Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Elegantly written Edwardian fantasy, murder mystery, gay romance

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

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First of all, Thank you, again, llamareadbooks for gifting me this book in the Cannonball Book Exchange!  A book that combines several genres I enjoy was almost guaranteed to be a hit but it is the beautiful writing that makes this such a wonderful read. You look like a Turner painting and I want to learn your textures with my fingertips.  You are the most fascinating thing in this beautiful house.  I’d like to introduce my fist to whoever taught you to stop talking about […]

Melania In Paris

Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak

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There’s been a trend these last few years of taking popular female historical characters and putting them in espionage situations. Queen Elizabeth. Jackie O. I’ve never read any of these books but I suppose there’s something to be mined from the genre. There’s really no interesting way to do the same with Melania Trump, given her complicity in her husband’s regime. So Anna Pitoniak decides to tweak just a few things (very few things) and write a story that covers both ends of the Cold War, […]

“Archer…dressed in the evening because he thought it cleaner and more comfortable to do so”

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

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This is my first review of the year. I have been reading a lot, and enjoying what I read, but I’m just not ready to think about what I read. I was partway through The Age of Innocence when I realized this was a re-read, though from a decade or so ago. We meet Newland Archer (what a name!), a New York society gentleman in his early 20s, as he mostly sleepwalks through society – getting engaged to an appropriate ingénue, moving from home to […]

“The things my brother and I don’t say could pave over the Atlantic Ocean.”

Seven For a Secret (Timothy Wilde, #2) by Lyndsay Faye

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See, this is why I was asking how many five-star reviews in a month is too many, because I kind of want to give this one five stars, too! Great mystery, great character work (brothers! <3 <3), great second book in a trilogy (a rare thing!), impeccable historical fiction. This is the main book I read while on vacation last week, and because I was distracted by friends and food and reality TV (they made me watch Love is Blind!!! ilikedit), I read it over […]

“I used to think that revenge was about defending one’s honor, but it turns out that honor is just spite dressed up for Sunday.”

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb (#1) by Cat Sebastian

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In one word: Cheeky I don’t read a lot of romance, but this rogue meets aristocrat was recommended by many in the Cannonball Read community, so I put it on my list for something fun and light for the new year. I had the lucky opportunity to escape the frigid midwest for the beach in mid-January and this book was an absolutely perfect beach read, fun and cheeky with equal parts swashbuckling mystery and eyebrow waggling sexy times. Kit is a coffee shop owner and […]

“You cannot be betrayed by someone you do not trust.”

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

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This cover is gorgeous!  It may have sucked me into checking this out, but I stayed for the story.  This is one of those books that jumps from present time back to a point in history.  I’ve read several of these; it’s a popular theme that usually involves distant relatives.  However, in this case, it’s a young woman, Caroline Parcewell, in present day who finds out her husband has cheated on her, and she takes off to London on what was supposed to be the […]



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