#TBRChallenge 2026: Never After

The Book: Never After by Alexis Hall

The Particulars: Historical Fiction / Romance (more on this in a bit...), Amazon Montlake, 2026, stand alone, In Print

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: In terms of my TBR, this is a more recent addition. I've had the ARC for more than a hot minute but it's an April 2026 release that happened to fit this month's Lush Life theme to a T. Also, in case you're new here, I am an Angst Junkie with a capital A and J. 

Trigger Warnings: Suicide, drug addiction

The Review: I have zero patience for folks who tar and feather genre fiction as not "serious." In that same vein, folks who label all romance as unserious smut read by bored women looking to get their rocks off. Hall's done some interesting things with this book. I'm not sure they always work, but it's interesting and likely one I'm going to churn up in my brain for a few days. Meaning, this would be a dynamite book club discussion assuming your book group isn't a bunch of assholes. 

Reverend Thomas Mandeville is a third son (actually a twin, born second) which means he was destined for the church - his father being nothing if not unimaginative. His older by seconds twin went to the military, barely survived Crimea and is now the heir - their oldest brother Edward having died in a "hunting accident." It's that accident that haunts Thomas, a secret he's keeping at his mercurial father's request. So our guy has plenty of his own baggage when he discovers a opium-addicted whore lying in a gutter. 

Michael "Micha" Dashword became a whore after arriving in London, having been spurned by a lover. He continues to be a whore to feed his opium addiction, which Hall doesn't mince words on. This guy is a mess y'all. This would be a chicken or the egg scenario - has Micha fallen ill because of his addiction or is his addiction making his illness worse. Doesn't really matter, he's passed out in a gutter when Thomas finds him, and taking that whole "help / love thy neighbor" thing to heart, Thomas hauls him back to the family's home (currently vacant) in London to nurse him back to health. Just to reiterate, Thomas doesn't know Micha from Adam but can't leave a man dying in the gutter without doing something - so yes, he's that brand of Christian. 

This is very much a slow build book. The author spends the first part of the story setting up backstory, interspersing the narrative with first person accounts (displayed in italics) for both Micha and Thomas - but mostly for Micha, which gives us more information on how unsettling his life is. Sex isn't always about caring or love and if you believe it is, maybe don't read this book and have your illusions shattered. Micha's work is often upsetting to read about, as is his addiction. You're watching a man destroy himself on page and, in turn, taking other folks down with him. Micha is an addict, Micha has problems, doesn't mean I didn't, at times, think Micha was an asshole. He is. 

This isn't an inspirational book but given that Thomas is a man of the cloth expect a lot of religion talk and Thomas wrestling (somewhat) with his faith and occupation. But not much, because he reconciles his faith and his feelings for Micha in short order with the belief that "God cannot hate love..."  I'm not saying Thomas is wrong (I actually agree with him - coming from a God Is Love school of religious thought...) but it feels too pat, too easy. Also, naïve. Thomas doesn't spend any time dithering about actions and consequences which, come on man. Do you spend any time paying attention to the world you live in? The answer is - not so much. His fascination and feelings for Micha also come on fast, at first struck by Micha's beauty - which c'mon. He's an opium addict you found lying in a gutter. I don't care how beautiful the man is, I'm thinking he looked rough.

The story carries the reader through London and back to Thomas' country parish, which is where the relationship work of the story really cooks. Hall populates the story with well-rounded secondary characters (Mrs. Clark the housekeeper steals this book) and our couple falls in love, thereby creating more complications because hello, two gay men in love in Victorian England. I think it's important to note that while there is a romance and Hall does end it happily per se, this is a very melancholy read. It has to be. Queer people have always existed and Victorian England was not safe for them. Hell, today isn't safe for them. Certainly better, but not safe. Hall is navigating this story through the realities of that time frame. It ends on the note that Thomas and Micha love each other and end up together, but not in the way a modern 21st century reader might want. It's not unicorn farting rainbows happy. It's more pragmatic, compromise with the time you're living in happy. This book is very much romantic, but a romance as we define and look at the genre today? That's stickier. Also possibly why a lot of the tags I'm seeing on this book at retail sites lean towards "historical fiction." 

With all the talk of faith and religion, the prose runs a little flowery for my tastes, Thomas runs naïve and Micha runs towards asshole on more than one occasion. But you understand as the reader why all this is. I wasn't in love with this book, but it's angsty, meaty and there's a lot to chew on here. I might not be clutching it to my breast and sighing dramatically, but I'm also going to end up thinking about it for a few days after. For all those reasons, don't be shocked if this ends up on my Best Of list at the end of the year.

Final Grade = B-

Reminder: #TBRChallenge Day is September 16

Brace yourself kids, we only have four months left in the 2026 TBR Challenge. I know! I can't quite believe it either. I'll be on the road when this post goes live, having traveled across the country to attend a family wedding. Will I have gotten my book read before my trip? Will I have read it on the airplane? Will I get my post up in time? Your guess is as good as mine at this point!

This month's challenge is set for September 16 and the optional theme is Lush Life.  Don't blame me, blame the person who suggested it in my annual theme poll (OK, maybe blame me, I was intrigued and picked it out of the pile!). This is a theme that you can run with in any direction you think makes sense. Some definitions of "lush" include: luxuriant, thriving, prosperous, savory, drunkard, curvaceous. 

That said, I can totally understand not having the bandwidth to wrap your head around this particular theme. If you just want to pick a random book out of your pile and call it good? That's OK! The goal of the Challenge is to read something, anything, that has been languishing.

It's never too late to sign up for the Challenge.  You can learn more about it, and see a list of who is participating, over at the #TBRChallenge 2026 information page.

Review: The Jills

I promise that one day I'll get back to reading romance, but my slump continues it's hold on me with a vice grip, which means any book that can hold my attention right now, regardless of the genre, I'm counting as a win. Since my baseball team is officially circling the drain on what's left of the season, it's now time for me to turn my attention to being disappointed in my football team, the Buffalo Bills. Which brings us to Karen Parkman's debut suspense novel, The Jills. For those who don't know or follow the NFL, like many NFL teams, Buffalo had professional cheerleaders up until 2014, when a lawsuit by former cheerleaders blew the lid off all manner of grossness that was going on - everything from outright wage theft to telling the women how often they should be changing their tampons. Parkman's debut takes place somewhere in the window of 2010-2012, which we know since she name drops then head coach Chan Gailey and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

Virginia is a Jill - a job she takes very seriously and loves with her whole heart. Since she was a young girl, dancing has been her obsessive first love. So much so that she puts up with a lot of nonsense for the privilege of dancing before thousands of fans at Sunday home games. Her BFF on the squad is Jeanine and one Sunday Jeanine just doesn't show up for a game. This is a major infraction, a huge no-no, and Virginia is worried. She had been out with Jeanine on Friday night and here comes Sunday and she's nowhere around. She's also not answering any of her texts, which is really odd. Jeanine, for any other faults she may have, always answers Virginia's texts right away. But Virginia's the only one who is really worried - everybody else figures it's Jeanine just being Jeanine - until she continues to stay gone...

I'm not sure if it's my luck lately or if this is "a trend" I'm just now picking up on, but The Jills is one part suspense novel and one part book club fiction - and honestly, it's a marriage that doesn't always work for me. The librarian in my head objectively can tell you that this would make a dynamite book club selection, Parkman gives readers a lot to chew on, but as a reader it feels, at times, overly long. 

The world building is top notch. Parkman nails Buffalo, "a drinking town with a football problem." Virginia has Dead Daddy Issues, a former accountant for a local mob boss (who then took on the role of surrogate father), a complicated relationship with her mother, and a very strained relationship with her recovering addict sister, Laura. Virginia, bless her heart, has a White Knight Complex. You know the type. She has abandonment issues that manifest into her wanting to rescue people, essentially saving themselves from their own poor choices. Honestly, she's borderline manic in this behavior and, not gonna lie, she's an exhausting character. Since she carries this book you're trapped in her head the entire time.  I spent the entire book wanting to shake her senseless and tell her to cut these people loose, but of course she's tenacious like a terrier. She gets there, eventually, but the author spends a lot of time on diving into the characters, setting everything up, it takes a long time to really dive into the suspense thread (which, and this can't be overstated, is why I picked up this book in the first place).

That said, as manic and exhausting as Virginia is as a character, I got sucked in. Have I mentioned the world building? Have I mentioned I lived in Buffalo for nearly 6 years? And the more emotional scenes with her sister Laura? Tears leaked out. Maybe my soul isn't a dried up charred, smoking husk?

The ending to this book would normally be one that would annoy me in most suspense novels, but Virginia gets her answers, learns some hard truths, and does grow as a person over the course of this story - so it's a win in that respect. Part of me wonders what this story could have been had Parkman decided to subvert the cheerleader stereotype and created Virginia as competent and savvy - but maybe that would have made for a less interesting read for some. Or maybe, and more likely, I spent too much of my impressionable teen years reading mysteries featuring competent female sleuths. Honestly, my money is on the latter. 

Final Grade = B-

Dog Days: Unusual Historicals for August 2026

I don't know about you all, but I'm about ready for summer to be over. It's felt like one extreme weather event after another across the entire US and where I am has been unbearably hot. I also have a couple more months of this nonsense since "crisp autumn" weather where I live usually means triple digits and everything trying to burn down. On the bright side, while work has been kicking my butt (y'all we are so busy right now....) I've had a tiny bit more reading mojo than usual. I'm afraid to declare my slump dead, but I'm feeling slightly more hopeful thanks to audiobooks and keeping on top of my own TBR Challenge. On that subject, I'd love to get back into reading some historical romance and what better way to get those juices flowing that looking at new ones publishing in August. We have 14 titles this month! So sit back, relax and enjoy the browsing.

A Novel Affair by Zijari Singh

London, 1815.

Leela Choudhury refuses to be silent.

From a hidden alley in Nightingale Court, she runs The Nightingale, an underground bookshop that trades in forbidden texts, political pamphlets, and stories society insists women should never read. When a scandalous serialized romance known as The Pirate’s Promise ignites demand across Mayfield, Leela suspects its anonymous female author is not who she claims to be.

She’s right.

Viscount Sebastian Toussaint—wealthy aristocrat, favorite of the Crown, and the last man Leela ever expected to trust—is the mind behind the novel that has women whispering, dreaming, and daring to want more. Bound together by secrecy and a shared love of literature, Leela helps Sebastian discreetly distribute his work chapter by chapter, even as the Crown and a powerful bookseller close in.

As censorship tightens and reputations unravel, Leela and Sebastian must decide whether stories can truly change the world, and whether love can survive when everything else is at risk.

In a society determined to control women’s voices, one book may prove impossible to silence.

She runs an underground bookshop, he's the anonymous author behind a scandalous pirate romance that is warping the delicate minds of female readers. As they fall in love, a censorship battle closes in. From what I can gather, this is Singh's debut. 

Their Convenient Tuscan Marriage by Bronwyn Scott

Sparks that burn…

Hotter than a Tuscan summer!

After a haunting loss, restless Colonel Hayes Winterton accepts his father’s mission to secure a vineyard in Tuscany. Except his plans are thwarted by widow Evelisse Banfield—his stubborn, captivating competition!

Evelisse is shocked when the stoically handsome Hayes proposes a drastic solution to share the vineyard—a convenient marriage! Rather than relinquish her claim on the property, she accepts, but he will be her husband in name only. Until Evelisse realizes their business arrangement could have pleasurable benefits, as long as real feelings don’t blur the boundaries…!

Scott kicks off what is quite likely her final series for Harlequin Historical with a military hero looking to purchase a vineyard in Tuscany only to butt heads with another prospective buyer, the heroine. Then this man has the audacity to suggest they enter into a marriage of convenience so they can share the vineyard and why is she even considering this proposal?

Duke's One-Night Heir by Sarah Rodi

A secret son…

demands a wedding!

About to inherit a dukedom, Edward Harrington’s search for a suitable bride ends abruptly when a baby is thrust into his arms! His eyes meet Beatrice Puddifoot, the enchanting serving maid he shared an all-consuming connection with. They both knew their bond could never last beyond that one perfect night. But his heir changes everything…

Beatrice is used to relying only on herself. So, she’s stunned when Edward demands her hand in marriage! Her station means she’s hardly duchess material, and their union will be tarnished by scandal. Yet, while Beatrice might not belong in Edward’s world, his arms feel inexplicably like home…

Rodi's latest leans hard into the Cinderella trope. He's a future Duke looking for an acceptable bride, only to be confronted by the maid he shared one perfect night with and the consequence, a baby! She's desperate and is hoping he'll take the child in. Instead he proposes that they marry! 

The Viscount's Dollar Princess by Carol Arens

Her money...

For his title?

Lilleth Younger never imagined marrying a British nobleman she’d never met, but that’s exactly what the American heiress must do to satisfy her father’s dying wish. After rural Connecticut, arriving in riotous New York to take her vows is a shock—as is her new husband, the brooding Viscount Abberly! He’s seriously opposed to romance, but soon begins to open up under her sunny charm. Lilleth is irresistibly drawn to the compassionate man beneath the reserved facade. But having discovered all he has sacrificed to wed her, dare she hope that their marriage could ever be more than convenient?

She's an heiress used to life in rural Connecticut, he's a British Viscount who makes sacrifices to wed her (I'm guessing her money probably helps....). Arens' latest stand-alone is set against the Gilded Age backdrop of New York City and London.  

The Marquess's Wagered Wife by Emily EK Murdoch

A marriage gamble…

Worth the risk?

When irritatingly handsome Montague Donovan, Marquess of Laidley, challenges Calliope Oliver to a painting contest, the stakes are high. If he wins, Calliope must marry him, and if Calliope wins, then she will gain the artistic recognition she’s always craved—and knock the arrogant smirk off his face!

Having unexpectedly become guardian to his orphaned nephew, Montague finds himself in need of a convenient wife—fast. As their competition reaches fever pitch, and he and silver-tongued Calliope bicker their way to attraction, it’s more than the wager he stands to lose—but his heart too!

Enemies to Lovers over...painting? He needs a convenient wife, she's looking to knock him down a peg and finally receive some recognition for her artistic abilities.  This is the second book in The Unconventional Oliver Sisters trilogy.

