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Book 1,031: Speak of the Devil – Rose Wilding

OMFG. I can’t believe I waited as long as I did to read this. I accepted an ARC ages ago from the publisher, but then school and life got in the way and I blew past the publication date.* Then there were so many MM Holiday Romances I just had to read, and this is where we ended up me reading it in January 2024, six months after publication, and then finally getting the review posted almost a year to the date after publication (six months after I read it but back-scheduling). OH, THE SHAME.

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Book 960: With Love from Wish & Co. – Minnie Darke

The recommendation for this book arrived from the publisher way back in April and me being me assumed I’d have PLENTY of time to read it before it was published.* But then I didn’t read it early, we got a puppy and I started school, so yeah needless to say it took me a lot longer to read than expected.

Thankfully it wasn’t the writing or the story that forced the long delay! For the most part, the story kept me engaged and moving forward with only a few slower spots or wait what moments.

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Book 946: Just by Looking at Him – Ryan O’Connell

If I’m 100% honest I first was drawn to this book because of the cover art, a cropped version of Henry Scott Tuke’s The Critics (Wikiart link). Tuke does water like no one else and they pumped up the blues and greens on the cover.

Then when you add the title of the painting to what the main character does for a living: mind blown. So THEN I realized this was the same Ryan O’Connell who created, wrote, and starred in Special on Netflix, and of course, I requested a copy.*

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Book 691: The Sealed Letter – Emma Donoghue

A few months ago I went through my bookshelves and made a couple of piles of books. The only qualifications were that they had to be on my shelves for a while (this has been on my shelves since April 2014) and that they probably be a quick read. This one falls somewhere in the middle of the pack of Donoghue’s books that I’ve read. It’s definitely not as good as Room or Slammerkin, but I do think it’s a little better than Hood, mostly because Donoghue really excels at historical fiction.

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Book 684: Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton

Similar to my reading of The Age of Innocence two years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by my reading of this. I read it in high school, but of course was not impressed and definitely didn’t enjoy it, but now almost 20 years later, I get it. I’m going to keep slowly working through all the books I read in high school.

Not only was I able to appreciate the beautiful prose and stark setting thanks to living in Massachusetts now, I was also able to make connections from this to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, a connection I made last time I read Wharton too! The biggest parallel of the two works was the structure of the novel, a visiting traveler/worker has an interaction of some type with the protagonists and then gets the rest of the story from the locals. It’s all third party he said she said with some basic observations, and it works.

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