Melanie's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 12 Mar 2025 20:04:31 -0700 60 Melanie's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Tomb of Dragons (The Cemeteries of Amalo, #3)]]> 211004174
While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he’s terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar’s life for a chance at what they feel they’re owed.

Celehar does not have to face these impossible tasks alone. Joining him are his mentee Velhiro Tomasaran, still finding her footing with the investigative nature of their job; Iäna Pel-Thenhior, his beloved opera director friend and avid supporter; and the valiant guard captain Hanu Olgarezh.

Amidst the backdrop of a murder and a brewing political uprising, Celehar must seek justice for those who cannot find it themselves under a tense political system. The repercussions of his quest are never as simple they seem, and Celehar’s own life and happiness hang in the balance.]]> 352 Katherine Addison 125081619X Melanie 4 4.36 2025 The Tomb of Dragons (The Cemeteries of Amalo, #3)
author: Katherine Addison
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Deck the Halls with Secret Agents]]> 222379421
But when George emerges from the snow at a supposedly abandoned chateau, it's lit up like a Christmas tree. And among the oblivious revelers, his Soviet counterpart Nikolai Meleshenko is sipping eggnog by the blazing Yule log.

For twenty years, George and Nikolai have played cat and mouse, both in bed and out. But now the professional enmity that shaped their lives is dissolving. What can they build in its place?

A short holiday spy romance full of Christmas cheer!]]> 55 Aster Glenn Gray Melanie 4 4.17 2024 Deck the Halls with Secret Agents
author: Aster Glenn Gray
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Twisted Shadows (Sugar & Vice, #2)]]> 202932688 In a thrilling alternate-universe Seattle, empaths are disappearing—and it’s up to grumpy Reece and his mysterious protector, Grayson, to investigate.

Empath hunter Evan Grayson is the Dead Man, transformed by a dark past into a perfect weapon against corrupted empaths. Nothing can distract him from stopping these superhuman killers—until he’s mired in a new battle, fighting a forbidden attraction to an empath on the verge of corruption.

For pacifist Reece Davies, every day is a struggle to keep his darker side in check. It’s only his complicated relationship with Evan that keeps him grounded—a relationship that, despite his growing feelings, must stay at arm’s length. But when an empath’s murder on the East Coast points to a treacherous plot back west, with Reece as the next potential target, Evan races across the country to be by his side.

Together, they search for missing empaths, their proximity heightening the chemistry they must resist. But corruption isn’t the only danger they face as sinister forces close in from the shadows, sights set on empath and empath hunter alike…]]> 384 Allie Therin 1335621962 Melanie 5
Still a little annoyed by the artificiality of the "found text" at the start of every chapter, but that's basically my one complaint about these books. Love them. Can't believe we have to wait for book 3!!!!]]> 4.43 Twisted Shadows (Sugar & Vice, #2)
author: Allie Therin
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
I had certain expectations about the shape of this trilogy based on book 1, and...I was totally wrong in a really fun way! This book MOVES, plot-wise, and I love how many tasty character moments we get from so many different characters.

Still a little annoyed by the artificiality of the "found text" at the start of every chapter, but that's basically my one complaint about these books. Love them. Can't believe we have to wait for book 3!!!!
]]> Liar City (Sugar & Vice #1) 61062487
It’s the middle of the night when part-time police consultant and full-time empath Reece gets an anonymous call warning him that his detective sister needs his help. At an out-of-the-way Seattle marina, he discovers that three people have been butchered—including the author of the country’s strictest anti-empathy bill, which is just days from being passed into law.

Soon, Reece’s caller a shadowy government agent known as The Dead Man, who is rumored to deal exclusively in cases involving empathy. He immediately takes over the investigation, locking out both local PD and the FBI, but, strangely, keeps Reece by his side.

As the two track an ever-growing trail of violence and destruction across Seattle, Reece must navigate a scared and angry city, an irritating attraction to his mysterious agent companion, and a rising fear that perhaps empaths like him aren’t all flight and no fight after all�

"Readers will be yearning for more the minute they finish the final page." � Library Journal , starred review, on Starcrossed

Sugar & Vice]]> 416 Allie Therin 1335621946 Melanie 5
One note: The chapters are introduced with fragments of found text, a thing I almost always hate. And yep, I did hate it here lol. BUT if you have the same problem and you're used to unraveling SFF worldbuilding, then you won't miss much except some historical specifics if you skip them.]]> 4.15 2023 Liar City (Sugar & Vice #1)
author: Allie Therin
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
So, the description for this didn't really set me on fire, but I decided to try it based on how much I like the author's previous work. It was a good choice!! Some of the themes/elements mentioned in the plot summary are pretty common, but they're handled here with enough unusual detail & specificity that it didn't feel like something I'd read before. It's more of a thriller than a mystery, but with enough stuff to figure out that I had fun unraveling the plot points--that some items were guessable didn't make them less fun or satisfying in execution. And I am SUPER interested in the characters and how they'll develop going forward.

One note: The chapters are introduced with fragments of found text, a thing I almost always hate. And yep, I did hate it here lol. BUT if you have the same problem and you're used to unraveling SFF worldbuilding, then you won't miss much except some historical specifics if you skip them.
]]> Yield Under Great Persuasion 218108277
When they were both nine years old, Lyford smashed Tam’s entry into the village’s vegetable competition. Nearly twenty years later, Tam hasn’t forgiven the bastard. No one understands how deeply he was hurt that day, how it set a pattern of small disappointments and misfortunes that would run through the rest of his life. Now Tam has reconciled himself to the fact that love and affection are for other people, that the gods don’t care and won’t answer any of his prayers (not even the one about afflicting Lyford with a case of flesh-eating spiders to chew off his privates), and that life is inherently mundane, joyless, and drab.

And then, the very last straw: Tam discovers that Lyford (of all people!) bears the divine favor of Angarat, the goddess Tam feels most betrayed and abandoned by. In his hurt and anger, Tam packs up and prepares to leave the village for good.

But the journey doesn’t take him far, and Tam soon finds himself set on a quest for the most difficult of all possible prizes: Self care, forgiveness, a second chance... and somehow the unbelievably precious knowledge that there is at least one person who loves Tam for exactly who he is—and always has.]]> 320 Alexandra Rowland 1957461098 Melanie 4 4.16 2024 Yield Under Great Persuasion
author: Alexandra Rowland
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Blood of Tyrants (Temeraire, #8)]]> 16156292
For to the west, another, wider conflagration looms. Napoleon has turned on his former ally, the emperor Alexander of Russia, and is even now leading the largest army the world has ever seen to add that country to his list of conquests. It is there, outside the gates of Moscow, that a reunited Laurence and Temeraire—along with some unexpected allies and old friends—will face their ultimate challenge...and learn whether or not there are stronger ties than memory.]]> 432 Naomi Novik 0345522893 Melanie 4 3.96 2013 Blood of Tyrants (Temeraire, #8)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[League of Dragons (Temeraire, #9)]]> 20404555 The final adventure in the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series that started with the beloved His Majesty’s Dragon which has won fans of Napoleonic-era military history, Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels, and Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring adventures.

The deadly campaign in Russia has cost both Napoleon and those allied against him. Napoleon has been denied his victory…but at a terrible price. Lawrence and the dragon Temeraire pursue the fleeing French army back west, but are demoralized when Napoleon makes it back to Paris unscathed. Worse, they soon learn that the French have stolen Termeraire and Iskierka’s egg. Now, it is do or die, as our heroes not only need to save Temeraire’s offspring but also to stop Napoleon for good!]]> 380 Naomi Novik 0345522923 Melanie 4 4.11 2016 League of Dragons (Temeraire, #9)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> With a Reckless Heart 217971351
Dusty seems to be a member of the wedding party, which makes him officially off-limits. The father of the bride has no business flirting with a groomsman, let alone doing any of the other things Reuben finds himself considering. At the very least they should properly introduce themselves, instead of indulging the thrill of being almost total strangers. The fact that Dusty is clearly friends with Reuben's future son-in-law should be all the impetus necessary to behave.

But whoever he is, Dusty is earnest and sweet and impossible to ignore. There will be time for introductions later. For now, what harm can a little flirtation do?]]> 55 Yolande Kleinn 1946316474 Melanie 0 4.50 With a Reckless Heart
author: Yolande Kleinn
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Swordcrossed 204309713
What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere.

Luca, for his part, is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. All he wants to do is make some easy money and try to forget the crime he committed in his hometown. He didn’t plan on being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to a chronically responsible—and inconveniently handsome—wool merchant like Matti.

However, neither Matti’s business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what they seem. As the days count down to Matti’s wedding, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti’s house to the brink of ruin. And when Luca’s secrets threaten to drive a blade through their growing alliance, both Matti and Luca will have to answer the question: how many lies are you prepared to strip away, when the truth could mean losing everything you want?]]> 372 Freya Marske 1250341620 Melanie 4 3.93 2024 Swordcrossed
author: Freya Marske
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty]]> 43868109 The highly anticipated portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, by the prize-winning, bestselling author of Say Nothing.

The Sackler name adorns the walls of many storied institutions: Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations to the arts and sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing OxyContin, a blockbuster painkiller that was a catalyst for the opioid crisis.

Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling.]]> 535 Patrick Radden Keefe 0385545681 Melanie 4 4.54 2021 Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
author: Patrick Radden Keefe
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Masquerades of Spring (Rivers of London #9.2)]]> 202969855
Meet Augustus Berrycloth-Young - fop, flaneur, and Englishman abroad - as he chronicles the Jazz Age from his perch atop the city that never sleeps.

That is, until his old friend Thomas Nightingale arrives, pursuing a rather mysterious affair concerning an old saxophone - which will take Gussie from his warm bed, to the cold shores of Long Island, and down to the jazz clubs where music, magic, and madness haunt the shadows...]]> 165 Ben Aaronovitch 147322442X Melanie 4 4.16 2024 The Masquerades of Spring (Rivers of London #9.2)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Running Close to the Wind 195791197
To find a buyer with deep enough pockets, Avra must ask for help from his on-again, off-again ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Ḥaffār. They are far from happy to see him, but together, they hatch a plan: take the information to the isolated pirate republic of the Isles of Lost Souls, fence it, profit. The only things in their way? A calculating new Araşti ambassador to the Isles of Lost Souls who’s got his eyes on Avra’s every move; Brother Julian, a beautiful, mysterious new member of the crew with secrets of his own and a frankly inconvenient vow of celibacy; the fact that they’re sailing straight into sea serpent breeding season and almost certain doom.

But if they can find a way to survive and sell the secret on the black market, they’ll all be as wealthy as kings―and, more important, they’ll be legends.]]> 448 Alexandra Rowland 1250802539 Melanie 5 4.05 2024 Running Close to the Wind
author: Alexandra Rowland
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/10
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:
How much you like this book is going to track VERY CLOSELY with how much you like (or can tolerate) the ridiculous, juvenile, and overtly sexual sense of humor it's written with. So, obviously, I loved it!
]]> <![CDATA[Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)]]> 42036538
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.]]> 448 Tamsyn Muir 1250313198 Melanie 5
The beginning was a little too violent/gross for me, but it quickly settled into something else that I really enjoyed. Gideon and Harrow are both a lot of fun to spend time with, but I also appreciated many of the supporting characters--there are a lot of them introduced all at once, but once I had a handle on them there were lots of diverse characters to enjoy. And what a cracker of an ending! Really looking forward to book 2.]]> 4.19 2019 Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: fiction, science-fiction, queer
review:
Fascinating world, a mix of horror and science fiction, and a nice mystery at the heart of the book to solve. I didn't realize that a prominent plotline would be [spoilers removed] but that's a plot I love, so I was thrilled. There was also a puzzle-solving aspect that reminded me in a weird way of Myst, and of lots of great post-apocalyptic SF. Really good genre mixing here, is what I'm saying.

The beginning was a little too violent/gross for me, but it quickly settled into something else that I really enjoyed. Gideon and Harrow are both a lot of fun to spend time with, but I also appreciated many of the supporting characters--there are a lot of them introduced all at once, but once I had a handle on them there were lots of diverse characters to enjoy. And what a cracker of an ending! Really looking forward to book 2.
]]> <![CDATA[Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2)]]> 53086262 Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to the sensational, USA today best-selling novel Gideon the Ninth, turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor's haunted space station.

She answered the Emperor's call.

She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.

In victory, her world has turned to ash.

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath � but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.

Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor's Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 512 Tamsyn Muir Melanie 5
An almost completely different cast of characters, and yet they were all as unique & as individually compelling as the rather large cast of Gideon. I didn't exactly like all of them--or even most of them--but there was never even a moment of confusion as to who was who. Just absolutely distinct and clearly drawn right from the beginning.

Some of the visuals in this book are just incredible. Basically every scene with the River blew my mind. I tend to think of these books as having great snappy dialogue but the set pieces are really well done, too. Very vivid descriptions, clear action even when it's very alien. The kind of thing I want to go back and study from a craft perspective.

More than with Gideon--though I felt it there, too, a little--the memes kind of threw me out of the book when they happened. It's funny because reading some later reviews, I understand that there were memes I didn't get, and they didn't strike me as at all strange at the time...but the ones I did catch took me out of the world of the book.

A couple of the reveals made me scream, even though I was approaching the book as a puzzle to be solved. And there was a nice development of some of the central mysteries. Really looking forward to understanding more in book #3!]]> 4.28 2020 Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2)
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/17
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: fantasy, fiction, science-fiction, queer
review:
Before I started this, a friend told me to expect to be confused until about 60% in. I'm glad she told me that, because I was, and it didn't feel wrong when I knew it was the effect the author was going for! I completely loved this. It was really intense--I was often putting it down after 30 minutes or so of reading, not because I didn't like it, just because I needed time to process--but it was so worth it in the end. Weirdly, while I had no idea what was going on plot-wise, I often felt more grounded in the story than I did with Gideon: with Gideon I spent almost the whole book working out the worldbuilding, and in Harrow I had the worldbuilding but not the plot, and I found the latter easier to handle as a reading experience.

An almost completely different cast of characters, and yet they were all as unique & as individually compelling as the rather large cast of Gideon. I didn't exactly like all of them--or even most of them--but there was never even a moment of confusion as to who was who. Just absolutely distinct and clearly drawn right from the beginning.

Some of the visuals in this book are just incredible. Basically every scene with the River blew my mind. I tend to think of these books as having great snappy dialogue but the set pieces are really well done, too. Very vivid descriptions, clear action even when it's very alien. The kind of thing I want to go back and study from a craft perspective.

More than with Gideon--though I felt it there, too, a little--the memes kind of threw me out of the book when they happened. It's funny because reading some later reviews, I understand that there were memes I didn't get, and they didn't strike me as at all strange at the time...but the ones I did catch took me out of the world of the book.

A couple of the reveals made me scream, even though I was approaching the book as a puzzle to be solved. And there was a nice development of some of the central mysteries. Really looking forward to understanding more in book #3!
]]> <![CDATA[Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #3)]]> 58662507
The zombies are coming back.

And all Nona wants is a birthday party.

In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back.

The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the Emperor Undying to come calling. Their leaders want Nona to be the weapon that will save them from the Nine Houses. Nona would prefer to live an ordinary life with the people she loves, with Pyrrha and Camilla and Palamedes, but she also knows that nothing lasts forever.

And each night, Nona dreams of a woman with a skull-painted face...]]> 480 Tamsyn Muir 1250854113 Melanie 5 4.36 2022 Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #3)
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: fiction, science-fiction, queer
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London, #5)]]> 20499240
Travelling west with Beverley Brook, Peter soon finds himself caught up in a deep mystery and having to tackle local cops and local gods. And what's more all the shops are closed by 4pm ...]]> 377 Ben Aaronovitch 0575132507 Melanie 4 mystery, fantasy, fiction 4.16 2014 Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London, #5)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/05
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: mystery, fantasy, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rough Pages (Evander Mills, #3)]]> 203579218
A search of Howard's bookstore reveals that someone wanted to stop him and his co-owner, Dorothea Lamb, from sending out their next book. The evidence points not just to the Feds, but to the Mafia, who would be happy to use the subscriber list for blackmail.

Andy has to maneuver through both the government and the criminal world, all while dealing with a nosy reporter who remembers him from his days as a police detective and wants to know why he's no longer a cop. With his own secrets closing in on him, can Andy find the list before all the lives on it are at risk?

Set in atmospheric 1950s San Francisco, Rough Pages asks who is allowed to tell their own stories, and how far would you go to seek out the truth.]]> 259 Lev A.C. Rosen 1250322448 Melanie 4 4.24 2024 Rough Pages (Evander Mills, #3)
author: Lev A.C. Rosen
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities, #2)]]> 32161804 In the sordid streets of Victorian London, unwanted desire flares between two bitter enemies brought together by a deadly secret.

Crusading journalist Nathaniel Roy is determined to expose spiritualists who exploit the grief of bereaved and vulnerable people. First on his list is the so-called Seer of London, Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel expects him to be a cheap, heartless fraud. He doesn’t expect to meet a man with a sinful smile and the eyes of a fallen angel—or that a shameless swindler will spark his desires for the first time in years.

Justin feels no remorse for the lies he spins during his séances. His gullible clients simply bore him. Hostile, disbelieving, utterly irresistible Nathaniel is a fascinating challenge. And as their battle of wills and wits heats up, Justin finds he can’t stop thinking about the man who’s determined to ruin him.

But Justin and Nathaniel are linked by more than their fast-growing obsession with one another. They are both caught up in an aristocratic family’s secrets, and Justin holds information that could be lethal. As killers, fanatics, and fog close in, Nathaniel is the only man Justin can trust—and, perhaps, the only man he could love.]]> 238 K.J. Charles 0399593977 Melanie 4 4.21 2017 An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities, #2)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: fiction, ebook, fantasy, romance, queer, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Flight of Magpies (A Charm of Magpies, #3)]]> 34715224 Danger in the air. Lovers on the brink.

With the justiciary understaffed, a series of horrifying occult murders to be investigated, and a young student flying off the rails, magical law enforcer Stephen Day is under increasing stress. And the strain is starting to show in his relationship with his aristocratic lover, Lord Crane.

Crane chafes at the restrictions of England’s laws, and there’s a worrying development in the blood-and-sex bond he shares with Stephen. A development that makes a sensible man question if they should be together at all.

Then a devastating loss brings the people he most loves into bitter conflict. Old enemies, new enemies, and unexpected enemies are painting Stephen and Crane into a corner, and the pressure threatens to tear them apart...

Book 3 of the Charm of Magpies series. Previously published by Samhain.]]> 239 K.J. Charles 0995799040 Melanie 5 4.22 2014 Flight of Magpies (A Charm of Magpies, #3)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/22
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: queer, fiction, ebook, romance, fantasy, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rat-Catcher's Daughter (Lilywhite Boys, #0.5)]]> 50054274
But Christiana has an admirer. Stan Kamarzyn has watched her sing for a year and he doesn't want to see her get hurt. Stan's nobody special--just a dodgy bloke from Bethnal Green--but he's got useful friends. Friends who can get a girl out of trouble, for a price. Christiana's not sure what it will cost her...

The two slowly reach an understanding. But Christiana is no criminal, and she can't risk getting mixed up with the law. What will happen when Stan's life as the fence for the notorious Lilywhite Boys brings trouble to his doorstep?

A trans f/m asexual romance novelette (17,000 words), set two years before Any Old Diamonds.

Content warnings: Story opens with misgendering/transphobia and threat of violence.]]> 61 K.J. Charles 191268814X Melanie 0 fiction, romance 4.14 2019 The Rat-Catcher's Daughter (Lilywhite Boys, #0.5)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2023/05/15
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: fiction, romance
review:

]]> Hexmaker (Hexworld, #2) 31949586 A straight-laced policeman. A lighthearted thief. A murdered millionaire.

Fox shifter Malachi steals for one of the biggest crime rings in New York City. But when he witnesses the murder of a millionaire, the only person who can keep him safe is Dr. Owen Yates, forensic hexman for the Metropolitan Witch Police—and Malachi’s witch.

Owen is horrified to discover his familiar is an uneducated thief. Even worse, Malachi threatens to unleash Owen’s deepest desires…desires Owen can’t act upon, as he’s destined for an arranged marriage to secure the Yates family fortune

Their agreement: Malachi will be Owen’s lover as well as his partner, until the day of the wedding. But as their hunt for the murderer carries them from teeming slums to Fifth Avenue mansions, Owens begins to realize Malachi commands his heart as well as his body.

With dark forces drawing ever closer around them, Owen must decide whether to bow to the demands of duty, or to risk everything for the man he loves.]]> 270 Jordan L. Hawk 1941230210 Melanie 4 4.10 2016 Hexmaker (Hexworld, #2)
author: Jordan L. Hawk
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2020/07/23
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: fiction, ebook, romance, fantasy, queer, owned
review:

]]> The 13th Hex (Hexworld, #0.5) 29474747 Murder.

Dominic Kopecky dreamed of becoming a member of New York’s Metropolitan Witch Police—a dream dashed when he failed the test for magical aptitude. Now he spends his days drawing the hexes the MWP relies on for their investigations.

But when a murder by patent hex brings crow familiar Rook to his desk, Dominic can’t resist the chance to experience magic. And as the heat grows between Dominic and Rook, so does the danger. Because the case has been declared closed—and someone is willing to kill to keep it that way.

The 13th Hex is the prequel short story to the all-new Hexworld series. If you like shifters, magic, and romance, you’ll love Jordan L. Hawk’s world of witch policemen and the familiars they bond with.

NOTE: This is a previously published work. The title, author, and/or publisher may have changed.
The 13th Hex was originally published as part of the Charmed and Dangerous anthology. Only minor details have been altered for this reissue.]]> 53 Jordan L. Hawk 1941230180 Melanie 4 4.05 2015 The 13th Hex (Hexworld, #0.5)
author: Jordan L. Hawk
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2019/12/19
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: fiction, ebook, fantasy, romance, queer, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Draakenwood (Whyborne & Griffin, #9)]]> 33506227 Someone is killing members of the old families…and the evidence points to Whyborne.

Widdershins has been unusually quiet for months. But now a mysterious creature from the Outside is on the loose, assassinating members of the town’s old families by draining their blood. Whyborne and Griffin set out to solve the mystery—but as the evidence piles up, the police begin to suspect Whyborne himself is the murderer.

Now Whyborne must both clear his name and stop the horrors the monster threatens to unleash. His only hope: an alliance with his old enemies the Endicotts.

Because something terrible lurks in the Draakenwood, and it will stop at nothing to seize control of the maelstrom itself.

Draakenwood is the ninth book in the Whyborne & Griffin series, where magic, mystery, and m/m romance collide with Victorian era America.]]> 220 Jordan L. Hawk 1941230253 Melanie 4 4.42 2017 Draakenwood (Whyborne & Griffin, #9)
author: Jordan L. Hawk
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: ebook, romance, fiction, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gilded Cage (Lilywhite Boys, #2)]]> 52314497
Seventeen years later, Susan Lazarus is a renowned detective, and Templeton Lane is a jewel thief. She’s tried to arrest him, and she’s tried to shoot him. They’ve never tried to talk.

Then Templeton is accused of a vicious double murder. Now there’s a manhunt out for him, the ports are watched, and even his best friends have turned their backs. If he can’t clear his name, he’ll hang.

There’s only one person in England who might help Templeton now...assuming she doesn’t want to kill him herself.]]> 248 K.J. Charles 1912688123 Melanie 4 fiction, romance 4.16 2019 Gilded Cage (Lilywhite Boys, #2)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/20
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: fiction, romance
review:

]]> Something Human 41100024 245 A.J. Demas 1988086094 Melanie 0 4.25 2018 Something Human
author: A.J. Demas
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/22
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Another Place in Time 23158673 another place in time...where one can be swept away into lands and eras long forgotten.

This collection of short stories was birthed because a sworn "I don't like historicals" reader fell in love with what have become some of her favorite books by most of her favorite writers. Surprisingly, they were all historicals. Determined to make others feel the love, these authors were asked to contribute small tastes of how amazing historical storytelling can be.


Along with a foreword written by Alex Beecroft, enjoy these original short stories that make up "Another Place in Time".


Office Romance by Tamara Allen

The post-war economy is at a standstill, much like Foster Wetherly’s life until he’s forced to do battle with irritatingly confident—and competent—fellow ex-doughboy Casey Gladwin for a position in their shrinking department at Manhattan Security Mutual.


Introducing Mr. Winterbourne by Joanna Chambers

Lysander Winterbourne appears to lead a charmed life. Handsome, amiable, and a renowned sportsman, he is the darling of London society. As far as Adam Freeman is concerned though, Lysander is just another spoiled aristocrat.

A wealthy mill owner, Adam has no time for the frivolous world of the ton, but when his younger brother becomes engaged to Althea Winterbourne, he reluctantly agrees to be introduced to society–with the Winterbourne clan’s golden boy as his guide.

Resigning himself to a few days of boredom, Adam is surprised to learn that there is much more to Lysander than his perfect surface. But will Adam have the courage to introduce Lysander Winterbourne to his own secret self?


The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ Charles

Lord Gabriel Ashleigh is a ruined man. Last night he lost everything at the card tables to his brother’s worst enemy, notorious gambler Francis Webster. Tonight, he’s going back for one more game. Ash thinks he has nothing left to lose. But Francis sets the stakes, and they’re higher than Ash could have imagined�

Two Regency bucks. One game of cards. Everything to play for.


Unfair in Love and War by Kaje Harper

Many men lost brothers overseas in the summer of 1944. Warren Burch was one of them. For months he still clung to his big city life in Philadelphia, but finally he's made the difficult choice to return to his home town. Warren's polio-stricken leg won't let him serve, so the least he can do is be there for his mother, when brother Charlie never again will. Arriving home means a whole new life, constrained by the rhythms and prejudices of a small town. Fortunately, it's made more interesting by the mysterious and attractive young man next door.

Carousel by Jordan L. Hawk

When a child goes missing, is it a simple case of a young runaway, or are more sinister forces at work?

“Carousel� is part of the Whyborne & Griffin series and takes place between the events of Stormhaven and Necropolis. It can be read as a standalone.


Deliverance by Aleksandr Voinov

This is a re-vamped, re-edited, improved version of "Deliverance". It's about William Raven, a templar, who thought he'd escaped his past. (Same character as in "The Lion of Kent".)]]> 232 Tamara Allen 0692288732 Melanie 0 4.07 2014 Another Place in Time
author: Tamara Allen
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: currently-reading, fiction, queer, romance, ebook, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Chimera Affair (The Chimera Affair #1-1.5)]]> 13627917 His mission was seduction—not falling in love.

When young Sebastian Brambani meets a sexy and exciting older man, he’s easily seduced. But for spy Kyle Grant, it’s all business. Sebastian is simply a pawn in Kyle’s mission to acquire a dangerous chemical weapon from Sebastian’s criminal father. Kyle’s life is his work for a shadowy international agency protecting the world from evil, and he can’t worry about what will happen to Sebastian when the job is done.

Sebastian’s unwitting role in Kyle’s plan is the last straw for his ruthless father, who has been embarrassed by his gay son for the last time. But when Kyle discovers Sebastian could be the key to finding the deadly Chimera, he rescues him from his father's hitman and fights to keep him alive. Can a hardened spy and naïve college student take down a criminal kingpin, stay one step ahead of the killers on their trail—and fight the scorching attraction between them?

This gay romance from Keira Andrews features sexy spies, an age difference, a sheltered and passionate virgin, action and adventure, and of course a happy ending.

BONUS STORY INCLUDED: The Argentine Seduction, a sequel for Kyle and Sebastian featuring unexpected jealousy, protectiveness, and a dangerous mission in the simmering heat of Buenos Aires. (And of course a happy ending!)

The Chimera Affair and The Argentine Seduction were previously published by Loose Id in 2012 and 2013.]]> 250 Keira Andrews 1988260221 Melanie 3 queer, fiction, romance 3.71 2012 The Chimera Affair (The Chimera Affair #1-1.5)
author: Keira Andrews
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2021/09/14
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: queer, fiction, romance
review:

]]> Coffee Boy 32146161
Soon, the only upside to the job is that Seth has a painful crush on their painfully straight boss, and Kieran has a front row seat to the drama. But when Seth proves to be as respectful and supportive as he is prickly, Kieran develops an awkward crush of his own—one which Seth is far too prim and proper to ever reciprocate.]]> 61 Austin Chant 1945952075 Melanie 4 3.75 2016 Coffee Boy
author: Austin Chant
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/12
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: ebook, fiction, owned, queer, romance
review:

]]> War in Heaven 218487830 An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found: here

A battle over the most sacred object in Christendom...

In the tiny English village of Fardles, a practitioner of black magic has located the Holy Grail in the sacristy of the local Anglican church. Intent on possessing it so as to amplify his own nefarious powers, he tries to trick its guardian into donating it. When that fails, he resorts to theft.

Thus begins a tug-of-war between powers infernal and celestial, between a magician who would use the Sacred as an instrument of his own will, and an Archdeacon who seeks to protect and preserve what is sacramental and holy.

Along the way, Williams reveals the tug-of-war within us all � the interplay of desire and Desire, the polarity of possession and sacrifice...and the significant gray areas in between.

War in Heaven is the first novel Williams published, and also the most comic. It is everything you’ve come to expect from a Williams novel � suspense, supernatural danger, and a mysticism so real, good, and terrible that nothing can stand against it.]]> 256 Charles Williams 0802812198 Melanie 0 to-read 3.83 War in Heaven
author: Charles Williams
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Millennium Approaches (Angels in America, #1)]]> 92250
The play is a complex, often metaphorical, and at times symbolic examination of AIDS and homosexuality in America in the 1980s. Certain major and minor characters are supernatural beings (angels) or deceased persons (ghosts). The play contains multiple roles for several of the actors. Initially and primarily focusing on a gay couple in Manhattan, the play also has several other storylines, some of which occasionally intersect.]]> 119 Tony Kushner 1559360615 Melanie 0 drama, queer, owned 4.27 1993 Millennium Approaches (Angels in America, #1)
author: Tony Kushner
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: drama, queer, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rivers of London: Body Work, #1]]> 23387877

Peter Grant is one of only two members of a very special branch of London's Metropolitan Police. He is, in fact, pretty much a wizard and it's his job to investigate those shadowy crimes that involve urban vampires, weird folk in the underground and, in this case, why cars are suddenly taking on lives of their own and killing innocent folk!

Written by Doctor Who writer Ben Aaronovitch (Remembrance of the Daleks) and set in the world of his own bestselling novels, with Doctor Who showrunner Andrew Cartmel!

Rivers of London novels have sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide to date!

In continuity with the novels � not an adaptation, this is an all-new story set between books 4 and 5!

]]> Ben Aaronovitch Melanie 0 to-read 3.90 2016 Rivers of London: Body Work, #1
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Seaward 11308 180 Susan Cooper 0020421907 Melanie 5 3.97 1983 Seaward
author: Susan Cooper
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1983
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves: fiction, fantasy, owned, to-reread
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The House of the Red Balconies]]> 210438012
Over breakfasts in Zo’s garden, the two men begin a friendship that transforms the isolation of their lives. But Hylas’s aqueduct project is threatened by bureaucratic delays, and Zo is pressured to secure a rich patron to help support his failing house. When they have begun to hope that they have found a home in each other, the world seems intent on forcing them apart.]]> 235 A.J. Demas 1988086337 Melanie 4 4.07 2024 The House of the Red Balconies
author: A.J. Demas
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Duke at Hazard (Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune, #2)]]> 208918808 Don't miss the second thrilling Regency romance in the Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune series by KJ Charles...

The Duke of Severn is one of the greatest men in Britain.

He's also short, quiet, and unimpressive. And now he's been robbed, after indulging in one rash night with a strange man who stole the heirloom Severn ring from his finger. The Duke has to get it back, and he can't let anyone know how he lost it. So when his cousin bets that he couldn't survive without his privilege and title, the Duke grasps the opportunity to hunt down his ring-incognito.

Life as an ordinary person is terrifying...until the anonymous Duke meets Daizell Charnage, a disgraced gentleman, and hires him to help. Racing across the country in search of the thief, the Duke and Daizell fall into scrapes, into trouble-and in love.

Daizell has been excluded from polite society, his name tainted by his father's crimes and his own misbehaviour. Now he dares to dream of a life somewhere out of sight with the quiet gentleman who's stolen his heart. He doesn't know that his lover is a hugely rich public figure with half a dozen titles. And when he finds out, it will risk everything they have...]]> 336 K.J. Charles 1398715794 Melanie 4 4.19 2024 The Duke at Hazard (Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune, #2)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/19
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> One Night in Boukos 40109489 233 A.J. Demas 1988086086 Melanie 4 4.20 2018 One Night in Boukos
author: A.J. Demas
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Honey and Pepper (When in Pheme, #1)]]> 60620498
Kallion doesn’t need a rescue. What he really needs is a skewer of octopus fritters (with extra sauce) and a friend. Nikias can supply both, and maybe, with the help of Nikias’s skill in the kitchen and Kallion’s excellent collection of wine, they can fight past their misunderstandings and the disasters of their pasts to something deeper.

But when civil unrest roils the city and old threats resurface, the trust these two have built will be tested. And they’d both better hope that Kallion’s vicious former master will just stay dead.

Honey & Pepper is a standalone m/m romance and also the first book in the When in Pheme series set in an imaginary ancient world.]]> 222 A.J. Demas 1988086213 Melanie 4 3.98 2022 Honey and Pepper (When in Pheme, #1)
author: A.J. Demas
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> The Spear Cuts Through Water 55868456 Two warriors shepherd an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family in this new epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds.

The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.

But that god cannot be contained forever.

With the aid of Jun, a guard broken by his guilt-stricken past, and Keema, an outcast fighting for his future, the god escapes from her royal captivity and flees from her own children, the triplet Terrors who would drag her back to her unholy prison. And so it is that she embarks with her young companions on a five-day pilgrimage in search of freedom—and a way to end the Moon Throne forever. The journey ahead will be more dangerous than any of them could have imagined.

Both a sweeping adventure story and an intimate exploration of identity, legacy, and belonging, The Spear Cuts Through Water is an ambitious and profound saga that will transport and transform you—and is like nothing you’ve ever read before.
]]> 525 Simon Jimenez 0593156595 Melanie 5 4.17 2022 The Spear Cuts Through Water
author: Simon Jimenez
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Green Man's Heir (Green Man, #1)]]> 39322199 368 Juliet E. McKenna 190803968X Melanie 0 to-read 3.91 2018 The Green Man's Heir (Green Man, #1)
author: Juliet E. McKenna
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Darkness Outside Us (The Darkness Outside Us, #1)]]> 55200663
After the first settler on Titan trips her distress signal, neither remaining country on Earth can afford to scramble a rescue of its own, and so two sworn enemies are installed in the same spaceship.

Ambrose wakes up on the Coordinated Endeavor, with no memory of a launch. There’s more that doesn’t add up: Evidence indicates strangers have been on board, the ship’s operating system is voiced by his mother, and his handsome, brooding shipmate has barricaded himself away. But nothing will stop Ambrose from making his mission succeed—not when he’s rescuing his own sister.

In order to survive the ship’s secrets, Ambrose and Kodiak will need to work together and learn to trust one another� especially once they discover what they are truly up against. Love might be the only way to survive.]]> 397 Eliot Schrefer 0062888285 Melanie 4 4.31 2021 The Darkness Outside Us (The Darkness Outside Us, #1)
author: Eliot Schrefer
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
review:
Lots of super interesting ideas & character beats I really liked. Cut against some of the conventions of its genre in ways I thought were really effective. Due to the plot structure, the first ~half of the book had more of the character and relationship development than the second half, and I wished that would've been more balanced. Didn't quite stick the landing for me, mostly for the character development imbalance reason. Overall a really interesting and engrossing read, though.
]]> <![CDATA[The Wee Free Men (Discworld, #30; Tiffany Aching, #1)]]> 34494 Librarian's Note: For an alternate cover edition of the same ISBN, click here.

"Another world is colliding with this one," said the toad. "All the monsters are coming back."

"Why?" said Tiffany.

"There's no one to stop them."

There was silence for a moment.

Then Tiffany said, "There's me."

Armed only with a frying pan and her common sense, Tiffany Aching, a young witch-to-be, is all that stands between the monsters of Fairyland and the warm, green Chalk country that is her home. Forced into Fairyland to seek her kidnapped brother, Tiffany allies herself with the Chalk's local Nac Mac Feegle - aka the Wee Free Men - a clan of sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men who are as fierce as they are funny. Together they battle through an eerie and ever-shifting landscape, fighting brutal flying fairies, dream-spinning dromes, and grimhounds - black dogs with eyes of fire and teeth of razors - before ultimately confronting the Queen of the Elves, absolute ruler of a world in which reality intertwines with nightmare. And in the final showdown, Tiffany must face her cruel power alone...

In a riveting narrative that is equal parts suspense and humor, Carnegie Medalist Terry Pratchett returns to his internationally popular Discworld with a breathtaking tale certain to leave fans, new and old, enthralled.]]> 375 Terry Pratchett 0060012382 Melanie 4 4.29 2003 The Wee Free Men (Discworld, #30; Tiffany Aching, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prince of Agony (Perilous Courts #6)]]> 168382691 The price of Kazia’s power is pain.

Prince Kazia Dire isn’t nice. Being nice lets people close. Letting people close risks revealing Kazia’s greatest secret—the power that condemns him to a lifetime of abuse.

Until opportunity appears in the form of a captive enemy mage.

Following a dragon across the border lands Lucien Vaire in chains, and matters only get worse from there. Lucien has hated House Dire since the last war. Now, he’s under the notorious brat prince’s direct control.

Yet beneath Kazia’s vicious mask, Lucien senses desperate vulnerability.

Painful experience has taught Kazia to fear mages. He keeps Lucien at a distance even as he uses Lucien’s talents. But that distance narrows with each careful kindness. Each accidental touch. Lucien acts more like a protector than a prisoner, and Kazia is tempted by the dangerous sweetness of trust.

But Lucien is still a mage, and Kazia is still broken. And Kazia’s cruel parents may still destroy them both.

Prince of Agony is a high fantasy gay romance, featuring captivity, hurt/comfort, and enemies hiding in a linen closet together. This is the final book in the Perilous Courts series, which is best enjoyed in order.]]> 295 Tavia Lark Melanie 3 4.31 2024 Prince of Agony (Perilous Courts #6)
author: Tavia Lark
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/10
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prince and Betrothed (Perilous Courts #5)]]> 168382608 Being claimed shouldn’t feel so lonely.

Sei’s power isn’t truly his. As a grail, his role is to serve a mage by augmenting their magic. He’s equally nervous and excited about his arranged betrothal. After a life without intimacy, Sei will finally fulfill his true purpose as a treasured, valuable grail.

There’s only one problem: Sei’s new betrothed is the legendary Marek Dire.

The dragonrider prince is powerful, intimidating, and larger than life—or at least larger than Sei. Prince Marek doesn’t want a husband, especially one like this. Sei might be captivating, but he’s also fragile and frighteningly obedient. Marek vows to break the betrothal, and he refuses to use Sei as a grail.

No matter how much Sei wants to be used.

But Marek underestimates Sei. Wielding kindness as a weapon, Sei discovers unexpected tenderness in Marek—and new fierceness in himself. But being a grail in power-hungry Draskora is dangerous, and Marek still fears two things. That someone else might hurt Sei�

…or that Marek himself will.

Prince and Betrothed is a high fantasy gay romance, with an arranged marriage, dragons, and shameless displays of affection. The Perilous Courts series is best read in order, and Prince and Betrothed continues the three-book arc about the princes of Draskora.]]> 296 Tavia Lark Melanie 4 3.97 2023 Prince and Betrothed (Perilous Courts #5)
author: Tavia Lark
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prince and Bodyguard (Perilous Courts #4)]]> 171831933
Vana Dire can’t show weakness if he wants to survive the Draskoran court. The only man he can be vulnerable with is Daromir—Vana’s magic-bound bodyguard. The binding lets them share each other’s pain, and Vana depends on Daromir’s comfort as much as his services as a guard. Vana could never risk their friendship.

Even if he craves far more than Daromir’s loyalty.

Daromir Azri sees a side of Vana nobody else sees. Behind closed doors, the cold, elegant prince is kindhearted. Vulnerable. He needs Daromir. If Daromir’s devotion sometimes feels like something else? Daromir must be mistaken. His duty comes first, and he’ll do anything to protect Vana—including one thing he’s never done

He’s keeping a secret.

Then their magic bond changes, and suddenly Vana and Daromir don’t just share pain anymore. Each shared sensation pushes their friendship to the breaking point, just when Vana and Daromir need each other most. They’re facing a mysterious ambassador, a chaos-stirring prince, the consequences of past schemes�

And an assassin seeking Vana’s life.

Prince and Bodyguard is a gay fantasy romance with pining, hurt/comfort, and codependent cuddling. The Perilous Courts series is best read in order, and Prince and Bodyguard begins a new three-book arc about the princes of Draskora.]]> 284 Tavia Lark Melanie 4 4.06 Prince and Bodyguard (Perilous Courts #4)
author: Tavia Lark
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)]]> 31076583 229 Sarah J. Maas 168119631X Melanie 0 to-read 3.77 2019 A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Spectred Isle (Green Men, #1) 35118935
Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there's something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.

Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.]]> 271 K.J. Charles 0995799075 Melanie 5 4.10 2017 Spectred Isle (Green Men, #1)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/24
date added: 2024/06/26
shelves: ebook, romance, fiction, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prince and Pawn (Perilous Courts, #3)]]> 61213709 One night of bliss could unravel a kingdom.

Be obedient. Be grateful. As the neglected illegitimate son of a powerful family, Corin is expected to follow his magic-gifted brother to the palace as a servant. He’s unwilling but resigned—and allows himself one night of distraction in a stranger’s arms.

Corin never knew pleasure and pain could be so exhilarating. So comforting. Corin only regrets he’ll never again see the anonymous man who ruined him for anyone else.

Until the next morning, when Corin meets his brother’s new arranged fiancé.

Prince Audric doesn’t want a loveless political betrothal, but he’ll do anything for his kingdom. His last night of freedom is a rare indulgence—and a terrible mistake. Corin is sweet, beautiful, and sees Audric like nobody else does.

He’s also Audric’s fiancé’s younger brother. Audric’s arranged betrothal might be a relationship in name only, but he can’t touch Corin again.

Constant proximity hurts when they can’t be together. But avoidance is impossible when Corin might be the key to unraveling the conspiracy behind Audric’s betrothal�

And when Corin keeps fainting into Audric’s arms.

Prince and Pawn is a high fantasy gay romance with hurt/comfort, forbidden pining, inappropriate use of vines, and more magic tigers. The Perilous Courts series is best read in order, but each book follows a different prince and his Happily Ever After.]]> 291 Tavia Lark Melanie 3 3.98 2023 Prince and Pawn (Perilous Courts, #3)
author: Tavia Lark
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/25
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
review:

]]> You Should Be So Lucky 196774347 We Could Be So Good.

The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to be the worst year of Eddie O’Leary’s life. He can’t manage to hit the ball, his new teammates hate him, he’s living out of a suitcase, and he’s homesick. When the team’s owner orders him to give a bunch of interviews to some snobby reporter, he’s ready to call it quits. He can barely manage to behave himself for the length of a game, let alone an entire season. But he’s already on thin ice, so he has no choice but to agree.

Mark Bailey is not a sports reporter. He writes for the arts page, and these days he’s barely even managing to do that much. He’s had a rough year and just wants to be left alone in his too-empty apartment, mourning a partner he’d never been able to be public about. The last thing he needs is to spend a season writing about New York’s obnoxious new shortstop in a stunt to get the struggling newspaper more readers.

Isolated together within the crush of an anonymous city, these two lonely souls orbit each other as they slowly give in to the inevitable gravity of their attraction. But Mark has vowed that he’ll never be someone’s secret ever again, and Eddie can’t be out as a professional athlete. It’s just them against the world, and they’ll both have to decide if that’s enough.]]> 400 Cat Sebastian 0063272806 Melanie 4 4.27 2024 You Should Be So Lucky
author: Cat Sebastian
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/10
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Sword Dance (Sword Dance, #1) 51856712
Work takes him to the remote seaside villa of an old friend, where, among an odd assortment of guests, he meets the eunuch sword-dancer Varazda. Enigmatic and beautiful but distinctly prickly, Varazda is the antithesis of the straightforward and serious Damiskos. Yet as they keep getting in each other’s way at the villa, their mutual dislike is complicated by a spark of undeniable attraction.

Then the villa’s guests begin to reveal their true characters and motives—no one here is what they seem—and Damiskos finds himself at the centre of a bizarre web of espionage, theft, and assassination. Varazda may need Damiskos’s help, but not as much as Damiskos, finally awakening to a new sense of life and purpose, needs Varazda.

Sword Dance is the first book in the Sword Dance trilogy, an m/nb romance set in an imaginary ancient world, with murderous philosophy students, sex acts named after fruit, and love blossoming in the midst of mayhem.]]> 305 A.J. Demas 1988086140 Melanie 4 romance, fiction, queer 4.10 2019 Sword Dance (Sword Dance, #1)
author: A.J. Demas
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/21
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves: romance, fiction, queer
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All the Hidden Paths (The Tithenai Chronicles, #2)]]> 65213171
With the plot against them foiled and the city of Qi-Katai in safe hands, Velasin and Caethari have begun to test the waters of their relationship. But the wider political ramifications of their marriage are still playing out across two nations, and all too soon, they’re summoned north to Tithena’s capital city, Qi-Xihan, to present themselves to its monarch.

With Caethari newly invested as his grandmother’s heir and Velasin’s old ghosts gnawing at his heels, what little peace they’ve managed to find is swiftly put to the test. Cae’s recent losses have left him racked with grief and guilt, while Vel struggles with the disconnect between instincts that have kept him safe in secrecy and what an open life requires of him now.

Pursued by unknown assailants and with Qi-Xihan’s court factions jockeying for power, Vel and Cae must use all the skills at their disposal to not only survive, but thrive � because there’s more than one way to end an alliance, and more than one person who wants to see them fail.]]> 528 Foz Meadows 1250829305 Melanie 5 4.17 2023 All the Hidden Paths (The Tithenai Chronicles, #2)
author: Foz Meadows
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/20
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prince in Disguise (Perilous Courts, #2)]]> 61213703 Rakos isn’t really a farmer. Bellamy definitely isn’t a minstrel.

Sheltered, sickly Prince Bellamy always longed for adventure—but not like this. Captured in enemy territory, Bellamy’s true identity will get him killed, or worse. When his smoking-hot fellow prisoner asks who he is, Bellamy claims to be a minstrel.

Even though he can’t carry a tune to save his life. He panicked, okay?

Rakos was the rising star of the Draskoran dragon riders until betrayal landed him in chains. He knows two things for certain: he can’t trust anyone, and he wants his dragon back. When a pretty, fragile minstrel asks who he is, Rakos claims he’s a farmer. When Bellamy begs for help reaching the border, Rakos refuses.

Until Bellamy reveals his magic is exactly what Rakos needs.

Stormy nights, pursuing soldiers, and deadly masquerades forge Rakos and Bellamy’s unlikely partnership into something more. Something exhilarating. Rakos treats Bellamy like a person, not a weak, untouchable prince, even as he protects him.

But Rakos’s enemies are circling in, and that very protection might be Bellamy’s undoing.

Prince in Disguise is a high fantasy gay romance, with secret identities, hurt/comfort, and huddling for warmth. The Perilous Courts series is best read in order, but each book follows a different prince and his Happily Ever After.]]> 298 Tavia Lark Melanie 4 4.13 2022 Prince in Disguise (Perilous Courts, #2)
author: Tavia Lark
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/05/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prince and Assassin (Perilous Courts, #1)]]> 61119352 He’s supposed to kill Prince Julien. Not fall for him.

Whisper doesn’t remember his real name. All he knows is the elite assassin guild that raised him—and controls him with the threat of blood magic. Plagued by nightmares, he doesn’t get to refuse assignments, even when his new job doesn’t make sense:

Infiltrate Prince Julien’s court, protect him until the signal arrives, then kill him.

Julien hides his own schemes behind a sordid reputation. He trusts nobody besides his brothers, and he certainly doesn’t trust the aloof, beautiful new stranger at court. But he doesn’t have to trust the stranger to be drawn to him, especially when he saves Julien’s life.

Then Julien saves Whisper too, and Whisper’s reserve shatters.

Beneath Julien’s playboy facade is a warmth Whisper can’t resist. Whisper’s never been comforted before. He’s never been cared for like this. As his nightmares darken, Julien’s touch is his only solace—but falling in love could ruin them both.

Because Whisper’s mission hasn’t changed, and the price for failure is worse than death.

Prince and Assassin is a high fantasy gay romance, with secret identities, hurt/comfort, and magic tigers with attitude. The Perilous Courts series is best read in order, but each book follows a different prince and his Happily Ever After.]]> 283 Tavia Lark Melanie 3 4.08 2022 Prince and Assassin (Perilous Courts, #1)
author: Tavia Lark
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2024/05/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Komarr (Vorkosigan Saga, #11) 1106501 The choice is not a popular one on Komarr, where a betrayal a generation before drenched the name of Vorkosigan in blood. In the political and physical claustrophobia of the domed cities, are the Komarrans surrounding Miles loyal subjects, potential hostages, innocent victims, or rebels bidding for revenge?
Lies within lies, treachery within treachery - Miles is caught in a race against time to stop a plot that could exile him from Barrayar forever. His burning hope lies in an unexpected ally, one with wounds as deep and honor as beleaguered as his own.]]> 311 Lois McMaster Bujold 0671878778 Melanie 5 4.29 1998 Komarr (Vorkosigan Saga, #11)
author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/22
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves: fiction, science-fiction, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld, #28)]]> 34534
As Maurice and the rats battle for their very survival, a number of provocative themes surface: life after death, good versus evil, and the sacrifice of the few for the many.]]> 256 Terry Pratchett 006001234X Melanie 5 4.05 2001 The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld, #28)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/23
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Memory (Vorkosigan Saga, #10) 780873 Depending on how you count it, this is the eighth, ninth, tenth, or eleventh book in a series--not all are about Miles or even his extended family. A good place to start is with the first Vorkosigan story, Shards of Honor.

]]> 462 Lois McMaster Bujold 0671877437 Melanie 5 4.46 1996 Memory (Vorkosigan Saga, #10)
author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.46
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/15
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves: fiction, science-fiction, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jackdaw (The World of A Charm of Magpies)]]> 34861586 If you stop running, you fall.

Jonah Pastern is a magician, a liar, a windwalker, a professional thief…and for six months, he was the love of police constable Ben Spenser’s life. His betrayal left Ben jailed, ruined, alone, and looking for revenge.

Ben is determined to make Jonah pay. But he can’t seem to forget what they once shared, and Jonah refuses to let him. Soon Ben is entangled in Jonah’s chaotic existence all over again, and they’re running together—from the police, the justiciary, and some dangerous people with a lethal grudge against them.

Threatened on all sides by betrayals, secrets, and the laws of the land, the policeman and the thief must find a way to live and love before the past catches up with them...

A Charm of Magpies linked story, set after Flight of Magpies. Previously published by Samhain.]]> 222 K.J. Charles 0995799059 Melanie 4 4.24 2015 Jackdaw (The World of A Charm of Magpies)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/12
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves: fiction, fantasy, romance, ebook, owned
review:

]]> Band Sinister 44416522
Guy Frisby and his sister Amanda live in rural seclusion after a family scandal. But when Amanda breaks her leg in a riding accident, she’s forced to recuperate at Rookwood Hall, where Sir Philip is hosting the Murder.

Guy rushes to protect her, but the Murder aren’t what he expects. They’re educated, fascinating people, and the notorious Sir Philip turns out to be charming, kind—and dangerously attractive.

In this private space where anything goes, the longings Guy has stifled all his life are impossible to resist...and so is Philip. But all too soon the rural rumour mill threatens both Guy and Amanda. The innocent country gentleman has lost his heart to the bastard baronet—but does he dare lose his reputation too?]]> 8 K.J. Charles Melanie 5 4.14 2018 Band Sinister
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/09/14
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Wanted, A Gentleman 31225405 KJ Charles’s new Entertainment

WANTED, A GENTLEMAN
Or, Virtue Over-Rated

the grand romance of

Mr. Martin St. Vincent . . . a Merchant with a Mission, also a Problem
Mr. Theodore Swann . . . a humble Scribbler and Advertiser for Love

Act the First:

the offices of the Matrimonial Advertiser, London
where Lonely Hearts may seek one another for the cost of a shilling

Act the Second:

a Pursuit to Gretna Green (or thereabouts)

featuring

a speedy Carriage
sundry rustic Inns
a private Bed-chamber

***

In the course of which are presented

Romance, Revenge, and Redemption
Deceptions, Discoveries, and Desires

the particulars of which are too numerous to impart]]> 155 K.J. Charles 1626494711 Melanie 4 4.11 2017 Wanted, A Gentleman
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/13
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves: fiction, romance, ebook, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Think of England (England World, #2)]]> 34715257
England, 1904. Two years ago, Captain Archie Curtis lost his friends, fingers, and future to a terrible military accident. Alone, purposeless and angry, Curtis is determined to discover if he and his comrades were the victims of fate, or of sabotage.

Curtis’s search takes him to an isolated, ultra-modern country house, where he meets and instantly clashes with fellow guest Daniel da Silva. Effete, decadent, foreign, and all too obviously queer, the sophisticated poet is everything the straightforward British officer fears and distrusts.

As events unfold, Curtis realizes that Daniel has his own secret intentions. And there’s something else they share—a mounting sexual tension that leaves Curtis reeling.

And when the house party’s elegant facade cracks to reveal treachery, blackmail and murder, Curtis finds himself needing clever, dark-eyed Daniel as he has never needed a man before…]]> 239 K.J. Charles 0995799008 Melanie 5 4.17 2014 Think of England (England World, #2)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/21
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Strange and Stubborn Endurance (The Tithenai Chronicles, #1)]]> 58724793
Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different plans: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead.

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock.

With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love―as both will learn―is quite another.

Byzantine politics, lush sexual energy, and a queer love story that is by turns sweet and sultry, Foz Meadows' A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is an exploration of gender, identity, and self-worth. It is a book that will live in your heart long after you turn the last page.]]> 544 Foz Meadows 1250829135 Melanie 4 4.02 2022 A Strange and Stubborn Endurance (The Tithenai Chronicles, #1)
author: Foz Meadows
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/24
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves: fantasy, fiction, queer, romance
review:
Very good overall! The writing style was a little mannered at first. But the characters are great, the romance and plot well-integrated, and the arc of the romance really nice -- their initial feelings towards each other aren't the most common place for an arranged marriage situation and I really enjoyed that. Do heed the provided warnings.
]]> <![CDATA[Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators]]> 51022071
All the while, Farrow and his producer faced a degree of resistance that could not be explained - until now. And a trail of clues revealed corruption and cover-ups from Hollywood, to Washington, and beyond.

This is the untold story of the exotic tactics of surveillance and intimidation deployed by wealthy and connected men to threaten journalists, evade accountability and silence victims of abuse - and it's the story of the women who risked everything to expose the truth and spark a global movement.

Both a spy thriller and a meticulous work of investigative journalism, Catch and Kill breaks devastating new stories about the rampant abuse of power - and sheds far-reaching light on investigations that shook the culture.

In a dramatic account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost.]]> 608 Ronan Farrow 0316454133 Melanie 4 4.33 2019 Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
author: Ronan Farrow
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/02
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Demon Daughter (Penric and Desdemona, #12)]]> 205048105 153 Lois McMaster Bujold Melanie 4 4.52 2024 Demon Daughter (Penric and Desdemona, #12)
author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/17
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Death in the Spires 209563735 The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered.

1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.

Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died � a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders� for their charm and talent � only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?

As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby's killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?

Some secrets are better left buried�

From the bestselling, acclaimed author of The Magpie Lord and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen comes a chilling historical mystery with a sting in the tail. You won’t be able to put this gripping story down!]]> 273 K.J. Charles 1805082280 Melanie 5 4.33 2024 Death in the Spires
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Spring Awakening 980045 The New York Times

“The staggering purity of this show will touch all open hearts…In its refined, imaginative simplicity, it daringly reverses all the conventional rules by returning the American musical to an original state of innocence.”—John Heilpern, The New York Observer

“An unexpected jolt of sudden genius, edgy in its brutally honest, unromanticized depiction of human sexuality.”�New York Post

Spring Awakening is an extraordinary new rock musical with book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Grammy Award-nominated recording artist Duncan Sheik. Inspired by Frank Wedekind’s controversial 1891 play about teenage sexuality and society’s efforts to control it, the piece seamlessly merges past and present, underscoring the timelessness of adolescent angst and the universality of human passion.

Steven Sater’s plays include the long-running Carbondale Dreams, Perfect for You, Doll (Rosenthal Prize/Cincinnati Playhouse), Umbrage (Steppenwolf New Play Prize), and a reconceived version of Shakespeare’s Tempest, which played in London.

Duncan Sheik is a singer/songwriter who also collaborated with Sater on the musical The Nightingale. He has composed original music for The Gold Rooms of Nero and for The Public Theater’s Twelfth Night in Central Park.]]> 112 Steven Sater 1559363150 Melanie 0 drama, musical-theatre 4.18 1891 Spring Awakening
author: Steven Sater
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1891
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/15
shelves: drama, musical-theatre
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World]]> 138505710
Not long ago, the celebrated activist and public intellectual Naomi Klein had just such an experience―she was confronted with a doppelganger whose views she found abhorrent but whose name and public persona were sufficiently similar to her own that many people got confused about who was who. Destabilized, she lost her bearings, until she began to understand the experience as one manifestation of a strangeness many of us have come to know but struggle to define: AI-generated text is blurring the line between genuine and spurious communication; New Age wellness entrepreneurs turned anti-vaxxers are scrambling familiar political allegiances of left and right; and liberal democracies are teetering on the edge of absurdist authoritarianism, even as the oceans rise. Under such conditions, reality itself seems to have become unmoored. Is there a cure for our moment of collective vertigo?

Naomi Klein is one of our most trenchant and influential social critics, an essential analyst of what branding, austerity, and climate profiteering have done to our societies and souls. Here she turns her gaze inward to our psychic landscapes, and outward to the possibilities for building hope amid intersecting economic, medical, and political crises. With the assistance of Sigmund Freud, Jordan Peele, Alfred Hitchcock, and bell hooks, among other accomplices, Klein uses wry humor and a keen sense of the ridiculous to face the strange doubles that haunt us―and that have come to feel as intimate and proximate as a warped reflection in the mirror.

Combining comic memoir with chilling reportage and cobweb-clearing analysis, Klein seeks to smash that mirror and chart a path beyond despair. Doppelganger What do we neglect as we polish and perfect our digital reflections? Is it possible to dispose of our doubles and overcome the pathologies of a culture of multiplication? Can we create a politics of collective care and undertake a true reckoning with historical crimes? The result is a revelatory treatment of the way many of us think and feel now―and an intellectual adventure story for our times.]]> 416 Naomi Klein 0374610320 Melanie 0 4.21 2023 Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World
author: Naomi Klein
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/24
date added: 2024/01/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal]]> 34680762 A story too secret, too terrifying—and too shockingly intimate—for Victorian eyes.

A note to the Editor

Dear Henry,

I have been Simon Feximal’s companion, assistant and chronicler for twenty years now, and during that time my Casebooks of Feximal the Ghost-Hunter have spread the reputation of this most accomplished of ghost-hunters far and wide.

You have asked me often for the tale of our first meeting, and how my association with Feximal came about. I have always declined, because it is a story too private to be truthfully recounted, and a memory too precious to be falsified. But none knows better than I that stories must be told.

So here is it, Henry, a full and accurate account of how I met Simon Feximal, which I shall leave with my solicitor to pass to you after my death.

I dare say it may not be quite what you expect.

Robert Caldwell
September 1914

The complete story of Robert and Simon, including The Caldwell Ghost (which is no longer available separately) and Butterflies, plus a whole lot of brand new stories, taking the tale of the Victorian ghost-hunter and his narrator/sidekick/lover up to the events of Remnant: A Caldwell & Feximal/Whyborne & Griffin Mystery and beyond...

This book will cover a number of ghostly mysteries, along with evil cults, mysterious skin runes, and illicit Victorian shenanigans between the decidedly forceful Simon and the entirely shameless Robert.]]> 251 K.J. Charles 0995799016 Melanie 5 4.20 2015 The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/25
date added: 2024/01/31
shelves: fiction, romance, ebook, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pet (Captive Prince Short Stories, #4)]]> 37413230 40 C.S. Pacat 0987622323 Melanie 4 4.10 2018 Pet (Captive Prince Short Stories, #4)
author: C.S. Pacat
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/03
date added: 2024/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Case of Possession (A Charm of Magpies, #2)]]> 34715201 Magic in the blood. Danger in the streets.

Lord Crane has never had a lover quite as elusive as Stephen Day. He knows Stephen’s job as justiciar requires secrecy, but the magician is doing his disappearing act more than seems reasonable—especially since Crane will soon return to his home in China. When a blackmailer threatens to expose their illicit relationship, there's only one thing stopping Crane from leaving the country he loathes: Stephen.

Stephen has problems of his own. As he investigates a plague of giant rats sweeping London, his sudden increase in power, boosted by his blood-and-sex bond with Crane, is rousing suspicion that he’s turned warlock. With all eyes on him, the threat of exposure grows. Stephen could lose his friends, his job and his liberty over his relationship with Crane. He’s not sure if he can take that risk much longer. Crane isn’t sure if he can ask him to.

The rats are closing in, and something has to give�

Book 2 of the Charm of Magpies series. Previously published by Samhain.]]> 211 K.J. Charles Melanie 4 4.09 2014 A Case of Possession (A Charm of Magpies, #2)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/24
shelves: fiction, fantasy, romance, ebook, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies, #1)]]> 34715150 A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell.

Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn't expect it to turn up angry.

Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude... and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.

Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn't the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.

Book 1 of the Charm of Magpies series. Previously published by Samhain.]]> 271 K.J. Charles 0995799024 Melanie 5 3.96 2013 The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies, #1)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/16
date added: 2024/01/24
shelves: queer, fantasy, ebook, romance, fiction, owned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Reforged (The World of Reforged, #1)]]> 60899726 Now with their nation threatened by enemies both within and outside the kingdom, Balen must fight hidden traitors and unnatural assassins, while also contending with the biting wit and dangerous charm of young King Zavrius. To save themselves and their nation they will have to put aside their past and reforge that trust they lost so long ago.]]> 380 Seth Haddon 1956422013 Melanie 3 3.54 2022 Reforged (The World of Reforged, #1)
author: Seth Haddon
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/21
date added: 2024/01/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Feng Shui Modern 58578770
How do you place a bed in an awkward room? How can your space help you be more focused and more productive? How do you set up your room to make you ready for romantic love? It's simple!

In Feng Shui for Modern Living, TikTok influencer Cliff Tan answers these questions and more, explaining the ancient practice of feng shui and how it can be translated to modern homes. Cliff has become an internet sensation with his videos demonstrating the principles of feng shui, and in this practical guide he shows how to apply these principles room-by-room in your own home. He takes you behind the mysticism to reveal the logic behind feng shui. This is the key to unlocking the power of this ancient practice: once you understand the logic, your application of feng shui will work every time. There is no room too challenging, no problem that feng shui can't unravel. That's why people have been using it for thousands of years.

In the tradition of Marie Kondo and Mrs Hinch, this guide will revolutionise how you think about your space. It's feng shui made simple, and anyone can learn.]]> 192 Cliff Tan 1526639998 Melanie 0 4.12 Feng Shui Modern
author: Cliff Tan
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/20
date added: 2024/01/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Some Desperate Glory 58388343 While we live, the enemy shall fear us.

All her life Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the all-powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the Majoda their victory over humanity.

They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. But when Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.

Alongside her brother’s brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, she escapes from everything she’s ever known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.

A thrillingly told queer space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and who you must become when every choice is stripped from you, Some Desperate Glory is award-winning author Emily Tesh’s highly anticipated debut novel.]]> 438 Emily Tesh 1250834988 Melanie 5 4.01 2023 Some Desperate Glory
author: Emily Tesh
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/08
date added: 2024/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Geek Who Saved Christmas 58663801 His grumpy neighbor needs some holiday sunshine�

Gideon Holiday is the perfect neighbor. Need a cup of sugar? Spare folding chair? Extra batteries? He’s always ready to help. And he’s waited years for his hot, grumpy, silver fox neighbor, Paul, to need him. For anything. But this December, Gideon would be happy if he could just get the Scrooge-like Paul on board with the neighborhood holiday lights fundraiser.

Paul Frost has no intention of decking his halls or blazing any Yule logs. Even if his spunky bowtie-clad neighbor does look perfect for unwrapping, Paul would prefer to hide away until December is done. But when his beloved younger brother announces an unexpected visit, Paul needs all the trimmings for a festive homecoming—and fast.

Luckily, Gideon is there with a color-coded plan to save Christmas. Soon Paul’s hanging lights, trimming trees, and rolling out cookies. And steaming up his new flannel sheets with Gideon. How did that happen?

It’ll take some winter magic to preserve their happiness and keep these rival neighbors together longer than one holiday season.

The Geek Who Saved Christmas is a low-angst m/m holiday romance with a guaranteed happy ending. This grumpy/sunshine, neighbors-to-lovers, found family tale features two heroes in their forties figuring out that maybe their sexily-ever-after was right next door the whole time. It stands alone and is not connected to any of the author’s other universes. However, it does contain a heaping helping of the same emotions and steamy moments readers have come to expect!]]> 266 Annabeth Albert Melanie 4 4.08 2021 The Geek Who Saved Christmas
author: Annabeth Albert
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spellbound (Magic in Manhattan #1)]]> 44546990 252 Allie Therin Melanie 5
The magic's pretty interesting; I would say it's a little less clearly defined than I might expect, but since there are more books coming I'm willing to wait for more information on exactly how it works. The keys about what we need to know are laid out early, though, so some parts of the climax will be a pleasant tie-in to earlier ideas if you're paying attention. Actually, that's true of the plot overall: a bunch of stuff that seems unimportant actually is important (along with a bunch of stuff that just enriches the characters & world without plot importance--the clues are there, but they're not obvious among the other interesting things).

Another place the book really shines for me is in the female characters. I appreciated that none of the female characters is drawn from the same kind of archetype--there are multiple plot- and characterization-important female characters, none of them are like each other, none of them are cookie-cutter versions of a character we've seen a hundred times. Therin also does a good job at realistically portraying the diversity you'd find in Manhattan in the 1920s, although I'd love to know a LOT more about one of the side characters, Zhang. (Hopefully in the next books?)

Good setting, good original work on the magic stuff, excellent pair of characters, good diversity of characters in lots of different dimensions--I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.]]> 4.20 2019 Spellbound (Magic in Manhattan #1)
author: Allie Therin
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2020/10/26
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves: ebook, fantasy, fiction, history, owned, queer, romance
review:
Wow, I really loved this! Great couple of lead characters who are really good together. Their initial interactions are pretty interesting: a lot of early communication between (friendly) characters in fiction tends to fall into two categories, "hilarious misunderstandings" or "perfectly in sync from the beginning", and I thought it was very realistic here that Arthur and Rory have some trouble understanding each other at first. Not because anyone's malicious or badly misreading things, just because sometimes it takes a while to understand where the other person is coming from and what they want. Of course, when they work it out, it's wonderful.

The magic's pretty interesting; I would say it's a little less clearly defined than I might expect, but since there are more books coming I'm willing to wait for more information on exactly how it works. The keys about what we need to know are laid out early, though, so some parts of the climax will be a pleasant tie-in to earlier ideas if you're paying attention. Actually, that's true of the plot overall: a bunch of stuff that seems unimportant actually is important (along with a bunch of stuff that just enriches the characters & world without plot importance--the clues are there, but they're not obvious among the other interesting things).

Another place the book really shines for me is in the female characters. I appreciated that none of the female characters is drawn from the same kind of archetype--there are multiple plot- and characterization-important female characters, none of them are like each other, none of them are cookie-cutter versions of a character we've seen a hundred times. Therin also does a good job at realistically portraying the diversity you'd find in Manhattan in the 1920s, although I'd love to know a LOT more about one of the side characters, Zhang. (Hopefully in the next books?)

Good setting, good original work on the magic stuff, excellent pair of characters, good diversity of characters in lots of different dimensions--I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.
]]> Dominus (Dominus, #1) 21942532
Allerix survived the wars against Rome, but now he is a slave rather than a victor. Worse, the handsome general who led the destruction of his people now commands his body. When escape appears impossible, Alle struggles to find a way to preserve his dignity and exact vengeance upon the savage Romans. Revenge will be his, that is, if he doesn’t lose his heart to his lusty Roman master.

Dominus is a plot-packed erotic fantasy that transports readers back to ancient Rome during the reign of the Emperor Trajan. This is the first book in an alternate history series—a tumultuous journey filled with forbidden love, humor, sex, friendship, political intrigue, deception and murder.]]> J.P. Kenwood 1310674140 Melanie 3 3.63 2013 Dominus (Dominus, #1)
author: J.P. Kenwood
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/10
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Larks Still Bravely Singing]]> 59040044 The Great War cost Robert his left leg and his first love.

A shattering breakup leaves Robert convinced that he is a destructive force in romantic relationships. When he finds himself falling in love with David, an old friend from boarding school, he's sure that he shouldn’t confess his feelings. But as their meandering conversations drift from books and poetry to more intimate topics, Robert’s love deepens - and so do his fears of hurting David.

Since he was wounded, David has been batted from hospital to hospital like a shuttlecock, leaving him adrift and anxious. His renewed friendship with Robert gives him a much-needed sense of peace and stability. Slowly, David opens up to Robert about the nervous fears that plague him, and when Robert responds with sympathy and support, David finds himself feeling much more than friendship. But he’s afraid that he’s already a burden on Robert, and that asking for more will only strain their developing bond.

Can these two wounded soldiers heal each other?

Content warning: period-typical homophobia and ableism (probably less than is strictly period typical, but this is a romance novel, not a historical essay), implied/referenced suicide]]> 216 Aster Glenn Gray Melanie 4 3.96 2021 The Larks Still Bravely Singing
author: Aster Glenn Gray
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/21
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hither, Page (Page & Sommers, #1)]]> 44785311
James Sommers returned from the war with his nerves in tatters. All he wants is to retreat to the quiet village of his childhood and enjoy the boring, predictable life of a country doctor. The last thing in the world he needs is a handsome stranger who seems to be mixed up with the first violent death the village has seen in years. It certainly doesn't help that this stranger is the first person James has wanted to touch since before the war.

The war may be over for the rest of the world, but Leo Page is still busy doing the dirty work for one of the more disreputable branches of the intelligence service. When his boss orders him to cover up a murder, Leo isn't expecting to be sent to a sleepy village. After a week of helping old ladies wind balls of yarn and flirting with a handsome doctor, Leo is in danger of forgetting what he really is and why he's there. He's in danger of feeling things he has no business feeling. A person who burns his identity after every job can't set down roots.

As he starts to untangle the mess of secrets and lies that lurk behind the lace curtains of even the most peaceful-seeming of villages, Leo realizes that the truths he's about to uncover will affect his future and those of the man he's growing to care about.]]> 232 Cat Sebastian 1386666920 Melanie 5 3.90 2019 Hither, Page (Page & Sommers, #1)
author: Cat Sebastian
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/16
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Missing Page (Page & Sommers, #2)]]> 45302789 England, 1948: Semi-retired spy Leo Page and country doctor James Sommers team up to solve a decades-old mystery.

When James learns that an uncle he hasn’t heard from in ages has left him something in his will, he figures that the least he can do is head down to Cornwall for a weekend to honor the old man’s parting wishes. He finds the family home filled with half-remembered guests and unwanted memories, but more troubling is that his uncle has tasked his heirs with uncovering the truth behind a woman’s disappearance twenty years earlier.

Leo doesn’t like any of it. He’s just returned from one of his less pleasant missions and maybe he’s slightly paranoid about James’s safety, but he’s of the opinion that rich people aren’t to be trusted where wills are concerned. So he does what any sensible spy would do and infiltrates the house party.

Together they unravel a mystery that exposes long-standing family secrets and threatens to involve James more than either of them would like.]]> 236 Cat Sebastian Melanie 5
"No spoilers, but one of the things that makes James and Leo so lovely is that Leo thinks he's twelve ducks in a trench coat with no real identity or personality at all, and meanwhile James could spot him in any disguise at a hundred yards and go, 'Oh, of course that's Leo' "

anyway, somehow this is a cozy murder mystery that is EVEN MORE WHOLESOME than the first one in the series, which I adore! It doesn't have quite the same narrative momentum, but it's still Very Good and the resolution is even more satisfying than the first book. And watching James and Leo together is, as always, a joy and a pleasure. Love this.]]> 4.22 2022 The Missing Page (Page & Sommers, #2)
author: Cat Sebastian
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/18
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves: fiction, mystery, queer, romance
review:
Here's what I texted to a friend partway through:

"No spoilers, but one of the things that makes James and Leo so lovely is that Leo thinks he's twelve ducks in a trench coat with no real identity or personality at all, and meanwhile James could spot him in any disguise at a hundred yards and go, 'Oh, of course that's Leo' "

anyway, somehow this is a cozy murder mystery that is EVEN MORE WHOLESOME than the first one in the series, which I adore! It doesn't have quite the same narrative momentum, but it's still Very Good and the resolution is even more satisfying than the first book. And watching James and Leo together is, as always, a joy and a pleasure. Love this.
]]> <![CDATA[Fire Season (Unwritten Rules #2)]]> 60398221
Relief pitcher Reid Giordano is struggling to maintain his sobriety—and his roster spot. The press, along with a heck of a lot of his new Oakland teammates, seem to think his best baseball days are behind him. Only Charlie Braxton gives him the benefit of the doubt—and a place to stay when Reid finds himself short on cash…and friends.

When their growing friendship turns into an unexpected attraction, and that ignites a romance, both Charlie and Reid must grapple with what it means to be more than teammates. And as their season winds down, they’ll need to walk away…or go out there and give it everything they’ve got.]]> 357 K.D. Casey 0369734300 Melanie 5 queer, romance, fiction 4.01 2022 Fire Season (Unwritten Rules #2)
author: K.D. Casey
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/22
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves: queer, romance, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Contract Season (Trade Season, #2)]]> 59917839 A heartbroken hockey player and an up-and-coming country music star fake it for the cameras (or do they?) in Cait Nary’s delightfully sexy new novel.

Brody Kellerman has a plan. First, become the best defenseman in professional hockey. Second, get over his ex-boyfriend so he can focus on his game. Hooking up with the singer at his buddy’s wedding was the perfect solution, but it was never meant to be more than a one-night stand.

Seamus Murry has never planned a thing in his life, including hooking up with a smoking-hot hockey player. Being ghosted sucks, but at least one good thing came from it—the breakout hit song of the summer. Now he’s one of country music’s brightest stars, but one slipup—or in this case, video—might cost him his career.

When their video goes viral, Brody and Seamus agree to fake a relationship. But soon it's impossible to remember what is real and what's pretend, and although Brody has no intention of falling for freewheeling Seamus's charm…life doesn't always go according to plan.]]> 375 Cait Nary 0369719417 Melanie 4 3.57 2022 Contract Season (Trade Season, #2)
author: Cait Nary
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/03
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Dark Heir (Dark Rise, #2) 52780201
A new threat from the past is rising, and only a handful of heroes remain to fight. Pursued by dark forces, Will and his allies must leave the safety of the Hall and travel to the heart of the ancient world, making new and dangerous alliances, and revealing the shocking secrets of the past.

But Will is carrying a dark secret of his own—his true identity. Drawn to the beautiful and deadly James St. Clair, Will is pulled ever deeper into the web of the past, and finds himself tempted by the darkness within. As the ancient world threatens to return, can Will and his friends fight their fate? Or will the truths they learn tear their world apart?

Dark Heir is the explosive and highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Dark Rise,from global phenomenon C. S. Pacat.]]> 496 C.S. Pacat 0062946196 Melanie 5 4.54 2023 Dark Heir (Dark Rise, #2)
author: C.S. Pacat
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/17
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Power Unbound (The Last Binding, #3)]]> 65211689
Secrets! Magic! Enemies to. . .something more?

Jack Alston, Lord Hawthorn, would love a nice, safe, comfortable life. After the death of his twin sister, he thought he was done with magic for good. But with the threat of a dangerous ritual hanging over every magician in Britain, he’s drawn reluctantly back into that world.

Now Jack is living in a bizarre puzzle-box of a magical London townhouse, helping an unlikely group of friends track down the final piece of the Last Contract before their enemies can do the same. And to make matters worse, they need the help of writer and thief Alan Ross.

Cagey and argumentative, Alan is only in this for the money. The aristocratic Lord Hawthorn, with all his unearned power, is everything that Alan hates. And unfortunately, Alan happens to be everything that Jack wants in one gorgeous, infuriating package.

When a plot to seize unimaginable power comes to a head at Cheetham Hall―Jack’s ancestral family estate, a land so old and bound in oaths that it’s grown a personality as prickly as its owner―Jack, Alan and their allies will become entangled in a night of champagne, secrets, and bloody sacrifice . . . and the foundations of magic in Britain will be torn up by the roots before the end.]]> 422 Freya Marske 1250788951 Melanie 5 4.26 2023 A Power Unbound (The Last Binding, #3)
author: Freya Marske
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/13
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Restless Truth (The Last Binding, #2)]]> 59807966 Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance!

Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady’s companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago.

What she didn’t expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who’s also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can’t help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal.

Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they’ve both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for—without ending up dead in the water themselves.]]> 388 Freya Marske 1250788919 Melanie 4 3.86 2022 A Restless Truth (The Last Binding, #2)
author: Freya Marske
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/10
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves: fantasy, fiction, queer, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death by Silver (Julian Lynes and Ned Mathey, #1)]]> 30811715
Calling on his old school friend Julian Lynes - private detective and another victim of the younger Nevett - Ned races to solve the murder, clear the stain on his professional reputation, and lay to rest the ghosts of his past. Assisted by Ned's able secretary Miss Frost, who has unexpected metaphysical skills of her own, Ned and Julian explore London's criminal underworld and sodomitical demimonde, uncover secrets and scandals, confront the unexpected murderer and the mysteries of their own relationship.

In Death by Silver veteran authors Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold introduce a Victorian London where magic works, influencing every aspect of civilized life, and two very appealing detectives.]]> 9 Melissa Scott Melanie 4 romance, fiction, queer
I would have picked this up instantly if someone had said to me, "it's childhood friends to lovers, but also the thing where they're sleeping together and both pining for more but both thinking the other one doesn't," because that is one of my favorite dynamics! The romance isn't a huge part of the story, but it's a nice little grace note on the mystery and magic.]]> 3.90 2013 Death by Silver (Julian Lynes and Ned Mathey, #1)
author: Melissa Scott
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/12
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves: romance, fiction, queer
review:
A nice, slow-paced mystery, linked to our two protagonists through their school days. The magical system is interesting, though it's explored much better in the next book.

I would have picked this up instantly if someone had said to me, "it's childhood friends to lovers, but also the thing where they're sleeping together and both pining for more but both thinking the other one doesn't," because that is one of my favorite dynamics! The romance isn't a huge part of the story, but it's a nice little grace note on the mystery and magic.
]]> <![CDATA[A Death at the Dionysus Club (Julian Lynes and Ned Mathey, #2)]]> 23435261 303 Melissa Scott Melanie 5 fiction, romance, queer 4.18 2014 A Death at the Dionysus Club (Julian Lynes and Ned Mathey, #2)
author: Melissa Scott
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/04
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves: fiction, romance, queer
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1)]]> 53217284
For fans of Georgette Heyer or Julia Quinn's Bridgerton, who'd like to welcome magic into their lives...

Young baronet Robin Blyth thought he was taking up a minor governmental post. However, he's actually been appointed parliamentary liaison to a secret magical society. If it weren’t for this administrative error, he’d never have discovered the incredible magic underlying his world.

Cursed by mysterious attackers and plagued by visions, Robin becomes determined to drag answers from his missing predecessor � but he’ll need the help of Edwin Courcey, his hostile magical-society counterpart. Unwillingly thrown together, Robin and Edwin will discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles.]]> 377 Freya Marske 1250788897 Melanie 5 3.94 2021 A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1)
author: Freya Marske
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/05
date added: 2023/11/08
shelves: queer, fantasy, romance, fiction
review:
Enjoyed the heck out of this one! Really strongly defined characters. Sure, I had a strong sense of both of the main characters almost from the first page, which is hard enough. But this ability really shone when we got to the country house party and I found I had no trouble at all remembering which of the annoying aristocrats was which! An inventive magic system (even if I did find myself wondering how it had developed), a nicely ticking plot that ties up this book's story while leaving obvious hooks for the next books, and a very sweet romance in the middle. (Also, there's murder and stuff.)
]]> Taking Mac (Erotic Gym, #3) 36277511 The only thing Mac wants is money. Also dignity. Respect. And maybe companionship.

He’s in trouble.

Mac can no longer deny how much he needs The Gym—and not just for the money. He’s growing ever closer to his roommate, he’s intrigued by his friends, and he’s fixated on his boss in a way that makes him super uncomfortable.
Now that he’s taking clients, he finds even some of them tug at the heartstrings he would have sworn he didn’t have.

It’s supposed to be just a job, but it’s turning into something that feels a hell of a lot more like a family. And not the dysfunctional kind Mac had as a kid, but the kind that supports each other and wants everyone to be happy.

And the worst part of it all? He wants this tentative sense of belonging more than he ever could have imagined.]]> 131 Kris Ripper Melanie 4 4.24 2017 Taking Mac (Erotic Gym, #3)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/09
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Teasing Mac (Erotic Gym, #2) 36276376 The only thing Mac wants is money. Well. Money and the respect of his boss.

This was not the plan.

Working at The Gym is supposed to be an easy way to make money, but things get complicated fast. Mac’s first week of one-on-one training in “personal attention� was intense. Week two is all about shadowing his coworkers on the floor, and Mac feels like a spotlight’s shining on him as he…watches.

It’s his job to watch. So he’s doing his job. (And getting paid.) He wasn’t prepared for how weird it would be. And intriguing. And sometimes really freaking hot. Mac tries not to think about it, but since his job is getting off—or watching other people get off—it’s hard to ignore how it makes him feel.

Especially since his bosses and friends are just as invested in his pleasure as they are their client’s.

This was supposed to be a simple transaction. It isn’t.

Trigger Warning: contains a very brief scene of consensual roleplay between adults in which the words “mama� and “little girl� are used.]]> 128 Kris Ripper Melanie 4 4.21 2017 Teasing Mac (Erotic Gym, #2)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/07
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Training Mac (Erotic Gym, #1) 36234411 The only thing Mac wants is money. And he’s willing to do anything to get it.

Money will make everything else possible: getting off his friend’s couch; smoking an entire cigarette at a time without rationing; and most of all—money will mean he can stop living with a heavy pit of fear and worry in his stomach all the time.
When he’s invited to start working at a sex gym, it seems like an easy choice. Make good money having sex with people or make crap money working at a discount store. No contest.

But Mac didn’t count on an intensive training program or mysterious bosses. He definitely never thought he’d actually…like some of his coworkers. Let alone the clients.

