Darlene's Digest

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Calamity by Constance Fay My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

If you've been following this blog, you know I love to share book recommendations, and I've been working with Shepherd.com to curate my "Best of the Year" list for 2023 . I decided to make it a little bit easier to narrow it down by only picking romance, so here are my #Romancelandia favorites for this year. If you read them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, and check out Shepherd.com, where authors recommend their favorite books!

   ...when Captain Doyle returned there was a full report. A peace treaty had been negotiated restoring Great Britain and the United States to their antebellum status. “But what of the prisoners?” Charley asked Captain Doyle. “A Yankee trader from France bound for Charleston put into port a few days back. That is how we heard the news. The governor is not interested in having a gang of Americans roaming through Kingston, and asked if we would ‘host’ them for a while longer until they can ship out with their countrymen.” It was that simple. Men who two days earlier would have run each other through or blown each other to pieces, now were up on deck toasting each other’s countries with carefully rationed grog. Captain Doyle wisely put a limit on the amount of alcohol served, knowing that it wouldn’t take much to re-ignite the conflict on a smaller scale. “Captain Fletcher told me I do not understand men, Mr. Bryant,” Charley said in bemusement later that night. “I have to agree with him.

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

  I love to share book recommendations, and I've been working with Shepherd.com to curate my "Best of the Year" list for 2023. It wasn't easy! Shepherd puts together book recommendations from authors, and helps readers find their next book to love. You should definitely check them out--they're independent, not trying to sell you anything, and while they do have affiliate links, they're not confined to one behemoth of a site. So here are my #Romancelandia favorites for this year, and if you read them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! https://shepherd.com/bboy/2023/f/darlene-marshall

Cassiel's Servant by Jacqueline Carey My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

    “You may have noticed I am wearing one of your shirts this morning.” “Oh yeah,” Rand murmured. He’d noticed. Looked like she had two puppies in a sack in there, tusslin’ when she moved. “The reason I am wearing your clothes is because the laundry needs to be done and you have not done it.” That statement took him out of his contemplation of how much fun it would be to undo the rest of the buttons on his shirt and give those pups some air. “What?” “I said, you have not done the laundry, Washburn.” Julia turned back to the grate to squat down and flip the cakes. “Yeah, well, that’s your job. You’re the wife.” She turned her head and looked up at him with raised brows. “Is that what you thought? That because that magistrate pronounced a few words over us I would take over all the domestic chores? Who did your laundry before you had a wife?” Rand shifted and ran his free hand through his hair. “I did my laundry. But I didn’t like it!” “No one likes it. Here is what I propose… I will co

Strange Love by Ann Aguirre My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

A Delightful Compendium of Consolation: A Fabulous Tale of Romance, Adventure and Faith in the Medieval Mediterranean by Burton L. Visotzky My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution by Eric Jay Dolin My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Unorthodox Love by Heidi Shertok My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Gabriel levered himself off the sofa and came up behind her, watching her busy, efficient hands in the mirror as she arranged the lace at her throat to hide the whisker marks on her neck. He peered solemnly into the glass and sighed. “I am so beautiful, and you are so smart. We will make wonderful children together, querida .” A smile quirked her cool lips as she adjusted her spectacles. “Let us hope they inherit a bit of modesty from me, Mr. Lopez. Why do you say I am smart?” He leaned forward and placed his lips just below her ear, a soft kiss that wouldn’t disarrange the lace or be noticed later. “You are smart because you agreed to marry me. Which makes me not only beautiful, but muy mazaloso ,” he added in Ladino. “An extremely fortunate man. " --Captain Sinister's Lady   Tuesday night and Wednesday (Jewish days begin at sundown) is Tu B'Av,  the Jewish Day of Love. " Chag HaAhava " in Hebrew. What? You didn't know there was a Jewish holiday celebrati

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder by Dianne Freeman My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

"I am not sure I should have to always do what you tell me to do, or not to do, Dr. Murray. I know you are a natural philosopher and learned, but in America they let men vote equally, the stupid ones as well as the clever. Not that I am stupid, I am just not as learned as you are. While we are here on this island, just the two of us, we should be voting as equals, don’t you think?" He looked at her in astonishment, setting down the gourd. "I am amazed, Miss Farnham, that a properly brought-up Englishwoman would take the riff-raff in America as her model for appropriate behavior. No, this is not a situation calling for some anarchic form of democracy. Your vote is not equal to mine." --Castaway Dreams Dr. Murray might have thought of July 4th as "Treasonous, Ungrateful Colonials Day", but we know better. July 4 is Independence Day, a day for all of us in the United States to celebrate our freedoms, our hard-fought liberty and the creation of a new type of

