2021

My Favourite Books of 2021

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Here is the list of the top 10 romances I loved reading in 2021. They are arranged by order of reading, none more deserving than the rest. 

1. Love at First by Kate Clayborn. I love Ms Clayborn's writing so much and this is my favourite book of hers to date. It's a grief romance (by some chance I read quite a few of those this year) that made me ugly cry through parts of it and gave a most satisfying it-was-all-worth-it end. Highly recommended but check the CWs first. 
Read my review 

2. Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall. Mr Hall is my all-time favourite author and I would read anything he writes. This was just as good as any of his other books. This is a contemporary m/f romance with a bi heroine, it has some WF vibes and a love triangle of sorts which I found very moving and satisfying. 
3. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells. This is the latest installment in the Murderbot series of Sci-fi novels and all I can say is that I love Murderbot with all my heart, this rogue Sec Unit is sarcastic and loyal and more humane than many humans I meet in real life and in fiction. 

4. For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten. A debut fantasy romance, dark retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. There is a bit too much gore for my taste but I liked the world building, the story was very engaging and the romance was very, very good. 

5. Subtle Blood by KJ Charles. This is the final book in the Will Darling Adventures of m/m historical romance set in the 1920s London. The whole series has been great and this was the perfect ending. The love confessions are some of the most romantic ones I have read. 

6. Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron, contemporary arranged marriage/fake relationship romance with Indian Muslim MCs. Messy families for the win, amazing independent heroine, great hero. 

7. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri. This is my favourite non-romance book of 2021. It's a most amazing fantasy inspired by Indian history and myths. Budding f/f romance. Gorgeous writing. I just loved everything about it.

8. Last Guard by Nalini Singh. Another winner in the Psy-changeling series. After 15+ books and shorts in the series, this one is probably in my top 3. First time a hero with disability in the series, amazing heroine, great suspense plot, nothing I can say about the book and whole series could be enough. 

9. Battle Royal by Lucy Parker. All of Lucy Parker's books I have read so far have been amazing and this one was no different. It's another grief romance despite some cute romcom moments. It's moving and angsty with the ultimately the perfect ending. 

10. The Brightest Star in Paris by Diana Biller. I was late discovering Ms Biller, I only read The Widow of Rosa House this year. This is book 2 in the series and it's a historical romance unlike any other I have read. Set in Paris in 1870/80s, a historical period I don't know much about. There is a lot of trauma and grief and darkness and not one but three friendly ghosts. It's brilliant. 


Bonus recommendations:
Greek myths retellings became a thing for me this year and I didn't know I could enjoy them as much as I did.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I think everyone has already read this book which came out 10 years ago but I only got to it now and it's utterly gorgeous.

Lore Olympus, a comic by Rachel Smythe. It's my first adult comic/graphic novel which I read following a recommendation by a friend. I never knew a comic could bring forth so many feelings in me. It's everything I love in romance - moving, funny and smart.


Martha Wells

Review: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

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Title: Fugitive Telemetry 
(The Murderbot Dairies #6)
Author: Martha Wells 
Date of publication: 27 Apr 2021
Genre: Science Fiction 

Author's Links: Goodreads / Website / Twitter

My rating: 5 Stars



Blurb 

No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

Review

This is another great installment in the Murderbot series and I just can't get enough of these stories. I am so happy there will be more books coming out in the future.

This time Murderbot helps with a murder investigation it has to work with a whole bunch of other bots and humans. It is forced to interact with so many entities, some friendly, more of them suspicious of its nature.

I loved everything in the story - Murderbot's sarcasm and hatred for any emotion, its loyalty and care for its people (and their care for it, each of them showing it in their own way), the complex interactions with humans and other bots. Murderbot is more humane than many of the humans I have read in SFF and I love it with all my heart for it.

The writing is great as usual, tight and detailed at the same time, telling a complex and completed story in a novella length. The text sends clear messages against capitalism, slavery, colonialism but none of it is heavy handed or in your face, they are just there in every every page of the story.

The murder mystery in itself was intriguing and engaging and kept me guessing who the perpetrator was till the very end.

The story has everything I want in SFF - feelings (despite Murderbot's hatred for them), humour and suspense, good guys coming together against the bad ones, breaking down of stereotypes and defying expectations.

Every book in this series has been a delight and this one is no exception.

Add to Goodreads / Buy on Amazon

2020

Favourite Books of 2020

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2020 was a rough year and reading was a struggle for me at times. I barely read 45 books this past year, the lowest number for me for the past couple of years. Despite the small number, there were some real gems among them and I have compiled them in a list with 10 favourite books of 2020. 

1. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall. Simply the best queer romcom I have read. Funny and sweet and touching, both very real and very over the top. You can read my full review here.


2. Network Effect by Martha Wells. I binged read the Murderbot series and they basically saved may sanity during the lockdown. Never in a million years I thought I would come to care so much about a sentient murder bot and their friends. 


3. Whiteout by Adriana Anders. I really this early in 2020 and it was such a great start to what turned to be a really difficult year. The story was pure adrenaline rush with a dose of romance and I am super excited for the next book coming out in August 2021. You can read my full review here.


4. Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, mostly after reading the previous two book in the series, I approach this one as SFF with romantic elements, rather than as a proper romance. Two people falling in love amidst trying to save their world in some space adventures. You can read my full review here.


5. One Night with the Sexiest Man Alive by Ainslie Paton. This book is all the titles as - one sexy, tropey romance that pushed all my buttons. Strong Pretty Woman vibes (minus the sex work), movie worthy grovel scene in the end. You can read my full review here.


6. Headlines by Lucy Parker. I have loved all of Lucy's books and this one is no exception. Such great enemies to lovers romance. You can read my full review here.


7. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Charlie Adhara. This is book 4 in an ongoing series following the same couple (human and werewolf) investigating crimes together. It's high heat, intense suspense and an ever growing romantic relationship. You can read my full review here.


8. Alpha Night by Nalini Singh. Another winner in the Psy-Changeling series. These books were my introduction to paranormal romance and continue to be my favourtie till this day. What I love the most about this story how unique it is in the Psy-changeling world yet it fits perfectly in it.


9. Sweet On You by Carla de Guzman. It's a Christmas romance set in the Philippines and I loved it. steeped in local traditions and delicious food it was a balm to the soul to read. You can read my full review here.


10. To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters. It's a delightful regency romcom that made me laugh and swoon. You can read my full review here.


And bonus entry:

11. Division Bells by Iona Datt Sharma. I picked this on a twitter rec and was taken by surprise how gorgeous it is. It's a bit melancholy, a bit sad, a lot political and ultimately charming and hopeful and i loved it. You can read my full review here.



Jessie Mihalik

Review of Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik

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Title: Chaos Reigning (Consortium Rebellion #3)
Author: Jessie Mihalik
Publication Date: 19 May 2020
Genres: Sci-Fi with Romance Elements

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 Stars


Blurb

Interplanetary intrigue and romance combine in this electrifying finale to the Consortium Rebellion series.

As the youngest member of her High House, Catarina von Hasenberg is used to being underestimated, but her youth and flighty, bubbly personality mask a clever mind and stubborn determination. Her enemies, blind to her true strength, do not suspect that Cat is a spy—which makes her the perfect candidate to go undercover at a rival House’s summer retreat to gather intelligence on their recent treachery.

Cat’s overprotective older sister reluctantly agrees, but on one condition: Cat cannot go alone. Alexander Sterling, a quiet, gorgeous bodyguard, will accompany her, posing as her lover. After Cat tries, and fails, to ditch Alex, she grudgingly agrees, confident in her ability to manage him. After all, she’s never found a person she can’t manipulate.

But Alex proves more difficult—and more desirable—than Cat anticipated. When she’s attacked and nearly killed, she and Alex are forced to work together to figure out how deep the treason goes. With rumors of widespread assaults on Serenity raging, communications down, and the rest of her family trapped off-planet, Catarina must persuade Alex to return to Earth to expose the truth and finish this deadly battle once and for all.

But Cat can’t explain why she’s the perfect person to infiltrate hostile territory without revealing secrets she’d rather keep buried. . . .

Review 

This is the final book in a series of SF stories. The series is billed SF romance but in my opinion all three books are rather SF with romantic elements. There is a HEA in every book but the romance comes second to the futuristic world and the suspense plot. I was unpleasantly surprised by this in the first book but I took up the next books with adjusted expectations with regard to the romance and I enjoyed them much more. 

This is the story of the youngest sibling, Cat, and it started with a rather unusual trope for SF, fake relationship and it did work well to create romantic tension, but it was over all too brief to add real depth to the romance. We moved to the the chase and fighting and travelling through space, trying to save the world and it was an amazing adventure till the very end. I loved how strong Cat was, how she masked her true self behind a bubbly socialite persona. She had to take the lead, to reveal her physical strength and sharp mind and was plagued by doubts and insecurities.

Alex was a great hero too. He loved Cat, saw through her mask and appreciated her strength, boosting her self-confidence, absolutely loving her for who she was. 

Ultimately this is an action-packed, fast moving story with many twists and turns galore. I liked the well drawn side characters and the cameo of the Cat's siblings. The world building worked well for me, there might be gaps here and there but overall I found it consistent and developed enough to make it easy and fun for me to follow the characters’ adventures. 

I would recommend the series with the caveat that it’s more of SF adventure with a bit of romance than proper SFR. 

Add on Goodreads / Buy on Amazon

2019

My Favourite Books of 2019

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Here is a list of ten books (including full series I read in 2019), romance and fantasy which I read and loved in the past year. I tweeted out those in December under the hashtag #myfavebooks2019.


1/ To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, YA fantasy retelling of the Little Mermaid. I was gifted this book for the holidays by a dear friend and I absolutely loved it. A beautifully written powerful story about good and evil. Buy on Amazon

2/ Kiss and Cry by Mina V. Esguerra, contemporary sports romance, heroine is an former figure skater, hero is a retiring hockey player, both living in the Philippines where winter sports are very popular. I loved the different aspect of sports we see in this story and the second-chance, low-angst romance. Read my review / Buy on Amazon

3/ Teach Me by Olivia Dade is a warm hug of a book. Contemporary romance with two high school teacher MCs, a fat Ice Queen heroine and a shy divorced dad hero. So much care and support and appreciation this book! Read my review / Buy on Amazon

4/ The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker. Her books consistently work great for me but this one is really outstanding - the grumpiest but most caring hero, the moist sunshine heroine to ever sunshine, a bit of historical subplot, some cozy mystery elements.Read my review / Buy on Amazon

5/ Gilded Cage by KJ Charles is an exquisite historical m/f second chance romance with a bi heroine. I loved everything about it - the romance, the MCs, the crime plot, the HEA. Read my review / Buy on Amazon

6/ The Mysterious Stranger by Ainslie Paton - an intense romantic suspense, childhood friends to lovers. Great rep on gaslighting and emotional manipulation. Modern Robin Hood kind of families. Works as standalone. Read my review / Buy on Amazon

7/ Arden St. Ives series by Alexis Hall this year after the release of the final book and it's definitely one of #myfavbooks2019. High heat, high emotion, coming of age, overcoming trauma, finding oneself, effortlessly and quintessentially queer! Read my review / Buy on Amazon

8/ The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix. E. Harrow is a portal fantasy with an awesome female protagonist, a debut book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I read more SFF in 2019 I have ever done before and this is one of the best I read. Read my review/ Buy on Amazon

9/ The Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh. A breath-stopping first thriller by this author, very atmospheric, great heroine. I had some issues with the final resolution but very much liked the rest of the book. Buy on Amazon

10/ Folk of Air series by Holly Black. It's a YA fantasy series which I picked on a friends' recommendation and thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved book 2 the best and found book 3 the weakest of all but overall the whole trilogy is outstanding, captivating tale of magic and love and power and finding oneself. Highly recommend it. Buy on Amazon 

Honourable mentions: Thrown to the Wolves, m/m shifter murder mystery romance by Charlie Adhara; The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, queer fantasy riff of Sherlock Holmes by Alexis Hall; Thirsty, m/f (ex) gangster romance by Mia Hopkins.


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