He keeps telling himself he’s only in it for the money, but by the end of his first week in training things are already a lot more complicated than that. And this is just the beginning.]]> 107 Kris Ripper Melanie 4 3.84 2017 Training Mac (Erotic Gym, #1)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/05
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Bell in the Fog (Evander Mills, #2)]]> 65213896 The Bell in the Fog, a dazzling historical mystery by Lev AC Rosen, asks―once you have finally found a family, how far would you go to prove yourself to them?

San Francisco, 1952. Detective Evander “Andy� Mills has started a new life for himself as a private detective―but his business hasn’t exactly taken off. It turns out that word spreads fast when you have a bad reputation, and no one in the queer community trusts him enough to ask an ex-cop for help.

When James, an old flame from the war who had mysteriously disappeared, arrives in his offices above the Ruby, Andy wants to kick him out. But the job seems to be a simple case of blackmail, and Andy’s debts are piling up. He agrees to investigate, despite everything it stirs up.

The case will take him back to the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, and then out into the gay bars of the city, where the past rises up to meet him, like the swell of the ocean under a warship. Missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos that could destroy lives are a whirlpool around him, and Andy better make sense of it all before someone pulls him under for good.]]> 261 Lev A.C. Rosen 1250834252 Melanie 5 4.14 2023 The Bell in the Fog (Evander Mills, #2)
author: Lev A.C. Rosen
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/11
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ring in the True (Scientific Method Universe)]]> 32980764
But Lucy’s going to be there. And ever since he met Lucy three years ago, she’s been on his mind…and in his fantasies.

Between Lucy, Nick (whom Evan privately calls “the blond god�), and his girlfriend Cait, Evan’s New Year’s is unlike any holiday he’s ever spent. And he definitely wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ring in the True is 30,000 words, or 120 pages long. This story is part of the Scientific Method Universe, but need not be read in conjunction with other books in the series. Please check out for more info and recommended reading order.]]> 117 Kris Ripper Melanie 3 4.11 2016 Ring in the True (Scientific Method Universe)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/05
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Threshold of the Year (Scientific Method Universe)]]> 28133462
But things at the beach house are never what they seem.

There’s the way his hosts have a longtime boyfriend who’s no longer looking like their piece on the side. There’s the boyfriend’s twin brother and his partner, who definitely have a secret. There’s the dominatrix and her two young men, only one of whom calls himself a slave (whatever that means).

And then there’s charming Nick and his moody dude Bernie, who—hell, Jase doesn’t even know what to think of them, or of the way Nick keeps inviting him to join them.

Jase might be a little more lonely than he realized, and while he wouldn’t have picked the beach house as a good place to drown his sorrows, by the end of the week he can’t imagine spending New Year’s anywhere else.

Threshold of the Year is 30,000 words, or 120 pages long. This story is part of the Scientific Method Universe, but need not be read in conjunction with other books in the series. Please check out for more info and recommended reading order.]]> 127 Kris Ripper Melanie 3 4.14 2015 Threshold of the Year (Scientific Method Universe)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/03
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Practice Makes Perfect (Scientific Method Universe)]]> 34888975
The location’s not quite as accessible as it was supposed to be, but there’s a ramp down an alley and a door his wheelchair fits through, so he’s definitely seen worse. Also, there’s a no dating rule, but since Paul has a bad habit of rushing into things and steamrolling every obstacle in his path, that’s not such a bad thing.

Then he meets Ally Jennings. And all bets are off.

Ally loves the workshop, even if she feels like the least experienced person in the room. Meeting Paul is the icing on the cake. When he looks at her, she feels like he gets her, and that’s…never happened before.

He’s dominant, she’s submissive, and everything from kissing to talking about their families feels perfect. But when Paul pushes for commitment, Ally hesitates, and each of them feels betrayed.

They’ve only known each other for two weeks. They should probably just write the whole thing off and go their separate ways, except they can’t stop thinking about each other. Falling in love was the easy part. Building a relationship takes a hell of a lot of work.]]> 248 Kris Ripper Melanie 4 4.00 2017 Practice Makes Perfect (Scientific Method Universe)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/01
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> The New Born Year 23596569

Hugh and Truman aren’t the only ones heading to the coast. They have a whole week-long New Years celebration planned, with a big group of their friends. Ally had planned to spend a lot of that time with her lousy now-ex, but now that she’s here, she’s wild with curiosity about all the stuff going on just below the surface of every conversation.


It turns out there’s a lot she doesn’t know about her brother and his chosen family, and Ally might discover some things she didn’t know about herself along the way.]]> 120 Kris Ripper 1311088954 Melanie 3 queer, romance, fiction 3.91 2014 The New Born Year
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/29
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves: queer, romance, fiction
review:

]]> The Honeymoon 23130914
It should be a light, fun, sexy four nights–but nothing is ever simple with these three. A lot of love, a lot of sex, and a whole lot of complex emotions.

Warnings: two married therapists and their very flexible, very submissive, best friend. Yep. Everything you think might happen? Probably happens.]]> Kris Ripper Melanie 4 queer, fiction, romance 4.27 2014 The Honeymoon
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/14
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves: queer, fiction, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Extremes (Scientific Method Universe, #8)]]> 25447200 A mole, a biopsy, a weekend of waiting for test results.

Hugh has been waiting for this moment for years and it's finally cancer. Or, more accurately, a mole that doesn't look the way it used to look. It could be cancer. It could be nothing.

Will is desperate, needing Hugh to be okay—for himself, for Truman, and to prove to Hugh that happiness doesn't have to be followed by tragedy. Truman tries to keep it together for a few more days, suppressing his own panic, trying to be the rock he believes his men need.

Hugh's eternal conviction that he's about to lose everything is at war with his rational brain and all three of them need each other more than ever. Things get a little extreme.

The lads play hard in this story. There's a lot less “revisiting consent� than usual. It's an intense read, y'all.]]> 91 Kris Ripper Melanie 4 queer, romance, fiction 4.37 2015 Extremes (Scientific Method Universe, #8)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/16
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves: queer, romance, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Untrue (Scientific Method Universe, #9)]]> 40710044 The most damaging secrets are the ones you don’t even realize you’re keeping.

Truman has been married for almost five years. He loves his husband, their boyfriend, his job, and his life. So how is it possible that he’s been unfaithful? How did he let a harmless crush turn into…this?

Hugh is shocked. Angry. Numb. He has no intention of getting divorced, but no idea how to fix his relationship. And Truman isn’t the only one who’s been less than totally honest. But how can Hugh open the doors to their future when the present is such a mess?

Will has two boyfriends. For years he’s secretly wondered what it would be like to be more than just the boyfriend, but suddenly even that is in jeopardy. Did he miss his chance to tell them how he feels?

Betrayal cuts deep, exposing things they never thought to question. The road back to one another feels nearly impossible, but if anyone can do this, it’s Will and the boyfriends…or should that be Will and his partners?]]> 246 Kris Ripper Melanie 5 queer, romance, fiction
On a prose level, though, I have trouble again. The author portrays...really a lot of scenes, or parts of scenes, from multiple points of view. And this book doesn't need it! The characterization is more than clear enough to understand what's going on from each character's perspective without an in-their-head retread. So instead there is a bunch of tedious duplication to skip over.

Also just a note--by this book (and the last one, too), some plot developments necessary to the core arc are happening in some of the various side stories. That wasn't the case up to about book 7. Since I'd rather read in arc order than chronological order for something like this, I was a little lost at times.]]> 4.38 2018 Untrue (Scientific Method Universe, #9)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/18
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves: queer, romance, fiction
review:
I really struggled with the rating on this one. The emotional arc is five stars, absolutely, both taking you to a place you really wanted to go with these characters, but also smartly revealing some emotional currents you didn't notice happening over the previous books and stories.

On a prose level, though, I have trouble again. The author portrays...really a lot of scenes, or parts of scenes, from multiple points of view. And this book doesn't need it! The characterization is more than clear enough to understand what's going on from each character's perspective without an in-their-head retread. So instead there is a bunch of tedious duplication to skip over.

Also just a note--by this book (and the last one, too), some plot developments necessary to the core arc are happening in some of the various side stories. That wasn't the case up to about book 7. Since I'd rather read in arc order than chronological order for something like this, I was a little lost at times.
]]> <![CDATA[Gays of Our Lives (Queers of La Vista #1)]]> 41075541 210 Kris Ripper Melanie 3 3.74 2016 Gays of Our Lives (Queers of La Vista #1)
author: Kris Ripper
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/24
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Season's Change (Trade Season, #1)]]> 58422312 A veteran hockey player and a rookie can't get away from each other—or their own desires—in this sexy, heartfelt opposites-attract hockey romance.  

Olly Järvinen has a long way to go. He’s got a fresh start playing for a new team, but getting his hockey career back on track is going to take more than a change of scenery. He’s got to shut his past out and focus. On the game, not on his rookie roommate and his annoyingly sunny disposition—and annoyingly distracting good looks.

All Benji Bryzinski ever wanted was to play in the big leagues, and he’s not going to waste one single second of his rookie season. Yoga, kale smoothies and guided meditation help keep his head in the game. But his roommate keeps knocking him off track. Maybe it’s just that Olly is a grumpy bastard. Or maybe it’s something else, something Benji doesn’t have a name for yet.

Olly and Benji spend all their time together—on the ice, in the locker room, in their apartment—and ignoring their unspoken feelings isn’t making them go away. Acting on attraction is one thing, but turning a season’s fling into forever would mean facing the past—and redefining the future.

Trade Season

Book 1: Season's Change
]]> 377 Cait Nary 0369719387 Melanie 4 3.95 2022 Season's Change (Trade Season, #1)
author: Cait Nary
name: Melanie
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/24
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue (The Cabots #3.5)]]> 199280681
Billy Reardon’s spent the past five years trying and failing to keep his teammate Luke Novak at arm’s length—or at least a normal, friendly distance. Or, failing that, he’d like to not make a fool of himself. But a month after getting seriously injured by a wild pitch and disappearing off the face of the earth, Luke shows up at Billy’s isolated house in the mountains just as a storm’s about to roll in. Now that they’re stuck together in the middle of nowhere, Billy can’t even pretend not to have feelings that go beyond what he ought to feel for a teammate.

Meanwhile, Luke’s acting strange and Billy doesn’t know why. And Billy can’t seem to fight the urge to make Luke sandwiches and hot cocoa, lend him cozy sweaters, and watch him play with the dogs. It’s all pretty terrible, and the one thing Billy’s sure of is that things between them are going to be different after all this is over.

This novella is about 25,000 words]]> 102 Cat Sebastian Melanie 4 4.18 2023 Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue (The Cabots #3.5)
author: Cat Sebastian
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/07
date added: 2023/10/13
shelves:
review:

]]> Cinnamon Roll (Bold Brew #9) 56784054 This cinnamon roll has plenty of bite!

Maxime Demers has had an eye on Tom Cedric for a while, watching him flit from one awful man to another. So when Tom pins an ad to the community cork board at Bold Brew, Max can’t resist reading it. Tom’s looking for a play partner—someone who’s not a jerk—and Max knows he could give Tom what he needs. But first he’ll have to get the man to talk to him.

Tom Cedric thinks Max is way out of his league. He’s handsome, intelligent, speaks a billion languages, and can make a person kneel with a single look—too damn good for someone like Tom. But he can’t resist the temptation to talk to the man he’s had a crush on since the moment he laid eyes on him.

The connection between them is immediate, hot, and tempting, and when Max needs a replacement helper for an impact demo he’s giving, Tom jumps at the chance. A demo should be safe, right? A few hours. Clothing on. No stakes. Neither man is prepared when that spark ignites, and Tom is absolutely unprepared to discover the sweet man behind those dominating looks.

Cinnamon Roll is a stand-alone novel in the Bold Brew shared universe, centered around an inclusive coffee shop in a fictional small city. Each steaming hot coffee shop romance can be enjoyed alone, but collect all ten for the most fun!

This twist on a second-chance romance is 90,000-word cup of steaming hot scenes, a dusting of angst, plenty of fluff, and a guaranteed happy ending!]]> 350 Anna Zabo Melanie 4 4.18 2021 Cinnamon Roll (Bold Brew #9)
author: Anna Zabo
name: Melanie
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/26
date added: 2023/09/27
shelves:
review:

]]>