowning

This one is really cute and brings back some characters I really liked from previous books.

Finished Book 80: Royal Guard Lion by Zoe Chant
Shifter kingdom
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 161p
Content warnings: explicit sex, attempted murder, poison, dementia

>44 bluesalamanders: Congratulations on reaching 75, Blue!

>46 FAMeulstee: Thanks!

Pearl'd: The roommate risk by Talia hibbert
Content warnings: explicit sex, diet/disordered eating talk, divorce, dead parent, blood, mild gore (shaving injury)

So I bounced pretty early off of this one. I don’t think it’s bad, it just didn’t work for me. There didn’t seem to be any plot in the book besides the romance, and I don’t love that, and on top of that I found both main characters kind of dull, though that may have been just because they spent every second thinking about how much they wanted to bang each other with no other storyline to break it up.

Finished Book 81: Royal Guard Tiger by Zoe Chant
Shifter kingdom, book 2
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 177p

Finished Book 82: Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11h 20m

Finished Book 83: Fashionable Indulgence by KJ Charles
Society of Gentlemen, Book 1
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 47m
Content warnings: explicit sex, murder, classism, misogyny, police brutality

I like this book a lot. The other two books in the trilogy are good but not books I'm planning to reread any time soon.

Pearl'd: Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
I forget exactly when I tried to read this, but a friend recommended it to me as similar to the Finder series but "less gritty" and it...isn't. Or, I guess it is similar, but only in the most superficial ways (main character travels in space and delivers stuff, things go wrong), and not in any ways that actually make it interesting to me.

What I liked about Finder was a lot of what I like about the October Daye books, which I said in my review it reminded me of - the character growth of the protagonist, the friendships and partnerships they make throughout the series, and the integrity the main character shows even when they themselves may not think they're a good person.

Chilling Effect starts with the main character trafficking in sentient beings and goes on to have them allow an entire space station to be destroyed and all on board killed to save their own skin. Neither Fergus nor Toby would have done either of those things, and at that point I was so horrified that I had to stop reading.

Finished Book 84: Tropical Tiger Spy by Zoe Chant
Shifting Sands book 1
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 178p
Content warnings: explicit sex, kidnapping, imprisonment

Very silly book.

Finished Book 85: Tropical Wounded Wolf by Zoe Chant
Shifting Sands book 2
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 180p
Content warnings: trauma, ptsd, anxiety, magical healing, explicit sex, kidnapping, hostage situation

This one is slightly less silly, due to the trauma the main characters deal with, but even so it’s still a pretty silly book. I get the impression this whole series is going to be silly (even compared to the fairly silly Fire & Rescue books).

Finished Book 86: The War Comes Home by Seanan McGuire
short story (patreon)
New read, adult, fantasy, ebook, 8p
Content warnings: war imagery

Oof. This packed a punch way harder than you'd expect from a story this short.

Finished Book 87: Tropical Bartender Bear by Zoe Chant
Shifting Sands book 3
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 197p
Content warnings: attempted murder, betrayal, bad portrayal of mental illness,

Finished Book 88: Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian
Page & Sommers, Book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical), audiobook, 6h 27m
Content warnings: war imagery, discussion of WW2, trauma/ptsd, murder, suicide

Page is a spy and Sommers is a country doctor and they meet when Page is sent to deal with a suspicious death in a small town in England.

Finished Book 89: The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian
Page & Sommers, Book 2
New read, adult, romance (historical), audiobook, 6h 28m
Content warnings: discussion of WW2, trauma/ptsd, discussion of murder/suicide, major character death, homophobia, discussion of transphobia and the pathologization of queer people

A will brings Sommers and various family members together in order to discover what happened to someone who went missing years ago.

These books are a little slow at times but overall are very good. I especially loved the end of The Missing Page, both the wrap-up for the mystery and the resolution for the relationship.

Finished Book 90: ​It takes two to tumble by Cat Sebastian
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 38m
Content warnings: explicit sex, dead mothers, minor character death, neglectful parents

An amusing story about a shi​​p's captain home on leave getting to know the young vicar who has been looking after his scapegrace children.

This book is also overly slow at times in my opinion, but I do like the characters and how the story wraps up. Also I’m starting to notice how the titles never quite match the stories, though that probably isn’t the author’s fault.

Finished Book 91: ​A gentleman never keeps score by Cat Sebastian
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 9h 2m
Content warnings: explicit sex, homophobia, racism, discussion of sexual abuse and rape, trauma/ptsd

Finished Book 92: ​Two rogues make a right by Cat Sebastian
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 59m
Content warnings: Explicit sex, ptsd/trauma, discussion of torture/child abuse/rape, chronic illness, discussion of drug addiction, miscommunication

Finished Book 93: ​Any Old diamonds by KJ Charles
The Lilywhite Boys, book 1
Reread, adult, romance, ebook, 265p

A friend was reading this and kept quoting it on discord which made me want to read it again. It is just as fun the second time around.

Finished Book 94: ​The soldier's scoundrel by Cat Sebastian
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 51m
Content warnings: explicit sex, war imagery,

I do not care for the narrator. He has a slightly scratchy voice and gives a flat performance and it's just not very pleasant. I only continued listening because I didn't have easy access to a text copy and I didn't dislike it enough to stop.

Although it was a near thing. This book reminds me in broad strokes of Any Old Diamonds or the second Society of Gentlemen book, with the tense relationship between a gentleman and a criminal, but unlike those, I had a hard time rooting for this relationship through most of the story. Oliver was just kind of bland and Jack was generally unpleasant and so constantly angry that I was always worried he was going to hurt Oliver.

Finished Book 95: The ​Queer principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 9h 12m
Content warnings: explicit sex, secondhand embarrassment, blood

This one was unfortunately kind of disappointing. It was recommended enthusiastically by a friend and I just didn't especially care for it. For starters, as with most of Sebastian’s books, the title doesn’t quite fit and this one bothered me more than most. There is little queer about Kit's principles; it's Percy's principles that are odd and malleable throughout the book. This title deserves a better book.

That’s not the real issue, though. The real issue was that I actually had to skip a scene. The characters walked into an unlocked building - it was supposed to be locked - and instead of being concerned why it was unlocked and worrying about the woman who should have either locked it up or been waiting for them, they ignored it and went on to have sex in an unlocked room (presumably they locked the door to the building, it didn’t say). I couldn't listen to that sex scene, it was so stressful I had to actually fast-foward through it, and it didn't get less stressful when someone walked in on them right after they finished. Hated it.

I know a lot of people liked this one but I just didn't particularly. I'd recommend the Sins of the Cities series for something with similar themes, and Any Old Diamonds for the "gentlemen hires a criminal to steal from his father" side of it. Overall KJ Charles's books are just better, in my opinion.

Finished Book 96: ​The Lawrence brown affair by Cat Sebastian
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 30m
Content warnings: discussion of rape/abuse/murder/alcohol abuse, mental health issues, ableism, homophobia, child neglect, animal death,

Ok, I think I need to give up on Cat Sebastian’s books. They’re just not my thing. Again I didn’t hate this, but there were a lot of things I didn’t like about it. I think the Page & Sommers books are the only ones of Sebastien’s that I actually liked.

Finished Book 97: Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest
New read, adult, fantasy (mystery) , ebook, 304p
Content warnings: murder

Pretty much as light and silly as a book full of murder and migraines can be. Not my favorite book I've ever read, but enjoyable. Looking forward to picking up the sequel.

Finished Book 98: Widdershins by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 224p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, trauma/ptsd, internalized homophobia, bullying, sexism

Museum translator Whybourne and private detective Griffin team up to investigate some unusual activities.

Thoroughly enjoyed this! I've been looking for more romance of a similar quality to KJ Charles and I may have finally found it. I like the main characters and their relationship, the investigation into what turned out to be a bit of lovecraftian horror was interesting (if, unsurprisingly, a bit gross, but not so horror-y that it bothered me much), Christine was a fantastic side character and I look forward to seeing more of her.

Overall well written, fun to read, and definitely recommended! On to book 2.

Finished Book 99: Eidolon by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, book 1.5
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 40p
Content warnings: explicit sex, discussion of trauma/ptsd

Or rather, book 1.5! Valentine's day novella, a sweet and slightly heartbreaking story (due to his intensely low self-esteem) from Griffin's perspective.

Finished Book 100: Threshold by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, book 2
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 170p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, minor character death, racism, sexism, suicide

Whybourne's father hires Griffin to investigate some odd things happening at a coal mine he owns.

Still thoroughly enjoying these books.

Finished Book 101: Stormhaven by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, book 3
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 178p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, trauma/ptsd, mental illness, mental hospital, murder, blood, possession, discussion of rape, attempted rape

Griffin is hired to prove the innocence of a man accused of murder and confined to a madhouse, which brings up old memories. It also turns out (of course) there's more going on than it first appears.

Finished Book 102: Carousel by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 3.5, novella
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 39p
Content warnings: explicit sex, kidnapping, creepy possessed marionettes (sort of)

The search for a missing child leads them to a horrifying discovery.

Finished Book 103: Necropolis by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 4
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 200p
Content warnings: explicit sex, cannibalism, possession, discussion of abuse, racism, betrayal, major character death

Christine asks Griffin and Whybourne to join her in Egypt to help with mysteries surrounding her latest archeological dig.

Finished Book 104: Bloodline by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 5
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 235p
Content warnings: explicit sex, secondary character death, murder, lying/deceit

I spent half of this book yelling at Whybourne to stop acting like such a damn fool, but it's not like he didn't have some reasons for behaving that way. It was a relief when he stopped, though, and I hope they're mostly past all the "I don't know what he sees in me" insecurity.

Finished Book 105: Harmony by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book, 5.5 (short story)
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook

A very sweet Christmas story.

Finished Book 106: An unseen attraction by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 1
Reread, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 38m

Needed something relaxing to listen to as I went to sleep and when I woke up in the middle of the night, which surprisingly this is, despite all the murder and attempted murder and so on that happens.

Finished Book 107: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton
Dangerous Damsels, Book 1
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 336p

This is an extremely silly book and a lot of fun to read.

Finished Book 108: Hoarfrost by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 6
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 231p
Content warnings: explicit sex, homophobia, lovcraftian monsters, possession, betrayal, attempted murder, fantasy racism, kidnapping

Griffin finds one of his long-lost brothers and they all end up on a expedition in the Alaskan wilderness.

Finished Book 109: Maelstrom by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 7
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 262p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, murder, possession

A series of gruesome murders draw Griffin and Whybourne into yet another mystery.

Finished Book 110: Fallow by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 8
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 211p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, possession, minor character death, racism, homophobia, suicide

A new investigation leads them to Griffin's hometown.

CW homophobia: Lots of homophobia in this one. Griffin was run out of town when he was a young man for having a relationship with another man, and they find out the other man stayed and married a woman but wasn't allowed to move past that history and eventually he killed himself. Griffin returning to town brings up a lot of old wounds, especially since Whybourne is with him, and Christine and Iskander as an outspoken white woman married to an mixed-race English/Arabian man didn't help.

Finished Book 111: Undertow by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 8.5 (Novella)
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 86p

While Griffin and Whybourne are in Kansas, Ms. Parkhurst and Persephone have an adventure back in Widdershins.

Finished Book 112: An unnatural vice by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 2
Reread, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 54m

Finished Book 113: Draakenwood by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 9
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery, ebook, 218p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror (and how), murder, zombies, fantasy racism, homophobia, kidnapping

A series of gruesome murders turns out to be the work of an old enemy.

Finished Book 114: Balefire by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 10
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery, ebook, 240p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, murder, cannibalism

The Endicotts reluctantly ask Whybourne to come to Cornwall to help them with a magical problem they can't solve on their own.

Finished Book 115: Deosil by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 11
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery, ebook, 244p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, secondary character death, possession, involuntary transformation

A fitting end to a fantastic series.

Finished Book 116: Provoked by Joanna Chambers
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 206p
Content warnings: explicit sex, sexism, classism, attempted murder, internalized homophobia, dubious consent

The main character is kind of a doormat and the love interest is a jerk and I just don't care enough to read the sequels and find out if they're ever able to get along for more than ten minutes at a time.

Finished Book 117: Tropical Lynx's Lover by Zoe Chant
Shifting Sands book 4
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 146p
Content warnings: explicit sex, trauma, mild body horror (unintentional partial shifts), kidnapping, plane crash

Finished Book 118: Tropical Dragon Diver by Zoe Chant
Shifting Sands, book 5
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 178p
Content warnings: explicit sex, drugs, kidnapping, mind control, abusive parents/families

Bastian finds a woman with a bullet wound floating in the ocean not far from the resort.

Finished Book 119: Tropical Panther's Penance by Zoe Chant
Shifting Sands Resort, book 6
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 186p
Content warnings: explicit sex, attempted murder

This is without doubt my least favorite book set in this universe. The couple is a terrible fit from the start and things barely improve over the course of the story.

The only redeeming thing about this book is when a kid says she isn’t scared of a cobra because her dad is a GOOSE shifter and she will be too, and when people were confused, she clarifies that he is a MAN GOOSE. Everyone is still confused. Then her uncle bursts out laughing and explains that she means mongoose, which are immune to venom. All the characters cracked up, and so did I.

Pearl'd: Unforgivable by Joanna Chambers
Content warnings: blackmail, rape, spousal abuse, abandonment, sooo many red flags

Well written, but I hated, hated the love interest. He was not great from the start, but I could have pushed past the early stuff for handwave-y "it's a romance novel" reasons, but I hit a wall once the really bad red flags started popping up.

Their relationship arc up to when I stopped went: ”he was blackmailed into marriage, the wedding night was practically rape, he abandoned and cheated on her for 5 years, he didn't recognize her when she came to town, they had a brief affair while he didn't know it was her, and when he found out he treated her like crap including being irrationally jealous, violently intimidating, and trying to keep her away from her friends”. When I gave up, it seemed like they were about to have hate sex, which just...no. Nope. No. Hate sex can work, but not when one of the characters is giving off textbook abusive partner red flags. Why does she still even want him? Literally the only time he wasn't awful was when he thought she was someone else, but then he went right back to being horrible when he found out who she was.

I should not be surprised that I am picky about the romance novels I want to read. Unfortunately here's another author I have to pass on.

Finished Book 120: Kneading You by C.S. Poe
Lancaster, book 1
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 50p
Content warning: explicit sex

This was a cute and silly story about a new small-town librarian and bread-baking handyman. A very nice palate cleanser after the previous two books.

Finished Book 121: Spellbound by Allie Therin
Magic in Manhattan, book 1
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 9h 24m
Content warning: kidnapping, torture

This one has kind of a rough start but it turned into a good historical fantasy romance with some action and excitement thrown in. I didn't love it enough to immediately grab the sequels but I'll check them out at some point.