The Viscount's Silent Pugilist by Nicki Pascarella

When the world silences her, he gives her the courage to strike back.

When Viscount Jonathan Davenport discovers a mystery woman fighting off a group of bandits with only her fists and wits, he immediately knows she belongs at The Silk Knuckles Saloon. If only he could convince her to speak, or learn to read the notes she pens to him; only then they might come to know one another.

Lady Genevieve is on the run from her abusive father when a handsome stranger inserts himself into her life, offering her a fresh start. As much as she wants to talk to him, her throat refuses to work. Still, he seems to understand her, offering her everything she has ever dreamed of.

When Genevieve’s highly publicized fight leads a dangerous individual to their door, Jonathan and Gen must work together to save her from her haunting past.

The second book in The Silk Knuckles Saloon series, features a heroine with selective mutism on the run from an abusive father. He's a Viscount who meets her while she's fighting off a group of bandits and offers her a fresh start.

A Scandal in White by Amber Night (novella)

Lady Lydia Cavendish did not expect her recently departed father to leave her everything. Yet what seems a miracle, offering freedom from her controlling brother Rupert’s whims, soon turns into a stranglehold. Because there’s one condition: she must get married first, with Rupert’s consent. And quickly, if Thornleigh Hall is to outlast its debts. As heiress, the responsibility for the estate rests heavy on her shoulders.

Assistant to the groundskeeper, Thomas Brooks, keeps to himself. More tolerated than accepted by the other staff, a life of tending flowers has been enough since his beloved sister departed for a brighter future in London. When he stumbles across an injured, distraught Lydia in the twilit forest, his only impulse is to help.

What begins as a chance meeting soon blooms into a delicate connection. As Lydia repays Thomas’s kindness by reading him his sister’s letters, something quiet grows in the stolen hours. But her impending nuptials to Rupert’s best friend loom large. Soon, both of them are caught inside a tangled and conflicted net. Between duty and attraction, safety and freedom, which will win out?

And is it truly worth risking it all for love?

She is looking down the barrel of marriage to her controlling brother's BFF and he's an assistant to a groundskeeper when they meet and fall in love. This is the first novella in the multi-author A Society of Scandal series that is "aiming to highlight the joy of reading historical romance and escaping to the past in this wondrous genre whilst cherishing openness, inclusivity, and equality."

Hers By  Summer's End by Kat Sterling (novella)

A boxer no proper lady should ever root for…

Drew Sutton has built his reputation with quick fists, quicker smiles, and enough knockouts to keep all of Seattle talking. But while society dismisses him as a rough-edged pugilist, Drew’s true talent lies far from the ring—in cultivating prize-winning blooms. His foremost contender? A loud-mouthed spinster with wild curls and a grin that never fails to send his pulse racing. Their rivalry has always been good sport—until he unthinkingly transforms their private feud into the scandal of the summer. Now it’s war over dahlias, but Drew can’t shake the feeling that the only thing worth winning has nothing to do with horticulture.

A spinster determined to leave him flat on the canvas…

Cecelia Townsend has cultivated her competition with Drew Sutton as carefully as her prize dahlias. There’s something delicious about the man who tends fragile shoots with bruised knuckles, and she’s long enjoyed their harmless flirtation. But when their rivalry becomes the city’s favorite spectator sport—complete with public sparring and brazen wagers—the stakes turn dangerously real. Then there’s the kiss. One reckless, soul-shaking kiss that changes everything. Now Cecelia is consumed by a far more perilous Victory—and the Fighting Florist himself—will be hers by summer’s end.

And oh look, here's the second novella dropping in the same month! He's a boxer with a passion for gardening and she's his competition. What starts out as a rivalry soon turns into a delicious scandal. Oh, and it takes place in Seattle!

The Spy in Disguise by Sheridan Jeane

She sees patterns in everything. Except the trap closing around her.

Charlotte Sinclair has spent her days in the quiet of her father's study, where secrets live in ink and paper rather than in the eyes of men who would kill to keep them. When the Crown requires a codebreaker inside the Black Rose Society, she is the only one who can unravel the cipher that threatens Parliament itself. But infiltrating a treasonous network demands more than a brilliant mind. It demands a man of experience, nerve, and dangerous capability to keep them both alive.

Major Adrian Blackwood is precisely that man — spy, gentleman, and keeper of secrets he has never dared speak aloud. He needs her gift for ciphers. She needs his cover. Together, they will pose as sympathizers within the Society's inner circle, navigating masked balls, forged documents, and midnight rendezvous along the fog-laden Thames.

What neither anticipated was a traitor within the Society determined to see them hanged for theft — or a blackmailer who knows precisely which ghosts will bring Adrian to his knees.

