First Book Post of 2025!!

Re-reads? HUH

* His Quiet Agent by Ada Maria Soto (M/M Spy Thriller Romance) - Arthur works at the administrative branch of a gov't agency. He's just gotten his second lateral promotion. Following his former boss' advice, he tries to be more social at the new office with varying results. He becomes works besties with Carol, a married lesbian (who I lurved), and with Martin, dubbed "The Alien" by the rest of the office due to his standoff behavior.

This IS a romance (between Arthur and Martin)... that doesn't have any sex scenes or kissing. Both characters are in the ace spectrum (so this isn't one of those weird "clean romances" books I loathe. I felt the need to make the distinction.) ANYWAYS, I picked up this book again from my library after finding out that the author wrote a short story AND a sequel novel. Needed to refresh my memory since it'd been abt 5 yrs since I'd read this book.

BTW, I have to add a trigger warning for on-page parental loss, grief/mourning, and characters having to navigate the process of funeral arrangements and services. It wasn't upsetting to me, but I figure it was worth giving a heads up in case that's something y'all like to avoid.

I gave this story 3.8 out of 5.


I DNF'd

* A Dandelion for Tulip by R. Cooper (M/Nonbinary supernatural romance) This is a book that's part of a series in which supernatural beings have co-existed with humans for at least 200 yrs. The story is abt David (a half-human, half-fairy dude) and Tulip (a fairy who is David's BFF.) It so happens that David has had feelings for Tulip for years, but he's reluctant to try anything because Tulip's been v. clear abt not wanting to date any more humans ever again.

I wanted to like this, but David was such a "poor me!" type of character and it wasn't fun or enjoyable to be in the headspace of someone who's constantly putting themselves down. So I bounced halfway thru Chapter 2. FWIW, I do have something like 15 other books by the same author tagged on Hoopla and will continue giving their books a try.


* Autumn Spring by Shelley Trahser (F/F romance). Bree moves from Chicago to the small town in Texas she's from due to family stuff. She runs into her best friend (a.k.a. her old crush) while also starting to having feelings for Linda, the main nurse who's taking care of Bree's mother.

The fact that both MCs are in their 60s was enough for me to borrow this novel from the library. It was also the first book I was reading from Bold Strokes Press, a.k.a. one of (if not THE main) publishers of F/F romance in the US.

Sadly, the writing was dry. I felt like I was reading someone's report instead of a story meant to draw me IN. Everything was bloodless, bland, and blegh, LOL. Even the characters! Super flat and unemotional.

Given that this was my first time reading a Bold Press book, I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that, perhaps, this author is simply not for me. BUT it also turns out that this author is one of Bold Press' premier editors. So I'm also considering that the writing is the house style. 🙃 I do have 4 or so other books from this publisher that I do plan to read later this year. Here's hoping for a better reading experience!


* Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian (M/M Historical Romance) - Third book in the "Seducing the Sedgewicks" series. Will Sedgewick does his darnest to nurse his childhood friend Martin back to health after the latter reveals he has consumption (tuberculosis.) FTR, Martin's always had poor health.

I'll admit that I'm EXTREMELY HOT-AND-COLD when it comes to this author. OTOH, I've liked some of their books (including the first two in this series), but a lot of their novels are among my DNFs. My hope when I started reading this book was to dive into a gentle H/C story with a HEA. Unfortch, I didn't care for either character and I was bored. So I bounced at the end of Chapter 2. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there)

None!


Had a good time

* And Everything Nice by Ada Maria Soto - Angelo is a programmer at some tech company who is famous for all of the goodies he bakes for the office. Simon is a new hire with whom Angelo has a neat simpatico...except that he v. politely turns down everything that Marco offers.

This short story was a delightful romcom that packed a lot of plot in a tight space and made me smile AND guffaw from beginning to end. There are also 7 bonus recipes for some of the things that Angelo bakes (including two vegan recipies. One which is also dairy, soy, and gluten free!). I gave this short story 4 out of 5


* Merlin in the LIbrary (M/M roamnce but more a character study, really) - Short (18 pages) story that is set after the events of His Quiet Agent>. That alone made me borrow this from the library. What's even better is that the POV is Martins!!! And here are some VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY INTERESTING tidbits dropped abt his background in this one. I'm giving it 3.4 out of 5



Up Next...

I'm reading the first book in a trilogy of Murder Mystery and M/Nonbianry Romance set in an alternate version of history somewhere in the Mediterranean. Also a couple of short novellas and what I'm hoping will be a great Murder Mystery series.

Current Fic Tally: Have started 34 fics, DNF'd 14. Not a bad start. I'm hoping the percentages remain like so


Was this the month of Ada Maria Soto? Maybe,but everything I picked up by her was entertaining, funny, touching, and fun. #NOREGRETS All in all and despite the many DNFs I feel a lot more positive as to where my reading is headed when compared to this time last year. Hooray for that!