I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Playing House by Ruby Lang. Enjoyable novella about two Chinese-American urban planners finding love in Manhattan.
Tag: novella (Page 7 of 28)
Monthly Mini Review
Even Tree Nymphs Get the Blues by Molly Harper, narrated by Amanda Ronconi & Jonathan Davis – B This is a novella-length audiobook which was free to Audible members and is set in the world of Mystic Bayou – a follow on from How to Date Your Dragon and Love and Other Wild Things, both of which I enjoyed very much. Rob Aspern is a human mathematician/data scientist with the League for Interspecies Cooperation. He was something of an antagonist (albeit a benign one) in Zed and Dani’s book – Zed and Bael still call him “Dr. Kendoll Assface” or “Dr. Assburn” – but now he gets his own HFN. Ingrid Asher is the tree nymph of the title. She moves to Mystic Bayou from New York, to open an Ice Creamery. She has been deeply hurt by a man in her past and Rob has a lot of work to do to get through Ingrid’s barriers.
Unsurprisingly, Ingrid is taken under the wing of Jillian, Dani and Sonia. Ingrid has little experience with Girls’ Night Out or friendships in general, having kept to herself for much of the last 70 years (she’s about 500 and is amortal) and the scene where she discusses dating with the girls is very funny. Penis size is mentioned. Also hilarious is the section where Zed and Bael are giving Rob dating advice. Bael shit-talks Zed constantly and it’s so funny. I bet Ms. Harper was cracking herself up writing them. Continue reading
I’m over at AudioGals with a review of Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole, narrated by Karen Chilton. Sweet and sexy second chance f/f novella – it would make a fabulous movie too!
Monthly Mini Review
Lucky Suit by Lauren Blakely, narrated by Zachary Webber & Andi Arndt – B Lucky Suit is a novella-length audiobook which was made available to Audible members for free. It features Cameron, the best friend/business partner of Lulu, the heroine of Birthday Suit, another recent release by Ms. Blakely. I listened to them back-to-back. The timelines in both books overlap but there’s a little fudging going on with that because they don’t quite match up perfectly. I probably only noticed because I listened to them so close together though.
Kristen is a scientist who lives next door to her beloved (and feisty) matchmaking grandmother, Jeannie. Jeannie has been setting up Kristen on dates but Kristen has called a halt. She believes in algorithms and science and is tired of the duds she’s been set up with. When Jeannie meets Cameron at a car auction again (they’d met a few times before) she realises that both Cameron and Kristen are single and she’s determined to bring the pair together – even though Cameron lives in New York and Kristen in Florida she just knows they’d be perfect together. Unfortunately, Cameron isn’t a fan of online dating and Kristen has sworn off blind dates. How then is she going to make this happen?? Continue reading
I’m over at AudioGals with a review of Be Not Afraid by Alyssa Cole, narrated by Karen Chilton What a powerful novella. It packed a punch and despite the heavy subject matter, it was also uplifting and hopeful with a very satisfying HEA.
Monthly Mini Review
Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert – B+ A light-hearted, funny, sexy Halloween-themed novella full of girl power where, no matter that the trope is fated mates, consent matters.
Luke Anthony is a werewolf who has the scent of his mate in his nostrils. Unfortunately, Chastity Adofo, his mate, comes from a family of Huntresses and is planning on killing him to cement her place in the family. She alone of all of her sisters has not been allowed to hunt because a witch prophesied at her birth that her first kill would “rip out her heart”.
The world building is somewhat unique among the oeuvre and very feminist – the women do the hunting and the men of the family are all caretakers and deeply in touch with their emotions. In this universe werewolves are largely solitary and, until they meet their mates, are not sexual. Luke doesn’t get an erection until he smells Chastity (and thereafter, it basically won’t go away. Of course.) Continue reading
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