June was a very good reading month for me. I read my way through a bunch of books, many of which I couldn't put down. (I'm not sure July will be the same—I've been having a what-do-I-read-next dilemma for a bit now.) Here are some of the books I read and enjoyed in June:
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black (YA fantasy with M/F and M/M romance): Hazel and Ben have grown up in Fairfold, a town where humans and fae live uneasily side by side and the human residents of the town know how to avoid the ire of their fae neighbors. They spent their childhood running through the forest playing at knight and bard and visiting to the fae prince sleeping in the glass coffin in the woods. The prince has been there for generations without waking—until one day, he does and everything turns upside down. The fantasy story is excellent and so are the relationships—that of the siblings navigating the things they've kept from each other and the romances between Ben and the prince and Hazel and Jack, a fae changeling.
Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by Leah Litman (Nonfiction): I grabbed this as soon as my library got it and listened to the audiobook (though I really want a hard copy—I don't know if it was my past law student self, but I really wanted to highlight and underline all sorts of things). I listen to Strict Scrutiny, the podcast Litman is a co-host of, and I'd been looking forward to this book. And it was great. If you're interested in what the Supreme Court is doing and why so many of their rulings are bonkers and how it got to be this way, I would highly recommend this book. I did go to law school, but the book is absolutely accessible to anyone who hasn't and is filled with pop culture references to lighten things up.
Behooved by M Stevenson (M/F fantasy romance): Here is another book I had my high on before it came out because it sounded so fun. And it was. Bianca's family makes her feel like a failure because of her chronic illness, so she has made herself into someone who always does her duty. When there's a threat of war, she does what her parents want and agrees to marry the soon-to-be-crowned king of the neighboring kingdom. But when she gets there, her betrothed seems to hate her on sight and then an assassin tries to kill him on their wedding night. Some defensive magic goes awry and he is turned into a horse. So Bianca climbs onto his back and rides away to escape. They're left with the tasks of learning how to change him back and discovering who is trying to kill him. There's some good intrigue and a lovely slow burn romance, plus bisexual and chronic illness rep in Bianca.
Fire Spells Between Friends by Sarah Wallace and SO Callahan (M/nonbinary historical fantasy romance): This is the second book in the Fae Human Relations series, which takes us to a Regency era London that includes both humans with magic and fae, and in this book, focuses quite a bit on those who are the children of fae/human relationships and the prejudices they face. It picks up after the first book (though with new POV characters and a new romance), so I'd start there (and I adored that book anyway). This book brings us Emrys, brother of one of the main characters from the first book, and Torquil, publisher of gossip paper pulling a lot of strings behind the scenes. They've been in a relationship for years, but neither has realized that it's anything but friendship with benefits.
Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (Sci-fi cozy mystery): Murder by Memory is set on an interstellar passenger ship on its way from Earth to a new home for its residents. The journey is one that will take many lifetimes, but the ship has the technology to preserve the minds and memories of its passengers and produce new bodies for them when needed until they arrive. Dorothy is a ship's detective who has been taking a break between lifetimes (after a tragedy ended her marriage to her wife) but suddenly wakes up in a body that isn't hers. There has been a murder in the middle of a magnetic storm, which Dorothy finds has been made more serious because someone is also erasing memories from the Library where they're kept. This wasn't very long, but it was so good and I'm already impatient for the second in the series.
Into the Dark by Jordan L Hawk (Trans M/cis M paranormal romance): This is the third book in Hawk's Outfoxing the Paranormal series in which Oscar, Nigel, and their team of paranormal investigators investigate various haunted locations as Oscar learns more about his abilities as a medium. Into the Dark takes us to an extremely creepy old asylum—which Oscar's grandmother was once committed to—and introduces a second team of investigators, whom I hope we see more of in future books. There were definitely some chills as they discover the secrets of the old asylum and what happened to Oscar's grandmother. Not a lot of romance in this one, but Oscar and Nigel have been together since the first book. The found family bonds of the team are great, as usual, and the addition of the second team added some fun dynamics. I'm looking forward to more in this series.
Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff (Cozy horror with F/F romance): Generations ago, the residents of a small town in northern Ontario made a pact with a dark force to keep the town safe and prosperous. Some members of the founding families are given abilities by the dark to speak and act for it, and the residents of the town live beside eldritch horrors (some of them very cute) and talk to the lake monster, and everything is good in Lake Argen. Until an outsider comes to town and sacrifices himself at Midsummer. Now the pact is weakening and things are going wrong. And that's before his grandmother sends someone to find out what happened to him. This is labeled cozy horror, but I didn't find anything scary here. It's fun and quirky and funny, and there's a sweet romance as well.
What have you read and loved lately?
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