Fade Out: Act Three Sean Phillips and Ed Brubaker. I loved this graphic novel Hollywood Noir trilogy. A murdered starlet, a corrupt studio system, blacklisting and the lingering effects of war? YES PLEASE. Less violent than their Fatale, Criminal, or Sleeper, this one was more up my alley, while still very much being the dark and compelling storytelling that make Phillips and Brubaker a favorite team of mine, even when their stories aren't my usual cup of tea.
Trade Me Courtney Milan. This was going to be my #TBRChallenge review this month, but I didn't get my thoughts collected in time. (womp womp) Anyway, a wonderful sizzling romance between Tina Chen, a poor college student and Blake Reynolds, software billionaire heir. After a heated class discussion in which Tina claims that Blake could never live her life, they trade places. Of course, you can't truly live another person's life, so they're in constant contact, and oh! the attraction! But both have issues and Tina's not about to get in a relationship with this guy, no matter how much she likes him. Even though it's set in college, but Blake and Tina are adults being adults and it's not a plot that can be solved by just talking to each other. (While they do have their secrets, that's not what's keeping them apart, and they're things the reader understands why they're being kept secret.) Sooooo good and I CANNOT wait for the next one in the series. CANNOT WAIT.
Lumberjanes Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A Allen. It's a free day at camp, so Mal and Molly are on a picnic, which is totally not a date. Nope. Not at all. Only, they end up following the bear woman through a portal and have to fight some dinosaurs. The other girls decide to get as many of their boring badges as possible, to hilarious results. I love Lumberjanes! My only complaint is that the trades are SO FAR behind the issue releases. This trade just came out this month and collects issues 9-12. Meanwhile, issue 25 just came out this week. SO FAR BEHIND. Luckily, the next trade is out in July, so hopefully they're catching up?
Rat Queens Vol. 3: Demons Kurtis J Weibe, Tamara Bonvillain, Tess Fowler. Hannah is going back to Mage University to save her father, and all of her secrets are about to come out, and it's going to get very dark as the Rat Queens might just get pulled apart because of it. WHICH IS TERRIBLE BECAUSE THIS IS GOING HIATUS! There are 2 issues scheduled to be released and then... nothing and I'm not sure how they can wrap this up in 2 issues, and OMG WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING TO ME?!
Hamster Princess: Of Mice and Magic Ursula Vernon. My daughter (age 4.5) loves these books when we do a chapter or two at bedtime. I like them so much that I go back and read the chapters I miss when I'm not the one who did bedtime the night before! (I don't do that with most books!) Harriet is struggling with her abilities now that she's no longer invincible (and she really misses cliff diving) but that doesn't stop her from going on another quest. This time, it's a spin on Twelve Dancing Princesses. I don't know who's more excited for this fall's release of Ratpunzel, me or the kiddo.
Study of Seduction Sabrina Jeffries. Lady Clarissa has a giant dowry, no desire to marry, and a stalker with diplomatic immunity. Lady Clarissa is the ward of Warren (Marquess of Knightford) who asks his friend Edwin (Earl of Blakeborough) to squire Clarissa about town and protect her while Warren has to travel to Portugal on some business relating to Clarissa's brother. Edwin and Clarissa have known each other since they were children, but they're like oil and water. But... in order to stop this stalker, they fake an engagement, which then leads to them actually wedding. But can they love each other? Will the dark horrors of their past (especially Clarissa's) allow them to love anyone? Sizzling and so good! You spend half the book screaming "JUST KISS ALREADY" and the other half screaming "JUST TALK ALREADY!" (even though you totally know why they won't talk and you can't really blame them. Some things are impossible to talk about.) So good.
East of West Vol. 5: All These Secrets Jonathan Hickman, Rus Wooton, Frank Martin, Nick Dragotta. I love this series, but this volume was a bit "eh" mostly because in any long story, you need occasional bridge volumes to get you from A to B and they're necessary but not super exciting and this is a bridge volume, but it's building to something big, so I'm excited for volume 6. (Which doesn't have a release date yet. Blargh.)
A Royal Pain Megan Mulry. My friend Megan threw this in my face and told me to read it, so I did. Then she saw it on my desk and said "OMG THAT'S SO GOOD" and I had to remind her I only read it because she threw it at me and told me to! Bronte has a great career and moves to Chicago for a relationship that immediately falls apart. After rebuilding her life, she meets a lovely PhD student who's about to move back to the UK. They start a no-strings-attached fling. Only the student just happens to be heir to a Duke and he wants strings, because he's in love. Bronte doesn't want to give up everything she's built, not again, and it's one thing to dream of being a duchess, but the reality seems a little less desireable. I wanted a bit more from the ending, but I couldn't put it down, and was so excited to see when I grabbed the Amazon link while writing this that it's actually the first in a series?! And I just checked and the second on is on the shelf at the library so... I'm going to go act on that knowledge.
I'll hopefully be back next week with more of what I've been reading! I'd like to do this every week.
Book Provided by... Rat Queens and The Study of Seduction provided by my wallet. Everything else came from the local library.
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