I love the character development, I adore Thomas' writing, and there were so many moments I alternately laughed and teared up. My reservations are with the lack of consent in one scene (due to intoxication) and the coerciveness of the encounter in a second scene. I understand the intention in each scene and the context, but want to note these two instances for other readers (they occur between the main characters). I would also note that this is an incredibly dark story and both main characters have experienced substantial trauma - please check content warnings!

The Serpent and the Wings of Night, by Carissa Broadbent, was really my first true foray into romantasy published by someone other than Sarah J. Maas. I read a lot of fantasy, and a lot of romance, but I've actually not ventured into the crossover realms of Jennifer Armentrout, Scarlett St. Clair, Kerri Maniscalco, Danielle L. Jensen, etc.

I thoroughly enjoyed this - well-paced, interesting world-building and vampire lore, a kick-ass FMC, A+ consent between the MCs, well-executed plot twists and a cliffhanger ending that I'm still thinking about. Romantasy readers, and SJM fans in particular, it checked all the boxes for me.

I've pre-ordered the sequel and look forward to seeing how the duology concludes!

You're the Only One I've Told, by Dr. Meera Shah, is an incredibly compelling collection of abortion stories. Dr. Shah is a physician who provides abortions and reproductive healthcare to patients in New York, but her compilation of stories spans experiences across (and outside of) the US. She highlights a diverse cross-section of people, effectively evidencing the thousands of intricacies in any reproductive healthcare decision. Each story is told in close collaboration with the story's owner, and each story is complemented by contextual details about the specific state/country the patient lived in (and thus, the various legal challenges they faced). 

In bringing these stories together in a single collection, Dr. Shah examines the personal, relational, familial, religious, cultural, medical and legal layers in every decision, showing us just how complex pregnancy decisions can be. We hear the stories of single people, married parents with children, nonbinary and trans people, people of color, young and not-so-young people, people seeking care hundreds - and sometimes thousands - of miles from home, people who have had multiple abortions, people who have encountered planned pregnancies with complex diagnoses and people who have encountered unplanned pregnancies and so many more. No two stories are alike, making the black-and-white legal barriers they each face all the more absurd. It is particularly eye-opening to see just how inaccessible reproductive healthcare is to the people highlighted in these stories, and this was written and published BEFORE the reversal of Roe vs. Wade. Abortion access has been steadily eroding for decades, and when you see intimately in these accounts the real people that these mostly state-led restrictions have impacted, it's heart wrenching.

I love Mama Katie and her Jamie! LOVE a reverse age gap, too! <Spoiler> And also, why do I love a murdering FMC so much?! But it's pulled off so well in both Convergence of Desire and A Clandestine Passion and it adds a layer of grit to each FMC (and upends the usual trope of MMC stepping in to defend her virtue, touch-her-and-you-die, etc). I only wanted her to feel less shame in her sexual desire at the end. I loved that she needed a non-sexual connection with Jamie but wanted it explicitly affirmed that her sexual desire has NEVER been unhealthy, she was just totally abused by her previous partner and it warped her sense of her own desire. I just feel very protective of mama Katie!</Spoiler>

Loved this couple and their complicated but authentic path to intimacy. Particularly appreciated the initial plot set-up that establishes why our heroine abandons her family. It was really well done and sensitively handled. The frequent discussions of consent, the disavowal of a concept of female "purity" and the emphasis on respect were excellent. I think I should have read these in order! I would have appreciated Harry, Thomas and the good Dr SO much more had I read in order!

This. Book. Is. Pain. I DEVOURED it, because I adore Sherry Thomas' writing, but know that this is a war story (kidding... But not?). These two are out to draw blood. Infidelity wielded to inflict pain. 

Honestly had the reproductive coercion not been so *ick* I would have rated this fairly high, because despite all the above mess, it was a fascinating character study and examination of marriage in crisis. Star rating reflects solely my discomfort with the reproductive coercion storyline. 

Never has a man needed a good old fashioned woman-gets-amnesia trope more in the history of the romance novel. 

Honestly I could have gotten on board with the MMCs character development if Thomas hadn't pushed his behavior quiiiite as far.

Helena was a delight! She deserved better! Did I read this in less than 24 hrs because Thomas's writing captivates me even when I loathe one or more of her characters? Yep! 

After finishing The Stone Sky, the final installment in NJ Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy, I MARVEL at how she pulled off these story arcs across three books. How she managed to examine slavery, motherhood, intergenerational trauma AND a climate crisis - without ANY of these layered allegories feeling incomplete or forced in any way - is genius. 

And while Jemisin deals in BIG global themes, she is also incredibly intimate. She gives such grace to each character that we are consistently pushed to reevaluate our sympathies and our own assumptions. I appreciate that while the fall-out for each character is complex, leaving each in morally grey spaces, the evil at the root of all this tragedy is very clear. Jemisin doesn't leave our interpretation to chance here - she (Hoa) will interject frequently, and we're reminded that for every single crime committed, other choices were always possible.

This series is HEAVY with lots of on-page trauma (please check content warnings!). But I highly recommend. I will be carrying these characters in my heart.

UPDATED to include a link to a really important critical review that examines how the colonialism critique in Duke of Shadows still plays into Orientalist and racist stereotypes. I have also removed my star rating for this one.

https://sociallyscientificromance.blogspot.com/2016/10/crityourfaves-post-colonialism-and.html?m=1

I would recommend this primarily for lovers of historical fiction. While a romance (HEA!), this is a heavy historical that explores a volatile and violent uprising in India in the mid-19th century. Know before starting that it graphically depicts war, PTSD, racism and violence of all kinds.

Duran, who studied for a PhD in cultural anthropology, examines the seismic Indian Rebellion of 1857 through our MMC, Julian Sinclair, soon-to-be Duke of Auburn. Born in India, but heir to an English Dukedom, his relationship to both his Indian and English heritage is complex and fraught with personal and political tension. He is often seen as inherently disloyal to both sides, and for the reader, he is our window into the overwhelming violence of British colonial rule in India and the days leading up to the rebellion.

It's shortly before this fracture that he first meets our FMC, Emma Martin, who arrived miraculously alive in India after her parents and every single shipmate drowned at sea (welcome to the prologue, readers). Emma's character, for lovers of Babel, reminded me of an *early* Letty (thankfully, with actual, substantial personal growth and a developing awareness of the inherent and explicit violence of British imperialism). Emma can be challenging for the reader and for Julian at the start, as she struggles to understand the complexities of the political turmoil she's landed in.

This is an agonizing second-chance romance that bridges a significant time jump (four years) and doesn't shy away from the resulting personal and communal trauma of war. I loved it, but it HURT.

Ravishing the Heiress gave me that chest-constricting feeling that only high levels of angst and pining can achieve. This is a marriage of convenience, but between literal (figurative) babies of just 19 and 16. It's not at all what you expect, though. Our MMC, the now-Lord Fitzhugh, is determined to marry his teenage sweetheart, but through a series of unfortunate deaths, becomes the inheritor of an earldom and its crumbling estate and must marry the tinned-sardine-heiress, Millie, to save it from ruin. Our girl Millie falls for "Fitz" the moment they meet, but quickly realizes he is hopelessly in love with someone else and is only marrying her to save his family from debt. Millie refuses to let him see that she is pining, though, and insists on a pact - they agree they will not consummate their marriage for eight years and will each live free and unencumbered.

BUT THIS IS PERFECT. Because what we get is an incredible non-linear story of present-day Fitz and Millie (27 and 24, respectively) nearing the end of their pact, interspersed with flashbacks to their developing friendship as they grow up together. Millie adores him secretly. Fitz grows to admire her openly. They finally, FINALLY discover their love for each other. It. Is. Glorious. Slow. (SLOW). Burn.

If you loved the heart-wrenching tenderness and iron-clad respect between Harry and Thomas in Convergence of Desire, and if you are *trash-for-angst* and couldn't get enough of the friends-to-lovers-but-one-fell-first-and-waited-literal-years of Poppy and Alex in People We Meet on Vacation, this is your book.

If Thomas had given us another Fitz POV and 50 more pages to round out the 3rd act, this would be 5 stars for me.