Happy Saturday! Here’s how we’re closing out August:

Tara: I am on vacation, so I’m in the middle of my annual reread of The Carlisle Series (Truth and Measure, Above All Things) by Roslyn Sinclair.

Sarah: If you had to drop everything and give a 15 min presentation could you on the fly talk about this series and convince folks to read it?

I bet yes.

Tara: Oh, one HUNDRED percent. Not a question.

I convinced a friend today, like a couple of hours ago, to read the original fic version.

Sarah: You are a powerful friend!

I am reading A Whisper of Death by Darcy Burke. ( A | BN ) An earl got robbed and had a head injury that left him with psychometry. He’s obsessed with figuring out who attacked him and nearly killed him, and ends up working with a young woman who is secretly an investigator, and is looking into why her grandmother’s investments disappeared. Ahoy slow burn across class lines.

Shana: I’ve been reading The Fall that Saved Us by Tamara Jerée. It’s a fantasy novel with a sapphic romance between a runaway angel and a succubus. The writing is just gorgeous! I keep underlining passages on every page.

I’m also barreling down to the end of an audiobook, If She Says Yes by Tasha Harrison. ( A ) It’s a steamy m/f romance between a man in his 30s and his best friend’s mom who he has been crushing on since childhood. It’s bonkers in the best way, unafraid to lean into every forbidden part of the age gap.

Susan: I’ve been reading Remnants of Filth, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which is a xianxia m/m lovers to enemies between a general and his ex, who defected to an enemy nation. Just finished volume 4 and it hit like a /train./ The emotions! The revelations! The emotional revelations!

Can’t believe I have to wait until NOVEMBER for the next volume

Sneezy: This is funny because it’s happening to you and not me

The new season of Under the Oak Tree is starting on September 3, and I’ve been trying to make it come faster through time bend no jutsu…so delusion, but it works the same
4:02

Meanwhile I’ve been giving Fly Me to the Moon a closer read.

This turned out to be a bit of a dark horse. I completely skipped the first half and had been skimming it on and off because the synopsis made it sound like the monsters are less sexy blood and biting = smexy and more humans as food, and while the art is very good, it didn’t blow me away. That was until a more recent chapter showed that the story was more thoughtful about different life spans and cultures creating very different constructs of love and relationships.

Elyse: I’m reading It Had to be You by Eliza Jane Brazier and it’s about two assassins falling in love, kind of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

I’m at the beginning where the hero, Jonathan, has been shot and is trying to get to his brother who is a doctor. He takes a handful of pills that are supposed to help stabilize him and suddenly is reflecting about how beautiful the scenery is and is like “oh shit did I accidentally take Ecstasy?” I was cackling.

Claudia: I just finished The Earl Who Isn’t! ( A | BN | K | AB ) Sad to leave Wedgeford…

Shana: Wedgeford is the only place in England that makes me want to time travel (and shift dimensions?)

So, whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments!