Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez is a YA retelling of Tristian and Isolde, and while it contains romantic elements, it is not a romance. If you know the story of Tristian and Isolde, then you know it’s not a happy story. I’m not sure what direction Perez is ultimately going to take the legend as this is the first book in a trilogy, but I walked into it knowing enough not to anticipate a HEA. … Continue reading Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez →
Happy Monday. May there be rum in your coke and strength in your heart, because tonight is the cringiest night of the cringiest show. That’s right: it’s Hometowns. Hometowns is the week when the Bachelorette meets the families of the four remaining dudes she’s chosen. This show is bad enough when it’s staged in McMansion land, but when we enter the real world and have people’s families involved…it’s painful to watch. Becca’s final four are … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelorette – Episode 8: The Cringiest Night →
Happy Bachelorette …er, Wednesday. Due to a virus or a weird fibro flare (or both) I wasn’t able to recap the live show Monday, but I do feel up to watching (and drinking) tonight. We’re down to 6 guys and off the Bahamas everyone! The dudes who make it through tonight get to go to home towns. Pour your favorite adult beverage. Honestly this episode was kind of a snooze-fest, so extra points if it’s caffeinated. … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelorette – Episode 7: Snoozefest →
How to Forget a Duke is a delightfully tropey Regency featuring a hero who goes from loveable curmudgeon to joyfully in love. It was a lovely departure from some of the truly awful heroes I’ve been encountering lately. So how tropey is it, you ask? We’ve got enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, matchmaking, and–hell yeah–amnesia. All of it works, and honestly, this romance is just so fun that it made my day. Jacinda Bourne and her sisters … Continue reading How to Forget a Duke by Vivienne Lorret →
Today was one of those days where a million little annoyances add to up to one big ‘ol “IDGAF.” I just want to sit alone, in the air conditioning, eat a fistful of allergy pills, and read my book about dinosaurs, goddamnit. Actually if you took out the allergy pills part, this would be eight-year-old Elyse’s ideal night too. Instead I’m watching The Bachelorette because unlike Arie, I honor my commitments. If, however, the Benedryl kicks … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelorette – Episode 6: What’s Your Favorite Dinosaur →
My normally mostly-under-control anxiety went through the roof last week. I bit my nails, picked my cuticles until they bled, and caught myself pulling my hair when I was sleeping. I lot of people I know seemed similarly overwhelmed and distressed at what has been going on at the southern borders of the United States, at what’s going on pretty much everywhere. My anxiety peaks when I am experiencing something emotionally distressing and I feel … Continue reading Crafting for a Cause →
Welcome to Monday. It’s the first day of the work week for me, and also the day when I come home, get drunk, and watch The Bachelorette so you don’t have to. Clearly, I love you guys. This season has been a garbage fire so far. Last week Jean Blanc gave Becca some perfume, told her he loved her, and then when she told him she didn’t feel the same way, asked for the perfume back … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelorette – Episode 5: Wayne Newton →
Wanna Bet by Talia Hibbert is a friends-to-lovers romance and it features–get this!–adults who have to do actual adulting in order to be together! Holy shit! Emotional accountability FTW! I am personally so sick of books that feature “all my emotional hangups are resolved because I want to put my dick in you!” as the solution to any internal conflict. In Wanna Bet? the hero and heroine had to do actual work on themselves in order to … Continue reading Wanna Bet? by Talia Hibbert →
Startup Fiancé by Shilpa Mudiganti is a short contemporary romance that features an arranged marriage, corporate rivals, and an enemies-to-lovers storyline. It’s a quick read, but the length inhibited all of the emotional development I craved. Arav Shetty and Nisha Jain are rivals; both are founders of successful app start-ups, Tech Notes and Note Nirvana, respectively. Reading about characters who developed note-taking apps made me realize how much my loves-planners-and-lists brain wants a good note-taking … Continue reading Startup Fiance by Shilpa Mudiganti →
In the general theme of “everything that happened in the last week was garbage, ” we need to talk about some things before I recap tonight’s Bachelorette. Contestant Lincoln Adim (you’ll remember him as the guy who was making out with a photo of Becca) was convicted of indecent assault and battery prior to the show. I put the details in a spoiler tag so if you find discussions of sexual assaults triggering or just can’t right now, … Continue reading Elyse Watches The Bachelorette – Episode 4: Straight to Rose →
I didn’t start reading Nalini Singh until her most recent book, Silver Silence, the first book in her Psy-Changeling Trinity series. I was okay starting there (enough of her world was established for me), but you really do need to read that book before you read Ocean Light. Ocean Light is a fated mate romance largely set in a sci-fi-rrific undersea base and it involves marine shifters. Shut up and take my money, right? My only … Continue reading Ocean Light by Nalini Singh →
