CBR17 Book 10: "Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales" by Heather Fawcett

Page count: 368 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Books Bingo 2025: A fantasy book by a female author

Buzzword Cover Challenge 2025: Contains books

Spoiler warning! This is book 3 in the series and not the best place to start reading. This book will contain spoilers for the previous books in the series. Start at the beginning, with Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries. 

Intrepid professor of dryadology (faerie scholar) Emily Wilde is facing her most challenging adventure yet - reclaiming the rather terrifying faerie kingdom of Silva Lupi, where her former academic rival, now impending husband, Wendell Bambleby (not his faerie name) is the rightful king. Emily loves Wendell, and doesn't regret her decision to marry him, but isn't entirely sure about becoming queen of a merciless and dangerous faerie realm. Nevertheless, the project offers up unique opportunities to further her research and writing, and Wendell has worked for so long to get back to his home. 

His wicked stepmother, who killed most of Wendell's family and stole the throne, has vanished. Emily successfully poisoned her towards the end of the previous book, but the lady isn't entirely dead yet, and has in addition managed to use her magical connection to the land to place a deadly curse on Silva Lupi, which keeps poisoning larger and larger areas. Emily's research suggests that the only way to break the curse is either to find and kill the former queen or for Wendell to sacrifice his life for the realm. Obviously, the latter option isn't very appealing to either of them. 

I'm not going to lie, I have been waiting for this book pretty much since I closed the covers to Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, the previous book in the series. Our Emily has come such a long way since she was trying (and failing) to communicate with the sceptical villagers in Ljosland. Now she has a number of friends, family members and allies to assist her in her quest to free Wendell and his kingdom from the quest left by his stepmother. While she loves Wendell, seeing him fully embrace his faerie powers and the changes that brings takes some adjustments. She also struggles with the idea of herself as queen, a role she feels wholly unfit for. 

Did this book live up to my expectations? Not entirely, but after finishing the book, I see that my expectations of the story were unlikely to ever be satisfied. I had been hoping for more romance between Wendell and Emily, but the romantic subplot of these books has always been light, and I'm not sure why I didn't expect Wendell to be sidelined in the plot for much of the book, while Emily did what she's best at, researching and investigating folklore and faerie stories, and then of course, throwing herself into ridiculously dangerous situations to save the people she cares about. This was a very fitting and adventurous chapter in Emily's story, I shouldn't have suddenly expected the series to go down paths with more romance. Not to say there isn't romance here - some of Wendell's romantic gestures towards Emily are absolutely lovely (and show how very well he knows his grumpy intended). Emily, on her side, literally challenges death for his sake. 

As far as I'm aware, this is the third and final book in the Emily Wilde trilogy, and it's a very fitting end for Emily and Wendell. Fawcett nevertheless leaves the ending open-ended enough that she will be able to return to this imaginative world at some point in the future, should she choose to do so. 

Judging a book by its cover: Yet again, I think the UK cover is much prettier than the US one, although I wish it wasn't quite so pink. It also looks deceptively cute and quirky, considering how dark some of the themes explored in the book are. I'm not sure this cover entirely sells the story. Then again, I also hope people don't start a series with book 3, so even with the pastel pink cover, most readers know that Emily's adventures can go dark places. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR17 Book 9: "In a Rush" by Kate Canterbary

Page count: 480 pages

Rating: 5 stars

This was an ARC sent to me by the author. My opinions are my own, and I loved the book so much that I pre-ordered a copy as soon as I'd finished reading it. 

 

Emmeline "Emme" Ahlborg catches her boyfriend, the man she was hoping was going to propose to her, in the act, sleeping with another woman (when Emme shows up on his doorstep with home-cooked food). She's devastated, and what's worse, he's a groomsman in the wedding of her best friend (to whom she's the maid of honour) so it's not like she's going to be able to avoid seeing him. Not one to cause trouble or mess with her friend's wedding plans, Emme swallows down her discomfort and hopes to find a suitable revenge date to bring to the wedding.

During a dinner with her best friend from high school, Ryan Ralston, now a hot shot professional quarterback, he listens in both horror and sympathy to her recounting the events of her break-up and makes an unusual suggestion. He reminds her of the pact they made back in high school, that if they were still single when they turned thirty, they would marry each other. Ryan just turned thirty, and Emme will be thirty in a few months. She needs a revenge date, he has an image problem and needs a wife to reassure society at large that he's a reliable and stable guy who's worth doing business with. He claims that their long friendship and history together will make the story believable, not just to the press and his business partners, but to her friends and family. What Ryan isn't telling Emme is that she's the only woman he'd ever consider marrying because he's loved her since high school, he just never had the guts to tell her. 

After some deliberation, Emme agrees to the plan, on the condition that Ryan helps find her stepsister/roommate an internship. They agree to fake date for a few months before actually marrying, to make the story more convincing. Emme has had a series of dreadful relationships and clearly isn't used to being taken care of or appreciated. Ryan, on the other hand, who finally sees his chance to win her heart (and has also listened to all her sob stories over the years) pulls out all the stops to pamper and spoil his "fake" girlfriend, at least as much as she'll let him. She refuses to move out of her cramped and ramshackle apartment and won't really accept all the gifts he tries to shower her with.

As is always the case with the fake dating/marriage of convenience trope, the lines between platonic and romantic fade gradually. In this case, the only one in Ryan's life who doesn't know that he's head over heels for her seems to be Emme herself, so one part of the couple is already hopelessly in love and just waiting for the other to reciprocate. 

I absolutely loved this book. It worked for me on every level. Emme is a great heroine who clearly deserves the world, and Ryan is just the man to give it to her. Her parents had an acrimonious divorce and both of her parents have had a series of unsuccessful relationships. Now Emme has a very supportive stepmother, but because of her mother's bitterness and vitriol, it's difficult for Emme to accept this woman's love and affection. She's estranged from her father and doesn't seem to ever have had a decent boyfriend. She works as a teacher (so of course I would love her), and is so loyal to her friends that she's willing to put up with the awkwardness of seeing her ex (and his new fiancee, the woman he cheated on her with) at a number of pre-wedding events. 

If Ryan has any flaws at all, it must be his refusal to confess his real feelings towards Emme. In every other respect, he seems to be perfect. He's a talented athlete, a good friend, a loving son and brother, and great with kids. He worships the ground Emme walks on, and wants to use all his wealth and resources to make her life better. 

This book features characters that apparently first appeared in In a Jam, and mentions characters and places from Shucked. If I'm brutally honest, this book could probably have been a bit shorter, but on the other hand, I am hard-pressed to see which bits should have been left out. This is only my third Canterbary novel ever, but I really like her writing style and am glad she has a big back catalogue I can choose from while I wait for her next book to come out. 

Judging a book by its cover: Not exactly the most exciting cover for this one. Also not entirely sure why it's showing what I'm assuming is part of a football field, since Ryan's career as a football player mostly takes place off-page, so to speak. 

Crossposted by Cannonball Read. 

CBR17 Book 8: "Earl Crush" by Alexandra Vasti

Page count: 352 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Nowhere Books Bingo 25: Book about a road trip or travelling

Disclaimer! This was an ARC granted to me from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. My opinions are my own. 

Lydia Hope-Wallace is a wallflower, and perfectly happy to remain so, because she has crippling social anxiety and tends to throw up if forced to interact too much with people outside her immediate family or friends. She's been secretly writing seditious pamphlets and publishing them anonymously for the past three years, and for almost as long, she has been corresponding with a man she believes to be the Earl of Strathrannnoch. When she discovers that Strathrannoch castle is pretty much falling down and the earldom has no funds to fix this with, she rather impulsively decides to go see her penpal and offer him a marriage of convenience. Lydia may be a wallflower, but she's also the second richest heiress on the marriage mart, and all those buckets of money that come with her hand in marriage should be enough to restore any mouldering old castle and struggling estate.

Unfortunately, when she arrives in Scotland, her pragmatic and sensible friend Georgiana in tow, she discovers that Arthur Baird, the Earl of Strathrannoch, has no idea who she is. It turns out that it's Arthur's younger brother who has been writing to Lydia for all these years, and he's currently gone missing, having stolen one of Arthur's inventions to boot. Arthur isn't entirely sure what to do with the beautiful flustered redhead on his doorstep, let alone why she might be proposing to marry him, but Lydia is his best chance at trying to track down his missing brother, who might be wanting to use Arthur's invention (a telescopic rifle sight) for nefarious means. So while she's initially mortified and tries to run away, he's able to persuade her to help him locate his brother. 

What follows is a road trip romp, involving zebras, awkward house parties, Arthur and Lydia having to pretend to be married, lying to family friends, and lying to Lydia's brother, who suddenly shows up in Scotland under an assumed name, possibly treasonous French people, spies, a possible plot against the Duke of Wellington and more. There is a whole lot of travelling from Scotland to London or from London to Scotland at speeds that seem implausible to me, and the rigours of travel mostly being ignored in service of the light-hearted plot. 

Arthur is convinced Lydia is in love with his brother (she's not, she really did want to offer him a platonic marriage of convenience so he could use her money). Lydia is cripplingly shy and struggles in any social situation, and doesn't think anyone could ever want her. Both are madly attracted to the other, but it takes some time for them to realise this and act on their feelings. Once they do, there's a fair amount of smexy times, including outside in what seems to be rather a cold forest grove. There's a lot of pining and angst from both characters, even after they've actually started acting on their pants feelings, culminating in Arthur doing something truly stupid towards the end of the book (it's OK, he grovels and makes it all better after a while). 

