Daken/X-23 Collision has been on my list (and my shelf) for the longest time but it took finally watching the movie Logan drove me to finally pick it up. The series is written by Marjorie Liu and I’m a huge fan of her writing in both Iron Hunt books and the award winning Monstress comic. In fact, I totally fan-girled her and Sana Takada at the Monstress vol. 2 release signing event in Seattle. Witness:
It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed and X-Man comic run as much as this one. And the bonus was seeing the familiar art of Takada in X-23 #7. Seeing how well their storytelling styles work together made me wonder if this was a bit of Monstress origin story.
Any Duchess Will Do was the fourth trip to Spindle Cove, and I’m always pleased by how much Dare feels as much like a matchmaker as an author. Even more, I appreciate the way she spins the tropes in new and satisfying ways: Griffin’s relationship with his mother was absolutely delightful.
The Women of Color in Romance Book Club (#WOCRBC) pick this month was Farrah Rochan’s Deliver Me
Two headstrong doctors, one nosey mother and a fake relationship complicated by the feels. Which had all the fun and drama of a good episode of Grey’s Anatomy, set in a vibrant post-Katrina New Orleans. The subplot featuring a husband and pregant wife with a marriage crisis didn’t work for me, but Rochon is a great read. The great part about the club is that anyone can join by becoming a Patreon sponsor.
Hands down my favorite read this month was this steampunk set in 1840s China by Jeannie Lin:
Before I picked this up, I would have said I was done with steampunk. Instead, I was totally compelled by Jin Soling’s struggle to keep her family safe as she gets drawn into the legacy of her father’s work. The world building was so intense and compelling, I can’t wait to get back to as quickly as possible: good thing Clockwork Samurai is waiting.