yourbookishbff's reviews
621 reviews

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley

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funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This was a lovely and lighthearted story and exactly what I needed after a heavier read. I particularly loved how beautifully affirming both the narrative and characters are of Tommy's gender identity, which would likely be considered gender-fluid or nonbinary in today's terms. I thoroughly enjoyed the light mystery plot involving our illuminated manuscripts and the generations of men who had falsely claimed the achievements of their female family members, and the rotation of disguises and hijinks that bring Tommy and Philippa together as both comrades and lovers. The Wynchesters are a really fun bunch, but I may be just as hungry for more stories centering this feminist reading circle of Philippa's! 
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Caroline's Heart by Austin Chant

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Darkly magical and deeply introspective, this was unsettling in a way I really enjoy. I was impressed by the world-building Chant accomplishes in this novella and enjoyed the loosely defined magic system. I wish the central romance had a tiny bit more breathing room outside the grief-driven spellwork to resurrect the FMC's deceased lover, but despite that focus, the love story was heartwarming and gentle with lots of quiet caretaking, and the affirmation of identity was beautiful. This line, in particular, was just stunning: "But the idea of Cecily being placed on the earth in such a damned confusion, just like him, and finding her way to be as extraordinary as she is - and him finding his way to her table, getting to sit across from her, quietly adoring her - the wonder of it all fills him with a swell of emotion that's the closest thing to holy he's ever felt."
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A Midsummer Night's Duke by Colleen Kelly

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emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Thank you to the author for an advanced reader's copy!

Colleen Kelly's writing is just stunning, and I can hardly believe newsletter subscribers get another of her novellas for free. This novella is a prequel to her first (The Earl I Want for Christmas) and gives us Lydia's older brother's love story (and sweet glimpses into her friendship with her sister-in-law as a teenager!). These could easily be read in either order.

Most impressive to me in this particular story is how well-developed each character feels in a tight page count. Kelly uses a one-night-stand premise to give us glimpses into each character that she later inverts through deeper character study. Our duke shows immediate emotional vulnerability with the lovelorn actress he meets at an inn (vulnerability that feels shocking to the reader in retrospect), and our lovelorn actress evinces emotional detachment and confident seduction with the mysterious duke that reveals itself to be a painstaking facade. I loved seeing how each character is unwound after their first whirlwind encounter and how Kelly needs to then bring them back together in a meaningful way. There are several beats in this I LOVED (hasty declarations, possessiveness, ruination subverted, and more), and even with a premise that can be a miss for me (one-night-stands don't always deliver the emotional build-up I enjoy!), this felt just right in its journey to the HEA.

And I'm not kidding about Kelly's prose:
"A stunned pause while his mind turned over her words before he felt - with sudden surprise, like an animal sprung from a fatal trap - Joy. An eruption of it sweeping through him. Bright light dazzling his senses, casting the entire world in a hazy golden aura. She would be his in truth, bound forever, unshakably, unbreakably, and she would - She would not like that."

"He didn't know how to respond: gratefully or blithely or matter-of-factly. He couldn't tell which she would prefer, and he wanted to be what she preferred. So he said nothing."

"Elizabeth Langham deserved devotion and adoration and action and zeal, and though he might only have wits enough for the first two, he was going to do his damnedest to give her the entire catalogue."

"His voice was rough as stone sheared from a cliffside, hard and miserable, and she wanted to smooth it like water over glass."

"She felt - not herself. Or more herself than the limits of her body could contain. She threatened to overflow her boundaries, leak as messily onto the floor as the water that had pooled at his feet."

"As always, Rex looked for his wife, for the gold of her hair shimmering in the crowd. As always, something shifted inside him when he saw her, the essential core of loneliness that had accompanied him throughout his life slackening, turned beautiful as a basketful of silken thread waiting to be embroidered by her delicate hand."
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Harvest Season by Annick Trent

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informative lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

As short stories go, this was good! I only wish it hadn't ended so abruptly, because the story arc didn't quite *fit* into 40 pages and it felt like with a few additional scenes  this could have really succeeded as a stand-alone romance novella (whereas now it feels like a novelette that's taking on too much?). I love seeing two working class main characters navigating early labor movements, and the writing is strong. I look forward to reading the rest of this series.
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Proof by Seduction by Courtney Milan

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

There are moments I absolutely loved in this book and moments I thought I would just chuck it instead. Milan sets up a deeply unlikeable male main character, made palatable solely through his inner monologue, which at least gives us clues into his emotional constipation and discomfort with affection, expression, etc. He is possibly coded as neurodivergent, though I hesitate to lean on that, because Milan doesn't identify that as a characterization in the enhanced edition's Q&A and instead focuses on his emotional response to the pressures of his title, so it's hard to say how we are meant to interpret his social anxiety. I generally struggle with superiority conflicts for aristocrats (waiting hundreds of pages for men to discover working class women are worth their attention is grating for me), and the third-act conflict stretched this to a limit that was hard for me to recover from. Ultimately, this man's epiphany is far too easily won and he doesn't bloody his knees nearly enough for my taste. 

Saving grace for this book is NED. I cannot wait for his story, and I absolutely cheered for his third act appearances in this one. 
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This Wicked Gift by Courtney Milan

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The vibes were excellent, and I'm shocked that this wasn't truly intended to be a Christmas story (you gotta get the enhanced edition for great insight and Q&A from Milan!), because it felt like a romance retelling of A Christmas Carol with Bob Cratchit as our main character. The premise for the couple's intimacy is coercion, with a bit of a twist. Our female main character's sense of assurance and desire is grounding throughout, even when the male main character's action are desperate and dark. The plotting is tight and the conclusion/conflict resolution works well for a novella. Recommended for those looking for non-aristo MCs, too! All in all, I loved the concept, even if the romance itself won't be the most memorable for me. You can see the glimmers of Milan's character work and plotting here, and it's fascinating to see where she started.
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Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was even better on a reread, and I feel a lot more grounded in the forces at work in Bree's life and the general direction for the series. I thoroughly enjoyed all of our new characters and the action keeps you moving, even as it introduces new layers to the world building that might otherwise slow down the pace. Can't recommend the Legendborn Cycle highly enough.
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Oh! You Pretty Things: A Glam Rock Romance by Jane Hadley

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emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This story is so deeply rooted in both time and place, a beautifully complicated and messy exploration of queer life for 20-somethings in Minnesota in the 1970s. I would absolutely echo other reviewers in observing that the first half leans into historical fiction in its emphasis on queer awakening and in building out a contextual backdrop for our romance. We spend these early chapters learning how this  small group of college kids are attempting to live authentically at a time when war (and war protest), queer criminalization (and queer protest) shape both their ambitions and their anxieties. 

And then at about the 55% mark the romance comes in like a wrecking ball, and it becomes swoon-city. I absolutely adore the dynamic Hadley builds for Arthur and James and the ways in which they use play, intimacy and emotional vulnerability to help each other explore gender and sexual identity.  Hadley is using sex in particular to further each character's developing sense of self and gender in ways that are nuanced and realistically messy, and I love how much room she gives her characters to get it really, really wrong sometimes (looking at you, Eve). These are absolutely adults in their early 20s living through second-wave feminism and free love, so expect high drama, lots of codependency, and sex-will-fix-this-right approaches to problem solving. 

Also, do not miss the author's note! Excellent context for terminology (Arthur is experiencing a bi-awakening and a developing sense of gender nonconformity without a lot of the descriptive identity language he would have access to today).
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Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I missed spending time in Emily and Wendell's world and was so delighted to be back. I did feel a bit lost at the start as it wasn't very clear what our primary plot arc would be in this installment, but once the central conflict materialized, I was invested. I love seeing how Emily and Wendell's relationship matures through the series, and the little nods to previous characters and storylines were so nicely done. This series is a joy - particularly on audio! 
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Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt

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emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The central romance ties up with Notorious Pleasures for me, though I'm so freaking grateful I wasn't as distracted by side character nonsense in this one. Hoyt lands some excellent reveals in this installment, and I enjoyed every beat of the mystery as well. And Isabel! Her pain and false bravado and vulnerability were all so well conveyed, and I loved possessive, repressed little Winter giving her a safe space to open up. I am so pleased with the direction this takes in the final chapters and look forward to continuing my Maiden Lane journey!
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