Claiming the Princess by Charis Michaels
This series focuses on exiled members of the French royal family, and this is Princess Danielle’s book. Not that she knows she’s a princess at the start. At that stage, she’s just Dani, a 22-year-old ‘village girl’ from Ivy Hill, Kent, who lives with her adoptive parents. She’s forthright, passionate about her community and looked to as a leader by that community despite her gender and age. It’s still a pretty quiet life though. That changes when Captain Luke Bannock enters the frame.
Luke is a war hero (with a complicated, traumatic past) and his reward from the crown for his bravery during a violent skirmish at sea (and rescuing the Prince’s cousin) is marriage to Dani, the secret exiled princess. He does not ask for Dani’s hand in marriage out of any love or admiration, but rather as a piece of the puzzle in his greater revenge and rescue plot. As part of that skirmish at sea, Luke’s surrogate father was captured by the cruel French Comte attacking them. What does the Comte want? The lands that come with Dani as part of her dowry.
Of course, when Luke arrives in Ivy Hill, Dani knows none of this. She doesn’t know any details of her own history. Because her parents have a failure of courage, it falls to Luke to break the news to her. Only he doesn’t tell her everything. At least not for the first section of the book.
The tension that is built by Luke gradually and partially revealing the truth is palpable. It had me shaking my book in frustration. Just tell her already!
He eventually does tell her the full story and she’s enraged, understandably so. I really appreciated how Dani stood up for herself in that conversation. I mean, she stood up for herself the whole time, but she really let him have it when he eventually coughed out the full story.
This is in keeping with the Dani that we meet at the start of the book. She has big dreams as a village girl that are small fry for a princess. She accepts the engagement that is – for lack of a better word – bestowed on her and in her early interactions with Luke, it is her physical attraction to him that eases the transition. But that’s not to say that the more tender emotions aren’t engaged from the start. Luke might take a while to reveal the full story but even early on, parts of his true self, his innermost thoughts and history, come out when he talks to Dani. There is a tenderness and a magnetism there.
The tension doesn’t dissipate once the full truth is known. There are a number of subplots that need to be resolved, including how on earth Luke is going to rescue his surrogate father. Once the full truth of the marriage-revenge-rescue plot is revealed to Dani (as is inevitable the case when there are secrets being kept), there is the critical question of ‘what now?’ for Luke and Dani. Is there enough of a relationship to save? Do they want to save it? How on earth do you come back from that big of a pile of lies?
There is a clarity to the writing that made it easy to immerse myself in the story. Nothing is surprising or jarring: the emotions expressed made sense. The motivations of the characters match who they are as people. It’s a coherent piece of writing which makes it a pleasure to read. I know it sounds rather uninspiring as a critique, but I cannot overstate how relaxing it is to read a book in which things make sense. There is nothing incongruous to bounce me out of the story. Yes, there are surprises, but as surprising as they are in the moment, they make sense when looking at the characters as a whole.
When I initially picked this book up, I thought it was the first time I’d tried this series, but oh, it was not. I have read another in this series, but many moons ago, so I’d completely forgotten. Therefore, with authority I can say that it’s easy to read this book as a standalone. Dani’s past is so separate from that of her siblings (the subjects of the other two books) that it was easy to follow.
There are two potential points on which someone might not enjoy this story.
First, the cowardice of Dani’s adoptive parents. They’re so sure that Dani will stop loving them if they reveal that she’s a princess that they are driven to keep quiet. The longer they keep quiet, the harder it is to say something. As she was growing up, Dani did want to know about her history, but it distressed her adoptive parents so much that she chose to not pursue it. Now maybe I was just a rotten teenager, but there was nothing I did not pursue with rabid intensity when I was a teenager, so this is a little hard to buy.
The second point is, is there enough grovelling from Luke once the full truth is revealed?
For me there was and that’s due in large part to the series of letters that Dani and Luke write to each other. For me, this was far and away the most romantic part of the book.
Other readers might want a touch more groveling, but it was just right for me.
When the characters are likeable, the plots are tension-filled and make sense, and there is a balance of tender and sexy romantic moments, it’s a delight to read and I heartily recommend this book to the Bitchery.
Cover Snark: Baby Load?
Welcome back to Cover Snark!

From Susan.
Sarah: The Cut and Paste is not optimal here.
Kiki: I’m sorry, how did we get to 5? One night stand, I assume she gets pregnant with twins…where is the fifth member??
Lara: Crucifix dude on her shoulder whispering naughty suggestions could be number 5? A party to the decision-making.
Sarah: Wait. How do her arms work? She’s got two toddlers and an artist’s palette in one arm…how?

From Malaraa.
Tara: I’m sorry, WHAT?! This cover is a fever dream, especially when you include the title and series name.
Elyse: Sirens!
Bunnies!
Man Love!
White Horses!
Crack!
Sarah: A number of these people have me worried about jaundice.
Poor dude on the right looks like he is questioning every choice he made that led to this cover.

Sarah: For what I am about to inflict upon you, I apologize.
From Jane B: Baby load? Is that a way babies are ever described?
Sarah: First, are they talking about ejaculate, and the result of said emission is…the baby? Or is the baby really, really heavy?
I don’t even have a second point. I’m stuck on the first one.
Carrie: My mind went straight to poop like a loaded diaper.
Elyse: I second the poopy diaper.
Sarah: Wouldn’t that be baby’s load?
Tara: Oh goddammit. I’m leaving the baby load thing alone because :nauseated_face:
I want to know who’s giving babies to broken dads. Also, the illustrated ears and tail on the baby is sending me.
Sarah: Wait.
Wait.
Is it Demon Boss’ Baby Load
Or it is Demon Baby Boss’s Load?
Is the baby the demon? An “illustrated version of the Mario Tanuki suit in silver” kind of demon?
Elyse: What if the baby is the boss?
Tara: Demon boss baby! Demon boss baby!
Elyse: I just saw the tagline “babies for broken dads” and I’m …just wow,
Like give the guy a little credit. He got the baby, possibly with a nuclear diaper, into his Mario Tanuki suit, ok?
Sarah: Ooof, I definitely had some late nights with demon boss babies. There was the heartburn demon, the Coxsackie demon, the teething demon…. I don’t know if I had Tanuki suit demons though.

Sarah: Y’all. I glanced at this and thought he had a potato for a head.
Claudia: Can’t unsee now. 100% a potato.
Sarah: Tater Shifter Love
Sequel: Tots for Taters
Other Sequel: Demon Baby’s Boss Potato.
Pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Erin Collins at Meaningful Eats.
See notes at the end for substitutions. This is a very substitution-tolerant recipe!
Time
15 mins prep, 15 mins baking, approx. I had to bake them in two batches, so nearly an hour altogether.
Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar 105 grams
15 ounce can of pumpkin 100% pumpkin (uses the whole can, yay!)
1/3 cup oil, vegetable or coconut will work
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups gluten-free 1:1 baking flour 375 grams
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (slightly less than one bag of chips)
( recipe )
Wow! That's a lot of words!
I stumbled on a list of word counts of famous novels and discovered that my longest piece of fanfic is approximately 16,000 words longer than Moby Dick!
Plugging Along....
Woke up at 5 AM, decided that it was too early to get up, and woke up at 7:30 AM. Much better.
Took the dogs out and fed us all. Took my meds. Nap time. Woke up early from my nap. Good. Had lunch. Decided to take another short nap.
I was curious if there was a discord for Champaign-Urbana, but they’re all associated with the university.
I wanted to sit for a moment, so I sorted the mail. A lot had piled up. Oliver was in the middle of it, of course, and he scratched me. I enjoyed pitching holiday catalogs into the recycling bin.
Drat. A coffee place called 7Brew has a mango-pineapple smoothie that I’d like to try, but they’re aren’t on DoorDash or Uber Eats. Hmm, they’re open until 11 and are sort of on my way home from choir, so maybe I’ll get one tomorrow night.
Started working on the kitchen. Checked on whether I’ll have enough meds for the trip. Emailed the travel agent about my boarding passes. I went to check whether I had a drinks and WiFi package for the cruise, but I already got it. All I need to do is clean and pack.
Had some dizzy spells. I think that I’ll go to bed and get up early to clean. Well, maybe I might pack a little. I'm trying to decide whether to take a beach towel with me. I do have three beach days planned. (This is my "R&R" trip.) I guess that I'll pack everything else and see if my beach towel fits. I'm taking the big suitcase though and checking it.
Reagancomics (6 of 7): Getting Kinda Mean About Nancy

Readers who wanted to see Reagan in an actual Captain America story could get one the following year, in Captain America v1 #344, 1988. This issue doesn't feature much of Reagan's real personality for obvious reasons, but it does acknowledge his weird tendency to call Nancy "Mommy."
( I mean, it's better than if she called him 'Daddy.' )
Judge Death 2025 Mega Special

( Read more... )
Spirits of Violence #1

But wait! This title actually contains some cool stuff!
Great looking new villains (could use a little less alliteration on their names, though):
( Read more... )
The return of the Gun Nuns!
( Read more... )
And an inventive - and therefore acceptable - way to get around the Penance Stare!
( Read more... )
Strange Tales (2025) #1

It probably only exists to maintain a trademark, but the art here is really nice! Some Young Avengers and Runaways get trapped in a Jumanji/D&D hybrid, and only the Scarlet Witch can save them.
( Read more... )
Culinary
I thought last week's bread was holding out pretty well until it suddenly sprouted mould - however there was still some cornbread left + rolls.
Having been out for lunch on Friday I was not feeling like anything much for supper but made partner a Spanish omelette with red bell pepper and had some fruit myself.
Saturday breakfast rolls: basic buttermilk, strong white flour, turned out v nice.
Today's lunch: Crispy Baked Sesame Tofu - not sure whether there should not have been some actual sesame seeds somewhere in the mix? also thought maybe I was a bit cautious with the amount of tamari in the sauce - and didn't think this turned out particularly crispy....; served with sticky rice with lime leaves, baked San Marzano tomatoes and mangetout peas stirfried with star anise.
Some Big News With the Scalzi Family


