Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Tales from the Eloise omnibus, part 1: The tiny terror with a heart of gold

Eloise at Christmastime by Kay Thompson (author), Hilary Knight (illustrator)

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I grew up loving Eloise, a precocious brat with a charmed life, living to the fullest of her (mostly) unsupervised life.  However, I was unaware that there were multiple Eloise books until I worked at Border Books (RIP) corporate headquarters and had the amazing job of overseeing the free book room.  I did other stuff too but that was the best part of my job.  One day The Ultimate Edition of Eloise came through the room and I was surprised to find out there are […]

Cozy mystery a la mode

A Deadly Inside Scoop (Ice Cream Parlor Mystery Series, Book 1) by Abby Collette

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I really wanted to love this book. I love ice cream! I love cozy mysteries! I especially love cozy mysteries with a cast that isn’t all white women! But alas, I found this book to be more low-fat frozen yogurt than homemade ice cream – close, but not what I was craving. The story follows Bronwyn “Win” Crewse as she takes over her family’s ice cream parlor in the dead of winter in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The town, a suburb of Cleveland, is built around […]

Why don’t you just marry her?

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn

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If book six in the Bridgerton series were a cake (I did warn everyone in the last review), it would be multiple layers of Outlander enveloped in a Fifty Shades of Grey ganache. This is definitely the raciest of the books so far. Widows aren’t afraid of a little wickedness, I guess. Francesca, the third daughter of the Bridgerton clan, was married, and promptly widowed to a Scottish earl at some point backstage. It’s mentioned in other books, mostly to explain Francesca’s absence at certain family activities or crises: “Oh, she […]

Fun, steamy enemy-to-lovers romance

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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Executive assistant Lucy Hutton hates her publishing house coworker Josh. Typically well-liked and cute as a button, Lucy’s usual charms failed to break the stony demeanor of her work partner, leading to childish animosity between the two adults. Lucy and Josh’s resentment plays out as a series of rancorous “games” in which the winner revels in getting under the other’s skin.  Their hatred is so visceral that HR frequently intervenes and halts their little hating games. A steamy elevator make-out session changes everything and Lucy […]

Harry Potter punches Loki in the face

On Punching Gods and Absentee Dads by Enigmaris

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  This is a review of a straight-up crossover fanfiction, so beware, all ye who enter here! As you can probably guess from the title, this is a Harry Potter/Avengers crossover.  Now, I read a lot of fanfiction, and I go through them fairly quickly.  I’m not in the habit of writing reviews on the actual works, let alone 250+ words on Cannonball (I know, bad habit).  But this one deserves it!  (Also, it’s not smutty!) After the death of Sirius, Harry receives a delayed […]

Adding politics to fairy tales makes everything more depressing

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

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This is a grim take on Cinderella.  In this society, all girls (of a certain class, actual servants and peasants need not apply) must present themselves at the Royal Ball to hopefully be selected as a bride, as Cinderella was 200 years before. But this is not a happy fairy tale.  Women are treated as second class citizens, or worse, and are completely controlled by their husbands.  Women have no choice in their husbands – they are “claimed” at the ball by whoever wants them.  […]



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