Even with school starting for my kids, I still managed to finish a bunch of books. Mostly romance plus some fantasy rereads. 

I reread the first three books of the Raksura series by Martha Wells. It's set on another world with a bunch of different races. The main character, Moon, was separated from his race as a child but was rediscovered about 20-odd years later by another group. So it's about found family, abandonment issues, etc. I think Martha Wells does great characters who are smart and capable. Catnip for me!

Based on Kindle rec, I tried In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish. I was drawn to it because it's set in northern Michigan. An academic, Daniel, heads there for an interview for a tenure position at a small college. While the interview goes well, he ends up driving into a ditch and rescues a dog. There's no cell service, of course. He ends up rescued by a local man, Rex, and sparks fly! I liked it enough that I continued reading a bunch of Parrish's other books. Where We Left Off is the story of a side character in the previous book, who ends up going to NYC to college. I skipped book 2 in the series because the main character (brother of book 1's main character) is a mean bastard. Several reviewers found the book difficult because of that (even though there's a HEA, I think) so I decided not right now. 

Parrish's Small Change duology uses characters from the previous trilogy. Small Change focuses on Ginger, a tattoo artist and best friend of Daniel. Ginger's been so busy with her business that she's really had no time for herself. Then she meets Christopher who's opened a sandwich shop down the street...

Invitation to the Blues focuses on Faron, a tattoo artist in Ginger's shop, and Jude, a gifted pianist who suffers from mental illness. As Jude gets his life back together, will he be able to continue his burgeoning relationship with Faron?

The Riven series starts with the self-titled book about Theo, super-famous, chased by paparazzi lead singer of ahem, Riven. He meets Caleb, a recovering addict and fabulous musician himself. Caleb is very attracted to Theo, but can he stand to be around the music scene which got him into trouble in the first place? 

Book 2, Rend, has another musician, Rhys, and Matt. I can barely remember anything from this book except that Matt has insecurity issues. So ddn't like it as much as Riven. 

In book 3, Raze, Huey has been a bar owner for a while, and sober for even longer. He comes off as a big, hulking, laconic, bruiser which most people don't look beyond. Felix has been taking care of his younger siblings for years after the death of their parents. He and his sister sing a Riven song in Huey's bar one night and Huey arranges an audition with Riven's ex-singer Theo. Liked this one better than book 2. 

The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish edges into fantasy. Corbin is fey, raised by two aunts in an old house in the woods. We're never quite sure of the entire backstory. Why did the aunts die together one day? What happened to his parents? Alex ends up losing home and job in the big city and heads home to Michigan to lick his wounds. His mother runs a bakery/coffee shop there. Alex decides to redo it so she can retire. One day Corbin walks in and sits in the corner. Alex is drawn to him and over weeks, begins to draw Corbin out...a really nice, quiet story. 

Looking for Group by Alexis Hall is set at a college. Drew play a MMO, Heroes of Legend and has a good friends group that gets together to watch movies, play board games, and so on. Drew rage quits his guild and applies to join another one. There he meets a female elf-healer who's really cool and attends another university in the same city. Imagine his surprise when Drew finds out that Kit is a young man, but does it really matter? I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm not a gamer but know enough that I could figure out most of the jargon and the online conventions like something marked as "so-and-so whispers" means that it's a private message. 

The Engineer by C.S. Poe is a steampunk, magic alternative western set around 1880s. Gillian Hamilton (is supposed to be a call-out to Niven's Gil Hamilton? I don't know) works for the government as a magic-user about the only way it's legal. He's sent out west to arrest a madman named the Tinkerer, a gifted inventor of steampunk devices. Gillian runs into Gunner the Deadly, another wanted criminal except Gunner is more of a Robin Hood or masterless samurai, taking out the villains who threaten hard-working folk. Gillian and Gunner team up to get capture the Tinkerer and find their mutual attraction complicates matters. I liked it, but so far not enough to see if there's a book 2. I was disappointed that the bad guy was literally a madman so no real reason to kill random people as he'd done.

I then read two shortish books by Joanna Chambers, Introducing Mr. Winterbourne and Mr. Winterbourne's Christmas, both Regencies or maybe later--19th century anyway. Lysander Winterbourne is a charming younger son. His sister is engaged to an ambitious mill owner's brother who sees the connection as his path into politics. The Winterbourne family is deeply in debt so this will help put them on a stable footing. Lysander agrees to take Adam Whitman (mill owner) around society to help easy the brother's way and make him feel welcome. That goes swimmingly (ha-ha-ha) until Lysander and Adam end up in a fencing salon and they start to see each other's true selves. Lysander ends up working for Adam on his country estate which leads to other issues in Mr. Winterbourne's Christmas. Eh. If there's more about these characters, I'll read it, but her other books haven't attracted me. 

I then decided to pick up a present-day comedy-romance that I've seen a lot of recs for: Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Actually fantasy/alternative history. Alex is the first (and only) son of the first woman president of the US, Ellen Claremont. He's also half-Hispanic from his mom's ex-husband. While he's run into the spare heir of the UK, Prince Henry (third in line, if I figured it out right), they've never really gotten on. Sent to the UK to a royal wedding, their latest encounter causes the destruction of the wedding cake. To counter the bad press and relations between the two countries, the two are required to pretend to be best of mates...which gets interesting very quickly. Loads of fun. I've already preordered her next book, One Last Stop. 

Yesterday (okay, Monday night), a new Roan Parrish was release, Better Than People, was released. Jack's life has been on hold for most of a year after being betrayed by his long-time friend (hah!) and collaborator. He hasn't drawn anything since. He badly breaks his leg while out walking his pack of 4 dogs (1 cat tags along) so he looks for a dogwalker. Simon has extreme anxiety issues and works remotely as a graphic designer. He can't have pets because his grandmother is allergic. Simon and Jack are attracted to each other, but once Jack can get out again, where does that leave Simon? 

Okay, so they're like popcorn or chips and I just can't stop reading books by KJ Charles! (ratings 3-5 stars) Partially because I can't figure out what else to read right now. Actually, I did start a reread of Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lichtenberg's First Channel but DNF. I really liked these when I read them in high school/college including tracking down some fanfiction (more difficult at that time in the '80s) but ugh. Economy still doesn't make any sense and the writing is...not so good. Post-apocalyptic world where humanity has split into Simes and Gens. Gens produce selyn. Simes need selyn to live. Although Simes can eat most regular food, it's not enough to survive on for very long. A Sime normally needs a gen's whole production of selyn each month and kills the Gen. Gens don't start producing selyn until puberty. Although there's some hunting for "wild" Gens, it doesn't seem sustainable for very long. I tried this in the middle of the period.

A Seditious Affair (Society of Gentleman) - Regency England. Dominic Frey works for the government, specifically the department that deals with sedition and traitors AKA the illegal pamphleteers and radicals. He ends up entangled with Silas Mason, radical. They're...very compatible behind closed doors but neither one realizes who the other one is. A colleague of Dominic's has promised to lock up and hang the radicals. Can Dominic save Silas?

Proper English (England World) - Patricia Merton, noted shot, heads to her friend's father's country estate for some shooting. Jimmy's fiancee is pretty and buxom and happy, but Jimmy's not. Pat's going to figure out what's going on before Jimmy and Fenella end up in a very unhappy marriage. 





Think of England (England World, early 20th century) - Archie Curtis is trying to figure out if a rival arms dealer had sabotaged the weapons provided to his squad. While trying, badly, to sneak around the manor house, he keeps running into effete Daniel da Silva. Other house guests include Pat and Fen from Proper English.

Band Sinister - Sir Philip Rookwood has a band of friends called the Murder and it's known as a hellfire club. They're visiting his country estate when a neighboring girl, Amanda, takes a tumble and breaks her leg. She ends up being patched up by Rookwood's friend who's a doctor. Amanda's sister, Guy, rushes over to protect her, only to find that he can hardly take his eyes off of Sir Philip...Full of neighborhood scandal, terrifying aunts, and disapproving neighbors. 

Wanted, A Gentleman - Martin St. Vincent is a well-to-do merchant in London. The young daughter of a family has been corresponding with an unsuitable gentleman via a lonely hearts newsletter. St. Vincent tracks down the publisher, Theodore Swann. When they realize that the girl is eloping to Gretna Green, they take off after her.

Unfit to Print - Vikram is a lawyer in London who tries to help the Anglo-Indian and Indian communities. Tasked to find a young man who's disappeared into the sordid side of London, Vik finds an old friend from school, Gil Lawless, now a bookseller. 

Hither, Page - Cat Sebastian - Post World War. A shell-shocked doctor in a tiny English village runs into a spy that he patched up once in France. The spy/secret agent, Leo has been sent there to try to uncover profiteering by the local lord. A locked room mystery happens. A cozy mystery with lots of interesting characters. Supposedly, a sequel is due this year.

An Unseen Attraction (Sins of the City 1, Victorian) - see previous blog entry

An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the City 2) - Nathaniel Roy is a journalist interested in debunking spiritualists. He sets his sights on Justin Lazarus, the Seer of London. Still unhappy after the death of his lover 5 years prior, Nathaniel's amazed to find how attractive he finds the amoral Justin. Justin has information about the unknown heirs to the Talleyfer (this is the name that Clem uses from An Unseen Attraction but there's a different spelling for the noble family) that were introduced in the first book).

An Unsuitable Heir (Sins of the City 3) - Mark Braglewicz, enquiry agent, tracks down the Talleyfer heirs. The son, Pen (Repentance), and his sister, Greta (Regret), are trapeze artists in a London theatre. Pen, in particular, is really not ready to be a noble heir. It would likely kill him. The trouble is, if Pen doesn't take up his position, Mark's friends and Pen and Greta are all in danger. I like this series and the following one quite a bit. Pen is genderfluid (I hope I have that right) and attracted to men). 







Gilded Cage (Lilywhite Boys 2) - Sukey, now Susan, from An Unnatural Vice has grown up and is now a private investigator with the firm Roy and Lazarus. As a teenager, she was friends with yound, wild, nobleman. They ended up breaking each other's hearts and he went away for 17 years. Now, he's back as a jewel thief. Susan ran into him in Any Old Diamonds, where it was obvious she had not forgiven him. However, framed for a horrific double murder, Templeton Lane turns to Susan as the only person who might save him. A nice mystery and I like Susan a lot!

The Rat-Catcher's Daughter (Lilywhite Boys 2.5) - The story of the Lilywhite Boys' fence, Stan Kamarzyn and his crush, Miss Christiana. I don't know the correct terminology. Miss Christiana is as much trans as she can be for the time. Both she and Stan are asexual, at least beyond cuddling. 

Any Old Diamonds (Lilywhite Boys 1) - Yes, I read this after Gilded Cage. Jerry Crozier and Templeton Lane are hired by Alec (Lord Alexander) to rob Alec's father, the Duke of Ilvar. The Duke remarried when his children were still young, and completely focused on his new wife. The children have been made to scratch for their livings. One of the children has died due to the neglect and Alec wants revenge. This one surprised me in the plot. I liked it a lot.

 Things settled down a bit in May and I was able to start reading again. 

I decided to read a bunch of the People stories from the Ingathering collection. These are by Zenna Henderson. While there are scary moments in these, they're also very hopeful. The People are refugees, who have landed on Earth after their planet shook itself apart. The stories take plane in the American southwest, starting late 1800s and into the middle of the 20th century. The People meeting good and bad humans, of course, with a recurring theme of "Different is dead" and finding new homes with found family. There's some racial profiling with Hispanics, etc.

I slammed through the four Murderbot novellas and the short story, "Home." that the publisher released to people who bought the hardcover. Home takes place on Preservation Station after Dr. Mensah had been rescued. It's told from Mensah's point of view and reveals that she's struggling with PTSD. 

A short story, "Spoken For", by A.J. Demas. The continuing story of Pheres and Bedar from "One Night in Boukos". The power balance is changing as they travel to Zash where Bedar is from. 

A new installment of Desdemona and Penric from Lois McMaster Bujold! The Physicians of Vilnoc find Penric married and with a child. His brother-in-law asks him to investigate an outbreak of disease at the local military fort. The main doctor has died so his second and Penric start treating and investigating the cause of the disease. I squirmed a bit because the timing is not so good because the COVID-19 pandemic. An excellent entry in the series nonetheless.

