Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Always The Fireplaces

Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater

by Leave a Comment

This second novel in Atwater’s Regency Faerie Tales series is just as charming and delightful as the first. We’re heading downstairs in this one but it’s still full of faerie shenanigans! Housemaid Euphemia Reeves has fallen in love with a man far above her humble station. The youngest son of The Family, he is generally pleasant to the servants and is aware enough to take his muddy boots off at the door to save them some work. Obviously this makes him a perfect though improbable […]

Part 2 problems but not really that bad

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

by Leave a Comment

Cozy streak incoming. First up: Apprentice to the Villain. This is definitely a part two, in that it’s still a good continuation of the story, but it focuses on developing the big problems to be resolved later. That means there is less character development, and a lot more emphasis on mutual pining, which really gets irritating. The general lack of clear communication causing misunderstandings and problems in romance is a main reason I don’t read a lot of that, because it’s so very avoidable. Do […]

Lost in the Weeds

Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood

by Leave a Comment

Victoria has been forced to work as a guide with the Exotic Lands Touring Company since she was six years old, and things are worse than ever now that her ex Dean has been promoted over her. Her last hope is to successfully guide Thorn, a high-profile client, safely to the depths of the jungle – but as she grows closer to him, she begins to wonder if there’s a life out there for in the broader world. I wanted to like this book so […]

A mediocre cozy fantasy, might still be worth your time if you really love animals.

The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean

by 6 Comments

A socially anxious zookeeper working in phoenix conservation gets the chance of a lifetime to breed phoenixes and falls in love with her rival/frenemy from the griffin show in the process. Sounds nice, right? Books like this one almost frustrate me more than the real stinkers that deserve one or two stars. It’s ALMOST there for me. The premise=great. The themes=great. A convergence of genres that I love, plus magical animals and nerds=great. But none of it came together the way I wanted it to, […]

Weddings: a Bit of a Faff

Husband Material (London Calling #2) by Alexis Hall

by 4 Comments

In Husband Material (predictably the sequel to Boyfriend Material; number three in the series, Father Material, is still pending), Luc and Oliver are still a happy couple. They are thirty-ish, and anyone who is thirty-ish will remember that that is the age at which one seems to have a matrimonial or matrimonially-adjacent activity seemingly every week. There are four in this book. There is also a funeral. The sequence of events naturally leads Luc to the question whether or not he should propose to Oliver. […]

The Fatal Flaw of a Single Drop

Fauna by Denise Robins

by Leave a Comment

Fauna is stolen away from her village in Africa and enslaved at twelve – but her mixed blood offers her a greater chance of a happy life in England, even though it comes with its own specific dangers too. This is a bit of a hodgepodge review, because this is the omnibus edition of a trio of books following Fauna and her descendants. Originally published in the 1950s, the books have a for-their-time sympathetic treatment of the mixed-race Fauna and her descendants, even if that […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo