Sponsored by Nicholas Sparks and his new book, The Return.
Trevor Benson is a young Navy doctor who unexpectedly finds himself back in New Bern, North Carolina after a mortar blast leaves him wounded. His late grandfather’s dilapidated cabin seems like as good a place to regroup as any, and he finds solace tending to his grandfather’s beloved beehives. But unexpected encounters with two local women—the deputy sheriff, and a sullen teenage girl who lives in a nearby trailer park—will lead him on a journey of love and forgiveness. In life, in order to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began.
Happy Halloween, folks! I don’t particularly partake, myself, but I enjoy how enthusiastic people get about it. It also means it’s officially the start of Nightmare Before Christmas season. Because I feel similarly about film that I do about romance novels: there need to be more love stories about Halloween. :’D
Let’s talk about books.
Over on Book Riot
Carole followed up her deep-dive on fat representation vs. fat acceptance with a nice long list of must-read fat positive romances. I’ve read a bunch of them but have more to check out. How many of these have you read? What do you think about the rep in them?
Sometimes, I love small town romances, and sometimes, I don’t. Laura Marie pulled together a list and I’ve only read one, so I’m looking forward to seeing where my leanings lie in regard to this group that are some of the best.
Hope is all of us, to some extent. (Even me, who hasn’t had a public transit commute in years. Still miss my daily reading time, though.)
Have you heard about our savior, historical fiction?
I hadn’t thought of it this way, but yes. Totally.
HAHA we’re all going to The Bad Place.
When your favorite author comes out with a new book, what do you do?
Curious about books like Ammonite?
Deals
I know I’ve been talking a lot about a particular Game Changers series, but you might want to check out the one by AC Arthur. Play to Win and Playing For Keeps, the two books out in the series now, are 3.99 each (as of writing this on September 29). The books center friends who have come together to open a sports bar and the interesting relationships in which they find themselves. AC Arthur always puts people in odd situations and these are no different—especially the second one, which has a particularly fun premise.
New Books
I’m still slowly making my way through Well Played because what is even time anymore, but there are some great books out this week that you should check out if you get the chance. There are so many, I’m skipping descriptions this week, but have fun clicking!
Fast Breaker by Chencia C. Higgins
Follow Me Darkly by Helen Hardt
The Never List by DL White
The Love Study by Kris Ripper
Lay Your Head On My Pillow by Tanzania Glover (Super short but call me a sucker for 90s art and R&B titles)
A Second Bite At Love by Tempestt Chantel
Her Night With the Duke by Diana Quincy
Ties that Tether by Jane Igharo
Beauty Tempts the Beast by Lorraine Heath
Now or Never by Nyora René
Roommaid by Sariah Wilson
Her Sweet Temptation by Nina Crespo
To Be Her Girl by Emily Cradduck
In Buffalo With You by Megan Fuentes (This is the first in a series about people falling in love at World Fairs and I didn’t know what I wanted until I wanted it)
Once Dishonored by Mary Jo Putney (Pants!)
Breakfast in Bed by Rochelle Alers
Immortal Angel by Lynsay Sands (New Argeneau!)
Crowne Rules by CD Reiss
The Flaw in Our Design by Monica McCallan
Well. That’s plenty. Reading anything good this weekend?
As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at wheninromance@bookriot.com if you’ve got feedback, bookrecs, or just want to say hi!