faintingviolet – Page 34 – Cannonball Read 17

“I don’t want fine… I want a connection. I want you to care as much as I care. I want you to need it and want it and mean it. I want it to matter.”

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

February 19, 2022 by faintingviolet 3 Comments

I wasn’t sure how I was going to rate Boyfriend Material until I realized that I was actively putting off finishing it because even after nearly 400 pages I didn’t want to be done with the world Alexis Hall had created. So, five stars it is as well as relief that the follow up Husband Material will be published later this year (August 2022 to be exact). Boyfriend Material is the story of Luc and Oliver, but its really Luc’s as he’s the one we’re […]

“Never mix vodka and witchcraft.”

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

February 12, 2022 by faintingviolet 1 Comment

When I started reading this book it wasn’t very far in before I was thinking to myself “hmm… I’m not sure he’s such a bad guy, ladies” as Vivienne is (accidentally) drunkenly hexing her ex, Rhys. This could be a function of any number of things including my age, my own romantic history, the fact that I waited three months on my library’s hold list to get a copy, or the general state of the world. But it did affect my enjoyment because the thing […]

“I never stopped trying to save you, so don’t you fucking dare stop trying to save yourself.”

A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1) by Alix E. Harrow

February 12, 2022 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

A Spindle Splintered is a queer retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale, playing on the variations that exist and adding one of its own. The basic story has been around for almost seven hundred years and has flown through the hands of Basile, Perrault, and Grimm, and that’s before we get into the hundreds of adaptations so what’s another? Harrow brings her own lens to this, and imbues her lead, Zinnia Grey, with a wonderfully clear voice. It is so realistic that I initially thought […]

“There are two people inside me and they are at war with each other.”

Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, Brian FitzGibbon (Translator)

February 7, 2022 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

This is a book that you have to give yourself over to, you have to meet it where it is and accept its way of imparting the story, of whether there is a story at all, and how the author has built her main character, and how that main character chooses to share her world with you. Once you’ve done that the book embraces you like waves coming onshore. But is it the cold waters of the North Atlantic or something warmer? I have my […]

“Everyone loved being together and just fangirling over whatever they were reading.”

Meet Cute Club by Jack Harbon

February 5, 2022 by faintingviolet 3 Comments

Last week the Twitter Discourse around Romance focused on fallout from a tweet by Jack Harbon about the intent of those outside a marginalized community writing exclusively about that community (he was specifically referring to women, often white women, writing only about queer men). Separate from the actual conversations that happened around that initial tweet, it made me realize that while I’ve read queer romance by queer women, non-binary authors, and those who identify as genderqueer I had not yet read a m/m romance written […]

“Only if we can develop a broadly shared understanding of our common history will it be practical to consider steps we could take to fulfill our obligations.”

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

February 3, 2022 by faintingviolet 1 Comment

The Color of Law is the reason I have been absolutely plowing through Romances I trust to help feed my brain some needed positive feelings as this book is a big important book about a topic that is rage inducing. In The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Richard Rothstein marches the reader through the various manners by which the U.S. government has actively created and enforced the racial segregation we see all around us by baking it into […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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