Shelloquent

Ok, I know. It's been too long since my last review. There were holidays, a rough start to the new year, and just not a lot of time to review what books I did read. But I just read one I absolutely need to talk about. REBEL OF THE SANDS by Alwyn Hamilton Blurb: She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands. Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.  Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop...

Okay spoiler alert: this was probably the cutest book I have read all year. I picked this up when I was at Book Riot Live last month, but I'd been eyeing it for longer, ever since I sat in on a webinar about LGBT publisher and this publisher was featured. Iwent to check out their site and saw a YA book about a selkie boy and I knew I had to have it.And the other main character being a bisexual poc was even better! So here we go: SEVEN TEARS AT HIGH TIDE by C. B. Lee Blurb : The sea holds many secrets ... Kevin Luong walks to the ocean’s edge with a broken heart. Remembering a legend his mother told him, he lets seven tears fall into the sea. “I just want one summer—one summer to be happy and in love.” Instead, he finds himself saving a mysterious boy from the Pacific—a boy who later shows up on his doorstep professing his love. What he doesn’t know is that Morgan is a selkie, drawn to answer Kevin’s wish. As they grow close, Morgan is caught between the dan...

Continuing the trend of unusual historical romance, I decided to review Such a Dance by Kate McMurray, which is a fabulous LGBT book set in the 1920s prohibition era. SUCH A DANCE by Kate McMurray (Lyrical Press) Blurb : When a vaudeville dancer meets a sexy mobster in a speakeasy for men, the sparks fly, the gin flows, the jazz sizzles—and the heat is on… New York City, 1927. Eddie Cotton is a talented song-and-dance man with a sassy sidekick, a crowd-pleasing act, and a promising future on Broadway. What he doesn't have is someone to love. Being gay in an era of prohibition and police raids, Eddie doesn't have many opportunities to meet men like himself—until he discovers a hot new jazz club for gentlemen of a certain bent...and sets eyes on the most seductive, and dangerous, man he’s ever seen. Lane Carillo is a handsome young Sicilian who looks like Valentino—and works for the Mob. He’s never hidden his sexuality from his boss, which is why he was cho...

Before I start this review, this needs some backstory. The first real romance novel I ever read was when I was about 13 years old and I don't remember the title. All I remember was my best friend handing me the book, queued to a passage, and I read it, my eyes going wide and I clearly remember saying, "Wait how can you do that on a horse ?" That said, I started reading historical romances aplenty and after a while I noticed something. The heroines absolutely never looked like me. They were pale, waifish blondes, or fiesty redheads, or sultry brunettes. They were never black. It's not as though black people didn't exist back then. You can argue with me that they weren't in high society or were such a minority that it would practically be historically inaccurate to write about them in eh context of a historical romance. And I will pull receipts and show you why you are wrong. But then I discovered Beverly Jenkins. She writes historical romance with people...

This was further down in my to-post list, but as it comes out today I really wanted to post this review now. It's the first in a new series by Lisa A. Olech, a new author to Kensington's digital-first imprint, Lyrical Press. And yes, it's a historical romance...at sea...with pirates! WITHIN A CAPTAIN'S HOLD by Lisa Olech Blurb : Captain Jaxon Steele is a tall, sun-bronzed, fierce-fighting Pirate King. He and the notorious crew of the Scarlet Night are both feared and respected for their ruthless reputation. The Captain’s only love is the open sea and the ship he calls home. When it comes to women, he has three rules: never sleep with another’s wife, don’t take virgins into bed, and most importantly, never bring a woman aboard—that brings the worst luck of all. Annalise Gatherone has to leave London—tonight! Usually her only concern is the color of her latest gown, but now she’s choosing between life and death. Desperate to escape the clutches of an evil...

This is going to be a quick, short review. I read this one because it is the favorite book of a good friend and as he rereads it every Halloween, I decided to read it myself to see why he enjoyed it so much.   THE HALLOWEEN TREE by Ray Bradbury   Blurb: "A fast-moving, eerie...tale set on Halloween night. Eight costumed boys running to meet their friend Pipkin at the haunted house outside town encounter instead the huge and cadaverous Mr. Moundshroud. As Pipkin scrambles to join them, he is swept away by a dark Something, and Moundshroud leads the boys on the tail of a kite through time and space to search the past for their friend and the meaning of Halloween. After witnessing a funeral procession in ancient Egypt, cavemen discovering fire, Druid rites, the persecution of witches in the Dark Ages, and the gargoyles of Notre Dame, they catch up with the elusive Pipkin in the catacombs of Mexico, where each boy gives one year from the end of his life to save Pi...

One thing I promise not to do is let this blog get too biased toward Kensington titles. I do have access to a lot of them, so you will be seeing plenty, but I'll be sure to review as many non-Kensington titles as possible too. However I couldn't not post a review for Jennifer Estep's Dark Heart of Magic . DARK HEART OF MAGIC by Jennifer Estep Blurb : Something Wicked This Way Comes... As a thief, I stick to the shadows as much as possible. But when the head of the Sinclair Family picks me to compete in the Tournament of Blades, there's no escaping the spotlight—or the danger. Even though he's my competition, Devon Sinclair thinks I have the best shot at winning what's supposed to be a friendly contest. But when the competitors start having mysterious "accidents," it looks like someone will do anything to win—no matter who they hurt. As if I didn't have enough to worry about, mobster Victor Draconi is plotting against Devon and the ...