As well as the reappearance of characters the reader may have met in Ne'er Duke Well (Selina and her husband, as well as Georgiana), there is a rather large supporting cast, including the lovely retainers at Arthur's castle, who keep conspiring to make sure he and Lydia end up together, Lydia's four older brothers and even her rather meddlesome mother are all a lot of fun. This was an entertaining book, but there seemed to be too many shenanigans and a bit too much "he/she couldn't possibly love ME" for it to be one that I see myself revisiting for comfort rereads. I'm very excited for the third book in the series, though, where Georgiana finally meets her (sapphic) match. That's not out until September, sadly.

Judging a book by its cover: I like that while the cover for Ne'er Duke Well was mostly in blue and green, here there is a lot of violet and purple to complement the green. What I don't like is how tiny the guy in the carriage is. Arthur is described as a big hulking giant of a man so many times throughout the book, this guy looks perfectly normal-sized. Disappointing. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR17 Book 7: "Ne'er Duke Well" by Alexandra Vasti

Page count: 354 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Book Bingo 25: Recommended by a friend (see, Des, I finally read it!)

Buzzwords 2025 Cover Challenge: Foliage

Peter Kent has lived most of his life in America, and certainly never expected to inherit a dukedom. Now he's the Duke of Stanhope and desperately trying to be granted custody of his younger half-siblings, both of whom treat him with disdain and claim they are perfectly happy living with their decrepit guardian. It doesn't help his case that Peter's inexperience with English high society keeps inadvertently landing him in scandalous situations. He needs help to rehabilitate his reputation and turns to the cleverest woman he knows.

Lady Selina Ravenscroft has an impeccable pedigree and a flawless reputation because no one knows that she organises and runs a circulating library of erotic literature for women. The way to clean up Peter's somewhat shaky image would be for him to court and preferably marry a thoroughly respectable woman, preferably before the court hearing about the custody of his siblings. Selina quickly makes a list of three perfectly suitable young women and tries to coach Peter on how best to court them. Unfortunately, the only woman Peter feels any sort of interest in is Selina, and the more time they spend together, trying to make him fall for another woman, the more certain he becomes that the only woman he wants to marry is her. 

My friend Desdemona has been nagging me to read Alexandra Vasti for absolutely ages, since long before this novel was even published. I did take her advice and read the first of Vasti's Halifax Hellions novellas last year and enjoyed it, but then got distracted by something else shiny on my ever-expanding TBR list, and I never got around to reading any more. When I was granted an ARC of Vasti's second novel through NetGalley (so exciting!), it seemed natural to read this one first. As far as I understand, that novel's heroine is Selina's best friend Lydia (also the name of my best friend!), who here features as one of Peter's potential brides-to-be. Unfortunately, Lydia has crippling social anxiety, frequently vomits in potted plants at balls, and can't seem to manage to speak to anyone outside her immediate family and friends - so doesn't really respond too well to Peter's advances. Plus, it's obvious to her and everyone who sees them together that Peter is mad for Selina, and he doesn't have eyes for anyone else when she's nearby.

There were several scenes in this book that felt a bit farcical, but I enjoyed the chemistry and banter between Peter and Selina enough to overlook a lot of it. Peter's half-siblings are given enough characterisation to not just be plot moppets, and his determination to become their guardian and give them safe and happy lives is explained once the reader is given insight into his past and the half-sibling he lost while growing up in America. I love a nursing back-to-health scene in a romance, but not really involving potentially dying children - that's just a bummer all-round. 

The supporting cast, featuring Selina's family members (her twin brother Will only appears in letters they exchange - he's off being a soldier, mourning his dead wife and child), and her various friends who she tries to set Peter up with, are mostly a delight. I would not be surprised to see all of them in future novels of Vasti's, finding their own HEAs. I also liked that there was no actual villain in this story. The baron who is set to judge the court hearing is portrayed as stern and concerned with traditional values, but he clearly adores his wife and seems somewhat concerned that Peter may not be up for the task of raising headstrong children (which, considering his townhouse barely has furniture when Selina first moves in(!) is a fair thing to be concerned about. 

This was a fun little romance, and a heroine who takes it upon herself to educate the women of the ton in matters of sexuality, to ensure that they're not woefully unprepared for married life is impossible not to admire. 

Judging a book by its cover: If there have to be animated covers (and what romance doesn't have those these days?), at least it's nice to see one that tries to depict something close to a scene that actually appears in the novel. Not that the character supposed to be Selina looks like she just took a swim in a river. So points deducted for that. I do like all the blues and greens on the cover - they please the eye.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.