- Where Dreams Begin (WM/WW, Victorian Mystery, prudish widow)
A strangers kiss rocks a widow out of her long-grief-fueled isolation & that is only the start of the ways she transforms as she chooses her joy over duty/society choices for her.
CWs: grief, dubious consent, shame, manipulation
- Gray Dawn by Hailey Edwards (DemonM/WW, UF, Bk.10, reformed black-witch)
Action-packed and full of difficult emotional choices, Edwards deftly wraps up the series. Had to end read but it was worth it!
CWs: murder, violence, betrayal, loss of autonomy, past trauma: abuse
- Stranger in my Arms by Lisa Kleypas
A widow content in reduced circumstances & focused on charity is shocked by the arrival of a man who claims to be her not-missed spouse.
Loved their romance & epilogue!
Cw: abuse, abandonment, PT: SA, infidelity
- The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian (WM/WM Georgian-Era HR)
Former highwayman & the possibly illegitimate son of a Duke. Animosity to Love with fab banter.
CWs: murder, guns, blackmail, fraud, toxic parents, grief PT: death of child, death of spouse, death of mother
- The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian (WM/WW, Georgian HR)
Former Highwayman/blackmailer son of a Duke & the murdererous widow of that evil Duke. Partly-epistolary, a little kinky & utterly tender.
CWs: murder, blackmail, guns, PT: SA, pregnancy, abusive marriage, imprisonment
- Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha (MFF, FantasyERom, Bk 1)
The Dragon god takes a consort every century to bind the human kings to the land, this time they have sent him a cursed princess & her assassin lover.
Loved the characters but I didn’t love the pacing.
CWs: violence PT: abuse, coercion
- Winter Lost By Patricia Briggs (WM/NW, UF, Bk 14)
I know this series is super problematic but I’m still invested. I couldn’t stop reading this installment. Brother in danger, peppered with sweet moments & Coyote’s meddling!
CWs: guns, violence, stalking, anxiety, panic attacks. PT: SA
- Murder at Queen’s Landing by Andrea Penrose (Regency Mystery/Rom, WM/WW, bk 4)
These books have way too many exposition dumps but I enjoy the found family & humor.
CWs: murder, blackmail, imperialism, capitalism, sexism, mentions of DV.
- Murder at the Royal Botanical Gardens (Regency Mystery/Rom, WM/WW, bk 5)
A botanist is killed before he can make a momentous announcement & Wrexford & Slone struggle to decide to intervene as their wedding is weeks away.
CWS: murder, violence, reference :Slavery PT: family estrangement
- Murder at the Serpentine Bridge (Regency Mystery/Rom, WM/WW, bk 6)
The Wrexford/Sloane clan expands once more when Hawk & Raven befriend a young grieving Lord whose remaining family treat him poorly because he is mixed race.
CWs: murder, racism, neglect, toxic family
- Murder at the Merton Library (Regency Mystery, bk.7 )
A war-wounded librarian is killed after he recognizes the wrong man shortly before a visit from Wrex, embroiling them once again in a treacherous murder investigation.
CWs: grief, guilt, murder, kidnapping PT:war, family estrangement, SA
- Mrs Holloway’s Christmas Pudding by Jennifer Ashley ( Victorian Mystery with Rom, novella)
When a guest takes ill after a visit, Mrs. H preemptively seeks to clear her name & figure out if someone might be poisoning him but still finds lots of time for friends and family during busy Xmas.
- The Boy Who Cried Bear by Kelley Armstrong (WM/AW, Mystery, Haven’s Rock bk 2)
When one of their first child residents disappears in the forest after spotting a bear-man, Casey & Dalton have to find him while reeling over personal news.
CWs: kidnapping, guns, knives, pregnancy. PT: SA
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