Something Fabulous | 
5 #bookspinbingos in June. It was an incredibly good reading month for me.
#bookspin #doublebookspin @TheAromaofBooks
pick4/5
This is a fun, fairly lighthearted adventure as Valentine chases down his fiance across the country with the help of her brother, Bonny Tarleton. The adventure reveals to Valentine that perhaps he has been chasing the wrong Tarleton. It's fun and much steamier than some of Alexis Hall's other books.
A Duke chasing after his betrothed who has fled, with her twin brother in tow. Except maybe the sister isn‘t the one he wants. Did you know men could like other men, the Duke didn‘t?! This book is ridiculously over the top, and super queer, sweet, funny and spicy and so enjoyable all around. I think there‘s 2 straight characters in the whole book. I love a regency romance and it‘s even better when it‘s queer.
pickThis was an absolutely ridiculous, super-queer, spicy regency romp, and I enjoyed it greatly.
@AndeanToucan #Pantone2023 @clwojick
#WickedWords @AsYouWish (Valentine, Castle, Engage)
#fourfoursin23 #ArmourCharmer because of the grumpy-sunshine pairing!
#readingchallenge
Boom! February #WickedWords @AsYouWish
MC called Valentine
Opens with a proposal
Mention of "castle"
pickThank you @CarolynM for this book. It was super gay and over the top and I loved it. This is my first Alexis Hall and I just kept marveling at how they could make scenes so silly and boil them down into something so tender, and then reform them into silly again and back and forth and so on and so on. The Duke Malvern is chasing his fleeing betrothed with her twin brother, Bonaventure, when he realizes maybe it‘s the brother he wants. Pick!!
@CarolynM I got it in the mail yesterday. I‘m at the part where they‘re having a picnic and Malvern is eating all the peaches and Bonny has started calling him Flower because the bee chased him. Very cute so far, with a flair for the dramatics. Lol Thanks again and Happy Holidays!
panI adore Boyfriend Material so I assumed I'd like this too but it was distressing and disappointing. Valentine is a quiet man who tries to do the right thing (repeatedly) but spends the whole book being emotionally (and sometimes physically) abused for it. But it's supposed to be funny? And the reader is supposed to be on the side of the utterly ridiculous, bullying twins? Arabella is one of the most selfish people I've encountered in literature ⬇️
pickThis... was very melodramatic and over the top, and I tried to enjoy it as such rather than get too caught up in “yep, she did actually shoot him and that could possibly have killed him“. I get why I've seen some reviews feeling that Valentine gets bullied, but I don't think it's meant that way -- the melodrama is partly pastiche.
I found myself reading big chunks of this in no time at all. Lots of fun.
Every day is too warm at the moment, so I'm about to go have a cool bath to try and get myself comfortable enough to sleep. This book will be going with me and causing inappropriate snorking noises (come on, it's a great made up word for the undignified giggle-snort-laugh, as usually reserved for Georgette Heyer and K.J. Charles' work), I'm sure.
I keep starting more books on a whim, and hey, this is my #DoubleSpin (or maybe my #BookSpin and Den of Wolves is my #DoubleSpin, I can't remember right now). So far I'm having fun; all feels a little anachronistic, but it seems nicer than some reviews led me to believe!
so-soThis was an okay M/M regency romance. I prefer Alexis Hall‘s contemporary romance Boyfriend Material, but she is a good writer. Everyone in this book is queer and that‘s awesome! 🌈 🎩
pickAnnabelle was a bit too much but it was good that there weren't that many chapters with her. I felt for Valentine and liked him.
I read this as a hilarious farce and as that this was funny. And somehow I loved how this was a regency story with a road-trip - something that sounds impossible to have.
I am so glad that I read this, I was a bit afraid I wouldn't like this.
#Pantone2022 #SeriesRead2022
I‘m up to five bingos for the year in lgbtqia+ reading! I‘ve got a book in mind for time travel, does anyone have a good rec for a translated work? @Kenyazero
pickRegency #romantsy that was farcical roadtrip romp. Very ala Georgette Heyer in places. I laughed a ton during the early parts of the book. Regency tone was on point. Belle irritated me to no end & it bogged down a little in the middle so 🌈🌈🌈🌈. Audio available thru #kindleunlimited
Lots of #romansty books that look good this year
https://www.theinfinitelimitsoflove.com/2021/12/a-guide-to-january-to-june-2022-...
Friends, SOMETHING FABULOUS lives up to its name. It‘s like one of those gloriously overdrawn 18th century plays, except it‘s set in the 19th century and everybody‘s queer.
It‘d work SO WELL on stage. Somebody tell me there‘s a West End production in the works.
(Yeah, I know. Wishful thinking.)
I sure got some fabulous-looking books in this week‘s library haul! I‘m excited for all of these.
pickA queer historical romance about an asexual Duke who falls for the twin of his betrothed. It was a cute story with lots of LGBTQ rep (gay, lesbian, asexual, genderqueer, etc). It did drag at parts and several of the characters were annoyingly obtuse and / or contrary, but the explanations for their behavior do make a lot of sense and make you think about perceptions and point of view. Rated S for Spicy.
3.5 stars / ⭐⭐⭐
pickA cute gay Regency romance with a grumpy (and probably demisexual) duke who is engaged to marry a woman he has known since childhood…until she runs away and he goes after her with her twin brother, leading him to realize he has been pursuing the wrong twin. Also everyone in this book is queer.
so-soI ended up liking this book about halfway through. Bonny was so fun and sweet and watching Valentine become self aware of his own actions and feelings was wonderful. There were so many funny moments that had me laughing. I adored seeing those two together.
I admit that the first part of this book was a struggle for me. I found Belle and Bonny really annoying and frustrating. It definitely took me getting more time with Bonny to love him.
so-soI was a bit disappointed in this one. The characters were absurdly stubborn almost to the point of unlikeability & the first half was fraught with misunderstanding that made me tense. The second half was much better as the characters showed some growth & worked out issues but I wish it would have been a more gradual process instead of a flip switching. Bonny was my favorite character I loved how he was optimistic & loyal but always true to himself
"One had to own he was handsome."
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl
Post walk smoothie bowl. I'm so excited to start Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall, which I ordered immediately after finishing Murder Most Actual. Can't believe I've been sleeping on this author 😅
pickImage credit: Alexis Hall‘s IG @quicunquevult
The Northanger Abby quote at the beginning sets the tone and is instantly delivered on. The ridiculousness abounds! It‘s delicious! Nearly the entire cast of characters is queer and I love it! The tongue in cheek humor is perfection. This road-trip romance is a rollicking good time filled with sweet moments, sexy times, and sets a very dense Duke on the road to self discovery and epic love.
pickI have a lot of feelings about this book, mostly uncertain ones on the presentation of Ace people. I loved it while reading but there was just no character development and it left a weird "aftertaste"
⭐⭐⭐
pickDescribed by the author as a "sparkly light-hearted romp...set in a self-consciously ahistorical queer friendly Regency" this book is delightfully silly. I laughed all the way through it, with a final giggle at the "About the Author" blurb on the last page. Fabulous indeed.
Not sure why my brain decided I needed this on kindle and in print 🤔 hope it‘s good!
pickAuthor Description - "Something Fabulous is … I don‘t know. It‘s ridiculous. It‘s a big gay regency romp about a overly dramatic beautiful rainbow sunshine unicorn + a overly dramatic demisexual grumpy duke, going on a cross-country chase. ⬇️
This book has the unofficial subtitle of Dude, Where‘s My Curricle? (which should tell you all you need to know) and is the campest and silliest and most fun thing I have written."
So, there may have been a thing where the big evil online place sent me an email saying my pre-order‘d been cancelled. And I may have re-pre-ordered the book. And then it happened again. Which may have resulted in this little pile of fabulousness … Definitely won‘t be sending these back to get destroyed or whatever nasty things they do to returns there. Anyone in Germany who could use a free copy? (Also - the audio is utter delight! 💗)
Now that I've finished today's #WanderingThroughWutheringHeights I'm off to read the new Alexis Hall. Im immediately charmed because Epigraph is from Jane Austen. 😍
I can't remember the last time I preordered a book, and especially not on *gag* amazon, but ya gal had to do it. I'm too excited for this one. Alexis Hall could rewrite the phonebook and I'd still be here for it. This promises fabulous Regency fun-times and I cannot WAIT.