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Remember Me by Mary Balogh My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

“Did Anne Bonny’s papa love her?” “As I recall the tale, he did. Sit here next to me and I will find out.” He set her next to him and, reclaiming the book, flipped a few pages then smiled. “See here, Mattie? It’s a picture of Anne Bonny sitting on her papa’s lap, just as you sat on mine. Yes, according to Captain Johnson, he ‘had a great affection’ for the child, but he dressed Anne as a little boy to fool his wife, who’d heard about the birth of a daughter that was her husband’s child. He began living with Anne’s mama and then took them to Carolina where he prospered.” “Was he a pirate in Carolina, like Blackbeard?” “No, a merchant and a lawyer, though given those two professions, he may have had some of the pirate in him.” “I am wondering if this is the best bedtime reading for a child,” Lydia said. He looked down at Mattie. “Well, child? Is it a good bedtime story?” She nodded vigorously. “Yes! I want to hear more about Anne and her pirate ways!” --THE PIRATE'S SECRET BABY (Hig

One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World by Michael Frank My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Jane & Edward: A Modern Reimagining of Jane Eyre by Melodie Edwards My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Saga, Volume 10 by Brian K. Vaughan My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The stories also continued at bedtime, and Lydia had to admit, she was caught up in Captain Johnson’s stories of blood, gore and courage. “So Mary Read’s mother, described here as ‘young and airy, met with an accident, which has often happened to women who are young and do not take a great deal of care; which was, she soon proved to be with child again.’” “Was my mother young and airy, Papa?” Captain St. Armand put his finger in the book to mark his place and looked at his daughter. “Your mother was a delightful lady, and I believe ‘young and airy’ is an excellent description of her.” “Did you fall in love?” He hesitated, then nodded. “I loved your mother Nanette as one loves the best of friends. She was someone I turned to for friendship, and for laughter, and we shared that.” “And hugs, Papa? Maman was good at hugging,” she finished, a catch in her voice. “Yes, Mattie, your mama was good at hugging,” he said gently. “I am glad, Papa, that you and Maman were in love and that you were

She had to admit, having someone who looked like a bruiser by her side gave her some peace of mind. She didn’t know how John would handle himself in a fracas and maybe she’d never need to find out, but big men could act as a deterrent provided some yahoo didn’t try to even the odds with a pistol. “Anything else I need to know before we get there?” “Look mean and nasty, like you’re ready to kill someone.” He coughed, and she saw his head turn toward her in the dusk. “That’s it?” “That’s enough for now. You hold onto the pistol.” The pine scrub gave way to sand, and she saw the traders down at their bonfire. Out to sea a ship lay at anchor, and she sighed as she spotted its familiar lines. “One more thing—you’re going to meet some people—well, they’re pirates. That’s all there is to it. Try not to get killed or get into a fight with them, because it won’t end well.” “I wasn’t expecting pirates.” “Really?

Licoricia of Winchester: Power and Prejudice in Medieval England, The Rise and Fall of a Remarkable Jewish Businesswoman by Rebecca Abrams My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain by Margaret Willson My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Winterkill by C.J. Box My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The manatee swam closer and bumped up against the boat, threatening to swamp it. Julia held on to the sides and rocked with the boat, but the manatee was not put off by the collision, and instead swam back a few feet and watched her placidly, looking for all the world like, well, like a large wet cow blocking her path. “Shoo, shoo.” Julia took off her bonnet and waved it at the creature. The manatee must have considered it an invitation, for it swam back to her and before she realized such a monster could move so quickly, snatched the bonnet out of her hand. Soon the calico was being chewed alongside the greens, a colorful sea salad. “Aaargh! Go away, you beast!” “Now, that’s not a polite way to say good morning, darlin’.” --SMUGGLER'S BRIDE Today is  #ManateeAppreciationDay, though I like to think in Florida we appreciate our official state mammal every day. Manatees are gentle creatures, a valuable part of our ecosystem. Sadly, their biggest threat is from humans, especially hum

The Last Drop of Hemlock by Katharine Schellman My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Open Season by C.J. Box My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Radiant Sin by Katee Robert My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Last Orphan by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Desert Star by Michael Connelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Murder at Haven's Rock by Kelley Armstrong My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Peril at the Exposition by Nev March My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Lady Beast's Bridegroom by Jude Knight My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews