Welcome to the April edition of Mini-Reviews! (There may be a second batch later this month.)
Margrethe tried to read a couple of f/f romances that fell flat and.... really flat. Suzanne read one as well, and an m/f historical with spies!
Rating refresher! Categories are based on whether or not we recommend them to fellow readers - DNF (Did Not Finish), Pass, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), Read it Eventually, Read it Soon.
Heart's Orders, by Jaycie Morrison
Margrethe says: DNF
I made it 6% into Heart's Orders before I had to give up, so I'm not sure what the plot entails beyond women in the army in WWII. This is a book I said I would read based on a poll; however, I am not someone who can withstand both boredom and horror at the book’s contents for the sake of the internet. First, it took me a week to get that to 6% because the beginning fell so flat that I did not know what was even there. Imagine me staring skeptically at a camera. Second, when I did start following the style and Helen and Tee just started to explore their feelings for each other, I was thrown back in time to when Tee was a kid and was sexually abused by a neighboring farmer. And that was when I stopped because I knew more about the assault than I did the woman whose story I was reading. I am no longer patient enough for this in a romance.
You can buy it at Amazon, iBooks, Bold Strokes Books, etc.
We Will Make Mischief Together, by J. Hepburn
Suzanne says: YMMV
I picked this one up on the premise of lesbian steampunk romance. It sort of succeeded, but wasn't what I expected. This novella was previously published in an anthology, and I haven't read the others, so maybe it works better as part of a group.
The story is slow to start, with the heroine telling us of a package she receives in great detail, before actually beginning her adventure, which is relayed in something of a diary or conversational style. "I set off on a grand adventure..." (Not an actual quote.) The daughter of a wealthy white Australian family, Frances has been removed from an elite boarding school in part for a lesbian relationship she engaged in with another student. She's now trapped at home with an awful brother and some sympathetic servants. The package arrives after two years of separation from her lover, Katherine, and contains confirmation that Katherine is still alive.
With this news, Katherine runs away from home. She steals her brother's fancy new steam-powered car, drives to a port city, arranges her way onto a steamboat as engineer, and is finally reunited with her lady love after much steampunk-laden adventure.
The story failed for me as a romance because I still have no idea why Frances and Katherine were in love. The reader only sees them interact for the last 15% of the novella, which is only 20,000 words. Hardly enough time to convince me that their relationship is worth running away or that their relationship can survive after the fact. The whole thing felt more like a steampunk story than a romance, with lengthy discussion of levers and steam and engines and spanners. I suspect that a reader who picked this up for the steampunk aspects will be more satisfied than a reader like me, who picked it up for the gorgeous cover and the lesbian romance.
Buy from Amazon and Less Than Three Press.
Tomboy, by Janelle Reston
Margrethe says: YMMV
Tomboy is a gentle and sweet story spanning the 1950s to 1970s. We first meet Harriet and Jackie when 8-year-old Jackie moves into town and they become friends. The story is from Harriet's perspective, so we follow her as she begins to process that she's attracted to girls, through heartbreak when the girl she has been fooling around with chooses a boy over her, and then to realizing her affection for Jackie. It wasn't a totally successful book for me. The voice is good, the historical details aren't intrusive, but the story is almost a series of and-then phrases, which makes it less compelling. This is not to say every story needs tons of conflict, but I would have liked to see their relationship develop instead of a bird's eye view of Harriet's life.
You can pick up a copy at Amazon or at Ninestar Press. The book is 63 pages.
Rogue Spy, by Joanna Bourne
Suzanne says: Read it Eventually
I adore this series on audio. Kirsten Potter takes Joanna Bourne's lyrical writing and elevates it further. The accents and personalities the spies take on during their work, the scenery, the little pieces of mystery and yearning throughout... It's magic.
The books are not written in chronological order, so this is #5, but the events are taking place before much of THE BLACK HAWK. (Bourne has a helpful guide on her website.) The romance in this didn't work for me as well as a couple of the others, but I loved the friendship the two protagonists had built as children, and the ways that decades-old bond informed their adult interactions. Even though they're spies, both working for two sides, their relationship reads as friends-to-lovers, which is some sort of storytelling magic.
Pick up a copy: Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, The Ripped Bodice, etc. The first five in this series are also in the Audible Romance Package!
