This guest post is from Elizabeth Held. Elizabeth is a reader and writer living in Washington, D.C. She co-moderates East City Bookshop’s Really Reading Romance book club and writes the book recommendation newsletter What To Read If. There’s a seven-year-old tweet from romance writer Alisha Rai that Jen Prokop, romance critic and co-host of Fated Mates, thinks about a lot. Prokop shared the anecdote at the recent Literature of Hope conference held at Yale University. … Continue reading Notes from Yale University’s Romance Conference →
Welcome back to Whatcha Reading! This is where we talk about…well, what we’ve been reading. Pretty self-explanatory! Claudia: I’ve started Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston. I heard good things about it so I’m excited. Lara: I read two books this weekend. A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley which I’ll need a whole review to unpack my feelings on because they’re so mixed. Then I absolutely devoured Katee Robert’s Hunt on … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? October 2023, Part Two →

RECOMMENDED: The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick is $2.99 and a KDD! M.A. Carrick is the name for the writing duo of Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms. Carrie wrote a Lightning Review of this one and gave it a B+:
Readers who like political scheming, fashion as a weapon and a tool, secrets, and swashbuckling will enjoy this, and as a special treat for Tarot fans the characters have their own form of cartomancy which is described in detail in the book.
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In the May 2014 Ads and Features episode of our Romantic Times Rewind series, the cover feature was all about Valerie Bowman, her latest book – and inside was a mention of her appearance on Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta in 2014! So Amanda and I connected with Valerie to hear all the details! We talk about weddings and dresses and reality tv, including a side trip discussion to the real housewives, Scandoval, and … Continue reading 586. Saying Yes to the Dress with Valerie Bowman →

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory is $1.99! This is a contemporary romance that operates as a standalone. Grab this one if you’re looking to collect the entire Guillory collection.
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Your local library might be doing some really, really cool things that you don’t know about. Here are a few incredibly awesome programs at libraries around the country, along with pictures of cats because why not? COVID Tests and Masks Recently we went to visit Freebird at college, and I brought a stack of COVID tests because…dorm, and because the only CVS within walking distance of campus was always sold out. But I can get … Continue reading Unlocking Library Coolness: Many, Many Awesome Things →
Hey, everyone! It’s time to share some links! I’m definitely on the more fatigued side this week and am eager for Sunday, where I have absolutely zero plans and I can just loaf around to my heart’s content. I don’t have any established Halloween plans, but we’re getting off of a big event at work and we’re all exhausted. To perk the office up, I’ve decided to wear a hot dog costume to our department … Continue reading Links: Cheese, Whitney Houston, & More →

RECOMMENDED: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is $1.99! No one here ever talks about Outlander, it certainly doesn’t have one of the most popular heroes or couples in fiction, and it’s not a perennial bestseller. : )
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My Goodness, what have I become? There was a time when I was positively oozing the milk of human kindness. I was so full of empathy that I couldn’t bear to read about a character losing so much as a drop of blood. And yet, somehow, I’ve turned into a person who reacts to a scene of a character’s face being scoured off by tentacles with teeth by chirping, “Oooh! Carnage!” If this is relatable … Continue reading The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey →

The Love Con by Seressia Glass is $1.99! This one has cosplay, friends to lovers, and all sorts of nerdery. I remember there were some comments that going into medicine and getting into cosplay were not mutually exclusive, but I wonder if its more that the heroine wants to do this as a career. I haven’t read the book though.
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