The Ripped Bodice is back with another round of Summer Romance Bingo. Visit their site for a printable bingo card and rules on how to win prizes!
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.
We only skipped two categories that we’ll also take recs for:
- Midsummer Ball
- Broken Nose
For the recs, we’re pulling from books that have been mentioned here on SBTB, are well-known, or have been recommended to us!
Dumped at a Wedding
Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa [bookslug=”worst-best-man”] definitely fits and was Aarya’s pick for Ready Set Go: Funny Romances.
Aarya also recommends Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran. ( A | BN | K | AB )
Apple Orchard
Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen, ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) of course! So good!
Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon ( A | BN | K | AB ) also has some scenes set at apple orchards.
“Uniquely Like Themselves”
Though this is something you’d most likely discover while reading, there are both passages in The Kiss Quotient and To Have and to Hoax that would work!
Only One Bed
The most obvious choice is A Week to be Wicked By Tessa Dare. ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au | Scribd ) Highly recommend this one!
Worst Best Man also fits, but remember, only one book per square!
The Lord I Left by Scarlett Peckham has a “only one bed” scene, but the setup does require knowledge of previous books.
Adriana Herrera’s holiday novella, Mangos and Mistletoe, also works!
On a Boat
Tara highly recommends The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall!
Bust out some Queen Bev and pick up Destiny’s Captive. ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au )
The Girl Next Door by Chelsea M. Cameron has some boat scenes.
Set on an Island
*Whispers* Technically, Manhattan is an island.
The Write Escape by Charish Reid ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) takes place in Ireland.
Aarya suggests Stealing Luna by Carla de Guzman, given its setting of a fictional island.
Suffragettes
Shouts in Courtney Milan. The Suffragette Scandal, duh.
Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore would also count for this and the debut square.
Alyssa Cole has a novella that features a suffragette: Let Us Dream ( A | BN | K | AB ).
This Rec League of Activism in Historical Romance might have a few options as well!
Secret Identity
We have an entire database entry for secret and mistaken identities!
Scoring with the Wrong Twin by Naima Simone ( A | BN | K | AB ) was recently recommended in our Underdog Twin Rec League.
There’s also the wonderfully reviewed Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas!
Pun Title
Both Maya Rodale and Suzanne Enoch have punny historical romance titles.
You, Me, U.S. by Brigitte Bautista would count.
To Have and To Hoax also fits here!
Healthcare Professional
Another archetype in our book database!
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary has been a huge favorite and fits here.
C.L. Polk’s Witchmark ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) has a doctor hero.
Bootleggers
The most obvious would be any book in the Beyond series by Kit Rocha.
Jodie Slaughter’s White Whiskey Bargain features moonshiner/bootlegger families.
Psychics
The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ), though you may benefit better in understanding this one if you read The Winter Sea first (tip from Aarya).
A lot of heroes and heroines in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series definitely qualify!
Final Frontier
So many here! Jessie Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion series. All three books were reviewed favorably.
Lots of squeeing for Effie Calvin!
If you’re in the need for a spicier recommendation, Toxic Desire by Robin Lovett is on the erotic side.
Need space recs? Check out the “Earth is Garbage, Space is Horny” podcast episode I did with Sarah.
Jewelry on Cover
The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken has a big ol’ crown on the cover.
Many early 2000s erotic romances went to Fifty Shades route so you can find a bunch with these covers from authors like Maya Banks, Lara Adrian, etc.
Ice Cream
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner has a scene in an ice cream shop.
Jackie Lau’s Baldwin Village ( A | BN | K | AB ) series as an ice cream focus.
There’s also an ice cream scene in Ruby Lang’s Open House!
Dad Jokes
This is a little tough, but we do have a single parent character archetype in our database. I have a feeling some single dads might tell a few dad jokes.
There are also some pretty corny jokes in Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn.
Debut Novel
Here are a few well-reviewed debut novels:
The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller
The Chai Factor by Farah Heron
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Accidentally in Wilderness
Whiteout by Adriana Anders is an obvious choice!
We also have a Rec League for romances where the main couple must battle the elements.
Meddling Matchmaker
Ayesha at Last has a meddling matchmaker and is a Pride & Prejudice retelling that Carrie loved.
Lara recently enjoyed Temporary Wife Temptation and that fits too!
Villain’s Love Story
There is A LOT for this one, so I recommend you check out Villains Redeemed Rec League!
Character Plays Instrument (Not piano or guitar)
Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) has a cellist.
Perhaps a book or two in Kristen Callihan’s VIP series would work, given its focus on band members, though I’ve only read the first one.
We also have a Rockstar/Musician character archetype in our database.
Violet Eyes
A classic would be The Prize by Julie Garwood ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I feel like you can’t throw a rock at Old Skool romances without hitting a violet-eyed heroine.
Mary Balogh’s A Summer to Remember ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is also a worthy option.
***
Will you be playing this summer? If you’ve played before, welcome back! Any Bitchery suggestions for the bingo categories would be so welcome!
Let me see. I never play this, because my stuff tends to be kind of all over the map, but I have suggestions so that I can live vicariously through the gameplay of others.
“Uniquely Like Themselves” – there are several references to what Gus smells like in Beach Read by Emily Henry. I think it was incense (he burns it while writing) and the occasional frustration cig even though he’s trying to quit completely.
“On A Boat” – The Windflower by Laura London, of which my paperback copy that a friend picked up for me from Romantic Times is still in storage a couple hours away (hurricane). I’ve not actually read it as a result. Also, I just finished the third season of Outlander and whichever book that’s based on (Voyager, n’est-ce pas?) would probably qualify. They get caught in a straight up hurricane.
“Set On An Island” – The House In the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
“Secret Identity” – The Earl Takes a Fancy by Lorraine Heath
“Healthcare Professional” – Butterfly Bayou by Lexi Blake
“Debut Novel” – The Kiss Quotient fits here, too.
“Final Frontier” – Oh, I got you on this one. Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray (extremely fraught romance between a member of The Rebellion and a soldier of The Empire), Nightchaser and Starbreaker by Amanda Bouchet, Strange Love by Ann Aguirre, The Illuminae trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
“Villain’s Love Story” – Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt, natch.
How fun! I’m looking forward to playing.
“Worst Best Man also fits, but remember, only one book per square!”
I think you mean “one square per book”, right?
I checked my recent reading history and here are some recommendations:
Historical – regency:
“Bootlegger” – Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah Maclean (Bareknuckle Bastards Book 1)
“Violet eyes” – Brazen and the Beast by Sarah Maclean (Bareknuckle Bastards Book 2)
Contemporary:
“Only 1 bed” – What Happens in France by Carol Wyer (Note: promoted as a “laugh out loud romantic comedy” but content warning for heroine dealing with runaway sister and elderly parent who suffers a stroke at outset of story)
…and if you can stretch “Dumped at a wedding” to “Dumped ON THE WAY to a wedding” then I recommend this opposites-attract M/M featuring younger out game developer stranded at a campground with tiny dog and older closeted conservative professor (but also a gamer!) living in an RV with big dog:
Status Update by Annabeth Albert
“Beard Science” (Penny Reid) gives the all time best discussion of violet eyes — or at least the science behind that illusion.
Islands & boats: Lisa Kleypas’s Friday Harbor series all set in the San Juan Islands (WA). if I remember correctly, the first book, “Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor,” includes a meet cute on a ferry.
Also islands and boats and a NW author, definitely Robin Hobbs “The Liveship Traders” trilogy.
In the Smythe-Smith quartet by Julia Quinn all the main characters play instruments; one is a piano but the others are violin and cello.
Don’t forget Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas for the villain category, if there’s anyone out there who hasn’t read it yet.
The hero in Meghan March’s Forge trilogy has a nose that was broken once (and it makes him sexier, of course). I’d give it a lukewarm recommendation.
Cat Sebastian has some punny titles: It Takes Two to Tumble, A Little Light Mischief, and the coming-soon Two Rogues Make a Right
The broken nose thing can be found in almost every hockey romance ever.
Only one bed
The Flatshare Beth O’Leary
Meddling Matchmaker
The Bride Test Helen Hoang
Unique smell: In Tiffany Reisz’s BDSM series Nora smells like hothouse flowers, Soren like winter and Wesley like summer.
Villain romance: Lothaire by Kresley Cole (he’s a vampire and this is a pretty boinkers Paranormal series)
Meddling Matchmaker: Daniel McGregor of Nora Roberts’ McGregor series. Some of these haven’t aged very well but the grandchildren stories are still a fond favourite
Desire by Amanda Quick (historical – fake medieval) has a heroine who makes perfume, and she mentions the way the hero smells. I feel like any Nalini Singh book featuring a changeling would work for this, too, since they frequently describe scent.
Ideal Bride by Stephanie Laurens has a Midsummer Ball.
Reetta R already mentioned the MacGregor books by Nora Roberts for the matchmaking. One of the stories in MacGregor Brides has a heroine who is a doctor, and I’m pretty sure she has violet eyes, so that one would get you whichever of those squares you need it for.
Love Hard by Nalini Singh has a scene involving ice cream and is an adorable book that I really recommend. Singh’s novella Rock Courtship is about the drummer in the band for that series, so it works for the instrument.
The Alyssa Cole novella with a suffragette is Let us Dream, not Let it Shine. Let it Shine is set in the 60s during the Civil Rights Movement.
A lot of British historical romances have scenes in Gunters shop where they eat ices – maybe that counts?
I’ve never done this bingo challenge, but had more time this year, and figured I’d try and to my shock, I’ve filled all the squares without even having to think too hard. I guess that reading addition is good for something? Here are a few categories that haven’t yet been mentioned or books I really, really liked:
Apple Orchard: STEADFAST by Sarina Bowen (my favorite of the series, and the only second-chance romance I’ve loved. Probably because it were actions of others as much as hero’s mistakes that broke them up, so I didn’t wish for the heroine to dump him and get out for the majority of the story. Like I did, for example, in Aurora Blazing, where I still think Bianca should have just moved on).
“Smelling Uniquely Like Themselves”: HOLD by Claire Kent. Such a memorable book for me, like nothing else I’ve read, a dark romance I guess, with lots of sex and fair amount of violence, but the guy is basically a really good guy who’s nearly forgotten how to be human in a horrific futuristic prison, until he meets the heroine.
On a Boat: FISH & CHIPS by Abigail Roux and Madeline Urban – it’s not the first book in a multi-book M/M suspense series, but I read this one because it’s set on a cruise ship and because I wanted to read an M/M book but not one that was solely focused on romance. I really liked it. Works for undercover/secret identity category too.
Set on an Island: PUFFIN ISLAND books by Sarah Morgan (First Time in Forever, Playing by the Greek’s Rules) – so cute!
Secret Identity: The IN SERVICE books by Sandra Antonelli (Forever in Your Service, etc.). I love reading about the adventures of the professional butler who looks like Monica Bellucci and her sexy spy.
Healthcare Professional: OPEN HEARTS by Eve Dangerfield. Found this book through this site (in the sex puppy discussion) and she’s a premie/NECU nurse. Sweet and sexy story.
Psychics: THE OTHER LADY VANISHES by Amanda Quick. A well-written and suspenseful story with a good romance. Not my favorite of the series, that’s probably Tightrope, but really good.
Jewelry on Cover: THE KINGPIN OF CAMELOT by Cassandra Gannon. I’m obsessed with this book, it’s such a sweet Beauty and the Beast retelling (with a gentle Beast who’s not really even all that growly or scary, except in his own head), intermixed with the King Midas story, humor, a little kid who’s not a plot moppet, etc. So fun.
Ice Cream: Orro’s mango ice cream in ONE FELL SWEEP by Ilona Andrews, a heart-breaking and touching moment in an incredibly good book. I love just about everything they write, but was slow to warm up to Innkeeper because the first book started out with Sean being a jerk and Dina getting too calf-eyed too quickly in my opinion. But the rest of the story was incredible, and every book after that has gotten better and better, and I love the series almost as much as Hidden Legacy and KD now. Definitely more than Edge.
Debut Novel: THE HATING GAME by Sally Thorne. Loved the story, the writing, the humor, the originality. Way to announce yourself to the world!
Accidentally in Wilderness: DRAGONBOUND by Thea Harrison. Love the writing, love Pia, who just gives it her all, tries to be the decent, supportive, honest person no matter what, and to stay true to her character instead of bending to the will of others, no matter who they are, or where she finds herself, magical other realm wilderness included. I’ve re-read this book so many times it’s embarrassing.
Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series, another favorite of mine, would also fit here. Especially A DARKNESS ABSOLUTE, where Casey gets stuck in a snowstorm.
Meddling Matchmaker: no one has mentioned Elisa Braden’s Rescued from Ruin series yet, and the Dowager Marchioness of Wallingham! Her letters at the beginning of each chapter are the highlight of some (most) of those already great books! I love all but two of those books, they’re funny, sweet, sexy, and full of supportive friendships, men who love their wives, and strong female leads. And Braden’s ANYTHING BUT A GENTLEMEN works for the broken nose category, too!
