So This Is Christmas by Josh Lanyon

So This Is Christmas

3/5. A post Adrien English mysteries (remember those? classic early commercial M/M? good god, this genre is so young but that feels like centuries ago) novella. Basically, Josh Lanyon books are the literary equivalent of the BRAT diet: inoffensive, easily digestible. Which is just where I am right now. This one is those things, but also concerned with the stuff the series never had space for, like two very different people working really hard to keep things at least a little bit functional with each other's families.

The sex scenes remain . . . not good, though.

The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois Mcmaster Bujold

The Prisoner of Limnos

3/5. Another Penric novella, this one (maybe?) concluding a trilogy about Pen's entanglement with a disgraced general and, more importantly, his widowed sister. Rather simple from a plot perspective, but the point of this one is to set up various examples of non-traditional marriages – the poly v (or possibly triad, it's unclear) is the simplest of them. It's all in aid of allowing some reflection on the prospect of marrying Pen, and thus also marrying the demon/twelve shadow personalities in his head. It's not very deep reflection, mind. This series continues to be froth more than substance, but in this case, and at this time, that's a plus.