Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Viking Romance and Fierce Heroines

The Bone King and the Starling by Elizabeth Stephens

July 30, 2025 by LB 2 Comments

The Bone King and the Starling fulfills the “B” square of CBR17 Bingo. I enjoyed Elizabeth Stephens’ Xiveri Mates series and recently loved All Superheroes Need PR, though I’ve been hesitant to give The Bone King and the Starling a try based on the content notes (which can be found on the author’s website, and definitely encourage checking them before checking this book). I finally succumbed to curiosity. I read through several reviews, and the thing that stood out is there is supposed to be an extended sex […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Short Stories Tagged With: Elizabeth Stephens, historical fantasy, M/F romance, novella, Romance, self published, the bone king and the starling, Viking

LB's CBR17 Review No:17 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Short Stories · Tags: Elizabeth Stephens, historical fantasy, M/F romance, novella, Romance, self published, the bone king and the starling, Viking ·
· 2 Comments

Literally a snoozefest.

Sufficiently Advanced Magic (Arcane Ascension, #1) by Andrew Rowe

January 5, 2025 by narfna Leave a Comment

DNF @ 16% I can’t anymore. This book quite literally put me to sleep—twice–and I cannot fathom torturing myself with it any longer. The 105 pages I managed to read were more than enough to tell me that this is not for me. This is a LitRPG book, and you might like it if you are really, really, really, really into gaming scenarios, and you need nothing else to sustain you in a story. The narration read to me like, “First I did this, and […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: #fantasy, Andrew Rowe, LitRPG, narfna, progression fantasy, self published

narfna's CBR17 Review No:3 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: #fantasy, Andrew Rowe, LitRPG, narfna, progression fantasy, self published ·
· 0 Comments

A cozy paranormal romance for the holidays~

Clara, Darling by Chace Verity

December 6, 2024 by LB Leave a Comment

Chace Verity is one of my absolute fave authors, and they’ve held that title since their debut, Team Phison, so any time they have a new release I get all excited. Clara, Darling is a holiday (Christmas) novella, but unlike Verity’s previous Christmas story (Team Phison Forever), this has much less family trauma and is almost dream-like in its story tell. Sadie has been married to Alvin for ten years, but in all that time she’s never forgotten her best friend and first love, Clara. […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, History, Romance, Speculative Fiction Tagged With: 1930s, 1930s New York, Chace Verity, Clara Darling, historical fiction, historical romance, indie, new york, queer, sapphic, self published

LB's CBR16 Review No:18 · Genres: Fantasy, History, Romance, Speculative Fiction · Tags: 1930s, 1930s New York, Chace Verity, Clara Darling, historical fiction, historical romance, indie, new york, queer, sapphic, self published ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

It’s a nope from me, dawg.

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea (Tomes & Tea, #1) by Rebecca Thorne

June 21, 2024 by narfna Leave a Comment

I’m so sad rn, but this was so dull. Cozy fantasy should still have emotional stakes. I’m actually writing this review straightly upon finishing because I just want to be done with it (barring my May YouTube wrap-up, but talking is easier than writing). Like many, I have been really, really into this cozy fantasy thing since Legends and Lattes first did its thing, and unfortunately, I think this author learned the wrong lessons from that book, which she tells us in the afterword was a huge […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, cozy fantasy, LGBTQIA, narfna, queer fantasy, Rebecca Thorne, Romance, self published, Tomes & Tea

narfna's CBR16 Review No:35 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, cozy fantasy, LGBTQIA, narfna, queer fantasy, Rebecca Thorne, Romance, self published, Tomes & Tea ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

For those of you wanted Babel to be even more intense.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

November 20, 2023 by narfna Leave a Comment

I wanted to make sure to actually write a review for this one, because I want more people to be reading it. Everyone who read Babel last year should also read this. Like, ASAP. I’m sure this review is about to be trash because I tend to babble when I attempt to sum up how good this book is, or go on too long, but I’m going to try anyway, because it was such an immersive and satisfying reading experience. Our main character is Sciona, […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: #fantasy, Blood Over Bright Haven, dark academia, indie fantasy, M.L. Wang, narfna, read harder challenge 2023, self published, Urban Fantasy

narfna's CBR15 Review No:131 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: #fantasy, Blood Over Bright Haven, dark academia, indie fantasy, M.L. Wang, narfna, read harder challenge 2023, self published, Urban Fantasy ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Murder, mystery, fine ale, friendship, plague, dark humor. A very enjoyable book.

The Alewives: A Plague-Era Tale of Murder, Mystery, and Fine Ale by Elizabeth R. Andersen

November 16, 2023 by narfna 4 Comments

This was pretty much everything I wanted it to be. Honestly, I didn’t even read the synopsis before I ordered this, just because I love reading about alewives, but was even more delighted to learn it’s about female friendship and life post-Black Death in medieval Europe, and also solving murders. Worth pointing out in its own paragraph: this is an indie author and the book doesn’t have many ratings, so people who love slice of life history, the middle ages, cozy mysteries, and female friendship, come! […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: 14th century, alewives, cozy mystery, Elizabeth R. Andersen, Gritta's hoe, historical mystery, mystery, narfna, self published, The Alewives, The Alewives of Colmar, the plague

narfna's CBR15 Review No:125 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: 14th century, alewives, cozy mystery, Elizabeth R. Andersen, Gritta's hoe, historical mystery, mystery, narfna, self published, The Alewives, The Alewives of Colmar, the plague ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments
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