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 element 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? Friendship in Romance. What is your favorite friendship in a romance novel? Your challenge: Name one book that you recommend … Continue reading Ready Set Go: Best Friendships in Romance! →
Bombshell is a Victorian age romance with a ton of pining, and a heroine who belongs to a girl-gang out to dismantle the patriarchy. One of them specializes in explosions. Objectively I can look at this book and say that some readers may have an issue with how much time spent on the girl-gang scenes versus the romance, but also ONE OF THEM SPECIALIZES IN EXPLOSIONS. I think part of this imbalance is to set … Continue reading Bombshell by Sarah MacLean →
This is a weird book, y’all. It opens with raunchy pining, segues into creepytown, and ends with a full-throated critique of Catholicism. What did I just read? As a devoted veteran of tortured priest love stories, I was curious to see if this book could avoid the potential minefields in the pairing. The first couple of chapters made me think I was getting an edgy romcom with steamy high-conflict angst. By the end, the book … Continue reading Hot Under His Collar by Andie J. Christopher →
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! →
The Governess by Christi Caldwell is the third book in the Wicked Wallflowers series, and I found out the hard way that this series really, really has to be read in order. I found myself confused by the first three chapters; as a reader unfamiliar with the world or the characters, I was dropped in without a lot of explanation. By chapter four I’d gotten my bearings, but the book never quite clicked with me. … Continue reading The Governess by Christi Caldwell →
Wanna Bet by Talia Hibbert is a friends-to-lovers romance and it features–get this!–adults who have to do actual adulting in order to be together! Holy shit! Emotional accountability FTW! I am personally so sick of books that feature “all my emotional hangups are resolved because I want to put my dick in you!” as the solution to any internal conflict. In Wanna Bet? the hero and heroine had to do actual work on themselves in order to … Continue reading Wanna Bet? by Talia Hibbert →
