CW: transphobia Love and Other Disasters rides the cooking show competition wave with a romance between two contestants. In one corner, we have London, an openly nonbinary, pansexual contestant who is especially good at desserts. In the other, we have Dahlia, a queer (her word) divorcee who is great with main courses. London is quiet and reserved. Dahlia is goofy and outgoing. Will these two find love amidst the perils of cooking, competition, and reality … Continue reading Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly →
Quinn Fortune is the head of a land trust in Lost Lake, Alaska. On that land is an old gold mine. As a result, Quinn is inundated with people telling him what to do with the land. While he’s notoriously unwelcoming to Outsiders (i.e. any soul not from Lost Lake, Alaska) he is especially hostile towards those that want him to sell/change/adapt the land of which he is the custodian. Enter Violet Parrish, someone who … Continue reading Bold Fortune by M.M. Crane →
Brooke Carston is a country-pop star who’s heading home for the holidays for her first extended visit in almost a decade. Brooke wants to reconnect with her family and spend some time recharging, so romance is the last thing on her mind. And yet, when Brooke sees her childhood best friend, Nicole Livingston, it’s like no time has passed. Nicole also left Mountain Crossing after high school, but she came back after a couple of … Continue reading Silent Night by Lily Seabrooke →
A Holly, Jolly Diwali is a contemporary romance and a story about finding a place in one’s community. I really enjoyed it, but I can also see where some readers may feel the romance elements took second place to the main character’s journey of self discovery. Niki Randhawa is a first generation Punjabi-American. She’s done everything to be the perfect daughter. She stayed out of trouble as a kid, got a degree in tech, and … Continue reading A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli →
Thanksgiving is a bit shorted in the romance world. I suppose this is because some people think that fighting with your family, consuming your body weight in pie, and entering a food coma are not romantic activities. To them I say…what kind of pie are we talking about here? After all, one of the most romantic lines in all of literary history refers to Thanksgiving – I refer of course to Rose saying “He ate … Continue reading A Match Made For Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau →
You Sexy Thing involves characters, settings, themes and tropes that are pure catnip for me. One of these themes is cooking. I have therefore translated the book into a recipe so as best to convey its nature. Before we begin the recipe, here’s a quick overview. You Sexy Thing is the space opera tale of a group of both military veterans and civilians who run a restaurant on a space station and who find themselves, … Continue reading You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo →
The Liar of Red Valley is kind of awesome, despite an abrupt ending and some world-building issues. This is a book of suburban/rural fantasy in which a young woman has to make some desperate choices to save her own life and the life of her small town. Here is the publisher’s description of what is, frankly, a fairly confusing plot: Don’t trust the Liar. Do not cross the King. Never, ever go in the River. … Continue reading The Liar of Red Valley by Walter Goodwater →
TW: Gore, gaslighting, controlling relationships, codependency and depression, vomiting. Also SO MANY SPIDERS. Cackle is a feminist and creepy yet cosy read that asks us to explore the boundaries between an empowering friendship and a toxic one. Annie (our protagonist) finds some of both in her relationship with Sophie, a glamorous, elegant, mysterious woman, who lives in the small town of Rowan. This book is narrated by Annie. She has lived in New York City … Continue reading Cackle by Rachel Harrison →
I’ve always loved The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, the 1947 film about a widow who falls in love with the ghost of a sea captain, but I greatly dislike a certain plot complication that occurs near the end of the movie. The Ghost and Mr. Moore is a gender-swapped version of the story that avoids the complication and is entirely optimistic, with love conquering all. It’s a warm, sweet, comforting story with solid storytelling and … Continue reading The Ghost and Mr. Moore by Wendy Dalrymple →
Catch is a romance set in Bodega Bay, one of my favorite places. In fact I read some of this in Bodega Bay by complete coincidence. So I was primed to like this contemporary romance and I was not disappointed. I also found that this romance, which deals with pain and rejection, family of both blood and choice, and growing up with an alcoholic parent, touched me in personal ways that I only understood when … Continue reading Catch: A Love Story by Tracy Ewens →
After the Dragons is a subtle, tender love story set in a near-future Beijing in which dragons are as real as the climate change which has brought drought to the city. Eli, the biracial son of two professors, has come to Beijing as an exchange student, wanting to learn more about the city that his grandmother loved too much to leave, even when faced with a terminal diagnosis. Kai has received the same diagnosis as … Continue reading After the Dragons by Cynthia Zhang →
