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Love and Other Disasters
RECOMMENDED: Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly is $2.99! Tara and Carrie did a joint review and gave it a B+:
Tara: Overall, I really enjoyed this one! Dahlia and London were such wonderful characters, and I’m a big fan of cooking shows, so I know I’ll be reading Love and Other Disasters again. I’ll just be sure to stock snacks next time, because reading about so much amazing food made me hungry.
Carrie: I was delighted with this book overall. The supporting characters were fun (or loathsome, as the plot demanded). The character development was realistic and powerful. The romance was sexy and I can totally picture Dahlia and London as an old couple on a porch somewhere — I was invested in them for the long haul. This will be one of my comfort re-reads for sure!
The first openly nonbinary contestant on America’s favorite cooking show falls for their clumsy competitor in this delicious romantic comedy debut that USA Today hailed as “an essential read.”
Recently divorced and on the verge of bankruptcy, Dahlia Woodson is ready to reinvent herself on the popular reality competition show Chef’s Special. Too bad the first memorable move she makes is falling flat on her face, sending fish tacos flying—not quite the fresh start she was hoping for. Still, she’s focused on winning, until she meets someone she might want a future with more than she needs the prize money.
After announcing their pronouns on national television, London Parker has enough on their mind without worrying about the klutzy competitor stationed in front of them. They’re there to prove the trolls—including a fellow contestant and their dad—wrong, and falling in love was never part of the plan.
As London and Dahlia get closer, reality starts to fall away. Goodbye, guilt about divorce, anxiety about uncertain futures, and stress from transphobia. Hello, hilarious shenanigans on set, wedding crashing, and spontaneous dips into the Pacific. But as the finale draws near, Dahlia and London’s steamy relationship starts to feel the heat both in and outside the kitchen—and they must figure out if they have the right ingredients for a happily ever after.
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Stormsong
Stormsong by C.L. Polk is $2.99! This is book two in the Kingston Cycle series, which is set in an Edwardian Era-inspired, magical England. I would say these books tackle darker themes than the picturesque, wintry covers imply, so check for content warnings.
After spinning an enthralling world in Witchmark, praised as a “can’t-miss debut” by Booklist, and as “thoroughly charming and deftly paced” by the New York Times, C. L. Polk continues the story in Stormsong. Magical cabals, otherworldly avengers, and impossible love affairs conspire to create a book that refuses to be put down.
Dame Grace Hensley helped her brother Miles undo the atrocity that stained her nation, but now she has to deal with the consequences. With the power out in the dead of winter and an uncontrollable sequence of winter storms on the horizon, Aeland faces disaster. Grace has the vision to guide her parents to safety, but a hostile queen and a ring of rogue mages stand in the way of her plans. There’s revolution in the air, and any spark could light the powder. What’s worse, upstart photojournalist Avia Jessup draws ever closer to secrets that could topple the nation, and closer to Grace’s heart.
Can Aeland be saved without bloodshed? Or will Kingston die in flames, and Grace along with it?
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Wildwood Whispers
Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece is $1.99l! I mentioned this one on a previous Hide Your Wallet. It reminded me a bit of one of my favorite books, Garden Spells, but with some darker tones. Have you read this one?
A heartwarming novel of hope, fate, and folk magic unfolds when a young woman travels to a sleepy southern town in the Appalachian Mountains to bury her best friend.
“Dark, tender, and thought-provoking, Wildwood Whispers is a beautifully woven tale of fantasy, feminism, and mystery set in rural Appalachia.” —Constance Sayers, author of A Witch in Time
At the age of eleven, Mel Smith’s life found its purpose when she met Sarah Ross. Ten years later, Sarah’s sudden death threatens to break her. To fulfill a final promise to her best friend, Mel travels to an idyllic small town nestled in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains. Yet Morgan’s Gap is more than a land of morning mists and deep forest shadows.
There are secrets that call to Mel, in the gaze of the gnarled and knowing woman everyone calls Granny, in a salvaged remedy book filled with the magic of simple mountain traditions, and in the connection, she feels to the Ross homestead and the wilderness around it.
With every taste of sweet honey and tart blackberries, the wildwood twines further into Mel’s broken heart. But a threat lingers in the woods—one that may have something to do with Sarah’s untimely death and that has now set its sight on Mel.
The wildwood is whispering. It has secrets to reveal—if you’re willing to listen…
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Sweet Talk
Sweet Talk by Cara Bastone is 99c! This is book two in the Love Lines series, which I believe has romances that occur over the phone. I also think this might have been an Audible Original first. Bastone’s romances are frequently recommended, but I haven’t given them a try yet. Any thoughts on where to start?
Stay up all night with this funny, surprising romantic comedy from Audie Award-nominee Cara Bastone — scripted exclusively for audio!
It’s officially booty o’clock, I’m alone again in my kitchen choking down a slice of terrible chocolate cake…and I’m pretty sure I just got drunk texted by the man I have a ginormous crush on.
I’ve been daydreaming about Eliot Hoffman’s dimples for two months, and even though I’m sure this was a mistake on his end, it doesn’t mean it’s not an opportunity on mine. It’s the middle of the night, and I just wanna talk to him. So I text him back.
And then somehow we keep talking…ALL NIGHT. We’re both insomniacs, so talking all night soon turns into talking EVERY night.
And talking about nothing soon turns into talking about something.
And here we go from in-depth analysis of reality TV to my relationship with my family to his amazing artwork. There’s no topic we don’t cover…
Except for who I really am. It’s the only question of his I won’t answer.
As my crush turns into an avalanche of Eliot, I think of him all the time now. But if he knew who I was, the entire house of cards we’ve built this relationship on would come toppling down. I want him to be mine, but we might never be more than just a sweet dream….
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XENI: A Marriage of Inconvenience (Loose Ends Book 2) by Rebekah Weatherspoon is $.99 on Amazon US today. This title was recommended on this site some time ago, and has been hanging out on my Wishlist waiting for a price drop. Thought I’d share in case anyone else was interested in a heavy-set bag-pipe-playing hero.
@Bunnifur I remember richly enjoying Xeni. It launched me on a Rebekah Weatherspoon glom and moved her to my autobuy list.
Yes, SWEET TALK began life as an Audible original. I have loved all of Cara Bastone’s work (with the exception of LOVE AT FIRST PSYCH, which I merely liked, the previous three Audible originals, including SWEET TALK, were more charming)–they’re the kinds of romances that get deeper and deeper as they go along. A couple of her early ones I didn’t realize the impact they’d had on me until I found myself thinking about the characters long after finishing the novels. I’m not a fan of pregnant main character romances, but I’d highly recommend the just-released READY OR NOT, or any of the LOVE LINES shorts or of her FOREVER YOURS series.
Real, relatable characters with intense and believable problems AND romances.
Thirding the “XENI” love. Also really love Anita Kelly (but so far I’ve only read “Love & Other Disasters” and “Something Wild & Wonderful”) and Cara Bastone (still waiting for “Love at First Psych” to come out on ebook, though). Def enjoyed the AD/HD rep in “Sweet Talk,” though some of the reviews for “Ready or Not” have me nervous :/
Seconding the praise for Cara Bastone’s FOREVER YOURS series. I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting more than a few chapters into romances for awhile, and that series was the rare bright spot that not only earned a permanent spot on my shelves but reminded me why I read romance.
The characters feel like real people, messy but lovely, and the relationships feel very organic. One of the biggest problems I’m having with romance is that almost everything I read seems like a collection of stitched together tropes? and this doesn’t work for me. There are tropes in Bastone’s books, because you can’t write anything without them, but she uses a lighter touch, so they’re in the background rather than the dominant force of story and character. I completely agree with @Neile that Bastone’s books are unusually memorable — I find myself thinking about them periodically too, and there are relatively few romances I think about after reading — and I think that’s part of why.
I really liked LOVE & OTHER DISASTERS. 🙂
I really liked Love & Other Disasters, too. Smart, funny, charming, tasty.