On the Shelf: October 2022

This might be the first time all year that I barely read any new, front-list, titles. Admittedly, that's because I fell down the nine-book rabbit hole that is Brenda Joyce's Francesca Cahill series. I got eight done before November 1. Overkill? Yes. Problematic? Yes. Worth it? Also yes. Both from a nostalgic reader standpoint and a writer/editor standpoint. (If you follow my lead and read this series, Evan and Maggie are the only pairing worth a damn. And Calder Hart deserves better. And many things have not aged well.) It's interesting to contrast an older "feminist" historical series with books like Eva Leigh's. She slipped me an early copy of A Rogue's Rules for Seduction, because I am a Last Chance Scoundrels fangirl, and I had significantly fewer urges to throw it against a wall. Zero urges, actually. lol. Dom and Willa's book, a second-chance love story with plenty of groveling, is a gorgeous tale of how true love only works when you're true to yourself. 

Gorgeous in a completely different way is Deanna Raybourn's Killers of a Certain Age—about four assassins being ushered into a permanent retirement that they don't really appreciate. (And understandably so!) I am not alone in saying we need this as a movie ASAP. It's so fun and so sharp. I could probably say more things, but it's November 3 and I want to hit publish on this post. Welcome to my brain. 😂

The Reading Rundown
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias (horror)
A Rogue's Rules for Seduction by Eva Leigh (out 4/25/23, historical romance)
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (suspense, thriller)

Backlists and Rereads: I went back to an old fave—Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause and then reread What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long to refresh my Pennyroyal Green memory. I reread almost all of Brenda Joyce's Francesca Cahill mysteries, AKA the Deadly series. And then I finished up this month's backlist adventures with Rachel Grant's 2013 romantic suspense series-starter, Concrete Evidence.

Currently reading: The River of Silver by S.A. Chakraborty.

On the Wishlist/TBR
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (out 3/7/23)