#Montlake

[solarbird]

Lots of weekend landscaping work happening at the Montlake lid this rainy Saturday – it’s crunch time before the opening ceremonies that’re finally happening next week.

I will, naturally, be dropping a revised MEGAMAP the day before, this coming Friday afternoon or evening (depending upon scheduling). I’ll also be dropping an updated Greater Northshore since there’s some Seattle-area updates which show up in its coverage area as well.

They’ll be posted here for free download, as always. The current version is from November.

And if you like my bike nonsense – or any of my other nonsense, for that matter – I have a patreon. And if you’re already there, as always, you have my heartfelt thanks! ^_^

[triviareads]

ARC Review of Something Extraordinary by Alexis Hall

Rating: 4.5/5 Heat Level: 3.75/5 Publication Date: December 17th

Premise:

Arabella Tarleton kidnaps her former friend Sir. Horley Comewithers to save him from an unwanted marriage, except she ends up kidnapped by him and eloping to Scotland instead.

My review

This was such a delightful read— hysterical in a way that veers towards absurd and full of equally hilarious modernisms, but it has so much heart and Big Feelings, and I admire the way Alexis Hall portrays the diversity of the queer experience so well in a historical setting.

Arabella is on the aromatic spectrum, and it's really interesting because she's also a big book lover who sees herself as the heroine of her own story (it's giving Catherine Morland)... except heroines usually have happy endings that involve falling in love and having grand romances, and Arabella has never quite been able to figure out that part. She's spent the last two books running away from a forced marriage, and then pushing away potential romantic partners, and now she's feeling lost. And it makes sense looking at this even from a modern perspective; In addition to the compulsory heterosexuality pushed upon us early on, there's also amatonormativity, the assumption that being in (usually monogamous) romantic relationships is the norm.

Belle is struggling to figure out what a "happy ending" means for her, so the distraction of "saving" Sir Horley from marrying a woman forced on him by his homophobic aunt couldn't have come at a better time. But Arabella being Arabella means that somewhere along the way, she decides to abandon her plan of kidnapping and eloping with Sir Horley... except Horley has a pang of conscience and kidnaps her right back to "save her reputation".

And that's Arabella to a tee; I think she is one of the more frustrating heroines I've read in a romance novel just because of her tendency to literally run away from her problems therefore making them bigger problems for everyone (as valid as her problems are; The patriarchy and forced heteronormativity suck!), and also her being quite.... trigger-happy. BUT Alexis Hall completely converted me over by the end, and other than enjoying her zany antics and novel way of looking at world, I empathized with her quite a lot.

I also really loved getting to read Sir Horley as a hero in his own right;. I'm SO glad he was never written off as a gay best friend because in the last two books, other characters considered him a shallow bon vivant even though he was a reliable friend to the Tarletons and co. Here, you get the raw, stripped down version of him (and unlike the prior two books, you do get both his and Arabella's POV). Horley— Rufus, as he decides to go with halfway through the book—has faced his share of tragedy and rejection, but the narrative doesn't super wallow on that.... he's not a sadboi hero by any means. He's quite cutting and much more competent than people give him credit for, but he also this tender side with Arabella that was already present while they were friends, but it's really lovely to see it develop into something more permanent as the book goes on.

The sex:

There is an EXCELLENT variety— there are MM, FF, and MF scenes. Arabella and Rufus have a non-monogamous relationship, and later on marriage as well.

This book is also a lot kinkier than the prior two and it's approached with the same lightheartedness as the rest of this book; consent is discussed and then you have everything from highwayman kidnapping roleplay to spanking, and yes, there is a Daddy moment— you'll be surprised how that comes about, but like the rest of this novel, in a GREAT way.

Overall:

I adored reading how Arabella and Rufus create their own rules for their marriage and seeing them happy together is everything. This is truly a boundary-pushing historical romance and I would highly recommend this to any romance reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[christmaslightssalesman]

By the banks, buried in the colors

Do I live within the breeze.

[lgbtqreads]

March 2023 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction Author of STARS COLLIDE Rachel Lacey‘s COVER STORY, a sapphic bodyguard romance featuring an A-list actress in need of extra protection who hires a female bodyguard to pose as her girlfriend in order to keep the real story under wraps, again to Lauren Plude at Montlake, by Sarah Younger at Nancy Yost Literary Agency (world). Laura R. Samotin‘s THE SINS ON THEIR BONES, pitched as…

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

From Air by Jewel E. Ann

Wildfire #1

Immersive, emotional, heart-warming, wonderful story that drew me in, made me care, and left me with a smile on my face

What I liked: * Reading a new-to-me-author that I would gladly read again

* Jamie: RN, homeschooled, quiet upbringing, lost her parents, good friend, traveling psychiatric nurse, wants to experience new places before settling down, mature, wise, caring, a person I would like to have as a friend

* Calvin: smoke jumper, difficult backstory, emotionally reserved, voracious reader, somewhat blocked off from others, likable, “broken”, loves deeply, caring, good friend, intriguing

* Supporting characters that were important and that I would like to see again: Maren, Will, and Melissa for sure…perhaps a few others

* Edith: Calvin’s grandmother who played a big part in Calvin’s life

* The development of the relationship between Jamie and Calvin ~ fun, flirty, quirky, sometimes difficult, and ultimately perfect

* The psychological and emotional issues dealt with, honest open communication of the main characters, the support of community and friends

* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing ~ Excellently crafted book!

* The growth of both main characters as they processed new information and dealt with past and present issues

* Being reminded of taking student nurses to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino and wondering if perhaps Dwight was in that prison/facility

* All of it really except…

What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* The emotional pain some of the characters experienced and the causes of that pain

Did I like this book? Yes

Would I read more by this author? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

BLURB

Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Jewel E. Ann parachutes into the burning, hazardous heart of love in a sexy yet dramatic romance set in Big Sky country. When Jamie Andrews moves in with a house full of firefighters, things start heating up fast. Battling the wilderness of rural Montana, these guys are always charging into danger—for a living, for duty, for the rush—and since Jamie is a psychiatric nurse, they fascinate her analytic mind. She can’t help but fixate on Calvin, a grumpy, enigmatic smoke jumper ten years her senior. She makes playfully tormenting him her pet project, trying to get him to open up. It turns out he gives as good as he gets. When something smoldering between them sparks, they’ll have to keep it quiet, which makes Jamie start to wonder about Calvin’s secret, the one he won’t explain. She’ll learn more after life pulls them apart. But as she follows the truth like a trail of flame into the dark, will it lead her to hearth and home with Calvin…or will it all go up in a blaze?

[bucolicbook]

The Wolf of Mayfair by Christi Caldwell 

US pub date - 10/22/24

With such statements as “His randy shaft…”, I tried. I really did, because I’ve always enjoyed Ms Caldwell’s work, but this tried my nerves from the very beginning and after 8 chapters I had to put this down because the MMC was a jerk of such immense proportions that I couldn’t go on reading. 

I will likely pick this up again in the future and in the meantime, I hope other readers will enjoy this one more than I.

Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for the DRC

[flaviathebibliophile]

Do Me a Favor by Cathy Yardley (ARC Review)

Title: Do Me a Favor Author: Cathy Yardley Type: Fiction Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance Publisher: Montlake Date published: July 23, 2024 A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Firefly Books Distribution in exchange for an honest review. Willa Lieu-Endicott moved from California to the Pacific Northwest to start over. Since her husband’s death, she’s been…

[thegreypedaler]

[overflowingshelf]

ARC Review: What is Love? by Jen Comfort

What is Love? Jen Comfort Publisher: Montlake Publication Date: April 1, 2024 Series or Standalone: Standalone Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads – StoryGraph Rating: MY REVIEW CW: aging parent suffering from memory decline; death of a parent (off-page); addiction (gambling) When I saw that Jen Comfort was writing a contemporary romance centered around a Jeopardy! like game show,…

[callahanvilla]

[bargainsleuthbooks]

#IntheLikelyEvent #RebeccaYarros #AmazonFirstReads #KindleDeal #BookReview #Thriller #Romance #NewBooks #August2023Books #Montlake #BrillianceAudio

#Militaryfiction is not usually my bag, but #Inthelikelyevent is really a #contemporaryromance. #Amazonfirstreads #kindledeal #rebeccayarros #bookreview #newbooks #august2023books #montlake #brillianceaudio #thriller #afghanistan #ladyhawke

When Izzy Astor gets on a plane to go home, she isn’t expecting much. It’s the usual holiday travel experience: busy, crowded, stressful. Then she spots her seatmate, who is anything but ordinary. Nate Phelan sports dark hair, blue eyes, and a deliciously rugged charm that Izzy can’t resist. Their connection is undeniable. Izzy never believed in destiny before, but she does now. Just ninety…

[triviareads]

ARC Review of Played by Naima Simone

Rating: 3.75/5 Heat Level: 3.75/5 Pub Date: September 3rd

Premise:

While she's on call, firefighter Adina Wright comes across a therapy journal that she reads and realizes belongs to hockey player Solomon Young.

My review:

Here's what I liked about this book: Naima Simone didn't shy away from creating actual conflict between the hero and heroine. Adina and Solomon meet over, essentially, her violating his privacy, and they sort of go from there. Both Dina and Solomon have somewhat recently lost partners and are still grieving, and as a result have their walls up and are quite prickly towards one another for a decent portion of the book. Solomon also has his young son to consider and doesn't want to jump into anything serious because he believes his late wife was the sole love of his life. Which is rough for Adina especially when she starts to fall for him, even if they're EXTREMELY blunt about their initial intentions towards one another.

Regarding the secondary plots, there is a workplace sexual harassment in this book; Dina is one of the few Black, female firefighters in the area and not only deals with racism and sexism, but she also feels like she cannot go to her superiors without blowback on her, despite her family being in the business for generations.

Solomon is also one of the few Black men in his profession, hockey, and he's in this weird place where his (white) boss is also his late wife's father, who constantly questions his parenting choices and it does get to the point where he tacitly threatens Solomon's career. Again, rough to read, but I appreciate the nuance with which Naima wrote this situation. That being said, it started to feel like they were going in circles and rehashing the same issues over and over without much changing until the tail end.

There was also a revenge porn situation that felt extremely last minute did not tie in with the rest of the plot, especially considering the culprit.

The sex:

UBER HOT, as is standard for this author. The dirty talk is super explicit, and the body worship is THERE because if there's one thing Naima Simone does better than probably any other romance author I've read, it's eroticizing bodies of all shapes, skin tones, and sizes; Adina is tall, curvy, and Solomon is obsessed. Highlights for me are probably Solomon's tendency towards hand necklaces, his admittance that this is the first time he's looking a woman in the eye while he's inside her because Dead Wife Feelings and whatnot, and the quite frankly excellent command, "fuck it like you own it".

Overall:

I love Naima Simone's writing style and the chemistry in her romances are always super hot, and though this book is no exception, I felt the plot was not as tight as it could have been. However, if you're a fan of hockey romances or single dads, this might be your jam.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[you-are-willcome]

Hey Seattle Area!👋 I recently started an in-home/ pick-up & drop off knife sharpening business!

Are your knives in need of some TLC?

Well, then check out my website for pricing and bookings!

Thank you for all the support! I am flabbergasted by the outpour of interest and kindness.

[bucolicbook]

Party Favors by Sariah Wilson US pub date - 7/30/24

.

.

The only character who seemed more than a full on caricature was Vella. I wasn’t able to connect with this story due to this as well as the super instantaneous romance. This one really lagged for me. 

.

Many other readers are likely to enjoy; I just wasn’t the right reader for this. 

.

.

.

Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for the DRC

[allthingsdarkanddirty]

🏖️ BOOK SALE 🏖️

Grab After All by Heidi McLaughlin for just $1.99!! Or read for with a Kindle Unlimited Subscription

➜ https://amzn.to/3sVtXnt 

"He fell in love here for the first time, with someone who never saw him for who he was until it was too late."

Blurb:

Rennie has it all: a boyfriend, a good job, a best friend who lives a stone’s throw away . . . but something’s missing. She isn’t sure what until she returns to Cape Harbor, her home away from home near the sea. There, she crosses paths with her college love, Graham. Rennie’s drawn to him but fears her life has wandered too far from his.

Graham returned to Cape Harbor to care for his brother, the town alcoholic. Stuck behind the bar running the family business, Graham can’t believe how mundane his life has become. Even so, he’s resigned himself to living for others, his own desires for adventure and romance taking a back seat—until Rennie walks through his door.

Graham feels the weight of his ordinary life; Rennie has a boyfriend and a busy life in the city. But neither can deny the rekindled spark between them. Will they find their way back to one another?