Darlene's Digest

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 ...

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… ...

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

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