RogerBW's Blog

Capture the Sun, Jessie Mihalik 09 March 2024

2023 SF/romance, third of a trilogy. Lexi Bowen, professional thief, fell for human-adjacent hottie Nilo Shoren, but he dumped her and stole her job. But why does he have to be so nice?

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Dark Horse, Michelle Diener 06 March 2024

2015 SF/romance, first of a series. Rose McKenzie was kidnapped from Earth and was kept as a prisoner and experimental subject aboard a space battleship, until she managed to escape. Dav Jallan doesn't know why this battleship has turnd up in his region of space, or why its crew is dead, but…

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The Boxing Baroness, Minerva Spencer 05 March 2024

2022 Regency romance. Marianne Simpson boxes at Farnham's Fantastical Female Fayre, run by her uncle. She has good reason to be suspicious of aristocratic men. But the Duke of Staunton has need of her…

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All is Fair, Emma Newman 02 March 2024

2013 fantasy, third volume of its series. Cathy tries to kick off her project to reform society in the Nether; Max still works for the increasingly erratic sorcerer Ekstrand; Sam is dragged into the Elemental Court.

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Eclipse the Moon, Jessie Mihalik 27 February 2024

2022 SF/romance, second of a trilogy. Kee Ildez knows that human-adjacent hottie Varro Runkow isn't interested in her, and anyway she's got lots of hacking to do to track down the various conspirators left in the wind…

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Halloween (1978) 17 February 2024

1978 horror, dir. John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance: IMDb / allmovie. The killer child has grown up and come home.

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Any Other Name, Emma Newman 09 February 2024

2013 fantasy, second volume of a series. Cat's forced into marriage; Max and the gargoyle investigate a sudden power vacuum; Sam worries about his wife.

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Hunt the Stars, Jessie Mihalik 07 February 2024

2022 SF/romance, first of a trilogy. Octavia Zarola can't afford to turn down a retrieval mission. Even if it's from the people who were at war with humanity.

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Happy Ever After, Nora Roberts 29 January 2024

2010 romance, last of its loose tetralogy. Parker Brown and three of her childhood friends run a wedding business, everything from engagement photos to the Big Day; she does the overall organisation and client-wrangling. She isn't looking for romance…

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Honor and Shadows, Jessie Mihalik 22 January 2024

2022 SF/romance novelette, prequel to a trilogy. Captain Octavia Zarola is a bounty hunter with a heart of gold.

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Between Two Thorns, Emma Newman 12 January 2024

2013 fantasy, first of a series. There are magical worlds beyond our own… and most of the people who live there are horrible.

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Carry On, Celia Lake 13 December 2023

2020 romantic fantasy, first of a new loose series. In the spring of 1915, Major Roland Gospatrick is recovering in hospital, though nobody will tell him what's wrong with him. Elen Morris is assigned as his latest nurse, though he doesn't expect her to last any longer than the others.

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Only Good Enemies, Jennifer Estep 06 November 2023

2023 romantic SF, second of a planned trilogy. Vesper Quill is trying to pretend she doesn't have an unbreakable psychic bond with Kyrion Caldaren, so that the Emperor doesn't eat their souls (he has form). But to get through all the things being thrown at them they'll need to use not only their own powers but each other's.

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Faro's Daughter, Georgette Heyer 16 October 2023

1941 Regency-adjacent romance. Deb Grantham, though of good birth, has ended up as a faro-dealer in her aunt's gaming house. She's taking what amusement she can from stringing along several beaux, while refusing any serious entanglements. But one of them is the wealthy young Lord Mablethorpe, and his mother, terrified by the idea of his making an unsuitable marriage, sends her nephew, man-of-the-world Mr Ravenscar, to buy her off…

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The Belle of Belgrave Square, Mimi Matthews 04 October 2023

2022 Victorian romance. Julia Wychwood suffers from professionally invalid parents and crippling shyness, and her only escape has been to rely on her friends and to pretend illness herself. But her friends are away for a crucial few days, and her parents are forcing her to socialise. Meanwhile Captain Jasper Blunt, notoriously cruel hero of the siege of Sebastopol, rumoured to have a string of bastards and a haunted estate in Yorkshire, is looking for a rich wife…

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Seven Sisters, Celia Lake 18 September 2023

2020 romantic fantasy, seventh and last of its loose series. Vivian Porter's inquiry agency is humming along, so she does a favour for a friend by looking into strange goings-on at a boarding house outside Oxford.

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The Winter Companion, Mimi Matthews 01 September 2023

2020 Victorian romance. Neville Cross has always got on with animals better than with people, particularly since the injury that made it hard for him to speak. Clara Hartwright is a lady's companion with unconventional plans for the future. Will they turn a brief acquaintance during a Christmas visit into something more?

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A Convenient Fiction, Mimi Matthews 04 August 2023

2019 Victorian romance. Laura Hayes' father died of the same fever that left her brother an invalid, and what was left of the family business and land is tied up by a grasping lawyer. Alex Archer, professional card sharp, is trading in the thousands of pounds owed to him by his latest victim for an introduction to an heiress, who happens to be Laura's neighbour…

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On the Bias, Celia Lake 19 July 2023

2020 romantic fantasy, sixth of its loose series. Castalia Jones has built up her dressmaking business to the point where she can make choices about what to make, and for whom. Benton is Lord Carillon's valet, factotum, and household manager. They don't particularly like each other…

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A Modest Independence, Mimi Matthews 14 July 2023

2019 Victorian romance. Jenny the vicar's daughter left home to be a lady's companion. Now the lady's married, but has settled a moderate amount of money on her. So she decides to go to India and track down the truth of what happened to the lady's brother.

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The Matrimonial Advertisement, Mimi Matthews 07 June 2023

2018 Victorian romance. Helena is desperate to escape from her family; Justin is a scarred ex-soldier living in isolation in Devon and has advertised for a wife…

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In the Cards, Celia Lake 10 May 2023

2019 romantic fantasy, fifth of its loose series. Lorelei "Laura" Penhallow has been healed of her consumption enough to live a normal life, and that includes being invited for a weekend house party by a family with an eligible son. But we all know what happens at weekend house parties.

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A Scandalous Kind of Duke, Mia Vincy 29 March 2023

2022 American Regency-ish romance, part of a loosely linked series. Juno Bell and the future Duke of Dammerton knew each other as children, but he had his duty, and then she had her life as a scandalous artist. But fate keeps throwing them together.

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The Siren of Sussex, Mimi Matthews 25 March 2023

2022 Victorian romance. Evelyn Maltravers has a Grand Plan: she'll wow fashionable London with her riding, then find a wealthy husband to pay for bringing out her sisters. But to do that she will need the right riding habit, and Ahmad Malik the tailor is her man for that…

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A Prince on Paper, Alyssa Cole 22 February 2023

2019 romance, third in the Reluctant Royals series. Nya Jerami, daughter of the man who tried to overthrow the Thesolan government, finds herself thrown together with Prince Johan Maximillian von Braustein, bad boy darling of the tabloids…

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Wards of the Roses, Celia Lake 13 February 2023

2019 romantic fantasy, fourth of its loose series. Kate Davies is a Guard, one of the magical police force of England. There was more interesting work when the men were off at the Great War, but what's left is better than nothing. Her new assignment is to help out Giles Lefton, mathematics professor and puzzle-solver, as he tries to solve the riddle of a country house that has suddenly appeared, surounded by a mass of roses.

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Can't Escape Love, Alyssa Cole 25 January 2023

2019 romance novella, in the Reluctant Royals series. Regina Hobbs was always the "good" daughter in her parents' eyes, and having to use a wheelchair hasn't changed that, but she has built things on her own too…

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Spider's Bite, Jennifer Estep 18 January 2023 - 2 comments

2010 urban fantasy, first of a 19-book series. In a magical world, Gin Blanco is an assassin for hire, until the job goes bad.

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Never Let Me Go (2010) 14 January 2023 - 4 comments

2010 SF romance, dir. Mark Romanek, Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley: IMDb / allmovie. The generic love triangle plays out over a dark background. Spoilers.

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Love Lettering, Kate Clayborn 21 December 2022

2019 romance. Meg Mackworth hand-letters journals and planners, and spots patterns in things; last year when Reid Sutherland and his fiancée came in for their wedding stationery, she got a Feeling, and couldn't resist working a hidden message of M-I-S-T-A-K-E into the invitation. Now he's back…

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Magician's Hoard, Celia Lake 14 December 2022

2019 romantic fantasy, third of its loose series. Proserpina Gates, widowed bookseller, is helping a client find a rumoured Roman treasure on her land. Ibis Ward is the scholar she engages to assist with the research…

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Only Bad Options, Jennifer Estep 09 November 2022

2022 romantic SF, first of a planned trilogy. Vesper Quill is a designer working on various high-tech products for the penny-pinching Kent Corporation. Kyrion Caldaren is the Emperor's right hand, head of his elite forces. There's no reason they would ever even meet

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Goblin Fruit, Celia Lake 29 October 2022

2019 romantic fantasy, second of its loose series. In a slightly sideways magical 1924, Elspeth Penhallow finds herself looking into the suppliers of an addictive magical drink. As does Lord Geoffrey Carillon…

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Savor the Moment, Nora Roberts 19 October 2022

2010 romance. Laurel McBane and three of her childhood friends run a wedding business, everything from engagement photos to the Big Day; she does the cakes. Delaney Brown is the brother of one of the other friends, who's known them all for years and treats them like little sisters…

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Book Lovers, Emily Henry 07 October 2022

2022 romance. Nora Stephens is the other woman, the city-living partner who gets dumped after the man in her life has a life-changing rural experience. Until her sister takes her on a rural experience of her own…

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The Vampire Next Door, Natalie Vivien and Bridget Essex 26 September 2022

2015 paranormal romance. Courtney owns a failing antiquarian bookshop, and has a joyless relationship with Mia. Then the gorgeous vampire walks in looking for a rare book…

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Outcrossing, Celia Lake 17 September 2022

2018 romantic fantasy, first of its loose series. In a slightly sideways magical 1922, Rufus tries to find work and keep up his cottage in the New Forest, but everyone despises him as one of the few to have come back unharmed from the War. Feronia, of rather better family but having taken work as a governess to escape from an arranged marriage, is one of the people who might take him seriously…

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Chaos Reigning, Jessie Mihalik 08 July 2022

2020 SF/romance, last of a trilogy. Catarina von Hasenberg, the youngest of the heirs to one of the three Great Houses, has a public persona as a partying idiot… and some of the time even she believes it. But she'll still go undercover at a rival House's summer retreat to try to get proof relating to the kidnapping of her brother.

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The Corinthian, Georgette Heyer 06 July 2022

1940 Regency romance. Sir Richard Wyndham, contemplating the loveless but respectable marriage everyone's been badgering him to make for years and with no particular reason or excuse to put it off any longer, celebrates his last night before engagement by getting monstrously drunk. As he stumbles homewards, he spots a lad climbing down from a window on knotted sheets… early US vt Beau Wyndham.

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Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) 21 June 2022 - 3 comments

1997 crime drama and romantic comedy, dir. George Armitage, John Cusack, Minnie Driver; IMDb / allmovie. What could go wrong with combining an assassination job with your high school reunion?

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A Merciful Promise, Kendra Elliot 07 June 2022

2019 romantic mystery, sixth and last in the Mercy Kilpatrick series. Mercy's hastily dropped into an undercover job, while her police chief fiancé conducts a separate investigation.

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Mary Reilly 06 June 2022

1996 romantic horror, dir. Stephen Frears, Julia Roberts, John Malkovich: IMDb / allmovie. Mary is a maid of all work in the household of one Dr Jekyll…

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The English Patient 29 May 2022 - 1 comment

1996 romantic drama, dir. Anthony Minghella, Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas: IMDb / allmovie. As the final victory over Axis forces in Italy approaches, a nurse looks after a badly-burned mystery man in an abandoned monastery.

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Aurora Blazing, Jessie Mihalik 28 May 2022

2019 SF/romance. Bianca von Hasenberg, a rich widow (rumour has it, by her own hand), spends her resources trying to save other women from the grinder that is Consortium social life. But when she's attacked and the heir to von Hasenberg is kidnapped…

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A Merciful Fate, Kendra Elliot 25 April 2022

2019 romantic mystery, fifth in the Mercy Kilpatrick series. A body found in the woods could be connected with an armoured car robbery thirty years ago. FBI agent Kilpatrick and her police chief fiancé Truman Daly, among others, investigate.

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Abandoned in Death, J. D. Robb 29 March 2022

2022 SF/mystery; 54th novel of J. D. Robb's In Death series (SF police procedurals). The woman's body, throat slit, is dumped on a playground bench, neatly dressed and made up but decades out of style. And the note reads Bad Mommy.

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Polaris Rising, Jessie Mihalik 14 March 2022

2019 SF/romance. Ada von Hasenberg, younger daughter of one of the three Houses that together rule human space, has been on the run for two years from an arranged marriage. She's finally been caught… but then they made the mistake of putting her in a cell with the man-monster.

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The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer 20 February 2022

1936 romance. Sylvester Lavenham is dying, and is determined to protect his niece Eustacie (young and excitable) by betrothing her to his nephew Sir Tristram Shield (rather older, stolid, but willing to do his duty). Naturally, she must run away to London to become a governess. But she wasn't expecting smugglers…

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A Merciful Silence, Kendra Elliot 23 January 2022

2018 romantic mystery, fourth in the Mercy Kilpatrick series. Skeletal human remains turn up in a blocked culvert, with a pattern of injury consistent with a killer from twenty years ago. And in this small town, many of the people who were involved back then are still around now.

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A Dangerous Kind of Lady, Mia Vincy 18 December 2021

2020 American Regency-ish romance, part of a loosely linked series. Arabella Larke and the Marquess of Hardbury were promised to each other as children, but on coming back from years overseas the first thing he did was refuse to abide by the parental plan. That suits her. But it's not going to work out that way.

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The Fiend Queen, Barbara Ann Wright 22 November 2021

2015 fantasy, last of the Katya and Starbride tetralogy. Katya and Starbride are both fighting to depose the Fiend-possessed usurper Roland, but winning that battle won't be the hardest thing either of them has to do.

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The Convenient Marriage, Georgette Heyer 16 October 2021

1934 romance. The Winwoods are a good family, but impoverished; the rich Earl of Rule needs a wife. He offers for the oldest sister, as is proper, but Elizabeth already has a beau (though a sadly poor one), so young Horatia suggests that she might do just as well. A marriage of convenience seems like a good idea to both of them, but…

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Forgotten in Death, J. D. Robb 03 October 2021 - 2 comments

2021 SF/mystery; 53rd novel of J. D. Robb's In Death series (SF police procedurals). A woman is found dumped on a demolition site; while Eve Dallas is investigating that, another body turns up nearby, but it's been walled up for forty years.

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A Beastly Kind of Earl, Mia Vincy 18 September 2021

2019 American Regency-ish romance, part of a loosely linked series. Thea Knight disguises herself as her sister Helen, so that Helen can elope with her beau. Lord Luxborough, set to watch Helen, realises what's going on, and works out that if he marries the woman under a false name he can get access to the family money he needs without the inconvenience of a wife he doesn't want…

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Bed of Roses, Nora Roberts 21 August 2021 - 2 comments

2009 romance. Emmaline Grant and three of her childhood friends run a wedding business, everything from engagement photos to the Big Day; she does the flowers and decoration. Jack Cooke is a family friend, and the architect working on the business's various expansions and extensions. They've known each other for years, but then all of a sudden…

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A Kingdom Lost, Barbara Ann Wright 05 August 2021

2014 fantasy, third of a tetralogy. Princess Katya is with the royal family, trying to drum up support for an army to retake the capital and depose the usurper. Her lover Starbride is hiding in the capital, gathering information and building a resistance.

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A Merciful Secret, Kendra Elliot 06 July 2021

2018 romantic mystery, third in the Mercy Kilpatrick series. One snowy night, Mercy nearly runs over a child seeking help for her dying grandmother. Who, it becomes clear, has been murdered.

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Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer 04 May 2021

1932 romance. The reprobate Marquis of Vidal, having casually fought a duel over dice, must flee to France. He plans to take his latest would-be conquest with him, but that lady's sister has other ideas.

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Faithless in Death, J. D. Robb 22 March 2021

2021 SF/mystery; sixty-third story or 52nd novel of J. D. Robb's In Death series (SF police procedurals). A sculptor is killed in her studio; it looks as though her lover did it. But there's more to be found behind the obvious case.

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Shadow Game, Christine Feehan 22 February 2021

2003 SF romance, first of an ongoing series. Captain Ryland Miller volunteered to become a psychically-enhanced soldier, but he's ended up in a cage. Lily Whitney, daughter of the scientist running the project, has abilities of her own, and when her father disappears she has to work out who might be trustworthy.

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Shadows in Death, J. D. Robb 16 February 2021

2020 SF/mystery; sixty-second story of 51st novel of J. D. Robb's In Death series (SF police procedurals). The latest murder victim whom Lt Eve Dallas is investigating was killed by a professional assassin… who's a figure from her husband Roarke's criminal past, and who may be out to get him too.

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For Want of a Fiend, Barbara Ann Wright 26 December 2020

2012 fantasy, second of a tetralogy. Princess Katya and her consort Starbride must deal with opposition on several fronts, even if it does lead back to the same source.

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A Wicked Kind of Husband, Mia Vincy 02 December 2020

2018 American Regency-ish romance, part of a loosely linked series. Cassandra has been married for two years, and has only met her husband once; it was arranged by her father and neither partner wanted anything more than the legalities. But now she has her sisters to launch into society, and she'll have to use his London house to do it…

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The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer 16 November 2020 - 2 comments

1928 Georgian romance. As the consequences of the rebellion of '45 are still being felt, two fugitives from the losing side set off for London – disguised as the opposite sexes.

