I have a weakness for both Scottish and Caribbean characters, so when I saw that A Caribbean Heiress in Paris paired a business savvy Dominican heroine with a progressive Scottish earl, I knew I wanted to try it. And since Claudia loves historical romances, I begged her to read it with me. (Claudia here: Shana had me at hello!) Luz arrives at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris on a mission. She’s the recently orphaned … Continue reading A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera →
Midway through A Lady for a Duke, I started to panic. I was so in love with this historical romance and I worried that something would come along and ruin it. So I sighed with relief at the end of the last page. This book is pretty damn close to perfection, bitches. It works on so many levels. This is an exceptionally satisfying friends to lovers story, a queer fairy tale filled with longing and … Continue reading A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall →
When I went looking for fat heroines in historical romance, I quickly learned to be skeptical of book covers. A main character might be plump, abundant, generously rounded, or my favorite, “a lady of healthy appetite,” but the model on the book cover will still be thin. A reader of fat histrom has to be a detective, examining each cover for clues: Is most of her body covered by a sheet? Is there a flower … Continue reading Fat Girls in History →
Claudia and Shana both love historical romances, but Shana loves Milan’s prickly heroines and puns, while Claudia’s catnip is the cozy charm of Balogh’s love stories, the fewer puns the better. Shana convinced Claudia that To Love and To Loathe’s “enemies to hookup to lovers” storyline would pull us out of our reading slump. She now owes Claudia a million lemon bars because this book was a tropeopcalypse. So much potential, but so poorly executed. … Continue reading To Love and To Loathe by Martha Waters →
Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features we have: READY, SET, GO! Here are the rules: We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or type of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type. And no more than two sentences as to why. Just One. And our theme this month? PINING. Pining and yearning romance, please! Could be unrequited until it’s not, or could be secretly in love but hiding … Continue reading Ready Set Go: Pining and Yearning in Romance, Oh, My! →
Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features we have: READY, SET, GO! Here are the rules: We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or type of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type. And no more than two sentences as to why. Just One. And our theme this month? This month: Historical Women in Trousers! Once spotted regularly in old skool romances where the back cover copy used words … Continue reading Ready Set Go: Historical Women in Trousers! →
While reading My Darling Duke, I realized that as much as I rail against the popularity of magic peen as a plot device, magic cooch is not an improvement. Kitty Danvers and her group of wallflowery friends are veterans of multiple unsuccessful marriage market seasons in London. Kitty is a world-weary twenty-three, and with her hopes for a husband and children fading, she and her friends decide to be “sinful.” For Kitty, that means claiming … Continue reading My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid →
Tara: Hello! It’s me, once again crashing one of Shana’s reviews (thank goodness she loves me). I was SO excited when I found out she was reading My Heart’s in the Highlands, because I’d just finished and was desperate to talk to someone about it. This book is BANANAS and kind of messy, but I was into it. Shana: Meanwhile, I was quietly squeeing to myself, with no one to talk to about how ridiculous … Continue reading My Heart’s in the Highlands by Amy Hoff →
Tara was kind enough to alert me to the existence of a book about Charlotte Lucas, who is Elizabeth Bennet’s friend in Pride and Prejudice. We had so many feelings about this very strange book, which involves Gothic emotion and SO MUCH SEX, plus at least two flights across the moors, which I can only assume were dutifully wuthering. For those who are rusty on their Austen, here’s the background: Charlotte Lucas agrees to marry … Continue reading Lucas by Elna Holst →
Before reading Julia Quinn’s latest release, First Comes Scandal, I hadn’t read anything in about two months. Strange, because like most romance readers I am ALWAYS reading something and because (like most romance readers) I always have books waiting for me. But as the time since my last read led into our current moment, the idea of picking up a book to read felt even further away. I didn’t have a lot of expectations coming … Continue reading First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn →
TW: Dead birds, alcoholism, death of infants at birth, spousal abuse I came here looking for an amazing story and Bitches, I was not disappointed. Even during a time when I have an attention span of about five seconds, this book kept me reading. It up-ended tropes, subverted expectations, and, thanks to the Author’s Note, gave me a seriously happy historical fix. The romance itself combines some actual realities with a big dose of crumbling … Continue reading The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham →
