Tag: Romance

Books

Book 1,076: On the Edge (SCU Hockey #3) – J.J. Mulder

Geoff W

Book cover of "On the Edge"I knew Henri would be the protagonist of book three, how could he not be after being the rock for both Carter from Shots on Net and Max from Save the Game. He’s a big teddy bear and needs his happily ever after and he gets it in this grumpy sunshine romance that was just so cute.

In On the Edge, we learn that Henri is either demiromantic and most likely asexual, without it ever really being confirmed or defined, but it’s done in such a way that provides some great comic relief for the reader and the characters. He meets his match when he’s partnered with the grumpy Atlas, who is openly bisexual, but has a chip on his shoulder (mommy abandonment issues) and hates the world.

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Books

Book 1,075: Manslaughter Park (Jane Austen Murder Mystery #3) – Tirzah Price

Geoff W

Book Cover of "Manslaughter Park"If there was one adaptation of Jane Austen’s works I’ve been most hesitant to read, it’s one of Mansfield Park. I’ve long felt that Fanny Price is the most misunderstood heroine of Austen’s and what she did with nature versus nurture I found to be fascinating. It was also incredibly revealing in a way the others that are more popular and more frequently adapted are, of both the time it was written and the following two centuries.

If I had to wager a guess I would say Mansfield Park is the least often adapted of all six novels. Price’s adaptation was interesting—and I was super excited for it as it was a queer adaptation. It’s been a while since I finished it, but I believe she acknowledged in the afterwards that it was her least read novel of Austen’s oeuvre. And I appreciated this, however it really showed in the adaptation. At first I felt that it missed the mark because the adaptation was so far from the original, but maybe she honed in on it so much on the nature/nurture piece so much that I missed it.

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Books

Book 1,074: Save the Game (SCU Hockey #2) – J.J. Mulder

Geoff W

Book Cover of "Save the Game"Book two of J.J. Mulder’s SCU Hockey series finds us once again back on the campus of South Carolina University, but this time it’s not as happy of a story. Trigger warning: sexual assault off page.

We meet Max, the hockey playing protagonist of this novel in book one of the series, Shots on Net, and I knew something was up with him, I just didn’t know what. I thought it was just him figuring things out, but it was so much more than that. Turns out his world was turned upside down when he was drugged and sexually assaulted at a party, and all he can do is keep moving forward through nightmares and insomnia.

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Books

Book 1,073: Shots on Net (SCU Hockey #1) – J.J. Mulder

Geoff W

Book cover of "Shots on Net"While waiting for the next book in the Jane Austen Murder Mystery series I decided I wanted to read yet another sports romance. Specifically I was looking for the jock/nerd trope and when I googled it, this was one of the ones that came up over and over on Reddit. In general, I’m loath to trust Reddit, but after reading a couple of blurbs I kept coming back to this one.

Shots on Net is the story of Zeke, the small super nerdy demisexual desperately looking for a cheap room, who finds Carter, the stacked varsity hockey goalie who is rich AF, who happens to have a room for rent. And, y’all, the sass in this novel was epic. I honestly wasn’t sure as I started reading if I was going to like Mulder’s style, but this line got me:

‘You look twelve, or something.’
‘And you look like someone who breaks kneecaps for the mafia,’ he retorts. (16)

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Books

Book 1,072: Sense and Second-Degree Murder (Jane Austen Murder Mystery #2) – Tirzah Price

Geoff W

Book cover of "Sense and Second-Degree Murder"In for a penny, in for a pound, right? After reading Pride and Premeditation, I figured I should go ahead and read Sense and Second-Degree Murder before conquering Manslaughter Park and I’m glad I did. Although they’re not intricately tied together there are definitely mentions of Lizzie in this book and I’m part of the way into the third and Lizzie, Darcy and Charlotte actually make an appearance and the Dashwoods are mentioned.

For the most part, I enjoyed this adaptation of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. Price did an excellent job with sticking to the core character traits of Marianne and Elinor, and even gave Margaret a bigger role which I could appreciate as I always forget there’s a third sister. If there’s one thing I didn’t like about the adaptation it was that Colonel Brandon became Mr. Brandon. And it made sense for the story, but EVERY time I read it I was like “Bah! What is this nonsense?!”

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