Sue is getting her bysuelondon.com website ready for the 10th anniversary of her first book, Trials of Artemis, which officially happens on May 13th! She is posting some lovely reviews of her books from over the years as part of the update. You can see them cycling at the bottom of her front page, or check them all out on her reviews page.
If you’ve read her books and not reviewed them, it’s never too late! She’d love to see some fresh reviews on the platform of your choice. And don’t forget that she loves a funny critical review just as much as a complimentary one, although it is less likely to be featured here!
Ok, writing about myself in the third person feels weird.
Thanks to everyone who has written a review over the years! I’ve read them all and appreciate them more than you can know.
If you’d like to make sure your review gets added to the site just post a comment below with a link to where I can find it on the internet.
Meanwhile, WordPress calls the page Testimonials and when I need someone to testify I start singing “CAN I GET A WITNESS?” Thus the title to this post and, well, here’s the video. Enjoy!
You might recall that one year I got fed up with something (I don’t remember what) and decided to start my own awards. This is just my favorite stuff I read last year. There is no nomination process, no vetting, and no pretending this is in any way objective. However, it is also not bought, schmoozed, or otherwise manipulated. Is there a high correlation between people I know and the books I read? Yes, because if I know you and you write, I will eventually read at least one of your books. If I like it then I will talk about that. If I read one of your books and like it, I will probably reach out and try to connect with you. It’s how I roll. Talking to authors is (almost) always fun. And the ones who write the stuff I like? Categorically always fun (for me). YYMV.
This year I realized I could USE MY AFFILIATE LINKS to earn more money to buy more books and, well, that just feels like a virtuous cycle. So if you buy anything on these links I might get a little percentage back.
Yeah, the graphic design is still the same. Like I have time to update that stuff.
The first time around I didn’t get all of the awards out, or even come up with my final category. I am solving that problem this year by doing it all in one post (so I don’t have to worry about my tired little ADHD brain keeping up with it).
Although my picks are pretty romance-heavy these days, I am not exclusively a romance reader. In fact I’ve probably still read more SFF and 19th century classics by volume, but romance has spent the last thirty years catching up.
First, the announcement of the categories!
I LAUGHED – my favorite comedy
I CRIED – my favorite tear jerker
I CHEERED – my favorite hero/ine
I SIGHED – my favorite swoony romance (ok, this one is almost exclusively romance)
I ATE THE WHOLE THING – a series I devoured
I LAUGHED
Let’s face it, comedy is kind of my thing, and although this series isn’t comedy per se, Liz has killer rom-com instincts and gets a pretty good laugh/page rate out of me. I was lucky enough to see an early draft of the first few chapters well before the book came out, and was probably one of the first people to buy it!
Please note I used the original cover here because I prefer it. I’m sorry if you love the new one Liz, this is my favorite.
I CRIED
So here is a weird thing about me: I hate poetry unless I love it. And when I love it? I really, really, really love it. I discovered Nikki Giovanni years ago and was delighted to find out she was faculty in my very own home state of Virginia (at that OTHER school, Virginia Tech). She retired in September 2022, so I decided it was time to put my hands on a whole book of her poems. (You can read an article about her career and retirement here. I love that her 1990 office picture has an Opus in it, because most of my pictures in 1990 were in close proximity to a stuffed Opus.)
I love her words.
Even when she tells me hard truths, I love her words.
Sometimes when she tells me hard truths, I cry. But it’s a good cry. A cleansing cry.
And hey, Giovanni knows romance, too. One of the poems I sent to my husband (who loves most poetry).
I CHEERED
Charish Reid dropped an innocent enough looking little book in March 2022 called “I’ll Come Back for You.” I mean, innocent enough looking if your taste runs to cool witchy stuff, which mine often does. So I grabbed a copy and oops, fell for Whitney and her sister Helen and that guy Whitney had a crush on in high school, Deon, while they were all trying to deal with a ghost in the house.
I especially love Whitney. I love Whitney so much. She is vulnerable but tough, smart, and determined. It is very rare for me to return to a book and read it over and over, but I can already feel that this one is going to make that list. You can grab a copy on Amazon. Tell me if you start it so we can ‘read it together.’
I SIGHED
Okay, probably a lot of the swooning feelings came from all of the descriptions of coffee and pastries, I’m not gonna lie, but Travis Baldree really achieved something here. Legends & Lattes sort of feels like the Cheers of the 2020s. You feel comfortable. You want everyone to know your name. Ok, and now I want a chocolate pastry… In case you didn’t know, you call already order the sequel. Both books are available on Amazon.
I ATE THE WHOLE THING
Last but not least, I ATE THE WHOLE THING. As a semi-voracious series reader I always enjoy finding something new to sink my teeth into. In 2022 it was finding Red L. Jameson’s Wild Love series. Check out the series page on Amazon here.
No, I’m not going to have the hubris to call 2023 ‘my year’ or any nonsense like that. Time is a Clever Girl and she will eat you eventually, but I thought it might be nice to flirt with this year, be friendly, see what she is about before renouncing her to be the satan that her recent siblings have been. Sure, she started off with Mercury and Mars in Retrograde, but sometimes rough starts yield the sweetest results.
I was just reading over on my friend Sophie Couch’s blog about The Magic of a Calendar Filled with Intention. She said she calls her planner her ‘Spell Book’ and have to admit that hit me in my feels. Since my husband gave me a seriously awesome leather planner for Christmas (it is purple with gold astrological constellations on it and has cool little exercises), it feels like it’s all coming together. And, you know, I love it when a plan comes together. My intention this year, if nothing else, is to Be More Awesome. *throws sparkles*
Pretty much the first thing I did this year was send my editor a list of the books I want to finish in 2023, so hopefully that will help manifest a productive year. Not going to say too much because my enthusiasm always gets the best of me. This year gonna try a little less talk and a lot more action.
2023 is also my 10th anniversary of publishing my first book. Woot! So there will definitely be a few Activities and Celebrations. If you have ideas about what I should do, feel free to post them here or drop me an email, social media response, whatevs. I’m flexible.
Thank you for hanging out with me all these years!
Times, they are a-changing. My Twitter seems to have imploded, so we will see if this blog post makes it there. I’d just accepted that blogging was the way I could reach the most people, and then Amazon removed blog feeds from author pages. I am basically the human version of the shrug emoji right now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Meanwhile, my writing output has gone through the roof, which is always an exciting moment in an author’s life. Along with finishing the seventh book in the Haberdashers series, Justice for Sisyphus, I am mostly done with the eighth book, Loving Echo. That will conclude Act II of the series. I also completed a really long novella, so if you’ve been a fan of Bobbins in my series, you won’t want to miss Secrets of the Season.
If you’re hunting for me on social media, or really anywhere, I try to keep all of my updated information on my Linktree. You can find my pre-orders link at the top, then my author stuff, and then all my social media links. Stay in touch if you can! I miss being able to chat on Twitter. None of the other places I’m posting have as much interaction.
Because the algorithm loves pictures, and also because I love my raspberry Casimir tea.
omg, the stats on this post would make any romance writer giggle:
What is the MAIN thing about the Haberdashers books? (Well, other than the romance.) Friendship! So I thought it would be fun to figure out what each book would be titled if it were a Friends episode. Crank up the Rembrandts and put on your ratty jeans, we’re going into the wayback machine to the 90s.
The One Where Jack Save the EarlThe One Where Sabre Fights the DukeThe One With the SpiesThe One With the PsychicThe One at the House PartyThe One in ParisThe One With the Smugglers
The Haberdashers started as three little girls who wanted to learn weapons and horses. Now they are all grown up with husbands and children. The danger, however, continues to grow. Can they and their friends win the fight against what remains of The Four?
Today the seventh book in the Haberdashers series, Justice for Sisyphus, hits the virtual shelves. We know the hero, because he’s the steward of Kellington from the first book. Trials of Artemis. You remember, the steward who was fired for hiding smuggling from the earl. Oops.
Haberdashers Books One to Seven
In case you’ve forgotten, the smugglers in the first book were one of the plots that weaves through the series. There’s also the Hellfire Club known as The Four. Or wait, is that the same plot? It’s all starting to come together in book seven, Justice for Sisyphus. Along with our hero and heroine Philip and Desdemona we have returning heroes and heroines Gideon, Jacqueline, Robert, Casimir, and George. Bobbins makes an appearance, who will soon be a hero in his own right with the upcoming Christmas novella Secrets of the Season. And we also meet the hero of the twelfth and final book… but I’ll just leave you wondering about that.
The arc of Act II will conclude in book eight, Loving Echo, which should be out in a couple of months. Then it will be time to drive towards the epic conclusion. Why would we need to gather together so many heroes and heroines of both brain and brawn. Well, you’ll see.
It’s finally time! Book seven in the Haberdashers series will be out this month! An army officer and young widow are falling in love, but each has a dark past they are afraid to share. Pre-Order on your favorite platform!
An army officer and young widow are falling in love, but each has a dark past they are afraid to share.
Philip Gladstone joined the Army after the shame of leaving Lord Harington’s service under suspicion of smuggling. Through hard work and dedication he has risen to the rank of Lieutenant. Upon mustering out he meets a beautiful young widow whom he thinks may have feelings for him, but fears telling her about his past.
Another defining thing about me is that I love comedy. L.O.V.E. And this book by Annika Martin definitely stood out as the most mad-cap comedy I read in 2020, which means it had the most lols per hour. Heck, I’m laughing right now thinking about…. well, I won’t tell you. That spoils the whole thing.
You can find all of Annika’s books with buy links on her website.
GIVEAWAY: No time for fancy giveaway widgets and rules. If you want a chance at winning this book (or a different book by the author if you already have this one) just drop a comment here, respond to my tweet, comment on the associated Facebook post, etc. I will select a winner from one of those assorted entries. Good luck and happy reading!!!
Sue London, Author 