Fiction:
In Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri, Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor whose mother, from the desert Amrithi tribe, abandoned her and her sister when they were young. While living in relatively pampered seclusion with the other women under her father’s protection, Mehr alternates sparring with her stepmother over assimilation into the majority culture and dancing traditional Amrithi dances that are intended to connect with immortal desert gods. The Emperor and his mystical counterpart, the Maha, have been steadily persecuting the Amrithi, who are dying out. Mehr has a special ability related to the dances, which puts her into conflict with imperial power. She seems doomed to an arranged marriage with captive Amun, both of them trapped under the Maha’s thumb in the deep desert. I’m very fond of arranged marriage stories if the participants manage to find love and freedom in the situation, so I enjoyed both the fantasy plot with the sleeping desert gods and the romance plot between Mehr and Amun. I’d heard a lot of good things about this book, which has been out awhile, so was glad to find it available in the library.
Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch is ninth in the Rivers of London series; I am catching up before book ten comes out in July. In this fantastical mystery, London policeman Peter Grant continues investigating “weird” supernatural crimes along with familiar cast members from previous novels, and a surprise reappearance of someone from his past, while awaiting the birth of his twin children with River goddess Beverly. I’m not sure this would be the best place to start for a new reader! But I enjoyed it a lot. It was lovely to revisit Thomas Nightingale, Guleed, and Seawoll, among others.
A Restless Truth by Freya Marske, second in “The Last Binding” trilogy, was a delight of a magical mystery adventure set on a ship steaming from New York to Southampton in the early twentieth century. There’s a bonus romance between Maud Blyth, sister of Robin from the first book, and Violet Debenham, an heiress returning from being a magical actress in New York City. Maud is attempting to find the second item in the magical Last Contract as well as who she might be able to be; Violet, having fled her gentle upbringing and now returning, is attempting to find who she is. The trip starts out with a murder and continues as Maud, in her guise as Miss Cutler, accumulating compatriots and surprises and twists and turns. I don’t think you need to read the first book to enjoy this one; it had been long enough since I read that one I’d forgotten many details. This one was, to me, more memorable. Recommended!
Only Bad Options by Jennifer Estep is a Science Fiction Romance in which a “lab rat” with psychic powers, Vesper Quill, investigates a suspicious crash and ends up tangled with upper crust plots and Kyrion Caldaren, the galaxy’s chief assassin. It’s a fast-moving story with a lot of action, but was too violent for my tastes as it demonstrated the aristocracy’s disregard for life. There’s a bloody battle scene early on (and some fantastical volcanic activity), as well as a lot of one-on-one killing by Kyrion and his comrades. The brutality makes a point, but it distracted me from the rest of the story.
All the Feels by Olivia Dade is a contemporary romance about an actor with ADHD who stars in a hit television show about Roman gods, and the former emergency room therapist who gets a temporary gig as his minder. Alex is the child of a single mother whom he feels he failed in the past, and constantly struggles to keep himself on track with his executive function. Meanwhile, he is a major donor to a charity that works with victims of domestic violence and loyal to a fault to those who love him. Lauren is taking a break after burning out from years of dealing with people in crisis. She’s a small, round woman who isn’t Hollywood attractive and, after a lifetime of effacement and self-sacrifice, has trouble getting angry when she’s mistreated. Alex becomes her defender while Lauren helps him to see how he sometimes takes too much blame for things. They were an appealing couple, and there’s a thread of story about Alex working through his frustrations with the show’s ending through writing sexy fanfiction about his character. Their personal flaws contribute to the story’s Dark Moment, but luckily this is a Romance novel, so they end up happily together. I loved the characterization and plan to see out the first novel in this series.
The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison is third in The Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy, in which Thara Celehar, Witness for the Dead, finally gets a better coat. Other things also happen! Important changes in his clerical role and his relationships with his friends happen! But the sad state of Thara’s coat has been a worry of mine for years. Weird but true. I highly recommend this series, but start at the beginning of the trilogy, or preferably, with The Goblin Emperor.
Nonfiction:
An Honest Woman: A Memoir of Love and Sex Work by Charlotte Shane was loosely structured around three eras in Shane’s life. First, her high school self and her group of male friends, with whom she had her first sexual unsatisfying experiments left her still curious about how it felt to be desired. Second, her long-term relationship with a client showed one-sided romantic love that could still offer some level of connection. Third, and most briefly, she contrasts her love for her husband with her feelings for men during her career as an escort. True to its title, it’s a very honest book in that Shane doesn’t have easy answers to the questions she asks herself regarding womanhood, desire, misogyny, being desired, and what drives people to either pay for sex or offer it for payment.
