Brutally Honest Reading Journal: June-July 2024

Bravely opining on romance novels without a filter

I went on vacation to Montreal with my family at the end of June, and it kicked off a bit of a reading-for-fun binge. I also dedicated myself to clearing out my Kindle Unlimited library and reading or returning, because there were books on there that had been lingering for… years.

Without further ado, here is my brutally honest reading journal from June and July 2024.

---

The Headmaster by Tiffany Reisz

This is a reissue of a novella originally published in 2014. The cover appealed to me, and the book is definitely going for the whole gothic vibes thing.

I did finish this, but it took way too long for me to read. The issue with this being by a notorious erotica author is that I have expectations, and I didn’t find this to be very sexy and I skimmed the sexy scenes. Given the length (short) and genre (erotica?), the romance is also pretty underdeveloped, but gestures at a grand love story.

I was intrigued by the mystery even though I guessed where it was going pretty early. However, when I got to the end, I was actually disturbed by how it wrapped up. Click the footnote here for the spoiler.¹

The ending literally made me so mad I had to complain to other people about it. Sure, it inspired emotion in me, but I think it was intended to inspire VERY different emotions.

Lady Diana’s Lost Lord by Aydra Richards

I saw people recommend this and so I picked it up based on the promise of pining — they’ve been engaged since they were kids, and he dropped off the face of the earth leaving her unmarriageable yet not married.

Turns out there’s no pining. I wanted to like it but the conflict was so easily solved that I just felt frustrated. They liked and respected each other almost from the start and were immediately attracted to each other and wishing they could be together… I got bored because nothing was happening.

This book is the latest in a long line of books that seem to be afraid of letting their characters have flaws, which robs the book of interesting conflict. I made it about halfway before deciding I was putting it down for good.

Then, Earth Swallowed Ocean by Shiloh Sloane

This book reminds me of fiction workshops in undergrad: lots of self-conscious wordplay that becomes nonsensical. It doesn’t help that the POV character begins the story extremely disoriented.

It wasn’t for me and I gave up pretty early.

Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

I won’t rehash how I felt about Fourth Wing here, as I did an entire episode about it with Sarah Skilton. Riding high from a breathless read of book 1, I immediately ordered book 2 and said so on Instagram.

Multiple people sent me DMs letting me know I was in for disappointment, and they were right. Iron Flame was a mess, but I finished it. (My eyes almost broke with how hard they were rolling around in my head, but I finished.)

I maintain that there is not enough story for even one more book, much less three. I don’t plan on reading the next one unless credible sources convince me Yarros has turned it around.

A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

After reading Fourth Wing, I asked a few people what other Romantasy books they recommended. This one came through as a recommendation.

A River Enchanted has a bit of a magical realism/folklore feel to it. It feels more rooted in the world we live in than the “high fantasy” Romantasy books: can we call it historical urban fantasy?

This was a pleasant read, but it didn’t give me “romance novel feelings.” I didn’t realize going in that it wasn’t a standalone, but apparently it’s a series so of course some contrivance had to mess up the main romantic relationship at the end. I guess this is a Romantasy thing, and I don’t like it.

My expectation for a satisfying romance is I want to close the book and feel satisfied, not have to read multiple other books and potentially wait years for those books to be published. Obviously not everyone feels like this, but I want what I want.

Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

This series also came up in lots of the “Romantasy Influencer” posts. It was possibly the fastest DNF in the history of the world.

The writing was atrocious, the blocking/plot nonsensical, and then I found out it was a bully romance and noped out.

Package Makes Perfect by Lauren Connolly

Instagram Reel author promotion works: I saw this promoted, downloaded it, then devoured it immediately.

I needed a palate cleanser, and this hit the spot. It’s a sweet and sexy contemporary romance published by Penny Reid’s Smarty Pants Romance imprint, and is set in the Green Valley universe with the Winston Brothers, which was an offshoot of the Knitting in the City series. I like those books for the most part, and while this is by a different author, the whole point is to basically create sanctioned side character fanfic in the world created by Penny Reid.

Anyways, I’m fuzzy on the details now given it’s been a while, but I remember that it hit all the right notes: solid romance with necessary swoons, good chemistry that had me looking forward to the steamy bits, and pacing that kept me turning the pages.

The King’s Spinster Bride by Ruby Dixon

This was another recommendation for Romantasy that wasn’t Fourth Wing, provided via Instagram DMs. (If any of you recommenders want to out yourselves in the comments, please do!)

Now obviously we know Ruby Dixon from Ice Planet Barbarians, but I’d only read one of those and hadn’t read any of her other work. This was a pleasant surprise — I love a pining hero, and this novella delivered in spades. It was a satisfying, quick read that had me quickly picking up…

Bound to the Battle God by Ruby Dixon

BttBG picks up a few years after TKSB and gets a bit more fantastical.

The heroine is from our modern world, and when all the gods are expelled from their god world to the fantasy world introduced in TKSB, she falls through into that parallel universe and becomes ensnared in an epic adventure.

I wasn’t quite so swept up in this one — it’s a full-length novel, and while the romance progressed nicely, I wanted it to hurry up a bit and get to the good stuff. I enjoyed it but the romance wasn’t quite as tingly as I hoped it would be. I didn’t immediately pick up the next book, but may do so eventually.

Don’t Let me Forget You by Cara Crescent

This book was saved in my KU library for literal years. Someone recommended it long ago and I decided it was now or never.

Turns out, never would have been fine.

There’s something with memory loss, a Shutter Island-esque beginning, and — this is barely a spoiler since it’s revealed so early — a giant sentient spider that eats people.

I stopped reading after a chapter but skimmed around because I was morbidly fascinated. I don’t know if I figured out what the heck was going on, but I satisfied myself with the knowledge that this one wasn’t for me.

Viciously Yours by Jamie Applegate Hunter

I have no idea why this was saved on my KU library, but someone must have recommended it. I had no knowledge going in — literally didn’t even read the synopsis — and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise!

Viciously Yours is a fantasy world with fae and humans. The author’s note sets the tone that this book is focused on the (spicy) romance and it’s not going to bore you with unnecessary world-building: she delivers on that promise.

It worked for me: what can I say?

You know how Jodie Slaughter and I basically melted down talking about The Savage and the Swan and talked about how nonsensical the world building was, and also how the hero is basically a magical serial killer? It occurred to me later that the same could be said about this book, but it’s all about the execution babes: it went down nice and easy for me with this book.

In Conclusion…

I originally loaded in about eight more books to talk about, but we know that brevity is not my strong suit, so I’ll save those for a July-August update (coming soon). Substack is already yelling at me that this post is too long for email.

Do you like hearing my honest opinions about books I’ve been reading?

Also, do you have other book recommendations for me? Please add them in the comments!

PS: I wrote this in a fit of creativity and did not go back and copyedit it because I have to make dinner now. If you find typos, please print out the post, correct the errors in red pen, and then mail the manuscript to me at:

[address redacted]

1. The heroine gets into an accident early in the novel and is in a limbo state while she’s in a coma or something. During this limbo period, she falls in lust with a ghost headmaster and his school of ghost schoolboys. At the end, she has to choose between waking up from her coma in the hospital or staying as a ghost forever with her lover, endlessly teaching high school for eternity.

This was positioned to be a grand love story and a very romantic gesture, but I was disturbed that she LITERALLY CHOSE TO DIE to “be with” the man she “loved” and to work as an English teacher for eternity. FEELS LIKE ETERNAL CAPITALISM TO ME.

Y’all, I can handle weird stuff, but this just rubbed me the wrong way. Not a fan. Sure, it made me think, but it just cheapened the entire thing for me. Even Halloween Boo (Hocus Pocus Fanfic by Sarah Spade) had a more satisfactory ghost romance than this.

006. Halloween Boo? by Sarah Spade - with my BFF Becky