The Donut Trap is a New Adult romance with strong coming of age themes. Jasmine’s parents sacrificed and suffered so that their children would have better lives, but at times, Jasmine feels like she and her brother are the sacrifices. They feel bowed down under a weight of expectation and obligation, and the result is that they both resort to hiding important parts of their lives from their parents. A year or so after finishing … Continue reading The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu →
Hana Khan Carries On is part epistolary, part coming of age story, and all heart. Hana, aka AnaBGR, an aspiring broadcast producer, podcaster, and storyteller, is struggling on several fronts. There’s the difficulty in breaking into broadcast in general, there’s her racist boss who presumes to be #woke, her family’s struggling restaurant, plus her sister’s risky pregnancy. What she definitely did NOT need on this list was Mr. Silver Shades to come sauntering in with … Continue reading Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin →
By Wingèd Chair is a young adult coming-of-age fantasy romance novel which plays with the Robin Hood story and takes it in some interesting new directions. Set in a fantasy world that has both medieval European and Victorian steampunk elements, the backdrop to the story is the unjust rule of Duke John, who has somehow disposed of his elder brother and now rules the country with the aid of the Sheriff and his Peacekeepers, who … Continue reading By Wingèd Chair by Kendra Merritt →
Reading Red, White & Royal Blue is an excellent reminder about why a couple’s chemistry isn’t the only thing that matters in a romance. This book has received positive buzz, and for good reason: the enemies-to-lovers romance is swoonworthy, the banter is witty and laugh-out-loud funny, and the epistolary aspect is a delightful surprise. Despite how much I enjoyed the relationship between Alex (the son of the American president) and Henry (a British prince), there … Continue reading Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston →
Let’s Talk About Love is a romance novel with an asexual heroine (specifically, a bi-romantic asexual heroine). Alice, the heroine, is a university student whose parents want her to become a lawyer, a career in which she has no interest. She has two best friends, Feenie and Ryan, who are engaged to each other, and she struggles with feeling like the third wheel. She also struggles with romantic relationships because she doesn’t want to come … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann →
I was pretty excited to start reading Wanderlust. Roni Loren is an author I’ve been wanting to check out for a while–I know she has another series about sex therapists that sounds super interesting, and by all accounts H-O-T. I am also a sucker for a rock star book of any kind. Write about a hot guy who expresses his feelings through music, and I am probably going to be here for it. So when … Continue reading Wanderlust by Roni Loren →
I think everybody who reads romance has one or twelve tropes that are not their cup of tea. For some it could be the unrequited love plot or the friends to lovers one. I only have two: spies and love triangles. Guess what? No James Bonds in this book. So, I was quite determined to start reading it. For me, love triangles have only two outcomes: a polyamory situation or some character gets hurt. The former is … Continue reading Tell Me How This Ends by Victoria De La O →
Beautiful Burn by Jamie McGuire is an angsty New Adult romance that takes some of the tropes prevalent in the subgenre and flips them upside-down. Generally speaking, I’m still iffy on New Adult: to me it often feels artificially dark, with characters (generally the hero) who seem “broken” for no good reason. Beautiful Burn has that darkness, but provides a satisfying context for it. It also deals with substance abuse in a serious and thoughtful way. It’s a … Continue reading Beautiful Burn by Jamie McGuire →
Oh how I enjoyed Seven Nights to Surrender by Jeanette Grey. It’s a lovely travel romance with incredibly hot, empowering sex scenes. It plays on some of the New Adult tropes I typically hate–Hero With Tragic Past Who Cannot Love, for example–but it does them well. I was so prepared to give this book an A complete with confetti cannon… and then…and then…. CLIFFHANGER. I mean, I’m trying to be fair here. I even consulted … Continue reading Seven Nights to Surrender by Jeanette Grey →
Fighting to be Free by Kirsty Moseley is an over-the-top, angsty, dark New Adult novel. I know that all appeals to a lot of readers, but it didn’t work for me. It also features a seventeen-year-old heroine and an eighteen-year-old hero, but it is NOT YA. I repeat, NOT YA. It’s basically a “boy from the wrong side of the tracks meets poor little rich girl” with humping and sadness. The humping is explicit and … Continue reading Fighting to be Free by Kirsty Moseley →
At its core, this book deals with serious issues: the aftermath of domestic violence, the terror that stalking can create, and the challenges a woman has in reclaiming her body after abuse. If you find any of these triggering, this is not the series for you, as recovery from domestic violence is a thread that weaves throughout the novels. Scarlett Cole works very hard to treat these issues with the intensity and seriousness they deserve. … Continue reading The Strongest Steel by Scarlett Cole →