K.J. Charles released a few books for free. I've seen her books recced multiple places so I thought I give one a try. I picked up The Magpie Lord and quickly read it and its 2 sequels, A Case of Possession and Flight of Magpies. These are fantasy. There's energy in the ether and some people can use it to do magic. Lucien Vaudrey is now heir after the death of his father and brother. He's returned to England from China with Crane, his crony. He got sent to China by his father due to his "proclivities." It turns out there's a curse on his house and Stephen Day, magician, shows up to get rid of it. There ends up being a conspiracy, many secrets, and so on that wind through the three books. Engaging characters and decent worldbulding. There are some related stories but I haven't read them yet. 

I then picked up An Unseen Attraction, a story in the Sins of the Cities series. This one is about Clem Talleyfer, a bastard son who's been set up as a boarding house keeper and one of his tenants, Rowley Green, a taxidermist. A terrible tenant who has been living there for free at the request of Clem's brother shows up dead. An author trope showed up--one of the couples will be big and brawny, while the other will be slim, weedy. So far the other books in the series haven't piqued my interest enough to buy them. 

I switched to another series, The Society of Gentleman, and read the final story, A Gentleman's Position about David Cyprian, valet to Lord Richard Vane. This series and the previous one are historical, not fantasy. I assume I'll read more from Charles but will likely try something else next.

 I couldn't settle on a novel so I ended up reading a bunch of fanfiction on AO3, Archive of Our Own. I'd think of an author that I liked, search it, and read a what was available. They have a big request/fulfill thing called Yuletide so I read some when the new stories were revealed too. 

I had managed to snag an advanced reader (review) copy of The Glass Magician by Caroline Stevermer from NetGalley during the holidays as well. 

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Books, for providing it in exchange for an honest and fair review. 

Stevermer hasn't had a novel out since 2010 with the middle grade book, Magic Below Stairs. The setting is new, early 20th century in an alternative America. There are solitaires--ordinary people, traders--who can change to an animal form, and sylvestri--who have an affinity to nature and appear to be, in the Americas at least mostly First Peoples. I'm not sure that made much sense as there should be a bunch from the "Old World" too who had then emigrated to the new world, but it wasn't explained. Traders stick together and create family trusts. There's a throw-away line deep in the book that in addition to trading between their two or split souls (human and animal), they literally were traders, shipping goods around. Which made me wonder if they were supposed to represent Jews. 

The main character, Thalia Cutler, is working as a stage magician as part of vaudeville. Her mother died when she was little and she was taught her skills by her father and his friend, David Nutall. Her father has also died. Something strange happens during one of her shows--she seems to change shape when the trick goes wrong. So could she be a Trader? She's also hit with a non-compete for one of her best tricks so she and Nutall have to find, and finance, some new amazing feat. 

Thalia, having lived in show business, is generally able to take care of herself which I appreciated. There are many interesting characters. I'd like to know more about the sylvestri. Thalia meets several Traders who end up helping her out and there are hints of a possible future romance...maybe. I thought I caught a hint that Thalia's and father and David Nutall might have been more than just close friends but Thalia resolutely doesn't want to think about that. <rolls eyes> I may have been reading more into it because of the fanfiction binge where I read many stories about characters being in non-canonical relationships (AKA not in the books/source material). 

Honestly, if this hadn't been an ARC and by an author that I've loved in the past, I would probably have stopped reading about 1/3 in. It did pick up pace not long after that and it wasn't a hardship to finish. I will likely read the sequel. While the story ends well, there are several open threads that could be picked up. 

Why didn't I like it more? I think the worldbuilding didn't seem deep or broad enough. The book felt relatively short (a check shows the hardcover is 288 pages). It felt like it was written a little young. Solidly trying for young adult maybe? Like I said, I will be on the lookout for the next book. 

Comments on Becky Chambers's To Be Taught if Fortunate have been a little mixed. I liked it very much but, OH, the ending. I wonder if anyone on AO3 has written some alternative endings/continuations. Space exploration has become citizen-funded, with small teams sent out to explore various planets. The trips are one way in that they won't be able to return to their own families and friends although they can return to earth when their mission is over. I thought it dealt well with how nuts things can get in an enclosed environment. 

I've started Claire O'Dell's The Jewel-Bright Sea but stalled about 1/3 through. I will try to get back to it. It's more straightforward fantasy (with magic) than her near-future Janet Watson chronicles. The fact that I had to really work to recall the plot a few weeks after stalling, and I still can't remember any character names is...not really a good sign.

I did two week-long trips in October so I felt like some rereading was in order. I settled on the Murderbot Diaries. It's so long until the novel is released!!

While checking around for books, I found that Carrie Vaughn had released a novelette/novella (maybe) featuring Cormac and Amelia, Dark Divide, with another coming out this week (Badlands Witch). Cormac is rebuilding his life now that he's off parole and still carrying around the witch Amelia in his head. While he used to be a monster hunter, he's now using Amelia's skills to clear out hauntings, etc. They've been called to the Donner Pass to investigate the death of a NPS researcher of starvation. Recommended for Cormac and Amelia fans.

A while ago, I read a ton of Regency Romance books (set in the early 1800s). I generally stuck to the G/PG-rated ones AKA maybe a few kisses or slightly risque language or situations. Anyway, a few authors became favorites and I've kept copies. Because these books were often seen as disposable, reprints were unlikely. I now read almost solely on my phone, so I always check for ebook versions. There was very little online about this author so I didn't have much hope. Last week I did another search and found that one of her books had been released as an ebook! Amelia's Intrigue by Judith A. Lansdowne sets up Amelia Mapleton, a 22-year-old on her come-out season meeting Tony Talbot, the heir to the earl of Rutlidge. The Earl hasn't been seen for over 15 years while Tony appears to handle the estate and his affairs. We soon learn that the earl had rescued Tony from a carriage mishap when they were boys, but the earl ended up with brain damage. Amelia is sure Tony is keeping his brother out of the limelight against his will, Tony has other secrets he's been keeping as does Amelia's father, etc. The earl himself, Geordan/Geordie is delightful and even he has secrets. We also get to meet multiple family members and servants, learn about the deframers, and pretty much everyone gets a happy ending. Lovely and fun! I'm so pleased that it looks like her books may come back into print. Unfortunately, I also found out that Lansdowne had died about a month ago. 

 And a quick follow-up to the August post because I screamed through several books already this month. At least one was started in August. 

The e-ARC (electronic advanced reviewer copy) of Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller was released, with official publication occurring later this year. The latest story in the Liaden Universe, we get updates on a bunch of ongoing story threads. Yay! 

The sequel to Mapping Winter, The River South by Marta Randall was released. This time the protagonist is Iset Kievesdaughter (yep), who was left in the care of the guild when Kieve took off into the wilderness. She's not been treated well, and suddenly people start trying to kill her. One of Kieve's comrades, who owes her, decides to help Iset. Interesting story with an ending that I didn't foresee. 

I then read books 2 and 3 of Sharon Shinn's Uncommon Echoes series: Echo in Emerald and Echo in Amethyst. The second book starts near but before the end of the first and focuses on a minor character from the first book. Chessie was abandoned by her father and her mother died young. After her guardian died, she headed to the capital city. She's made a life for herself as an errand-runner and, through her echoes, a bar maid and a laborer, respectively. No one realizes that the echoes are not just friends as they have a little autonomy and Chessie is able to change bodies to allow them to speak (echoes don't ever speak). She ends up entangled with Lord Dezmen who is investigating the killing of a noble in the city. 

In the third book which is also almost contemporaneous with books 1 and 2, we follow Hope and Elyssa. Elyssa is the original, daughter to a western lord. The western provinces have been agitating for autonomy for years, but the fate of Lady Marguerite (book 1) has brought everything to a boil. Lady Elyssa is bored and bitter, ignored by her parents except that she might bring an advantageous marriage. She's tortured her echoes for years, and one has actually become sentient. I really expected a different ending, and spent some time trying to figure out how everyone could end up happy.