Susan’s Book Blog

  It’s Pub Day for Natasha Siegel and her gorgeous historical romance debut, Solomon’s Crown.   Check out my original review here  - I gave it 5 crowns out of 5!  👑 👑 👑 👑 👑 Out now! March 14, 2023 Bantam Dell

  Today is the day! Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is OUT NOW!  You can read my full review right here  and be sure to check out author Heather Fawcett’s Instagram for a fun (and gorgeous) artistic rendering of a page from Emily’s journal!  Please check this book out if you enjoy historical fiction, gentle fantasy about the faerie realm, and sweet romances. You won’t be disappointed!

  📚  Fave Reads of 2022 Countdown  📚   🥁   🥁   🥁   🥁   🥁 #1   Something Fabulous   &  A Lady For a Duke  by Alexis Hall  I grouped these two together because I don’t know if one deserves to be ranked above the other. For me, these books are Alexis Hall doing the best work of his career. They’re very different books - SF is a hilarious, over-the-top love letter to Regency romances while ALFaD actually IS a Regency romance. (ALFaD is profoundly beautiful. And it has a declaration of love in it that rivals Darcy’s for Elizabeth Bennett.) But both books exhibit everything Hall excels at and in the most entertaining ways.  3️⃣  2️⃣  1️⃣  🎊 What did you think of my Top Ten (or thirteen) choices? Have you read any of them? Will they be on your TBR for 2023? What are some of your favorites this year?

  📚 Fave Reads of 2022 Countdown  📚   #3  The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi  Ugh. I loved this so much. Everything about it was  🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 K nights, tournaments, chivalry, ethics, secrets… The angst, the longing, oh it was exquisite. It was 500 pages but I was sad when it was over because I wanted more.  My full review of The Scottish Boy can be found here . 

  Solomon’s Crown  by Natasha Siegel Scheduled to publish on March 14, 2023 // 5 👑 out of 5 // This is Richard I/Philip II fanfic and I’m so here for it. If you’re unfamiliar with these historical figures, never fear because IT DOES NOT MATTER. Siegel makes it clear in her author’s note that she plays fast and loose with historical accuracy - in that there is very little. 😂  Richard I and Philip II are one of those “were they lovers?” situations. (Historians just love telling us how two kings sleeping in the same bed was a PR move/political statement. Sure, Jan.) And frankly they lived 1000 years ago so it’s damn near impossible to get a definitive answer but who cares? They lived a THOUSAND YEARS AGO. To us, they have always been and will always be characters in a story. This author is just using them to tell her own story.  The family drama between Richard, his father the king, and his brothers was compelling and totally had me invested. I know a (small) bit abou...

  Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries    🧚🏻‍♂️ by Heather Fawcett 🧚🏻‍♂️ 🍄 Pub date: Jan 10, 2023 🍄 (US cover above; UK cover below) // 🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄 out of 5 // I initially fell in love with the cover (both the US and UK editions are really cool) and was amused by the title and description, and I quickly discovered that the contents absolutely lived up to my hopes and expectations. It’s charming and delightful and clever and I really enjoyed everywhere the story went. This book is the very definition of cottage core. It’s so cozy and rustic, it makes for a perfect winter read. There’s cozy fires, snowy forests and tea drinking. But it also has great characters, mysteries, secrets, danger, adventure, and a sweet romance. And it’s  presented as a journal of Emily’s experiences during her research trip. The journaling element worked really well for telling the story.   I love the dynamic between Emily and Bambleby. Their banter (or bickering) is delightful. T...

It’s Pub Day for two truly EXCELLENT books that you need to run out and get right now! One is Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots by Cat Sebastian (you can find my full review and more info  here ). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The other is Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade (my full review of it - and more info - is here ). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫   If you enjoy romance, you’ll love these. I enjoyed them both immensely and highly recommend them! Both are out now - 11/15/2022 

  A Restless Truth (The Last Binding, book 2) by Freya Marske Pub: Nov 1, 2022 // 3.5 stars out of 5 // tl;dr - I struggled to finish this. I needed it to be about 30% shorter. I think I just need to admit mysteries are not my genre. I found it a little tedious. But the characters are fantastic and Marske expanded on the magic mythology she began in the previous book and it was brilliant! My attention span just wasn’t totally up for this one.   Full review: The characters in this book were so great. Hawthorn and Violet both turned out to be a real highlight of the book for me. Lord Hawthorn really surprised me - I wasn’t expecting to like him! He’s the biggest grump ever to grump, he’s hilariously deadpan, feigns disinterest, and is, against his better judgment, caring (even though he’d never admit it). I enjoyed his character so much. And Violet is progressive, independent, ahead of her time and willing to push people’s buttons. She proudly refuses to be shamed or guilted fo...

  Cat Sebastian’s newest book,  Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots, now has a cover! And it is giving the grooviest 70s vibes. 🪩🕺🏻 Daniel Cabot is available Nov. 15! Read my review of it here .

Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots  by Cat Sebastian  Pub date: November 15,  2022  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars out of 5 I’ve been looking forward to reading more Cabot stories since I finished the first two over a year ago, and it did not disappoint.  Daniel Cabot is a character study and a story about the gradual building of a relationship, filled with quiet moments that are both realistic and compelling. It always blows me away how Cat Sebastian can fit SO MUCH character development into so few pages. And you can always count on her to write incredibly unique, richly drawn people who you can’t help but fall in love with. There is a foundation of kindness in this story, as there has been in the previous two Cabot novellas (or, really, ALL her books I suppose) that I find so beautiful and hopeful. Daniel and Alex take care of one another and others - friends and strangers both - in so many little ways and without wanting anything in return. It’s a refreshingly uncynical displ...

The Scottish Boy   by Alex de Campi  published by Unbound in May 2020 🏰 5 stars out of 5 🏰  The story starts in 1333 and I wasn’t sure what to expect from a novel that takes place that long ago. But the style is simple and straightforward. (I’ve read medieval-era stories by other authors who tried to mimic antiquated language and it was extremely distracting.) I found the story compelling from the very beginning. The MC Harry is a pretty likable guy from the start. He is 19 and fresh off missing the battle of Halidon Hill due to the death of his mother. He has been itching to go to war to prove himself and avenge his father’s death at the battle of Bannockburn. Harry learns very quickly what war is really like when he’s taken on a raid and watches his fellow knights strike down unarmed citizens, struggling to understand the pointless brutality and cruelty. Being a knight isn’t at all what he thought it would be. Where’s the chivalry? The justice? He dislikes the way the...

 Cat Sebastian’s follow-up to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb is finally out on Tuesday! Pick up The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes if you want excellent characters, witty, intelligent humor, and eat the rich vibes. (My full review from January is below!) Release Date: June 7, 2022 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars out of 5 Cat Sebastian has such a way with words, her writing never ceases to impress me. The writing is tight, engaging and highly entertaining. And the romance was rather unorthodox but I really liked that about it.   This is the follow-up to Kit Webb which I have not read yet (but is on my TBR)… The book can stand on its own without having read Kit Webb first but I do feel like I missed the meaning of several references and didn’t understand some conversations that I would like to have been clued in on. I think this will be a very rewarding reading experience for Kit Webb fans. (I do recommend reading Kit first.) It starts out with the most hilarious epistolary (and antagonistic...

  A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall Release date: May 24, 2022 Published by Forever/Grand Central ❧ ❧ ❧ When Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become. As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again. ❧ ❧ ❧ I’m not sure I can articulate exactly how amazing this book is. But I will try. Even though Alexis Ha...

5 🎩🎩🎩🎩🎩 out of 5 Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally. It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again. Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be. Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing. ☙ ☙ ☙ ☙ ☙ This book is a god damned masterpie...

 Something Fabulous is OUT TODAY and is available for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. I started this one as soon as I finished my previous book last night and It Is Amazing! It's so incredibly funny and the characters are brilliant. This is peak Alexis Hall. If you have KU you MUST give this a try. (And if you don't have KU, the kindle version is only $3.99 right now and it's so worth it. Full review to come...)  ☙ ☙ ☙ ☙ ☙ From the acclaimed author of Boyfriend Material comes a delightfully witty romance featuring a reserved duke who’s betrothed to one twin and hopelessly enamoured of the other. Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally. It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes...