When comes the wind that billows our words' sails?

Unveiled
by Courtney Milan

This historical romance concerns Ash Turner, who has just succeeded in his quest to take down the Dalrymple family, his distant and aristocratic cousins whose dying patriarch whose refusal to help the Turners resulted in tragedy. He is determined to ensure that his brothers never want for anything again. Ash discovered that the senior Dalrymple's marriage was secretly bigamous, thus rendering his two sons and daughter bastards, cut off from their fortune and prospects. As an appeal wends its way through the courts, Ash arrives at the Dalrymple's manor to prepare to assume the title. There he finds himself drawn to Margaret, Dalrymple's nurse. However, Margaret is in reality Dalrymple's daughter, posing as a nurse out of duty to her father and to take the measure of Turner in hopes of finding something that will help convince the courts to rule in her family's favor. But she is just as drawn to Ash, and passion sparks between them. But their secrets and conflicting loyalties stand in the way of their being together.
I really loved this romance. Milan is truly the best historical romance writer out there. Ash is such an admirable hero - aside from being bold and perceptive, he is fierce in his care and defense of those he loves. I adored the way he truly saw and valued Margaret for who she was, and how determined he was to win her while still respecting her wishes and boundaries. Margaret is as magnificent as Ash tells her she is. She's very loyal to those she loves (even when they don't deserve it), has incredible strength, and is no fool. The development of their relationship was perfectly paced, and was full of wonderful banter. I also found the resolution of their conflicting loyalties and goals to be very satisfying, especially since it is driven by Margaret and centers her desired outcome.

Wolf Rain
by Nalini Singh

This is the 18th Psy-Changeling romance, and the series continues to be consistently good. Alexei, a member of the SnowDancer wolf changeling pack rescues Memory, a Psy-Empath with unusual abilities, from the remote bunker in which she'd been held captive by a ruthless psychopath. Attraction grows betwen them and then grows into something much more. But Memory's captor is on the hunt for her, and Alexei's family history makes him wary of forming deep attachments.
I very much enjoyed this one. Like most of the Psy-Changeling novels, its a warm hug of a book. I especially liked all the reciprocity of care going on in this one. The way changeling packs care for each member, the way siblings care for each other, and especially the way Memory and Alexei care for each other and through that care heal their inner darknesses.

The Music of Africa
by J.H. Kwabena Nketia

This excellent book presents a clear and engaging overview of African music. Although written in 1974, it is still a classic and standard text. Nketia goes over the instruments, musical forms and genres, and performance practices of Africa, concentrating on the sub-Saharan regions. He alos touches on music's various functions in African societies. As someone who has been playing in a African drumming ensemble for a few years, I really appreciated getting the foundations and larger context for this music.

Golden Fool
by Robin Hobb

This is the second book in the Tawny Man trilogy. After the first book's adventure is resolved, Fitz finds himself back at court, disguised as the Fool/Lord Golden's bodyguard and serving man. In truth, Fitz has resumed his old role as spy and covert operative alongside his old mentor Chade. Prince Dutiful's proposed bride, the Narcheska from the Out Islands has arrived with her retinue, bringing ever more intrigue and machinations to the court.
While this book is very much a middle book, introducing more plot threads and character developments than it resolves, I found it very satisfying. Running through all the twists and turns of the plot is the development and re-alignment of Fitz's relationships with the Fool. Chade, Queen Kettricken, Dutiful, and Fitz's adopted son Hap. Fitz fully steps into his maturity in the context of court, and gains more agency. He also learns, poignantly, that his old friends care for and value him a great deal, no matter the purposes to which they put him in the past. They may have asked a lot of him, but they never used him. Fitz's character arc and the development of his relationships is what really makes this book.

A Notorious Vow
by Joanna Shupe

This historical romance is set in gilded Age New York. Christina is the daughter of a debit-ridden impoverished earl and countess who have taken her to the city to land a wealthy husband who can solve their financial problems. Christina is shy and dislikes the whirl of society events and begins taking walks in her reclusive neighbor's large gardens. Oliver lost his hearing as a teenager and now lives alone, working on a hearing-aid type device and avoiding social entanglements. They meet and strike up a tentative friendship. When Christina's parents attempt to force her into a marriage to a cruel and cold man, she turns to Oliver and he agrees to a marriage of convenience. But their attraction burns hot and they fall in love.
I very much enjoyed this one. Shupe does a good job with her portrayal of Oliver's deafness, how it affects him, and how 19th century New York society views him. I especially liked the way she addresses the 19th century views and practices on using sign language versus talking and lip-reading. Oliver is a very intelligent and caring person, and I liked his growth around how to have a true partnership with Christina. Christina is very relatable in that she starts out rather timid due to being under the thumb of parents who view her as little more than a means to re-establish their wealth and position. She also had some great growth around recognizing her strength and learning to assert herself. The third act conflict does veer into perhaps excessive melodrama, but that's a very small criticism for me.

