I have mixed feelings about this series. I enjoy it over all, but sometime the dialog can feel a bit clunky, and there are definitely eye roll inducing clichés, I am also really over the continued presence of one of the former love interests. BUT. I love the cast characters and the sheer number of women who love and support each other, the character growth readers have been witness too, of course the baking and hedge magic.

The second in the series by Jeannie Lin. This is a historical mystery set in imperial China. This follows Mingyu, a high ranking courtesan and Constable Wu Keifeng after Mingyu finds her war lord patron dead in his chambers.
While I don't typically like books with a lot of intrigue, this series drew me in from the start.

A lovely novelization of a real woman. It follows the personal and professional life of Belle da Costa Greene an African-American woman who chose to pass as white to become JP Morgan's personal librarian. I don't know a lot about Greene, but I do appreciate that the authors cite their sources and provide examples of where they embellished. I think a lot of care went into making Greene a three dimensional person with flaws, fears and triumphs.

For those who claim that romance isn't real reading/writing, my paranormal-romance just touched on themes that have been discussed in my graduate program. 😎

So upon reading the description, I was definitely hesitant. I was afraid it was going to follow the typical story line of alpha male always being right. It wasn't really like that. There were elements of that, but the two protaganists end up having a lot of discussion about choices. There are some explicit scenes, so head up. And some of the plot is a little obvious. However, this is the first romance I've enjoyed in a very long time.

So I've been in the mood for cozy mysteries, but I'm also really picky about them too. So this book was a breath of fresh air! It was super cute! Nothing felt rushed or out of character, infact I ended listening to the audio in just 2 days. I even like the historical part of it. I would definitely recommend this to mystery lovers, and historical fiction lovers

I liked it, but I'm not sure I was totally sold on it. At about 2/3 of the way through, and I realized there was still so much left to resolve with so little of the book remaining. The ending definitely felt rushed (not totally unlike the original) and feelings and that had definitely not been explored besides the very barest of hints, were dumped on the reader. I would still recommend this to Austen fans, but get ready for some hasty resolutions.

I'm three pages from the end of my book... but I'm still sick 😷 on to the next I guess.

The weather right now is gross and wet and I'm home sick on my day off. Clearly the best thing to do is read a Jane Austen adaptation.

I am so sorry it took me this long to read this book! What an amazing story about some seriously amazing people! Seriously, if you haven't already read this book, you absolutely need to! And the narrator also did a really great job! #womenshistory #wochistory

Oh you know, just a bit of light reading for my day off

A cool reimagining of all the fairytales, combined with the mystery of a whodunit, wrapped up in a graphic novel! What more could anyone want?