Pearl'd: Kidnapped by the Pirate by Keira Andrews
Content warning: kidnapping, dubious consent, child abuse

I mean, it is what it says on the tin, I should've known it would probably not be my thing. I have only myself to blame this time.

Finished Book 122: The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by KJ Charles
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 22m
Content warning: explicit sex, fatphobia, homophobia, child abuse, murder, animal harm, torture

The end of this book unexpectedly made me cry. Not because it was sad - it wasn't! It was just too many feelings. So many feelings. All the feelings.

I really liked it, I loved the characters, this is why I really love KJ Charles's books, because the characters are so great and because every relationship is specific to those characters, who they are and what their lives are. As much as I enjoy some of the other romances I read - and I do! - most of them seem a little lacking in imagination in that regard.

Finished Book 123: Remnant by KJ Charles and Jordan hawk
Short story in both the Whybourne & Griffin and Simon Feximal series
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 53p
Content warning: explicit sex, stalking/obsession, moderate gore

Entertaining story and absolutely hilarious to have these four in the same place at the same time.

Finished Book 124: Carpe Glitter by Cat Rambo
New read, adult, fantasy, Audiobook, 1h 41m
Content warnings: ww2/nazi relics, possession, possessed dolls, murder, hoarding

I didn't really understand the point of this story. I mean, obviously a story doesn't need a point per se, but it was weird and unsatisfying and nothing about it spoke to me in any meaningful way except for how uncomfortable it was for one of the major characters to be a Nazi automaton.

Finished Book 125: Tropical Tails by Zoe Chant
Shifting Sands Resort, book 11 (short stories)
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 204p

Finished Book 126: Tropical Holiday Tails by Zoe Chant
Shifting Sands Resort, book 12 (short stories)
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 164p

I just realized that I somehow skipped books 7-10. Oops! I was definitely confused by some things in some of these short stories, but I’ve accidentally read books out of order before, it’s not a big deal.

Finished Book 127: Starcrossed by Allie Therin
Magic in Manhattan, book 2
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 10h 36m

Finished Book 128: Paradisa by Michelle Iannantuono
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 309p
Content warnings: gore, hate crime, homophobia, murder, misogyny, weird mixtures of religions(largely Catholic angels and Ancient Greek gods)

A couple of ordinary humans get caught up in a messy conflict among immortal beings.

I picked this book up (not literally; it’s on Kindle Unlimited) because I’m a fan of the author’s other work, so when I found out she’d published a novel, I decided to check it out.

It was fine. It isn't my favorite type of romance - after knowing each other for like three days, the characters talk about their relationship as if they’ve known each other for years - but that's okay. It was a fast-paced and entertaining story and I don't regret reading it.

I wasn't particularly a fan of this book, but as I said, I am a fan of her movies, and those I absolutely do recommend. I first saw her action/romance fan film Detroit Evolution (no fandom knowledge required, I was not familiar with the video game it's based on when I first watched it) and later the sequel Detroit Reawakening. She has a comedy short, Seven Deadly Synths, which I really enjoyed, and a horror short, Livescream, which surprisingly I also really enjoyed given how much I dislike horror in general. Most of it was creepy or stressful but not actively terrifying.

Content warnings for the movies, since I’m recommending them too:
Detroit Evolution: fantasy bigotry, serial killer, mind control, police brutality, stalking, smoking, gun violence
Detroit Reawakening: fantasy bigotry, android corpse/blood, trauma/ptsd, smoking, discussion of police brutality
Livescream: first-person video gaming, haunted/possessed game, terrifying clown jumpscares*, minor character deaths, major character deaths, child deathand maybe some other stuff but even though I liked it I’m not going to watch it again any time soon
*The terrifying clown jumpscares only take place in the second level (I think second, but there's warning) and I found it easy to block the screen and avoid seeing it.
Seven Deadly Synths: mind control/hypnotism, WW2 mention

Finished Book 129: Hunter of Demons by Jordan L Hawk
SPECTR, series 1, book 1
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 108p
Content warnings: explicit sex, murder, mild gore, possession, bigotry

Caleb just wants to avenge his brother, who was first killed by a monster and then his possessed corpse got up and walked out of the morgue. He follows his sister-in-law and her friends to an abandoned house where they say his brother’s body went. What could possibly go wrong?

I really liked the Whybourne & Griffin books, so I decided to check out another series by Hawk, and so far this one is going pretty well. I absolutely relate to Caleb’s pretty constant freaking out (he has a lot to freak out about!) and it makes sense that in the end, he would turn to the one person who had actually been kind to him through everything. How they’re going to move from one adrenaline-fueled fuck to an actual relationship will be interesting to see.

Finished Book 130: Master of Ghouls by Jordan L Hawk
SPECTR, series 1, book 2
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 85p
Content warnings: explicit sex, blood, kidnapping, possession

Finished Book 131: Wonderstruck by Allie Therin
Magic in Manhattan, book 3
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 9h 17m
Content warnings: bugs, vermin, murder, child abuse, ptsd/trauma, medical abuse, telepathy, possession/body control

Finished Book 132: Reaper of souls by Jordan L Hawk
SPECTR, series 1, book 3
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 102p
Content warnings: explicit sex, murder, betrayal, fantasy bigotry, possession

Finished Book 133: Eater of lives by Jordan L Hawk
SPECTR, series 1, book 4
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 89p
Content warnings: explicit sex, possession, fatphobia, disordered eating, cannibalism

Finished Book 134: Destroyer of Worlds by Jordan L Hawk
SPECTR, series 1, book 5
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 108p

Finished Book 135: Summoner of storms by Jordan L Hawk
SPECTR, series 1, book 6
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 152p
Content warnings: explicit sex, possession, kidnapping, mass murder, racism, bigotry

Finished Book 136: Mocker of Ravens by Jordan L Hawk
SPECTR, series 2, book 1
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 96p
Content warnings: racism/Islamophobia, possession, explicit sex, murder, cannibalism, moderate gore

Finished Book 137: Dancer of Death by Jordan L Hawk
SPECTR, series 2, book 2
New read, adult, romance (paranormal), ebook, 90p
Content warnings: explicit sex, possession, torture, murder, moderate gore, body horror

Finished Book 138: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Wayfarers, book 1
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 14h 23m
Content warnings: misgendering, fantasy bigotry, involuntary medical procedure, major character death,

Finished Book 139: After the wedding by Courtney Milan
Worth Saga Book 2
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 11h 30m
Content warnings: racism, misogyny, gaslighting, entrapment

Two inconvenient servants are lured into the same room, locked in together, and "discovered" supposedly in flagrante. They are forced at gunpoint to wed and then thrown out.

Pretty much nothing about the plot of this book makes sense but the main characters are so charming and entertaining that it's really hard to mind.

Finished Book 140: Band Sinister by KJ Charles
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 59m

I think I had another migraine and wanted something light and fluffy again.

I realized that the new October Daye book comes out at the end of August and decided to reread the second half, or I guess two-thirds, of the series:

Finished Book 141: Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 6
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 12h 26m

Finished Book 142: Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 7
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 12h 15m

Finished Book 143: The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 8
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11h 57m

Finished Book 144: A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 9
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 12h 47m

Finished Book 145: Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 10
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11h 27m

Finished Book 146: The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 11
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11h 36m

Finished Book 147: Night and Silence by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 12
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11h 28m

Finished Book 148: The Unkindest Tide by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 13
Reread, adult, fantasy, 11h 57m

Finished Book 149: A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 14
Reread, adult, fantasy, 11h 48m

Finished Book 150: When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 15
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 12h 13m

Finished up my reread of (most of) the Toby books in preparation for the new one coming out at the end of this month. It’s going to be a doozey.

Finished Book 151: A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
New read, adult, fantasy (political thriller, romance), ebook, 544p
Content warnings: explicit sex, homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, rape, trauma, major character deaths, animal death, blood, suicidal ideation, self-harm

Absolutely loved this! I sat down and read the whole thing in a day (when I definitely should have been doing other things, oops!). I was a little hesitant when I started, because I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for something that was essentially a political thriller in a fantasy setting, but it enthralled me immediately, probably because of how much I loved the main characters.

There is a content warning in the brief author's note due to several things mentioned in my content warnings, which I appreciate. I've had problems before with books depicting rape with no warning, and this way I was able to decide that I was okay to read it. It was a stressful scene, and it's supposed to be, but it would have been much more stressful if I hadn't been prepared for it.

>66 bluesalamanders: Congratulations on reaching 2 x 75, Blue!

Thanks!

Finished Book 152: Proper Scoundrels by Allie Therin
Magic in Manhattan, adjacent novel
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 41m
Content warnings: fire, torture, discussion of possession/body control, definitely other stuff I don’t remember

Very good, very funny at times (very upsetting at other times). I enjoyed how the two main characters were like ”I’m a bad guy, you shouldn’t want to be around me!” “No, I’m the bad guy, you shouldn’t want to spend time around me!” When in reality they both just, like…have complicated histories and trauma and stuff.

Finished Book 153: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
Monk and Robot, book 2
New read, adult, science fiction, dead tree, 152p

I didn’t like it quite as much as I liked the first one, but that’s ok. It would be hard to live up to how much I loved the first one. I liked it a lot and I’m looking forward to the next one.

Pearl’d: Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles
I read this awhile back and had mixed feelings about it then, and I decided to try it again now that I’m more familiar with Charles’ work. It turns out I have even less patience with Kim’s lying and Will’s flip-flopping than I did the first time around.

I won’t recommend for or against this series, because many people I know absolutely love it. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t.

Finished Book 154: Blind Tiger by Jordan L. Hawk
The Pride, book 1
New read, adult, romance, audiobook, 6h 40m
Content warnings: explicit sex, murder, blood, discussions of suicide and suicidal ideation, abusive family and related trauma, sexual harassment, discussion of war and ptsd

Sam escaped his abusive family and is trying to build a new life in Chicago with the help of his cousin Eldon. After all Alastair lost in the war, he isn’t in a hurry for new entanglements, and he definitely isn’t interested in that asshole Eldon’s innocent country cousin. But when Eldon is murdered, Sam and Alastair have to team up to find out what he was working for one of Chicago’s infamous mob bosses.

This is a good start to a series. I like the world, I like the protagonists, and there’s a whole host of great characters that I hope we get to know better in later books (which, I did not realize when I started this one, aren’t out yet. oops!).

Finished Book 155: Hexbreaker by Jordan L Hawk
Hexworld, book 1
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), audiobook, 8h 36m
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, gore, homophobia, racism, attempted rape, kidnapping and imprisonment, murder, police brutality

So when I realized The Pride wasn't a finished series, I looked to see if Hawk had written any other books in the same universe, and it turns out the Hexworld series is in the same world, set around 25 years earlier (I think. History is not my strong suit.).

I liked it a lot. My only complaint is that the narrator pronounced “twined” as “twinned” throughout the whole book, which made for some incredibly jarring sentences. (“They twinned their fingers together” wait what?)

Finished Book 156: Hexmaker by Jordan L Hawk
Hexworld, book 2
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 190p
Content warnings: explicit sex, bdsm, discussion of attempted suicide, murder, police corruption, discussion of child abuse, slavery, fantasy racism

I liked this book too. I was a little disappointed that it was about different characters than the previous Hexworld book (I was expecting multiple books about the same characters like Whybourne & Griffin or SPECTR) but I liked Mal and Owen, too.

One sort of minor issue I have with this series is that the antagonists remind me of some of the MCU antagonists: their basic goals are not bad things, but they're taken to such extremes and their methods are so reprehensible, that everyone has to work together to oppose them and that often loops right back around to upholding the status quo. Which doesn't mean the protagonists support the status quo, but it's hard to be like "yes, those bad guys who just tried to horribly murder hundreds of people kind of had a point".

Finished Book 157: A Christmas Hex by Jordan L Hawk
Hexworld, book 2.5
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 70p

Finished Book 158: Hexslayer by Jordan L Hawk
Hexworld, book 3
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 232p
Content warnings: Explicit sex, hate sex, fantasy bigotry, cults, ptsd, war imagry, murder, suicide, mild gore

I did not like this book. In fact, I switched from audiobook to ebook halfway through because I wanted to know what happened but I needed to be able to skim. If I could have found a summary, I wouldn't have even done that.

The reason I didn't like this one is because one of the protagonists just threw away all his political and ethical beliefs because he was horny, and there was not enough justification (for me) for why he would be willing to do that. I think it’s the first Hawk book I’ve read that didn’t work for me, though, so this is a “shrug and move on” thing. No matter how much I like an author’s work, there’s always at least one or two books I don’t care for.

Finished Book 159: Wild Wild Hex by Jordan L. Hawk
Hexworld, 3.5
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 71p

Finished Book 160: Hexhunter by Jordan L. Hawk
Hexworld, book 4
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 189p
Content warnings: explicit sex, infidelity, suicide, kidnapping, body horror, trauma

Finished Book 161: A Mirror Mended by Alix Harrow
Book 2
audiobook
Content warnings: cannibalism, kidnapping, suffocation

I liked it, maybe a bit better than the first one.

Finished Book 162: The 13th Hex by Jordan L. Hawk
Hexworld, 0.5
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 60p

Finished Book 163: Drinker of Blood by Jordan L. Hawk
SPECTR series 2, book 3
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 124p

Finished Book 164: Breaker of Chains by Jordan L. Hawk
SPECTR series 2, book 4
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 148p

Finished Book 165: Shaker of Earth by Jordan L. Hawk
SPECTR series 2, book 5
New read, adult, romance (fantasy), ebook, 117p

I liked the first series better. Series 2 was good, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t love the other drakul trying to come between them and break them up. I mean, it worked well as a story, I’m not saying it was bad. It was just a little more stressful in the relationship side of the story than I wanted it to be. I hope in series 3, which I will definitely read at some point, their relationship is a bit more solid.

Finished Book 166: An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 1
Reread, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 38m

Finished Book 167: An Unnatural Vice by KJ Charles
Sins of the cities, book 2
Reread, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 54m

Finished Book 168: An Unsuitable Heir by KJ Charles
Sins of the Cities, book 3
Reread, adult, romance, Audiobook, 7h 28m

I started Unseen Attraction when I had another migraine, and couldn’t resist reading the rest of the series. These have really become some of my favorite books right now. I’m always amused when stories full of murder and torture become relaxing comfort reads, but hey.

Finished Book 169: Android’s Dream by John Scalzi
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 10h 34m

Finished Book 170: Any Old Diamonds by KJ Charles
The Lilywhite Boys, book 1
Reread, adult, romance, ebook, 265p

Finished Book 171: Gilded Cage by KJ Charles
The Lilywhite Boys, book 2
Reread, adult, romance, ebook, 247p

Finished Book 172: The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter by KJ Charles
The Lilywhite Boys, book 0.5
Reread, adult, romance, ebook, 108p

I really love all three stories in this series.

Finished Book 173: Be the Serpent by Seanan McGuire
October Daye, book 16
New read, adult, fantasy, dead tree, 351p
Content warnings: child death, murder, attempted murder, mind control, possession (sort of), blood, attempted suicide (sort of), kidnapping, cliffhanger end

Ask expected, this one’s a doozey. For the first, hm, two-thirds of the book, I was just like, ok, we pretty much expected this, it’s horrifying but maybe Toby’s got this covered. And then it seemed like she had it covered, and I forgot Seanan had said there was a cliffhanger, and that final chapter was a punch in the gut.

Finished Book 174: The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 1m

I just really like this book.

Finished Book 175: Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi
Dispatcher, book 3
New read, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 3h 43m
Content warnings: Murder, torture, kidnapping, plague/pandemic (not named but clearly inspired by covid), suicide

It’s fine. I kind of hope this is the end of the series, because each addition seems to be more weird and unpleasant ways to torture and kill people in order to get around the murdered-people-don’t-die setting and nothing else particularly interesting.

Finished Book 176: Think of England by KJ Charles
England, book 2
New read, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 204p
Content warnings: sex, war imagry, descriptions of injuries, voyeurism, blackmail, murder, suicide, homophobia, antisemitism

Finished Book 177: Proper English by KJ Charles
English, book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 225p
Content warnings: sex, racism, h omophobia, misogyny, murder, blackmail, discussion of drug abuse

Finished Book 178: Song for a Viking by KJ Charles
England, book 1.5
New read, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 12p

Not my favorite KJ Charles series, but still good books.

Finished Book 179: Unhallowed by Jordan L Hawk
Rath and Rune, book 1
New read, adult, romance (fantasy/horror), ebook, 226p
Content warning: explicit sex, body horror, murder, cults, discussions of bad parenting/child abuse

Finished Book 180: Unseen by Jordan L Hawk
Rath and Rune, book 2
New read, adult, romance (fantasy/horror), ebook, 234p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, murder, cults, discussions of bad parenting/child abuse

I really like these books! Sebastian and Vesper are great characters, and there are some great secondary characters as well. Also, I’ve loved the series name from even before I started reading them (Rath and Rune, wrath and ruin, it just makes me laugh). I think there will be two or three more books in this series eventually, and I’m really looking forward to them.

Finished Book 181: The Reluctant Husband by Eliot Grayson
New read adult, romance (historical/fantasy), ebook, 179p
Content warnings: sex, dubcon, infidelity, sexual assault, bullying, physical assault, childbirth (off page)

The beginning moved a bit too quickly to really sell the setup for this story (for me), and the supernatural setting didn’t really contribute much and was really more distracting than anything. The second half of the book was better paced and more interesting.

I imagine the supernatural element will contribute more in the later book(s), but this story ties up everything very neatly and I have no desire to read any sequels.

(Later: I just found out that this is the second book in the series? I didn't know that. It's possible some of the things that bothered me would have been less of an issue if I'd read the first book first, who knows. Again, I don't care enough to find out.)

Finished Book 182: Defender Cave Bear by Zoe Chant
Protection Inc Defenders, book 1
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 316p
Content warnings: sex, discussion of involuntary medical experimentation panic attacks, mind control, attempted murder, severe car crash, ptsd/trauma, discussion of teen pregnancy, attempted kidnapping

Tzirah is a hacker who works sort of like Anonymous or the characters from Leverage, using her skills to blow the whistle on wrongdoings she finds. When she downloads a random encrypted file during one of her hacks, trouble starts following her, and she decides to hire a bodyguard.

I really liked this and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Finished Book 183: Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by KJ Charles
Simon Feximal, book 4
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 7h 22m

Finished Book 184: Defender Raptor by Zoe Chant
Protection Inc Defenders, book 2
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 313p
Content warnings: sex, trauma/ptsd, kidnapping, discussion of involuntary medical experiments

I liked this one too. I do think the villains are pretty stupid, and the brief scenes that are spent showing things from their perspective don’t help, but whatever, I’m reading these for the character interactions and the cute animals mostly.

Finished Book 185: Defender Hellhound by Zoe Chant
Protection Inc Defenders, book 3
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 338p

This one started kind of iffy - even shifter strength wouldn’t allow someone to do a tandem BASE jump while not being strapped to jumper, and if it could, the jumper would have immediately known something weird was going on, that scene was beyond unbelievable - but I did enjoy the rest of the book enough that I mostly forgot about it once the scene was over.

The rest of the series isn’t out yet (I’m assuming there are going to be 3 or so more books).

Finished Book 186: The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
A Charm of Magpies, book 1
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy), ebook, 204p

Finished Book 187: Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
Old Man’s War, book 1
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 9h 58m

Finished Book 188: The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Old Man’s War, book 3
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 9h 51m

Finished Book 189: Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall
New read, adult, romance, ebook, 114p

Finished Book 190: Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles
The Will Darling Adventures, book 1
Reread, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 264p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, trauma, discussions of war/war imagery, discussions of disease/plague, discussion of chemical and biological warfare, betrayal, attempted murder, strangulation, kidnapping, torture through deprivation

I went back and tried this one again, in ebook this time. I skimmed past all the bits I read before and I found that it’s the first half of the book that I dislike, which is where Will and Kim are blowing hot and cold every other chapter and if I were Will, I would never speak to Kim again after all his lying and betrayal (the first time. The second time? Maybe the third time?? Jesus, stop giving that asshole more chances!). But if I skip past that, I do like the second half of the book. Phoebe and Maisie are great, the dramatic rescue is dramatic, the final deception issue has a solid resolution, and the book ends with the boys actually having an honest conversation.

I don’t know if I’ll read the rest of the series again any time soon. I own this one on ebook, but not the others, and I’m not in a rush to buy them. But like I said, a lot of other people love this series, so even though I’m not fond of it, I’m not recommending against it.

Finished Book 191: The End of All Things by John Scalzi
Old Man’s War, book 6
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 384p

Pearl’d: Restrained Desires by Katherine McIntyre
This was an Early Reviewers book

This is just not my sort of book. It describes the women's bodies in both positive and negative ways that make me uncomfortable; there's a total focus on the sexiness of the love interest and no mention of personality, intelligence, etc; and people are made fun of for being "prudes" and "deviants". To be fair, the latter might be intended as light-hearted jokes among friends that just didn't land for me.

I would read a book with this sort of plot (apparently it has fake dating, which is a trope I often enjoy) if I was interested in the characters, but it was a struggle to get through the first couple of chapters and I just didn't care enough to go on. I don't think it's a bad book, it's just very much not for me.

Finished Book 192: Witchmark by CL Polk
Reread, adult, romance (historical, fantasy), ebook, 474p
Content warnings: murder, suicide, possession, slavery, drug use and abuse, implied rape, fantasy bigotry, classism

I really liked this; I liked the characters, I liked the setting, especially later in the book when things got more interesting. I’m really looking forward to reading the second book now! I’m glad I decided to reread the first one first, though, since I barely remembered anything from when I read it before.

