Scales of Gold (The House of Niccolò #4), Dorothy Dunnett

This is the most engaged I've been by a Niccolo book so far. I really enjoy Gelis and Diniz and Loppe (and Umar). Of course, having read Dunnett before, that meant I was waiting for something terrible to happen to at least one of them by the end of the book.

This is a travel story, and while I am still a little hazy on Nicholas and what he wants and why he does the things he does, I enjoyed the travel through Africa. I thought it was handled incredibly well, especially given when this book was written. African cultures were treated with the same respect and awe that Trebizond or Cyprus were in previous books, and while the characters occasionally judged the culture of Timbuktu it never felt like the book was. 

There is a section at the end, when they've all come back from years of living abroad, and find that the only people they can talk to about the journey is each other, which I related to intensely. I lived in Japan for a couple of years, and it's nearly impossible to explain what it was like to anyone who wasn't there. For those scenes I finally felt like I understood and enjoyed Nicholas, who otherwise is a cipher who leaves me cold in these books.

The end of this book is, frankly, bonkers. I won't have time to pick up the next book for a few weeks, but I'm definitely going to be thinking about it the entire time.

Grade: B
#63 in 2017

Spectred Isle (Green Men #1), KJ Charles

I am so glad this is the start of a series -- I liked both of the characters and this world so much. Set just after WWI, Saul is an archaeologist who lost his reputation and job in the war after making a very bad decision; Randolph is the mysterious stranger he can't stop running into. They meet at mysterious situation after mysterious situation. The only job Saul could get was working for a crazy old man who thinks magic is real, and Randolph turns out to be a man who fought in the magical battles of WWI. Both men are different, damaged people on the other side of WWI; both have lost nearly everyone they loved or cared about.

This is a magic action-adventure story, and also a historical romance. Randolph doesn't care what anyone thinks of him because he's from a wealthy, ancient family. Saul doesn't have that privilege. but their growing relationship is lovely, as is the promise of their future adventures together. It's exciting and scary and sexy and I'm excited for the rest of the series.

Grade:B
#61 in 2017

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid

This book promises classic hollywood gossip (fictionalized) and I recognized some of the people and stories that served as the genesis of some of the anecdotes here. I love classic Hollywood stories. I wish I had liked this more. I didn't like the framing device of the young journalist and her life struggles -- I almost never like a framing device -- and it made it pretty obvious what the twist at the end would be. "Within a week I would hate Evelyn Hugo," says the narrator, so I was looking for a reason, and it was awfully obvious. I did like the reveal of who the true love of Evelyn Hugo's life was, but -- spoilers follow -- I was never really sold on why she and Celia loved each other. They were both pretty rotten people, and the book tells us how much they love each other but doesn't show us why this is a deathless romance. The seven husbands also weren't as juicy and gossipy as I wanted. For a similar story, but juicier and more shocking and enthralling to read, AND non-fiction, read Furious Love about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Grade: C #54 in 2017

Race of Scorpions, Dorothy Dunnett

Gotta say, I did not love this book, and that's unusual for me and Dunnett. She remains my all-time favorite author, but on the whole I'm finding the House of Niccolo books to be really strange when it comes to sex. Every sex scene, or love interest, is completely transactional, and it's a little bit uncomfortable.

Spoilers follow -- I find it really disappointing that Katelina's entire story arc was about Nicholas, whether she wanted desperately to sleep with him, wanted desperately to kill him, or wanted desperately to sleep with him again. She lived her entire life (in these books) revolving around him, which I'm not sure he deserved. And then there's Primaflora, who of course is a high class prostitute, and who of course turns out to be evil and manipulative. Or there is David (in Trebizond) and Jacob (in Cyprus), both of whom want to sleep with Nicholas, and the books treat both of them like monsters for it. It's just uncomfortable to read, and I'm frankly uncomfortable with how often Nicholas sleeps with ladies who then die, or how much his "quest" is driven by needing revenge or sexual relief after yet another lady he slept with dies. It's very Christopher Nolan, and I don't like him, either. 


The plot of this book should have been right up my alley with the plotting and the betrayal and the sieges. But halfway through the book stops to be about how the sugar business runs again, and it's boring. I don't care about Nicholas's trade dealings, or playing the Genoese against the Venetians against the Portuguese. It's too complicated to be interesting, and it's too pedestrian to be the plot of a sprawling novel like this.

I also think this book is entirely too fond of elliptical conversations that imply vaguely about plotting that's going on, and I'm tired of meaningful exchanges and knowing looks that don't actually tell the reader what's going on. I'm going to take reading break before I try the next book, because Right now, despite the beautiful writing, I am not really enjoying this series.

Grade: C
#53 in 2017

The Ruin of a Rake, Cat Sebastian

Cat Sebastian might be my favorite new author. She writes wonderful historical m/m romances, that are satisfyingly of-their-time and also satisfyingly romantic, about people who like each other and need each other and make each other better. In this one we have a rake and a rogue who needs to improve his reputation after a novel is published about his exploits, so that he can keep seeing his beloved nephew (right now he's a "bad influence). And we have a stuffy very proper businessman who has struggled to make himself acceptable to high society without a title, who has built levels of polish and veneer between himself and the world so that he's protected. One offers to help the other repair his reputation, and once they have to spend time with each other they can not only hlep, but protect each other. It's absolutely lovely, and I liked it so much.

Grade: A
#52 in 2017

The Spring of the Ram, Dorothy Dunnett (The House of Niccolo #2)

I don't know what to say! I still don't love Nicholas like I loved Francis Crawford; I have a much harder time getting a read on his character. Dunnett writes brilliant description, and some of the dialogue here is very funny. I googled something and spoiled myself twice for this book, which took a little of the fun out, which isn't the book's fault. Catherine drove me nuts in a very believable way. I still feel vaguely like the book is implying things I'm not quite picking up on (there is a mysterious and sexy woman who says heavily loaded and implicative things -- this is a trope Dunnett loves). 

Clearly I enjoyed reading it, but I am at a loss to tell you why or why I didn't give it five stars without a few months of thinking about it, or spoiling everything.

Grade: B?
#47 in 2017

An Extraordinary Union (The Loyal League #1), Alyssa Cole

This is a great book. I didn't enjoy it as much as I think other people will because a couple of things about it bugged me, but it was truly enjoyable and wonderful to read a book about a topic I never thought would pop up in a romance novel, and to have it be historical and believable. This is the story of Elle, a free Black woman, who has agreed to go undercover as a slave during the Civil War to get information to help the Union and end the war. She meets Malcolm, who is a Pinkerton detective also undercover, on the same kind of mission. Oh, and importantly -- Malcolm is white. 

It's a fascinating story with no easy resolution. Elle is brilliant and beautiful and Malcolm loves her and respects her and treats her like a human being (whenever he can -- really only when they're alone). Elle loves him but she knows all the problems their relationship would face, even in the North. 

I was frustrated that Elle goes back and forth with Malcolm so many times. She has very, very good reasons not to trust him or want to be with him, and once she does, she seems to immediately change her mind, over and over. They also each get a turn being jealous over situations they know mean nothing to the other person. I was also a little frustrated that Malcolm is incredibly perfect from the very beginning. I can definitely see why the hero of this kind of book needs to be a man who is better than almost every other man; it's the only way it's justifiable that Elle will love him when there is so much to go against their union. But I have realized that as a reader, I always prefer selfish scoundrels or lying assholes who are reformed by love, to men who are fundamentally good and true from the beginning. It's just less interesting to me that way.

Grade: C
#46 in 2017

An Unnatural Vice (Sins of the Cities #2), KJ Charles

The last book in this series was not really my thing; this book VERY MUCH was. I love Justin. He is an amoral schemer who pretends to be a medium and talk to the dead. (Side note: one of my least favorite things in the world is watching someone cold read on television and make people cry. It infuriates me. I can't sit through a commercial for the Long Island Medium without storming out of the room.) Justin is fully aware that what he does is awful, and has nothing but contempt for people who believe in what he does. But it's what he's good at, and he's built up a little family of assistants he needs to look out for. Nathaniel, on the other hand, is a crusading lawyer, who despises what Justin does (but is ridiculously attracted to him). Nathaniel doesn't really get much of an arc in this book, most of the forward movement is Justin's, because Justin is being crushed under the weight of what he does, and what he wants to do, and the idea that maybe, just maybe, he could be someone better if he got the chance. ...Oh, and also the fact that people are trying to kill him for most of this book. Justin is the perfect kind of scoundrel; convinced he is bad through and through, that he doesn't want anything and he doesn't deserve anything, and fiercely unapologetic for the choices he's made. Nathaniel is sure that there's some good inside Justin, even if Justin refuses to see it or admit it. I loved the way they came together and I love this book.

Grade: A

#45 in 2017

Niccolo Rising, Dorothy Dunnett

This is a complicated book to review, because Dunnett's other series, the Lymond Chronicles, are my favorite books ever. And so as much as I liked this book, and as much as I told myself over and over not to compare it, of course I inevitably did compare it. It's also complicated because my Dunnett-reading friends haven't read this one yet, and as always there are twists and reveals I don't want to give away. (There great difficulty of getting people to read Dunnett for me, always, is that if you don't sell some of the upcoming plot, Game of Kings is so hard to get into. But there is no series that benefits more from a 100% cold read with no idea where it's going.)

Something I loved: the book is so beautifully written. The language is evocative and warm and describes life in Bruges (and Italy) so wonderfully that the atmosphere is immediate and enveloping. Dorothy's descriptions are so so so good.

Something I didn't love: a lot of this book involves people making very secret and sneaky trade deals. I teach about the alum trade in the Mediterranean Sea and I was still baffled about half the time, trying to keep the various Italian families and city-states straight. I finally worked out what was going on about 75% of the way through, when Felix did, but it meant that a lot of the book was meaningful meetings and people giving each other hints that I wasn't sure the significance of. (In fairness, as a reader of GoK you often have no idea what Lymond is up to or who he's making deals with, either, but there's enough of Will and Christian that it doesn't feel as overwhelming to me.)

Something I loved: Dorothy is so good at writing teenaged boys with a bad attitude. Felix is completely real in both his good points and his bad points, which makes him very frustrating to read about, even while you totally understand where he's coming from. I also loved (or hated, as appropriate) Katelina, and Simon, and Jordan, and Marian, all of whom felt like well-rounded real people. Oh, and Gelis. I'd read a whole book about Gelis.

Something I didn't love: From the very beginning, I felt like I had a grasp on who Francis Crawford was. Sure, his motivations were secret, but he was drunk and charming and sarcastic, with a bitter side and a noble side, and he was not to be trusted. I've read this book twice now and I'm still not entirely sure I get who Nicholas is. The descriptions of him in the first third of this book are baffling, and while I know that different characters see him differently, I never felt like Dorothy totally landed on an explanation of his behavior and attitude that I entirely understood. (No, not even at the end, when you learn a lot more about him.) The book cover describes him as a "good-natured dyer's apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way" through history. But that's not totally what happens. I could absolutely love a book about a nice guy who's secretly scheming, or a street-wise apprentice who's smart way above his station and fights his way to the top (which my kindle suggests is the plot). But without spoiling anything, that's not how he's described, especially at the beginning. I liked Nicholas. But I can't love him without understanding him better. Maybe in the next book??

Grade: B
#43 in 2017

A Curious Beginning, Deanna Raybourne

I couldn't decide how many stars to give this. It's not actively bad, offensive, or upsetting, but unless you love -- LOVE -- this narrator and her narrative voice, there's nothing in this book. I've read plenty of books about sassy Victorian spinsters and the mysterious dukes and adventures they have, but this also included a weird few chapters of interlude at the circus that go nowhere, and no sex. I just wasn't delighted enough with the main character (or intrigued enough by the mystery), and the mysterious angry-but-sad-inside duke was so cliche.  I read it, and to be honest I'd probably read the sequels if they fell into my lap. But the whole time I was reading it I was like "....sure? Fine? I GUESS????" Grade: C #41 in 2017

Star Crossed (Fly Me To The Moon #5)

I really loved this. The ending felt the the tiniest bit rushed, but Geri and Bev are both so lovely, and a historical lesbian romance is such a rare and beautiful unicorn to find. Grade: B #37 in 2017

An Illicit Temptation, Jeannie Lin

This is a sequel to the last book. Adorable and lovely, but as always with a novella, I wish it were longer.

Grade: B

#35 in 2017

My Fair Concubine, Jeannie Lin

Just an absolute delight from start to finish. I always enjoy Jeannie Lin's books, and this one was hot affffffffff. I love a good historical romance, and it's so nice to spend some time in historical China instead of it always being Regency England. Grade: A #34 in 2017

The Road to Silver Plume, Tamara Allen

I was super excited about another government official and con man romance. It's one of my favorite tropes. But the book ended up being mostly about the history of the silver standard in America and why it was important to some people to keep silver circulating, while others didn't want it. Way more history and discussion of monetary policy than romance. It's strange, because usually I wish romance novels had more plot, but this one needed more romance and less history.

Grade: C
#27 in 2017

A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

This book is lovely, and wonderful for really feeeling like you're living through the changing history in Russia after the Revolution. For me, though, its light and lovely tone got tiresome after a while, and I wish it had been about 2/3 as long as it was. Grade: C #27 in 2017

An Unseen Attraction (Sins of the Cities #1), KJ Charles

Ehhhhhhhh. This was not my favorite. I think I like Charles best when she's writing about thieves and rogues and law breakers; both heroes in this story are very sweet and kind and patient and understanding with each other, and it didn't grab me. I felt a little bit like I was being reminded how to be loving and understanding to people who might have different needs than mine, and while I like that sometimes, it felt a little underwhelming as the main romantic plot. (Also I had solved the mystery even before it was mentioned, about 20% into the book, so that didn't keep my attention either.) It's still a lovely book, and well written, but it wasn't for me. Grade: C #25 in 2017

The Girl From Everywhere, Heidi Heilig

I really enjoyed this. It's a beautiful story, I liked how time travel was dealt with, I liked the setting -- Hawaii just before it became part of the United States -- and I liked the crew of the ship. My one complaint is that it felt like it was more the protagonist's father's story than her own. Everything hinges on decisions he makes, and how she'll react to it, rather than a decision that she's going to make. (In fact, at the end, she makes a decision to leave, since he can't seem to decide anything, then he changes his mind, so so does he. It still comes down to him.)

Grade: B
#23 in 2017

The Lawrence Browne Affair, Cat Sebastian

I loved this! I loved everything about it. I loved Lawrence's bluster and I loved Georgie's struggle to be a better person, and I loved that it was found family, and I had ALL THE FEELINGS while I read it. I'm recommending it to everyone I know, and I can't wait to reread it. This is my favorite new romance that I've read in a long time. Grade: A #14 in 2017

The Soldier's Scoundrel, Cat Sebastian

This was wonderful. It reads just like any other regency romance, except in this one instead of fighting over a woman, the two male leads happen to fall in love. I loved Jack's extended scoundrel-y family, and I loved the B plot, about women helping each other out of untenable situations. Really just lovely.

#12 in 2017

Grade: A

Wanted, A Gentleman, KJ Charles

I loved this book! It's one of my favorite by Charles ever (although nothing will ever knock Think of England out of the top spot, I don't think). It's a romance between Theo Swann, who is a fairly shady guy who runs a newspaper in historical London where people put ads to find romance (or at least someone), and Martin St. Vincent, a former slave who's been freed and has made good as a gentleman. Or at least as good as he can. A young woman who is a friend of Martin's runs off with a jerk she met through Theo's newspaper, and Martin makes Theo help him get her back.

Both Martin and Theo are deeply sympathetic and interesting characters, both are struggling in different ways, and both make each other better. If I had a complaint it would be that the third act twist is telegraphed really obviously, and I would have liked it one percent better if I had been surprised. But overall the whole book is a delight and it's going on my "reread on a bad day" list.

Grade: A
#5 in 2017