These Summer Storms
by Sarah MacLean

This affecting novel concerns Alice Storm, middle daughter of Franklin Storm, a billionaire tech CEO and clearly modeled after Steve Jobs. Franklin exiled Alice from the family several years ago in response to her whistle-blowing on sexual harassment at Storm, Inc. An artist, she is now supporting herself as a painter and art teacher. When her father dies suddenly, Alice returns to the family's private island off the coast of Rhode Island for the funeral. There, she, her mother, and her siblings find themselves thrown into an inheritance game embedded in her father's will, bound to stay on the island for a week and complete their tasks or get nothing. Alice must thus face her family and her relationships with each of them while also dealing with her attraction to and growing connection with Jack, her father's second-in-command tasked with overseeing the game.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable novel. MacLean really nails the sibling and family dynamics and the dysfunction. Alice is such a great and relatable character, especially the ways she is both deeply hurt and liberated by her estrangement from her family. Jack is a good romantic lead in that he comes to deeply care about Alice in a way that is protective without being stifling. He listens and always treats Alice's concerns and feelings as important. I very much liked how the resolution of the story does not provide a perfect reconciliation between Alice and her family - some unease remains, and it feels more real that way.

Damiano's Lute
by R.A. MacAvoy

This is the second in the Damiano trilogy and takes place shortly after the first book. Damiano, having given up his magic, travels through plague-ridden Provence to Avignon, making a living by playing the lute. He is accompanied by Gaspare, a teenaged boy who is looking for his sister Evienne. In the course of his journey, Damiano witnesses the horror of the plague, regains his magic, falls in love with the Finnish witch Saara, meets the Pope, and works on his music. Despite all of these experiences, he remains fairly innocent and at times a bit naive.
Damiano's Lute provided an interesting journey through late medieval southern France. We get to see the effects of the Black Death, Avignon during the Babylonian Captivity, and meet and interesting cast of characters both old and new. However, the plot seemed a little aimless and the book a bit sparse. I liked spending time with the characters and the writing is quite good, but, even with the dramatic ending, it didn't add up to much.

Damiano
by R.A. MacAvoy

This short fantasy novel concerns Damiano Delstrego, a young man of Partestrada, a small medieval Italian city. He is a lutenist, alchemist, and witch who keeps company with the Archangel Raphael and a talking dog, Macchiata. when a band of mercenaries take over Partestrada, the denizens flee to the hills. Damiano follows them in an attempt to save them from the pursuing mercenaries and restore his city to its peaceful state. Damiano's quest leads him to dealings with Saara, a Finnish witch, and Satan as he tries to determine how to save Partestrada and its people. Damiano must reckon with the choices available to him, and their costs.
The plot of this book is fairly simple, but the writing is lovely, as is the setting. MacAvoy imagines a late medieval Italy as its people may have viewed it - populated by witches, devils, and angels and touched by their magic. Damiano's struggle to find a way to save his hometown without losing his soul is poignant. The fact that the story takes place in winter adds to the starkness of Damiano's choices and the harshness of the violence he encounters.

Atomic Anna
by Rachel Barenbaum

This excellent sci-fi novel follows three generations of Soviet Jewish women as they grapple with their family history, their personal and general traumas, and work out the secrets of time travel in order to address past mistakes so as to avert both personal and global disaster. Anna is a brilliant nuclear physicist who began working on nuclear power in the post-war USSR. Her daughter Molly grows up in America as the adoptee of Anna's closest friend Yulia and her husband. Molly is a talented artist who is determined to find success in comic books, but her life is thrown off course by a bad romance and addiction. Raisa is Molly's daughter, also raised by Yulia and her husband. She is a math prodigy who ends up probing the secrets of electromagnetic waves, gravity, and time. When the Chernobyl disaster reveals the secrets of time travel to Anna, she sets out to use her discovery to prevent the meltdown, only to find that saving her daughter and grand-daughter is just as imperative.
I really, really liked this book. The characters are wonderful - Anna, Molly, and Raisa are all brilliant and driven in their own ways. As Anna jumps through time, working to improve Molly's life, using Molly's comic books to communicate with Raisa, Barenbaum explores the questions of what to change, how much can be changed, and how saving one person and saving the world are more similar than we think. The relationships between Yulia, Anna, Molly, and Raisa explore the effects of generational trauma and the power of the mother-daughter bond. There's so much in this book, yet the plot and characters never feel overstuffed.

The Weaver and the Witch Queen
by Genevieve Gornichec

This historical fantasy novel is set in 10th century Norway and revolves around Gunnhild and the sisters Oddny and Signy who grew up together. Gunnhild dreams of power, Oddny of a quiet life, and Signy of adventure. When a seeress comes to Gunnhild's father's hall and makes a prophecy about the three girls, they become irrevocably bonded together. Gunnhild runs off with the seeress to learn witchcraft while Signy is kidnapped by raiders, leaving Oddny devastated and adrift. When Gunnhild encounters King eirik's warrior band and is subsequently reunited with Oddny, they both become wrapped up in the workings of both temporal and magical power as they work to rescue Signy. Both Gunnhild and Oddny find love in unexpected places and forge even more unexpected futures for themselves.
I enjoyed this book a lot. Gunnhild could be very frustrating sometimes, but I liked her a lot for her strength, courage, and determination. I liked the enemies to lovers trajectory of her marriage to Eirik and the ultimate strength of their partnership. I really related to Oddny, who was often overlooked but in reality a very interesting woman. She's the one with the most surprising fate. Gornichec does a great job of illuminating women's lives during the Viking age and exploring the ways they had agency and wielded power.