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The Tiger's Daughter, K. Arsenault Rivera 18 September 2020 - 10 comments

2017 fantasy romance, first of its series. The Hokkaran Empire rules practically everyone, including the Qorin horse nomads whom it conquered half a generation ago. But plagues and demons are rising, and two young warriors will have to save the world.

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The Pyramid Waltz, Barbara Ann Wright 19 July 2020

2012 fantasy, first of a tetralogy. As far as the court is concerned, Princess Katya spends her time at (both sorts of) venery; in fact she leads a secret band that hunts magic-using enemies of the king. Starbride is a foreigner sent to court to snare a rich lover, but she'd much rather spend her time studying law…

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A Merciful Truth, Kendra Elliot 15 June 2020

2017 romantic mystery, second in the Mercy Kilpatrick series. Someone's been starting fires in the small Oregon town where Mercy grew up and is now trying to rebuild bridges with her family; when the police who turn up in response to the fires start getting shot, the FBI gets involved and puts her on the case.

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These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer 13 June 2020

1926 romance. The evil Duke of Avon, walking through Paris, finds an urchin fleeing from a beating and buys him as a page. But, being who he is, he has plans within plans.

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Rose Cottage, Mary Stewart 15 May 2020

1997 romantic mystery. Kate Herrick was married, then very soon widowed, during the War; a few years later, she travels to her childhood home, to sort out the furniture that'll be sent to her grandmother in Scotland. And to get some papers left in a safe. But they're missing…

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Once Ghosted, Twice Shy, Alyssa Cole 28 April 2020

2019 romance novella in the Reluctant Royals series. Likotse, assistant to Prince Thabiso, met someone amazing while she was briefly in New York last year - but then Fabiola cut things off without explanation, and Likotse's been trying to forget her ever since. Now, by chance, they meet again…

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The Black Moth, Georgette Heyer 22 April 2020

1921 romance, first of Heyer's novels. Six years ago Jack Carstares left England in disgrace, having admitted to cheating at cards. Now in 1751 he's back, and living as a highwayman, leaving the family home to his brother even though his father has died and he's now the rightful Earl; but meanwhile Tracy Belmanoir, the sinister Duke of Andover, has his eyes on beautiful Diana Beauleigh…

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A Duke by Default, Alyssa Cole 14 April 2020 - 4 comments

2018 romance, second in the Reluctant Royals series. Portia Hobbs, former self-indulgent hot mess, has gone to Scotland to apprentice in sword-making.

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Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire, Dru Pagliassotti 12 April 2020

2014 steampunk fantasy romance, third in the Clockwork Heart trilogy. Taya and Cristof are on a diplomatic mission to Alzana, trying to prevent a war, when the Alzanan coup is launched, and of course as dubious foreigners they get blamed for the assassination of the royal family…

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Golden in Death, J. D. Robb 08 April 2020

2019 SF/mystery; sixty-first (roughly, or 50th novel, hence presumably the title) of J. D. Robb's In Death series (SF police procedurals). Someone beloved by everyone who knew him is killed by a cunning gas bomb.

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A Bit Too Much Good Work, A. T. Rain 31 March 2020 - 1 comment

2016 science fiction novel, fanfic in the Vorkosigan universe (set around and among the events of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance). The narrative follows Byerly Vorrutyer, agent of Imperial Security, as he negotiates politics, bomb threats, and his personal life.

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Vendetta in Death, J. D. Robb 23 March 2020

2019 SF/mystery; sixtieth (roughly, or 49th novel) of J. D. Robb's In Death series (SF police procedurals). Someone's torturing and killing abusive men.

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Stormy Petrel, Mary Stewart 21 March 2020 - 1 comment

1991 romantic suspense. Rose Fenemore is an English tutor at Cambridge, as well as a poet and author. She takes a cottage on the western Scottish island of Moila to have a writing retreat free of distraction. But why do two young men end up in her living-room one stormy night?

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Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind, Dru Pagliassotti 13 March 2020

2014 steampunk fantasy romance, second in the Clockwork Heart trilogy. Taya, an "icarus" flying courier, is now the wife of the Ondinan ambassador to Mareaux. But between the assassination attempts and the more conventional betrayals, her life is rarely boring. vt Iron Wind.

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A Princess in Theory, Alyssa Cole 08 February 2020

2018 romance. Naledi Smith is studying epidemiology in New York while waitressing to pay the bills, and really doesn't have time for those emails claiming to be from an African prince to whom she was betrothed as a child. But Prince Thabiso is real…

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Vision in White, Nora Roberts 04 February 2020

2009 romance. Mackenzie Elliott and three of her childhood friends run a wedding business, everything from engagement photos to the Big Day. But, inspired by the example of her mother, Mac thinks true love can't be for her…

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Sweep of the Blade, Ilona Andrews 08 January 2020

2019 short SF novel in the Innkeeper series. Dina's sister Maud turned down a marriage proposal from the vampire Lord Arland, but she's travelling to his homeworld anyway…

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This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone 28 September 2019

2019 science fiction romance novella. Red and Blue are soldiers on opposite sides in a war that ranges across worlds and up and down the timelines. But then Red finds a letter in the ashes of a battlefield, that reads: Burn Before Reading.

