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bandherbooks's Reviews (3.65k)
I had so much fun with the first half of this romance, and then it turned into a mystery subplot and the pacing just didn't end right for me. that said all in all a great time like only Lorraine Heath can bring.
I thoroughly enjoyed the premise that Bishop was a pretend // counterfeit scoundrel who invites various women to his home to "ruin" them so they can secure a divorce, but really all they are doing is playacting to trick his servants and staff and to make it SEEM like they are having sex. Daisy//Maguerite is hired by one of the husbands to catch his wife in the act, and she and Bishop have instant sparks despite her being "a maid."
Where it started to fizzle for me was when Daisy finds out he is not indeed a scoundrel and ope she is more than just a spy in the household she's a private detective? And now he's implicated in the murder of one of his former "flame's husbands" and Daisy is going to prove his innocence. I didn't love the whole "this woman is evil, actually" stuff so meh.
BUT BUT BUT the upending of a chocolate dipping bowl over Bishop's head was gold, the carriage shenannies and the feisty aunt, also great.
Not my fav Heath but well worth a read for sure. I'm excited to meet more of the Chessmen.
Free print copy provided by Avon for review.
I thoroughly enjoyed the premise that Bishop was a pretend // counterfeit scoundrel who invites various women to his home to "ruin" them so they can secure a divorce, but really all they are doing is playacting to trick his servants and staff and to make it SEEM like they are having sex. Daisy//Maguerite is hired by one of the husbands to catch his wife in the act, and she and Bishop have instant sparks despite her being "a maid."
Where it started to fizzle for me was when Daisy finds out he is not indeed a scoundrel and ope she is more than just a spy in the household she's a private detective? And now he's implicated in the murder of one of his former "flame's husbands" and Daisy is going to prove his innocence. I didn't love the whole "this woman is evil, actually" stuff so meh.
BUT BUT BUT the upending of a chocolate dipping bowl over Bishop's head was gold, the carriage shenannies and the feisty aunt, also great.
Not my fav Heath but well worth a read for sure. I'm excited to meet more of the Chessmen.
Free print copy provided by Avon for review.
Saga, you've done it again. I loved the space-y neon infused Western vibe that reminded me of a technicolor version of Stephen King's The Gunslinger and I also was so glad to see my favorites return to deal with various horrible situations.
Staples and Vaughan continue to surprise, delight, and wreck me. And someone find me a rainbow zebra to ride on, STAT!
Staples and Vaughan continue to surprise, delight, and wreck me. And someone find me a rainbow zebra to ride on, STAT!
what a roller coaster. i really didn't know how this happily ever after would work out, but i was strapped in for the ride with my hands in the air.
pick this up if you enjoy over the top and wild plot swings and emotions, huge declarations, explosive blowouts, and lots of sexy times.
kept my attention despite having some OKAY SURE moments RE the hospital drama but hey, romance reasons. glad these two folks worked it out in the end, and i enjoyed the flashbacks to their college courtship too!
spoiler-y
pick this up if you enjoy over the top and wild plot swings and emotions, huge declarations, explosive blowouts, and lots of sexy times.
kept my attention despite having some OKAY SURE moments RE the hospital drama but hey, romance reasons. glad these two folks worked it out in the end, and i enjoyed the flashbacks to their college courtship too!
spoiler-y
Spoiler
content notes: Do note the heroine had cancer (i believe it was ovarian) and she can no longer have biological children; a specter of cheating hangs over the hero (but is proved to be false)
Two former friends who are now at the height of their careers (he, a war journalist; she a famous news anchor) are brought back to their alma mater for a big anniversary celebration and homecoming.
This was a delightful listen and while short, felt complete. A very accessible Kennedy Ryan as well because this is the lightest one I've ever read. It was sweet to see Touré trying to heal his absentee relationship with his daughter when she's elected the college homecoming queen, all the HBCU references, and just simply excellent narrators. ALSO I'm always here for second-chance at love // missed connections for characters that are my age (or older). Seeing grown adults at college and reliving their college shenanigans was so much fun.
This was a delightful listen and while short, felt complete. A very accessible Kennedy Ryan as well because this is the lightest one I've ever read. It was sweet to see Touré trying to heal his absentee relationship with his daughter when she's elected the college homecoming queen, all the HBCU references, and just simply excellent narrators. ALSO I'm always here for second-chance at love // missed connections for characters that are my age (or older). Seeing grown adults at college and reliving their college shenanigans was so much fun.
I read this in 2022 sometime, now I forget when, but def didn't track or post due to the HC Union strike.
I started my second read on audio and it was fine, but the male narrator was not a fav so I stopped for now.
THAT SAID this is a great culmination of the tension the author built up between Nellie & the Duke over the course of this series. Loved that opening chapter with them swimming together. Some of Nellie's girl boss-ness and extreme youth did filter through but overall just a dang good time for me.
I started my second read on audio and it was fine, but the male narrator was not a fav so I stopped for now.
THAT SAID this is a great culmination of the tension the author built up between Nellie & the Duke over the course of this series. Loved that opening chapter with them swimming together. Some of Nellie's girl boss-ness and extreme youth did filter through but overall just a dang good time for me.
Ms. Kate Canterbary, ma'am, you keep putting out absolute five-star bangers! Damn!
Seriously though, In a Jam was like owning the Bonne Maman jam advent calendar, each chapter its own little door with a delicious and sometimes spicy surprise.
We've been hearing rumors about the sexy Jam Man at the Boston farmer's market, and wow did Noah live up to all of my expectations and more.
In a Jam starts with Shay being left right before she's set to walk down the aisle, by a coward. She's scooped up by her friends (I was so happy she had a friend group) and is living on her bestie's couch when she is served with the will of her step-aunt, who has died and left her a tulip farm in Rhode Island. There's a catch though, Shay must be married within one year to retain the farm and its surrounding lands and the house.
Shay had spent two years in high school living on the farm while her always absentee mother traveled the world, where she became best friends with the boy the next farm over. Years later Noah has grown into a giant of a man, a magnate of the township (having expanded and grown his family's farming business over years), and a new father to his six year old niece.
Noah has always loved Shay, more than she'll ever know, and he offers to marry her, as long as his niece doesn't get hurt in the process. Gennie has been through abandonment and trauma too, alongside her recent ADHD diagnoses, she needs Noah's steadiness more than ever.
A very real marriage with burgeoning very real feelings makes it ever harder for Noah to keep his love for Shay underwraps, even as his actions and deeds prove every day that he's all in from the start.
This was just absolutely a slow-burner with simmer, yearning, and seething heat that once it hit that first kiss at 60% went off like a damn firecracker. A perfect read for fall, with the farm setting, the carnivals, the crisp air, the jams, the football games, and ferris wheel frolics, I just ate it all up. I'm immediately ready to reread this.
I so appreciated the touches of learning that Noah was an awkward teenager, that he was fat and had bad acne, and the way Shay is also fat and flinging away her toxic ex-fiancee's attitudes toward bodies and perfection.
There's no big third-act break up, huzzah, and there's so many sexy times scenes with these two, including Noah turning into a bossy, alpha in the sheets with the BEST caretaking ever.
ALSO, this is casually queer (Shay's best friend is polyamorous and bi, and is THE BEST and I hope she never changes), and is so gentle with how Shay and Noah work with Gennie and her cussing and her outburts without infantilizing her or making her into a plot moppet. Also the aspects of being just utterly lonely and feeling completely un-loveable felt so raw, yet again was handled so tenderly. Give me more JUST like this please and thank you.
Great use of sex toys, pussy spanking, biting ahhhhhh
Content notes: absentee parent (Shay's mom), parental death (Noah's parents, off page), Noah's sister and Gennie's mom is in prison for accidental murder (she had a gun and shot some police and is serving a life sentence), PTSD, Noah is in an ATV accident (but is okay), Gennie goes missing (but is okay)
The audio is very good and definitely worth a listen.
Seriously though, In a Jam was like owning the Bonne Maman jam advent calendar, each chapter its own little door with a delicious and sometimes spicy surprise.
We've been hearing rumors about the sexy Jam Man at the Boston farmer's market, and wow did Noah live up to all of my expectations and more.
In a Jam starts with Shay being left right before she's set to walk down the aisle, by a coward. She's scooped up by her friends (I was so happy she had a friend group) and is living on her bestie's couch when she is served with the will of her step-aunt, who has died and left her a tulip farm in Rhode Island. There's a catch though, Shay must be married within one year to retain the farm and its surrounding lands and the house.
Shay had spent two years in high school living on the farm while her always absentee mother traveled the world, where she became best friends with the boy the next farm over. Years later Noah has grown into a giant of a man, a magnate of the township (having expanded and grown his family's farming business over years), and a new father to his six year old niece.
Noah has always loved Shay, more than she'll ever know, and he offers to marry her, as long as his niece doesn't get hurt in the process. Gennie has been through abandonment and trauma too, alongside her recent ADHD diagnoses, she needs Noah's steadiness more than ever.
A very real marriage with burgeoning very real feelings makes it ever harder for Noah to keep his love for Shay underwraps, even as his actions and deeds prove every day that he's all in from the start.
This was just absolutely a slow-burner with simmer, yearning, and seething heat that once it hit that first kiss at 60% went off like a damn firecracker. A perfect read for fall, with the farm setting, the carnivals, the crisp air, the jams, the football games, and ferris wheel frolics, I just ate it all up. I'm immediately ready to reread this.
I so appreciated the touches of learning that Noah was an awkward teenager, that he was fat and had bad acne, and the way Shay is also fat and flinging away her toxic ex-fiancee's attitudes toward bodies and perfection.
There's no big third-act break up, huzzah, and there's so many sexy times scenes with these two, including Noah turning into a bossy, alpha in the sheets with the BEST caretaking ever.
ALSO, this is casually queer (Shay's best friend is polyamorous and bi, and is THE BEST and I hope she never changes), and is so gentle with how Shay and Noah work with Gennie and her cussing and her outburts without infantilizing her or making her into a plot moppet. Also the aspects of being just utterly lonely and feeling completely un-loveable felt so raw, yet again was handled so tenderly. Give me more JUST like this please and thank you.
Great use of sex toys, pussy spanking, biting ahhhhhh
Content notes: absentee parent (Shay's mom), parental death (Noah's parents, off page), Noah's sister and Gennie's mom is in prison for accidental murder (she had a gun and shot some police and is serving a life sentence), PTSD, Noah is in an ATV accident (but is okay), Gennie goes missing (but is okay)
The audio is very good and definitely worth a listen.
a christian teen grapples with her sexuality amidst a crisis of faith and where she belongs. this was pretty dark, and showcases the hypocrisy in religion. the ending was so sad, but i enjoyed the art style (although i wish there was more bright colored risographs? i think? throughout.
read for the 2023 LITA Awards Committee
read for the 2023 LITA Awards Committee
visceral, bloody, and shocking poetry. utilizing some famous pieces of art work and visuals of Victorian // Frankenstein dissections; Rape and violence prevalent throughout. I appreciated the references at the back of the book.
read for the 2023 LITA Awards; author's pronouns are they/them.
read for the 2023 LITA Awards; author's pronouns are they/them.
Alas, the full cast narration for this audio first exclusive didn't capture as much magic as I was hoping for; the narrator for Robbie specifically felt very ✨studied✨ and less in the moment and charismatic with the narrator for Marigold. Also, the plot device of interviewing other couples // ex-couples on their love stories became a distraction for me for developing the relationship between Robbie and Marigold.
Overall, nothing specifically wrong, just felt for lack of a better word, forced. From the humor to the interaction between the narrators, which is a great sadness for me especially considering they were narrating much of this together in a room (per articles i read).
I did like Robbie's vampire coat.
CW: parent with cancer (in the past, survived); divorce (secondary characters)
Overall, nothing specifically wrong, just felt for lack of a better word, forced. From the humor to the interaction between the narrators, which is a great sadness for me especially considering they were narrating much of this together in a room (per articles i read).
I did like Robbie's vampire coat.
CW: parent with cancer (in the past, survived); divorce (secondary characters)
New favorite Diana Biller romance. There's something I just simply adore about Biller's writing; it is so atmospheric and lush without being over complicated or prose-y. She sets a scene that immediately spins you into a decaying ballroom that's being renovated with gumption and a hope but is still the most wonderous room you've ever stepped foot in. She builds tension SO WELL that by the time the two love interests touch you have been dying for that moment for pages and pages. this is the type of slow-burn i live for, one with huge payoff.
Heck, there's a scene where these two don't even touch each other and I about combusted out of house into the stars. yeah, that's craft.
I also personally adore the here is a line of women who have a "curse" or "mythos" about them, one that is a huge problem for our love interest, in this instance will he be "the man" and the mythos around the Wallner women is so delicious. the three generations still living together at Hotel Wallner and the Wallner women of the past. Just give me all of their stories.
And Eli Whittaker. What a starchy, blushing, completely besotted man Maria finds when she crashes into him tipsy, in Vienna. The whirl of the waltz is ever present as Eli has to find his spot and not spin out with lust and love, and figure out that he deserves it no matter what his awful family put him through. I love that he's a numbers guy, a paperwork guy. he's going to solve the problem that is Maria, but Maria isn't actually a problem at all. She's the answer to all of his everything.
ANYWAY I hope this review make sense, i just loved this one so much you all should buy it immediately.
thank you to the publisher for the print ARC
Narrator Carlotta Brentan is super great - I really loved her accent work, with maria's slight german//austrian accent and Eli's american accent all while also juggling the large cast of secondary characters. this is great work, and i never felt lost or wondering who was speaking. i just love this book so much. THIS MAN ELI HE STUDIED.
Heck, there's a scene where these two don't even touch each other and I about combusted out of house into the stars. yeah, that's craft.
I also personally adore the here is a line of women who have a "curse" or "mythos" about them, one that is a huge problem for our love interest, in this instance will he be "the man" and the mythos around the Wallner women is so delicious. the three generations still living together at Hotel Wallner and the Wallner women of the past. Just give me all of their stories.
And Eli Whittaker. What a starchy, blushing, completely besotted man Maria finds when she crashes into him tipsy, in Vienna. The whirl of the waltz is ever present as Eli has to find his spot and not spin out with lust and love, and figure out that he deserves it no matter what his awful family put him through. I love that he's a numbers guy, a paperwork guy. he's going to solve the problem that is Maria, but Maria isn't actually a problem at all. She's the answer to all of his everything.
ANYWAY I hope this review make sense, i just loved this one so much you all should buy it immediately.
thank you to the publisher for the print ARC
Narrator Carlotta Brentan is super great - I really loved her accent work, with maria's slight german//austrian accent and Eli's american accent all while also juggling the large cast of secondary characters. this is great work, and i never felt lost or wondering who was speaking. i just love this book so much. THIS MAN ELI HE STUDIED.