A solid low-spice Regency with a faith-based backing, Pride and Practicality examines the pressure of societal prejudice, the weight of the past, and the hope that goodness will find and protect us. It has a few bumps along the way, but overall it’s an intelligent and beautiful experience. Rector Thomas Bridges is not one for stuffy ballrooms; his heart is more concerned with lofty matters. But his mother wants him to settle down and get … Continue reading Pride and Practicality by Pepper Basham →
“No good day had ever started without breakfast. And no bearable one had ever started without a cup of tea” – Not Quite a Witch. The highest compliment I can pay Not Quite a Witch was that it felt like a wonderful trip into Disney’s Haunted Mansion Ride. It’s giddy, well-written and wonderfully witty. I loved the romance, the worldbuilding and the characters here – it’s one of the best spooky season reads I’ve encountered … Continue reading Not Quite a Witch by Anna Stockings →
What the Smut? ain’t got an ounce of class, sugar. It was like reading a romance novel written by Dee Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I got a lot of enjoyment out of it, but some uneven moments — and a ridiculous saccharine ending – kept me from giving it more than a high C. I had a hell of a lot of fun reading it: it’s delightful for what it is and … Continue reading What the Smut? by C. Hallman →
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 reviewed 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 Santa Claus Con by Lauren Kung Jessen →
Sometimes, you get a romance that crosses your desk and it’s cute as a button and you want to shout it from the mountaintops. As I write this review, we’re within inches of starting World Series season, so why not take a look at a bat-swinging romance with a very cute central conceit and a whole lot of ballgame-related shenanigans. It did have a couple of weak points, but overall I really enjoyed this little … Continue reading Batter Up! by Kristy Mallory →
I’m incredibly tickled by the fact that A/B/O fanfiction has somehow leaked into the mainstream romance world. I suppose we can thank Mate for that, but I’ve been seeing these tropes – mainly played out between two male characters – in fandoms for years. Alas, when it’s all about a het couple, things can get…regressive. This werewolf shifter A/B/O unfortunately does play into some of those dull old tropes, but it’s also a priceless hoot. … Continue reading UNAwere by Jess McFarlane →
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 Librarian of a Lyon by Linda Rae Sande →
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 Young Lady Catherine by Juliet Mercer →
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 reviewed 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 First to Finish by Rebecca J. Caffery →
This one was so good, you guys. This is one of the most irresistible, easy-to-love YA reads of the year. Pining for You has a great, relatable, funny and enthusiastic heroine, and she kept me coming back to this one. I fell immediately in love with the prose, too. Pining for You is going to end up being a book I go back to again and again – a rare thing for me, as I … Continue reading Pining for You by Stef Ferrari →
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 reviewed 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 Scorched by Sin by Makayla Lynn →
