I picked this book up for the following reasons: The colours on the cover – hello neon! The title – what could a ‘safari murder party’ be? The use of ‘safari’ in the title. I am a Zimbabwean/South African and while I have been on plenty of game drives and visits to nature reserves, I’ve never considered any of that a ‘safari’ even though they’re marketed as safaris outside of my region. Fletcher is an … Continue reading Safari Murder Party by Rachel Moore
Lucynka is a long-time lurker, who has occasionally commented under a couple different names in the past. Over the last few years, she’s become really interested in the history of the romance genre, particularly those forgotten or oft-overlooked parts. You can find her on Bluesky @lucynka.bsky.social, or else over on her WordPress, where she blogs about “obscure bullshit,” including a lot of romance pulp magazines from the 1920s-’40s. … While my last guest post showcased … Continue reading ’Neath Tropical Skies by Mollie Donovan Maule
While looking ahead at upcoming releases, I came across The Body in the Kitchen Garden, the sequel to The Potting Shed Murder. The sequel sounded intriguing and from time to time I’m quite partial to a cosy mystery and it has been a while since I read one. Why not see if I still enjoy them? So off to the library I went. Daphne, her husband, and her three children move to the English countryside … Continue reading The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton
Quinn Audio is a paid app that offers immersive erotic short stories that, IMO, are organized by trope and archetype in a way that will appeal to romance readers (enemy to lover, forbidden work relationship, etc). You can pay by month or by year. One of the draws to Quinn is that some of the narrators are famous actors that listeners might be familiar with, like Jamie Campbell, Hudson Williams, and Connor Storrie. I started … Continue reading App Review: Quinn
My experience with The Bachelor franchise is as follows: I edit the recaps from Elyse, which she’s been faithfully recording since 2017. That’s it. Now, I have watched two (2) episodes to fill in for Elyse, prompting the following questions: Why are they four hours long? Why are they on two subsequent nights sometimes? Why on sequential nights or on four hour nights are they stretching out TWENTY FIVE TOTAL MINUTES OF FOOTAGE into an … Continue reading Here For All the Reasons: Why We Love the Bachelor, edited by Ilana Masad and Stevie K. Seibert Desjarlais
Amanda and I have discussed many times on the RT Rewind podcast episodes that reviewing a book that’s deep into an existing series is a fraught proposition. The potential for spoilers is significant, and the question of audience can be a puzzler, too. Am I writing for new readers who might enter the series with this book (TL;DR, don’t do that, you deserve the whole Murderbot series!) or am I addressing folks who already love … Continue reading Platform Decay by Martha Wells
Yesteryear was one of my most anticipated reads of 2026 so it’s such a bummer that it fell apart for me. I think this book had the opportunity to be a really interesting commentary on the Trad Wife movement and on White Christian womanhood, but it took a turn that felt frankly kind of lazy. Natalie Heller Mills is a very successful trad wife influencer. She lives on a farm with her husband and six … Continue reading Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
This guest review is from Danielle Fritz! Danielle is a former librarian who has a special affection for children’s lit and books about the funeral industry. She first cut her criticism teeth as a fanfic writer. A resident of the upper midwest, she’s learned to love beer and tater tot casserole and tolerate long winters. Most nights will find her cuddled up with her pups and wearing out her wrists with yet another crochet project. … Continue reading Second Chance Romance by Olivia Dade
Yet again, I have picked up a book because of its cover. I feel zero shame for this shallowness on my part. Okay, sometimes it backfires on me, but this time it worked out, kind of. Although I’ve landed on a C- here, depending on your answers to the questions I pose in this review, you might land in DNF territory, or as high as a B. Very much a case of ‘your mileage may … Continue reading The Duke’s Got Mail by Samara Parish
This book brought me a tremendous amount of pleasure. It’s a KJ Charles book, so that’s probably stating the obvious, but this is KJ Charles at her best. Nico is a French aristocrat with a painting to sell in order to pay off a terrifying moneylender on behalf of his cousin Evelyn (usually referred to as Eve). Nico is engaged to Miss Whitecross, a phenomenally wealthy old woman. He is not old – probably in … Continue reading How to Fake it in Society by KJ Charles
There are many reasons that I choose not to finish a book and then subsequently am compelled to write about the experience in a review. Sometimes it is irritation or anger or frustration. Sometimes, like now, it’s because I’ve stumbled across a book that will be someone’s catnip; it’s just not my catnip. I can’t force myself through the rest of the story, but I’m desperate for Thistlemarsh to find its readers. So much so … Continue reading Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan
