what i'm reading / i have no time

Sometimes life is underwater! Sometimes you can’t manage a damn thing! I have been plagued by migraines, by a feverish yet impossibly energetic child, by too many appointments, by too many work emails with too many questions. I have been plagued by the general state of the world. I am overwhelmed and overextended, thus I have no long treatise for you this week. Just a quick update to say that I really want to maintain my consistency of sending this every Friday, but I’m keeping it short today.

Recently, I finished Kylie Scott’s Stage Dive series and a Gentleman’s Gentleman. Both of these I want to expand on at a later time, but suffice to say, the former was a very fun time and the latter was quite lovely. For the yearners, specifically! I am so excited by the idea that historical romance is getting a refresh with new voices and new perspectives. I need more flamboyant Saville Row tailors tomorrow.

Per a friend’s recommendation, I finished Blonde Identity by Ally Carter. This book is incredibly silly but I had so much fun. Sometimes that’s all you can ask for! There are several things in this book that I love: amnesia plot, a competent woman (actually two!), and a dumb-down-bad-man. It is romantic suspense which feels like a rare gem these days. Think: fighting, running, pretending to be honeymooners on a Viking River Cruise, lots of lingerie, a conveniently abandoned cabin in the Alps, an ice bridge, and a Swiss bank heist. Think: Legally Blonde plus Bourne Identity. The sequel comes out this summer and I will be preordering! High praise, indeed.

I’ve started Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Legend of the Four Soliders series, this is the last of her backlist that I have yet to read (sobs!). A fail safe I left for myself for when my life was chaos and I needed a reliably good time. It seems to revolve around French and Indian War veterans boinking very elegant ladies in London. Because it is Hoyt, the blurb reads like this: “EVEN THE MOST REFINED LADY CRAVES AN UNTAMED MAN TO RELEASE HER PASSION.” Once you’re about 20 pages in you realize there is a murder plot, a war crime, she’s a widow and a single mom, she’s hired to be his sister’s chaperone, his sister might be flirting with a footman, he saw her brother die in war (100% chance Hoyt brings this brother back from the dead for one of the books), she’s engaged to another man. ALSO he does the jig and shakes hands and he wears moccasins with indecent leather leggings because GET IT?!! he’s an AMERICAN! Que horror!

talk soon,

Britt