The latest edition of Ninestar Press's Once Upon a Rainbow series is thoroughly charming. The premise is simple: queer retellings of classic fairy tales, but the execution is, for lack of a better word, magical. I haven't read the first two volumes, but bought them immediately upon finishing this review copy. As with their Into the Mystic anthologies, Ninestar's editorial chops are on full display here - none of the stories stand out as "filler." Yes, there are a few that worked better for me than others, but most of that is personal preference, not objective quality issues.
Ready for school? For 2019? For a post-summer (or winter, hiiii southern hemisphere!) reset? Let's do this.
Here's the problem with planners - you only need one, maybe two, but there are so very many cute ones out there. Here's how we're coping - by sharing with all of you.
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Perfect Day is a queer retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion and I have many strong (and good) feelings about it. Eight years ago, Joshua chose to stay with his family instead of following his boyfriend, Finn, to California. Joshua lives in his hometown working as a barista and piano teacher after his father disowned him for being gay. With his father in prison for tax evasion, the old family mansion is being sold to Finn’s brother. Forced to see each other, both men confront how they feel and the repercussions of how they broke up. Finn is a tiny bit of a jerk during this time as he dates the music teacher at the school.
Normally my “sweet spot” for these posts are to find four or five books, preferably published during the month of the blog post, that feature “unusual elements.” “Unusual” typically takes the form of non-UK settings, “nobody” main characters that aren’t titled, unique professions etc. But when I started looking for titles to feature for August? Yeah, pickings were slim. So I did what any good librarian does - I whined on Twitter, got some suggestions, did some more investigating and now we have an August Unusual Historicals list! Huzzah!
From Scratch is the sort of fluffy wish-fulfillment I needed this week. The plot is straightforward: three people go to a town called Seaport (not anywhere near the sea) to start over. They find each other and fall in love. The reasons to like this book lie not within a complex plot - they’re with the characters.
Time to serve up some scifi romance Best Bets mini reviews for your end of summer reading pleasure!
Zac Fallon has been stripping for 10 years and he has always loved everything about it. He loves making women smile, being in the spotlight, the camaraderie with the other guys in the show, the freedom to travel and the money. But he just doesn’t quite love it as much as before - something is missing in his life.
More mini-reviews! These books weren't terribly successful for our team.
This new series from the writing duo of Gordon and Ilona Andrews is a spin-off from their long-running Kate Daniels series. This book takes place between the penultimate book of that series, Magic Binds and the upcoming and final book, Magic Triumphs. While the Hugh chapters of the book do reference events mentioned in Kate Daniels books, Andrews provides enough information for new readers to follow the story, even if they might lack some of the emotional context long-time readers have acquired.
