Susan’s Book Blog

  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...

 Red White and Royal Blue The Collector’s Edition  by Casey McQuiston  Oct 11, 2022, St. Martin’s Griffin 🇺🇸 ❤️ 🇬🇧   I first read Red White and Royal Blue back in December 2020. I became a fervent fan before I had even reached the end. I had never read anything like it before. I LOVED it. I wanted everyone I knew to read it and love it as much as I did. And now… it kind of feels like they do. 😂  “They” may not be people I’ve actually met in person but I do know, now, a whole lot of people who love the book as much as I do, or more.  RWRB is the book that really started me reading again. I absolutely devoured it, and wanted more. I soon discovered “Bookstagram” and the rest is history. I now have many new favorite books and authors and a whole bunch of amazing people I am lucky to call friends - all because of this book.  👑 The special Collector's Edition of Casey McQuiston's beloved  New York Times  bestselling novel, features: • illust...

  American Royalty   by Tracey Livesay This book is out TODAY! Read my full review of it  HERE . 👑  👑  👑  In theory, this is right up my alley. I love royal romances! I was excited that it was an interracial couple, intrigued by the similarities to Harry & Meghan. But in practice, I was bored stiff. Major yawn. I could not get into this. I ended up DNFing at 50%. I wanted to like the characters but never did, just didn’t enjoy the story, and thought the technical aspect of the writing could stand some improvement. It felt a little rudimentary and didn’t do anything to elevate the material. There were no romantic parts in the first half of the book and the sexy parts were… weird. I never got to a point where I wanted to root for these people to get together. Once they started having a sexual relationship, I still couldn’t understand why they were interested in one another. Circling back to the royal comparisons, if The Royal We gave us Will & K...

 American Royalty  by Tracey Livesay Pub date: June 28, 2022 🚫 DNF @ 50% 🚫 Because I did not finish this book, I don't want to call this a review, but I do have a lot of thoughts which I have constructed as coherently as possible below. If you read this book, I'd love to know your thoughts on it! 👑👑👑 So if The Royal We  gave us Will & Kate fanfic, this one is giving us Harry & Meghan - or trying to. In fact, the blurb on the back of the book makes a direct comparison to Harry & Meghan's royal romance. I just have to say that right from the very first page, there is little similarity between the book's FMC "Duchess" and Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. The book is about a British prince who marries a Black American woman and that's pretty much the only similarity as far as I could tell. Dani "Duchess" Nelson is a rapper and hip-hop star who is more akin to Cardi B. Her lyrics are raunchy, her videos are lewd. But she's ti...