Welcome to Litsy!

And that's my fifth #WickedWords for September!

 @AsYouWish

Well this is just a perfect paragraph in every way

Lovely, in the end! I didn't quite “get“ how they would work out together at the start, but it grabbed me anyway, and then the slow burn made it all make sense.

I swear I tried to post earlier this week about my brain melting -- too much studying/working. Barely any time to sit still and read. The post seems to be gone, though. Anyway, here's hoping I can finish this over the weekend!

This has been a much slower burn than I was aware of, going in! But yesssss finally.

I think I've joked here before about being the relationship advice Dalek (COMM-UN-I-CATE! COMM-UN-I-CATE!) but I really feel like it with this pair!

Now wondering if I can get away with reviewing this one for Postcrossing on the basis of the letters between Penelope and Agatha... hmmmm! (The brief is “books that feature mail/post/letters“.)

I finally grabbed this off my shelf almost at random, and I'm really not sure about how this pairing-up is going to work... but on the other hand it's the first book I've found unputdownable this week. Stress stress stress. So I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth!

Gotta say, the blurb on this one is not -wholly- accurate because, while those things mentioned happened, this is also a book about the political climate of the time, making space for yourself when you're queer, fury and poetry and rebellion large and small. Don't expect a typical romance novel pacing, do expect a lovely, lovely book.
PS while I love this cover, Griffin and Flood are mid to late 40s and that's cool too!

The burn is Slow but the book is Good

This was an enjoyable read and the cover is EPIC. When widowed printmaker Agatha Griffin finds bees in her warehouse she‘s told to call Penelope Flood, a local beekeeper. Soon both are looking for excuses to spend more and more time together as this period romance unfolds.

#readingqueerauthors2020

So looking forward to reading this!

This was such a great book. It‘s more of a slow burn romance with a ton of interesting research into printing, bees and the political movements of the time. I liked that Agatha and Penelope are both older women and know their own minds, but still grow within their friendship and then love.

Agatha is a widow with a 19 year old son and her own printing business.