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A Merciful Death, Kendra Elliot 07 August 2019

2017 romantic mystery, first in the Mercy Kilpatrick series. Mercy is an FBI agent, but she grew up as a prepper, stocked up on goods and skills for the end of civilisation. Now she's sent back to the small town in Oregon that she left fifteen years ago, where preppers also seem to be the target of the latest murderer.

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A Bachelor Establishment, Isabella Barclay 13 July 2019

2015 Regency romance. Elinor Bascombe, a widow who's been bringing her late wastrel husband's estate back to something like prosperity, meets the wicked Lord Ryde, exiled from the country for decades, and here to raise money from his own neighbouring estate before leaving for good.

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Thornyhold, Mary Stewart 24 May 2019

1988 romantic suspense. After a lonely childhood, Geillis Ramsay finds herself orphaned and the heir to her mother's cousin's house in rural Wiltshire. And perhaps to her magic too.

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Kuzu no Honkai 27 April 2019

2016-2017 romance, seinen manga adaptation in 12 episodes: AniDB, vt "Scum's Wish". High-schoolers Hanabi and Mugi both have hopeless crushes on other people; they become a couple to tide them over until they get what they really want.

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Destination Wedding 19 April 2019

2018 romantic comedy, dir. Victor Levin, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder: IMDb / allmovie. Frank and Lindsay have each been invited to San Luis Obispo for the flashy wedding of someone they don't much like. She's the groom's ex; he's his half-brother; they're both bitter people. Naturally, they meet.

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Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates 17 April 2019

2016 comedy with romantic elements, dir. Jake Szymanski, Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza: IMDb / allmovie. Manchild brothers Mike and Dave are told that they can't come to their sister's wedding unless they bring dates (to calm them down and stop them hitting on other women). Not knowing any women, they advertise. Alice and Tatiana, who are just as messed up but in different ways, decide that a free trip to Hawaii is worth a few days of good behaviour…

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Connections in Death, J. D. Robb 27 February 2019

2019 SF/mystery; fifty-ninth (roughly, or 48th novel) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. Lyle had cleaned up and got out of the gang life, and things were starting to look up for him. So when he's found dead of an overdose, Lieutenant Eve Dallas is already suspicious.

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The Dare and the Doctor, Kate Noble 08 January 2019

2016 American Regency romance, third and last of a linked series. Dr Gray conducts an academic correspondence with Miss Babcock, whom he met in passing during the events of the previous book. But when she comes to London to show off her hybrid rose, will they recognise their feelings for each other, or will societal pressures get in the way?

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Miss Goodhue Lives For a Night, Kate Noble 27 December 2018

2016 American Regency romance novella, side story in a linked series. In her youth, Cecilia Goodhue ran off with a wild young man in the direction of Gretna Green; but they were caught, and she learned he was a fortune-hunter; to escape some of the scandal, she lived by the grace of her married sister and became a teacher in a village school. Now, ten years later, her own younger sister has run off with a soldier, and in an attempt to find her she'll meet that man again.

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The Lie and the Lady, Kate Noble 17 December 2018

2015 American Regency romance, second of a linked series. During the deception of the first book, John Turner took on the persona of the Earl of Ashby, and was pursued by Leticia Herzog, fortune-hunting widow of an Austrian Count. When the game was discovered, she fled in public shame. But they each felt a spark for the other, and now they're going to meet again.

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The Game and the Governess, Kate Noble 30 November 2018

2014 American Regency romance, first of a linked series. "Lucky Ned", the Earl of Ashby, refuses to believe his friend and secretary John Turner when Turner tells him that people love his position and wealth more than his person. So Ned proposes that they swap roles while on a business trip, and bets Turner that he can make a woman fall for him even without the trappings of his status. Meanwhile, the governess Phoebe Baker has a particular reason to hate the Earl, whom she has never met…

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Leverage in Death, J. D. Robb 08 October 2018

2018 SF/mystery; fifty-eighth (roughly, or 47th novel) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. Someone wears an explosive vest into a meeting to finalise a corporate merger; Lieutenant Eve Dallas has to find out why he did it, and whether someone else is pulling the strings.

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Dark in Death, J. D. Robb 12 April 2018

2018 SF/mystery; fifty-seventh (roughly, or 46th novel) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. A woman is stabbed while watching Psycho in a cinema; there's no obvious motive for killing her. Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas soon discovers roughly what's going on, but it'll still be a long twisty road to catching the killer.

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Secrets in Death, J. D. Robb 10 March 2018 - 1 comment

2017 SF/mystery; fifty-sixth (roughly, or 45th novel) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas is out with a colleague when another patron of the bar is cut and bleeds to death in front of her. She may not have much time for gossip journalists, but solving murders is still her job.

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Detect Me, Selma Wolfe 16 February 2018

2013 romance novella. Nikki is an unsuccessful artist in the process of giving up on her dreams by taking a marketing job; Mark is the private detective whose office she walks into by accident. But it seems he needs some help catching an art thief…

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Echoes in Death, J. D. Robb 14 November 2017

2017 SF/mystery; fifty-fifth (roughly) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. (Or 44th novel, I think. At some point I may renumber these reviews.) On the road on a snowy night, Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke find a naked, blood-stained and delirious woman who claims to have been attacked by the Devil.

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Apprentice in Death, J. D. Robb 30 September 2017 - 2 comments

2016 SF/mystery; fifty-fourth (roughly) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. A sniper is shooting people in New York – at random, or with specific targets in mind? Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigates.

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Justice Calling, Annie Bellet 02 February 2017

2014 modern fantasy/romance. Jade Crow runs a comics-and-games shop in Wylde, Idaho, where lots of magical creatures congregate. She's hiding from someone. But she isn't going to be able to stay hidden.

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Akagami no Shirayukihime season 2 27 December 2016

2016 fantasy romance, shoujo manga continuation in 12 episodes as well as an OVA that bridges the two series: AniDB, vt "Snow White with the Red Hair". Shirayuki the herbalist continues to develop her low-key romance with Prince Zen.

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Brotherhood in Death, J. D. Robb 02 August 2016

2016 SF/mystery; fifty-third (roughly) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. Dennis Mira went to confront his cousin Edward over plans to sell the family house, but found him tied up in a chair; then someone knocked Dennis on the head. Now Edward's missing. Fortunately Dennis is married to Charlotte Mira, police profiler and friend of Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

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The Mad Scientist's Daughter, Cassandra Rose Clarke 29 July 2016 - 3 comments

2013 science fiction/romance. Finn is a robot who looks and acts human; he arrives in young Cat Novak's life as her tutor, and stays as the years pass.

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Wonderment in Death, J. D. Robb 07 June 2016

2015 SF/mystery novella; fifty-second (roughly) of J. D. Robb's In Death series, published as part of Down the Rabbit Hole, a multi-author anthology of stories loosely inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Apparently Darlene Fitzwilliams fatally stabbed her brother, then jumped off his fifty-second floor balcony. But there's no sign that she was the sort of person who'd do that.

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Devoted in Death, J. D. Robb 29 April 2016

2015 SF/mystery; fifty-first (roughly) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. Two serial killers have crossed the USA and landed in New York; Lieutenant Eve Dallas tracks them down.

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Ore Monogatari 03 March 2016

2015 romantic comedy, shoujo manga adaptation in 24 episodes: AniDB, vt "My Love Story". Gōda Takeo is a huge guy, clueless but with a good heart; when he saves Yamato Rinko from a groper on the train, they fall in love.

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Akagami no Shirayukihime season 1 19 February 2016

2015 fantasy romance, shoujo manga adaptation in 12 episodes: AniDB, vt "Snow White with the Red Hair". Shirayuki the herbalist flees the unwelcome attentions of the prince of her country, only to meet Zen, the junior prince of the next realm over.

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Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku - My Teenage RomCom SNAFU TOO 20 November 2015

2015 contemporary romance, light novel adaptation, 12 episodes: AniDB. Sequel to 2013's Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru - My Teenage RomCom SNAFU. Cynical loner high school kid and the rest of the Volunteer Club continue to try to help other people and work out their own problems.

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Festive in Death, J. D. Robb 13 November 2015

2014 SF/mystery; forty-ninth (roughly) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. Just before Christmas, a personal trainer is found in his home, with a nasty head wound and a knife in his chest. He seems to have been a thoroughly nasty person, but for Eve Dallas the homicide cop's job is still the job.

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Clockwork Heart, Dru Pagliassotti 25 July 2015

2008 steampunk fantasy romance. Taya is an icarus, one of the couriers who strap on wings and buoyant metal to carry messages and small packages across the mountainside city of Ondinium. But a mid-air rescue brings her to the attention of the city's leaders.

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Laggies 10 April 2015

2014, dir. Lynn Shelton, Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz; IMDb / allmovie

Megan is approaching thirty, but her career and personality more or less went on hold when she left high school ten years ago. One night, as she's fleeing from an unwanted marriage proposal and other complications, some high-school kids ask her to buy them beer, and she gets on with Annika better than with her own peers. Things move on from there. vt Say When in the UK and Ireland.

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Obsession in Death, J. D. Robb 26 March 2015

2015 SF/mystery; fiftieth (roughly) of J. D. Robb's In Death series. At the end of 2060, Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas comes up against a new threat: a murderer who's such a fan that he's killing people who've offended Dallas. And there are a lot of them.

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Wanderlust, Ann Aguirre 11 February 2015

2008 SF/romance, second in the Grimspace series. In the previous book, Sirantha Jax was instrumental in bringing down the evil corporation that ran everything. But nature abhors a power vacuum.

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Grimspace, Ann Aguirre 12 January 2015

2008 SF/romance. Sirantha Jax is a jumper, one of the rare humans who can navigate FTL ships through grimspace. But her ship crashed, her pilot/lover died (along with everyone else on board), and she may be going mad.

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Heaven's Queen, Rachel Bach 08 January 2015 - 2 comments

2014 SF; sequel to Honour's Knight. With most of the powers in the known universe arrayed against her, Devi is still infected with the virus that could solve everything (or bring it all crashing down).

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Honour's Knight, Rachel Bach 27 December 2014 - 1 comment

2014 SF; sequel to Fortune's Pawn. Devi is now security chief on the tramp space-freighter she signed on with, but clearly something very strange is going on.

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Sliding Doors 05 December 2014 - 1 comment

1998, dir. Peter Howitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah: IMDb / allmovie

A woman just fired from her job does, or does not, catch a particular Underground train, and does, or does not, catch her boyfriend in bed with another woman; her life diverges from that point, and we see both halves.

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Seeking a Friend for the End of the World 14 October 2014

2012, dir. Lorene Scafaria, Steve Carell, Keira Knightley: IMDb / allmovie

The world will be hit by an asteroid in three weeks, and there's nothing more that can be done about it. Dodge and his neighbour Penny set out to get him to his high school sweetheart, and her to her family in England.

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Firebrand, Ankaret Wells 06 September 2014

Self-published industrial fantasy romance. The relict of a bishop inherits her mother's great airship, and tries to avoid becoming the mistress of the Emperor.

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Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou 18 August 2014

2014, 12 episodes: AniDB; also known as The Kawai Complex Guide to Manners and Hostel Behavior.

Romantic comedy; high school boy lives in boarding-house with a variety of Characters, one of whom is a cute female bookworm.

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The Lunchbox 15 July 2014 - 2 comments

2013, "Dabba", dir. Ritesh Batra, Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur: IMDb / allmovie

An old-fashioned epistolary romance, conducted via notes passed in a lunchbox. Plot discussion, which may be considered to include spoilers, follows.

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The Young Lady from Paris, Joan Aiken 05 July 2014

In the late 1850s, Ellen Paget is employed as a governess in Paris.

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Tamara Drewe 15 May 2014

2010, dir. Stephen Frears, Gemma Arterton, Luke Evans: IMDb / allmovie

Tamara Drewe, formerly the ugly duckling and now a glamorous journalist, returns to the village where she grew up… and everything is upended.

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Safety Not Guaranteed 10 April 2014 - 1 comment

2012, dir. Colin Trevorrow, Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass: IMDb / allmovie

A journalist and two interns, trying for a human-interest story, interview a man who's placed an advertisement for a companion in time travel.

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Concealed in Death, J. D. Robb 08 April 2014 - 2 comments

Concealed in Death is the forty-eighth story of J. D. Robb's In Death series, and a huge improvement on its immediate predecessor Thankless in Death. It drops many of the science-fictional trappings of the setting to deliver a powerful and well-told story.

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Fortune's Pawn, Rachel Bach 16 February 2014

First of a projected trilogy. I learned about it from a half-chapter free sample in the back of Ancillary Justice.

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Mirror Mirror, J. D. Robb and others 02 February 2014

I picked up this collection of novellas for the Robb story, as I was clearly intended to. All the stories here are loosely based on, or more properly inspired by, fairy stories (something of a coincidence given the Elemental Masters series I've also been reading).

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Thankless in Death, J. D. Robb 17 January 2014 - 2 comments

Thankless in Death is the forty-sixth of J. D. Robb's In Death series. It's also, for me, the first disappointment.

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