On the Shelf: May 2024

I'm solidly at 120 books read as of May 31...and zero books written. Ah, well. Fortunately, all that time spent reading instead of writing was incredibly fulfilling. The Pairing by Casey McQuiston is, hands down, one of my best books of 2024. I'm kinda mad about how good it is. I could never write something like this. So many quotable lines. Paragraphs, even. I haven't read anything else by McQuiston and the Red White & Royal Blue movie didn't work for me, but Kit and Theo's travelogue is exquisitely done. I need a list of everything they ate and everywhere they went. Their emotional journey as exes finding their way back to each other is even more beautiful.  

Another book steeped in beauty and on my Best Of list? A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. I don't know if Tia Williams' latest counts as magical realism (I have no idea what exactly falls under that umbrella), but what I do know is that she crafts a gorgeous story for Ricki and Ezra that spans decades and it kept me turning the pages. There's also a cameo from her Seven Days in June characters, and I hope it'll delight other returning readers just like it did me!

The Reading Rundown

Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur (contemporary romance, LGBTQ+ romance)
Death in the Spires by KJ Charles (historical mystery)
Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison (horror)
Rival Radio by Kathryn Nolan (contemporary romance)
Red in Tooth and Claw by Lish McBride (out 10/8, western, young adult, horror)
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (out 8/6, contemporary romance, LGBTQ+ romance)
Rent: Paid in Full by Jesse H. Reign (erotic romance, LGBTQ+ romance)

In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation by Alexandra Vasti (historical romance)
In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti (historical romance)
In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti (historical romance)
Mister Magic by Kiersten White (horror)
A Love Song For Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams (contemporary romance)

Backlist titles & rereads: I know, I know. I read more Grace Callaway. Shocker. This time it was The Viscount Always Knocks Twice and Never Say Never to an Earl. I'd somehow skipped the Beyond Possession novella by Kit Rocha during my series reread in March, so I rectified that error. And then I crawled into a reread of Anne Bishop's Others series and didn't come out until I was done. Five titles in six days. And those aren't short, breezy, books. They're as dense as the forest that hides Namid's teeth and claws. lol. Naturally, I went right back to historical romance afterward with rereads of Say Yes to the Marquess and Do You Want to Start a Scandal? by Tessa Dare. Then I capped off the month with My False Heart, One Little Sin, and Three Little Secrets by Liz Carlyle.

Currently reading: Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt and Double Exposure by Rien Gray.

On the TBR/wish list
Just Some Stupid Love Story by Katelyn Doyle
Blood Betrayal by Ausma Zehanat Khan
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeepingby Sangu Mandanna
A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley