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Welcome to the July edition of the SFWA Market Report.
Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those markets included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at least one category of fiction. This compilation is not exhaustive of all publication opportunities that pay our recommended minimum professional rate. Additionally, SFWA adheres to our DEI Policy when making selections for this report. We strongly encourage writers to closely review all contracts and consult our resources on best contract practices.
A Breath of Time
Odysseus
Of Love and Dragons
The Valkyries (Flame Tree Publishing)
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
Anomaly (Recently Opened)
Asimov Press
Asimov’s Science Fiction
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Cast of Wonders (Recently Opened)
Clarkesworld Magazine
Common Bonds Anthology Series (Recently Opened)
Crepuscular Magazine
Diabolical Plots (Recently Opened)
Factor Four Magazine
Flame Tree Fiction Newsletter
Flash Fiction Online (FFO) (Originals) (Recently Opened)
Haven Spec Magazine (Recently Opened)
If There’s Anyone Left (Recently Opened)
Infinite Worlds
Mysterion (Recently Opened)
Nature: Futures
Orion’s Belt
PodCastle (Recently Opened)
Protocolized
PseudoPod
Reckoning
Samovar
Small Wonders
Solarpunk Magazine (Recently Opened)
Taco Bell Quarterly
The Cosmic Background
The Daily Tomorrow
The Orange & Bee (Recently Opened)
Torch Literary Arts
Tractor Beam (Recently Opened)
Uncharted Magazine
Utopia Science Fiction
100-Foot Crow
Baffling Magazine
Frozen Wavelets (Permanent)
It Was Paradise (Permanent)
Plott Hound Magazine
Skull X Bones (Permanent)
Strange Horizons
The Deadlands
The Fabulist
A Breath of Time permanently closes soon.
Abyss & Apex‘s Submission window begins and ends soon.
Anomaly‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Anomaly‘s Submission Window begins and ends soon.
Apex Monthly Flash Fiction Contest‘s Submission Window begins and ends soon.
Apex Monthly Flash Fiction Contest‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Cast of Wonders‘s Flash Fiction Submission Window ends soon.
Cast of Wonders‘s Limited demographic submission window: young authors begins soon.
Diabolical Plots‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Flash Fiction Online (FFO) (Originals)‘s Submission window ends soon.
Haven Spec Magazine‘s Limited demographic submission window: authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups ends soon.
Haven Spec Magazine‘s Submission window begins soon.
If There’s Anyone Left‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Mysterion‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Of Love and Dragons permanently closes soon.
PodCastle‘s Submission window ends soon.
PseudoPod‘s Submission Window For Reprints that originally appeared in 2025 Anthologies and Collections ends soon.
PseudoPod‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Solarpunk Magazine‘s Submission window ends soon.
Taco Bell Quarterly‘s Submission Window ends soon.
The Deadlands‘s Submission Window begins soon.
The Fabulist‘s Flash Fiction submission window begins and ends soon.
The Orange & Bee‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Tractor Beam temporarily closes soon.
The SFWA Market Report is compiled by David Steffen, editor of Diabolical Plots and The Long List Anthology series, and administrator and co-founder of the Submission Grinder. Diabolical Plots is now open for submissions for their annual submission window! You can support Diabolical Plots and the Submission Grinder on PayPal or Patreon or by buying books or merch.
The post SFWA Market Report For July appeared first on SFWA.
rolanniWednesday. Cloudy, and cool, but high humidity. The windows are open, because -- cats.
Breakfast was naan and hummus with a side of grapes. Salad for lunch with my pork chop.
Been to the chiropractor, now home; made myself a mug of iced peppermint tea (which is becoming a go-to), ate a pineapple ring (want another one, but so far holding out against tooth decay), and am fixing to place my completed embroidery project into my book, after which I will need to explore my project box to see if I have any more kits.
Stripped the bed, and the sheets are washing.
Made an appointment for a Monday haircut, which is none too soon. Flipping the coin on leaving it "long" or whacking it all off.
To-Do includes washing the bathroom rugs, so I guess while that's happening I'll steam mop the floor and the kitchen floor, too, why not?
This afternoon, I need to read what I wrote yesterday, and maybe write another few new words.
No, the excitement never stops. You can see why so very many people want to embrace the writing life.
How's Wednesday treating everybody?
I finished my project last night at the needlework meeting:
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Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood is $1.99! Hazelwood’s books don’t go on sale super often. This one released last summer and is the first book in a series of the same name.
A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science.
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through—and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.
Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business—one that plays for keeps.
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong is $3.99! We featured this in Cover Awe on Monday and it came out last November. For those who have read this, are there any romantic elements?
A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy, perfect for readers of Travis Baldree and Sangu Mandanna.
Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells “small” fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences…
Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.
Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past are closing in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have.
Nine Month Contract by Amy Daws is $2.99 and a Kindle Daily Deal! This is a grumpy/sunshine romance with a hero wanting to be a dad. I haven’t read this one, but I feel like not involving a surrogacy agency can lead to a lot of trouble. Last time this was on sale, commenters mention this one requires some suspension of disbelief.
Help Wanted: Grumpy mountain man seeks baby momma. Job is an incubator position only. Surrogate must be impervious to grunting as the form of communication and nosy brotherly neighbors. Rustic mountain range housing available upon request.
I wanted to pummel my irritating brothers when they posted their own version of a wanted ad to help me with my life.
But I can’t fault the results once the right woman lands in my lap.
Becoming a single father is not a decision I made lightly. In fact, it’s the biggest decision of my entire life.
Which is why when I interview Trista, I know she’s perfect.
She’s wild, she’s opinionated, she wears cowboy boots. Even my pet goat loves her…
She’s the exact type of person I was holding out for.
And to my great horror, I realize on our first night of attempting this baby-making dance—when the lights are low, the cheap wine is flowing and the home-insemination supplies are laid out on the kitchen counter—I want to do a lot more than just make her my surrogate.
I want to make her mine.
Perfect for fans of:
Grumpy/Sunshine
Small Town Romance
Age Gap
Curvy FMC
Meghan Quinn and Tessa Bailey
The Imposter Heiress by Annie Reed is $2.99! I mentioned this on Get Rec’d for people who like true crime but could do without the murder.
Before there was Anna Delvey or Elizabeth Holmes, there was Cassie Chadwick. The first woman–using criminal cunning, some confidence, and a bit of charm—to bring down a federal agent, a bank, and a city’s worth of men. Paroled felon. Rich doctor’s wife. Famous clairvoyant. The best con artists know how to reinvent themselves, time and time again. Cassie Chadwick, one of history’s most successful con artists, was a master of the trade. Over the course of fifteen years, she swept from town to town, assuming new identities and running new swindles at each railroad stop. In the dusk of the Gilded Age, years after the robber barons had amassed their fortunes, she was amassing her own.
Then came the Carnegie con. Using her wits and a series of forged documents, Cassie convinced prominent men from Cleveland to New York City that she was Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter. Blinded by the name of the most powerful man in the world, businessmen lined up to loan her hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. The con made her impossibly rich. The crash shattered banks and bankers alike. Her sensational trial drew the eyes of a nation that couldn’t get enough of the woman, who newspapers called the Queen of Swindlers, the Duchess of Diamonds, the High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance. Indeed, when Charles Ponzi’s infamous scheme collapsed in 1920, reporters scoffed that “Ponzi is a piker compared to Cassie.”
Interspersing Cassie’s crimes with stories of an unsuspecting Andrew Carnegie, author Annie Reed spins an enthralling, page turning tale of true crime. Could the rumors be true? Can Cassie’s money last? Will she escape the electric chair?
Told with a gossip columnists’ charm and wit, THE IMPOSTER HEIRESS, is a rollicky trickster’s tale that will appeal to history buffs and true crime aficionados alike to bring one of the greatest swindlers of all time back into the public eye.
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by Karen Dukess
June 10, 2025 · Gallery/Scout Press
Mystery/ThrillerRomanceWomen's Fiction
CW: One instance of homophobia, one discussion of racism, some tragic events around accidental death, challenging relationship with a parent
I don’t enjoy reading women’s fiction and this book is women’s fiction, so please keep that in mind when you read this review. I shall do my best to correct for my preferences, but it’s best to be upfront about these things.
So why on earth did I pick it up? Well, it was the premise you see. It totally sucked me in. I was so curious how this set up would unfold because this novel has a very good blurb – it accurately sums up what you’re about to read.
When thirty-four-year-old Cath loses her mostly absentee mother, she is ambivalent. With days of quiet, unassuming routine in Buffalo, New York, Cath consciously avoids the impulsive, thrill-seeking lifestyle that her mother once led. But when she’s forced to go through her mother’s things one afternoon, Cath is perplexed to find tickets for an upcoming “murder week” in England’s Peak. A whole town has come together to stage a fake murder mystery to attract tourism to their quaint hamlet. Baffled but helplessly intrigued by her mother’s secret purchase, Cath decides to go on the trip herself—and begins a journey she never could have anticipated.
Teaming up with her two cottage-mates, both ardent mystery lovers—Wyatt Green, forty, who works unhappily in his husband’s birding store, and Amity Clark, fifty, a divorced romance writer struggling with her novels—Cath sets about solving the “crime” and begins to unravel shocking truths about her mother along the way. Amidst a fling—or something more—with the handsome local maker of artisanal gin, Cath and her irresistibly charming fellow sleuths will find this week of fake murder may help them face up to a very real crossroads in their own lives.
Witty, wise, and deliciously escapist, Welcome to Murder Week is a fresh, inventive twist on the murder mystery and a touching portrayal of one daughter’s reckoning with her grief, her past—and her own budding sense of adventure.
I’ve never read a story that features a ‘murder week’ like this one does and I really enjoyed it. The mystery elements are really well-plotted and I found it very satisfying to read. One potential downside is that because the murder was fake, the mystery plot presented only an interesting puzzle to solve and not a source of tension. There were hints of competition with other teams, but as Cath and her housemates work on the mystery, the competition doesn’t really feature much at all.
The source of tension comes from elsewhere and that is, as alluded to in the blurb, unravelling ‘shocking truths’ about Cath’s mother. I won’t discuss them here as when the truth is revealed it is genuinely shocking. However, this particular plotline only emerges later, so for the first stretch, there is no tension to speak of.
The romantic subplot is kind of flat. I had an echo of butterflies in my tummy, but ultimately the romance did not deliver for me. Now is this a feature of the lower importance placed on romance in women’s fiction? Is my struggle with this particular book or with the genre? I can’t say for sure. But do not read this if you need a deep, abiding romantic connection at the end and a tension-filled journey to that HEA.
As this is women’s fiction, I feel it is only right that I indicate whether there is a HEA. Click for the reveal.
I can’t help but feel that there would have been much richer, more nuanced emotions if it were a romance. Alas, it is not. But again, that’s not the book’s fault. Lara, let it go!
Just one more point on the emotional side of things: the shocking truths, when they are revealed, are very shocking and because we don’t have that rich emotional depth in the build up to that reveal, Cath’s coping with the shock is kind of flat emotionally. There are tears, yes, but in a few paragraphs it’s all neatly tidied away and sorted. But could this be a feature and not a bug? It’s hard to say for sure. I was surprised at the heaviness of the reveal. It’s a tragic series of events (historical) but at the start of the story,
With the mystery element being pretty wholesome, the romance being a bit one-note, and the ‘shocking truths’ coming late in the story, much of this novel could be categorised as ‘low stakes’ with the entirety of it being described as ‘cosy’. It does not strain the nerves. This week, I wanted that intense tension; at other times, this cosy story would be exactly what I’m looking for.
Just a note on the comparisons drawn between the States and the UK. It comes up relatively often as Cath and her housemates are American and the action takes place mostly in a small English village. I can honestly not say either way if the stereotypes/characteristics discussed are true, annoying, false, offensive or just silly. I’m a Zimbabwean living in South Africa so I’m a hopeless judge of it.
Back to the grade though. At another time, this would have been great for me. I would advise picking this up only when it meets your current needs around tension and intrigue – also as long as you don’t mind the romance playing third fiddle. As a cosy bit of women’s fiction, it’s great.
alpennia_feed- Transcript
(Originally aired 2025/07/08 - listen here)
Welcome to On the Shelf for July 2025.
You might think that retirement means I’d never have a late podcast ever again, but here I am uploading it several days past the first Saturday. A certain amount of it is finding myself in the middle of “Time? What even is time?” But there’s another factor at play. They say that in retirement, every day is a weekend. Well, my weekends used to be jam-packed full of projects, and now every day is a weekend. On the plus side, I’m making a lot of progress on a lot of projects.
Publications on the Blog
I fulfilled my pledge to blog a publication every day in June for Pride Month, focusing mostly on materials relating to US history, which I’ve tended not to prioritize in the past. This included surveys of Colonial-era legal issues and cases, such as:
and
or similar issues in the post-Colonial period, such as:
Several articles looked at literary themes, such as:
and
Several articles examined transmasculine topics, such as:
and
And of course I spend over a week blogging Cleves’ book Charity & Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America.
Several articles tackled the process of researching queer lives or the historic resistance to doing so, such as:
and
And due to the vagaries of my process, some non-US topics slipped in, such as Theresa Braunschneider’s “Acting the Lover: Gender and Desire in Narratives of Passing Women.” It’s been a while since I covered that much material in a single month, so I guess I can be excused for getting distracted from writing podcast scripts!
News of the Field
Before I move on to the new book listings, I wanted to give a shout-out to that rare instance of sapphic characters in a historic tv series. Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel The Buccaneers follows the careers of a group of American heiresses looking to marry into aristocratic English society. There was a previous miniseries based on the same material in 1995 that stayed somewhat closer to the original material. The current show plays a bit more fast-and-loose with historic accuracy, introducing some race-blind casting and modern party-girl sensibility, but most pertinent to our interests, we get a sapphic romance that develops with the same scope and detail as several of the other relationships. This particular plot point does not exist in the original text, so we must be grateful to the producers for acknowledging that a female same-sex romance was solidly accurate for the period and working it in. We can’t yet know whether they’ll be allowed a happy ever after ending, but as the heterosexual pairings in the story don’t all get one, it’s probably a toss-up.
Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
While pulling together this month’s new book listings, it felt like I was finding a lot of titles on the theme of unsent or lost letters, though some of them were part of the current flood of publications that smell like AI, so they won’t be mentioned here.
I’ve been doing some initial stats for this year’s books and one interesting—or possibly concerning—trend is the dearth of historicals from the small queer presses, though in exchange we’re getting a startling number from major publishers. I hope to get back to doing a deeper analysis at some point, though it means I have to go back and do a lot of data-coding.
There are a couple of May books that only just came to my attention.
The Housekeeper's Ledger by Allison Ingram has a solidly gothic feel to it, but it’s difficult to guess exactly when the story is set.
When Anna Hale takes a humble position as housekeeper at the sprawling Ashmore estate, she expects long days, silent halls, and the cold indifference of Lady Catherine Ashmore. What she doesn’t expect is a trail of secrets hidden behind locked doors, a crumbling legacy haunted by old debts, and the sharp undeniable pull between herself and the woman she serves.
As whispers of betrayal and scandal echo through the estate, Anna and Catherine must navigate a web of lies, dangerous rivals, and the looming threat of ruin — all while confronting the fragile, fierce love blossoming between them. In a world eager to break them, Anna and Catherine will risk everything to stand side by side, but surviving the storm will take more than trust. It will take a choice.
I’m not sure that I can give a recommendation to A Truthful Companion By My Side by Claudia Haase, although the historic setting looks solid, but the writing feels like a very awkward translation from some other language.
Princess Agatha is alone at court with her cultural interests and intellect. She does not find any suitable conversation partners in her companions and ladies-in-waiting. Her curiosity is aroused all the more by the smart Ernestine and her unconventional lifestyle - and finally she finds the person with whom she can share all her passions.
The young Countess Ernestine doesn't think much of the aristocratic goings-on at court. She represses the thought that she was once promised to a crown prince as his wife. However, she could imagine a life together with Princess Agatha. But no sooner have they become close than the royal family insists on an early wedding ceremony with Agatha's brother.
Immerse yourself in the love story of two aristocratic women who lived at Bergfels Palace and Sturmstein Castle in the transition from the 17th to the 18th century!
June books cover a fairly wide spread of eras, including some unusual ones.
Secrets at the Ambrose Café by Carryl Church from Choc Lit Historical Romance is set in England just after World War I.
Two women. Two different worlds. One secret that could ruin them both.
Exeter, 1925. Della Wilde has set aside her dream of moving to Paris to study at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu, choosing instead to support her family torn apart by war. By night, she works at the prestigious Ambrose Café, serving the city’s elite — she feels utterly invisible.
Until a chance encounter with rebellious Alice Winters, the daughter of a powerful MP, upends Della’s world.
Alice is a woman caught between duty and desire. She secretly yearns to be an artist but is expected to marry a respectable suitor and raise a family. Della, with her sharp wit and quiet strength, is unlike anyone she has ever known. She makes Alice feel alive.
So she draws Della into her orbit — first as a muse for her secret art, then as something infinitely more intimate. But in a world where reputations are easily shattered, their growing bond is a danger that threatens not only their futures, but those around them.
As Alice risks scandal and Della faces the consequences of following her heart, they must decide: will they allow others to choose their path, or dare to forge their own?
Salt in the Silk by Delly M. Elrose sounds like it’s telling a Titanic story in an alternate form, set a decade earlier on a fictional ship.
1898. Aboard the RMS Victoria’s Grace, bound from Liverpool to New York, two women from opposite worlds collide: one born into ivory and etiquette, the other into soot and survival.
Catherine Ashbury, a refined upper-class heiress, is being shipped off across the Atlantic for an arranged marriage to save her family’s dwindling fortune. Cloaked in silk, obedience, and unspoken longing, she’s resigned to her fate—until she meets a girl who lives with no rules at all.
Nell Nolan, a tough and clever third-class passenger from East London, is an orphaned pickpocket disguised as a seamstress. With calloused hands and a pocket full of stolen coins, Nell isn’t afraid of breaking laws—or hearts. She boards the Victoria’s Grace with a stolen ticket and nothing left to lose, desperate to start a new life in America.
Their first meeting is accidental. Their second, unforgettable. What begins as curiosity becomes defiance—then desire. But love is dangerous in the shadows of a ship ruled by class, reputation, and silent codes. And when disaster strikes in the icy Atlantic, Catherine and Nell must face a choice no woman should have to make: Love, or survival.
A couple years ago I listed the first book in the Lavender and Foxglove series by Hilary Rose Berwick, set in a medieval convent in a world with a bit of magic. Somehow I missed books 2 and 3 when they came out—A Bounty of Bitterwort and A Rondel of Rosemary—but now book 4 turned up on my radar once more: A League of Lavender. Now I only wish the series was available somewhere other than Amazon because it sounds intriguing but not quite intriguing enough to drop my ethical objections.
Within the convent walls, the pestilence has largely passed, and Prioress Emmelot des Étoiles has a new conundrum: how, exactly, do bones become relics, and what will it mean for her convent when the pilgrims come to see them? Of more concern is the king's increased interest in those with magic sheltered by holy orders, including Emmelot's beloved, the novice Ysabeau.
But before she can solve those problems, Emmelot discovers the infirmary holds an unknown body with no signs of pestilence: a young woman clutching a posy of lavender — a sign of the conflict between followers of the old gods and the new. Now Emmelot must solve this murder before a longstanding feud erupts into open warfare.
In Her Own Shoes (The Ferrier Chronicles #1) by Mark Prime is another book with a medieval setting. I was a bit thrown by the title, because I’ve never encountered any adage similar to “in her own shoes” and can’t quite figure out what spin it’s trying to give.
In a castle built on legacy, one woman dares to claim her own name.
England, 1425. Tamworth Castle stands as a fortress of stone, secrets, and centuries-old power. When Elizabeth de Ferrel arrives to marry into the Farrier family, she isn’t stepping into a life of privilege—she’s walking straight into a battleground.
To secure her inheritance, Elizabeth must wed Sir Thomas Farrier, the ambitious heir of a noble bloodline now clinging to its influence. But she brings with her more than a title—she brings a dagger, a sharp wit, and a past she refuses to bury.
Inside Tamworth’s walls, every gaze has weight. Elizabeth forms an unexpected bond with Mae, a dark-haired scullery maid whose loyalty cuts deeper than her silence. Meanwhile, Griselda, the stone-faced housekeeper with more secrets than the cellar, watches Elizabeth’s every move—not as a threat, but perhaps as a guardian. And in the shadows, young Jonah, a servant boy marked by trauma, carries a truth that could set the castle ablaze.
When a bishop dies under mysterious circumstances, and Elizabeth receives a lock of hair as warning, alliances fracture, hearts are tested, and no one escapes untouched. Whispers rise of a Black Nun haunting the chapel—a spectral reminder that Tamworth remembers every sin carved into its walls.
At the heart of it all: a woman who refuses to shrink. Elizabeth isn’t interested in being the lady of the house. She wants to rule it. And she’ll do it in her own shoes.
The Letters Beneath Her Floorboards by Mira Ashwyn is one of those “unsent letters” stories I mentioned above, this time with a supernatural twist and stories in parallel timelines.
One letter. One mystery. One chance to heal.
When Rae Ashcroft returns to her late grandmother’s coastal estate, she isn’t looking for closure—she’s looking for silence. Haunted by a past she’s tried to bury, Rae just wants to escape. But the creaking old house has other plans.
Beneath a warped floorboard, she discovers a letter.
Written decades ago by a woman named Elise, the message unravels a forgotten love story between two women—one that was silenced, hidden, and never resolved. Drawn deeper into the mystery, Rae begins uncovering secrets Elise took to her grave… and uncovers echoes of her own.
At the heart of it all is Camille: the fiercely gentle, storm-eyed artist living next door. Rae doesn’t want to fall for her—but Camille is patient, kind, and maddeningly persistent. As the two grow closer, past trauma rises like a tide, threatening to drown the fragile trust Rae is learning to rebuild.
But someone is watching. The more Rae uncovers, the more dangerous things become. And the more she realizes—Elise never left. And maybe… she never meant to.
We get another medieval romance with lots of danger and angst in House of Ash and Honor by W.S. Banks.
When duty demands sacrifice, love demands everything.
Lady Avilene Northcliff has always been the perfect noble daughter—until her family arranges her marriage to the cold and calculating Lord Westmark. Desperate to escape a loveless union, she flees to the one place no one would think to look: the estate of her family's sworn enemies.
Lady Elara Blackwood should turn away the Northcliff daughter seeking sanctuary. Their houses have been locked in bitter feud for twenty-five years, built on lies, betrayal, and bloodshed. Instead, she offers shelter to the woman who ignites feelings she never knew existed.
As forbidden attraction blooms between them, both women discover that the enmity dividing their families rests on a devastating deception. When explosive family secrets surface, Avilene and Elara must choose between the safety of silence and a love that could cost them everything.
In a world where women's hearts belong to others, two enemies will risk everything to claim their own destiny.
The July books are mostly 20th century settings, or close enough. And as usual, the rhythms of pre-publication publicity mean that they’re almost all from major publishers.
Lavender & Gin by Abigail Aaronson leans in to the current fashion for Prohibition stories.
Taking on her brother’s identity has given Kasia almost everything she wants: money, power, a gang to call her own in Prohibition-era Detroit. Until a new police chief threatens to destroy everything she’s worked for, and a beautiful woman tempts her to expose her secret.
After a decade disguised as her missing twin brother, Kasia leads a gang running liquor for the most powerful mob in the city. The ruse gave her a foot in the door, but in order to keep her position—and more importantly, to keep money flowing in for her and her sick mother—she has to be willing to do whatever it takes. And what it takes is cold calculation and a ruthless hand. She needs both in spades when a new police chief is determined to eliminate Detroit’s mafia, a threat to destroy everything she’s built.
When Kasia learns Sophia—a glamorous flapper who owns an underground queer club—has an unusual hold on the supposedly-incorruptible chief, Kasia wants in on Sophia’s secret. Blackmailing Chief Harding could protect her gang and give her a leg up in the mob’s ranks. But her plan unravels when she falls for Sophia’s fiery spirit and sophisticated charm. After years of avoiding relationships to protect her identity, her feelings for Sophia lead Kasia to take bigger risks than ever. Risks that endanger her gang, her secret, and her life.
Emma-Claire Sunday follows up on last year’s Regency romance The Duke’s Sister and I with another Regency, The Fortune Hunter's Guide to Love once more from Harlequin Historical.
How can Lady Sylvia save herself from financial ruin?
Step 1: Move to the seaside for the summer, where there will be no shortage of wealthy bachelors holidaying.
Step 2: Strike a deal with local farmer Hannah. If Hannah can help Sylvia bag a rich husband, Sylvia will fund Hannah’s dream of opening a cheese shop.
Step 3: Charm their way into luncheons, parties and exclusive balls, but do not start to confuse friendship with romantic feelings for Hannah.
Step 4: Focus on her fortune-hunting scheme and do not let her heart get carried away by her unexpected and magical kiss with Hannah!
With a title like The Rebel Girls of Rome by Jordyn Taylor from Harper Collins, one might guess we were looking at a classical setting, but this one is a dual-timeline story set during World War II and the contemporary era.
Now:
Grieving the loss of her mother, college student Lilah is hoping to reconnect with a grandfather who refuses to talk about his past. Then she receives a mysterious letter from a fellow student, Tommaso, claiming he’s found a lost family heirloom, and her world is upended.
Soon Lilah finds herself in Rome, trying to unlock her grandfather’s history as a Holocaust survivor once and for all. But as she and Tommaso get closer to the truth—and their relationship begins to deepen into something sweeter—Lilah realizes that some secrets may be too painful to unbury…
Then:
It’s 1943, and nineteen-year-old Bruna and her family are doing their best to survive in Rome’s Jewish quarter under Nazi occupation. Until the dreaded knock comes early one morning, and Bruna is irrevocably separated from the rest of her family.
Overcome with guilt at escaping her family’s fate in the camps, she joins the underground rebellion. When her missions bring her back to her childhood crush, Elsa, Bruna must decide how much she’s willing to risk—when fully embracing herself is her greatest act of resistance.
Another story using that popular motif of dual timelines via historic research is The Secrets of Harbour House by Liz Fenwick from Harper Collins.
When Kerensa is sent by her father’s auction house to catalogue a neglected house overlooking the sea in Newlyn, Cornwall, it’s a welcome escape. Once the home of two female artists, Harbour House is a treasure trove, but one painting in particular catches Kerensa’s eye – a hypnotically sensual portrait of a beautiful young woman which dominates the hallway.
Captivated and intrigued, Kerensa finds herself piecing together the enigma of Bathsheba Kernow, a fiercely talented young artist who left St Ives almost a hundred years before, eager to escape a society that wouldn’t understand her, and her sweeping journey from the underbelly of Paris to the heady luxury of Venice, where a chance encounter would change her life for ever, drawing her into the most dangerous and forbidden of love affairs.
For Kerensa, still reeling with a grief of her own and facing an uncertain future in love, Harbour House will have secrets that will change her life too, and in ways she could never have imagined…
It’s fairly rare to find sapphic stories set in non-Western cultures written from within those cultures but there have been several in the past year. This month’s candidate is Whispers Beneath the Banyan Bath by Moon Heeyang, set in Korea, although I’m not quite sure of the date as the reference is to a dynasty that lasted for five centuries.
In a world where lineage rules and silence is survival, two women in a noble Joseon household discover a forbidden love that defies rank, custom, and time.
Soona, a humble maid, and Lady Hyeon, the daughter of the house, share stolen glances in the steam of the bathhouse. What begins as duty unfolds into desire, and soon into a secret bond.
But when their love is seen—by the Lord himself—everything changes. A proposition is made. A second wife is named.
And both women find themselves pregnant.
Whispers Beneath the Banyan Bath is a lyrical, emotional, and unflinching tale of queer motherhood, silent rebellion, and love that grows like magnolia in the cracks of stone.
The Original by Nell Stevens from W.W. Norton & Company has a twisty plot that looks like it has a lot of layers.
In a grand English country house in 1899, an aspiring art forger must unravel whether the man claiming to be her long-lost cousin is an impostor.
An unwanted guest of her uncle’s family since childhood, Grace has grown up on the periphery of a once-great household. She has unusual predilections: for painting, particularly forgery; for deception; for other girls. Her life is altered when a letter arrives from the South Atlantic. The writer claims to be her cousin Charles, long presumed dead at sea. When he returns, a rift emerges between family members who claim he is an imposter and Grace’s aunt, who insists he is her son. Grace, whose intimate knowledge of fakes is her own closely guarded secret, is forced to decide who to believe and who to pretend to believe. In deciphering the truth about her cousin, she comes to understand other truths: how money is found and lost, and who deserves to be rich; what family means to queer people; and the value of authenticity, in art and in love.
Skating the edge of my definition of historical fiction, we have Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs from William Morrow Paperbacks, where the lesbian is one of a large cast of characters.
In 1968 we meet six teens confined at the Good Shepherd—a dark and secretive institution controlled by Sisters of Charity nuns—locked away merely for being gay, pregnant, or simply unruly.
Mairin— free-spirited daughter of Irish immigrants, committed to keep her safe from her stepfather.
Angela—denounced for her attraction to girls, sent to the nuns for reform, but instead found herself the victim of a predator.
Helen—the daughter of intellectuals detained in Communist China, she saw her “temporary” stay at the Good Shepherd stretch into years.
Odessa—caught up in a police dragnet over a racial incident, she found the physical and mental toughness to endure her sentence.
Denise—sentenced for brawling in a foster home, she dared to dream of a better life.
Janice—deeply insecure, she couldn’t decide where her loyalty lay—except when it came to her friend Kay, who would never outgrow her childlike dependency.
Sister Bernadette—rescued from a dreadful childhood, she owed her loyalty to the Sisters of Charity even as her conscience weighed on her.
Wayward Girls is a haunting but thrilling tale of hope, solidarity, and the enduring strength of young women who find the courage to break free and find redemption...and justice.
Finishing up this month’s books we have a mid-century rural English romance: Miss Veal and Miss Ham by Vikki Heywood from Muswell Press. This is another book where my impulse is to buy it, but the publisher makes that difficult, not because of my Amazon blockade this time, but because they only distribute ebooks through one particular obscure phone app. Ah well.
Public companions, private lovers.
It is 1951 and behind the counter of a modest post office in a leafy Buckinghamshire village Miss Dora Ham and Miss Beatrix Veal maintain their careful facade as respected local spinsters. But their true story is one of passion: suffragist activists who fell in love at a rally in the 1900s, danced in London's secret gay clubs between the wars, and comforted one another during the first night of the Blitz. Together they have built a life of quiet dignity and service in rural England. Now over the course of one pivotal day their carefully constructed world begins to fracture. Through Beatrix's wry perspective we witness the severe impact of post-war changes on their peaceful existence. Changes that will lead to heart-breaking decisions for Miss Veal and Miss Ham. At the heart of this intimate, moving and witty novel is a story of resilience, the dignity of love that cannot be spoken, and the challenges that come when the future no longer feels safe.
What Am I Reading?
So what have I been reading this month, once I get past the complex logic of how I want to acquire and read books? I often have three novels going at a time: one in hard copy, one in ebook, and one in audiobook. The different formats help me keep the stories separate in my head, but that was a bit trickier than usual this time because Joanna Lowell’s A Rare Find (my audiobook) and Lindz McLeod’s The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet (my print book) are both Regency romances and overlapped so solidly in feel and reading period that I kept having to remind myself which story I was in. Not that the stories are that similar in plot or characters, but if I had it to do over I’ve have avoided overlapping them. A Rare Find has a lot of resonances with the author’s Victorian-era story A Shore Thing which you may have spotted if you listened to my interview with the author. In addition to interesting gender choices, they share a tendency to pack the story full of subplots. So if you like a lot going on, this could be your thing. The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet is a fairly standard “let’s pick a couple of characters from the Austen Cannon and make them sapphic.” McLeod’s Mary Bennet is quite different from the book’s character and gets a complex queer community supplied by the author’s imagination.
A sale on the Chirp audiobook platform let me to pick up a series starting with The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman about which I’ve heard good things from friends. Like magical school stories, there’s an entire subgenre of magical library stories, which should be solidly my jam. In retrospect, I did definitely enjoy the book, but somehow in the middle of it I kept forgetting that it was waiting for me. Not sure why, but it meant it took me over a month to finish.
Wanting something a bit more bite-sized, I browsed through my to-be-read bookcase (yes, I have an entire bookcase with lonely hard-copy books waiting for me to pet them) and picked up Servant Mage by Kate Elliott. This fantasy novella managed to pack in enough plot and action for an entire novel—maybe even for a trilogy. A masterpiece of telling you just enough about the world and setting that you can fill in large spaces on your own.
Author Guest
One of the things I’ve wanted to work harder on in my theoretically greater free time is doing more interviews. I’ve made a good start this year, but from the other dropped balls you might guess that I don’t have one in this show. I do have several interesting people lined up for later this year—not all of them authors—and I’m always interested in doing companion interviews for new releases. In the last couple years, that means most of them have been for books from major publishers, because those are the books I know about enough in advance to set up the interview. I’d love to work with more small press and indie authors, but you have to let me know that you’re going to have books coming out!
In this episode we talk about:
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
Links to Heather Online
solarbirdGrok went gone full Hitler-supporting Nazi today. At first it was slightly hidden, but since I boosted this around, it’s just gone full-bore literal Nazi, calling for National Socialism and talking about what Hitler would do and why it would be good.
I don’t have time to write a long version of this, much less edit it to a good short version of this, so I’m just gonna dump my thesis:
I don’t think anyone changed Grok’s startup prompt.
I think they shifted weightings on sources until it started agreeing with Elon about all the shit he was mad at it about, and that meant…
…full-bore Nazi time.
Unintentionally.
But inevitably, since he’s literally a fucking fascist who literally threw a Hitler Rally-identical Nazi salute at the fucking inauguration.
Think about this, think about that, and think about who Elon is.
Today is a very good day to protest at a Tesla dealership. Find a protest near you. Get out, show up, do shit.
And it’s always a very good day to leave X behind forever.
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.
rolanniThere is a photoblog of Rookie's Gotcha Day Celebrations here.
Not to overshadow Rookie's Celebrations (which -- everybody wore themselves out and they're napping now. I have been informed by His Gotchaness that there will NOT be fireworks this evening, so -- OK, then)
As I was saying before I got caught in my own parenthetical -- not to overshadow The Celebrations, but! I have finished writing my scene at +/-2,080 words, which brings the WIP entire to!
+/-51,490 words.
And there was MUCH rejoicing. Also ice cream. Because, by damn, I earned ice cream.
Here, have a celebratory snippet:
"Jen Sin!" Catie's voice was sharp from directly overhead. "He has a knife!"
"Well of course he has a knife," Jen Sin said, astonishment sharpening his own voice. "He's not an idiot."
sovayrachelmanija
sfwa_feedby Brenda Gates Spielman
When my first book was published in 1979, I had no difficulty describing myself as an author. I even won an argument with a friend about whether it took more than one book for such a claim to be valid. We were both working on Master of Science degrees in the Engineering Department, so, of course, she went off to research, including talking to another of her friends who had published enough that she did consider him an author. She was trying to prove me wrong, but instead, she ended up agreeing that one published book did indeed make me an author.
Poetry, however, was an entirely different matter. I started writing poetry in high school, and poems were my first publications. A poem was even the first piece of writing that I got paid for ($15, a good sum for a poem in 1964). But for some reason, I felt it presumptuous to label myself a poet. When I had to write a bio, I would say, “Brenda Gates Spielman writes science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. And sometimes poetry.” I do not focus on my poetry as I do my novels; there are just times when an emotion is so intense, it demands to be expressed as a poem. In those cases, a sparsely worded poem enhances the emotion instead of diluting it in sentences and paragraphs.
I might go months between writing poems. Poems were not something I planned for; they just happened. Joy, grief, contentment, rage, all at different times demanded words and stanzas, which were then mostly put in a folder to “do something” with at some unspecified future date.
Poems were sometimes words that I would not, could not say out loud. Where other people might post emphatically on social media, I would write a poem and then file it away, catharsis accomplished, publication unnecessary.
Short stories and novels were written with the knowledge that they would one day be submitted, and submitted again, and again, and again, until someone published them or I gave up. Poems were just written and filed (paper files at first; later electronic ones) and only sometimes submitted. And, to my surprise, sometimes published. But I still did not consider myself a real poet.
And then SFWA wanted volunteers to work on a poetry committee during a period when I had some spare time to commit, and I ended up on a whole committee of real poets who published whole books of poems, who published epic poems. And lo and behold, they told me I was a poet too. It took a while to sink in, and I do not know if I will ever say, “Here I am, a Poet,” but I did revise my online bios to read “…writes science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and poetry.” And, to me, it was a big deal to delete that “and sometimes.” Maybe it was not a major revelation, but it was a modification of my view of myself.
Speculative poetry is a poetics of accessibility (definition excerpted from an email from Holly Lyn Walrath). It does not demand knowledge of iambic pentameter or how a sonnet is structured. It only requires imagination and words that speculate what might be. Some of my poetry is speculative, a lot isn’t. Some of my poetry rhymes, most doesn’t. But all of it speaks to me and, if I am lucky, one or two of them might speak to someone else. Because, isn’t that the point of all writing—no matter the form—to communicate with someone else, to tell a story, to share an emotion?
If you think that poetry is something separate from what you write, some exotic realm that you have never visited and are not sure that you want to visit, maybe you should reconsider. Delve into works that are crafted not sentence by sentence but word by word. It may be that you will never write a poem, only spend a moment or two in a bright image. But maybe you, too, will find that you have an inner poet who was just waiting for permission to emerge.
How many poems does it take to make you a poet? I would say one, published or unpublished. But how many poems does it take to make you believe you are a poet? That is a different question. It might be one, or it might be dozens, or it might just be having a committee of real poets accepting you.
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Brenda Gates Spielman writes mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and poetry. Her prior publications include Lost Sun, a space opera; Death and Secrets, a mystery; Umbar, a FRP module; and short stories in Fantasy Book and Dragon Magazine. Her poems have appeared in the anthologies Never Forgotten and Whispering Willow Tree Poems. She has worked as a software engineer (avionics and telecommunication) and a teacher (HS and Adult Ed). Brenda lives near Richmond, VA. Her website is www.bgspielman.com.