Athena has been looking for a place of her own for a while, and she wanted something here in Bradford, to be close to work and to us, both of which we were pleased about. We’d all been tracking properties here in town when they went up for sale, and even looked at one or two to see if they were a place Athena could see herself living in. Nothing quite gelled.
Then this Craftsman-style house came up on the market. We got a chance to go look at it and we all came away from it thinking, basically, wow, this is it. Lots of room, in great shape, amazing character, and, for Athena, walkably close to work. It’s kind of a dream house for what she needs and wants.
As a family we put in an offer and it was accepted, and pending inspections (which we expect will not offer any particular surprises) we close in a couple of weeks. I’m really happy for Athena, and also, happy for us. And while I’m at it, just a tiny bit wistful, as our kid is truly is, officially, moving out and on her own, and that’s a big moment for any parent.
Only a tiny bit wistful, though, since I plan to make her current bedroom my new music studio. That beats having to walk down two flights of stairs and into a cold basement to get to my current set-up. I’m pretty sure Athena will see this as a fair trade.
— JS
12 Shows Involving Funeral Homes You Could Watch On Halloween
Six Feet Under
Laced with irony and dark situational humor, the show approaches the subject of death through the eyes of the Fisher family.
( More shows under the cut! )
30 Nice Days for November 2025
( 30 Nice Days for November 2025 )
- angel,
- babylon 5,
- beatles,
- bronte,
- doctor who,
- ds9,
- fanfiction,
- history,
- medici,
- meme,
- merlin,
- star trek,
- the americans
Alphabetical Fic Meme
Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for starting a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.
A - Age of Iron (I Medici, Lorenzo "Il Magnifico" de' Medici/Francesco de' Pazzi)
B - Bad Reputation (16th Century CE RPF, Barbara Blomberg & Fernando Álverez Toledo III. Duque de Alba)
C - Cover her face ( The King's Touch - Jude Morgan, 17th Century RPF; Henriette Anne Stuart (Henriette d'Angleterre)
D - Discordance (Merlin (TV), Morgana & Gwen)
E - Eve of Destruction (To Walk Invisible (2016), 19th Century RPF, Branwell Bronte/ Joseph Bentley Leyland)
F - Five ways in which Frederick the Great and Maria Theresia did not meet (18th Century CE RPF, Frederick the Great & Maria Theresia)
G - Graham O'Brien's Survival Kit for Companions (Doctor Who, Graham O'Brien & Thirteenth Doctor)
H - Here lie we (Merlin (TV), Gwen & Morgana)
I - Invicta (3rd Century CE RPF, Helena (Mother of Constantine)
J -
K -Kin (Merlin (TV), Arthur & Morgana)
L - Learning Frederick (18th Century CE RPF, Frederick the Great/Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf)
M - Murder in Florence (16th Century RPF, Margaret of Parma, Alessandro "Il Moro" de'Medici/ Lorenzo "Lorenzino" di Pierfrancesco de' Medici)
N - Nusquam (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ziyal & Dukat)
O - Opposites (Beatles RPF, Yoko Ono, Yoko Ono & Paul McCartney)
P - Prussian Doll (18th Century RPF, Frederick the Great & Prince Henry of Prussia, Frederick the Great/Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf)
Q - Queen's Gambit (Don Carlos - Friedrich Schiller, Elisabeth de Valois & Princess Eboli, Elisabeth de Valois & Philipp II of Spain)
R - Repercutio (Babylon 5, Londo Mollari & G'kar)
S - She blinded me with science (18th Century RPF', Émilie du Chatelet/Voltaire)
T - Till our shadows blend (Babylon 5, Delenn & Londo Mollari)
U - Unforgivable (Angel the Series, Holtz & Connor)
V - Vita Guineveris (Merlin (TV), Gwen (Guinevere)
W - We happy few (Beatles RPF, Brian Epstein & The Beatles)
X -
Y - You should see me in a crown (18th Century CE RPF, Catherine the Great & Prince Henry of Prussia)
Z - Zinc Man (The Americans (TV), Elizabeth Jennings/Philip Jennings)
That's 24 letters out of 275 stories. For easiness, I started with the most recent ones, but even so, clearly history is a dominating theme. Also, I would have bet Z to be the most difficult letter to find, but no, The Americans came through for me.
Get Rec’d with Amanda – Volume 101
Welcome back, everyone!
This time around, we have two cookbooks. They are vastly different from one another. There’s also a mystery and a historical romance.
What recommendations would you like to pass along? Let us know in the comments!
Exit, Pursued by a Baron
Shoutout to SusanK! We ran a Rec League for indie historical authors and Susan suggested Aydra Richards. Big appreciation for helping me narrow down Richards’ backlist on where to start.
She will break his heart even at the cost of her own.
Lydia Alcott left London beneath a cloud of shame and ignominy five years ago, when her affair with Marcus Beaumont, Baron Newhaven, came to a disastrous end. Now she has built a successful career as an actress, but her return to London places her once more within Marcus’ notice—and the reach of his wrath.
Marcus ordered Lydia away from London when the revelation of her infidelity left him devastated and heartbroken, warning her that to return would be to invite her own destruction. Now, seeing her upon the stage, the desire for revenge consumes him—he will hold her heart in the palm of his hand and crush it as she once did his own.
But Lydia has resentments of her own to satisfy. Unjustly accused of infidelity, she now intends to bring Marcus to his knees in truth. Thus begins a dangerous game of retribution and seduction neither intends to lose. But when old passions surface once more, each must make the choice whether to surrender their antipathy. She will never again be his mistress, and he will not make her his wife…unless the truth, long buried, can set them free from the past.
Food to Die For
For all my foodie and spooky season afficionados! I find the combo of haunted history and food to be really fascinating and if you don’t have Halloween plans, maybe you can use this for a potluck. (I used to participate in a public library supper club, where they would pick a cookbook and all the participants would make a recipe and bring it to a local spot to eat together.)
Discover tantalizing recipes, spine-tingling stories, and historic photos from the most notoriously haunted locations across America in this fun and fascinating cookbook. Paranormal investigator and Kindred Spirits co-host Amy Bruni leads you through eerie hotels, haunted homes, hellish hospitals, and spooky ghost towns, giving you stories and a recipe from each place.
Whether you’re in the mood for Lizzie Borden’s meatloaf or want to serve up spooky prison stories along with sugar cookies from Alcatraz, Food to Die For is your guide to ghoulish gastronomy.
One of America’s favorite ghost hunters, Amy Bruni takes you to mysterious hotels, eerie ghost towns, and possessed pubs in this delightfully sinister collection of stories and recipes. Each of the nearly 60 locations in Food to Die For
Vintage photographs and charmingly creepy stories rooted in historyA noteworthy recipe associated with the people or placeFull-color, captivating, and hauntingly styled food photos to inspire a killer kitchen experienceThis terrifyingly tasty cookbook will bewitch anyone
Has a taste for the paranormal and a hunger to try new foodsLoves history, travel, and culinary curiositiesEnjoys entertaining guests in unique and memorable waysWould get goosebumps making a recipe written 300 years ago
History buffs, thrill-seekers, and foodies will all get shivers seeing the past come to life with every enchanted recipe and delicious tale from Food to Die For.
The Museum Detective
Lately, I’ve gravitated toward mysteries and thrillers that involve heists and history, rather than serial killers. Definitely hoping this is a start to a series.
Inspired by a real-life antiquities scandal in Pakistan, this gripping series debut introduces archaeologist Dr. Gul Delani, whose investigation into the discovery of a mummy gets complicated—and personal—when it collides with her years-long search for a missing family member. Perfect for fans of Sue Grafton and Elsa Hart.
When Dr. Gul Delani receives a call in the middle of the night from the Sindh police, she thinks they may have finally found her niece, Mahnaz—a precocious, politically conscious teenage girl who went missing three years prior. Gul has been racked with grief since Mahnaz’s disappearance and distracts herself through a talented curator at the Museum of Heritage and History in Karachi, she is one of the country’s leading experts in archaeology and ancient civilizations, a hard-won position for a woman.
But there is no news of Mahnaz. Instead, Gul is summoned to a narcotics investigation in a remote desert region in western Pakistan. In her wildest dreams, Gul couldn’t have imagined what she’d find amid a drug bust gone wrong, there is a mummy—life-size, seemingly authentic, its sarcophagus decorated with symbols from Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The discovery confounds everyone. It is both too good to be true, and for Gul, too precious to leave in careless or corrupt hands.
Aided by her team of unlikely misfits, Gul will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it, even as her quest for the truth puts her in the throes of a dangerous conspiracy and threatens to collide with her ongoing search for Mahnaz. A portrait of a city fueled by corruption and a woman relentlessly in pursuit of justice, The Museum Detective is an exciting, gritty new crime thriller that announces a whip-smart and brilliant sleuth and builds to a stunning, emotional conclusion that readers won’t soon forget.
So Easy So Good
This is another social media content creator I follow who produced a cookbook lately. Sakaida is a registered dietician and I love the way she speaks about food. She has experience with eating disorders and her outlook on meals is “what can we add” rather than “what can we restrict.”
Enjoy easy and accessible everyday recipes and discover no-nonsense nutrition info that debunks food myths from social media sensation Nutrition by Kylie.
Registered dietitian and social media star Kylie Sakaida, a.k.a. @NutritionbyKylie, knows how difficult it can be to keep track of the confusing and often conflicting information about nutrition we are barraged with online. Kylie began posting videos on social media to cut through the noise and offer easy-to-understand and relatable evidence-based advice. Now, millions of people trust and follow her for realistic nutrition tips and delicious recipes. In this beautiful, comprehensive cookbook, Kylie has collected her best nutrition tips along with both fan-favorite and brand-new recipes.
Whether you want to change your eating habits and mindset or are just looking for a healthy dinner recipe, So Easy So Good has you covered. Kylie simplifies complex concepts through simple lists, charts, and sidebars. Her recipes and tips emphasize a healthy, balanced mix of protein, carbs, healthy fats, and fiber so you can feel nourished and satisfied. Many of Kylie’s recipes are inspired by the Asian flavors from her upbringing. Some recipes are designed to minimize prep time by using frozen veggies and nutrient-dense convenience foods, while others can be frozen in advance and reheated within minutes for a quick meal.
So Easy So Good is packed with simple, accessible, and nutritional advice throughout, but it’s recipes like Matcha Chia Parfaits, Sriracha Honey Tofu Bowls, Chicken Ranch Naan Pizzas, Thai Fish Curry, and even sweets like Tahini Chocolate Brownies, that will have you coming back to the book again and again.
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