2020 Weekly Wrap-Up: The Forty-Fourth

Hello Bookworms,

I’m playing a bit of catch-up telling you about books because I have been on fire with the reading lately. Whew. Too much stress means so much book bingeing. Let’s just get right to it.

American Royals by Katharine McGee- I know, I know, it seems a bit MUCH to be reading about an alternate history wherein George Washington accepted a kingship at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War and established an American monarchy in the middle of the most hideously contentious US election in recent history. In my defense, I actually finished it a couple of weeks ago, and the only reason I didn’t jump right into the second one was so I could purely romance novel myself into not thinking about the election during the actual election. It’s fine. My palms aren’t sweating while I write this. I’m not constantly googling things like “WTF Nevada? You took a day off???” Ahem. Sorry. So alternate history, the Washington dynasty rules America (alternate history George and Martha apparently overcame their fertility issues or whatever prevented them from having biological children, I guess?) and most of the world maintains monarchic governments. Because, you know. America’s revolution inspired France, which in turn inspired much of the rest of Europe to ditch monarchies. I took AP European History- it’s totally a thing that happened. News and ideas traveled before Twitter, albeit, not as quickly. Anywho. The Washingtons are in charge but the new generation of royals are a bit… Antsy. Beatrice is in line to become Queen, which is a whole thing because it’ll be the first time birth order takes precedence over sex in the order of succession. Beatrice’s younger twin siblings, Samantha and Jefferson are the proverbial spares. Beatrice is the perfect rule follower. Samantha is the rebel. And Jeff is… kind of clueless, honestly. This book is soapy and messy and angsty and I LOVED IT. I made myself take a break before I started the sequel because I stayed up WAY TOO LATE reading this one and I knew I needed to give my brain a break. Guess what I’ll be diving into next???

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade- This book was a pure delight. Marcus Caster-Rupp stars on the outrageously popular TV series Gods of the Gates. It’s based on an unfinished series of books, and Marcus finds himself disenchanted with the storylines the show runners come up with in the absence of canon material (cough cough Game of Thrones.) So, he does the obvious thing- starts writing fan fiction under a pseudonym to “fix” the problems. In the process of his delve into fan fiction, he meets and befriends another writer. She’s only known to him by her pseudonym, which is fine because he’d probably get in massive legal trouble if his bosses found out about his secret hobby. (It’s bad form to bad mouth your show runners, etc.) One day, the internet gets all nasty on a plus size woman in cosplay on Twitter, and Marcus is annoyed. To shut up the trolls, he asks the woman on a date. A TV star. Asks a fan on a date. Via Twitter. ONLY. It turns out that the woman in question, April Whittier, brilliant geologist and cosplayer, is ALSO Marcus’s fan fic bestie. Y’all. A movie star with a “perfect” body being absolutely GONE over a plus size woman is everything I never knew I wanted to read. This book was so great. Other things that are great? Setting healthy boundaries with parents. The portrayal of Marcus’s dyslexia. April’s enthusiasm about rocks. And, bless me with a sequel, oh Olivia Dade, because I really need to read Alex and Lauren’s story. THE PEG THAT WAS PROMISED. Please? 

Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega- I decided to listen to this audio book just before Halloween and, let me tell you, it was perfect timing. Now, I’m not great with out and out horror novels- at all. Even demon-less Stephen King books give me nightmares, so I’ve read very few of them. That doesn’t mean, however, that I dislike all ghost stories. Ghost Squad was so much fun! It’s a Middle Grade novel (I think? I’m always kind of gray on where the line between MG and YA falls, but I think this skews young.) Lucely Luna lives with her dad in St. Augustine, Florida. Well, her dad and the various loving ghosts of her relatives that manifest as fireflies. Lucely’s best friend Syd is the granddaughter of the eccentric Babette, local mystic and possible witch. When Lucely finds out that she and her father are on the verge of losing their home, she’s panicked. Then a bunch of weird and scary supernatural things start happening with Lucely and Syd smack in the middle of things (and in way over their heads.) It’s touted as “Coco meets Stranger Things with a hint of Ghostbusters” which I find to be an apt description. Lots of fun, a little spooky, but unlikely to give you nightmares. A delightful romp. 

I’ve got a Beverly Jenkins trilogy to tell you all about next week, and I just finished the latest Christina Lauren novel, which, OBVIOUSLY, I will need to gush about eventually. Like I said. Reading like wildfire over here. It’s the healthiest coping mechanism I’ve got in my arsenal. Alright, Bookworms. I’ve got to run. Sam is watching Curious George and he’s obsessed with the episode where George goes to the dentist. As such, he’s demanding he brush his teeth. Right now. Who am I to deny him healthy dental hygiene habits? 

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