Hello Darlings!

How was your week? I started some Asian dramas and I’m having fun with them! Will share recs when I’ll have enough for a post.

Also! This is my 200th post! I feel like I just started blogging — how the time flies by!

Sadly though, I’m not feeling super excited about blogging lately and I want to focus on some other things in my life so I made a decision that for the rest of October I will only post once a week and those will be my #5OnMyTBR posts. I’ll try to answer your comments (I know I’m behind and I’m sorry!) and blog hop from time to time but I need a break. I’m not reading that much either lately so it’s not like I have much to share anyway. I hope I’ll come back more motivated in November!

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#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook (me!) and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.

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This week’s prompt is Historical!

I got into Historical books this year (mostly gay Historical Romances) and I’ve been neglecting this genre for way too long!!

💛 f/f
💛 1920s
💛 England

In the aftermath of The Great War, everything is changing.

But not for Marian Fielding.

Marian’s life is quiet and predictable in the solitude of the English countryside, where she plans to remain. But Marian’s world is turned upside down when she meets brash, confident Katherine Fuller.

Katherine arrives at the Fieldings’ family estate for the wedding of Marian’s sister and immediately shakes things up. Instead of keeping the ill-mannered American girl out of trouble, Marian finds herself magnetically drawn to Katherine’s vivacious nature, and they are swept into a whirlwind romance that will change both of their lives.

Katherine’s unconventional behavior and the pull of Marian’s old life threaten their chance at happiness together. But these two women from different worlds will find a way to be together against all odds and expectations.

How to Talk to Nice English Girls is a steamy historical romance and is a standalone novel with plenty of heat and a definite HEA!

💛 m/m
💛 1980s
💛 Poland

Set in early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of communism, a tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide—a stunningly poetic and heartrending literary debut for fans of Andre Aciman, Garth Greenwell, and Alan Hollinghurst.

When university student Ludwik meets Janusz at a summer agricultural camp, he is fascinated yet wary of this handsome, carefree stranger. But a chance meeting by the river soon becomes an intense, exhilarating, and all-consuming affair. After their camp duties are fulfilled, the pair spend a dreamlike few weeks camping in the countryside, bonding over an illicit copy of James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. Inhabiting a beautiful natural world removed from society and its constraints, Ludwik and Janusz fall deeply in love. But in their repressive communist and Catholic society, the passion they share is utterly unthinkable.

Once they return to Warsaw, the charismatic Janusz quickly rises in the political ranks of the party and is rewarded with a highly-coveted position in the ministry. Ludwik is drawn toward impulsive acts of protest, unable to ignore rising food prices and the stark economic disparity around them. Their secret love and personal and political differences slowly begin to tear them apart as both men struggle to survive in a regime on the brink of collapse.

Shifting from the intoxication of first love to the quiet melancholy of growing up and growing apart, Swimming in the Dark is a potent blend of romance, post-war politics, intrigue, and history. Lyrical and sensual, immersive and intense, Tomasz Jedrowski has crafted an indelible and thought-provoking literary debut that explores freedom and love in all its incarnations.

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💛 f/f
💛 1939
💛 England

Some secrets are unspoken. Others are unspeakable . . .

August 1939.

Thirty-year-old Hetty Cartwright is tasked with the evacuation and safekeeping of the natural history museum’s collection of mammals. Once she and her exhibits arrive at Lockwood Manor, however, where they are to stay for the duration of the war, Hetty soon realizes that she’s taken on more than she’d bargained for.

Protecting her charges from the irascible Lord Lockwood and resentful servants is work enough, but when some of the animals go missing, and worse, Hetty begins to suspect someone – or something – is stalking her through the darkened corridors of the house.

As the disasters mount, Hetty finds herself falling under the spell of Lucy, Lord Lockwood’s beautiful but clearly haunted daughter. But why is Lucy so traumatized? Does she know something she’s not telling? And is there any truth to local rumours of ghosts and curses?

Part love story, part mystery, The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey is a gripping and atmospheric tale of family madness, long-buried secrets and hidden desires

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💛 f/f
💛 China
💛 slowburn, crossdressing

In order to survive in troubled times; in order to revenge for the dear; in order to claim justice for all 118 people, who died undeservedly, in the village. Lin WanYue took the residence registration of the younger brother Lin FeiXing to join the army, and was determined to kill the Huns all over the world.

The empress died in the court, leaving the 16-year-old princess and the eight-year-old crown prince to rely upon each other for life. Several princes older than the crown prince were greedy for the throne, and the two were in a precarious position.

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💛 m/m
💛 China
💛 enemies to lovers, arranged marriage

The notorious imperial court lackey and the meritorious military general were well-known for their mutual dislike, a pair of arch-enemies set in stone. Who could have foreseen the unexpected change in the winds of heaven: the general injured on the battlefield, both legs disabled, and even forced by the emperor to marry his nemesis.

With one marriage edict, two people with mutual hostility are forced to marry and live under the same roof. Yet after these long days together, they come to the realization that the other is not truly devoid of any saving grace nor is high out of reach.

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• Do you participate in #5OnMyTBR?
• Do you have any of those on your TBR?
• Have you read them maybe? (Make me read them then!!)