Month: April 2026

April 30, 2026

The Heiress

by Molly Greeley

Genres: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, LGBTQIA+
Release Date: January 5, 2021
Pages: 368
Get from: Library | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
My Rating: ★★★★☆

As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh’s doctor prescribed laudanum to quiet her, and now the young woman must take the opium-heavy tincture every day. Growing up sheltered and confined, removed from sunshine and fresh air, the pale and overly slender Anne grew up with few companions except her cousins, including Fitzwilliam Darcy. Throughout their childhoods, it was understood that Darcy and Anne would marry and combine their vast estates of Pemberley and Rosings. But Darcy does not love Anne or want her.

After her father dies unexpectedly, leaving her his vast fortune, Anne has a moment of clarity: what if her life of fragility and illness isn’t truly real? What if she could free herself from the medicine that clouds her sharp mind and leaves her body weak and lethargic? Might there be a better life without the medicine she has been told she cannot live without?

In a frenzy of desperation, Anne discards her laudanum and flees to the London home of her cousin, Colonel John Fitzwilliam, who helps her through her painful recovery. Yet once she returns to health, new challenges await. Shy and utterly inexperienced, the wealthy heiress must forge a new identity for herself, learning to navigate a “season” in society and the complexities of love and passion. The once wan, passive Anne gives way to a braver woman with a keen edge—leading to a powerful reckoning with the domineering mother determined to control Anne’s fortune . . . and her life.

An extraordinary tale of one woman’s liberation, The Heiress reveals both the darkness and light in Austen’s world, with wit, sensuality, and a deeply compassionate understanding of the human heart.

Keep Reading

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Catstellations

April 24, 2026

Rachel

Leave a Comment

Pen Porn: Stanford Pen Studio Catstellations

Posted in Fountain Pens

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for pen envy or impulse purchases resulting from viewing this post.

Per usual, you can click on the images to view them larger. I do my best to provide you with high-quality pen porn. 😉

Once again, I have a pen painted by Yulia Glas to share with you. This beautiful Catstellations (cat constellations) pen intrigued me when Yulia shared a sneak peek. It only got better as she continued to work on it. I got greedy and asked if I could reserve it, and Di was kind enough to allow me to do so.

Stanford Pen Studio Jabulani Catstellations

Keep Reading

Review – A Change of Jane’s Personal Philosophy

April 23, 2026

Rachel

Leave a Comment

Review – A Change of Jane’s Personal Philosophy

Posted in Book Blogger

A Change of Jane’s Personal Philosophy

by Shana Granderson

Series: The Change Of Series, #4
Genres: Historical Romance, Literary Fiction
Release Date: December 15, 2025
Pages: 415
Get from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

In this, the 4th instalment of the ‘Change Of’ series, the story examines what changes will arise and effect the lives of the characters we love, and some we love to hate, if Jane wakes up and begins to see the reality of the world.

This tale begins with Jane in London seeking to renew her contact with Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley. Up until this point, everything has gone according to canon.

At the same time Jane is with the Gardiners, Elizabeth makes her visit to Hunsford. Yes, she receives the terrible proposal, but there is one small difference which the reader discovers when part of Darcy’s letter is revealed.

Not only do we learn why Jane adopted the philosophy she did, but what is it that forces Jane to re-evaluate her view of the world and the way she reacts to it.

Once she has begun to have her epiphanies, and the realisation that she must make some changes, how does that change her perspective on her family, the Bingleys, Darcy, and Wickham, to mention a few? What will she do when she understands who are and are not her true friends? Will her love for Charles Bingley endure?

These, and many other questions are answered while we join Jane as she wakes up after 23 years.

Keep Reading

Story Review – The Odyssey

April 16, 2026

Rachel

Leave a Comment

Story Review – The Odyssey

Posted in Book Blogger

This “book review” is rather different, since The Odyssey has been published in so many different forms — and wasn’t, originally, a book. Rather than reviewing this as a book, with where to buy it, genres, about the author, etc., I’m reviewing my experience of reading it.

As a review, though, it needs a star rating. I’m giving it ★★★☆☆. It was perfectly adequate, but it wasn’t for me.

For those interested, I read the version translated by Emily Wilson, the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman.

Keep Reading

The Unanswerable Question

April 10, 2026

Rachel

2 Comments

The Unanswerable Question

Posted in Fountain Pens, and Random Reflections

I have a fairly short post for you today.

With pen show season well and truly underway, I’ve seen a plethora of posts and videos about pen show hauls — I’ve shared my own, too. And it’s great.

It makes me happy to see people keeping the pen world afloat. Even better when posts/hauls feature indie-made pens. The world is tough right now, and every pen purchased helps keep an indie maker afloat. And that leads to my — currently — unanswerable question.

Keep Reading

Review – Legends & Lattes

April 9, 2026

Rachel

3 Comments

Review – Legends & Lattes

Posted in Book Blogger

Legends & Lattes

by Travis Baldree

Series: Legends & Lattes
Genres: Cozy Fantasy, LGBTQIA+
Release Date: February 22, 2022
Pages: 296
Get from: Library | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Books | Kobo
My Rating: ★★★★☆

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

Keep Reading

Pen Porn: Fountain Telling Willow

April 3, 2026

Rachel

One Comment

Pen Porn: Fountain Telling Willow

Posted in Fountain Pens

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for pen envy or impulse purchases resulting from viewing this post.

Per usual, you can click on the images to view them larger. I do my best to provide you with high-quality pen porn. 😉

This time, I have a somewhat different pen porn post for you. The focus here is the unique shape of the pen, rather than artwork on it.

This is the Willow model from Fountain Telling, which Kristen debuted at BWIPS this year. According to Jonathon Brooks of Carolina Pen Co — and Kristen’s dad — who had Kristen’s pens on his table at BWIPS, I was lucky enough to be the first purchaser of this model.

Keep Reading

Review – The Queens of Crime

April 2, 2026

Rachel

Leave a Comment

Review – The Queens of Crime

Posted in Book Blogger

The Queens of Crime

by Marie Benedict

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Release Date: February 11, 2025
Pages: 310
Get from: Library | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
My Rating: ★★★★☆

London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second-class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.

May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they’re stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.

Inspired by a true story in Sayers’ own life, New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict brings to life the lengths to which five talented women writers will go to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of letters as they unpuzzle a mystery torn from the pages of their own novels.

Keep Reading