咸鱼继母日常 (The Laid-back Life of a Stepmother) by 明栀
Historical [Chinese] romance published in 2023
Wen Ye, who had worked hard to become a company director in her previous life, was reincarnated as the daughter of a concubine in an ancient aristocratic family after a car accident.
After learning the truth, Wen Ye completely gave up.
She had no interest in the power struggles and favoritism within the household; she just wanted to lie down and be a lazy person, occasionally turning over.
The consequence of her laziness was that she was still unmarried at the age of twenty. Her concubine mother was extremely anxious and pleaded with the main wife.
The usually strict main wife gave Wen Ye three options:
1. A newly minted scholar
2. A cousin from the main wife’s family
3. A widowed Ministry of Justice official with children
After considering for a day, Wen Ye finally chose the third option.
Upon hearing this, the concubine mother grabbed Wen Ye and began to worry: “These days, being a stepmother is difficult. Why are you doing this? I think that new scholar is quite good.”
Wen Ye swallowed the last bite of mung bean pastry and said, “This new scholar has a cousin who grew up with him in his hometown.”
The concubine mother was speechless for a moment: “Then there’s your main wife’s cousin…”
Wen Ye took a sip of tea and said, “There are too many people in that family, with two mothers-in-law alone.”
Moreover, each branch of the family had so many concubines and aunts, and she couldn’t be bothered to serve them.
The concubine mother: “…”
Wen Ye put down her teacup and continued, “This Ministry of Justice official is different.”
The concubine mother: “How is he different?”
Wen Ye: “Both his parents are deceased, he has a carriage and a house, an elder brother and sister-in-law above him, and a son below. When I marry him, I won’t have to manage the household or bear children. As for the little one, I don’t have to worry about him either. As the saying goes, a sister-in-law is like a mother. Mrs. Lu can be considered half a grandmother to the little one.”
The concubine mother: “…”
Mrs. Lu, the sister-in-law who was only twenty-five: “…”
The topic for the TBR Challenge this month is “rizz” which is “romantic appeal or charm” and after thinking about my recent reads, this is the book that most fits. In both a romantic and general sense. The actual title/translated a bit more directly would be “The Daily Life of a Salted Fish Stepmother.” “Salted fish” also being slang – it now means “people who have no intention of doing anything” or “someone who lies there and does nothing.” It started as an insult but was adopted by people in response/as a backlash to overbearing and excessive work culture. It’s very “yay slacker” and to be honest in this world, you have to respect and celebrate it. Writing this review also had me wondering about reincarnation (not exactly something I know about, and people disagree on whether or not you “can” reincarnate into the past, but let’s leave that for another time). Continue reading
Lu Tong went to the mountains to study medicine for seven years. When she returned home, she discovered that everything had changed.
The Wang Family’s child bride Su Wan is a lucky koi.
After her parents passed away, Fan ChangYu faced a string of hardships—her childhood sweetheart broke off their engagement, greedy relatives wanted to seize her inheritance, and with a sickly five-year-old sister to care for, she decided to take a matrilocal husband in name only.
Song ChuZhao, who grew up in the border area and is unrivalled in her skills, exchanged “souls” with Gu FengJian, who lived in seclusion due to an injury in his childhood. Since then, the weak scholar Gu Wulang can ride a horse and draw a bow, and the unrestrained Song Sanniang can debate with scholars. Gu Fengjian was thinking about how to deal with it when he heard something knocking on the window pane from outside. The sound was very light and varied in pitch. It must be a stone. He walked out of the door silently, turned to the side, and sure enough, he saw the person who had been muttering just now on the high wall not far away. The two of them, one tall and one short, looked at each other from a distance, and showed extremely complicated expressions at the face that was extremely familiar to each other. Song Chuzhao’s voice trembled, and he tentatively asked: “Gu…Gu Wulang?” Gu Fengjian nodded quickly. Song Chuzhao was obviously relieved and adjusted [her] posture to make himself more stable. Gu Fengjian: “…” In his life, he never thought that his face would appear in a place like the top of the wall. – Translated from the original book page 
She is the legitimate daughter of the Dou family who lost her mother at a young age. Her status is noble, yet she is like a floating duckweed in the wind, with a pitiable fate. Her past karma remains unfinished, and in this lifetime, she returns to the bustling world, leaving behind the past of the mortal realm, seeking only a peaceful and enduring life like a gentle stream flowing endlessly. But unexpectedly, fate plays tricks, the more she tries to escape, the more she becomes entangled in the mortal world.
重生之女将星 (Rebirth of a Star General) by 
九叔万福 (Greetings Ninth Uncle) by 九月流火 (September Flowing Fire). I reviewed the novel 
八宝妆 (Eight Treasures Trousseau) by 月下蝶影 (Butterfly Shadow under the Moon). I think I actually DNF’d this book the first time I tried it 😱 (or 😅 it might’ve been another book with a very similar start?) But anyway – I think the first chapter is a bit weak but then it really picks up and I quite enjoyed it. It’s not entirely clear that our heroine has transmigrated/there’s no “big reveal” or “tell” in the beginning like the previous books I’ve mentioned, but it becomes obvious as you read on. I believe our heroine was originally an actress in the modern world and her internal commentary is gold. I really love this author’s humor. In fact as soon as I read this book I read I immediately read four more books by the author – all her fully translated stories set in ancient times. You can read it 
It happened! I finally read a xianxia! 勿扰飞升 (Ascending, Do Not Disturb) by 月下蝶影 (Butterfly Shadow under the Moon). It’s kinda hilarious to me how much I basically hate xianxia since it’s essentially the equivalent of high fantasy … but there too often are so many goddamn pointless misunderstandings. And what’s great about Ascending is that we don’t have that here! This is the fluff cotton candy absolute delight and joy of a book. It was sweetness and fun and if you want a pick me up read I cannot recommend it enough. I will absolutely be re-reading this book at some point in the future. It’s already been adapted into a drama – Ascending, Do Not Disturb – although the title makes me cringe – I’m already looking forward to it. I really like the male lead, and am curious as to how they’ll adapt things. Not holding my breath on being happy with it but if I am it’ll be a delight. It’s all the fun cultivation to immortality with a goofy heroine that is so sweet and talented and kind of “oops” and it’s hard to explain – you just have to read it. The drama finished filming not too long ago so I don’t think there’s a trailer or anything available yet. But! You can read the book – fully translated! 
爱谁谁 (Who Cares) by 風流書呆 (Feng Liu Shu Dai/Casanovanic Bookworm). I think this was the first book where I was like “I can read the original title without help! 😹😅” and also I like it so much more than the translated one/it doesn’t … argh. It’s hard to explain. But anyway. THIS BOOK. It has I think the hero with the MOST GODDAMN TRAGIC BACKSTORY I’VE EVER SEEN. And I’m taking into account all the gawdawful abusive insanity I saw in the decade+ of my ex-job. Anyway … this does not start out as an easy read. In fact at first I wanted to throw the [hero] into a volcano where he’d be kept alive for a thousand years to suffer. I was heated. But then we find out about him and I just … really truly loved him. I also really loved our heroine’s “fuck you, and fuck this shit” attitude. It’s a rebirth story – she finds out just how much of a trash ass man her ex (and his family) were, and wants to do everything she can to avoid him. Once she can’t, she’s basically like “nope.” Oh there was so much that was so frustrating but then so satisfying and all these twists and turns that had me 😱 and this is another book I’ll be re-reading. I don’t want to give too many spoilers – but really – power through the “grrr” because once you get to the sweetness I was 100% 😻 this guy ended up being one of my most favorite heroes ever. EVER. … EVER!!! You can read it 
侯门新妇 (Daughter-in-Law of a Noble House) by 海青拿天鹅 (Hai Qing Na Tian Er/Sea Blue Swan). This book might be a bit more of a “typical” c-novel in the slow pacing and development, but I really appreciated the characters being slightly older. Our heroine is 20, and has been previously married (only kinda not really…). I can’t explain it without getting into spoilers but when I found out the twists and turns I was like 😱. It also gets into a bit more politicking than some of the others, and the characters face more difficulty, but it’s never too much/not “want to throw the book out the window or set it on fire.” Which … some of my other reads have edged into. If I recall correctly, this isn’t a book with rebirth, revenge, or transmigration – and that makes it different already. Our heroine’s family was framed and she was the only person who survived the calamity because the empress dowager was her relative. Life is not easy for her, but she’s a survivor. I loved how her initial plan was just “get out.” But also how our hero won her over. I read some of the comments/reviews first so I slightly spoiled myself, but I don’t mind in my c-novel reads because I need to know first I’m getting a happy ending. Also that someone said everything means more the second read/when you know how much the subtle little actions mean.
穿成佛系文好命女配 (Transmigrating into the Female Supporting Character with a Good Life in a Laid-Back Novel) by 九月微蓝 (Jiu Yue Wei Lan). I’m actually really super sad it doesn’t seem there are more books by this author that have been translated. (I did read/try the other one in NU; not as good – such a big difference … it looks like she has a few more that I’d really love to read and for a few minutes I’ve even been tempted to give it a try myself with a combination of some sort of machine translating and having google translate read it to me or finding the audiobook …) Anyway this is a bit of a goofy title but it’s no lies given. I’m currently re-reading it (and doing some light edits for my own enjoyment) – if you’d be interested in that version let me know – but the original translator did a good job and inserts some images etc to give examples of what the text is describing. This is another relatively low stress novel – and sometimes you just need that. Our heroine is someone who transmigrated from the modern world into a novel she read, so she has a few “cheats.” There are also at least two other transmigrated characters, one being her older half sister who is just evil and unhinged … but in this case it isn’t too annoying because ~everyone else who is important is in on the “joke” so it’s more like “look at this clown” instead of “I want to smash people in the face with a brick.” If you want a feel good read this is definitely the book for you. You can read it 
三嫁惹君心 (Marry You for Three Times/Three Marriages) by 明月听风 (Ming Yue Ting Feng/Bright Moon Listens To The Wind). So Marry You for Three Times is the title of the book in the OverDrive/Hoopla system … Three Marriages is how it’s translated for Novel Updates… and if I were to translate it I think it’d be “Three Marriages to Provoke the Gentleman.” This is a book that isn’t translated but I JUST LOVED IT SO MUCH! SO MUCH!!! I listened to the audiobook (thank you library!) and loved it so much as soon as it ended I immediately hit “play” and listened to the whole thing all over again. Then I listened to three more books by the author. (I DNF’d one otherwise it’d be four – the DNF thought was because the narrator was so nasal I wanted to puncture my eardrums. Sad, cuz it’s a book I wanted to read.) I want to be like “YOU NEED TO LEARN MANDARIN SO YOU CAN LISTEN TO THIS BOOK!” LOL. The first 38 chapters are translated with links 
戾王嗜妻如命 (
One is a blind girl, the embodiment of an orchid, intelligent with sophisticated grace, and the other, a young noble who loved his wealth as if it were his life.