Finished Book 193: A Gentleman's Position by KJ Charles
Society of Gentlemen, Book 3
Reread, adult, romance (historical), audiobook, 8h 1m
Content warnings: explicit sex, mutilation (in a fairy tale), classism, child abuse, spousal abuse, attempted murder, assault/battery, homophobia

Some people were talking about this book and to my surprise it made me want to reread it. I wasn't sure I was ever going to want to, because there's a whole subplot of classism and miscommunication running through the romance - it's not, like, sitcom or romcom miscommunication, it is genuine failure to understand the other person's perspective, and it gets resolved, but it is highly uncomfortable while it's happening.

So, I reread it, and I enjoyed the first half, until I got to that point where Richard has the Worst Idea Ever (if you've read the book, you'll know what I mean) and I stopped reading for a while, then came back to it and cautiously continued. I wish I'd had an ebook, so I could have just skimmed that part, but all I have is the audiobook. I did mute the volume for part of it, and once I got past that part and everyone took turns yelling at him for what an idiot he’d been, which was very satisfying, I enjoyed the rest of the book, too.

Finished Book 194: Color of You by C. S. Poe
New read, adult, romance (contemporary), ebook, 201p
Content warnings: explicit sex, mild bdsm, secondhand embarrassment, homophobia, hate crime, fire, mention of inappropriate teacher/student relationship

I liked this book ok. My main issue with it is that I have trouble suspending disbelief for the way time is compressed in books like this. The events of the story take place of a month but it would make more sense, especially the emotion of the story, if it took more like 6 months. At least.

I think that’s a me problem, though, not a problem with this book, since this is a common issue I run up against with romance.

Finished Book 195: Down a Street That Wasn’t There by Marie Brennan
New read, adult, fantasy, ebook, 125p
Early reviewer

I liked all of the stories in this collection pretty well, but I definitely liked the last story, the genius prize, the best of all of them.

Finished Book 196: Gladiator Bear by Murphy Lawless
Gladiator shifters, book 1
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 300p

I really liked this book. I liked the characters, the story pulled me right in, the writing is quite good, it made me laugh out loud multiple times. The main character is a conservationist working to protect endangered species, which was a fun character to follow.

Finished Book 197: Jackdaw by KJ Charles
A Charm of Magpies World, book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical, fantasy), ebook, 205p
Content warnings: rape (or at least dubcon; I skipped that scene so I’m not sure), suicidal ideation, betrayal, homophobia

The beginning of this book is very dark and upsetting (at least for me), but if you like that sort of thing, or if you can push past it, or if (like me) you can just skip ahead past it, the rest of the book is good.

I skimmed several pages near the beginning of this because I could tell what was about to happen and I wasn't sure I could forgive the character if I actually read it. And, in fact, there's no reason for it to have happened; it was out of character and it wasn’t even necessary for the plot, since the fear the characters needed to move the plot forward is just as great without it. In fact, it was specifically mentioned earlier in the book that people could be arrested on suspicion of indecent acts without any evidence at all, so not only do I think it was not a necessary scene, but I think the writing would have been stronger if it had been left out. So that was uncomfortable and unnecessary and thankfully it was pretty easy to skip.

I really enjoyed the rest of the story, though. It was interesting seeing Crane and Day of the Magpie books from an outside perspective.

Finished Book 198: Gladiator Cheetah by Murphy Lawless
Gladiator shifters, book 2
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 268p
Cw sex, animal harm, attempted murder, death

Shannon is an Olympic biathalete, but a shattered hip ended her career. She's mostly healed when a friend sends her a listing for a job in South Africa that could use her sharpshooting skills, and she decides to apply.

Really like this series.

Finished Book 199: Gladiator hawk by Murphy Lawless
Gladiator shifters, book 3
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 230p

Finished Book 200: A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
New read, adult, fantasy (historical, romance), audiobook, 18h 20m
Content warnings: mild sexual content, death, animal death, chronic anxiety, panic attacks, depression, self harm, involuntary drugging, kidnapping

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The author said it was “a gloriously self-indulgent experience to write it” and it was equally so to read it.

.

Also, wtf, 200 books? I don’t know when I last read 200 books in one year! it was definitely sometime before I started keeping track, and I’ve been keeping track for over 15 years.

Wow 200 books! Congrats!

>80 norabelle414: Thanks, nora!

Finished Book 201: Widdershins by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, book 1
Reread, adult, romance (historical, fantasy), ebook, 224p

Finished Book 202: How to bake a pie by Seanan McGuire
Incryptid short story
New read, adult, fantasy (urban), ebook, 23p

Finished Book 203: Devilfish by Anna Kensing
Octopian Shifters, book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical, shifter), ebook, 302p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, tentacle sex, misgendering (very brief), kidnapping, voluntary and involuntary drug use

This was actually quite a bit better than I expected. Which may be damning it with faint praise, but I enjoyed it and may well pick up the sequels.

I got this free in a large romance ebook giveaway recently and expected (and frankly still expect) most of them to be barely readable, but if even a few are as enjoyable as Devilfish was, then it was definitely worth the time it took to wade through the list to dig out which books sounded like they might be interesting.

Pearl’d: Owl be Bear for you by DJ Jennings
Content warnings: attempted rape, discussion of severe injury, icky sexist language

I also got this one in a free batch and decided to give it a try because the name amused me, but I didn’t get too far before I decided it was just not for me.

Finished Book 204: Temptation by Design by Andrea Dalling
New read, adult, romance (contemporary), ebook, 85p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content (and badly written, imo), student/professor relationship, homophobic language

This was a bland romance about a college student and college professor who apparently fall in love (though I’m not sure when, it definitely didn’t happen during the events of the book) and try to deal with the consequences of that. Or rather, don’t face any consequences whatsoever.

I didn’t hate it, it was just entirely uninteresting. Not recommended.

Finished Book 205: Stormsong by C.L. Polk
Book 2
New read, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11h 19m
Content warnings: suffocation, torture, body horror, probably some other stuff

I really liked the first book, but this one was just disappointing. What bothered me the most wasn’t that Grace was basically one of the bad guys in the first book - I've read several books with that kind of protagonist where the authors were able to make it work. No, what bothered me most was that I don't care about Grace and her problems. Like, they're supposed to be these super important, country-wide problems and I just. Don't care. The only times I really care are when Miles or Tristan are there.

And even worse, Grace has zero chemistry with her love interest. I don't buy them as friends or as lovers, which is why I don’t care about so much of the story.

Finished Book 206: The governess affair by Courtney Milan
The Brothers Sinister Book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 152p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, discussion of rape, panic attack, agoraphobia, bullying, misogyny

Liked this one a surprising amount. I find Milan's work a bit hit or miss, and this one is a definite hit.

Finished Book 207: Redshirts by John Scalzi
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 7h 41m

Finished Book 208: Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian
Page & Sommers, Book 1
Reread, adult, romance (historical), audiobook, 6h 27m

I had a terrible migraine and had trouble concentrating on anything, so went with some rereads that didn’t take much concentration.

Next, I listened to the excellent (and long) We'll Run Like We're Awesome mcu podfic.

Finished Book 209: A Thief in the Night by KJ Charles
Gentle World, book 2
New read, adult, romance (historical), audiobook, 2h 45m
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, hoarding, discussion of war, discussion of child abuse, mention of homophobia, discussion of elder abuse

New KJ Charles book! Apparently this is the first book she’s put out in a while, but I believe that’s at least in part because she’s switching from self-publishing to a traditional publishing house, and that takes a lot longer. It’s currently only available on audiobook. I think it’ll come out in ebook in 6 months.

A Thief in the Night is the story of Rob and Marnie’s long lost brother, Toby, and what happened after he left them - and why he left, too. It’s a short and sweet story, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Finished Book 210: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Midsolar Murders, book 1
New read, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 15h 22m
Content warnings: murder, suicide, moderate gore, fatphobia, homophobia, abuse, voluntary and involuntary drug use, bugs

Wherever Mallory Viridian goes, someone inevitably gets murdered. She has no friends, her remaining family hates her, and dating is out of the question. So, in the hopes that whatever it is that causes this only effects humans, she leaves Earth and begs for sanctuary on Station Eternity.

This was a fascinating book with about six different intertwining storylines all happening at once. I really enjoyed it and could barely put it down. I especially liked all the weird alien races and how thoroughly gross most of them thought humans were. It was a very fun perspective.

On reflection, one thing I do find odd is that there were two reasons that Mallory was surrounded by murder. Her serial killer aunt, and her connection to the Sundry that drew her to where a murder was likely to happen. It seems odd to have both reasons, unless I missed something that said that the former was the cause of the latter or something, I guess.

Finished Book 211: Gladiator Wolf by Murphy Lawless
Gladiator Shifters, book 4
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 260p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, attempted murder, kidnapping, death, people puppets (body control),

Finished Book 212: Gladiator Tiger by Murphy Lawless
Gladiator Shifters, book 5
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 286p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, animal death, stalking

I really enjoyed this whole series, and this one in particular was both a lot of fun and very moving in a way I don’t always expect from this sort of book.

Finished Book 213: Timber Wolf by Zoe Chant
Virtue Shifters, book 1
New read, adult, romance (shifter), ebook, 192p
Content Warnings: explicit sexual content, gaslighting, stalking, bullying

Mabs unexpectedly inherits a run down house in a small town at the perfect time to move away from her horrible ex. Carpenter Jake returns to his hometown to try to forget his failed relationship. (terrible description)

This was a sweet and very funny book. Like, it made me laugh out loud multiple times. I was glad right now to read a book where the conflict was the main characters against outside forces (and sometimes aginst themselves) but never against each other.

Finished Book 214: Proper Scoundrels by Allie Therin
Magic in Manhattan, adjacent novel
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 41m

Pearl’d: Best Laid Plans by Ella Staintan
The writing style in this is just not to my taste. I didn’t get far before I had to stop.

Pearl’d: The Vicar and the Rake by Annabelle Greene
I didn’t get far in this one, either. The first kiss between the main characters happens when one of them is so sick that the doctor says he can’t be moved, and I was so grossed out I closed the book and returned it immediately.

Finished Book 215: Better Than People by Roan Parrish
Garnet Run, book 1
New read, adult, romance (contemporary), audiobook, 7h 19m
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, broken bone, severe anxiety, panic attacks, discussion of bullying/homophobia, dead parents

Better Than People is about Jack, who gets injured at the beginning of the story and needs someone to walk his dogs until he's better, and Simon, who works for himself so he has the free time to walk someone else's dogs twice a day (romance novel logic, lol). Jack is depressed at the beginning of the book. Simon has severe anxiety and spends a significant amount of the story nonverbal.

I can’t speak (no pun intended) to how realistically Simon's character is written, but I thought it was a very sweet story. The one thing I did find distracting was Jack’s injury. He walked on his badly broken leg more than I walked on my not-badly-broken ankle, and there were repeated references to the crutches hurting his armpits, which is not how crutches work. But that didn’t especially detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Finished Book 216: The Martian by Andy Weir
Reread, adult, science fiction, ebook, 448p

I’ve wanted to reread this for a while. Actually, i wanted to watch the movie but I couldn’t find it anywhere, but the book was available. It still holds up reasonably well, too.

Pearl’d: The Affair of The Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall
A Sherlockian story that seems to draw more inspiration from BBC Sherlock than the original books or other adaptations. The Sherlock analog, the sorceress Shaharazad Haas, is condescending, annoying, and unempathetic. I liked John Wyndham, the Watson analog, better, but like Watson from the TV show, he spends all his time trailing along after - and getting rescued by - Haas, and it seems like a waste of his character.

The most interesting thing about the book is the setting, which is reminiscent of the Fallen London game, if you’re familiar with that. However, it’s an extremely rare book that I’ll continue to read when I like the setting and don’t care for the plot or characters, and this isn’t one of them.

Finished Book 217: Off Balance by Jay Hogan
Painted Bay, book 1
New read, adult, romance (contemporary), audiobook, 10h 26m
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, broken bone, chronic illness, vomit, excessive drinking, discussion of homophobia, discussion of bullying

Judah was a professional ballet dancer until he developed a chronic illness that forced him to retire. When he ends up back in his hometown, where he’d never planned to return, to try and figure out what to do next (or wallow in misery over his diagnosis and lost career), he certainly wasn’t expecting to meet anyone interesting.

I really liked this book. I liked the characters, I liked the story, I liked how the chronic illness is handled and how things are better in his hometown than they were when he was growing up. They're not perfect, it's not a completely idealized picture of small town life, but they're definitely better.

Pearl’d: On Board by Jay Hogan
Content warnings: internalized homophobia, rage, seriously one of the main characters is just a complete asshole for at least half the book

This is the sequel to Off Balance and unfortunately not only did I not enjoy it as much as the first one, I’m not going to finish it, and I'm not going to read the third book, either.

I’ve read multiple series that where an author was able to make characters who were antagonists in one book into allies or even protagonists in another book. It can be done. Hogan just didn’t manage to do it here. Leroy is a petty, unsympathetic, unlikable asshole from the beginning of book one and doesn’t even begin to improve until halfway through book two, which is frankly just too late. The main character of the third book had an even worse introduction (he bullied the main character of the first book, Judah, in high school and beat him up so badly he ended up in the hospital) and the most the story managed to do was make me pity him. I don’t want to read about him, and I definitely don’t want him anywhere near Judah, who is the only one of these people I actually liked and enjoyed reading about.

Thank you as always for books, thank you for this group and thanks for you. Have a lovely day, Blue.

Finished Book 218: A Queer Trade by KJ Charles
Rag and Bone, book 0.5
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy), ebook, 53p
Content warnings: moderate sexual content, body horror, possession, zombie (sort of)

Finished Book 219: Rag & Bone by KJ Charles
Rag and Bone, book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy), ebook, 177p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, antisemitism, murder, drowning, suffocation, discussion of racism

I liked these alright. They’re definitely not my favorite of Charles’ books, but they were enjoyable and it was interesting to see another aspect of the Magpie world.

Finished Book 220: A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
The Last Binding, book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy), audiobook, 14h 30m
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, suicide threat, bullying, murder, attempted murder, torture

Through an administrative error, someone who knows nothing about magic is assigned as the government liason to a hidden magical society. And that’s just the start of his troubles.

I liked this book, for the most part. My main problem with it was that just about anyone who wasn’t actively on the side of the main characters was not only not on their side but also was a horrifying person who enjoyed bullying and torturing innocent people. That just seems a little extreme, you know? Even so, it’s a good book and I recommend it.

Finished Book 221: A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
The Last Binding, book 2
New read, adult, romance (historical fantasy), audiobook, 14h 43m
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, murder, possession, body horror (mild as such things go), involuntary drugging

I liked the first one, but I actually liked this one better. In part because we didn't have to spend as much time with such horrific people as we did in the first book (which still seems excessive). Also because the interplay between the main characters is fantastic. They are all so distinct and so entertaining to read about.

Finished Book 222: Like a dream by Seanan McGuire
October Daye short story
New read, adult, fantasy, ebook, 27p

Finished Book 223: The gentle art of fortune hunting by KJ Charles
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 8h 1m
Content warnings: explicit sex, discussions of child abuse, classism, racism, sexism

Finished Book 224: Blind Tiger by Jordan L. Hawk
The Pride, book 1
Reread, adult, romance, audiobook, 6h 40m
Content warnings: explicit sex, murder, blood, discussions of suicide and suicidal ideation, abusive family and related trauma, sexual harassment, discussion of war and ptsd

Finished Book 225: The spare man by Mary Robinette Kowal
New read, adult, science fiction (mystery), audiobook, 11h 24m
Content warnings: murder, attempted murder, ptsd, flashbacks, chronic pain, ableism, alcohol use, involuntary drug use, police brutality (off page), police abuse of power, the dog is fine

Fantastic, really great, definitely recommended!

Pearl'd: After Hours on Milagro Street
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, racism, discussion of alcoholism

I was interested in the non-romance aspects of the plot but to me, the romance was not well integrated into the story, the way the characters were attracted to each other was very unrelateable (this may be an "I'm too ace for this" issue), and the way the sex scenes were written actually grossed me out, however the person who recommended it thought they were hot so this is all extremely personal preference and this is one that I’m not recommending against just because I disliked it.

Finished Book 226: A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
Lady Trent series, book 1
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook: 10h 16m

Pearl'd: Phantom and Rook by Aelina Isaacs
Early Reviewer
I'm disappointed to have to stop this one, because the idea was really neat and I think I would have liked the characters and setting too, but the book really needs a pass by a copy editor and it was just too distracting for me to keep reading. I am a little picky about this sort of thing, though, so if you have less of an issue with it, it might be worth giving it a shot.

Finished Book 227: Lady's guide to celestial mechanics by Olivia Waite
Feminine Pursuits, book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical), audiobook, 8h 27m
Content warnings: sexual content, discussion of past sexual assault, past controlling and abusive relationships, misogyny, racism

I liked this book. It reminded me a bit of a natural history of dragons, with the women fighting to be recognized by the men's association of scientists. I think Catherine and Lucy would get on well with Isabella and her flying university.

Finished Book 228: Threshold by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, book 2
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 170p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, minor character death, racism, sexism, suicide

Finished Book 229: Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
New read, adult, romance (science fiction), audiobook, 17h 25m
Content warnings: past abusive relationship, past rape, memory manipulation, simulation/hallucination, attempted murder

Another really great one. It has a similar vibe to A Taste of Gold and Iron or A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, although those are fantasy and this is science fiction.

Finished Book 230: Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan
Memoirs of Lady Trent, book 2
Reread, Adult, Fantasy, Audiobook, 10h39m

>88 bluesalamanders: Congratulations on reaching 3 x 75, Blue!

Finished Book 231: Masters in this Hall by KJ Charles
Lilywhite boys, book 2
New read, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 119p

Finished Book 232: A Lady for a Duke by Alexis hall
New read, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 481p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, suicidal ideation, deadnaming, ableism, war imagery, alcohol/narcotic abuse, kidnapping, bullying

I liked this one, which surprised me a little because I really didn’t care for the other Alexis Hall books I tried. I’m not going seek out other books by Hall, but I won’t immediately discount recommendations either.

Finished Book 233: Stormhaven by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, book 3
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 178p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, trauma/ptsd, mental illness, mental hospital, murder, blood, possession, discussion of rape, attempted rape

Finished Book 234: Carousel by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 3.5, novella
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 39p
Content warnings: explicit sex, kidnapping, creepy possessed marionettes

Finished Book 235: Necropolis by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 4
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 200p
Content warnings: explicit sex, cannibalism, possession, discussion of abuse, racism, betrayal, major character death

Finished Book 236: Bloodline by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 5
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 235p
Content warnings: explicit sex, secondary character death, murder, lying/deceit

Finished Book 237: Harmony by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book, 5.5 (short story)
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook
Content warnings: none

Finished Book 238: Hoarfrost by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 6
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 231p
Content warnings: explicit sex, homophobia, lovcraftian monsters, possession, betrayal, attempted murder, fantasy racism, kidnapping

Finished Book 239: Maelstrom by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 7
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 262p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, murder, possession

Finished Book 240: His quiet agent by Ada Maria Soto
The Agency, book 1
Reread, adult, romance (spy), ebook, 128p
Content warnings: disordered eating, death of a parent

When Arthur is transferred to another new department, he is determined to make friends with his coworkers. Most of his attempts go poorly until he starts eating lunch with a stern-faced loner with unusual reading habits.

I found this weirdly sweet for a spy romance - or maybe it's not weird, I haven't read many, but either way, I liked it.

Finished Book 241: Merlin in the library by Ada Maria Soto
The Agency, book 1.5
New read, adult, romance (spy), ebook, 19p
Content warnings: mention of physical abuse/torture, mention of cults, trauma/ptsd, disordered eating

Finished Book 242: Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
Memoirs of Lady Trent, book 3
Reread, adult, fantasy, audiobook, 11 hrs and 52 mins

Finished Book 243: Fallow by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 8
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 211p
Content warnings: explicit sex, body horror, possession, minor character death, racism, homophobia, suicide

Finished Book 244: Finder by Suzanne Palmer
The Finder Chronicles, book 1
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 11h 45m
Content warnings: major character death, child abuse, bugs, suicide

Finished Book 245: Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer
The Finder Chronicles, book 2
New read, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 12h 18m
Content warning: drowning, claustrophobia, kidnapping, torture, murder, alcohol abuse

Finished Book 246: Undertow by Jordan L Hawk
Whybourne & Griffin, Book 8.5 (Novella)
Reread, adult, romance (historical fantasy, mystery), ebook, 86p

Finished Book 247: A Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews
New read, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 174p
Content warnings: classism

Finished Book 248: The Accidental Viscountess by Caro Kinkead
A Touch of Scandal, book 1
New read, adult, romance (historical), ebook, 282p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, bullying, classism

Finished Book 249: Random Encounter by Allyson Lindt
New read, adult, romance (contemporary), ebook, 316p
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, inappropriate workplace behavior (consensual), stalking, car accident, minor injuries

None of these, like, blew me away, but they were all fun reads.

Finished Book 250: Haven by Jessica Marting
Zone Cyborgs, book 1
New read, adult, romance (science fiction), ebook, 1522
Content warnings: explicit sexual content, discussions of past abuse and torture, discussions of involuntary medical procedure, trauma, substance abuse, kidnapping

Crssida is inadvertently left behind after the ship she’s on makes an emergency landing on a deserted planet to do repairs. FOrtunatly for her, ti turns out it’s not quite so deserted after all.

There’s a whole lot of “just don’t think about it too hard” in this, but if you can look past, for example, how there’s zero reason for a ship that size to land on a planet to do repairs, or how absolutely unrealistic Lukas’ father’s complete about-face is, then it’s a reasonably fun story that I’m not sorry I read.

Finished Book 251: The Scavenger Door by Suzanne Palmer
Finder, book 3
Reread, adult, science fiction, audiobook, 14h 48m

Those are definitely the final books of 2022. This year has really sucked, so here's hoping next year is better.

Next year's thread this way.