17. Lizards Hold the Sun

By Dani Trujillo (255 pp)

Penname is going to be on a book festival panel with Dani and Tashia Hart (next review) next weekend (May 30-31, 2026) so I made sure to read one of each's book before I meet them. This book perfectly captures the intoxication of falling in love -- where you can't keep your hands off each other and you are entranced by the littlest details about the other person. Xiomara is an archeologist and she travels from her desert home to Bunchberry, Canada to work a a big cultural preservation and museum project. Calehan in an architect and loves his native community but feels kinda trapped and has an opportunity for an adventure in Spain. Romance ensues and they need to decide where they need to be and if they can be together. Recommend.

16. On the Hustle

By Adrianna Herrera (352 pp, ebook)

Adrianna is a friend of the Fated Mates podcast. One of my bookclub friends picked it up at the library so we all decided to read it. This is a spicy (for me) romance between Alba, a super competent and ambtious woman and her boss/former boss Theo, a former Olympic swimmer who now runs his family's real estate empire. Alba quits her job as Theo's assistant to move to Dallas and I can't remember the exact sequence events but somehow Theo, who misses having her around, goes to Dallas helps get them to work together on a reality show that does home improvement. Romance ensues! Sexy fun. I had some notes about the third act breakup but I still enjoyed.

15. To Shape A Dragon's Breath

By Moniquill Blackgoose (528 pp, ebook)

I loved this book. It's a YA set in the 1800s and has some steampunk elements. It's about a young Indigenous woman, Anequs, who is chosen by a dragon in a world where dragon-having is tightly controlled by the dominant culture. Here the natives community prefers to keep to themselves but now she has to go into the colonizer world to fulfill their requirements and there is a big culture clash. Anequs has a hard time adjusting to the societal constraints of the colonizers and she speaks her mind and stands up for herself. Fun book.

14. An Unkindness of Ghosts

By Rivers Solomon (351 pp ebook)

I loved this book even though it's pretty dark. I love generation ship stories and I have my own failed generation ship story in the trunk. This ship is divided into the wealthy, privileged upper decks and the poor labor-force living in broken down poverty below with a cruel system of enforcement. The MC is Aster who is such a great complex character -- she never does what you want her to do, she always does something you don't expect, and she endures so much. The whole story is populated with complex characters but the world they live in is grim. Aster tries to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother while trying to protect the people she cares about and tear down at least a little piece of the system they live in.

13. Remember You Will Die

By Eden Robins (321 pp)

Eden is one of my Clarion West classmates and I read an early stage partial in writer's group when she was still figuring out whether this idea would work. This was my first chance to read the entire book and since I knew how much she struggled to pull the manuscript together, it was fun to see how it came together. It is fantastic. It's told through obituaries and jumps around in time. I suggest going into it blind because it's a hard book to classify -- it's like a well curated little musuem where every time you turn the page, you never know what you'll get. For readers who like quirky, smart, thought-provoking stories.

12. Big Name Fan

By Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare (320 ebook)

This is a F/F romance and I wanted to like it more than I did. I've read a number of Ruthie Knox books that I enjoyed and the set-up for this sounds can't miss: two actresses who were detectives in a popular TV show with a Buffy type fandom are brought back together for a reunion special. In the show the two characters had chemistry and the fans wanted to see it but the network wouldn't go for that story line. The story includes slow burn romance, fan fic, and they discover the accidental death of a beloved crew member and friend was not so accidental. But there were so many characters to keep track of and the story got bogged down in long dialogue sequences.

11. Tantalize (Book 1)

By Cynthia Leitich Smith (336 pp, ebook)

I have been wanting to check this author out and grabbed this from the library. I think it's considered YA and it's a paranormal romance. The main character Quincie has lost her parents but inherited their restaurant and her family is trying to re-launch it as a vampire themed place -- which I love this set up. Her best friend is a hybrid werewolf and still learning the ropes of this. The problems of running a restaurant go side by side with murder and supernatural creatures at odds. Again, I'm not the best audience for YA -- at times I really enjoyed the book but I had trouble following the rules of the world-building and it was darker than I expected.

10. The Heart of Devin MacKade

By Nora Roberts (250 pp. ebook)

This was another Nora category romance (fron 1996) for book club that I already had. In this one the main character is Devin MacKade who is one of 4 super dreamy brothers -- 2 were already married in earlier books. Devin is the sheriff and has been carrying the torch for Cassie since they were kids. When she was young she unwisely married an abusive man and has been suffering in that relationship until shortly before the book begins. It's been 12 years and Devin is trying to support her as a friend while being wildly attracted to her. She's trying to reconstruct a life for herself and her 2 kids but also fancies Devin. I didn't enjoy this one as much. I thought Devin was a turd at times and the Cassie character was thinly characterized and not super interesting.

I didn't end up finishing a more recent Nora. The one I had on hold at the library was still weeks away and I switched to another and it didn't work for me at all so I DNFd.

9. Taming Natasha

By Nora Roberts (256 pp, ebook)

For book club we decided to read some older Nora and some newer Nora to discuss. This is a category that I already had and enjoyed it more than I expected. It was a standard romance -- sad widower moves to small town to raise his daughter and meets and is instantly attracted to a ravishing beauty with a hidden, painful past who resists him. This was from 1990 and there were things you wouldn't put in a romance now but it was satisfying bus reading.

8. The Tainted Cup

By Robert Jackson Bennett (432 pp/ebook)

Great book! It's a fantasy with a murder(s) mystery and political intrigue. But also lots of humor. Terrific world-building. Amazing characterization. Great plotting. I don't know how to do a thumbnail summary -- here's my best effort: The main character is Din and he is an engraver meaning he's had some bio-enhancements that give him a perfect memory and he works in service of a detective-investigator Ana -- who is a fun, cranky but sharp lady. They start with one murder but uncover all kinds of shenanigans while the empire is threatened by the leviathan season. High recommendation! Can't wait to read more by this author.

7. Our Souls At Night

by Kent Haruf (179pp, ebook)

Bob and I first read Kent Haruf when he wrote the book Plainsong. I vividly remember going to Powell's on Hawthorne to see him speak. It was small crowd and he was soft-spoken but immediately likeable.

This books was written as he was dealing with cancer and his last published novel. It's a very sweet story about two elderly people finding love and companionship late in life. I saw it's a movie with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford and put it on my list.

6. Fan Service

By Rosie Danan (412 pp)

We picked this for romance book club. I love the set up: Devin is a guy who played a werewolf in a hit TV series years ago, finds himself turned into an actual werewolf when he's in his 40s and his acting career is in its last gasps. Not knowing what else to do, he tracks down Alex, the expert fan who managed the show's online forum. She is not much of a fan any longer because the actor was rude to her at a signing. It's super cute, funny, and clever.