okay, so the weirdest thing just happened. i read a book about a bisexual british were-bear with a vampire roommate and a crush on a werewolf whose love life becomes complicated by the arrival of a fae prince and some lingering feelings for one of her female co-workers at vogue. and i loved it.like, howling at the moon loved it. (okay, full truth - i loved 97% of it - the ending kind of blows up into a crazy mess, and i wish this went on for another couple hundred pages, but whatever). TL recomm...

Having really liked Hammers on Bone, I was intrigued to find out what else Khaw had written. This novella couldn’t be any more different! Instead of a Lovecraftian film noire investigation we are offered a LGBTQIA urban fantasy chick lit - possibly scarier stuff :O) The author however does something very smart. She took all the much-abused tropes of the genre and amplified them to great effect. For instance, “interest in clothes” becomes a job at Vogue run by fairies, the ‘weight and menstruatio...

This is a completely unique and amusing novella about a werebear, a woman that shapeshifts into a bear once a month.The dialogue and rhythm of the book are fantastic and I found myself laughing out loud a few times. Zelda is a completely unconventional lead protagonist 1) being 329 pounds, 2) being accepting of her build, 3) being bisexual, and 4) I don't recall her ethnicity being explicitly called out but as she's part of the brown bear species and the cover doesn't have a white lady on it I t...

This was so much fun! A bisexual werebear paranormal romcom with a fat woman of color as the main character? I couldn't resist. And this definitely lives up to that premise.

I picked this up for two reasons. The author is a badass, and who DOESN'T love Prada-wearing were-bears?Seriously, Khaw has writing chops if she can turn a Devil Wears Prada/chick lit/candy-coated plus-sized fashionista who has the hots for all the wrong supernaturals into something *I* really enjoyed.I mean, it's rom-com and talking about *feminine issues* and having *that time of the month* I.E., turning into a Kodiak Bear, and alllllll about hooking up with that special someone(s). And yet I

Zelda is a werebear who lives with her best friend and vampire, Zora, and works at fashion magazine that's not as fabulous as she thought it would be. After lusting after her werewolf neighbor and high school crush for too long, she finally lands a date with him. The only problem? Her fae boss is making her work as a bodyguard for her seemingly charming nephew because Zelda's the only werebear she can latch onto on such short notice.This short book had me cracking up starting with the opening ch...

An outrageously fun combination of chicklit, the supernatural, and workplace minutiae. I'm tempted to say I wish it was longer but I suspect the length is actually perfect: the joy and surprise never wear off, and the end is quick and satisfying. That said, I am 100% here for a series of novellas set in this world. Please, Book Smugglers?

Sooooo different from the other works I've read by this author, which she referred to as Splatterpunk. This novella is funny, and, oddly sweet, as a bisexual werebear tries to go on a date, with less than stellar results.

Another novella coming from yours truly. A LGBTQIA rom-com featuring a bi woman of colour :) pre-order!any goodreads reviewer wanting a review copy, let me know !

Zelda McCartney is a werebear with a vampire roommate and a job working for Vogue in this paranormal chick-lit novella. (I really hate the term, but it's deliberate and there's an afterword talking about it). She's got a busy life, between managing her once-a-month Kodiak problem, a challenging workplace and trying to drum up a love-life around those issues. The drama comes when her work and personal lives clash head-on as she has to bodyguard (babysit) a visiting fae while she's trying to kick

This is my first read in more than a week and it didn't disappoint. JUST LOOK AT THAT COVER. We have a funny heroine that has zero filter. I didn't expected that because I thought it would be serious!paranormal. I like the tone of the story. It hits you on the right spot. The writing rivals Gail Carriger's trademark quirkiness along with Zen Cho's outrageous characterization. It's the perfect short story to get you out of a reading funk.We have a bisexual fat woc for a main character. I really l...

Thank you, Book Smugglers Publishing, for my eARC of Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw and the chance to read and review the book early.I love Bearly a Lady and the main character Zelda McCartney. This book is funny, cute and sexy. It is impossible not to enjoy the characters and their banter, chemistry, and tension. I love the world Cassandra Khaw has created, with shapeshifters, vampires, and fae etc., and I want to see more of it. Seriously, give me more of both the main ship and the world. Not...

*4.5 stars*Sparkly, effervescent fun, like Bridget Jones with shapeshifters! I utterly adored Zelda's voice and her were-bear power, and I loved the way she took pride in her size and strength. I had a couple of tiny nitpicks with her treatment of Janine, but they were small and subjective, and I really enjoyed the whole story. In fact, it absolutely saved me on one particularly stressful weekend! This novella is a fabulous mix of witty British chick-lit with paranormal romance, and I'd love to

DNF at 9%The beginning of this book made me uncomfortable. It felt like the reader was being encouraged to laugh at the MCs fatness. I asked around for reviews written by fat reviewers & found this one, which confirmed that this was likely going to be my reading experience for the rest of the book: https://smallqueerbigopinions.wordpre...I may give this another try at some point, but am DNFing for now.

Thank you Cassandra Khaw to the moon and back for the eARC!I wouldn't have known about this book if not for Sil from The Book Voyagers, so thank you as well!Bearly a Lady immediately captured my interest from the prologue, where we meet Zelda in the form of a bear. I absolutely adored reading from the first person POV of Zelda, a werebear who turns a bit, well, hairy (and beary) once every month. She also works at Vogue as a temp, although keeps her werebear heritage under wraps. The author writ...

Khaw's sense of humor, which underlays her Rupert Wong novellas, is on full display here, but, in a change from her usual style, mated to a bubbly and fun paranormal romcom with a gloriously and unapologetically fat werebear protagonist navigating love and desire for a few different possible love interests. It took me about an hour to read, and it never stopped being both fun and funny, and it's sweet without being saccharine.

Possibly 3.5. I enjoyed this book - it was a lot of fun, and it read bloody fast. Extremely quick, actually, especially after just DNFing a book because it was moving at a glacial pace.I loved Zelda, I loved Zora, I loved Janine. At some points, I really loved the unique voice, the interesting language construction...at others, it was a bit of a parentheses overload, and a lot of didn't seem to like it needed to be in brackets. Then there was the strange bits of dialogue where the use of full st...

***4.5 Stars***Many thanks to Cassandra Khaw for providing me with a eGalley of Bearly a Lady in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.I'll have a mini review for Bearly a Lady on my blog LairOfBooks later today but gahhhh! why is this only a novella?!?!? I need MORE! This was the perfect start of summer read filled with diversity. I'm in love with the main protagonist Zelda a plus sized bisexual fashionista Werebear *heart eyes* I'm going to need more paranormal rom-coms in my

An egalley was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.Bearly a Lady was such a funny and lovely novella. It has lots of content even though it's a novella. I loved every second of it and you all will enjoy it when you pick it up BECAUSE OFC YOU HAVE TO PICK IT UP!!→ Bi woman of color as MC→ She's also a werebear!!!→ Her roomie is a vampire, and they have the best relationship wow → Her neighbor is a werewolf who works at a zoo and she has had a big crush...

This was an entirely different experience to These Deathless bones - it's actually really exciting when I find an author I love who can speak in such different voices but maintain such high quality."You're not plus-sized. Well, you are. For a human. But you're also actually quite a small bear."This is a fairly short novella, but it builds up an interesting world - one full of were-creatures (including pandas!) and leafy fae, and vampires who will sacrifice dates with two bisexual firemen to help...