If there’s one thing that reliably complicates war and politics, it’s love, as our leads find out this week. Maybe your new partner is the mortal enemy of your father… or maybe he’s just a messianic figure, leading your people into a new age (I think that’d be complicated, right?). Or maybe she’s just a shapeshifter. It happens! The question, then, becomes, how much are you willing to reveal and to accept in return for true love?
A Duke Worth Fighting For (Isle of Synne #3) by Christina Britton: A gentle but mostly forgettable romance. The leads are sweet, and I wanted all the good things for them, but – and maybe this was just my own reading – they felt incredibly unsuited to the melodramatic elements of the story.
Paladin’s Strength (Saint of Steel #2) by T. Kingfisher: *squeeeeeeeeeee* I love this series so much!! Kingfisher fleshes out the world a little more in this one (I especially enjoyed spending time with Brindle and learning more about the gnoles) and has given us another wonderfully endearing and entertaining couple in Istvhan and Clara. I also love how good Kingfisher is at balancing romance, humor, adventure, and mystery. The next book, Paladin’s Hope, just came out a few days ago, and I can’t wait to get my grabby little hands on it!
Dune (Dune #1) by Frank Herbert: As I mentioned in my last post, this book has been on my to-read list since birth, and I’m quite proud of myself for finally getting to it. There are certainly elements that haven’t aged well since Dune was first published in the 1960s, but overall, it holds up. If you enjoy political intrigue and power struggles, this is a good one, and it’s also fun to read it and recognize the parts that influenced later science fiction. And shout-out to one of the best character names ever –– Duncan Idaho! Will he bake you delicious potatoes? Will he reveal a secret pop-star alter ego? Or will he just be the best dang friend and supporter a hunted man could ask for? The possibilities are endless!
When Maidens Mourn (Sebastian St. Cyr #7) by C.S. Harris: That’s right, I’m back to the St. Cyr series! I haven’t picked it up since… May?? Oops! Didn’t mean to pause it that long, but I forgot how incredibly readable it is when Sebastian isn’t brooding over Kat all the time (I know, I know – bad news about the next book). There’s some great character development in this one, and the mystery definitely kept me guessing because there were just so many gross bad guys who could easily have been the murderer. I’m a little disappointed we couldn’t pin it on all of them! Hero, of course, continues to be my favorite, and I can’t wait to see how she continues to navigate her divided loyalty to her father and to her husband. Because it can only get more complicated, right?
What have you been reading this week? Any new favorites? Let me know in the comments because I clearly need more books to weigh down my TBR!
–b
Book It With Becca 
Haha, love your comments about Duncan Idaho! I’m admittedly very intimidated by Dune and I’ve had a copy sitting on my shelf waiting to be read for a while now, but I’m very curious about this character now! 😂 That T. Kingfisher book looks great too. My reading mood has been a hot mess this week and I’ve been hopping books a lot!
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Dune is definitely a commitment! I think opting for the audiobook helped me with the intimidation factor. That, and the plot gets moving right away, so it’s not like you’re waiting 300 pages for something to happen! I’m a mood-reader, so the book-hopping is relatable. 😂 The Kingfisher books might actually be good for that kind of mood… they’re such short, easy reads!
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