yourbookishbff's reviews
596 reviews

This was a perfect conclusion to the Wedgeford Trials series and evidenced how intentionally and carefully Milan built the plot arcs across all three books. In the opening chapters, subtle moments and seemingly innocuous side characters from previous books become pivotal to the plot set-up, revealing the mysterious (and now urgent) backstory that was hiding in plain sight all along. 

Andrew and Lily are perfectly paired childhood best friends and once-lovers. Andrew uses humor as distraction, giving the security and safety he's always craved to everyone in his orbit. He is also a passionate farmer devoted to growing heirloom vegetables native to the countries his neighbors have had to leave behind. Lily, a bold political radical, aspiring suffragist, translator and printer of sensational poetry, struggles to decode innuendo or conversational courtesy, complicating her understanding of how others perceive her. Andrew and Lily were each other's safe haven for years, until a pivotal moment in her teens when her grandfather sent her off to her grandmothers in Hong Kong. They're reunited seven years later in a disastrous first encounter where Lily unknowingly threatens to unravel Andrew's carefully constructed fiction, innocuously rerouting his life. 

Milan frequently explores hidden identity and does so with such care and attention to the power imbalance in miscommunication and deception. The pacing of Andrew and Lily's conflict is so well done, and the heart-wringing interpersonal angst we feel in their early encounters appropriately explodes into honesty at exactly the right time. For Milan readers, this hit some of the emotional notes that I loved in Once Upon a Marquess, including reunited childhood friends who had always longed for more, a forest of mutual pining, it-was-always-you, and disastrous aristocratic families. The plot set-up, though, feels reminiscent of The Suffragette Scandal, a radical printer and suffragette and a secret-aristo. Here, though, Milan is exploring universal suffragism outside a white gaze, and it is so powerfully done. 

With a beautiful sub-plot that explores the cultivation and cultural significance of various tea leaves, a hilarious side-quest into Callum's Holy Order of Logbooks (justice for Kenneth!), a COOL exploration of radical feminist literature, several on-page discussions of birth control and abortion care, and a brilliantly executed deception that once-again plays to the ignorance of empire, this is a new favorite Milan for me. 

I'm so delighted Alexandra Vasti is now writing full-length books. I fell in love with her writing through the Halifax Hellions novellas, and seeing her transition into a full-length series set-up is so exciting. This hit all the right notes - a guardianship conflict that feels realistic (and doesn't overly rely on child drama), a newly minted (American) Duke with radical politics, entrepreneurial heroine (running a salacious lending library), near-miss ruination (gasp!), and pining-while-married. This is fairly low angst, with most of the conflict operating outside the couple, and features several absolutely delicious open-door scenes that feel Just Right for these characters. I particularly enjoyed a few of the plot twists that set up future books in the series and can't wait to see these characters get their own happily-ever-afters. 

Come for the spicy regency comedy and stay for the author's note, because as always, Vasti evidences how deeply researched and historically authentic these characters are - a great reminder that there have always been women clawing their way to self-determination with the tools available to them, and feminism is not anachronistic. 

By far my favorite of the series!! I loved this marriage of convenience premise, where our female main character is desperate to escape her abusive parents (and a terrible match to a man nearly four times her age) and is, thankfully, rescued by her reclusive but wildly wealthy neighbor. Oliver is largely reclusive because his attempts at entering society as a young adult were traumatizing and isolating. Having lost his hearing to Scarlet Fever in childhood, Oliver has settled into a comfortable - if lonely- life in a society where Deaf folks are routinely deemed mentally incompetent, socially and legally, and where few people have the skill or, frankly, interest, to communicate with him. I appreciated learning more about Deaf culture, hearing aid technology, sign language adoption and more during the Gilded Age, and loved that by the time we meet Oliver, he's well adjusted to his disability, and ready to tentatively (grudgingly) test new friendships and partnerships again. Our female main character, Christina, has perhaps the longer arc in this story, as she has to rediscover her own passions, confidence and self-image while she's only recently cast off her family, and I was so grateful she had the opportunity to find herself within the safe and secure attachment Oliver provides. Be warned, the third act is stressy and the deeply ableist violence of the era (and bureaucratic systems broadly) is on full display.

The concept for this story-within-a-story honestly feels brilliant to me - a woman who has inspired countless tales of fictional medieval adventures has inherited her very own castle, complete with recalcitrant and reclusive Duke. Izzy Goodnight is all grown up, even if she is eternally a child to the legions of zealous readers who first met her as the charming young protagonist of her father's fairytale-esque adventures, and she's penniless and homeless when she lands on the doorstep of her mysterious inheritance. The Duke, recently blinded by a severe injury to his eyes in a duel, refuses to leave the crumbling property that's become his sole refuge. This is absolutely over-the-top all the way through, with forced proximity, scarred hero, rake x wallflower, and a handful of other beloved tropes all battling for the reader's attention, but it's the narrative structure, and our underlying fairy tale adventures, that make this feel so unique and whimsical and ultimately, deeply moving. I just loved this.

This is exactly the kind of thriller I enjoy reading - character driven, with nuanced social commentary and a slow-boiling tension humming throughout. This is also the first I've seen an author position a main character with dissociative identity disorder (DID) as the protagonist from the start, where DID is not used as a plot twist or reveal and where it is not used to suggest villainy. I listened to this on audio and felt the narration brought each headmate to life with distinct tonal and style differences, so I always felt these characters were distinct, which made transitions between who was fronting and when more seamless. I thoroughly appreciated how we know from the start that one of our headmates knows more than they're disclosing, and we are left feeling the loss of memory and control that Ken, our primary POV, feels upon waking. By giving us only as much information as Ken and a few select headmates have at any one time, Cole ensures we feel the dawning urgency and fear and frustration of this scenario, particularly in the second half of the story. The gothic atmosphere - our haunted island castle appearing inside the mind and outside of it - and its strange historical legacy make this compelling as a thriller and, moreso, as a commentary on class, power, and trauma. The conclusion was satisfying and hit exactly the notes I was hoping for, without straying into wholly gratuitous gore. My only minor quibble would be the slower pacing in the first half, but honestly, as a character study, I still felt it was incre ibly compelling, and it won't stop me from recommending this one.

The sub-plot in this story is truly excellent and will be the sole reason I recommend this book to another reader. A female architect, Lady Eva, attempts to bring her original design to an historic project in Gilded Age New York while saving her family from financial ruin. She battles misogyny in the industry at every turn, coming out on top through sheer force of will, strategic thinking, and killer negotiation skills. She knows what she deserves and fights for equal standing, rejecting what's beneath her even when it's cloaked in "care." I adore her, and I was rooting for her and her project all the way through. 

The romance just missed the mark. And it COULD have worked! A frantic, jealous, and emotionally constipated male main character CAN work for me if he achieves character growth in a reasonable time frame and with a reasonable amount of initiative, but Phillip fell short at every turn. Even when multiple women in his life give him a veritable checklist for Getting the Girl, he can't execute. A grand gesture does not a grovel make. 

In conclusion, Lady Eva: perfect. Phillip: sigh.

I really enjoyed a lot in this series set-up - the meet-cute is epically hilarious (and historically authentic apparently?! incredible), and the female main character, Lady Nora, is excellent. Our male main character, Julius, was very meh for me. I love reformed rake stories, but this rake, for all his "let your actions speak for you," acted in some really absurd ways that I still can't quite make sense of. He spends a lot of on-page time with a former mistress, and while I love that Shupe isn't using the "Other Woman" as a villain, nor is she leaning too hard into creating jealousy or a love triangle, it ultimately feels unresolved and annoying. Love declarations arise out of some big third act drama and leave a pretty valid conflict unaddressed entirely, and while I think we're meant to just assume it's all fine, I'm a suspicious (and jealous) water sign who would like characters to say the thing on page if they really mean it. Therefore, points deducted for lack of explicit declaration of fidelity from Julius. Nora is perfect, no notes for her.

Well this was adorable. This is a one-night-stand-becomes-more romance that uses accidental pregnancy as the entire premise for the story (rather than as a third act conflict, where it typically finds itself). I loved this set-up, because it's clear as we get to know our two main characters, Win (Winifred) and Bo (Robert), that only an act of the universe this cataclysmic would have enabled them to choose each other at the start, when both of them are coming out of deeply traumatic life experiences and/or relationships. Their meet-cute is one of my all-time favorites, and their cozy lovers-to-roommates-to-lovers arc is so focused on the everyday moments of growing close to another person and learning how to partner with someone. This is really low-conflict (no third act breakup!) and normally that would be tough for me, but it felt really *right* for these two characters, who have so much off-page/backstory trauma that I just wanted them to be happily-ever-after from page 50. 

I read the newly released trade paperback, and I am so grateful it included the author's detailed note and content warnings at the start, particularly for a few of the heavier backstories involving suicide and cancer. Both main characters are disabled (Win was born with a limb difference and Bo had an amputation as part of his cancer treatment), and their interactions with each other provide so much affirmation and accessibility and intimacy and care. This book handled darkness with tenderness for both character and reader, and it ultimately felt safe all the way through. 

This is an excellent follow-up and expansion on the essays included in Disability Visibility. Where Disability Visibility expanded my understanding of disability justice, accessibility, and ableism, Disability Intimacy expanded my understanding of being disabled, living in community with disabled and non-disabled folks, and the many ways we experience intimacy with ourselves and others. I was pleasantly surprised by how many essays featured those with "invisible" disabilities, like ADHD, and how many reflected on the points at which they considered themselves disabled. I've not considered if I have a place within the disability community since my OCD diagnosis, and these essays were compelling and affirming. The essays I know I will take with me, though, were those by disabled parents and caregivers. A parent soothing their toddler to the sleep with the sound of their C-Pap, reveling in rest and "laziness," a resource parent/foster parent caring for an infant, providing security and comfort to a new human and adapting infant care for greater accessibility. These essays were such beautiful reflections for this time in my life as a parent of young kids, and I am so grateful for them. 

This is a compelling and diverse anthology that allows us to witness and reflect on intimacy in many forms, and whether or not you've read Disability Visibility, I highly recommend it. As a note, the full-cast audio narration was excellent.

This was such a fun Hell's Belle's installment. MacLean is killing the prologues in this series! Adelaide's wedding day was just as unsettling and exciting and adventurous as Sesily's tour through the maze in Bombshell. This romance has so many elements I absolutely love - road trip, only-one-bed several times over (to quote the Duke of Clayborn, "there is a shocking lack of beds in this country"), class difference, secret pasts, injury caretaking/deathbed confessions, and women saving men repeatedly. Truly, in this series MacLean sets every single female main character up to be her own savior, and we know from page one that our women are more capable, competent and experienced than their male love interests - it's a DELIGHT. I also felt like the pacing in this one is perfect - at times, I get frustrated when MacLean's MMC's are convinced she is "not for them" because they aren't good enough (cue "mysterious backstory they won't tell us about"). The reveals in each character's backstory happen precisely when they need to, which meant it never felt overdone and the conflict didn't depend entirely on withheld information. Can't wait for Imogen's story in Knockout!