The Ripped Bodice is back with another round of Summer Romance Bingo. The link above contains explanation of the rules, plus a printable copy of their bingo board. Additionally, you can check out their helpful tweet:
Bingo is BACK!!
Kick off your summer of reading today!Downloadable cards, rules, recommendations and more are at:https://t.co/zsNUoMryHu#RippedBodiceBingo pic.twitter.com/im9N4b1zEW
— The Ripped Bodice (@TheRippedBodice) June 1, 2018
We’ll be playing along in our Goodreads group and helping one another out with recommendations. You can also follow The Ripped Bodice on Twitter for more recs. If you’re not on Goodreads, that’s okay! We’ll be giving some suggestions here and opening it up to the Bitchery for further help in the comments.
Not all of the square themes are listed below as some can really only be found while reading like Hero Smells Like “MAN” and Heroine’s Eyes Are Described Using the Ocean.
For the recs, we’re pulling from books that have been mentioned here on SBTB, are well-known, or have been recommended to us!
Soccer/Futbol
The most obvious choice is Kulti by Marianna Zapata. ( A | BN | K )
Keeping Score by Sara Rider ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) has a soccer playing heroine.
MacRieve by Kresley Cole ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is a paranormal romance that also has a soccer playing heroine, but the sports aspect isn’t a huge part of the book.
Additional resources include our Rec League on Athlete Heroines and a huge list from Lacy Literacy.
Fairy Tale Retelling
Did you know we have a huge “theme” list in our database and retellings are part of it? But also, you probably can’t throw a rock without hitting some fairy tale elements in a romance.
Sonali Dev’s latest – A Distant Heart ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is a Rapunzel retelling.
Elyse enjoyed The Seafarer’s Kiss, which is a F/F retelling of The Little Mermaid.
Bollywood and the Beast by Suleikha Snyder ( A | BN | K | AB ) received an A- grade!
Forced Proximity
Stuck together for a weekend? Or out of necessity, like inclement weather? It all counts!
We did a Rec League for this way back when, though it focused more on being stranded during bad weather.
Sarah and I just read Grumpy Fake Boyfriend, which has the hero and heroine faking a relationship while away at a wedding.
Haven by Rebekah Weatherspoon ( A | BN | K ) has the hero and heroine sharing a cabin for a limited time. I’ve read this one and content warning for trauma.
Firefighters
I mostly enjoyed Playing with Fire by Kate Meader ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and gave it a B- in a Lightning Review.
We recently had a great guest review of Strike a Match, which is a lesbian romance.
If you’re really looking for something hot, try Hot Head by Damon Suede ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Young Adult Paranormal
This one was a little tough because there’s a fine line between fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal.
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is a tried and true suggestion, if you didn’t read it for last year’s bingo.
We had a Keeper Shelf squee of a YA historical paranormal called The Dark Days Club.
Jennifer Estep writes a paranormal YA series that has mythology and magic. Start with Touch of Frost ( A | K | G | AB | Au | Scribd ).
Carriage Sex
I’m not well-versed in carriage sex or historical romances in general, but this HaBO thread might be of use!
Fashionista
Cherry in The Princess Trap ( A ) would definitely qualify!
Set at a Summer Camp
The Time of His Life by Jamie Wesley ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is a contemporary romance that features adults at summer camp for a Get Your Groove Back weekend.
Sarah was really excited for Nothing Happened ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which is a retelling of Much Ado About Nothing at a summer camp.
Enemies to Lovers
Sarah just recently finished and loved Making Up by Lucy Parker! ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Mister McHottie ( A ) was a book I saw recommended on Twitter by Elisabeth Lane of Cooking Up Romance.
Redheadedgirl read and enjoyed Bedchamber Games by Tracy Anne Warren.
Mermaids
Once again, we’re recommending The Seafarer’s Kiss ( A | BN | K | AB )! Read it, already!
Elyse and I read Into the Drowning Deep ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which had killer mermaids. There were a couple romance threads, but it’s more horror/thriller.
Extreme Location
Elyse and I heard about M.K. Schiller’s Kiss the Sky ( A | BN | K | G | AB )at RT in Reno. Both the hero and heroine are climbing K2. Elyse bought it on the spot.
Queer + Historical
Whew, boy. We have a lot of recommendations for this one!
You can’t go anything wrong with books by Cat Sebastian or KJ Charles! Try It Takes Two to Tumble ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) or Wanted, a Gentleman.
Bound with Love by Megan Mulry ( A | BN | K | AB ) is a queer historical with a central lesbian romance.
Mackenzi Lee’s The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) was recently on sale.
Hero Named Harry
More KJ Charles! A Fashionable Indulgence ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) has a Harry.
Courting the Countess by Jenny Frame is a lesbian romance that has a heroine who goes by Harry.
The Trouble with Harry by Katie MacAlister ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) – it’s in the name!
Book That is Now a Movie
The best way to include a romance in this category is to use books picked up by PassionFlix!
The Trouble with Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), which Elyse absolutely loved!
Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre ( A | BN | AB )
There’s also The Matchmaker’s Playbook by Rachel van Dyken ( A ).
Pre-Renaissance
The Warlord’s Wife was favorably reviewed here and takes place in 12th century Sweden.
The Bride by Julie Garwood ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is a huge favorite of mine. If you haven’t read it, do so!
Time Travel
Outlander ( A | K | G | AB | Au ) is an obvious choice for those looking to read it.
Beautiful Wreck by Larissa Brown earned a B+ here!
Elyse could not stop talking about Passenger by Alexandra Bracken ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ), if you happen to enjoy YA.
If you enjoy mystery elements, why not try Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.
Tech in the Big City
Playing with Matches ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) features dating apps and was recently mentioned by Sarah in June 2018’s Hide Your Wallet post.
Love on My Mind by Tracey Livesay ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) has a tech CEO/computer genius hero.
Heroine is Older Than the Hero
Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren is such a great book and I loved every bit of it.
On Pointe by Shelly Ellis ( A ) has a ballet dancer and Redheadedgirl recommends it.
I made a cocktail for The Idea of You, but be warned that it ends on a cliffhanger and not exactly happily.
Return to Hometown
I really love Alice Clayton’s Hudson Valley series and you can’t go wrong with Nuts ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
We had a squee for this lesbian contemporary romance – Strawberry Summer ( A | BN | K | AB )
Just a Girl by Ellie Cahill was a book Elyse liked and features a rockstar heroine who returns home after getting kicked out of her band.
Damsel in Distress
I blanked really badly on this one, though I’m sure there are tons of “down on her luck” heroines. Blame the allergies.
Are you playing this summer? What books would you recommend for filling out a bingo card?
Clare London’s m/m ROMANCING THE UGLY DUCKLING (which I loved) has a fashion stylist as one hero–works for Fashionista as well as Fairy Tale Retelling.
Running with Lions by Julian Winters comes out June 19. It’s mm ya set at soccer camp – so it could count as soccer or summer camp.
For YA paranormal (with a romance subplot), there’s The Mediator series by Meg Cabot. Suze is a high school girl transplanted from NYC to Carmel, CA when her mother remarries. There’s a handsome young man living in her bedroom who is a ghost. Suze can see him because she’s a Mediator, someone with the gift of interacting with ghosts and tasked with helping them move on, whether they want to or not. Lots of fun!
I second the old school romance “Shanna” for a carriage sex scene. Although old school, I have always liked this book because it reverses the typical trope of the hero who is terrible to the heroine – here Shanna is horrible to Roark. (She trades her virginity for a secret marriage and then doesn’t deliver! She has him kidnapped by men who turn out to be pirates!)
For M/M historical I would like to suggest an author who hasn’t been mentioned yet – Joanna Chambers. She wrote a trilogy about a couple in Scotland: “Provoked”, “Beguiled” and “Enlightened”. The MC’s are a lawyer and a nobleman and it is set in the 1820’s.
Katharine Ashe’s The Prince compares the heroine’s eyes to the sea. Official ruling, is that cheating for oceanic descriptors?
Baby Come Back by M. O’Keefe has that stock photo of the tattoo arm holding a baby on the cover. That square is hurting me though
Black Hawk- Enemies to Lovers, Birds involved, Damsel in Distress (poisoned), Extreme Location (if the Napoleonic Wars and Paris during the revolution count?)
@Amelia: The Ripped Bodice team said to use your own judgment in fulfilling categories; I doubt anyone will debate you on which books you choose! I personally think “sea” qualifies.