#LGBTQIA Cosy Mystery

[melaniem54]

Review: Murder Without Magic (Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery Book 3) by Ripley Hayes

Rating: 4.75🌈 Murder Without Magic is a stellar story. Third in Ripley Hayes’ Tuder and Stewart Cosy Mystery series, it’s one that is so much more than its 169 pages numerically would have you believe. Within a plot to find out who murdered the person in the garden next door to their new home, Hayes’ story encompasses a newly established relationship that deepens through adversity, personal…

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#A MelanieM Review #author Ripley Hayes #ghosts #LGBTQIA Cosy Mystery #magic #Review: Murder Without Magic (Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery Book 3) by Ripley Hayes #Scattered Thoughts Highly Recommended

[solarishashernoseinabook]

Solaris reviews Bookshops & Bonedust, by Travis Baldree (2023) (prequel to Legends & Lattes)

*continued excited stimming*

Summary: Twenty years before the events of Legends & Lattes, Viv finds herself injured in battle and left in the sleepy backwater town of Murk to recover. While waiting for her band of adventurers to get back to her, Viv does work at a bookshop, has a sweet summer romance, and takes down a necromancer.

Content: This book has more of a mystery/adventure bent than Legends & Lattes did, but I think it struck a good balance between telling the cosy story of a down-on-her-luck bookseller and relating the take-down of a genuinely menacing necromancer. It was fun to read and revisit the world established in Legends & Lattes, and see a new take on Viv

Who I think would like it: Anyone who liked Legends & Lattes, or who wants a calm read in general

Things it does well: I liked the mystery aspect of it, and details of Viv's recovery. The characters were just as well done as they were in Legends & Lattes, and exposition handled well too. Something I noticed while reading this book, and which applies to Legends & Lattes as well, is that the world it writes is refreshingly full of women. Women shopkeepers, women adventurers, women bakers, women guards - and each is an individual, with her own flaws and strengths and personality. With the fantasy genre as a whole being so overwhelmingly dominated by male characters, seeing a book that casually includes women as casually as they're excluded in so many other books is delightful

Things that could be improved: Honestly not much. Some people might not like the greater focus on action this time, or might think it's odd that characters go from hearing news of a necromancer in one chapter to dealing with book sales in the next, but for me it was pretty good

My review: I knew I'd have a book hangover from To Shape a Dragon's Breath, so for my next book I decided to pick up something I knew I'd enjoy, rather than taking a chance on a book I wasn't sure about. This was a good choice: lighthearted and an easy read, perfect for when I was in the car or on my break at work. It's easy to follow and a nice light read, and the epilogue was very sweet

Does this book have…: ✅= yes ❓= not sure ⭕= possibly/mixed ❌= no Romance? ✅ Viv has a sweet summer romance that takes up a good portion of the book, with some entire chapters dedicated to her dates. Refreshingly, both characters know it's temporary, and while they feel a bit bad about leaving each other, it's never implied that one should give up the life they've built in favour of the other Sex? ✅ ⭕ References are made to books that include sex scenes, but it's not discussed in detail Racism? ❌ Legends & Lattes included some fantasy racism, but this book doesn't have any. Like its predecessor (follower?), it also avoids common stock fantasy racist stereotypes. Note that I am white. A person of colour reading this book might have picked up on something that I missed. All I can say is that the common pitfalls weren't there that I could see. Sexism? ❌ LGBTQIA-phobia? ❌ Ableism? ❌ Swearing? ✅ Lotsa F-bombs and similar swears Drug/Alcohol references? ✅ Our characters get drunk in one scene, and there's scattered references to characters drinking beer References to or actual violence or suicide? ✅ Viv is an adventurer, after all, which comes with a fair amount of fighting evil. The first chapter opens with her getting injured in battle References to or actual animal death or cruelty? ✅ Viv is an adventurer, after all, and does a simple "kill some monsters" quest for some spare money at one point

Recommended: Yes!

#solaris reviews books sometimes #bookshops and bonedust #legends and lattes #travis baldree #book reviews #book recommendations #books

[space-loves]

Welcome to my [_] !

I'm [_], I use they/their pronouns.

As stated before I will use this blog to blabber about all of the things that I simply adore, but no one does around me. Or at least not in the same way. Basically, this is me ranting.

Here is a list of subjects that I cover and things I love, which I call my blocks :

Korea :

Pansori

Kpop (find a list of artists here)

Kdrama

Korean language

Korean culture

Books :

Fantasy

Cosy Mystery

LGBTQIA+ lit

Percy Jackson

TV shows :

Supernatural

Criminal Minds

Bones

Only Murders in the Building

Music :

Metal

Emo Rock

Hozier

Indie

Creatives :

Writing

Worldbuilding

Singing

#space_talks #blocks_of_space

[melaniem54]

Review: No Accident At Abergwyn (Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery Book 1) by Ripley Hayes

Rating: 4.25🌈 What a delightful find! New to me author! Small village Welsh location, with all that entails. And it’s a cosy mystery. That means the following elements. Busybody main characters, small community’s over abundance of gossip and intrigue, a murder or more , a romance however slow to build, and animals. A dog, cat, or in this story a charming dog and a horse! Both of those belong…

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#A MelanieM Review #author Ridley Hayes #LGBTGIA contemporary romance #LGBTQIA Cosy Mystery #magic #murder mystery #Review: No Accident At Abergwyn (Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery Book 1) by Ripley Hayes #Scattered Thoughts Highly Recommended #slow burn romance

[melaniem54]

Review: Murder on Milverton Square (The Milverton Mysteries #1) by G. B. Ralph

Rating: 4.5🌈 I love a good cosy mystery! Especially when it brings me a new author and a new series to explore. Murder on Milverton Square is the first book in The Milverton Mysteries, written by G. B. Ralph. This is Ralph’s first published novel and it’s absolutely marvelous. Set in New Zealand, it’s primarily focused on a Wellington marketing consultant named Addison Harper. His life is in…

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#newbookreleases #A MelanieM Review #author G. B. Ralph #first book #LGBTGIA Cosy Mystery #LGBTQIA Contemporary Romance #Review: Murder on Milverton Square (The Milverton Mysteries 1) by G. B. Ralph #Scattered Thoughts Highly Recommended #slow burn romance

[melaniem54]

Review: No Friends At Abergwyn (Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery Book 2) by Ripley Hayes

Rating: 4.5🌈 No Friends At Abergwyn is the second story in the Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery trilogy and it’s even better than the first. Ripley Hayes dives into the background of the magical baker who lives in a field, Lorne Stewart. Peter Tudor, the nurse who’d left his A&E job in the city to come home to care for his disabled mother, has found himself at odds with his life in Abergwyn.…

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#A MelanieM Review #author Ripley Hayes #LGBTGIA cozy romance #LGBTQIA Contemporary Romance #magic #murder mystery #Review: No Friends At Abergwyn (Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery Book 2) by Ripley Hayes #Scattered Thoughts Highly Recommended