Susan’s Book Blog

  📚  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?

 I hadn't gotten too far into reading Alexis Hall's new book Something Fabulous when I started thinking about how I could Pop-ify the characters. I don't think I've had this much fun reading a book in quite a while and Bonny & Valentine were the most delightful characters and I felt the need to have them on my shelf... I decided to recreate the cover looks for Bonny & Valentine. Below are some pics of the work in progress and the finished product.  First, here's the mock-ups I made using images of the heads and bodies I chose to create them with, painted in the appropriate ways. ⬇️ Work In Progress ⬇️ A close-up on Bonny's rings ⬇️ And... 🥁🥁🥁 the final product  (Watch out, Malvern, there's a BEE!!) 

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...

  Look for these updates on the blog:  1. Early Review of The Suite Spot , Trish Doller’s amazing follow-up to Float Plan. (Pub date: Mar 8, 2022) 2. Something Fabulous, Alexis   Hall’s new queer HR, drops TOMORROW January 25! Review coming soon. 3. Weather Girl (Jan. 11) Rachel Lynn Solomon’s romcom about a weather reporter and a single dad sports reporter. Review coming soon!