The post How Many Poems Does It Take to Make You a Poet? appeared first on SFWA.
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RECOMMENDED: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is $2.99! We had a guest squee review of this one:
Chilling, packed with lore, and a slow burn, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett is the type of book I’ve been looking for. Their adventure from faerie field research to two professors running like hell from a faerie nightmare kept me on the edge of my seat.
A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party–or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.
So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.
But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones–the most elusive of all faeries–lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all–her own heart.
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren is $4.99! I don’t know if we’ve featured this one on sale before. It has an “oops, we’re still married” plot and an opposites attract, class differences romance.
Christina Lauren, returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
RECOMMENDED: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming is $2.99! I love the new covers! Carrie reviewed this one and gave it a B:
This book was perfect entertainment for my stressed out brain, and I was definitely rooting for those two wacky kids to have their HEA.
Spice trader Cinnamon’s quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon, in this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy, and funny as hell.
All she wanted to do was live her life in peace—maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn’t involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them.
After Cin saves the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, Fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But now he’s dragging Cinnamon along for the ride whether she likes it or not. On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt.…
Change of Heart by Kate Canterbary is 99c! I believe this is a standalone contemporary romance. It was mentioned in Hide Your Wallet when it came out last summer.
Grey’s Anatomy meets a gender-swapped Wedding Crashers in this spicy rom-com about a one-night stand with The One, walking the tightrope of love and workplace ethics, and knowing which rules are worth breaking.
Every summer, superstar surgeon Whitney Aldritch crashes weddings with her best friend. The first one was an accident though after a decade of dropping in uninvited, they’re masters of their craft. They keep the rules simple and they never go to bed alone.
Then there’s Henry Hazlette, best man and the best one-night stand of Whit’s summer. She never imagined she’d see him again but now he’s one of her new surgical residents—and completely off-limits.
Whitney has staked her reputation on leading the hospital’s new ethics initiative. While Henry is under her supervision, they have to keep it professional. But it doesn’t help that she can’t turn around without running face-first into his offensively broad chest or rubbing up against him in crammed elevators. Also not the way he smiles at her like he can hear her every not-safe-for-work thought.
All they have to do is survive this residency—and the accidental tarot card readings that hit too close to home, a few uninvited houseguests, and the hospital’s hyperactive rumor mill—but only if they’re prepared to bend some rules as the feelings go from just for tonight to get it out of our systems to mine.
Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron is 99c! This is book one in the Tear Down Heaven urban fantasy series. I really like this cover.
The Crew
A hulked-out wrath demon who eats gamer rage and loves cats, a shapeshifting lust demon who enjoys their food a bit too much, and a void demon who doesn’t see the point of any of this. They’re not the sort of mercenaries you’d hire on purpose, but Bex wouldn’t trust her life to anyone else.
Ever since the ancient Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh decided death wasn’t for him, killed the gods, and conquered the afterlife, times have been rough for a free demon. But the denizens of the Nine Hells aren’t the quitting sort, and Bex and her team have been choking a living out of the Eternal King’s lackeys for years. It’s not honest work, but when Heaven itself declares you a non-person, you smash-and-grab what you can get.
This next gig looks like more of the same…until Bex meets the client.
The Job
Adrian Blackwood is a witch with a problem. His family has skirted the edges of King Gilgamesh’s ire for centuries, but thanks to a decision he made as a child, Adrian is personally responsible for putting his entire coven in Heaven’s crosshairs.
Determined to set things right, Adrian drags his broom, caldron, and talking cat thousands of miles across the country to Seattle where he can fight the Eternal King’s warlocks without bringing the rest of his family into the fray. But witchcraft–like all crafts–takes time, and if the warlocks catch him before his spells are ready, he’s dead. So Adrian does what any professional witch would do and hires a team of mercenaries to keep the warlocks off his back. He didn’t expect to get demons, but when you’re already on the killing-edge of Heaven’s bad side, what’s a bit more fuel on the fire?
Sometimes you get more than you paid for.
Neither Adrian nor Bex knew what to expect when they signed their contract, but witch-plus-demon turns out to be a match made in the Hells. With this much chaos at their fingertips, even impossible dreams can come back into reach, because Bex wasn’t always a mercenary. She used to be the Eternal King’s biggest nightmare, and now that she’s got a witch in her corner, it’s time to put the old magics back on the field and show Adrian Blackwood just how much Hell he’s hired.
A Rivalry of Hearts by Tessonja Odette is 99c! This is book one in a series and I picked this one and book two up in hardcover. The covers are really adorable, but I hope they deliver on their promise of spiciness.
Two rival writers.
One prestigious publishing contract.
A bargain of hearts and desire.
They say never bargain with the fae. They also say don’t get drunk on fae wine. Yet romance author Edwina Danforth has managed a blunder with both on her first visit to the infamous faelands. Now she’s trapped in a magic-fueled bet she barely remembers with a man she’d be happier to forget. The terms? Whoever can bed the most lovers during their month-long dueling book tour wins a coveted publishing contract.
The win should be easy for Edwina. She’s known for penning scintillating tales of whirlwind romance. There’s just one problem: her imagination vastly exceeds her bedroom experience. But when failure means plummeting her career back into obscurity, losing isn’t an option.
Her handsome fae rival, William Haywood, poses an even greater challenge. Not only are his looks as aggravatingly perfect as his track record behind closed doors, but he has his own reasons for playing to win, and he won’t go down without a fight. Unless, of course, it’s a different kind of going down. In that case, he’s fair game.
Edwina and William clash in a rivalry of romance. But what happens when their objects of desire…turn out to be each other?
A Rivalry of Hearts is a spicy standalone adult fantasy romcom in the Fae Flings and Corset Strings series. Every book in this interconnected series is a complete story and ends with a HEA. If you like academic rivals, enemies to lovers, and quirky heroines, then you’ll love this sizzling tale.
The Fae Flings and Corset Strings series is set in the same world as The Fair Isle Trilogy and Entangled with Fae. Journey back to this beloved fae world or fall in love for the first time.
RECOMMENDED: The Switch by Beth O’Leary is $2.99! Catherine read this one and gave it an A:
It’s a very gentle, wholesome sort of book. I read it last week when I was sick, and it was really the perfect book to curl up with if one is under the weather.
Eileen is sick of being 79.
Leena’s tired of life in her twenties.
Maybe it’s time they swapped places…
When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.
Once Leena learns of Eileen’s romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.
Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn’t as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley is $4.99! This was mentioned in Hide Your Wallet and I’ve seen it namedropped in the comments, though readers caution that it isn’t really a romance. What are your thoughts?
A time travel romance, a speculative spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingeniously constructed exploration of the nature of truth and power and the potential for love to change it Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley.
In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.
She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machine,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But he adjusts quickly; he is, after all, an explorer by trade. Soon, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a seriously uncomfortable housemate dynamic, evolves into something much more. Over the course of an unprecedented year, Gore and the bridge fall haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences they never could have imagined.
Supported by a chaotic and charming cast of characters—including a 17th-century cinephile who can’t get enough of Tinder, a painfully shy World War I captain, and a former spy with an ever-changing series of cosmetic surgery alterations and a belligerent attitude to HR—the bridge will be forced to confront the past that shaped her choices, and the choices that will shape the future.
An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks the universal What happens if you put a disaffected millennial and a Victorian polar explorer in a house together?
RECOMMENDED: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert is still $1.99! Maya squeed about this one and I agree with her assessment:
So I loved Take a Hint, Dani Brown. How much? I joined the Bad Decisions Book Club on the reread. Which started right after I had finished it the first time. Yes. I knew exactly where the book was going to go and I could not put it down. Honestly, I’m reading it a third time.
Talia Hibbert returns with another charming romantic comedy about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral…
Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.
When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and ex-rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Now half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out, his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse?
Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf’s secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his… um, thighs.
Suddenly, the easy lay Dani dreamed of is more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?
Seducing a Stranger by Kerrigan Byrne is 99c at Amazon! This is book one in a series and tropes include opposites attract and a fake identity.
This Knight of the Crown is driven by a painful past and a patient fury… and his entire life is a lie.
Sir Carlton Morley is famously possessed of extraordinary will, singular focus, and a merciless sense of justice. As a man, he secured his fortune and his preeminence as Scotland Yard’s ruthless Chief Inspector. As a decorated soldier, he was legend for his unflinching trigger finger, his precision in battle, and his imperturbable strength. But as a boy, he was someone else. A twin, a thief, and a murderer, until tragedy reshaped him.
Now he stalks the night, in search of redemption and retribution, vowing to never give into temptation, as it’s just another form of weakness.
Until temptation lands—quite literally—in his lap, taking the form of Prudence Goode.
Prim and proper Pru is expected to live a life of drudgery, but before she succumbs to her fate, she craves just one night of desire. On the night she searches for it, she stumbles upon a man made of shadows, muscle and wrath… And decides he is the one.
When their firestorm of passion burns out of control, Morley discovers, too late, that he was right. The tempting woman has become his weakness.
A weakness his enemies can use against him.
Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle is $1.99! This was mentioned in a previous Hide Your Wallet. Aarya said it’s a “a fluffy, gentle hug of a book.” Sounds like that might appeal right now.
Can you find real love when you’ve always got your head in the clouds?
Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start.
Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn’t the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who’s as grouchy as he is gorgeous–and it turns out he has a very different vision for the property’s future.
Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley’s scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one’s comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li is $1.99! This was mentioned previously on Get Rec’d. I’d describe this one as more fiction with some heisty, Ocean’s Eleven undertones.
Ocean’s Eleven meets The Farewell in Portrait of a Thief, a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.
History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.
Will Chen plans to steal them back.
A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents’ American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible—and illegal—job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.
His crew is every heist archetype one can imagine—or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they’ve cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.
Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars—and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they’ve dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.
Equal parts beautiful, thoughtful, and thrilling, Portrait of a Thief is a cultural heist and an examination of Chinese American identity, as well as a necessary critique of the lingering effects of colonialism.
RECOMMENDED: When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill is $2.99! Carrie read this one and gave it an A:
I adored this book. This was an astonishing, gripping, and inspiring read that I will return to again and again.
Learn about the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women spontaneously transform into dragons…and change the world.
Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950’s America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate.
Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of dragons: a mother more protective than ever; a father growing increasingly distant; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and a new “sister” obsessed with dragons far beyond propriety. Through loss, rage, and self-discovery, this story follows Alex’s journey as she deals with the events leading up to and beyond the Mass Dragoning, and her connection with the phenomenon itself.
How to Fake It in Hollywood by Ava Wilder is $1.99! I picked this one up on a recommendation from a romance loving friend, Estelle! Estelle works in romance publishing and has been a guest on the podcast. Last time we featured this one on sale, the comments echoed how this was a great and harrowing depiction of grief and recovery.
A talented Hollywood starlet and a reclusive A-lister enter into a fake relationship . . . and discover that their feelings might be more than a PR stunt in this sexy debut for fans of Beach Read and The Unhoneymooners.
Grey Brooks is on a mission to keep her career afloat now that the end of her long-running teen soap has her (unsuccessfully) pounding the pavement again. With a life-changing role on the line, she’s finally desperate enough to agree to her publicist’s scheme . . . faking a love affair with a disgraced Hollywood heartthrob who needs the publicity, but for very different reasons.
Ethan Atkins just wants to be left alone. Between his high-profile divorce, his struggles with drinking, and his grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, he’s slowly let himself fade into the background. But if he ever wants to produce the last movie he and his partner wrote together, Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight. A gossip-inducing affair with a gorgeous actress might be just the ticket, even if it’s the last thing he wants to do.
Though their juicy public relationship is less than perfect behind the scenes, it doesn’t take long before Grey and Ethan’s sizzling chemistry starts to feel like more than just an act. But after decades in a ruthless industry that requires bulletproof emotional armor to survive, are they too used to faking it to open themselves up to the real thing?
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch is 99c! This was originally titled Midnight Riot and is the first book in an urban fantasy series set in London. Sarah did a review of the first three books in the series that she was reading along with her husband:
As a reader who loves immersive deep dives into different aspects of various cultures, and who loves puzzles and language, this is a lot of my catnip.
Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman is $1.99! This one has been recommended on several podcasts we’ve done with other romance authors. Some readers think this one straddles the line between women’s fiction and contemporary romance. Any thoughts?
Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing—and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned.
Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she’s promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so . . . she says yes.
Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.
RECOMMENDED: Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco is $4.99! I enjoyed this one and it reminded me a lot of sexy, early 2000s paranormal romances (which may or may not be your thing). I gave it a B+:
Throne of the Fallen is a “yes, and…” sort of book that you just have to lean into, which I happily did. It’s extremely cliched and tropey, and I’d eat this nonsense for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The adult debut of #1 New York Times bestselling author Kerri Maniscalco, Throne of the Fallen is a seductive new standalone novel set within her fan-favorite Kingdom of the Wicked world, perfect for readers of fantasy, romance, and mystery alike.
