Pooja – Page 26 – Cannonball Read 17

Love in Masquerade

My Only Valentine by Victoria Henshaw, Julia Parks, Donna Simpson

February 12, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

Three couples in Regency England find their way to each other through various Valentine’s Day related events and hijinks. In “The Valentine Poem” by Victoria Henshaw, Susan Kimball falls in love with her Italian tutor, little suspecting that he is actually a nobleman undercover. This is a cute romance with little plot, and I liked the relationship between John and his half-brother the duke. However, Susan’s bleak moment seemed very illogical for a generally logical heroine – it really should have been timed for before […]

Between the Freeze and the Thaw

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

February 11, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

When midwife Martha Ballard is called to inspect the body of a man found frozen in the Kennebec River, the last person she expects it to be is the accused rapist of one of her patients – and when she determines that he has been murdered, the situation only becomes more complex. I first heard about Martha Ballard a few months ago, when I picked up the Pulitzer Prize-winning book based on her life (A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her […]

An Escaped Eccentric (ft. Two Lovers)

Captured by Mary Lancaster

February 10, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

Freed from her constrained life by the death of her autocratic father, Hera decides to take up a companion position where no one knows her. But as her assignment turns increasingly sinister, she turns to Justin, the doctor who attended her father before he died, for help. This is the second book in Mary Lancaster’s The Duel series, which follows the aftermath of a duel in which an army officer kills the cold-hearted Duke of Cuttyngham. Hera is the duke’s daughter, and Justin the friend […]

“He wasn’t grateful, he was homicidal. It wasn’t enough that they endanger his friends and servants, they had to attack his most valued enemy as well.”

The Book of Ile-Rien by Martha Wells

February 8, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

The Book of Ile-Rien collects the first two books in Martha Wells’ Ile-Rien universe, which takes place in a fantasy world with a steampunk flavor. Though I have the much-lauded Murderbot series on my TBR, I have never read any of Wells’ work before. The Element of Fire is her debut, and when this book crossed my dashboard I thought it’d be a decent place to start. The Element of Fire – 3.5 stars The return of the king’s bastard sister to the court of […]

No Winners in Crime and Politics

The Peking Express by James M Zimmerman

February 3, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

A train full of wealthy passengers, both foreign and Chinese, is wending its way across the country to Peking. But after being taken hostage by bandits, their plight goes from bad to worse as geopolitics rear their head too. In the summer of 1923, Chinese bandits robbed a luxurious train and took over 300 of its passengers hostage, including many foreign citizens. As the situation became worse and the consequences mounted, it became an international crisis that eventually struck a blow against the stability of […]

The Past is a Different Country

Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age by Reid Mitenbuler

February 1, 2024 by Pooja 2 Comments

Peter Freuchen first rose to prominence as an Arctic explorer in the early twentieth century, but during his long adventurous life he wore many other hats, becoming a best-selling author, working in Hollywood, and being imprisoned in a Nazi prison camp for being a member of the resistance. I like exploration stories. They introduce you to an old world that no longer exists, they have the kinds of details that boggle the mind, and are usually populated with exactly the eccentric kinds of people you’d […]

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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