Footnote is such a cute name for a cat.

Leaving tomorrow for the woods where I'll be staying at a Victorian farmhouse with no wi-fi or cellular data! I've loaded up my Kindle accordingly. 🌲📚🌿

Prudence is the first book in the Custard Protcol series and it was a fun read but I still highly recommend starting with Carriger's book, Soulless, from her Parasol Protectorate series. It is a shining example of the author's brand of silliness 'n twee! Pick up Prudence if you've already read the Parasol series and are looking to explore more of this world; the Custard Protocol takes place many years after the Parasol Protectorate books.

I have so many things to do today but I gotta keep up my reading streak!

I love to multitask so my new thing is knitting while reading. I can‘t just do one thing at a time; I always knit when I watch TV or listen to podcasts while I do anything else, including letter writing. Do all the things!

“He had loved the library, and had felt, as a boy, as though it had a kind of sentience, and perhaps loved him back. But even if it was just walls and a roof with papers inside, it had bewitched him, and drawn him in, and given him everything he needed to become himself.”

This book is about stories, gods, and a lost city. Prepare to have you heart broken! Laini Taylor always does that to you but you won‘t care because she writes so beautifully.

Overall, I liked my first Lisa Kleypas novel and am looking forward to devouring her Wallflowers series! She is very descriptive when it comes to clothing and furniture — I appreciated the historical research, which seems pretty rare in #historicalromance, and it really helped the scenes come alive in my mind even when it was a tad too much detail. I also love a bookish, strong-willed heroine!

I could have done without the raspberry scene. 😳

I'm determined to get to the 4th and last book of this series! This was book 3 and the heroine was awful in so many ways. Selfish and remorseless (mostly), she destroys the hero's life and he gets no retribution unless you count her love. I don't! This story was so unsatisfying.

It's such a shame I haven't been enjoying the last few Sarah MacLean books I've read. I was expecting all her books to be like Wicked and the Wallflower which I loved!

I was having a tough week when I decided that I needed to lose myself in the silliness of a Gail Carriger book. Too bad it was missing the levity I love so much from The Parasol Protectorate series! Mention of the wicker chicken was the only thing that made me smile.

I'm new to reading romance so I'm in Explorer Mode! I've read a lot of historical romance so far, but nothing set outside of England so I'm branching out again. The Lotus Palace takes place during the Tang Dynasty and we get a glimpse into the lives of courtesans and their patrons.

This was a slow burn which I don't normally mind but I didn't find the couple compelling. I'll still be reading the second book though because I liked the writing.

I'm still trying to find a contemporary romance author that resonates with me. After reading a novella by Ruthie Knox and hearing Whoa!mance's podcast about this book, I thought it was time to read a full-length novel by her.

There were a lot of things I liked about this story but I didn't love it. The ending was a little weird for me because I thought it was uncool for him to spring that on her. I guess I'm just a fantasy romance kind of gal.

I'm super impressed with Ruthie Knox! She managed to weave depth into a novella that is less than 100 pages.

Despite the fact that I generally dislike both novellas and contemporary romance, I decided to read Big Boy since it would be a quick introduction to a new-to-me author. I hear a lot of recommendations for Ruthie Knox but I didn't want to dedicate hours to book I possibly would not like.

Wow, I forgot how cotton candy fluffy and wonderfully twee this book is. 💜🖤💚 It‘s just what I needed after some unsatisfying reads.

I really loved the first book in this series and was looking forward to this second book. The heroine, Pippa, is wonderful and brainy but the hero was into hating himself a little too much. I'm gonna finish the series because I know the 4th book is gonna be interesting!

Started skimming at 40% but I lost interest in the story long before that. I can't put my finger on why but maybe I'm not into the kidnapping trope.

Gail Carriger is soon doing a book launch for her final Custard Protocol book, Reticence. I'm gonna go! In prep, I'm reading through some of her books since I haven't read much besides her main series, The Parasol Protectorate.

The premise of this finishing school sounds so badass and fun! I was reading to dive in and read all the books in the series. Too bad this read more like children's book than a YA novel. There also wasn't enough action!

I loved seeing a glimpse of what badassery Algernon Floote is capable of. Otherwise, this novella would be a skip for me since we didn't get to learn that much about Alexia's dad.

I was on a historical romance kick and I needed a palate cleanser. Everyone speaks highly of this author and especially this book in particular, but it didn't work me. It wasn't badly written — I just didn't love the heroine and her weird shoes. Every time I read a description of her latest pair of shoes, I'd grimace and get pulled out of the story.

I just haven't been able to find a contemporary romance I like! I'll keep trying...

Another case of a novella being too short for me to get into the characters.

I listened to Whoa!mance's podcast about this book & it got me excited to read the 4th book in the series! Thank goodness because I had skimmed through book 3 in boredom.

“Do you love men with damage? Do you love women with gumption? This book is for you! Let me tell you what Free is Victorian England's His Girl Friday and Morgan and Isabeau freaking love it!!!“

soundcloud.com/user-282269790/episode-16-the-suffragette-scandal-by-courtney-milan

I ended up skimming the book after reaching Chapter 6. This book felt entirely too long and Violet was unlikable in almost every way. The science was interesting; Violet was not.

I liked this better than the first book but both main characters are too quirky to be believable. The writing was only so-so but I did like the tension between Nico and Lizzy. I like over-the-top silly in Tessa Dare's novels but silliness in contemporaries are either not well-done or just seem immature to me. For example: Lizzy loves Nico speaking Italian and her panty dance parties.

Also, Lizzy acts like an idiot.

My attention was starting to wane a few books back because the Darkest London couples are annoying, abusive, and/or boring. But I do enjoy the world they live in and I kept reading, wanting to see how the series would wrap up.

It did so very neatly. Was it an amazing end? No, but this was light, fluffy, and just entertaining enough for a decent bedtime read.

Image from Happy for Now's YouTube channel.

I was hesitant to read this because the heroine was raped, but I ended up really liking the characters and wishing the novella was longer. Courtney Milan managed to give their story depth that is not usually managed so deftly in shorter story.

Another abusive hero, blech. I'm feeling a little burn out on the series even though there's only one more novel left. Gonna take a short break since reading these books are no longer fun.

I'm into the world building of Darkest London and this book was still a fun read despite the heroine always having to put up with so much shit from the hero; Evernight starts off with the hero trying to murder the heroine!

When it comes to the dynamics between the couples, reading this series is starting to feel like a bit of a slog.

My least favorite book in the series so far.

There weren't enough moments of levity to break up the nonstop hostility and bickering between the main characters. Jack was a jerk to Mary for years, but the book REALLY wanted you to know how broken he was and laid it on pretty thick; it felt like a ham-fisted attempt at excusing his behavior. Mary was a boring doormat, and Jack didn't really to work for her forgiveness.

I'm usually not a fan of novellas because there's never enough time to see the relationship grow between the couples. In Entwined, there's playful, flirty letters being written and I'm such a sucker for letter writing!

It‘s rare to read a romance about a married couple. I found it interesting and has prompted me to look into more stories of already established couples. Winterblaze is full of secrets, lies and betrayal… so much delicious angst.

I was very excited to read another of Nicole Clarkston‘s North and South variation but this one just didn‘t do it for me.

This couple‘s romance fell flat but I was intrigued by the world building and the reveal of another supernatural creature.

This book caused me to create a hate reads shelf on Goodreads.

Ember provides details on events that happened in both Miranda's and Archer's past but this prequel can easily be skipped. If you decide to read it, do it after you've read Firelight so that you have context. Otherwise, Ember won't make any sense.

Borrowed fr Wendy Darling: I would like to have seen a bit more of the supernatural elements as well as character development...I was never really as drawn in by the romance... Still, I *loved* the part when we finally find out the fascinating thing under Lord Archer's mask--if the story had concentrated more on that, which had so much potential, I would have been much more engaged...fingers crossed for the paranormal stuff to take center stage!“