Villain’s Love Story: Ann Aguire’s PERDITION and the rest of the Dred Chronicles books (Jael was a villain in one of the Sirantha Jax books, from what I understand), and this is his redemption story. Christi Caldwell’s THE LADY WHO LOVED HIM, doing a fantastic job redeeming the Marquess of Tennison, who was a repulsive, treacherous character in several of her other interconnected books, but it turns out not all was as it seemed. And, of course, agree with everyone who mentioned Iron and Magic. Also Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypass. Can you tell I like this trope?
Midsummer ball: THE TRUTH ABOUT CADS AND DUKES by Elisa Braden, whom I already mentioned above. The heroine plans the ball to prove to her duke she can do it. And at that ball, another character falls in love with her sister, setting off the events of a future book in the series.
@OK – If you liked HOLD by Claire Kent, have you tried her novel, LAST LIGHT? It also has “Smelling Uniquely Like Themselves” and a nice, quiet, average guy. I really liked it. Possible CW, it’s post-apocalyptic following an asteroid strike.
@MaryK, thank you so much!!! I had no idea she had another book out, and it looks good. Will definitely grab it.
There Was Only One Bed: Conveniently Your by Annabeth Albert
Ice Cream: There’s an ice cream scene in The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon.
Ice cream – Stupid Love by Riley Hart – adorable frenemies to lovers mm NA romance with a “not exactly a date” to get ice cream.
Only one bed – Conventionally yours by Annabeth Albert. MM NA rivals to lovers, road trip romance.
Character plays an instrument – Love Song of Sawyer Bell by Avon Gale – ff road trip / band tour romance. Heroine plays the fiddle and joins a (punk?) band for their summer tour.
Villain’s love story –
Empty net by Avon Gale – mm hockey romance. It’s 4th in her Scoring Chances series. You don’t need to read the whole series but the redemption arc makes more sense if you read book 3. It’s very angsty and not for everyone but it worked for me.
From the Ashes by Xen Sanders – mm pnr romance with a super villain as the protagonist / narrator. I found it really unpleasant to be in his head for the first several chapters – especially when he was killing people. His redemption, when it finally came, was very satisfying, as was the romance.
Final frontier – The Slipstream Con by Reesa Herberth and Michelle Moore. MMF poly, queer Thomas Crowned Affair in space. With nanotechnology.
Jennifer Skully’s SHEER DYNAMITE features a lovable psychic. Mary Hughes’ BITING OZ and (iirc) DOWNBEAT star a flautist, and Nixie in BITING NIXIE plays the clarinet as well as the guitar. Elizabeth Hoyt’s THIEF OF SHADOWS is great for secret identity. REVIEWING LIFE by Lara Brukz redeems the villain in FIVE STAR REVIEW…it’s a lovely m/m tale. I haven’t read Rick R. Reed’s RAINIJG MEN yet (also m/m), starring the villain from CHASER.
Sigh, *RAINING* MEN. I second EMPTY NET too, not least for its aspec rep (still undecided if one hero is demi in the end or ace throughout, but it’s explored thoughtfully either way).
@Trix – that’s interesting. I (kind of sort of) identify as demi and the demi rep was my least favorite part of Empty Net. I’m happy for the rep but it seemed kind of stuck on and not very well integrated into the plot or his character. (And I was mildly annoyed that the demi character was also a survivor abuse – it’d be nice to read about a demi character in romance where it’s a feature, not a bug or a problem to be solved or something caused by a tragic background.)
@Cleo: I’ve been grappling with demisexual identity myself the past few years, so I understand. (Admittedly, it has been a while since I read EMPTY NET, but I had that problem with Jack Byrne’s ACE. As I recall, Byrne intended one hero to be demi but referred to him as ace throughout the book, which managed to muddle the plot AND upset a lot of readers. It was definitely weird that the mention of both heroes’ being assault survivors was just thrown in and never mentioned again.) I’d say Talia Hibbert’s THAT KIND OF GUY is still the best demi rep I’ve read, but in m/m there’s also Eli Easton’s THE TROUBLE WITH TONY (the comedy and whodunit don’t work for everyone, and the sex therapy angle is much more thoughtful in its sequel THE MATING OF MICHAEL, but dang it, that massage scene absolves a MULTITUDE os sins!) and Amy Aislin’s OFF THE ICE (I’ve heard mixed reactions, but I liked it and didn’t find the explanation too clunky).
@Cleo: Oh, Ann Gallagher’s ALL THE WRONG PLACES is a great m/m one for not marginalizing aspec relationships, though Zafir seems to be more strictly ace than demi…
The Aislin book is ON THE ICE, my apologies…
I am trying to do this challenge with M/M romances. One I am not sure of is suffragettes. I think that this could probably be filled mostly with Mary Balogh books. I am pretty sure te Lauren in A Summer to Remember” has violet eyes. The villain’s love story is Sir Edmund Waite and Lady Helena Stapleton, who are each villains when we meet them in earlier stories.
@regencyfan93, I’m sure you have plenty of options for Secret Identity, but KJ Charles’ Think of England definitely fits the bill…
Secret Identity:
Sherry Thomas has a few: CLAIMING THE DUCHESS (novella); LUCKIEST LADY IN LONDON; HIS AT NIGHT
Jennifer Crusie, too: GETTING RID OF BRADLEY; AGNES AND THE HITMAN; maybe CHARLIE ALL NIGHT?
Laura Florand: CHASE ME
Courtney Milan: THE DUCHESS WAR, UNVEILED
Jennifer Ashley: DEATH BELOW STAIRS series
Elizabeth Essex: ALMOST A SCANDAL
Midsummer Ball:
Oh hey. Speaking of Elizabeth Essex. She, Jennifer Ashley, Grace Burrowes and 12 others have stories in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S ROMANCE
Smells Uniquely Like:
T. Kingfisher, PALADIN’S GRACE
Laura Florand, A WISH UPON JASMINE
(perfumer heroines both)
Set on an Island:
Laura Florand again: TURNING UP THE HEAT (novella), A KISS IN LAVENDER (partly set on Corsica)
Sarah Morgan: The PUFFIN ISLAND series has been mentioned; you can play some good Bingo with that because…
Ice Cream:
Sarah Morgan, FIRST TIME IN FOREVER features the Summer Scoop ice cream shop (probably others in that series do, too)
… and:
Only One Bed:
Sarah Morgan, CHRISTMAS EVER AFTER (also part of the Puffin Island series)
You know it’s not really Summer Bingo until you’ve included a holiday romance 😉
… and more:
Secret Identity:
Alyssa Cole, A PRINCESS IN THEORY
Telekinesis:
Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dryer, and Anne Stuart, THE UNFORTUNATE MISS FORTUNES
(… because it’s also not Summer Bingo without a Halloween-y read!)
Yay bingo time!
I’ve been loving the scifi romances lately – Jessie Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion trilogy and Amanda Bouchet’s Endeavor books could fill a few squares besides the obvious Final Frontier one-
Secret Identity – Tess in Endeavor series would qualify
Debut Novel- Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
Villain’s Love Story- a bit of a stretch but Ian is an enemy to Ada in Polaris Rising and then competitor/enemy turned love interest to Bianca in Aurora Blazing
Only One Bed- in Chaos Reigning, Cat and Alex pretend to be a couple at a house party, with the required one bed situation
Other random ideas:
Reading Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan right now, and the HERO has violet eyes – that’s a fun change!
Fall by Kristen Callihan starts with an ice cream incident and it’s Jax’s book and it’s great.
For healthcare professional, a good historical rec would be Hello Stranger with Dr. Garrett Gibson, female physician.
For instruments, there’s 2/4 of Kylie Scott’s Stage Dive series – Mal (drums) or Ben (bass).
My fave ever debut novel is The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.
@regencyfan93 – Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles would also work for suffragettes. It’s an mm historical – it’s also the first in a trilogy and the hea isn’t until book 3
Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner have a great historical romance series called “Fly Me to the Moon” set during the 60s around the space program that will fit the “Final Frontier” prompt
@Bonnie and @cleo, it sounds iike this will be a KJ Charles summer.
I’m only 3 pages in and a character in The Jane Society is said to have eyes “a shade of blue almost like violet” so if this ends up having a romance in it, it can count for the prompt.
@regencyfan93 for the on a boat square Avery Cockburn Throwing Stones is M/M and is set in the world of curling. They travel by boat to the place curling stones come from.
@TheOtherWeasley, there is a series of books which take place on a matchmaking cruise chartered by Valentine’s Inc. I read the one by Ashe Winters, Shipping Orders. I might read the one by Susan Hawke, Abandoning Ship, where one MC is jilted at the altar for “dumped at a wedding”. Throwing Stones is going on my TBR list. Even if it doesn’t fit a category I still need for bingo, I like the world of curling.
COLOR OF YOU by C.S. Poe covers both ‘Apple Orchard’ and ‘Playing an Instrument that isn’t Piano or Guitar’. M/M small town romance, and I need it to be a Netlfix/Hallmark movie STAT.
THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL by Jeannie Lin is my pick for ‘Villain’s Romance’. The hero was the antagonist from the previous book.