#Susanna Craig

[readtilyoudie]

Expecting her to announce that she’d finally devised a way for her characters to live in perfect felicity, he was more than taken aback when she declared, “I refuse to give up my work once we’re wed.”

Surprise jerked through him, causing the reins in his hands to twitch and the horses to slow. With a soft chirrup, he urged them back to their steady pace before turning to Jane. “Who asked you to?”

Still stiff, she turned warily toward him. “I realize we had not discussed…” Beneath the lap blanket, one hand made a restless circle, a gesture that might have been intended to take in any number of things. “But I feared you might not think it proper for your countess to…”

“As it seems you may not be well acquainted with the lass, I’ll just tell you that my countess has a mind of her own. Nor am I overmuch concerned with propriety, if it comes to that.”

She weighed his response for a moment. The clip-clop of the horses’ hooves was loud in the stillness. “You’ll also be marrying a woman with a substantial fortune to her name. Though according to the law, everything I have will be yours.”

“Aye,” he agreed. “A scandal, if you ask me, but I canna change the law on my own, lass. I can only tell you I intend to order the solicitor to draw up papers to settle what’s yours however you see fit.” He shifted the reins to one hand so that he might slip the other beneath the heavy wool lap blanket in search of hers. “On our children, if you wish it,” he said, curling his fingers around one tightly balled fist.

Leaning forward just enough to peep around the fur edge of her hood, he watched her cheeks pink, and the slightest curve of a smile rise to her lips. “Do you suppose one day they’ll learn the truth and wish their inheritance had come from some more respectable source?”

“An’ who, may I ask, is raisin’ these bairns, that they haven’t the sense God gave a goose?” That earned him one of those tinkling laughs he loved so much. He squeezed her fingers again. “What’s more respectable than a book that makes folks happy?”

Who's That Earl (Love and Let Spy, #1) by Susanna Craig

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Lady Plays with Fire by Susanna Craig

Goode’s Guide to Misconduct #2

Words can be mightier than the sword ~ a playwright and a reviewer of plays using false names use words at first in anger then almost as foreplay as this historical romance sees an earl and a clergyman’s daughter fine their happily ever after.

What I liked: * Julia Addison: lady’s companion, reviewer for Mrs. Goode’s Magazine, dreamed of being on stage as a child, wrote a review that incensed Ransom Blackadder-playwright

* Graham McKay: Earl of Dunstan, aka Blackadder, used his writing skills to return his earldom to prosperity, witty, difficult backstory, intrigued by Julia

* Mrs. Mildred Hayes: Julia’s employer, bright and caring, enjoyed her part in the story

* The attraction between Julia and Graham and how their relationship came about

* The parallels between the play in the story and the lives of the main characters

* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing

* That there was no big “break-up” as many romances use

* The communication between Julia and Graham

* Julia’s brother – good older brother that cared for his sister – also that I could see him and Graham becoming like brothers in the future

* All of it really except…

What I didn’t like: * Who and what I was meant not to like

Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

BLURB

In this Bridgerton era You’ve Got Mail, the clever, popular, and deliciously shocking ladies’ periodical Mrs. Goode’s Magazine for Misses only employs women who are equal to the challenge—and for one biting theatre critic, that challenge happens to include romance.  A fast-paced, innovative, sexy historical romance with a modern twist that readers of Sabrina Jeffries, Sarah MacLean, and Julia Quinn will adore. As the daughter of a clergyman, Julia Addison knows she’ll never be able to fulfill her lifelong dream of acting on the stage. But writing forthright reviews of the Season’s most popular plays for Mrs. Goode’s Magazine for Misses, popularly known as Goode’s Guide to Misconduct is surely the next best thing. Even better, she’s got a ticket to Ransom Blackadder’s latest irritating satire about English society. Best of all, she’s sharing a theater box with the gruff but handsome Lord Dunstane, which is enough to make Julia call for an encore . . .   Graham McKay, the Earl of Dunstane, rarely leaves his home in the Scottish Highlands. Why would he? Nothing about London has ever held his interest—until he meets Julia. But when Graham realizes she is the critic who panned his last play—and she discovers he is in fact the man behind Blackadder’s wicked pen—will it bring down the curtain on their romance—not to mention the magazine that published the humiliating review? Or can an unexpected collaboration set the stage for a scandalous love affair?

[myplussizebookshelf]

Don't get me wrong I love confident plus size lead characters like Maria in 'ship wrecked', but I also love when the love interest is totally attracted and shows it(talk, touch) when the plus size lead isn't confident.

Books with that are 'say yes to the marquess' by Tessa Dare, 'who's that earl' by Susanna Craig or 'Nothing but a rake' by Abigail Bridges.

[tandewrites]

My Roman Empire Reads

This was originally going to be a list of my favourite books of all time, but I realised that my favourites shelf on Goodreads is littered with books I haven’t read or thought about in five years, I thought I’d focus on the books that still do occupy my brain space to this day, some read more recently than others. And I know the ‘Roman Empire’ meme is dead by now, but I have no other way to…

[englishsub]

book rec by me

so you want to get back into reading books but have no idea where to start and disdain booktok (if you get me started on this however i will become an unskippable cutscene so that's for another day). understandable. there is so much out there and it is all so overwhelming and you don't even know what you like now that you've been a decade out of the game. again, understandable. it does not have to be scary. i will help you. below i have created some categories that can get you started.

i want to read Literature

literary fiction, with crossover from historical fiction and magical realism

PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING by melissa fu

THE VASTER WILDS by lauren groff

THE FAMILY CHAO by lan samantha chang

OUTER DARK by cormac mccarthy

SEVERANCE by ling ma

LIGHT FROM UNCOMMON STARS by ryka aoki

IDENTITTI by mithu m. sanyal

PIRANESI by susanna clarke

i want to read sci-fi/fantasy that won't break my brain

sci-fi and fantasy that is gentler on the brain cells. easier to grasp magic systems with multiple but not an overwhelming number of overlapping plotlines

EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by heather fawcett

KINGS OF THE WYLD by nicholas eames

THE JASMINE THRONE by tasha suri

THE CITY OF BRASS by s.a. chakraborty

A RIVER ENCHANTED by rebecca ross

JUNIPER AND THORN by ava reid

BLACK SUN by rebecca roanhorse

THE FINAL STRIFE by saara el-arifi

THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER by andrea stewart

i want to read sci-fi/fantasy that forces me to lock the fuck in

i would not recommend picking these up as your first foray back into books after many years of not reading recreationally, but i'm not your mom.

THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER by simon jimenez

JADE CITY by fonda lee

THE FIFTH SEASON by n.k. jemisin

THE RAGE OF DRAGONS by evan winter

A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE by arkady martine

GIDEON THE NINTH by tamsyn muir

THE ART OF PROPHECY by wesley chu

THE GRACE OF KINGS by ken liu

horrify me!

there is far more to the horror literary canon than stephen king and dean koontz, i promise. consider looking up warnings for these.

TENDER IS THE FLESH by agustina bazterrica

THE RUINS by scott smith

CONFESSIONS by kanae minato

EPISODE THIRTEEN by craig dilouie

REPRIEVE by james han mattson

MARY by nat cassidy

DEAD SILENCE by s.a. barnes

AUDITION by ryu murakami

THE SALT GROWS HEAVY by cassandra khaw

don't care, i want romance

some of these feature crossover genres, like fantasy and horror.

VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE by isabel cañas

DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS by sue lynn tan

SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE by tia williams

HAPPY PLACE by emily henry

ONE DARK WINDOW by rachel gillig

i want QUEER romance

again, a mix of historical, fantasy, and contemporary crossover genres.

WE COULD BE SO GOOD by cat sebastian

IN MEMORIAM by alice winn

MOST ARDENTLY by gabe cole novoa

A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE by foz meadows

A MARVELLOUS LIGHT by freya marske

THE EMPEROR AND THE ENDLESS PALACE by justinian huang

SPELL BOUND by f.t. lukens

SORRY, BRO by taleen voskuni

ONE LAST STOP by casey mcquiston

DELILAH GREEN DOESN'T CARE by ashley herring blake

i haven't felt anything since i read percy jackson/the hunger games in middle school/high school

adventure is still out there.

SCYTHE by neil shusterman

WE HUNT THE FLAME by hafsah faizal

SIX OF CROWS by leigh bardugo

GEARBREAKERS by zoe hana mikuta

i'll read anything that's not straight or white

many books in the above categories fit this, but here's even more, across a variety of genres.

LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB by malinda lo

BABEL by r.f. kuang

WHEN THE RECKONING COMES by latanya mcqueen

THE UNBROKEN by c.l. clark

IF YOU'LL HAVE ME (graphic novel) by eunnie

LEGEND OF THE WHITE SNAKE by sher lee

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone

SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN by shelley parker-chan

"all ya books suck"

like any other genre or book age group, there are duds and there are standouts. ya is not special in this regard. try some of these!

DIVINE RIVALS by rebecca ross

STRIKE THE ZITHER by joan he

THE RED PALACE by june hur

A STUDY IN DROWNING by ava reid

EMPIRE OF SAND by tasha suri

LEGENDBORN by tracy deonn

i check out and read a lot of these books for free via my local library by using the libby app (you can even add your friends' library cards to gain access to libraries in places you don't live). when i'm feeling like reading via audiobook, i use libro fm!

look, no one HAS TO read diversely. no one is going to be reverse fahrenheit 451'd and locked in a room with no fanfic and only books and not let out until they work their way through the entire literary canon. but reading, and reading widely, and reading diversely, is what teaches people to form their own opinions and question the things they are told. it's why they hang up stuff like "READ READ READ!!" in grade school classrooms.

we live under systems that increasingly benefit from going unquestioned. no, of course reading ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE by robin hobb is not going to dismantle these systems tomorrow, nor probably even in our lifetimes. but doing it will help set up a world capable of doing it in the future. and until further notice, we are all part of this wretched world. might as well read a good story while we're here.

anyway, i'm reading THE WEST PASSAGE by jared pechaček and the new cmq book this week.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🗞️📖 Bookish News 📖🗞️

🦇 Extra, extra. Read all about it! 📖 Good evening, bookish bats! A lot happened in the publishing industry last month, but here are a few highlights you may have missed!

Adaptations Jennifer Lopez's production company and Netflix - Emily Henry's Happy Place Laika (Travis Knight directing) - Susanna Clarke's Piranesi Universal (Taika Waititi directing?) - Percival Everett's James We Were Liars adds Rahul Kohli to the cast Patrick Dempsey and Sarah Michelle Gellar have joined the cast of the Dexter prequel, Original Sin Chris McKay to direct Brynne Weaver’s Butcher and Blackbird Ayvan Williams, Jessica Belkin & Savannah Lee Smith casted for Becky Albertalli's The Upside of Unrequited First looks for Heartstopper S3 are out Apple TV - Laura Lippman's The Lady in the Lake Adult Swim - Anthony Bourdain’s graphic novel series, Get Jiro! UCP - Chris Witaker's All the Colors of the Dark The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Barbara Robinson A24 - Jennifer Lawrence starring - Paul Rainey's Why Don't You Love Me? Netflix - Richard E. Grant and Tom Ellis casted for The Thursday Murder Club Sony - Michael Crichton and James Patterson's Eruption Renee Zellweger starring in 12 Months to Live Awesomeness - Melissa De La Cruz's Blue Bloods The Uglies adaptation has a release date after 18 years (September 13) The trailer for Elin Hilderbrand's The Perfect Couple is up Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea is being adapted into a graphic novel Prime - Colin Firth joins the cast of Young Sherlock Universal - Omid Scobie's Royal Spin Netflix - Bridgerton Season 4 lead announced Amazon - Fourth Wing series adaptation is a go Apple TV - The trailer for Pachinko! Season 2 is up An adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Nickel Boys will open the 62nd New York Film Festival Patton Oswalt’s comic book Minor Threats is being adapted into a live-action series HBO - Dune: Prophecy releases in November

Cover Reveals Babylonia - Costanza Casati The Get Off - Christa Faust The Ragpicker King - Cassandra Clare What Does It Feel Like - Sophie Kinsella Wake Up and Open Your Eyes - Clay McLeod Chapman Ageless - Renee Schaeffer The Thirteenth Child - Erin A. Craig Song So Wild and Blue: A Life With Joni Mitchell - Paul Lisicky The Meadowbrook Murders - Jessica Goodman On Her Terms - Amy Spalding Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros The River Has Roots - Amal El-Mohtar The Wind Weaver - Julie Johnson In Gad We Trust - Josh Gad The Life of Herod the Great - Zora Neale Hurston (posthumous) The Other People - CB Everett How My Neighbor Stole Christmas - Meghan Quinn

Upcoming Releases I Saw the TV Glow director Jane Schoenbrun has a debut novel coming out, Public Access Afterworld Carol Moseley Braun is writing a memoir, Trailblazer: Perseverance in Life and Politics New memoir by Hilary Rodham Clinton The Road is Good - Uzo Aduba Leo Martino Steals Back His Heart - Eric Geron Viola Davis is co-writing with James Patterson

News Macmillan is launching a "new adult fiction" imprint. The 2024 Locus Award winners were announced The 2024 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards were announced Nebula Award winners were announced Random House is buying Boom! Studios

[foryouwereinmysong]

Thank you very much for tagging me, @tavolgisvist ! This was fun

last song: Boygenius - Letter To an Old Poet

last book: Just finished Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (loved it), and am (still) reading One Two Three Four by Craig Brown

last movie: I rewatched the first Joker

last tv show: I started Arcane yesterday and recently finished the latest season of Only Murders in the Building

sweet/spicy/savory: savory

relationship status: don't got one

last thing i googled: stevie nicks lindsey buckingham first record

current obsession: John Paul George & Ringo and baking bread

looking forward to: Paul's concert in Paris (actually quite anxious about it)

tagging: @mclennonlgbt @polito9 @elvispresley @m1ssunderstanding @i-am-the-oyster @jarsfullofstarrsand @undying-love @exhausted-think-bucket @thefortunateisle

or just everyone who wants to :)

[blue-hi]

i took a gap year after i graduated, and it's wild how many books you can read when you have no assignments to do. here's a list of the books i managed to finish, from june 2022 to today (both nonfiction and fiction):

One Coin Found (Emily Kegler)

The Starless Sea (Erin Morgenstern)

House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)

Dracula (Bram Stoker)

The Large Catechism of Martin Luther (Martin Luther)

Piranesi (Susanna Clarke)

Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury)

Sunless (Nick @sol1loqu1st)

The Anthropocene Reviewed (John Green)

Fevre Dream (George R.R. Martin)

Last on Grant (Philip H. Pfatteicher)

Carmilla (Sheridan Le Fanu)

Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson)

Episode Thirteen (Craig DiLouie)

EarthWorld (Jaqueline Rayner)

Unnatural History (Jonathan Blum & Kate Orman)

The Book of the Still (Paul Ebbs)

Vanishing Point (Stephen Cole)

Eater of Wasps (Trevor Baxendale)

The Year of Intelligent Tigers (Kate Orman)

The Slow Empire (Dave Stone)

that is so many

[dear-indies]

Hi Cat 🐱 and Mouse 🐭!! Can I please ask for some faceclaims with acting resources that could play the parents of Josefine Frida Pettersen, please? Thank you so much for every bit of your amazing help!! <3 :)

Kathleen Turner (1954)

Joan Allen (1956)

Linda Hamilton (1956)

Susanna Thompson (1958)

Sharon Stone (1958)

Meg Ryan (1961)

Jodie Foster (1962)

Nicollette Sheridan (1963)

Sarah Lancashire (1964)

Laura Linney (1964)

Robin Wright (1966)

Cynthia Nixon (1966)

Cynthia Watros (1968)

Jeri Ryan (1968)

Naomi Watts (1968)

Rachel Hunter (1969)

Jennifer Aniston (1969)

Laurie Holden (1969)

Ashley Jensen (1969)

Wendi McLendon-Covey (1969)

Mädchen Amick (1970)

Elizabeth Mitchell (1970)

and:

Jeff Fahey (1952)

Peter Gallagher (1955)

Vladimir Kulich (1956)

Eric Roberts (1956)

Denis Leary (1957)

Peter Capaldi (1958)

Clancy Brown (1959)

Bob Odenkirk (1962)

Jerome Flynn (1963)

Sebastian Roché (1964)

Richard Brake (1964)

Douglas Henshall (1965)

Neal McDonough (1966)

Vincent Cassel (1966)

Daniel Craig (1968)

Hey! I don't mean to be rude but can you (and any future requesters!) please wait more than two days before resending an ask as it takes me a while to do them - if I haven't replied in a week then you're welcome to resend!

[a-ramblinrose]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || February 28 || Read In February:      

31. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke ★★★★★

32. The Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amana ★★★★★

33. The Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell ★★★★★

34. Open Me Carefully by Emily Dickinson ★★★★★

35. Remarkable Books by Michael Collins ★★★

36. If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Anne Carson  ★★★★

37. The Little Blue Kite by Mark Z. Danielewski ★★

38. Heaven Official’s Blessing Vol. 5 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù ★★★★

39. The Virago Book of Love Poetry by Wendy Mulford ★★★★

& Still In Progress as of 2/28

Poems 1962-2012 by Louise Glück

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

[readtilyoudie]

“Alone is dangerous.”

“No,” she countered. “Alone is safe.”

But alone was not the same as loneliness, as she well knew. Loneliness was a piece of paper held above a flame, just out of reach of that tongue of fire. For the longest time, the heat touched nothing, caused no damage. Then, in the blink of an eye, a black spot appeared in the paper, then a hole, and finally, all was ash.

Who's That Earl (Love and Let Spy, #1) by Susanna Craig

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Lady Knows Best by Susanna Craig

Goode’s Guide to Misconduct #1

 The odd duck in the Burke family, always overlooked, merely average…or so she thinks...suddenly becomes the focus of rake Miles Viscount Devereaux often referred to as the devil, Devereaux. Daphne Burke has ideas that might make some think she is a bluestocking or radical reformer or just trying to find her position in the world so when an opportunity to write for a magazine appears, she is eager to take it thinking that she can write advice for young women even though she is still a rather naïve young woman herself. And then…the story really begins…

 What I Liked:

* Miles: wealthy, good family, titled, only child, cares about his home and the person who raised him, good friend, perhaps dyslexic, deeper than he appears to be on the surface, I liked him

* Daphne: second to last sister, opinionated, likes animals, believes rakes are despicable and to be avoided but is rather tempted by Miles

* The idea of the Magazine and thinking that more than likely the women involved with it will star in the books of the series – getting to meet them in this book was a taste of what is to come

* Meeting Daphne’s family – I think some of them and Mrs. Goode were in previous books by this author

* Alistair Hawthorne, Earl of Ryland: older brother of seven sisters, responsible for his siblings for 15 years, has severe allergies, good friend, good friend of Miles, hope he has a book of his own

* The way Miles and Daphne’s perceptions about one another and what they wanted in life changed as they grew and matured through the story

* Knowing that there is another book to look forward to

 What I didn’t like:

* That it took awhile for me to warm up to Daphne and actually believe she and Miles would have a good marriage…it did happen though…over the telling of the story.

 Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Yes

 Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books-Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 3-4 Stars

     BLURB

 In her print debut, award-winning author Susanna Craig launches a new Regency historical romance series, based around the daring ladies’ magazine, Mrs. Goode’s Magazine for Misses, Being a Guide to Improve Conduct and Promote Wisdom among Young Persons of the Fair Sex—also known as Goode’s Guide to Misconduct—and the witty, clever, often rebellious heroines behind it, including a controversial new advice columnist. A modern twist on the genre, will appeal to fans of Ella Quinn, Sabrina Jeffries, and those who love faster-paced, innovative historical romance featuring strong women. Serving as the advice columnist, ‘Miss Busy B.’, for an often-subversive ladies’ magazine is the perfect outlet for Daphne Burke’s outspoken nature. But when she advises a young lady of the ton, to break off her engagement to a notorious rake, the consequences take Daphne beyond the page and into her real life. Miles, Viscount Deveraux, sometimes known as ‘that devil Deveraux’, needs a respectable bride by the end of the Season, and he’s bet a fortune that he can get one. Now, his fiancée has not only changed her mind—but done it publicly, in a letter to London’s most infamous magazine. With the stakes high and time short, it seems reasonable to him that the columnist responsible should come to his rescue and marry him instead. Fortunately for Miles, Daphne is eager to escape the pressures of the London marriage mart. She agrees to a courtship. But at the end of two weeks, she intends to turn him down in a big, splashy, scandal that will ruin her reputation and set her free. There’s just one shocking wrinkle: Who knew being ruined by a rake could be so much fun?

[the-book-queen]

Hide your wallets, it’s that time again! #TBQsBookDealsYour Thursday thread of #romancedeals is ready, FREE to $1.99. Happy shopping! 📚❤

FREE ✦ His to Protect by Elena Aitken

Needing to get away from everything, she heads to a new mountain lodge, where she falls for the owner. Who also happens to be a bear shifter.

Paranormal Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3O2dkmU

FREE ✦ Falling for the Marquess by Julianne MacLean

American heiress goes to London to find a respectable match, but is tempted by the scandal-ridden hero.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3ptoU0V

$0.99 ✦ The Lady Knows Best by Susanna Craig

She's an advice columnist, he's a notorious rake. His fiancee just broke it off, publicly, after writing in to the advice column.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3PDzQng

$0.99 ✦ Charming the Billionaire by Kris Bock

He's starting up an ostrich ranch, she's a former vet tech who just moved to the area to work at her aunt's wildlife rescue.

Contemporary Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3rkm9j6

$1.99 ✦ Wild Wicked Scot by Julia London

Marriage of convenience, English heroine + Scottish chieftain. She fled their marriage a few years back, but now must return to figure out if he's involved in treason.

Historical Romance (MF) | https://amzn.to/3PJVO8c

Putting these lists together takes time. If you appreciate this content, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi. http://ko-fi.com/danielletbq

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: The Lady Knows Best by Susanna Craig

3/5. Releases 4/25/2023.

For when you're vibing with... lighthearted romance, historical heroines with jobs, Bridgerton vibes, and low stakes.

Outspoken Daphne Burke loves her secret role of advice columnist. The problem is that her latest advice has led to the rakish Miles, Viscount Deveraux, to be left by his fiancee. Bigger problem? Miles bet his fortune on bagging a bride by the end of the Season. Now bride-less, he tracks down Daphne and demands that she marries him instead. She agrees... planning to turn him down after a two-week courtship. If only Miles wasn't so fun...

This one wasn't quite for me, but I see the appeal. If you're looking for a lighter historical, this one is witty and could do the job.

Quick Takes:

--Miles is a classic rake, and entertaining on that level. What is he supposed to do??? Accept the consequences for his actions??? Do WORK??? Perish the thought! It's easy to see why Daphne, for all her headstrong nature, is charmed by him. He's got a vibe.

--That said, I feel like the romance was missing from this one. There is romance, there is sex, it's all technically there, but something just... didn't connect for me. I felt this book did a lot to set up the rest of the series, and less to make me really believe that Daphne and Miles were falling in love. It seemed like they fell because it was the thing to do, not because they were actually... falling.

--The stakes could've been ramped up. For all that Miles is a fun rake in theory, I never felt like anyone was in danger of being seduced and abandoned. Obviously, you don't want your rake heroes to actually do that (... normally...) but there should be this sense of understanding why he's seen as scandalous and untrustworthy. Here I was like "well honestly, he's not bad".

The Sex Stuff:

There is a bit of sex in this book, and it's neither super detailed nor super withheld. It's a lot like the book in general: not super alarming, not super outstanding. Perfectly fine.

I don't have a lot of complaints, but I'm also not super blown away. Again, I think this was a case of the book just not being right for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[specificpollsaboutbooks]

(Unverified yet) submissions for standalone fiction works :

Martyr! (Kaveh Akbar)

The Traveling Cat Chronicles (Hiro Arikawa)

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

The Last Unicorn (Peter Beagle)

Sin Eaters Confession (Ilsa J. Bick)

Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)

Synners (Pat Cadigan)

El Móvil (Javier Cercas)

To Be Taught If Fortunate (Becky Chambers)

Piranesi (Susanna Clarke)

Graffiti Moon (Cath Crowley)

Babel-17 (Samuel Delany)

Aces Wild: A Heist (Amanda DeWitt)

Children of Red Peak (Craig DiLouie)

Liar, Dreamer, Thief (Maria Dong)

Revolution (Jennifer Donnelly)

The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)

The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas)

This Is How You Lose The Time War (Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone)

The Great Gatsby (Francis Scott Fitzgerald)

Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)

A Lesson Before Dying (Ernest J. Gaines)

The Princess Bride (William Goldman)

Perfect on Paper (Sophie Gonzales)

Turtles All the Way Down (John Green)

The Midnight Library (Matt Haig)

Echo Thomas (Olde Heuvelt)

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Victor Hugo)

The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson)

Monday's Not Coming (Tiffany D. Jackson)

The Spear Cuts Through Water (Simon Jimenez)

The Vanished Birds (Simon Jimenez)

The Romantic Agenda (Claire Kann)

Hell Is A World Without You (Jason Kirk)

The Adventures of Pirate Emma (Kristen Korning)

Thomas the Rhymer (Ellen Kushner)

The Honeys (Ryan La Sala)

When the Angels Left the Old Country (Sacha Lamb)

The Friendship Doll (Kirby Larson)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

Horrid (Katrina Leno)

Elatsoe (Darcie Little Badger)

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor (Bianca Marais)

Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

Betty (Tiffany McDaniel)

Circe (Madeline Miller)

Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik)

Loveless (Alice Oseman)

Amity (Micol Ostow)

The Fortunate Fall (Cameron Reed)

Graveyard Shift (M. L. Rio)

The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (V.E. Schwab)

The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly (Luis Sepúlveda)

An Unkindness of Ghost s (Rivers Solomon)

The Scorpio Races (Maggie Stiefvater)

The Secret History (Donna Tartt)

Spiderlight (Adrian Tchaikovsky)

Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir)

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🗞️📖 Bookish News 📖🗞️

🦇 Extra, extra. Read all about it! 📖 Good evening, bookish bats! A lot happened in the publishing industry last month, but here are a few highlights you may have missed!

Adaptations Jennifer Lopez's production company and Netflix - Emily Henry's Happy Place Laika (Travis Knight directing) - Susanna Clarke's Piranesi Universal (Taika Waititi directing?) - Percival Everett's James We Were Liars adds Rahul Kohli to the cast Patrick Dempsey and Sarah Michelle Gellar have joined the cast of the Dexter prequel, Original Sin Chris McKay to direct Brynne Weaver’s Butcher and Blackbird Ayvan Williams, Jessica Belkin & Savannah Lee Smith casted for Becky Albertalli's The Upside of Unrequited First looks for Heartstopper S3 are out Apple TV - Laura Lippman's The Lady in the Lake Adult Swim - Anthony Bourdain’s graphic novel series, Get Jiro! UCP - Chris Witaker's All the Colors of the Dark The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Barbara Robinson A24 - Jennifer Lawrence starring - Paul Rainey's Why Don't You Love Me? Netflix - Richard E. Grant and Tom Ellis casted for The Thursday Murder Club Sony - Michael Crichton and James Patterson's Eruption Renee Zellweger starring in 12 Months to Live Awesomeness - Melissa De La Cruz's Blue Bloods The Uglies adaptation has a release date after 18 years (September 13) The trailer for Elin Hilderbrand's The Perfect Couple is up Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea is being adapted into a graphic novel Prime - Colin Firth joins the cast of Young Sherlock Universal - Omid Scobie's Royal Spin Netflix - Bridgerton Season 4 lead announced Amazon - Fourth Wing series adaptation is a go Apple TV - The trailer for Pachinko! Season 2 is up An adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Nickel Boys will open the 62nd New York Film Festival Patton Oswalt’s comic book Minor Threats is being adapted into a live-action series HBO - Dune: Prophecy releases in November

Cover Reveals Babylonia - Costanza Casati The Get Off - Christa Faust The Ragpicker King - Cassandra Clare What Does It Feel Like - Sophie Kinsella Wake Up and Open Your Eyes - Clay McLeod Chapman Ageless - Renee Schaeffer The Thirteenth Child - Erin A. Craig Song So Wild and Blue: A Life With Joni Mitchell - Paul Lisicky The Meadowbrook Murders - Jessica Goodman On Her Terms - Amy Spalding Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros The River Has Roots - Amal El-Mohtar The Wind Weaver - Julie Johnson In Gad We Trust - Josh Gad The Life of Herod the Great - Zora Neale Hurston (posthumous) The Other People - CB Everett How My Neighbor Stole Christmas - Meghan Quinn

Upcoming Releases I Saw the TV Glow director Jane Schoenbrun has a debut novel coming out, Public Access Afterworld Carol Moseley Braun is writing a memoir, Trailblazer: Perseverance in Life and Politics New memoir by Hilary Rodham Clinton The Road is Good - Uzo Aduba Leo Martino Steals Back His Heart - Eric Geron Viola Davis is co-writing with James Patterson

News Macmillan is launching a "new adult fiction" imprint. The 2024 Locus Award winners were announced The 2024 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards were announced Nebula Award winners were announced Random House is buying Boom! Studios