As they race to unmask a catastrophic plot against Parliament, their careful professional partnership begins to feel perilously like something more. With assassins on their trail, their reputations in ruins, and the Black Rose closing in from all sides, Charlotte and Adrian must expose the real villain before Westminster falls — and before the web of deception they have built together destroys everything they have come to hold dear.

In a world of shadows and shifting allegiances, the most dangerous secret is not the one their enemies carry. It is the one they are keeping from each other.

The second in The Shadow of the Black Rose series is being marketed as a mystery, but it sounds like there's plenty of romance in the back cover blurb. She's a codebreaker who is teamed up with a military man, a spy, gentleman and all around keeper of secrets. To ferret out the plot, they most pose as sympathetic traitors and a couple.

The Earl's Forbidden Temptation by Stacy Reid

Desperate to save her sisters, Miss Darcy Whitley travels to London seeking Sebastian, the Earl of Raine, whose connection to them could secure their futures. Yet his cold indifference suggests he could cast them aside at any moment.

Unwilling to trust their future to his mercy, Darcy accepts a secret commission within London’s most scandalous pleasure palace. Behind a mask and under the name Red, she paints intimate scenes of desire meant to tempt and ensnare all who dare to look.

She never expected to find him there.

In society, Sebastian is controlled, aloof, and untouchable. Within Aphrodite, he is wickedly indulgent, dangerously charming, and irresistibly sensual.

Darcy should fear and avoid him. Instead, his allure draws her in, tempting her to forget every caution she holds dear. Because if Sebastian ever unmasks Red, the cost of her deception may be more than she can bear.

This is the fifth book in the Sins & Sensibilities series. She's looking for protection and security to save her sisters but doesn't entirely trust the hero, so she accepts a job painting scandalous portraits  at a notorious pleasure palace - so what is he doing there?!  Oh honey, he's an Earl, this is a historical romance, of course he's there....

A Lady's Guide to Love and Pirates by Jennifer Moore

Annabelle Bradford was born on the sea and, as an infant, was claimed by pirate captain Reid Courtney as part of the spoils of seizure. Though she lives in London, she spends every summer aboard her godfather’s ship, exploring the ocean and embracing the freedom the horizon offers.

But when her godfather is kidnapped by a rival captain who is hunting for lost Spanish treasure, Annabelle must set sail on the most dangerous mission of her life—but first she’ll have to break a pirate out of prison.

Captain Hawke has vowed to never return to the cursed Isla de Plata, not even if the lovely but arrogant Lady Bradford practically demands it of him in exchange for his freedom. When she also promises him a ship of his own once Captain Courtney is rescued, Hawke reluctantly agrees to sail with her and her crew.

Though Annabelle and Hawke initially clash over who will captain the ship, as they travel through storms and dangers toward the mysterious Devil’s Triangle, the lady’s heart begins to soften toward the charismatic pirate captain. But what if he doesn’t love her back? What if when they are done, he simply sails over the horizon without her?

Annabelle knows how to navigate both the ballrooms of London and the waves of the ocean, but finding her way to true love may prove to be the most difficult journey of all.

She's off to save her kidnapped godfather, but for that she first needs to break a pirate out of prison - which would be our hero. One small fly in the ointment, even though she can get him his freedom, he's not all that keen to return to the island where her godfather is being held captive. 

Obstinate Headache Girl by Jade Hendren

Happily ever after isn’t for the working class.

Though Clara Fletcher’s life was recently upended, following her best friend all the way to Scotland was hardly any trouble. What troubled her, beyond her constant headaches, was wondering whether Harry would come with them.

Harry Stanton, the staid, always proper butler, had been the rock upon which Clara stood since the moment she’d arrived to take up her position in her friend and employer’s household. By day, they ran the house side by side. Each night, they slept the same way. Clara had never been good at that—sleeping. Something about the past that lingered like her headaches wouldn’t allow it, unless she was lying next to him. It was a daring impropriety, but the only one they could allow, as domestics in the same household could never marry and keep the positions they so cherished. Acting on their long-held but still-silent feelings wouldn’t be worth the risk.

Moving to Kinloss would be a new beginning for all of them, but the roads they traveled to get there were eerily familiar to Clara. Scotland was her home. Or at least, it had been. Edinburgh was where she’d buried her secrets, and nearly from the minute they’d arrived, the mail coach had carried those secrets right to their little village.

Clara was an author. An accomplished one, though the impact of her work was previously unknown, even to her. In the bright eyes of a villager’s daughter, Clara begins to see the revolutionary difference her inexpensive pamphlets of whimsical, educational stories for children are making. But the name on the papers grasped in her tiny hands isn’t Clara’s own.

Now, she has a choice to make. She can either give up control of her own life’s work or do the thing she’s quite possibly the worst at: asking for help. More importantly, whichever path she treads—will Harry follow?

A below stairs romance featuring a heroine with a secret writing past and a butler. Oh, and it sounds like our heroine suffers from migraines. Seriously, this back cover blurb is kind of a mess but there's enough here for me to check out a sample.

Miss Wylde and the Wynd by Jane Charles

Lord Damian Wynd had control of his world and his life. As the second born, it was his responsibility to manage the family import business, Trade Wynd. His days were spent on the docks overseeing the unloading of ships or in his offices not far away, which left Damian with little else in his life. An emptiness gnawed at him, but he had no time to determine the cause, let alone fill it. Nor was it as important as keeping order of all he supervised. However, his carefully balanced world is soon overturned when he spies a young woman sneaking away from one of their newly arrived ships.

Miss Georgiana Wylde had always had an adventurous soul, though limited in what she could pursue, grounded, intelligent, and knew what was expected of her. However, when her sister disappears in pursuit of an English rogue, Georgie must go after her before all is ruined, although she fears that it may be too late.

Damian’s first intention is to send Georgie back from whence she came, but her determination and fear for her sister pulls at something deep in his chest that might very well be his heart.

Georgiana had not expected that the most difficult and pragmatic gentleman in all of England would come to her aid. Further, she does not even like him, nor does he care for her. Yet, as their search takes them from the docks in Southampton throughout England and beyond, she finds herself coming to care, even love, the one gentleman who should be completely wrong for her.

The second book in The Wynd Brothers series, he's the second born managing the family's import business and she's looking for her impetuous sister before the family reputation is ruined beyond repair. 

Read to Me Lyon by Ramona Elmes

She has a secret that requires a husband.

Kitty Larson is in a predicament. She and her sisters have recently inherited their parents’ successful bookshop and printing press, along with its secrets. Unfortunately, her uncle is trying to obtain steal their wealth by becoming their guardian. Desperate to prevent this, Kitty reaches out to the proprietor of the Lyon’s Den in hopes of arranging a marriage. Marrying with the right stipulations will put an end to her uncle's schemes.

He needs a wife to avoid scandal.

Oliver's father, the Marquess of Everly, has died and Oliver returns to England after enduring the war on the Continent. Now he's the new marquess, and the responsibility of the family falls on him. So when he discovers his family is broke, there is no time to be upset. He must replenish the family coffers whatever the cost, even if that means marrying a stranger for her wealth, though he'd always expected to marry for love. He approaches Mrs. Dove-Lyon, known for handling situations discreetly and quickly. His family is one of the most respected families of the ton, but if their financial situation is discovered, their name and their legacy would be destroyed.

Will this marriage of convenience become more or will scandal ruin everything?

The need to marry, a book, and a game bring Kitty and Oliver to the altar. But what starts as a marriage of convenience quickly becomes something altogether different. With every lingering touch and kiss, they both realize they are losing their hearts. Unfortunately, Kitty has a secret about the source of her wealth that could bring scandal to the Everly name much worse than the situation that caused Oliver to marry her. When he finds out, will their unexpected love match survive?

She needs a husband to protect her inherited bookshop and printing press from a dastardly uncle. He's a newly minted Marquess who needs to marry an heiress when he finds the family coffers bare, but he needs to do so discreetly because if word gets out about his financial situation, well it won't be good. Part of a long-running Lyon's Den continuity series, we have another messy back cover blurb, but intriguing enough to get me to check out a sample.

Whew! Another month full of possibilities for your TBR. Hopefully you've found something worth checking out. Happy shopping, and reading!

Review: I Dream of Falling

I Dreamed of Falling by Julia Dahl is a hard book for me to wrap my head around. Dahl can write, she excels at writing about insular communities with plenty of secrets they want to keep buried. It's what kept me going with this book, also the fact that it's a rather short audiobook (8 hours), and y'all, I have to listen to something on my commute. That said, I can't say I really enjoyed this experience.

Roman Grady is the sole reporter for a local newspaper in his small hometown in the Hudson Valley area of New York. A graduate of NYU, he's the type of reporter who once earned a fellowship at the Los Angeles Times, but now he's writing about the dedication of park benches and the hottest news in the area would be someone getting arrested for a DUI. He has a four-year-old son, Mason, with his longtime girlfriend, Ashley, and they live with his mother, Tara, and her fiancé, John, in his childhood home that is falling down around their ears. Then, Ashley goes missing.

Roman finds her at the bottom of a steep ravine at a former friend's house. Dead. There was a party at Bella's house. The three were once close, but as Roman and Ashley settled into a relationship, when Mason came along, Bella's increasingly messy life meant they were no longer truly friends. Roman had no clue Ashley was talking to Bella again, nor that Ashley was using. They find a packet of pills in her pocket and the assumption is she overdosed. It's 2023, they suspect the pills are laced with fentanyl. 

The problem with this story for a long time is that it's more domestic drama than thriller. Ashley's found dead in short order near the start of the book, but then the reader is trapped in an endless cycle reading about miserable people being miserable. Look, I get it. I understood why these characters were miserable, but it doesn't mean I wanted to be trapped in their heads reading about their misery either.

