Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

To Be a Diplomat’s Wife

An Unusual Courtship by Lynne Connolly

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Juliet is enamored of diplomat Val, but she believes that her scandalous family and poor prospects would make a poor political wife. But when Val’s fiancée reveals that she’s in love with another man, she supposes it wouldn’t be too bad to pretend to be engaged to him for the length of a state dinner. This is the second book in the Brazen Burrells series, about a trio of sisters who take Regency-era London with their beauty, wits, and little else. This is the story of Juliet, […]

“One doesn’t need magic if one knows enough stories.”

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawelett

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I absolutely adored this! One standoffish professor plus her exact opposite best (only) friend plus a countryside full of faeries? Magical! At long last, Emily has made the long journey to Ljosland to study the Hidden Ones, the previous unresearched faeries who live there. Her entry on them will be the crowning achievement to her encyclopedia of faeries. If only she hadn’t somehow offended all the townsfolk on her first day… The sudden arrival of her colleague Wendell – and how quickly the townsfolk latch […]

Obviously You Should Shoot the Intruder in Your Hidden Pool

The Proud Breed by Celeste de Blasis

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After an unexpected encounter by a hidden pool, Tessa and Gavin fall in love, but their lives together in a rapidly developing California will not be easy. Before this book I’d only read de Blasis’s Wild Swan trilogy, and it was glad to see that we see some of the same hallmarks here – strong, complex characters with an undeniable connection, no matter how many times they might fall away from each other for a time. In fact, I might argue that Tessa was a […]

“I didn’t smuggle the dog into the country; I merely caused him to be smuggled out of Baluchistan.”

Frederica by Georgette Heyer

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CBR15 Passport Challenge: Different (sub)genres #2 The Marquis of Alverstoke, wealthy, vain, and immensely bored, sees no reason why he must put himself to any trouble for anyone at all. But when he agrees to sponsor a beautiful young woman’s debut in society, he can’t help but become tangled up with her managing older sister. I read Georgette Heyer’s romances sparingly. Not because I dislike them, but indeed the opposite – I adore their sharp humor, hijinks, and immersive historical setting – and I don’t […]

“You could have kissed me or slit my throat and either would have made as much sense.”

A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson

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CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books you already own #1 In a lyrical letter to the lover she killed, Constanta recounts their history together, as well as that of his other ‘brides,’ and what drove them to do as they did. I had high hopes for this book. I don’t usually love vampire romances, because I feel like they often underplay the dark and twisted nature of the vampires of myth – so the fact that this book promised to go back to those terrifying roots drew […]

Is the Past Written in Sand or Stone?

Saving Her Highland Traitor by Maeve Greyson

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CBR15 Passport Challenge: Different (sub)genres #1 After Mira and her godson Robbie travel back in time to 18th century Scotland, they settle into a content life with Clan MacDonald. But when Mira realizes that the chief, Teague, is destined to be executed before the end of the year, she becomes determined to avert his fate. Time travel historical romance is a niche genre that I’ve had very little exposure to. I enjoy straightforward historical romance, but the fish-out-of-water aspect of it, as well as the […]



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