Oct 2023 reread via AB. Love these characters so much. The audiobook worked less well for me, but once I start with Joss and Gareth, I can't stop. — —Oct 2023 reread via AB. Love these characters so much. The audiobook worked less well for me, but once I start with Joss and Gareth, I can't stop. — — — — — Loved this one from start to finish. Sometimes it really hits the spot to read an author you trust, respect, and just click with, especially on humor. KJC always delights me with her turns of phrase, captivating plots, robust casts of characters, and refusal to give into cliches.
I can't wait for the second in the duology! And I'll happily reread this one beforehand. Thanks to Ele and Teal for the fantastic buddy read ...more
After my second read, I love this story even more. The last one — for which I've been waiting what feels like my whole life After my second read, I love this story even more. The last one — for which I've been waiting what feels like my whole life ...more
March 2023: I don't know why I ever expect subsequent reads of this to be less impactful or emotional. They're not.
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I just finished my sMarch 2023: I don't know why I ever expect subsequent reads of this to be less impactful or emotional. They're not.
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I just finished my second read within 2 weeks, and thinking that another read would get this story "out of my system" was just delusional par excellence.
Thrown Off the Ice is unlike anything else, but it's not just its uniqueness that has made it so dear to me. It's an honest and raw love story, with an affective narrative voice and on-point character evolution.
I don't know exactly what I expected from this reread, but what I didn't expect was how unlike the experience would be from the first. Even more impactful (and I wouldn't have said that was possible). The story looks so different from a read-between-the-lines perspective. If that's too vague, I can't even be sorry. I've never felt more strongly that a book should be entered into blindly than I do here.
Mike and Liam, you have a permanent piece of my heart, and I will always come back to visit you.
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First read: This is one of those. One of those that I'm not capable of reviewing....more
The Dark Tide — 4.5 stars. This mystery didn’t hold my attention as well as the last one, but it has solid importance to the story, and it’s one that The Dark Tide — 4.5 stars. This mystery didn’t hold my attention as well as the last one, but it has solid importance to the story, and it’s one that I’m curious to scrutinize much closer on my next read. A tornado warning could have gone off right by my head when I was reading Adrien and Jake’s scenes in this book and I wouldn’t have been the wiser.
This series is A Tale of Two Genres. And it’s also a cautionary tale about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, from a reading perspective.
Have I already exhausted my cliché limit for this review? It’s going to get worse, because original thought isn’t my niche after I’ve just found a couple for my favorite couples of all time list.
They say Josh Lanyon is a mystery writer, but you aren’t going to be able to prove that by me. This woman is a relationship writer, and not just that — she’s among the BEST of those.
I’m not much of a mystery reader. But I’ve read my share, and when they work, they really work. The mysteries in the first 3 of these books were just in my fucking way. I was not engaged in them, and if I hadn’t been immediately captivated by the relationship between Adrien and Jake, I might have been tempted to set the whole series aside. Baby, meet bathwater.
However. Captivated is an understatement. Lanyon’s ability to create interpersonal tension — in every way except the predictable — is writing master class. I could c/p dozens of lines here to prove my point, but spoilers aren’t my style. Trust me or don’t. Or trust the bazillions of other people who’ve read this series in the last almost-20 years. ;)
Flawed, nuanced characters that you’ll need your 3D glasses for. JL made me experience the entire damn spectrum of emotion, and often using only a handful of words to do so.
I really don’t know what else to say, because if this isn’t already speaking your language, I can’t help. If we're friends, expect to be hearing things about this series for a long time. Both 1) while I try in vain to overcome the hangover that I'll have for at least a week, and 2) when I dive in for the scores of rereads that will happen in my lifetime.
Lastly, shout-out to my AMAZING buddy read partners. This was an incredible experience, full of spirited discussion, and fortunately it's showing no signs of stopping. Elena, Linda, Rosa, Shile, Teal, and Xia...more
Update Nov 17, 2019: Read #2 This book is the reason to read the series. Fight me.
—————————— Fucking hell, this book was perfect. It's the only one in tUpdate Nov 17, 2019: Read #2 This book is the reason to read the series. Fight me.
—————————— Fucking hell, this book was perfect. It's the only one in the series that was a full five stars for me. I was never tempted to skim the mystery bits, because that part of the plot was fascinating and had significant relevance to the relationship. I was WRUNG OUT in this one. Multiple times.
Non-spoiler review of The Adrien English Mysteries series: A Tale of Two Genres. And also a cautionary tale about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, from a reading perspective.
Have I already exhausted my cliché limit for this review? It’s going to get worse, because original thought isn’t my niche after I’ve just found a couple for my favorite couples of all time list.
They say Josh Lanyon is a mystery writer, but you aren’t going to be able to prove that by me. This woman is a relationship writer, and not just that — she’s among the BEST of those.
I’m not much of a mystery reader. But I’ve read my share, and when they work, they really work. The mysteries in the first 3 of these books were just in my fucking way. I was not engaged in them, and if I hadn’t been immediately captivated by the relationship between Adrien and Jake, I might have been tempted to set the whole series aside. Baby, meet bathwater.
However. Captivated is an understatement. Lanyon’s ability to create interpersonal tension — in every way except the predictable — is writing master class. I could c/p dozens of lines here to prove my point, but spoilers aren’t my style. Trust me or don’t. Or trust the bazillions of other people who’ve read this series in the last almost-20 years. ;)
Flawed, nuanced characters that you’ll need your 3D glasses for. JL made me experience the entire damn spectrum of emotion, and often using only a handful of words to do so.
I really don’t know what else to say, because if this isn’t already speaking your language, I can’t help. If we're friends, expect to be hearing things about this series for a long time. Both 1) while I try in vain to overcome the hangover that I'll have for at least a week, and 2) when I dive in for the scores of rereads that will happen in my lifetime.
Lastly, shout-out to my AMAZING buddy read partners. This was an incredible experience, full of spirited discussion, and fortunately it's showing no signs of stopping. Elena, Linda, Rosa, Shile, Teal, and Xia...more
4 stars for this volume, 5 stars for the series as a whole. OMG the mystery in this one drove me batty. Two reasons: it dominated a higher percentage 4 stars for this volume, 5 stars for the series as a whole. OMG the mystery in this one drove me batty. Two reasons: it dominated a higher percentage of the page count (not a scientific deduction, just my perception), and I lost any patience I ever might have had for words that weren't directly related to Adrien and Jake and what they were going through. Their problems were my problems, their lives were my life. GET BEHIND ME, SATAN.
Non-spoiler review of The Adrien English Mysteries series: A Tale of Two Genres. And also a cautionary tale about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, from a reading perspective.
Have I already exhausted my cliché limit for this review? It’s going to get worse, because original thought isn’t my niche after I’ve just found a couple for my favorite couples of all time list.
They say Josh Lanyon is a mystery writer, but you aren’t going to be able to prove that by me. This woman is a relationship writer, and not just that — she’s among the BEST of those.
I’m not much of a mystery reader. But I’ve read my share, and when they work, they really work. The mysteries in the first 3 of these books were just in my fucking way. I was not engaged in them, and if I hadn’t been immediately captivated by the relationship between Adrien and Jake, I might have been tempted to set the whole series aside. Baby, meet bathwater.
However. Captivated is an understatement. Lanyon’s ability to create interpersonal tension — in every way except the predictable — is writing master class. I could c/p dozens of lines here to prove my point, but spoilers aren’t my style. Trust me or don’t. Or trust the bazillions of other people who’ve read this series in the last almost-20 years. ;)
Flawed, nuanced characters that you’ll need your 3D glasses for. JL made me experience the entire damn spectrum of emotion, and often using only a handful of words to do so.
I really don’t know what else to say, because if this isn’t already speaking your language, I can’t help. If we're friends, expect to be hearing things about this series for a long time. Both 1) while I try in vain to overcome the hangover that I'll have for at least a week, and 2) when I dive in for the scores of rereads that will happen in my lifetime.
Lastly, shout-out to my AMAZING buddy read partners. This was an incredible experience, full of spirited discussion, and fortunately it's showing no signs of stopping. Elena, Linda, Rosa, Shile, Teal, and Xia...more
Update Nov 15, 2019: Read #2 It's such a crazy voodoo these guys have, and it's working its magic on me just as strongly this time as it did the first.Update Nov 15, 2019: Read #2 It's such a crazy voodoo these guys have, and it's working its magic on me just as strongly this time as it did the first. While I'm reading their story, I am driven to distraction in my real life, just wanting to get back to them.
Having said that, this is my least favorite mystery in the series, and I had no more patience with it this time. But it's a small price to pay in order to experience the evolution of one of my favorite fictional couples of all-time.
—————————— 4 stars for this volume, 5 stars for the series as a whole. I couldn't have cared less about the mystery in this one, but Adrien and Jake's relationship is so much everything. I can't even talk with you about it until I deal with it extensively in therapy. Book 3, here I come.
Non-spoiler review of The Adrien English Mysteries series: A Tale of Two Genres. And also a cautionary tale about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, from a reading perspective.
Have I already exhausted my cliché limit for this review? It’s going to get worse, because original thought isn’t my niche after I’ve just found a couple for my favorite couples of all time list.
They say Josh Lanyon is a mystery writer, but you aren’t going to be able to prove that by me. This woman is a relationship writer, and not just that — she’s among the BEST of those.
I’m not much of a mystery reader. But I’ve read my share, and when they work, they really work. The mysteries in the first 3 of these books were just in my fucking way. I was not engaged in them, and if I hadn’t been immediately captivated by the relationship between Adrien and Jake, I might have been tempted to set the whole series aside. Baby, meet bathwater.
However. Captivated is an understatement. Lanyon’s ability to create interpersonal tension — in every way except the predictable — is writing master class. I could c/p dozens of lines here to prove my point, but spoilers aren’t my style. Trust me or don’t. Or trust the bazillions of other people who’ve read this series in the last almost-20 years. ;)
Flawed, nuanced characters that you’ll need your 3D glasses for. JL made me experience the entire damn spectrum of emotion, and often using only a handful of words to do so.
I really don’t know what else to say, because if this isn’t already speaking your language, I can’t help. If we're friends, expect to be hearing things about this series for a long time. Both 1) while I try in vain to overcome the hangover that I'll have for at least a week, and 2) when I dive in for the scores of rereads that will happen in my lifetime.
Lastly, shout-out to my AMAZING buddy read partners. This was an incredible experience, full of spirited discussion, and fortunately it's showing no signs of stopping. Elena, Linda, Rosa, Shile, Teal, and Xia...more
I purchased this book prior to an incident with the author on Twitter. I decided that by leaving up the thread rather than trying to hide it, and by oI purchased this book prior to an incident with the author on Twitter. I decided that by leaving up the thread rather than trying to hide it, and by offering an apology, she has gotten a second chance from me.
Hi. So... yeah. I loved the forking hell out of this story. As I read it, I kept expecting that saccharine (or a variety of different overboard elements) was right around the corner, but it never happened. The banter was on point, the protagonists were robust and stayed in character, the relationship was sexy and excellent and kept its tension throughout. Also, I might need to be a hockey fan now. Which is at least good timing, right here in the middle of the playoffs....more
4.5 stars. A few days ago, in a comment thread about Society of Gentlemen, I mentioned that the whole of this character ensemble was greater than the 4.5 stars. A few days ago, in a comment thread about Society of Gentlemen, I mentioned that the whole of this character ensemble was greater than the sum of its parts. And that's exactly how I feel about the series, too.
Of course, all of the parts were great as well — every volume has been at least 4 stars for me. But I give the series as a whole a solid 🎯 for two reasons:
Firstly, it's this group of men. I could read books about them forever. Forever. So much variety among them, and almost all of their personalities popped off the page for me. Naturally I have my most preciousssses, but in truth they work best in combos or even all together. The dialogue, y'all. It was aces. Especially between those who aren't even lovers, such as David and Silas, Dom and Richard, Julius and ANYONE AT ALL.
The second reason is the non-romance plotlines, which were every bit as strong as the romances. I was captivated by them. Normally, I'm sort of side eyeing secondary plots like... just do no harm, please. But here they were smartly crafted and perfectly executed. Is there anything KJC can't do??
(I suspect she would answer as David does — "Plenty. I just don't do those things, and so nobody finds out.")
In a series all about juxtapositions, this was the first pairing where I got the sense of opposites attracting. Richard and David's personalities, senses of morality, childhood experiences, common sense, abilities to read people... they contrasted in so many regards. In the beginning of the book, I didn't understand what they saw in each other at all. But then the relationship evolved beautifully, and as usual, KJC sold it to me along with whatever bridge she had in stock.
Super highly recommend. And in case you haven't seen me say this — early, often, and enthusiastically — be sure to start here. ;)...more
"We disagree without hatred, and fuck as we choose. If I were to give my idea of utopia..."
Here am I again, wishing I could give a better review t
"We disagree without hatred, and fuck as we choose. If I were to give my idea of utopia..."
Here am I again, wishing I could give a better review to this book after my second read of it in less than 5 months. And still not feeling able to.
"Come to bed with me, you blasted radical. Bring me your revolution."
For me, this book is perfect. PERFECT. The character development makes me feel everything that Silas and Dom go through, to my very bones. I'm held captive by every page.
It's very, very rare for me to heart both the romantic relationship and the plot-outside-the-romance an equal amount. Especially if that "equal amount" is YES, PLEASE / EVERYTHING / ALL THE GOOD.
...when it was a matter of dying on your feet or living on your knees, the answer wasn't as clear as you might have hoped.
I don't recommend reading this book as a standalone. The good news is that it's no hardship to read the full captivating trilogy + shorts. Fortheloveofgod, don't forget the shorts.
Note: The cover, though. Who in the holy hell is that supposed to be? Certainly not either of the MCs. Not even remotely close in any aspect. Argh. Ignore it and carry on....more
I was frightened, confused and desperate to run for my life, or soul, but my prick was being called, and it seemed to intend to come.
4.5 stars. I I was frightened, confused and desperate to run for my life, or soul, but my prick was being called, and it seemed to intend to come.
4.5 stars. I had a couple dozen highlights and I wish I could share them all, but spoillllerssss. The story alternated between funny and odious, melancholy and hopeful, sexy and emotive—and every one of these aspects worked.
I've said before that KJC can sell me damn near anything, and this book is exhibit A. Ghost stories usually just make my eyes roll hard, but I loved how she built this world. The individual stories, with just a couple of exceptions, had me completely captivated. Once or twice, I felt that I would have benefited from a bit more explanation, but nothing that threw me too much.
Special shout-out to the the "Remember, Remember" chapter which gave me the serious heebee jeebees. Children are fucking scary. Or is that just me??
And the relationship between Robert and Simon, I adored. To the point where... I'm about to start the W&G series, and one of the things I'm currently the most excited about is getting to see these two again in #3.5.
"It wasn’t hell I saw, it wasn’t devils. It was people.” “It frequently is, in my experience.”
————————— Update Oct 23, 2019: I just finished my second read via audiobook, and I hard-core loved Gary Furlong's narration. It was a perfect listen for October. I just love these characters and their story....more
Yummy feels-generating story, and squirmy for more than one reason. Not just the one you thinGAH! Yes. This was teh good. Do I have to words?
OK. I try.
Yummy feels-generating story, and squirmy for more than one reason. Not just the one you think (but that one too). The characters popped directly off the page, an excellent accomplishment for <15K words. And not only the main dudes — there were at least 4 peripheral characters whose personalities and roles contributed an impact, two of whom were essential, because (view spoiler)[without Nick and Jane calling Oliver out on his assholery, it would have been far less tolerable (hide spoiler)].
Lisa Henry can do shorts WELL. But dammit, I still wish I had another 100 pages of these two hot potatoes.
(Thanks for the nudge, Annery! It's been on my kindle over a year but who knows when it would have happened. xx)
It's complete bs that this wasn't included in Kings Rising, but it was beautiful, amazing, everything.It's complete bs that this wasn't included in Kings Rising, but it was beautiful, amazing, everything....more
I have had no success lately, trying to review my 6-star books. Sometimes muuuhh hurrma weeerrlly just isn’t sufficient.
I feel too close to this serieI have had no success lately, trying to review my 6-star books. Sometimes muuuhh hurrma weeerrlly just isn’t sufficient.
I feel too close to this series to review it. Like I’m trying to describe my best friend to someone I’ve just met. I’m protective of him, and I’m a little resentful about having to explain my feelings for him. And most of all, how can I say anything that will actually measure up to him? Measure up to seeing the light in his eyes, to the way he makes me laugh, to how it breaks my heart when he’s in pain, to the looks we share across a room.
I held off on reading this series for a while. You know those ones that you’re sure you will love but you’re also worried they won’t live up to the hype? High expectations generally aren’t my friend.
I needn’t have worried.
I expected a slow burn... and dear me, we need a new word for slow burn. Book edging at its absolute finest.
I expected an epic AU historical tale... and I got it. Nothing about the politics or battles was dry. I hung on every word.
I expected great character development... but it was perfection, and even the secondary characters jumped off the page. And Laurent? Everything. So fully developed and three-dimensional, I might even start using him as an example in my real life. To quote Damen at one point, What would Laurent do? I need that on a bracelet. ;)
What I didn’t expect was the dry humor… it was masterful. I laughed out loud so much, and it took the story to another plane entirely. It broke through the tension and drama, it gave the characters intelligence and personality, it made the discourse sexier.
This year so far, I’ve rated six books with 5 stars (not including this series); I’ll re-read all of them at some point. But I’ll probably come back to this set annually for the rest of my life. I already want to.
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