Ashley and Roman met in middle school and quickly formed a bond. As they got older it was clear they loved each other, but they had an open relationship (and still do - despite Mason coming along, these two are still hooking up with other people). It was all going great guns until Ashley ends up pregnant and Roman defers his fellowship to the LA Times. Then the pandemic hits, Ashley has to give birth to Mason alone in the hospital, nearly dies, and falls into postpartum depression. Tara steps in, determined to be Super Grandma because she was certainly no Mother of the Year when Roman was growing up. That creates a push-pull between Ashley and Tara over Mason's care and affection (the kid is four, plenty of love to go around yo) and meanwhile Roman is feeling increasingly trapped by his job and obligations but has zero momentum or drive to do something about it. Tara, of course, is the I Know Best Grandmother, her and Ashley clash over pandemic restrictions, and the house they live in is in desperate need of repair, which John is working on, but all this costs money and it's a lot. 

Finally, FINALLY, over halfway through the book, the What Happened To Ashley question finally starts to cook - and we get to the ending. Dahl does a good job of leading readers down various blind alleys but ultimately the question of who killed Ashley is completely wrapped up in all these miserable characters being miserable and not unpacking their trauma. And Roman? This guy y'all. I desperately wanted him to leave behind scorched Earth at the end. Lord knows the denouement warrants it. Instead I'm convinced he chooses the path he does because it's easier for him. It saves him from having to man up, find his stones, and take it all on himself like a frickin' grown up.

Dahl can write, but man I didn't like these people and wanted to punt them into the sun.

Final Grade = C- 

Review: The Ivory City

The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy turned out to be one of my more pleasant surprises in my reading year thus far for 2026.  A near perfect blend of historical mystery and romance, and it should satisfy fans for both genres.

Grace Covington was marked as a poor relation even before she was born because her mother had the temerity to marry for love - to a man well below her station. A fact that Grace's Aunt Clove never lets her forget. However, it's her uncle who is her mother's blood relation, and Grace has been allowed to spend time with her cousins, Lillie and Oliver, growing up - and the cousins adore each other. So when Lillie and Oliver want Grace to come to their home in St. Louis for the 1904 World's Fair, of course she goes. She's not about to miss out on the biggest event of her young life!

But alas, there are secrets a plenty. Oliver has fallen head over heels for an actress (a fact that will surely kill Aunt Clove) and only Grace knows about the relationship. Lillie is determined to do more with her life than be a pretty socialite, and is sneaking out of the house to work with a local doctor at a women's clinic (in case Aunt Clove survives Oliver's secret) - again, another fact that only Grace knows about. Another mark against Grace? Her troubled brother Walt, who fell down the rabbit hole of addiction and has not been seen by the family for the better part of a year. As if Grace's father owning a restaurant wasn't scandalous enough!  

These secrets and the added tension of class differences boil over when a member of their merry group of friends attending the Fair is murdered - and Oliver becomes Prime Suspect #1.  Grace knows deep in her bones that he's innocent and helping her in her sleuthing is wealthy Theodore Parker - a man she has an Enemies To Lovers vibe with ever since they had a disastrous run-in with each other at a Chicago soirée. 

This was a really pleasant and enjoyable story even if it does take a while to come to a boil. The author did not skimp on her research and it shows up tremendously with her world building. I truly felt like I was at the 1904 World's Fair and she spends the first 30% or so of the book really digging into her characters so that by the time the murder happens you actually give a damn. 

Speaking of the murder, there's plenty of twists and turns along the way and the author kept me guessing. On the romance front, the author does an amiable job playing with the adversarial Enemies to Lover trope by having Grace and Theodore rub each other in all the right and wrong ways. There's a moment in the final chapters where I thought the author might break the BIG cardinal rule of the romance genre, but rest assured for romance fans, it ends happily for Grace and Theodore. In fact it ends happily for most of the characters, other than the murder victim and, well, the murderer (duh). 

Finally, besides the world building, I really appreciated the time and care the author spent using class differences as part of the conflict. Americans just love to pretend like we're not classist pieces of crap like our British counterparts, but rest assured we were and still are. It was nice to read a historical mystery that didn't sweep this under the rug. 

This was a very enjoyable read and I'm glad I took a chance on it. Murphy has also written middle grade and young adult, and this is only her second adult novel. I'm hoping she has more historical mysteries with romantic elements up her sleeve.

Final Grade = B+

#TBRChallenge Review: Presumed Guilty

The Book: Presumed Guilty by Tess Gerritsen

The Particulars: Romantic suspense, Harlequin Intrigue #238, 1993, (maybe) out of print - hard to say it's been reprinted a bunch!, available digitally - and at the time of this posting through Kindle Unlimited

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: I discovered Gerritsen through her Rizzoli & Isles suspense series, so of course I went back and collected her romantic suspense backlist. 

The Review: I have zero patience for readers who poo-poo Gerritsen's romance past. I contend what makes her a successful suspense writer IS her romance past. She excels at writing relationships (romantic or otherwise) and she doesn't shy away from emotion. All good fiction needs emotion or else why are we even bothering? That said, even I'll admit her romantic suspense backlist has been hit or miss for me so far. This one was mostly a hit that I inhaled in two sittings, but the reader has to accept a couple of things or it's just not going to work.

First, this book was first published in 1993. It's set in a very small town on an island off the coast of Maine. As someone who remembers the 1900s and grew up in and around small towns - yes, people really did leave their homes unlocked and the keys in their cars (and yes, cars had keys not ignition buttons...).

Also, a reminder that once upon a time Harlequin would take a chance on a risky premise. This one is even risky by today's standards - the heroine has just broken off an affair with her married boss.  Naturally she believed all his pretty little lies, until she no longer did. Which makes her a dumb bunny, but I would argue a believable dumb bunny. As far as any 1990s grossness that creeps into the text? Not as much as I've seen in other books from this era. There's the obvious slut shaming and misogyny and the hero is described as having "Gypsy eyes" - but other than that? I mean, kind of par for the course for 1993. 

The story opens with Richard Tremain (said married man) calling our heroine, Miranda Wood, begging her to take him back. Miranda has had enough. At one point she thought she loved Richard, she thought he was "a good man" (I mean, other than the cheating on his wife thing...) but soon his carefully crafted mask starts to slip and she realizes she doesn't know Richard at all. She's broken it off and given her letter of resignation at the small town newspaper that Richard's family has owned and run for generations. Richard says he's coming over and Miranda decides to leave thinking he'll give up once he sees she's not home. She goes for a walk along the coast, a suitably crap alibi because nobody sees her. Why would Miranda need in alibi? Well once she gets home she finds Richard, naked, stabbed to death in her bed, with one of her kitchen knives. 

Miranda is arrested in short order and the grieving widow calls her estranged brother-in-law, Chase Tremain. Chase had a falling out with his brother years ago and has built a life for himself away from Maine and away from the Tremain money - Chase being the black sheep of the family. But his brother is now dead and that changes everything. It robs Chase of a chance of the possibility of amends and forgiveness. He's all set to tar and feather Miranda until he sees her in the police station and overhears her interrogation (small towns AMIRITE?!). Suddenly he's not so sure. He becomes less sure when a mysterious benefactor posts Miranda's bail and an attempt (the first of many) is made on her life. As they cautiously team up and start digging they realize that more than one person in that small town may have had reasons for wanting Richard dead.

The suspense plot is very good and kept me greedily turning the pages. You've got a vengeful (like, duh) widow, her pompous Big Fish Small Pond father, her two kids (the golden boy heir, the neglected ugly-duckling daughter), the staff of the newspaper, a development deal threatening protected coastal land, oh and the minor fact that the murder victim couldn't keep it in his pants. Richard was the type of guy always looking for validation, for adoration and a fan club. He went chasing after his wife looking for just that, but realized too late that given who her father is he couldn't just dally with her and toss her aside. So he traps himself into a marriage and continues to collect mistresses like Pokémon cards. He strings them along until he gets bored, and/or someone newer and younger rolls into town. He breaks it off with them, not vice versa. Miranda calling it quits first puts a dent in his considerable ego. 

The romance on the other hand is a bit harder to swallow - I mean, the heroine was having an affair with the hero's married brother. She's a perfectly OK character, albeit too trusting and naïve which lands her in the affair. She's worked past that by the start of the first chapter but I suspect some readers will take issue with her character. Me? I mean, not so much. Should she have had an affair with her married boss? Absolutely not. Did she fall into a sad story that A LOT of women fall into? Yes, she did. So while she is a dumb bunny, again, believable dumb bunny. She also has enough starch in her spine after she's arrested for murder that you can't help but root for her. 

There's obviously trust issues that simmer for most of the story. It certainly seems like there is more to the story of who killed his brother, but that doesn't mean Chase entirely trusts Miranda. Even after he witnesses the first attempt on her life he's not completely there - mostly there, but not completely. I will say the author does the smart thing by not having them fall into bed right away. They do eventually have a perfunctory, PG-ish sex scene, mostly because I think the Intrigue line dictates it, but I think this would have worked better for me had it been jettisoned completely. I mean, it's a lot for a romantic couple to overcome!

Gerritsen rounds out the story with interesting secondary characters (there's an older woman named Lila St. John and her Portuguese Water Dog that were real stand-outs) and throws in enough blind alleys on the mystery of who killed Richard that I didn't want to tear myself away.  No small feat these days when few books seem to be holding my attention.

Final Grade = B