Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“People bury the parts of history they don’t like, pave it over like African cemeteries beneath Manhattan skyscrapers.”

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

by 6 Comments

Thrillers aren’t usually my genre. Is that why When No One Is Watching is good but not great for me? Possibly. But we read out of our comfort zones on purpose so that maybe the next one is better, or that we’re more ready for it. This is another book that hopped to the front of the to read line based on this year’s Read Harder Challenge which has a task specifically for reading a political thriller by a marginalized author and this fits the […]

I adore romance trilogies where a trio of lady friends find their perfect partner, one set per book. CBR14 Bingo: Bodies

A Prince on Paper: A Reluctant Royals novel by Alyssa Cole

by 1 Comment

CBR14 Bingo: Bodies – There is a pair of attractive bodies on the cover.  Nya discovers what pleasures her body. Is there a name for the sub-set of romance that has a trio of women friends finding their perfect partner across a trilogy?  I enjoy them!  Nora Roberts was my introduction and I devoured several.  Then there was a long hiatus of romance reading.  Cannonball Read inspired me to start seeking out new romances and that brought me to Alyssa Cole, and her “Reluctant Royals” series.  […]

Sometimes you can’t bank a fire when it starts with such a strong spark

A Duke by Default: Reluctant Royals by Alyssa Cole

by 1 Comment

A Duke by Default is the second volume in Alyssa Cole’s “Reluctant Royals” series.  I read this series out of order by accidentally starting with the third book, A Prince on Paper, then reading the beginning, A Princess in Theory, and now have read the middle book!  Each book in the series follows a different couple and this is Portia Hobbs and Tavish (Tav) McKenzie’s time to shine. Portia is a New York socialite that has a history of drinking to find courage or drown […]

Gentrification Meets Get Out in Brooklyn

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

by 4 Comments

I couldn’t put down this book after starting it. I burned through it in one and a half days, because sleep,  it it was engaging all the way through and the ending was insane. Loved the story, as it’s something that resonates with me (gentrification in NYC has gotten so bad and so many people have been displaced/ out priced because of it). I also loved the slight sci-fi elements of this book, a turn I was not expecting as it starts out as a […]

One day, one of these books is going to knock my socks off…I hope

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole

by Leave a Comment

Official book description: Makeda Hicks has lost her job and her girlfriend in one fell swoop. The last thing she’s in the mood for is to rehash the story of her grandmother’s infamous summer fling with a runaway prince from Ibarania, or the investigator from the World Federation of Monarchies tasked with searching for Ibarania’s missing heir. Yet when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, the sleek and sexy investigator exudes exactly the kind of chaos that organized and efficient Makeda finds irresistible, even if […]

Are we cake? Are those cake versions? Of us?

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole

by Leave a Comment

I enjoyed How to Find a Princess. Alyssa Cole is such a good writer that even the parts I struggled with were really good. In fact, the anxiety and frustration I felt about Bez and Makeda was largely because of how real Cole made them to me. I think some people are going to find How to Find a Princess a challenge to get into, and it definitely benefits from a second read. Once I was comfortable with the story, I could appreciate how Bez […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo