Category Archives: Review

Team TBR Challenge Review: It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager (宫斗不如当太后) by by September Flowing Fire (Jiu Yue Liu Huo, 九月流火)

It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager (宫斗不如当太后) by by September Flowing Fire (Jiu Yue Liu Huo, 九月流火)
Historical romance published in 2021

It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager by September Flowing Fire Book CoverTang ShiShi was the number one beauty. She was arrogant, domineering and aggressive. She accidentally acquired a book and learned that she was just a vicious female second lead in a palace struggle. Later, she would fight for favor with the female lead, and eventually she was ruined and died miserably.

Now, they have just entered the fief of Jing Wang, and the first meeting of the male and female leads has not happened yet. There are two paths before Tang ShiShi. The first is to hold the heroine’s thighs tightly and join the female lead camp early; the second is to please the male lead and steal the favor of the female lead.

Tang Shishi chooses the third way.

Tang Shishi knew that the male lead’s adoptive father Jing Wang seemed to be low profile, but in fact he was overly ambitious. In the near future, he will invade the capital and proclaim himself emperor before the imperial court, but it is a pity that he passed away before passing the throne to the male lead.

This year, Jing Wang is twenty-four years old, still young, and has yet to marry a wife.
Anyway, she already in the game. Instead of being the concubine of the male lead, it is better to be his adopted mother, the empress dowager in one step.

————–

Zhao Chengjun had no intention to get married, so he adopted his subordinate’s son as his heir. He thought he would be with his army his whole life.

Later, the imperial family sent a team of beauties to Prince Jing, and the leader was named Tang ShiShi.

His young, adopted son and his subordinates also persuaded: Your Highness, this is a beauty trap.
Jing Wang: I know.

The so-called beauty trap was merely a bait for those who wish. – lightly edited from Novel Updates

The prompt for this month was “Once More With Feeling” and I figured since this is the only Chinese romance novel I’ve re-read so far, it fits. We’re going with loose interpretations here. It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager features another delightful mad romp of a story with a loveable heroine, a grumpy but entirely devoted hero, and a frustrating cast of characters you love to hate. I described the heroine as an utter chaos muppet, and I stand by it. She’s such a delightful mess handicapped by what she thinks is a “life cheat” and it makes her constantly second guess herself and make the “wrong” choices that ultimately of course turn out to be entirely right. Continue reading

TBR Challenge Review: Greetings Ninth Uncle (九叔万福) by September Flowing Fire (Jiu Yue Liu Huo, 九月流火)

Greetings Ninth Uncle (九叔万福) by September Flowing Fire (Jiu Yue Liu Huo, 九月流火)
Historical romance published in 2019

Book cover of Greetings, Ninth Uncle by September Flowing Fire Plain read book cover with a yellow gold rectangle running through about the middle third with the title written in Chinese vertically. Next to it is a small block with the authors name in the style of a Chinese shop sealCheng Yujin was the elder twin sister, who was supposed to be engaged to an excellent man. However she later learned that her fiancé, Marquis Jingyong, had proposed to her because he mistakenly recognized her as her younger twin sister. Marquis Jingyong and her younger sister had a deep relationship, and after many twists and turns, finally broke through all hardships and became eternal lovers. While Cheng Yujin was the villain who replaced her sister’s good marriage, kept framing her sister, and hindered the main couple to be together. A really wicked older sister and poisonous late wife.
After the younger twin sister was reborn, she revealed Cheng Yujin’s ‘conspiracy’ early on. Everyone scorned her, and her so-called fiancé was indifferent. Cheng Yujin sneered and tore off their engagement letter in front of her fiancé.
Everyone was gloating and happily waiting to see her regret her actions. However, before Marquis Jingyong had a chance to see Cheng Yujin’s regret, he saw his former fiancee marrying her uncle.
The ninth uncle of Cheng family was truly a hidden dragon, his real power frightening everyone.
***
Cheng Yujin, this coquettish little wife, lightly lifted her eyebrows and casually said, “A mere Marquis Jingyong, is he worthy? Do you think that robbing him away will affect me?”
Almost forgot to say, ninth uncle wasn’t surnamed Cheng. His real name was Li Chengjing, the crown prince.

If you’re randomly happening upon ALBTALBS, let me tell you, I’ve left the continent entertainment wise this year. If you’re a ~regular, or follow me on social media, you know I went hard on watching c-dramas for much of this year, then turned to reading translated novels. I’ve been having a grand old time, even with some really terribly translated books. Luckily this isn’t one of them – and in fact is one of my favorite reads of the year. I know the title is a bit lacking, especially in English, but 🤷🏻‍♀️. The point is the story is a delight – and in fact when I was reading it I kept thinking “the author has got to be a psychologist or something” – the analysis and interpersonal relationships are that good.

I’m a week late on the TBR challenge, but that’s pretty on brand for me. The “prompt” for this month was “Festive” and … does it count that the hero’s birthday is on a festival? This book spans a number of years so there are also multiple festivals mentioned … so I’m going with it. Also because this book is worth gushing about. Continue reading

Review: Rogue Familiar by Jeffe Kennedy

Rogue Familiar by Jeffe Kennedy
Fantasy romance released by Brightlynx Publishing on April 24, 2023

He left to save her from herself… But who will save him from her?

When Lady Seliah Phel wakes from a drugged sleep to find herself abandoned by her newly bonded wizard, she vows revenge—and to hunt him down. Tracking him through the familiar wilds of the marshlands of her home is the easy part; learning to use her nascent magical skills is something else entirely. So is facing the vast, uncaring society of the Convocation in a time of brewing war.

Jadren El-Adrel is not known for doing the right thing, but getting as far away from Seliah as possible before he drains her dry will be his one noble gesture. So what if she weeps a few tears. Better than her dying in his service—or enabling him to become the ravenous beast that crawls beneath his skin. Unfortunately, in his self-imposed exile, and without the power of his familiar, Jadren quickly runs afoul of the enemy.

As her vengeful quest for recapture becomes a rescue mission, Selly faces all she still doesn’t know about the greater world of wizards and familiars. And Jadren, once determined to walk his own path and stay far, far away from the idealistic fools of House Phel, finds himself aligning with them against the house of his birth. War is coming to the Convocation, which means a clever wizard should pick the side most likely to win.

Sadly, Jadren has never been all that clever…

I must confess, I’ve read this more than twice. It’s taken longer this year for me to
process how I feel and what I think about books, and then putting all that into words that
make some amount of sense. Which is to say, I’ve had this book glaring accusingly at
me, waiting for me to write a review already. This is the second full length novel in the
Renegades of Magic series, following the adventures (misadventures?) of Jadren and
Seliah, as well as Veronica and Gabriel. The structure reminds me of some early
romances I read where there were two couples, one more foregrounded, and the other
a compelling secondary storyline. This book also ends on a cliffhanger, and picks up
almost immediately where Shadow Wizard left off. Seliah and Jadren do even more
growing in this book, both as individuals and as a couple; we also learn more about the
way the other houses in this world work and how they may view Gabriel’s
noncompliance. Continue reading

Review: Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Science Fiction released by Tor on April 11, 2023

While we live, the enemy shall fear us.

Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the majoda their victory over humanity.

They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.

Alongside her brother’s brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr escapes from everything she’s known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.

This was one of the books on my list of anticipated books of 2023. I read an advanced copy after reading the first chapter posted by the publisher earlier this year. One of the blurbs on the cover describes the experience of reading this book as “palm-sweating,” and I have to agree. This is not a romance, not even as a science fiction novel with romantic elements, even though sexual orientation is an important element to the society that Kyr is a member of. This is very much a character-driven novel, but that doesn’t mean that plot and setting aren’t important–the main conflict is how making different choices effects the final outcome and the lives of people that the main character doesn’t even know. Emily Tesh provides important content warnings at the beginning of the book, and she was not exaggerating them at all, so if you are the least bit triggered by any or all of the things on that list, then please take care of yourself when choosing to read this book. The book is broken up into five parts or acts, with the last two parts retelling the story so that there are different choices available to Kyr. The parts are prefaced by in-universe excerpts of books, which serve to provide a bigger picture and context to what Kyr knows and believes, but not too much. This isn’t a choose-your-own-adventure type of book, because the reader doesn’t get to make the different choices; it’s all up to Kyr and her fellow characters. The book is told from Kyr’s point of view, but not in the first-person. It is important for you to be very clear on this point—Kyr is not a likeable character. She isn’t misunderstood, or prickly on the outside and soft on the inside. The most flattering description of her I can give is that she is a self-righteous, perfectionist, rule-abiding bitch. She’s smart and very good at being a soldier, but those are her main redeeming qualities for most of the book. Continue reading

TBR Challenge Review: The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage (重生之将门毒后) by Qian Shan Cha Ke (千山茶客)

The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage (重生之将门毒后) by Qian Shan Cha Ke (千山茶客)
Historical romance published in 2014

The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage by Qian Shan Cha Ke book cover - it depicts a painted image of a woman and the title written in Chinese charactersThe di daughter of military lineage, pure, amiable, quiet and yielding, foolishly in love with Prince Ding, throwing oneself to the role of a wife. After assisting (a ruler) for six years, she finally became the empress. Accompanying him to fight for supremacy, to expand the country’s territory, taking risk to be a hostage in another country, after returning five years later, there was no place for her in the Inner Palace.

The beauty in Prince Ding’s arms smiled brightly, “Older sister, the country is stabilized and you should retire.” Her daughter had met with a violent death and son the Crown Prince was deposed. The Shen family who had sacrifice themselves for the country, not one of them were lucky enough to escape. In one dynasty everything was overturned, her clan had perished and she needed to mourn for her children! Shen Miao never thought that as a married couple who went through trials and tribulations and mutually assisting one another was just a joke to him!

He said, “Seeing that you have followed *Zhen for twenty years, I will grant you with an intact corpse. Thank me for my kindness.” Under the three meters of white silk, Shen Miao made a malicious vow: In the time to come, she will take part in each and everyone’s end!

Upon rebirth, she returned to the time when she was fourteen, where the tragedy had yet to occur, her family was still alive and she was still the pure, amiable, quiet, and yielding di daughter of military lineage. Relatives hiding a black heart, elder and younger cousins are ruthless and malicious, the new Yiniang is like a tiger watching its prey and the disreputable man that wants to repeat events?

Family must be protected, the huge enmity must be avenged, the Imperial seat of the country must also be part of the trophy. In this lifetime, let’s see who can beat the others! But that little marquis from the Xie family, the arrogant and obstinate spear carrying youth, stood at her side and proudly said, “it’s just the fall of the Imperial power. Remember this, the world belongs to you. You– Belong to me!” – Summary taken and lightly edited from Chubby Cheeks Thoughts.

So November’s TBR “prompt” was “Once Upon a Time” and … why not Ancient China?  I have found my new most favorite romance hero ever. Xie Jing Xing (XJX) can’t be discussed too much without spoilers, but it’s him. I loved him so much. If you’ve visited the blog at all you know I’ve only been reviewing Chinese dramas this year – because it’s mostly the only media I’ve been consuming. However for whatever reason I got the urge to try to read the source material of an upcoming drama, and I was hooked. This book was my second read by the author, but I’m currently on my fifth book by her. I’m crushed I’ve blown through her backlist. Not only have cdramas been my jam this year, but specifically rebirth and revenge stories. Heavy focus on the revenge. This book brought me such joy. This is a pretty niche genre, and of course it requires some suspension of disbelief, but … what novel doesn’t? Continue reading

Review: Designed by Destiny by Maya Tyler

*EN: I think it’s important to note Aidee submitted this review on November 26, 2022, and the delay was entirely my fault. Apologies to all.

Designed by Destiny by Maya Tyler
Contemporary/light urban fantasy released by Tirgearr Publishing on November 15, 2022

Confirmed bachelor Nicholas Grey is more than the playboy perpetrated by the tabloids. Now his position as CEO of the architecture firm Grey & Company is on the line, and his mother’s interference is making things more difficult. Nick’s committed to his work, but, in order to be taken seriously, he needs to land a huge project. A stable personal life will help guarantee the contract.

Fairy Godmother Faye Delmore hears Nick’s plea and steps in to help. Posing as a publicist, she suggests a strategy to polish his public image, which includes convincing Beth to play his wife. Faye knows Nick needs the huge project to save his job, but she also knows he needs Beth in his life.

What happens when you add a fairy godmother who loves playing matchmaker into the equation? A future designed by destiny.

I want to start this review with a caveat. When I picked up this book, I was not in a great frame of mind, having just taken a long test which I find to be entirely pointless, but which I can’t avoid. It is entirely possible this book will work for someone out there, but it did not work for me. The premise is cute and caught my attention. However, it was difficult for me to believe in my heart that the couple actually fell in love over the course of the book or that they were going to have a fulfilling and loving relationship by the end of the book. There are elements of magic in this book, but because the main characters are not aware of them, they felt distracting, as opposed to adding depth to the world. Finally, the way the author handled the power differential in this book did not work for me – I could not stop thinking to myself, “But she’s only an intern!” Continue reading

OH DAMN Y’ALL! Team TBR Challenge Review: Miss Mystery

“Blurb”: 18 years ago a young and innocent Xue Tong witnessed her family being brutally murdered. Since then she has hidden herself quietly and patiently, waiting for the day she could put her revenge plan into action. Well that day has come, and Xue Tong has finally returned to her hometown as Miss Lin Bao Er, the daughter of a wealthy Nanyang businessman. Now an adult, Lin Bao Er is clever, cunning, good with a gun, and skilled at understanding the depths of human nature.

When she meets the charming young master Zhu Guan Wen, the two decide to pose as couple in order to progress their own interests. Neither can help but grow feelings for each other, but will their love be their greatest strength or their downfall? [– from MDL]

You. Guys. I am giddy as I write this review. Revenge, a kickass FL, and THE most supportive ML. I was constantly *STAR-EYES* and *HEART-EYES* while watching this drama. Honestly, I think you “need” both trailers to get an idea – it’s definitely got it’s dark moments (nearly all presented in trailer two), but there’s a lot of romance too. The TBR prompt for October is “Danger Zone” and … Miss Mystery really fit the bill here because our FL (female lead) Lin Bao Er/ Xue Tong is throwing herself into unknown dangers in order to avenge her family. She’s got a plan, but in life you never quite know how things will turn out. Lucky for her she has ML (male lead) Zhu Guan Wen who could be labeled “Mr. Supportive.” (ETA: I forgot to add that as a potential bonus, each episode is only 5-10 minutes long, so it’s not a big commitment.) Continue reading

Review: How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole (Runaway Royals Series)
Contemporary romance released by Avon on May 25, 2021

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole Book CoverMakeda Hicks has lost her job and her girlfriend in one fell swoop. The last thing she’s in the mood for is to rehash the story of her grandmother’s infamous summer fling with a runaway prince from Ibarania, or the investigator from the World Federation of Monarchies tasked with searching for Ibarania’s missing heir.

Yet when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, the sleek and sexy investigator exudes exactly the kind of chaos that organized and efficient Makeda finds irresistible, even if Bez is determined to drag her into a world of royal duty Makeda wants nothing to do with.

When a threat to her grandmother’s livelihood pushes Makeda to agree to return to Ibarania, Bez takes her on a transatlantic adventure with a crew of lovable weirdos, a fake marriage, and one-bed hijinks on the high seas. When they finally make it to Ibarania, they realize there’s more at stake than just cash and crown, and Makeda must learn what it means to fight for what she desires and not what she feels bound to by duty.

This was a wonderful romp with two very different main characters. I only wish we got to see more of them as a long-standing couple. Readers of this series and the Reluctant Royals series will recognize Beznaria from her appearance in How to Catch a Queen, as well as other characters. I think you can read this book without having read How to Catch a Queen, or the Reluctant Royals series, but you might miss out on a lot of the subplots going on. What this book is told in loosely alternating chapters in Beznaria and Makeda’s voices, and you get a really good sense of their personalities and way of moving through the world. This has become a fairly common way of structuring stories, but not everyone is good a capturing and conveying a character’s voice outside of dialogue, which you need to be able to do in order for this structure to live up to its full potential. Makeda and Beznaria both have a lot going on when they first meet, and much of the book is both of them sorting themselves out and figuring out that they love each other. Both also have complicated families that love them. Continue reading

What if the “Villains” Were the Heroes? A belated TBR Team Challenge Review of Dong Lan Xue

“Summary”: The maid in charge, Shen Yan, has assisted the Seventh Prince Chu Ning Yuan in seizing the title of crown prince. The two, who also had tragic experiences, became cold-hearted in order to seek revenge and seize power. They are used to seeing the dark, and the little warmth is only left to each other. Chu Ning Yuan gradually fell in love with Shen Yan who was always by his side, but Shen Yan was indifferent to his love, and even took the initiative to match Chu Ning Yuan to marry the daughter of a powerful minister in order to destroy the current crown prince’s plan to stabilize his power by taking the prime minister’s daughter as a concubine. Chu Ning Yuan saw Shen Yan’s intentions and became more determined to keep Shen Yan by his side. [Lightly edited by me, initially taken from MDL]

Trailer:

Dong Lan Xue is a short webdrama that is obviously low budget but doesn’t look like it at all. The costumes are gorgeous, as are the actors, the sets are well done, the script is excellent, the acting is good, there’s great fight choreography, and even nice background music. I think it was the first super short I’ve seen – as in each episode is only 2-3 minutes, and I was impressed with not only how much gets packed in, but how well the story is told. Continue reading

Fire of the Frost by Jeffe Kennedy, Grace Draven, Darynda Jones, and Amanda Bouchet

*Editor’s Note: I don’t normally do this but I’d like to note Aidee submitted this review in February of 2022, so my apologies to her, and you, and think that might be why there are some unknowns in the review that have already been answered. Thanks for understanding.

Fire of the Frost by Jeffe Kennedy, Grace Draven, Darynda Jones, and Amanda Bouchet
Midwinter Holiday Fantasy Romance Anthology Released by Brightlynx Publishing on December 22, 2021

From Darynda Jones, a standalone novella set in a world where vampyres are hunted for sport. The only thing standing between them and total annihilation is Winter, a warrior bred to save them from extinction. Forbidden to fall in love, Winter cares only about her oaths… until she meets the devilish prince of the underworld.

Of Fate and Fire by Amanda Bouchet
The Kingmaker Chronicles meets modern-day New York City! Piers, an exiled warrior from Thalyria, finds himself in the Big Apple just before the holidays. The world and everything in it might be utterly foreign to him, but that won’t stop Piers from helping to complete a vital mission for Athena and protect Sophie, a French teacher from Connecticut who’s suddenly knee-deep in inexplicable phenomena, danger, and henchmen after an Olympian treasure that should never have ended up in her hands—or remained on Earth after the Greek gods abandoned it.

The King of Hel by Grace Draven
A novella-length expansion of a stand-alone short story in which a cursed mage-king from a frozen kingdom is obligated to marry a woman of high-ranking nobility but meets his soulmate in a lowly scribe.

Familiar Winter Magic by Jeffe Kennedy
It’s holiday time at Convocation Academy, but best friends Han and Iliana are finding it hard to celebrate. As a familiar, Iliana is facing her assignment to a life of servitude to a wizard, very soon. And Han… despite being tested by the oracle daily, he is still uncategorized. As Iliana and Han face being separated forever, they at last find the courage—or desperation—to break the rules and acknowledge their deeper feelings for each other. But it will take more than true love to save them from the laws of the Convocation…

This was a good winter-themed anthology from some well-known authors. It landed a little unevenly on me, because I was not familiar with one of the authors’ writing, but if you’re familiar with most or all of the authors’ books, then this anthology is pretty good. There are four novellas in this anthology, and andeach one is based in a pre-existing world by one of the authors. Grace Draven’s novella is a prequel to her upcoming novel. Jeffe Kennedy’s novella introduces some new characters in her Bonds of Magic series. Amanda Bouchet’s novella ties together her two series. Darynda Jones’s novella was the least interesting to me, but that could be because I am not familiar with her books. Continue reading