Reviews
Book Review

Something Extraordinary by Alexis Hall

Something Extraordinary

This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at @‌thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next … Continue reading Something Extraordinary by Alexis Hall

Book Review

The Nightmare Before Kissmas

The Nightmare Before Kissmas

This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at _@‌thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next … Continue reading The Nightmare Before Kissmas

Book Review

Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot

Love You a Latke

This guest review comes from Lisa! A longtime romance aficionado and frequent commenter to SBTB, Lisa is a queer Latine critic with a sharp tongue and lots of opinions. She frequently reviews at All About Romance and Women Write About Comics, where she’s on staff, and you can catch her at @‌thatbouviergirl on Twitter. There, she shares good reviews, bracing industry opinions and thoughtful commentary when she’s not on her grind looking for the next … Continue reading Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot

Book Review

Heir by Sabaa Tahir

Heir

This guest review is from Crystal Anne! Crystal Anne with An E comes to us from a sunny clime, but prefers to remain a pale indoor cat. She enjoys reading, cross-stitching something nerdy, going to see live music, and playing video games. She works as an autism consultant by day, got a degree in information science for fun, and currently serves on her local library advisory board. … So… What a year this month has … Continue reading Heir by Sabaa Tahir

Book Review

A Minotaur Tale: In Prose, Being a Monster Romance for Yuletide

A Minotaur Tale

Josephine recommended this during their interview for our end of year podcast episodes, and I immediately borrowed it, and I later mentioned it in my New York Times round up of 2024 holiday books. The cover copy gives an excellent summary, better than I could do: All Cora wants for Yule is a few more shells for her collection, a cozy book by the fire, and t̶o̶ b̶e̶ s̶p̶o̶i̶l̶e̶d̶ b̶y̶ a̶ m̶i̶n̶o̶t̶a̶u̶r̶ to avoid the … Continue reading A Minotaur Tale: In Prose, Being a Monster Romance for Yuletide

Book Review

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Christmas with the Queen

Christmas with the Queen is a cozy historical romance that would be perfect for fans of The Crown or anglophiles in general. The royal family are a backdrop to this romance, but it’s not about them directly. It’s also a blend of historical fiction and romance that I think will work for non-romance readers. The book alternates between VE Day in 1945, and the “present” day in the 1950’s. The book opens in 1952 with … Continue reading Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Book Review

The Flamingo’s Fated Mate by Elva Birch

The Flamingo’s Fated Mate

If you’ve ever dreamed of love between a woman and a flamingo, then your wish is granted. The Flamingo’s Fated Mate, the first in a series of novellas about Lawn Ornament shifters, tells of romance between a baker and a millionaire who is also a flamingo shifter. I present the following without judgment, purely for your factual edification: No one has sex in the form of a flamingo (lawn ornament or actual). The sex that … Continue reading The Flamingo’s Fated Mate by Elva Birch

Other Media Review

Movie Review: Hot Frosty

Hot Frosty movie poster with a tall white man with shaggy hair to his chin wearing denim and a red scarf holding hands with Lacey Chabert who is wearing a green vneck sweater

Oh Dear Readers, what can I possibly tell you about Hot Frosty that you don’t already know? That it has some fish out of water jokes? That it it takes place in a quirky small town? That romance wins in the end? You know all this. Either you like the Netflix versions of Hallmark Christmas movies or you do not. If you do not, then no amount of shirtless Dustin Mulligan will save you. If … Continue reading Movie Review: Hot Frosty

Book Review

One Burning Heart by Elizabeth Kingston

One Burning Heart

One Burning Heart is the fourth, and I hope not the last, book in Elizabeth Kingston’s Welsh Blades series. I’ve loved this series since reading the first book nearly 10 years ago, so I was beyond excited when it was out. It is also the first book by Kingston since 2019 – and that’s “the before times” so it feels extra long! I reviewed Desire Lines that year. I one-clicked it and started reading this … Continue reading One Burning Heart by Elizabeth Kingston

Book Review

The Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi Matthews

The Muse of Maiden Lane

This series has been hit-or-miss for me. This one wasn’t quite the heights of some of the other books by this author that I’ve read, but I devoured it nonetheless and am happy to recommend it to others. Stella Hobhouse is a clergyman’s sister, a great friend, an excellent horsewoman and completely stuck in life. Her brother has really strict expectations of her and Stella chafes against them. (This later causes serious ructions in her … Continue reading The Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi Matthews

Book Review

The Demon’s Queen by Katee Robert

The Demon’s Queen

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 The Demon’s Queen by Katee Robert

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