Sinner. Villain. Ruthless.
These are wicked names the Prince of Envy welcomes. They remind him what he isn’t: a saint. And when a cryptic note arrives, signaling the beginning of a deadly game, he knows he’ll be called much worse before it ends. Riddles, hexed objects, anonymous players, nothing will stand in his way. With a powerful artifact and his own future at stake, Envy is determined to win, though none of his meticulous plans prepare him for her, the frustrating artist who ignites his sin—and passion—like no other…
Talented. Darling. Liar.
The trouble with scoundrels and blackguards is that they haven’t a modicum of honor, a fact Miss Camilla Antonius learns after one desperate mistake allows notorious rake—and satire sheet legend—Lord Phillip Vexley to blackmail her. And now it seems Vexley isn’t the only scoundrel interested in securing her unique talents as a painter. To avoid Vexley’s clutches and a ruinous scandal, Camilla is forced to enter a devil’s bargain with Waverly Green’s newest arrival, enigmatic Lord Ashford ‘Syn’ Synton, little expecting his game will awaken her true nature . . .
Together, Envy and Camilla must embark on a perilous journey through the Shifting Isles—from glittering demon courts to the sultry vampire realm, and encounters with exiled Fae—while trying to avoid the most dangerous trap of all: falling in love.
American Queen by Sierra Simone is 99c! This is the first book in the New Camelot Trilogy. This is a menage romance with BDSM, some darker elements, and a cliffhanger. Whenever this is featured on sale, there’s always some great discussion in the comments.
Warned as a girl to keep her kisses to herself, Greer Galloway disobeys twice–once on her sixteenth birthday as she’s kneeling in a pool of broken glass, and another time after a charming stranger named Embry Moore whisks her into the dazzling Chicago night. Both times she falls in love, and both times her heart is broken beyond repair. And so as an adult, she vows never to kiss–or to love again.
That’s until the Vice President of the United States shows up at the university where she teaches, and asks for one thing: for her to meet with the hero-turned-President Maxen Colchester. Maxen, the soldier who was her first kiss in that pool of broken glass.
And the other complication? The Vice President is none other than charming Embry Moore himself.
Soon, Greer finds herself caught between past and present, pleasure and pain–and two men who long for each other as much as they long for her. And as war and betrayal press ever closer, they tumble headlong into a passionate love affair that will change the world…
From the USA Today bestselling author of Priest comes a contemporary reimagining of the legend of King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot–elegant, carnal, and unforgettable.
Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey is $1.99! I used to be a huge Bailey fan, but this one didn’t do it for me, mainly because it had some tropes that aren’t my bag. If you enjoyed this one, feel free to leave a comment below!
New York Times bestseller Tessa Bailey launches a super sexy new series featuring the blue collar men who work for a HGTV-esque house flipping business.
After an injury ends Travis Ford’s major league baseball career, he returns home to start over. He just wants to hammer out his frustrations at his new construction gig and forget all about his glory days. But he can’t even walk through town without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there’s Georgie, his buddy’s little sister, who is definitely not a kid anymore.
Georgette Castle has crushed on her older brother’s best friend for years. The grumpy, bear of a man working for her family’s house flipping business is a far cry from the charming sports star she used to know. But a moody scowl doesn’t scare her and Georgie’s determined to show Travis he’s more than a pretty face and a batting average, even if it means putting her feelings aside to be “just friends.”
Travis wants to brood in peace. But the girl he used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman who makes him feel whole again. And he wants her. So damn bad. Except Georgie’s off limits and he knows he can’t give her what she deserves. But she’s becoming the air he breathes and Travis can’t stay away, no matter how hard he tries…
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields is $2.99! I remember a few of us being really excited for this one. The cover also looks beautiful, cozy, and perhaps slightly creepy. Did any of you read this one?
The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn’t believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all.
Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow to any of the suitors who’ve tried to woo her. So when her grandmother whisks her away to the family cottage on the tiny Isle of Innisfree with an offer to train her as the next Honey Witch, she accepts immediately. But her newfound magic and independence come with a price: No one can fall in love with the Honey Witch.
When Lottie Burke, a notoriously grumpy skeptic who doesn’t believe in magic, shows up on her doorstep, Marigold can’t resist the challenge to prove to her that magic is real. But soon, Marigold begins to care for Lottie in ways she never expected. And when darker magic awakens and threatens to destroy her home, she must fight for much more than her new home—at the risk of losing her magic and her heart.
The Assassin and the Libertine by Lily Riley is 99c! This is an enemies to lovers romance. I remember picking this one up on a whim because of the setting and the main characters (an assassin and a vampire).
The fate of France itself is at stake if these sworn enemies cannot change their ways—and their hearts.
Daphne de Duras is a proper French duchess by day and fledgling assassin by night. Her latest mission is to dispatch justice and protect the French aristocracy by executing Étienne de Noailles, disgraced former noble, legendary rake, and vampire emissary to the court of King Louis XV.
But Étienne’s alleged crime—the gruesome murder of Madame de Pompadour, the King’s mistress and Daphne’s friend—doesn’t quite fit the dashing vampire’s nature. With his immortal days suddenly numbered, Étienne needs to convince his would-be executioner not only of his innocence, but that they should hunt the real killer together—a challenge almost as difficult as convincing himself that he isn’t falling for her.
Daphne reluctantly agrees to a temporary partnership when Étienne persuades her that something more sinister is afoot. He can, after all, help her find answers in places she’s unable to go alone. And despite her deep loathing for any and all vampires, she can’t help but start thinking of a few other places she’d like to go with him.
RECOMMENDED: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston is $2.99! Carrie and Tara did a joint review of this one and gave it a Squee grade:
Tara: I cannot recommend One Last Stop enough. It’s funny, it’s sexy, and it gives me all the feels.
Carrie: So much this! The book is fun, sexy, serious and comical, and deeply intersectional.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue comes a new romantic comedy that will stop readers in their tracks…
Cynical twenty-three-year old August doesn’t believe in much. She doesn’t believe in psychics, or easily forged friendships, or finding the kind of love they make movies about. And she certainly doesn’t believe her ragtag band of new roommates, her night shifts at a 24-hour pancake diner, or her daily subway commute full of electrical outages are going to change that.
But then, there’s Jane. Beautiful, impossible Jane.
All hard edges with a soft smile and swoopy hair and saving August’s day when she needed it most. The person August looks forward to seeing on the train every day. The one who makes her forget about the cities she lived in that never seemed to fit, and her fear of what happens when she finally graduates, and even her cold-case obsessed mother who won’t quite let her go. And when August realizes her subway crush is impossible in more ways than one—namely, displaced in time from the 1970s—she thinks maybe it’s time to start believing.
Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.
A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J. Penner is 99c! This is book one in the Adenashire series, which is described as a cozy fantasy romance. I do wonder if this is a “no plot, just vibes” sort of book. Have you read this one?
A human, a dwarf and an elf walk into a bake-off…
In the heart of Adenashire, where elfish enchantments and dwarven delights rule, Arleta Starstone, a human confectionist works twice as hard perfecting her unique blend of baking and apothecary herbs.
So when an orc neighbor secretly enters her creations into the prestigious Elven Baking Battle, Arleta faces a dilemma.
Being magicless, her participation in the competition could draw more scowls than smiles. And if Arleta wants to prove her talent and establish her culinary reputation, this human will need more than just her pastry craft to sweeten the odds.
While competing, she’ll set off on a journey of mouthwatering pastries, self-discovery, heartwarming friendships and romance, while questioning whether winning the Baking Battle is the true prize.
Escape to for a delightful cozy fantasy where every twist is a treat and every turn a step closer to home.
ilonaandrews_blog_feedDrum roll, please!
This stunning cover is brought to you courtesy of Andrew Davis. It is absolutely beautiful and we are delighted. You can find more of Andrew’s work on his Instagram.
The page-turning politics of Game of Thrones meets the worlds-spanning romance of Outlander in this blockbuster new epic fantasy series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo Ilona Andrews.
DELUXE EDITION—featuring gorgeous sprayed edges!
When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel.
Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters’ ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she’s coming to love—a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes—and attentions—of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will end: in a cataclysmic war.
For fans of Samantha Shannon, Danielle L. Jensen, Sarah J. Maas, and isekai and portal fantasy, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the beginning of the most epic adventure yet from genre powerhouse author duo Ilona Andrews.
Knight Captain Jehan had a dilemma on his hands. I wasn’t sure what he had expected, but I clearly wasn’t it. I wore a gown in a beautiful green. My hair was braided and styled to the latest fashion with silver cord and appropriate ornaments. My makeup was flawless, and I was looking at him as if he were a mosquito buzzing around me. Clover stood behind my chair, her hands demurely folded, her eyes downcast.
Knight Captains acted in the same capacity as police lieutenants in most large cities back home. Kair Toren had four main City Guard stations, each headed by a Station Commander, who had anywhere from four to six knight captains under his authority. The knight captains supervised the sergeants, who in turn supervised the guards. In terms of position, Jehan was upper middle management, and he hadn’t gotten that far by being dense. Intimidating a commoner was one thing, although under Rellasian law, even a commoner could appeal. Detaining a noblewoman without a solid cause was an entirely different matter, and if handled incorrectly, could cost him his career.
I had been ushered into his office three minutes ago, and he had yet to say a single word.
The Knight Captain gave me a heavy look. He was in his mid- to late thirties, maybe even early forties, a tall man with a severe expression and some silver in his hair. He wore a black and teal tabard over dark chainmail. A teal half cloak hugged his throat and draped down his back with a metal pauldron on one shoulder. A complicated belt of dark leather wrapped his waist, offering a variety of pockets filled with various things a City Guard Knight Captain might find handy.
His office was a large square space in the middle of the Southern Guard Station. He sat behind a heavy wooden desk, with stacks of paper and scrolls on both sides. Behind him the Kair Toren flag stretched across the wall, teal, edged with black, with a stylized Skyline of Eagle Roost in gold. The Justice Chamber was attired in royal colors, mostly purple, but as municipal police force, the City Guard had its own color scheme.
One of us had to start this conversation or I would be here all day.
“Knight Captain Jehan, I presume?” I asked.
“Correct. Whom do I have the privilege of addressing?”
“You sent your people to my house. Surely you know who I am?”
“That is what we are here to determine.”
Knight Captain Jehan was treating me to the medieval version of the “you’re in big trouble” cop stare.
“So you do not know who I am.” I crossed my arms. “Is this how you find out? When you’re not sure who lives in a house, you just have them dragged down here? It seems like an odd use of the Guard’s time and resources.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Or perhaps I am a special case? I can’t help but note that the Guard station closest to my residence is in the north. Instead, I had to travel for the better part of an hour and cross two bridges to be brought here. Why?”
He glowered at me. “Here, I ask the questions.”
“Please start then. Whatever we can do to speed this thing along.”
He opened his mouth.
Something thudded outside the office, followed by the sound of raised voices.
“Just one question before we begin,” I said. “Am I charged with a crime?”
He unhinged his jaws. “Not yet.”
The commotion got louder and closer.
“Am I being detained?”
“Not exactly.”
“If not, am I free to leave?”
Welcome to twenty-first-century police-encounter protocol.
“Just a moment.” He turned toward the door.
“If I am being detained, I request the services of a law scribe.”
“Hold that thought.” Jehan rose, stepped outside, and shut the door behind him.
Behind me Clover snickered.
A deep male voice roared something in the distance. I couldn’t quite make it out, but it might have been “Where?” Whoever he was, he sounded pissed. Rhythmic thuds drew closer. Somebody was coming down the hallway in heavy boots.
The door flew open.
The post This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me: Cover Reveal first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.
solarbirdMy hold at the library came up, so I finally got to read Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams’s memoir about her time at Facebook.
You should read it.
No matter how bad you might think Facebook/Meta and its leadership might be, it’s almost certainly worse. Even if you know all of the pieces – all of the events discussed in the book were covered by the press in various forms before her memoir dropped – her presentation really pulls it all together.
Wynn-Williams doesn’t come off real great either herself, mind you. Early on, I found myself reacting with combinations of “…how did you expect this to play out?” and “this is both psychotically abusive and incredibly compromising, you should’ve walked. I literally would’ve walked out right here, and I know, ’cause I’ve done it.” (Tho’ to be fair, there have been a couple of times when I didn’t. But mostly, I have.) The recountings alternated between funny and hard to read, but in a way most people would mostly find funny – I think.
That was before it actually got to any of the worst parts, though, the parts where it went from a combination of entertainingly naive, occasionally pathetic, and often appalling to frankly revolting and rather deeply grim but still compelling as the… honestly, as the evil… crystallised.
But, well.
No matter how badly Wynn-Williams might come across in this memoir, Facebook comes off much, much worse.
So much worse.
So you should read it. No one other than Meta have contested the contents. Even they refer to the contents as “out of date” and “previously reported,” which worlds away from “lies” – although they do insist some of her accusations of behaviour by upper-level executives are “false.”
That’s probably about the sexual harassment, but I think we all know better.
More, Zuckerberg tried very hard to silence her and stop the book’s publication. He did manage to stop her – via binding arbitration – from promoting her work. That includes stating “orally, in writing, or otherwise any disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental comments to any person or entity concerning [Meta], its officers, directors, or employees.”
The book came out anyway, because the publisher was in the UK, and said they didn’t care what an American arbitrator had to say.
And that’s one of the reasons you should read it.
Because if you think there is anything redeemable within Meta… based on the uncontested facts of this book… you are wrong.
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.
smartbitches_feedThis HaBO comes from Robyn, who is looking for this Harlequin:
I have been searching for a book I read a long time ago. I’m almost positive it was from one of those monthly shipments from Harlequin (I think it came with a pink wineglass). The basic story is pretty common – an estranged couple is forced back together. The husband is a traditional Greek billionaire and the woman was from England, I think. His family and friends hated her. They thought she didn’t speak Greek so they would talk about her in front of her. I don’t remember exactly who left who or why or exactly how he forced her to come back. I believe the original leaving was partly because his mom (or a sister or close family friend) was telling him lies about her, like she was cheating on him.
I vividly remember a scene where he follows her because he thinks she’s cheating on him. She’s carrying her camera. It ends up she’s doing what she did a lot in the past – going down to the wharf (something like that) to speak Greek with the “common” folk. He brings her to a fancy party and makes comments to her in Greek so everyone understands that she understands Greek and knew what they were saying about her.
That’s all I think I remember. I thought I had found the book in The Greek’s Marriage Bargain but it doesn’t have those scenes. Please help! It’s driving me crazy!
Okay, but I want to hear more about this monthly subscription. Did any of you participate?
rydra_wongrolanniTuesday, July 8. Rainy and cool.
On this date in 2024, Ellen Richmond kindly gave me a ride to the Tradewinds Market in Clinton, to a meet in the parking lot, where the deal went down, and a black kitten, with wide eyes and a great deal of surprised good humor came home to the Cat Farm. He weighed about 4 pounds on arrival. His name was Rook Thunderpaws.
Today, on the first anniversary of his Gotcha Day, Rookie (as he's called more often than not) weighs a whopping 12.25 pounds, making him the largest cat in the household. The windows have been opened so that he may do a proper inspection, he and Tali have already competed for possession of the spring, and he supervised my taking the trash to the curb from the viewport overlooking the driveway.
I will be updating on festivities a little later, but I woke up knowing where a scene I've had in my head for at least two years goes, and having to do research on: the Tactical Defense Pods; Jen Sin's age; and formal language re Scout issued weapons. I also need to eat breakfast.
Therefore, I'm jumping off the internets for a few hours, to eat breakfast, write my scene, correct my other scene, and do my duty to the cats.
Here's a picture to get you in a celebratory mood:
james_davis_nicoll
smartbitches_feed
Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Have I mentioned how many good releases are coming out this month? This week, we have more fantasy romances (they never end!), a mystery, contemporary romance, and a YA historical romance.
What’s on your TBR pile this week? Let us know in the comments!
Author: Elly Griffiths
Released: July 8, 2025 by Pamela Dorman Books
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Time Travel
Series: Ali Dawson #1
Cold cases are a lot easier to solve when you can travel back in time to find new evidence—unless, that is, you get stuck in the nineteenth century.
Ali Dawson and her cold case team investigate crimes so old they’re frozen—or so their inside joke goes. Ali’s work seems like a safe desk job, but what her friends—and even her beloved son—don’t know is that her team has a secret: They can travel back in time to look for evidence.
So far Ali has made trips only to the recent past, so she’s surprised when she’s asked to investigate a murder that took place in 1850. The killing has been pinned on an aristocratic patron of the arts and antiquities, a member of a sinister group called “The Collectors.” She arrives in the Victorian era during a mini ice age to find another dead woman at her feet and far too many unanswered questions. But when her son is arrested, Ali attempts to return home only to find herself trapped in 1850.
Amanda: I haven’t been into mysteries lately, but this sounds interesting.
Author: S. Isabelle
Released: July 8, 2025 by Storytide
Genre: Historical: European, Romance, Young Adult
This wildly entertaining YA historical romance follows a young Black woman in 1860s England who yearns for a writing career and independence rather than love and marriage, but an unexpected inheritance forces her into London society and reunites her with the boy who broke her heart. Perfect for fans of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Davenports.
Eighteen-year-old Stella Sedgwick is a lost cause. While 1860s England offers little opportunity beyond marriage for a sharp-tongued, dark-skinned girl, Stella dreams of a writing career and independence.
When her late mother’s former employer—the wealthy Thomas Fitzroy—summons Stella to London, he bequeaths her one of the family’s great estates on his deathbed. But such an inheritance will precipitate a legal battle, one that would be much easier if Stella were married. Suddenly thrust into lily-white London society with the goal of finding a husband, Stella also reunites with the Fitzroy heir Nathaniel, her childhood best friend, now somewhat of a stranger.
But London presents other opportunities, like picking up her mother’s old advice column, where “Fiona Flippant” anonymously guided readers through upper-class perils. It turns out the dresses and balls aren’t so bad, though the stares and insults sometimes feel impossible to navigate. Things only grow more complicated with the attention of handsome suitors and Stella’s increasingly tempestuous relationship with Nathaniel. As new opportunities arise and old secrets are uncovered, Stella must decide when to play by the rules, when to break them, and when to let herself follow her heart.
Shana: This has one of the most beautiful covers I’ve seen all year and I can’t wait to read it.
Author: Brigitte Knightley
Released: July 8, 2025 by Ace
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Historical: European, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Dearly Beloathed #1
Loyalties are tested in this enemies-to-lovers romantasy set in an alternate England following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other—or worse, fall in love.
When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realises he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.
Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunisation programme, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that, when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.
As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying an attraction which only fuels the tension between them.
Amanda: Dramione book #1 this month. This is such a slow burn.
Author: Julie Soto
Released: July 8, 2025 by Forever
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Evermore Trilogy #1
New York Times bestselling author Julie Soto crafts a lush and dark romantic fantasy that’s filled with intrigue, magic, and an irresistible enemies-to-lovers romance.
The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.
Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, the world as Briony Rosewood knows it is changed forever. Evil has won, and her people face imminent servitude, imprisonment, or death.
Stripped of her Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly sold off to the highest bidders in an auction—and as Evermore’s princess, she fetches the highest price. After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven Hearst, scion of a family known for their cruelty.
Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help—and hope—may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…
Amanda: The second of two Dramione books coming out. I’m in heaven.
Author: Maggie Rapier
Released: July 8, 2025 by Ace
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Magpie and the Wolf Duology #1
Every legend has a beginning.
With their freedom on the line, a young woman and a rakish pirate take their fate into their own hands as they attempt to find a lost mythical isle with the power to save their entire world.
Saoirse yearns to be powerless. Cursed from childhood with a volatile magic, she’s managed to imprison it within, living under constant terror that one day it will break free. And it does, changing everything.
Horrified at her loss of control, Saoirse’s parents offer her hand to the cold and ruthless Stone King. Knowing she’ll never survive such a cruel man, Saoirse realizes there is only one path forward…she must break her curse.
On the eve of her wedding, Saoirse seeks out the legendary Wolf of the Wild—Faolan, a feral, silver-tongued pirate. He swears to help rid her of the deadly magic, if she’ll use it to locate a lost mythical isle first. Crafted by the slaughtered gods, it’s the only land that could absorb her power.
But Saoirse knows better than to trust a pirate’s word. With the wrath of her disgraced father and scorned betrothed chasing them, Saoirse adds one last condition to protect if Faolan wants her on his ship, he’ll have to marry her first.
“A tale rife with longing, extraordinary tenderness and delicious tension. A glorious escape for the heart and imagination.”—Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of Last Tale of the Flower Bride
Elyse: Pirates!
Lara: I will read this book for that gorgeous cover alone. The pirates are a bonus.
Author: Sarah MacLean
Released: July 8, 2025 by Ballantine Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Literary Fiction, Romance
New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean’s first foray into contemporary fiction, with a sharp, sexy novel about a wealthy New England family’s long-overdue reckoning with hidden desires, destructive secrets…and one week that threatens to tear them apart
Alice isn’t like the other Storm siblings. While the rest stayed to battle for their parents’ approval, attention, and untold billions, she left, building her own life beyond the family’s name and influence. Nothing could induce her to come back, except the shocking death of her larger-than-life father. Now back on the family’s private island off the Rhode Island coast, she plans to keep her head down, pay the last of her respects, and leave the minute the funeral is over.
Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his widow and their grown children a final challenge–an inheritance game designed to humiliate, devastate, and unravel the Storm family in ways both petty and life-altering. The rules of the game are clear: stay on the island for one week, complete the tasks, receive the inheritance.
One week on Storm Island is an impossible task for Alice. Every corner of the sprawling old house is bursting dysfunctional chaos: Her older sister’s secret love affair. Her brother’s incessant mansplaining. Her sister-in-law’s unapologetic greed. Her younger sister’s obsession with “vibes”. Her mother’s penchant for stirring up competition between her children. And all under the stern, watchful gaze of Jack Dean, her father’s enigmatic, unfairly good-looking, second-in-command. It will be a miracle if Alice manages to escape the week unscathed.
A story about the transformative power of grief, love, and family, this luscious novel is at once deliciously clever and surprisingly tender, exploring past secrets, present truths, and futures forged in the wake of wild summer storms.
Sarah MacLean’s contemporary fiction with a dose of romance.
Author: Elissa Sussman
Released: July 8, 2025 by Dell
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
From the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask comes an inspiring romance novel about honoring the past, living in the present, and loving for the future.
In her small Montana hometown, Lauren Parker has assumed a few different roles: teenage hellraiser; sister of superstar Gabe Parker; and most recently, tragically widowed single mother. She’s never cared much about labels or what people thought about her, but dealing with her grief has slowly revealed that she’s become adrift in her own life.
Then she meets the devilishly handsome actor Ben Walsh on the set of her brother’s new movie. They have instant chemistry, and Lauren realizes that it has been far too long since someone has really and truly seen her. Her rebellious spirit spurs her to dive headfirst into her desire, but when a sexy encounter becomes something more, Lauren finds herself balancing old roles and new possibilities.
There’s still plenty to contend with: small-town rumors, the complications of Ben’s fame, and her daughter’s unpredictable moods. An unexpected fling seemed simple at the time—so when did everything with Ben get so complicated? And is there enough room in her life for the woman Lauren wants to be? Alternating between Lauren’s past with Spencer and her present with Ben, Totally and Completely Fine illuminates what it means to find a life-changing love and be true to oneself in the process.
Elyse: These characters appeared in Funny You Should Ask which I absolutely loved.
Author: Megan Bannen
Released: July 8, 2025 by Orbit
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Hart and Mercy #3
From the author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy comes a new heartwarming fantasy rom-com with an opposites-attract twist set in the delightful, donut- and dragon-filled world of Tanria.
Immortal demigod Rosie Fox has been patrolling Tanria for decades, but lately, the job has been losing its luster. When Rosie dies (again) by electrocution (again) after poking around inside a portal choked with shadowy thorns, she feels stuck in the rut that is her unending life.
The portal’s uptight creator, Adam Lee, must come in person to repair the damage. But when all the portals break down at once, Rosie and Adam wind up trapped inside the Mist. And the reticent inventor in his bespoke menswear seems to know a lot more about what’s happening than he lets on.
Maybe two people who have found themselves stuck in this thorny, tangled life together can find a way to unstick each other … just when their time on this earth seems to be running out.
Book three in the much loved Hart and Mercy series.
Author: Scarlett St. Clair
Released: July 8, 2025 by Bloom Books
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Blood of Lilith #1
The first in an all-new fantasy series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair. In this biting, feminist retelling of Lilith’s story, Lilith will rise from the ashes of her former life to destroy the ancient power that stole everything she loves.
She is the beginning and the end.
She is peace and chaos.
She is terror knocking at the gates.
Estranged from her powerful family, Lilith Leviathan finds refuge in Nineveh, a district in the city of Eden devoted to sin. There, she uses her magic to steal for a living, attracting the attention of the five governing families as well as the church, which expects women to remain pious and silent. When Lilith comes into possession of a beautiful blade, she thinks all her worries are over…until her usual buyer dies while inspecting it.
Frantic, Lilith turns to the only man who can help Zahariev, head of the Zareth family and ruler of Nineveh. His currency is information, and his power is extortion, though he’s always had a soft spot for Lilith. But when the dagger appears, he isn’t sure he can protect her from what’s to come.
Together, they embark on a mission to discover the true power running their world. As their lives intertwine, Lilith realizes Zahariev is more than just a friend, but their devotion to each other is a threat—to the truth, to the church, and to those who want to tear it all down.
Amanda: Look at that cover!
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The stench of decomposition started as a faint whiff of cloying odor. It drifted from the warren of passages and tunnels. The farther we walked, the stronger it became.
Jovo waved his hand in front of his nose.
I nodded. It stank.
We kept moving. This part of the breach resembled the inside of a sponge: short roundish chambers connected by a myriad of shorter tunnels, endlessly intersecting. My senses told me we were getting closer and closer to the anchor. It had to be less than a mile away.
This area should have been filled with monsters. The closer to the anchor, the higher the density of creatures. That was a hard and fast rule that had been proven over and over again in the last ten years. This distribution was exactly why the miners stuck to the sites in close proximity to the gates.
The Sponge was deserted. And the stench kept getting thicker.
Nothing in this breach went the way it was supposed to. I wanted answers.
Another hundred yards.
The odor was almost unbearable now.
Our tunnel turned and opened. An enormous cavern unrolled in front of us, its ceiling three hundred feet high and studded with glowing crystals. A narrow river wound its way through the cavern’s floor.
Monster corpses littered the ground.
Huge, spiked, armored, grotesque, they sprawled along the banks. There had to be hundreds of them. The scale of the slaughter was horrifying. My mind refused to accept it.
This was too much for any being to kill alone. Had a bomb gone off here? But nothing except the monsters was damaged. The walls weren’t scorched, there was no crater, and flowers still bloomed along the banks.
Jovo clamped his hand over his nose and pulled on my sleeve. I glanced down at him. He pointed into the cavern.
I looked in the direction he indicated and flexed. A complex metal device sat in the center of the cavern, opened almost like a flower with concentric ridges forming petals.
Jovo let go of his nose and opened the fingers of both hands raising his arms. “Boom!”
Someone had deployed a literal weapon of mass destruction, but instead of destruction, it was just death. Mass death on an unprecedented scale.
I concentrated on the bodies. They didn’t look native to the breach. Too large, too many of them, and all were clearly nasty in a fight. The mechanism of the breaches was becoming a little clearer. Whoever built them took a section of an actual ecosystem, wedged it between our worlds, and then dumped a large number of predators into it. I had no idea how they transported them in or kept them from immediately killing each other, but it was clear that the monsters were plonked here and then expected to spread through the caves. There was probably enough wildlife for them to survive for the next couple of weeks, but by the time the gate burst, they would be ravenous.
It made no sense for whoever built the breach to stuff it with monsters and then nuke them. This felt like the work of a third party. There were the creators of the breach, us, and then there was the alien woman and the gress.
“Gress?” I asked Jovo.
He shrugged. He didn’t know.
It had to be the gress. If the alien woman entered the breach and the gress were pursuing her for some reason, clearing the monsters would make that pursuit much easier. The gress must’ve killed them shortly after the breach was created, if not right away, because the creatures didn’t even have a chance to spread.
But why did the woman enter? Was she escaping? Was she supposed to do something here?
I pointed at the cavern and made a walking motion with my fingers. “Dangerous?”
Jovo took an exaggerated sniff and shook his head.
The anchor lay on the other side of the cavern, through one of the passages puncturing the opposite wall. I took a breath, gagged, and started forward.
#
Jovo squeezed his marble. A gathering of lees appeared, most of them white furred and green eyed. “Sai. Phff!”
He had started this halfway into the monster slaughter, probably out of sheer self-preservation against the horror and the stench. Apparently, the lees existed in large family groups, and there were a lot of them. They greatly varied in fur color, markings, and eye color. A lot of the clans must have been wealthy, because the lees wore jewelry and elaborately decorated sashes, aprons, and kilts. There had to be some pattern to clothes, but I couldn’t decipher it. Perhaps it was regional.
The one thing Jovo made absolutely clear was that Clan Kiar was far superior to all others. We’d left the monster mass graveyard behind ten minutes ago, and he was still going.
I was still struggling with the odor. It seemed to stick to us, coating our clothes, skin, and hair. I should’ve gotten used to it by now, but it kept bothered me. My hearing and eyesight had gotten better. My olfactory sense probably got an upgrade as well, and right now it felt like a mixed blessing.
Bear sneezed next to me. She hadn’t even tried to investigate the bodies. All of that stench must have been hell on her sensitive nose.
Another squeeze of the marble. A new clan, this one with white, grey, and blue fur colors and turquoise and gold eyes.
“Nuan. Blah.”
“Blah?”
Jovo squeezed the marble, projecting an image of a plump blue pillow and made a squishing motion. “Nuan. Phah!”
Clearly, Clan Nuan was soft like a cushion.
I humored him. “Kiar not phah?”
Jovo pulled his knives out and spun through the tunnel in front of us, slashing left and right. “Kiar!”
Bear barked.
“He is exciting, isn’t he?”
Bear was the smartest girl ever, because any other dog would’ve chased him by now.
Jovo paused, posing on one foot.
I nodded solemnly, acknowledging the warrior badassery of Clan Kiar.
Jovo flipped backwards, slicing with his weapons, pirouetted to the end of the tunnel, and stopped, dropping into a crouch.
Uh oh.
Bear and I closed in. The tunnel opened into a large space, about a hundred and fifty feet wide and about seventy-five feet deep. Multiple openings gaped on the sides, probably leading back to the Sponge. Straight ahead a thick wall rose, with a rectangular doorway dead center.
Jovo hissed.
I flexed on the doorway. Beyond it lay a large room. I glimpsed an identical doorway at the other end. Between them a short pillar rose from the floor. It was rectangular and cut from a single block of black stone that seemed to swallow the light around it. White glyphs shone on its sides, carved into the cosmic blackness, and then painted over with an even glow. My eyes told me that the pillar was only three and a half feet tall, but in my mind it loomed, an enormous obelisk, a towering monolith brimming with malevolent power.
We had found the anchor.
The vision of the giant anchor filled my brain. The urge to dash across the open space and into that room gripped me. The anchor was an abomination. I had to crush it.
The pillar throbbed, sending pulses of concentrated power through me. I gritted my teeth.
Get out of my head.
Bear licked my hand.
The connection broke. I reeled, suddenly free. That destructive urge hadn’t come from the gem. No, that was something born of my humanity.
I petted Bear’s head and forced myself to focus. Something hung above the anchor. Something foreign that didn’t belong in that room.
I risked another flex and scanned the object. A knapsack, suspended by a familiar metal-plastic cord. I glanced at Jovo. He was laser-locked on it, his body rigid, compressed like a tightly coiled spring.
This was a trap. The Sponge was a labyrinth. Our hunter didn’t want to chase us through it. He wanted us in that room. That was where the last fight would be.
There might have been a way to go around the anchor chamber, but it would take a long time to find it and I didn’t want to look for it. I wanted answers. And I wanted this to be over. Every instinct I had assured me that the way to the gate lay through that room.
A faint whisper of a movement made me spin. A dark form appeared behind us, at the entrance of the tunnel. Darkness pulsed and the form fluttered away like a piece of fabric jerked out of sight, leaving a bone barrier dial hanging in its place. The gress had blocked our escape. It was trying to trap us in the tunnel.
I dashed forward, to the opening that led to the anchor room, pulling my stolen dial out of the pack. Jovo tried to rush past me, and I shoved him back, thrust the dial where the passageway met the wider chamber, and activated it. My barrier pulsed with darkness and settled at the mouth of the tunnel, blocking the exit to the anchor room.
Even if the gress showed up now, he wouldn’t be able to place another barrier on top of this one. The forcefield had a 26-foot limit, and it had to reach something solid to activate. Since I blocked the tunnel, the gress’ only option would be to set his barrier in the outer chamber, but that space was too wide.
Either the gress wanted to trap us in this small tunnel so he could wait until we ran out of water or food and died, or he wanted to panic us and force us to the anchor. Impulsively charging into the anchor chamber, with Jovo keyed up so high he was practically bouncing off the walls, would be suicide. We needed to be calm and calculating if we had any chance of winning. My barrier bought us temporary safety and time.
Jovo thrust himself in front of me, his face furious, and stabbed his finger at the anchor.
“I know,” I told him. “We will go.”
He pointed at the anchor again. I pointed at him and waved my arms frantically, then moved my hands down slowly, spreading them. “Calm down.”
Jovo trembled.
“It’s a trap.” I clamped my hands together, imitating a bear trap closing.
Jovo bounced up and down, slashing with his knives.
“Kiar Jovo!” I went straight to the mom voice. “Calm down.”
He blinked, stunned for a second, spun around, and started pacing from one side of the tunnel to the other. Score one for the universal parent voice.
I sat down on the stone floor. The anchor chamber was right in front of me with the dial hanging there in the empty air like some bone spider. The gress was nowhere to be seen. He was biding his time. Sooner or later, we would have to leave the tunnel.
If I ever hoped to see my children again, I had to be smart. I had to find out as much about the gress as I could.
“Jovo.”
The lees turned to me, his eyes hot.
“Gress.” I imitated him squeezing the marble.
Jovo pulled the marble out, put it in front of me, and squeezed it. The image of the gress pair spilled out. I focused on it and tried to relax.
I was never successful with meditation. As soon as I closed my eyes and let my mind off its leash, my thoughts ran in all directions, floating from one topic to another. I would start with something mundane like Noah needing a new pair of glasses, and move on to the car needing gas, then the oil change, then the calendar, then the upcoming meetings, and so it usually devolved into a mess that left me more stressed than when I started it.
This time had to be different. I sensed the power hidden deep inside me. So far it showed me flashes of visions, little fragments, and hints, but it contained so much more. I hadn’t even scratched the surface. It knew about the gress. I felt it when it showed me how to open the dial. I had to convince it to let me in. There had to be something there, some information about their weakness. Something that we could use.
Jovo lowered himself on the floor to the left of me. He leaned forward and placed his hands in front of him, like a cat sitting. The lees took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Bear padded over and lowered herself, curling around me, her big body bracing mine.
I closed my eyes and flexed. This time I wasn’t focused on anything. I wasn’t measuring distance or trying to determine the properties of an object. I simply entered the state of flexing. My talent splayed out of me like flames of a bonfire. I let it flail.
My time was almost never my own. I loved my children with all my heart, but they made constant demands on my time. They required attention, especially when they wanted to be ignored. Work generated cycles of mind-numbing reports, physical fitness tests, and short, intense bursts of pressure when entering the breaches. The carousel of household bills went round and round, from the expected utilities to the inconvenient emergencies of broken appliances and annual repairs. Everything had to be done. Everything had to be taken care of. My life was so busy, at times it felt like I dissolved into it. I was getting older and older, time was flying by, and I was powerless to stop it. Millions of moments and all of them taken.
But now my life was empty. There were no children in this breach, no tasks, no bills. There were no stalkers, dragons, or gress in this tunnel. There was only my dog, the alien creature I rescued, and me. My body. My senses. My thoughts. This moment was mine. I owned it.
Slowly, carefully, the invisible glow of my talent subsided, until it radiated from within me like soft heat from a low fire. My power stabilized and I let myself sink into it.
The post The Inheritance: Chapter 11: Part 1 and 2 first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.
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A Bride for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath is $2.99! This is book one in the Victorian Prizefighters series. I’ve heard such good things about Coldbreath’s romance. Would you recommend starting here?
Mina’s well-ordered life is thrown into disarray when her father drops a bombshell on his deathbed: she has a brother she never knew of. Not only that, he is on his way to rescue her from the collapse of their school under a mountain of debts.
A wild journey across country later, Mina finds herself thrown at the feet of the brutish William Nye, prize-fighter and owner of a disreputable inn, The Merry Harlot. Respectable Mina is appalled to find herself obliged to wed this surly stranger!
Forced to draw on reserves of inner strength she never knew she possessed, Mina uncovers perilous secrets and bravely carves herself a new life at the side of this man, as she proves herself a more than worthy partner for the prize-fighter.
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod is $1.99! This came out in the spring and has second chance romance elements and characters involved in the music industry. This one had a lot of buzz. Did you read it?
Her name’s Antonia “Toni” Bennette (yeah, she’s heard all the jokes before) and she’s not a rock star. Neither are the Lillys—not yet. But the difference between being famous and being almost famous can be a single wrong note…or the start of something that’ll change your life forever.
Growing up in dive bars up and down the East Coast, Toni Bennette’s guitar was her only companion…until she met Sebastian Quick. Seb was a little older, a lot wiser, and before long he was Toni’s way out, promising they’d escape their stifling small town together. Then Seb turned eighteen and split without looking back.
Now, Toni’s all grown up and making a name for herself in Philadelphia’s indie scene. When a friend suggests she try out for a hot new up-and-coming band, Toni decides to take a chance. Strong, feminist, and fierce as fire, Toni B. and the Lillys are the perfect match…except Seb’s now moonlighting as their manager. Whatever. Toni can handle it. No problem. Or it wouldn’t be if Seb didn’t still hold a piece of her heart…not to mention the key to her future.
The Duke Has Done It Again by Jane Ashford is $1.99! This is the sixth book in The Duke’s Estates series and is an enemies to lovers romance.
How can they stay rivals when they’re falling in love?
As children of the two most prominent families in town, Gavin Keighley and Rose Denholme have been enemies their whole lives. When the Duke and Duchess of Tereford come to town to get their estate in order, they invite Gavin, Rose, and their families for a visit to settle the feud once and for all. But as jealousy takes root, the entire town begins to compete for the attention of the duke and duchess, forcing Gavin and Rose to choose between fighting for their family interests or fighting for the love that’s blossoming between them.
Blood by Dr. Jen Gunter is $3.99! This was mentioned in Hide Your Wallet in January. Dr. Gunter’s non-fiction titles have been featured and recommended previously.
rolanniMonday, sunny and already too warm for my taste. We are once again standing under a Heat Advisory, though I haven't gotten any city notices about cooling centers being open.
Breakfast et, one's duty to the cats dispatched, trash staged, banking done, have appt to see the chiropractor, then plan to stop at grocery before I come home. Station air is ON.
Spent yesterday introverting. Today may be some more of the same, though I will at least be sitting with the manuscript for a bit.
The cats don't appear to like the Sensitive Stomach blend of cat food, though everybody will eat it, grudgingly. Except, of course, the Actual Guy with the Sensitive Stomach, for which said food was purchased.
TOMORROW is Rookie's Gotcha Day. He tells me he wants to do a podcast, but I'm really not sure about that. Maybe he'll be satisfied with a photoshoot.
So! How's everybody doing?
Today's blog title brought to you by Sail North, "Row"
Pictures from the past
2003 Marscon Writer Guests of Honor
Hanging around in Waterville 2016
Steve's High School Reunion July 2023
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Dark Green by Lif Strand solarbirdHere – here’s why I’m doing all this relabelling work in one photo of actual printouts of the same area of map, laid out side by side on a tabletop, and shot from above:
Look at the street names.
That’s why.
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.
james_davis_nicollWhich 2004 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
20 (48.8%)
Coalescent by Stephen Baxter
5 (12.2%)
Darwin's Children by Greg Bear
15 (36.6%)
Maul by Tricia Sullivan
5 (12.2%)
Midnight Lamp by Gwyneth Jones
2 (4.9%)
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
19 (46.3%)
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If you’re curious about this book, please check triggers. The author has a more comprehensive list on her website.
Hooked is a dark, contemporary mafia romance with lots of winks and nods to Peter Pan. It’s the first book in the Never After series, which is a reimagining of known fairytales and House of Mouse movies, but with villains as the love interests.
This is your common revenge story of a man wanting revenge against the heroine’s father and woos her as part of his quest for vengeance.
To sum up, Hook’s parents were assassinated by Peter…
Hook was then sent to live with his pedophilic uncle until he turned eighteen. And then he murders him. As one does. Hook’s plan is to use Peter’s daughter Wendy to lure Peter out and kill him. If you’re curious about whether Hook fantasizes about having sex with Wendy on top of her dad’s dead body, the answer is a resounding yes.
As a teen, Hook is taken in by a local crime boss, where they run protection rackets, drug smuggling operations, and the like.
Wendy has her own issues with her father, namely that he’s pretty negligent and neglectful of her and her brother following the death of their mother. He’s also involved in criminal activity that she is blissfully unaware of.
For some reason, I have declared 2025 my dark romance era. I’ve been curious about the subgenre for awhile, though it’s been hard to weed through all of the offerings and I feel like I can make book decisions more easily when I can peruse in a physical store. Shoutout to Lovestruck Books for having a beefy dark romance section.
I found this to be a super compelling read, honestly. I blew through this bad boy in about 5 hours across two days. I loved all the Easter eggs to the source material
The romance unfolded at a great (and sexy) pace for most of the book and there’s an interesting crime mystery happening in the background.
There’s a mole in the midst of Hook and his boss Ru’s operations, while they’re simultaneously trying to broker a deal with Peter and his airline company to further their drug operations. No one knows that Hook has any former connections to Peter and Peter doesn’t remember Hook since he was a child when they last met, so there’s a tension with his subterfuge with Ru, Wendy, and Peter.
It taps well into my enjoyment of high stakes secrets. Sarah and I have talked at length about how we vary on the angst scale. A friends to lovers romance doesn’t often grab my interest because I think the obstacles are too low. Wooing a woman and brokering an illegal business deal for the purpose of killing a well-known businessman with a highly successful airline company? Thank you, sir. I will have another.
The attraction between Hook and Wendy is cute and flirtatious (you know, until he reveals his master plan and things get wild). He’s British and throws around “darling” a lot (also another Peter Pan nod). It gave me some Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3 vibes. For the Astarion girlies out there, if you know, you know.
I wouldn’t necessarily call it a morality chain trope, as Hook expresses no desire to be “good” for the sake of Wendy, but more so that falling in love with Wendy feels like the first “good” thing he’s allowed himself to experience.
Wendy is wealthy, has lived a sheltered life under the thumb of her rich father, and has assumed the typical role of eldest daughter where she has to parent her younger brother. Her decisions are driven by wanting to establish her own agency. She gets a job despite not needing one. She goes to bars with coworkers to establish deeper friendships. She strikes up a flirtation with a mysterious Brit (Hook).
Sometimes in similar plots, there’s a heaping helping of insta-love or a love interest that skews more toward passive rather than an active participant in a relationship. Perhaps, for me, the bar is on the floor, but Wendy at least wasn’t a wet noodle. I’ll take that as a win.
Everything fell apart with about a quarter left in the book. I felt like I was enduring twist whiplash with big reveal after big reveal, plus there was an uptick in sex scenes that I mostly skimmed. The twists mostly made sense, but there were just too many in rapid succession to really let them sit and simmer.
There’s a point of no return in Hook and Wendy’s relationship that I wasn’t fully on board with. Hook’s boss, Ru, is killed while attending a business deal. Hook was supposed to attend, but says he’ll be late. He’s supporting Wendy as she drops her brother off to a boarding school.
Upon discovering Ru’s dead body at the meeting place, he assumes Wendy had something to do with it. He accuses Wendy of distracting him to keep him from attending the deal so that Ru could be murdered.
But like dude…you offered to go with her. She didn’t ask.
He then kidnaps her and reveals his desire to use her as a pawn to kill her dad and then possibly kill her.
I felt Hook’s connection between going with Wendy coinciding with Ru’s murder didn’t make sense to me. It was too big of a logical leap.
There were also a couple things that don’t appeal to me personally as a reader.
There is a baby epilogue, which I don’t ever enjoy in my romances. There was also a scene where the heroine professes her love, post-facial. I’m not referring to a self-care spa facial (though hey, if the other kind is your version of self-care, we listen and we don’t judge). That said, Hook massaging his baby batter into Wendy’s face as she reveals that she’s fallen in love with him was certainly a creative choice.
Since we’re all friends here, I’ll share that I find sex facials to be not my cup of tea from purely a logistical standpoint. It’s going to sting if it’s in your eyes. God forbid you wear contacts or glasses. Lump this into the same bucket for my hatred of red velvet: it’s a very passionate NO from me.
I will note that in the book Wendy is a Massachusetts transplant from Florida (same, girl) and that threw me for a second. It’s set in a fictional town in an environment that certainly doesn’t bring to mind any of my experiences in the Bay State. There’s not a single mention of the screeching Green Line, ghost buses, or lack of blinker usage. If you’re a stickler for a detailed sense of place especially in an area where you may live, be warned that the setting is very loose set dressing.
However, I kept thinking about this book while working, waiting to finally be on my commute home or have some time on my lunch break to start reading again. I made the grievous error of buying a special edition of this book and, while there are plenty of books out in the series, the special edition of book two, Scarred, isn’t out until August. Yes, I’ve preordered it.
Considering I’ve been in a reading lull lately, Hooked gets major points for reigniting the desire to pull a Bad Decisions Book Club. It was really dirty (a compliment) and mostly fun, and I think it was a good start to my foray into newer dark romance releases this year.
smartbitches_feedWelcome back to Cover Awe!
Cover illustration by Cynthia Sheppard
Amanda: Love the eye contact on this one!
Sarah: This cover is an incredible balance of stillness between their faces and movement with all the fabric. The composition is flawless.
Lara: I’m rather taken with the bouffant hair. I feel it adds to the cover rather nicely.
Cover illustration by Alexis Lampley
Sarah: Oooh my!
Elyse: The dress spacesuit is chef’s kiss.
Sarah: She looks like she’s wearing a bearded iris and floating in front of a soap bubble. I love it.
Lara: Those colours are blissful.
Cover illustration by Devin Elle Kurtz
Sarah: Well that just glows in fascinating ways.
Amanda: This creates such a lovely sense of place.
Sarah: The use of shadow and fire is exquisite. I love how the cat and the main character are limned in firelight.
Lara: I love the details like the whisp of steam coming off the teacup.
Cover design by Dar Albert of Wicked Smart Designs
Amanda: I love how soft everything is and how the color and texture of her dress blends in with the flowers.
Sarah: That is a really interesting merge of a few trends! Flowers, soft focus, mostly similar color palate. The softness is so alluring.
Elyse: She looks like Alba Baptista.
sovayspatch and I were getting up from our summer-hazed star-watching under the three-quarter moon, we saw a slow fireball of a meteor streak south and westward. All we had seen until then were the familiar blinks of planes and what we less happily took for satellites crawling steadily across the body of Ursa Major. We lay on the granite blocks that were installed six or seven years ago in commemoration of the eighteenth-century farm that became first a field of victory gardens and then the public park where I would spend my childhood sledding in winter and setting off model rockets in summer. The jeweled string of the Boston skyline has built itself considerably up since then. I used to dream of finding a meteorite in a field. It seemed statistically not impossible.coffeeandinkGhost Quartet is a band: Dave Malloy on keyboard, Brent Arnold on cello, Gelsey Bell and Brittain Ashford on various instruments, and everyone providing vocals. Ghost Quartet is a song cycle, a concert album performed semi-staged, a mash-up of "Snow White, Rose Red," The One Thousand and One Nights, the Noh play Matsukaze, "Cruel Sister", "The Fall of the House of Usher", the front page photo of a fatal train accident, and a grab bag of Twilight Zone episodes. The ghost of Thelonious Monk is sometimes invoked, but does not appear; whisky is often invoked, and, if you see the show live, will most certainly appear. "I'm confused/And more than a little frightened," says (one incarnation of) the (more-or-less) protagonist. "It's okay, my dear," her sister/lover/mother/daughter/deuteragonist reassures her, "this is a circular story."
Once upon a time two sisters fell in love with an astronomer who lived in a tree. He seduced Rose, the younger, then stole her work ("for a prestigious astronomy journal"), and then abandoned her for her sister, Pearl. Rose asked a bear to maul the astronomer in revenge, but the bear first demanded a pot of honey, a piece of stardust, a secret baptism, and a photograph of a ghost. (The music is a direct quote of the list of spell ingredients from Into the Woods.) Rose searches for all these ingredients through multiple lifetimes; and that's the plot.
Except it is much less comprehensible than that. The songs are nested in each other like Scheherazade's stories; you can follow from one song to the next, but retracing the connections in memory is impossible; this is less a narrative than a maze. Surreal timelines crash together in atonal cacophany; one moment Dave Malloy, or a nameless astronomer played by Dave Malloy, or Dave Malloy playing Dave Malloy is trying to solve epistemology and another moment the entire house of Usher, or all the actors, are telling you about their favorite whiskies. The climax is a subway accident we have glimpsed before, in aftermath, in full, circling around it, a trauma and a terror that cannot be faced directly; the crash is the fall of a house is the failure to act is the failure to look is the failure to look away.
There are two recordings available. Ghost Quartet, recorded in a studio, has cleaner audio, but Live at the McKitterick includes more of the interstitial scenes and feels more like the performance.
In Greenwood Cemetery, there were three slightly raised stages separated by batches of folding chairs, one for Dave Malloy, one for Brent Arnold, and one for Gelsey Bell and Brittain Ashford, with a flat patch of grass in the center across which they sang to each other, and into which they sometimes moved; you could sit in the chairs, or on cushions in front of the first row, or with cheaper tickets you could sit in the grass on the very low hills above the staging area, among the monuments and gravestones, and, presumably, among more ghosts. The show started a little before sunset; I saw a hawk fly over, and I could hear birds singing along when the humans sang a capella. It was in the middle of Brooklyn, so even after dark I couldn't see stars; but fireflies sparked everywhere.
rolanni38 Faking it (Dempsey Family #2), Jennifer Crusie, narrated by Aasne Vigesaa (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio
37 Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36 The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35 Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33 The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32 Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31 The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30 The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29 Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28 The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27 Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26 The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25 Night's Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24 The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23 Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22 The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21 The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20 A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19 The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18 A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17 All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16 Destiny's Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15 The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14 A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13 Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12 Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea (e)
11 Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10 Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9 House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8 Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7 Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6 Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5 The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4 The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (e)
3 A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2 A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1 A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)
_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.
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