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Tag: KJ Charles

The Thirty-One Books of January

Because I am a person who derives energy and motivation from inventing goals and assigning them to myself as homework, January is a month in which I tend to be wildly energetic. Everyone else is lying in bed huddled up against the cold as they try to recover from the holiday season, while I charge around like the Energizer Bunny doing so many tasks it gives my mother a headache to hear about1 and being really, truly, genuinely annoying to my friends. But they have to deal with it because they know that the next time they want to make…

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ILLUSTRATED COVERS ARE GOOD ACTUALLY: A Romance Round-Up

Well, friends, I hope you are all hanging in there. These past few weeks have been hard even by 2020 standards, as the country’s government showed yet again — as if there remained any doubt — that it does not care about Black lives, and will uphold white supremacy at any cost. The protests that resulted have been met all too frequently with police violence. If anyone reading this has felt unsure about the aims and demands of the Black Lives Matter movement, I hope those doubts have been laid to rest in the past fortnight. Our country must confront…

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Review: Proper English, KJ Charles

KJ Charles is a favorite romance author of mine, so the occasion of her releasing a new book is always cause for celebration. But the very early standalone Think of England has always been a particular favorite, so I was thrilled to learn that KJ Charles had plans for a prequel novel, an f/f murder mystery set at a shooting party at an English manor house in the Edwardian era. Proper English follows the talented shooter Pat Merton, who is competent and sensible and has never had much time for romance — until she meets her dear friend’s new fiancee,…

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May Romance Round-Up

Clear your schedules, I am going to talk about a book so entirely in my wheelhouse that it and my wheelhouse are basically coterminous. (That’s an exaggeration but not really.) I refer to KJ Charles’s latest book, The Henchmen of Zenda. Before I get into The Henchmen of Zenda, I need to confess that I have this weird soft spot for old-time British adventure novels. There’s no defense I can or should make about this. These are horribly sexist and racist books that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone. I like the swashbuckling. So when I heard that one of my…

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Hockey, House Parties, and Taxidermy: A Romance Novels Round-Up

The time has come, the walrus said, for another romance novels round-up! I know you’ve been yearning for it. This election season was difficult, the results were worse, and these last few months more than ever I’ve needed cuddly tropey fluff to get me through. Ruby Lang is a new-to-me author I discovered through the wonderful Romance Novels for Feminists (which has never yet steered me wrong), and I received Hard Knocks for review consideration from the publisher. Hard Knocks is about a hockey player nearing the end of his career (Adam) and a neurologist (Helen) who thinks he’s cute…

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Blood Magic and Apocalypses: A Romance Novels Round-Up

Welp, here it is somehow Friday already, and I do not feel that I have accomplished anything this week. Anyone have good weekend plans? Mine focus heavily on hibernation. In the meantime, here are some romance novels I’ve been reading lately. Rag and Bone, KJ Charles (I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.) KJ Charles writes about half-and-half straight historical romance novels and creepy magic creepiness romance novels, and I would be hard-pressed to say which genre I prefer. Rag and Bone is in the latter category, a companion novel to her “Charm of…

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