So, you saw those content warnings and you’re feeling concerned? Will it help if I tell you that this is a book where scary plot turns appear to be just around the corner—and the dark backstory of the hero makes bad things feel inevitable—but in the end Relationship Material is just an angsty romance where most of the tension is about falling in love? Evan is a nurse in Portland, Oregon who has been in … Continue reading Relationship Material by Jenya Keefe →
I started weeping during the first chapter of The Bewildered Bride and never stopped. It’s a poignant, heart-wrenching, and important novel to read. The protagonists have undergone unimaginable suffering, and watching them find their happily-ever-after is both difficult and emotional. Even though I loved the heroine Ruth and her unwavering mission to seek justice for herself and her child, I never warmed up to the hero due to his inexplicable decision to deceive Ruth about … Continue reading The Bewildered Bride by Vanessa Riley →
Sea Witch Rising is the sequel to Sea Witch, which was a very loose retelling of The Little Mermaid with an impressive twist. Like Sea Witch, Rising is a hot mess, and, yet, also like Sea Witch, I just gotta have it. There is romance in the story but the book is not a romance. It’s about mermaid witches and an octopus witch and some human witches fighting the Germans and also patriarchy above and below the … Continue reading Sea Witch Rising by Sarah Henning →
Ran and the Gray World is a delightful manga series about Ran, a young girl with immense magical powers and the hijinks she gets up to. She, like many her age, is enamoured with the idea of being an adult, and with being just as beautiful and amazing as her mom. The difference is, she can magically age her body, which also increases the magnitude of her magical powers. So basically, every parent’s worst nightmare. … Continue reading Ran and the Gray World by Aki Irie →
A Month of Sundays is a contemporary f/f romance that tries to do too much at once. The slow progression of the romance, the value placed on family and friends, and the celebration of food are lovely, but this book needed to either leave some plot developments out entirely or be longer so they could be fully explored. I’d have voted for the latter because I enjoyed these characters. Rachel is an accountant for a huge … Continue reading Month of Sundays by Yolanda Wallace →
The Unhoneymooners is an enemies to lovers romance set in a romantic destination. It has Christina Lauren’s trademark humor and wit, but a plot twist and tonal shift knocked me off balance and left me unable to regain my footing. Ami and Olive Torres are twins. Ami is the lucky one, winning many of her wedding planning items from the dress to the food to even her honeymoon, through a mix of contests, sweepstakes, and … Continue reading The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren →
Anything But a Duke is a heartwarming romance that suffers from a lack of compelling conflict. The heroine is an inventor. The hero worked his way up from poverty in a Dickensian manner. There is banter, there is food, there are clothes. It’s enjoyable but largely forgettable. The story begins in 1845, which places it in the Victorian Era and amid the Industrial Revolution. Aidan Iverson grew up in the workhouse where his mother left … Continue reading Anything But a Duke by Christy Carlyle →
NB: We received two different reviews for this book, and thought both perspectives were interesting and thoughtful. We’re sharing both to encourage discussion and to highlight different expectations and results of reading anticipated books – and we definitely want to know what you thought, too! This guest review is by PamG. PamG is a life-long reader who began her word addiction as a kid wandering the library stacks and choosing books by blurb and cover … Continue reading Guest Review: The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker →
The Princess and the Fangirl is a romantic YA retelling of The Prince and the Pauper, set at a science fiction convention. This book, the second in the Geekerella series, includes a f/f romance and a f/m romance but is primarily about the personal growth of the two heroines, Jessica and Imogene. It is lighter than a piece of glitter but does a good job of capturing the crowded, crazy convention world. You can certainly get … Continue reading The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston →
Nicola Cornick’s writing continues to suck me in and it’s very difficult for me to put her books down. The writing is atmospheric in a way that’s both vivid and eerie, as are the descriptions of place and of slightly menacing suspense, which is often formed within the history of a location repeating itself in multiple timelines. The Woman in the Lake follows three women in two different timelines. Fenella Brightwell is in the present … Continue reading The Woman in the Lake by Nicola Cornick →
It has come to my attention that there is a romance series about a kraken shifter and a unicorn shifter. I feel it my responsibility to investigate these things and ask the required questions, such as, “But HOW, tho?” I do it it for you, Bitches, and for the sake of SCIENCE, which isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions. It turns out that this series, the Wriggle and Sparkle series, is extremely adorable. The … Continue reading Wriggle & Sparkle by Megan Derr →
