Content warnings: Both the hero and heroine have troubled pasts, including loss of parents, abuse, and infidelity. Also, the hero is REALLY into researching suicide cults. While this book is surprisingly sweet and light, and none of these things are described in detail, there is plenty of darkness in the backstory, so proceed accordingly. I took one look at the blurb for Beach Read on NetGalley and one-clicked so hard that they could probably hear … Continue reading Beach Read by Emily Henry →
Sometimes a series is just exactly what you thought it was going to be and what you were looking for, and the josei manga series You’re My Pet! was that for me. This 14-volume manga series is comedic, soap-operatic, a little weird, romantic, and hopeful. While I can’t say it’s flawless, I nonetheless loved it. This series was originally released in the US as Tramps Like Us in the 2000s by Tokyopop (although I think … Continue reading You’re My Pet by Yayoi Ogawa →
I took a chance on this book because it has a dog in it, and for the most part the chance paid off. It took a lot to make me laugh during the first days of Sacramento’s stay-at-home Covid-19 prevention policy, and while this book did the trick despite discussing a hefty amount of trauma, I need to stress some TW/CW for public hostage situations, death by gun, ableism, and domestic violence. Our story begins … Continue reading Butterfly Bayou by Lexi Blake →
Content warning: Manipulative / borderline abusive families; heroine was married at 17 to a man in his mid-twenties and that relationship was also manipulative and possibly more than borderline abusive, though we see very little of it on the page. This is a fun, gentle romance that will make you hungry. Rosalie is a young, recently divorced, single mother who returns home to live with her own mother because she is out of options, and … Continue reading Love’s Recipe by Mila Nicks →
CW: The story includes discussion of past experiences of child abuse, attempted murder, and kidnapping. Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai is full up with tropes that I’m sure are a lot of people’s favs—there’s a romance between a bodyguard and the woman he’s hired to protect! Forced proximity! Cute stray dog! Former soldier struggling to manage his PTSD! A marriage of convenience! Friends to lovers! Small town! Millionaire former celebrity looking to live a … Continue reading Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai →
Unsurprisingly my anxiety is trending moderate to high right now, so I’ve been turning more and more to romance novels to quiet my mind. At any other time, I think I would have been a little more critical or at least skeptical of the depiction of wealth and class in Kylie Scott’s The Rich Boy, but today the idea of a Cinderella story is immensely appealing to me. Being with a super rich dude who … Continue reading The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott →
This book knocked me sideways with its charm, but nuts and bolts were falling apart for me from the second half. By the end I was infuriated with how some things were mishandled and other fucked up things were shoehorned in. A lot of what’s good about this book was really good, but the things that didn’t work for me downgraded my experience a lot. Matzah Ball Surprise is about Gaby and Levi who both … Continue reading Matzah Ball Surprise by Laura Brown →
If I Never Met You is a sweet, but very angsty, fake-relationship romance that is let down terribly by its advertising and blurb: If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real? When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and … Continue reading If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane →
Content Warning: Sexual Harassment, #MeToo and the costs of reporting Undercover Bromance is an enemies to lovers story that plays with traditional romantic tropes in some clever ways. I have very mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed reading it, and I think it was trying to do some fairly interesting and ambitious things. And it succeeded in some of them; the recurring theme of fantasy/perfection as a romantic hero versus the authenticity/respect for … Continue reading Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams →
CW: Homophobia, racism, toxic family, disordered eating Big Girl Pill is the first book I’ve picked up in a long time where I didn’t bother to read the blurb before diving in. Even though the cover doesn’t do it for me, I wasn’t concerned because I’ve enjoyed KD Williamson’s other books (she’s most known for a series where she pairs up doctors and police officers, which is like catnip for many an f/f romance reader). … Continue reading Big Girl Pill by KD Williamson →
We have another review from Carole B! If you missed her amazing review of Hearts on Hold, have a look! Carole B. is a Jamaican immigrant, a lover of politics and popular culture, a Tar Heel by way of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism, and a die hard, unrepentant bookworm. She teaches, researches and writes about media and society, politics, and public opinion. She’s most interested in … Continue reading Guest Review: House Rules by Ruby Lang →
