The Mysterious Charms of Arthur Pepper is a fast read, and the characters in the story move through grief and the process of beginning life again. The titular hero – and “titular” is one of my favorite words btw – also learns to become who he wants to be now, instead of existing in a sort of holding pattern following the sum of his habits and obeying the expectations of those around him. Arthur Pepper’s … Continue reading The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick →
12 Reasons Why I Love Her is a graphic novel that describes the romance between Gwen and Evan. Sadly, I loathed both Gwen and Evan so very, very much, that I am presenting this review as “10 Reasons Why I Hated This.” Why ten and not twelve? Because coming up with twelve things just seemed too bitter. Includes spoilers. This is described as “a romance graphic novel told in twelve individual vignettes” but it does … Continue reading 12 Reasons Why I Love Her by Jamie S. Rich and Joelle Jones →
When I first heard about Choose Your Own Love Story, I was so pumped for this. I wore out nearly every Choose Your Own Adventure book my school’s library had when I was a kid. So combine that with some romance and I wanted to get my hands on this immediately. Unfortunately, the introduction of the concept was the only thing I liked about the book. The basic premise is that your long term boyfriend has … Continue reading Choose Your Own Love Story by Ilyse Mimoun →
The Bollywood Bride is Sonali Dev’s second novel. We were crazy about her first novel, A Bollywood Affair . The Bollywood Bride is more ambitious in emotional scope and much darker. It has the same joyful celebration of Indian and Indian-American culture that made Bollywood Affair so much fun – there’s a lot of food, extended family, and shopping for saris and sherwanis. Overall, though, the book works less well as a romance than it does as an … Continue reading The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev →
Once upon a time, the best selling comics weren’t about superheroes – they were romance anthologies. You can find my review of a collection of the oldest romance comics line, Young Romance, here. These romance comics were unabashedly soapy and melodramatic, but not very diverse. Now we have a new romance comic magazine, Fresh Romance. In my review of the first issue, I said that the first issue was too short but that the stories … Continue reading Fresh Romance #2, Ed. by Janelle Asselin →
When people think of comic books today, they usually think of superheroes. But in the 1940’s through the 1970’s, romance comics were just as well known as superhero comics, if not more so. Most of the stories were told from the perspective of the heroine but were written and illustrated by men. The content of the stories fluctuated with social mores and with the rise of the Comics Code Authority, but the romances were always … Continue reading Fresh Romance, Ed. by Janelle Asselin →
Rainbow Rowell is one of those authors who always seems to attack my emotions directly, when I’m not looking. I love her use of unconventional characters, and I love that even though the character’s lives are imperfect, they get to find love anyway. Landline is not Rainbow Rowell’s best book. But through a combination of skill and serendipity the book managed to turn me into a gibbering mess. I’m not sure I’d call it “good” … Continue reading Landline by Rainbow Rowell →
Courtney Milan is well-known (and, on this site, much adored) for her Victorian romances. Trade Me is Milan’s first contemporary and once the Bitches finished knocking each other over on the way to an ARC, we commenced to raving about the book on email and now we are raving publicly because this book is pretty darn sublime. The basic sum up of the plot is this – Blake and Tina are two college students. Blake … Continue reading Trade Me by Courtney Milan →
Top Five is a romantic comedy that succeeds more as a comedy (with a lot of drama) than as a romance. Viewers should know that this is a very, very “R” rated comedy that tackles subjects of race, sexuality, addiction, and creative identity in powerful and profane ways. They should also know that the movie is freaking hysterical. Top Five has a “one crazy night” structure (actually it’s one crazy night and one crazy day). … Continue reading Top Five →
I loved the trailer for the Annie remake, and I was poised to love the movie itself, but I found myself with a huge case of what TV Tropes calls “They Changed It, Now It Sucks.” I loved Quvenzhané Wallis. I think she should be in everything from now on, as long as it doesn’t interfere with her physical and emotional health. If there is a film with a role for a child, cast her. … Continue reading Annie (2014) →
Scribd is a digital library ebook service that offers more than half a million titles for $8.99 a month. Sounds great, right? I thought so, and then I was bitterly, bitterly disappointed. I was offered a three-month trial when the news of Harlequin's exclusive deal with Scribd was announced, so I figured, why not? (NB: You can also get a three month free trial of Scribd at this URL using the promocode ScribdLovesHarlequin.) I downloaded … Continue reading Review: Scribd – A Digital Subscription Service →
