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Ancillary Justice meets Red, White & Royal Blue in Winter’s Orbit, Everina Maxwell’s gut-wrenching and romantic debut. A famously disappointing royal and the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild, Prince Kiem is summoned before the Emperor and commanded to renew the empire’s bonds with its newest vassal planet. To do this, he must marry Count Jainan, the recent widower of another royal prince of the empire…who may have been murdered. Their successful marriage will align conflicting worlds. Their failure could mean the end of an empire.
Happy Thursday KBers! I hope your week is going well. I’m trying to not freak about my TBR pile for this month. As previously mentioned I am participating in the Black Author Readathon this month and my list consists of nine books. Which normally isn’t terrible on its own.
However, this in addition to the three books I started last month but didn’t finish (including one for my work related book club), and the one I still need to read for my girlfriends book club. All in all I have a lot on my actively reading pile, but it’s okay. I’ll make it.
I think.
Thanks to an author presenting themselves as Black in an attempt to sell her latest book, Black History Month started off roughly in Romancelandia. As per usual, I won’t link directly to them but I will link to this tweet from C.M. Lockhart that helped to break the story.
One would think that in this day and age people would learn that this type of elusive behavior is not the way to go, but apparently this memo still keeps getting missed. And, to further compound this insult, she allegedly defended herself by stating that she wrote this after noticing there were no OwnVoices authors writing these types of romances.
I did some digging, but wasn’t able to find this statement, likely due to it being redacted. But…where the hell has she been? Black romance authors have always been here. Just because it maybe didn’t enter her periphery doesn’t mean that they weren’t already there. Black romance authors have always been around. Farah Heron put it perfectly with her response to that weak line of reasoning.
Let me be clear; I do not have a problem with writers writing about diverse characters. In fact, I welcome it. What I have a problem with is people presenting themselves as ‘OwnVoices’ when they are not. This has always been a big no-no. And when you get caught don’t get defensive or make excuses. Admit you made a mistake and do better. Don’t double down on it by making excuses, crying NWL tears, or ‘unpublish’ said book. It ultimately won’t end well for you.
And now that that is out of the way, on to vastly happier topics.
The winners of the Swoonies were announced!
It’s always a good time for a holiday romance.
I apparently like the fake-dating trope more than I thought I did, based on how many of these I’ve read.
If you’re someone who likes numbers and lists, check out this rundown of the top romance books of 2020. Mind the disclaimer at the beginning though. I personally wouldn’t classify a large number of the titles here as romance, but it wasn’t classified by Kelly or me.
In addition to being Black History Month, February is also National Library Lover’s month. Now, I know that a majority of libraries are closed to the general public right now, which is a decision I completely support. While I miss my wandering around my local libraries aimlessly, I would miss my librarians more. So, I’m content to wait until it’s safe to do it again.
That said, they still need support, so be sure to check your local library to see what virtual events they may be having. I know mine is doing a Romance Lover’s Social next weekend. And yes I signed up literally seconds registration opened up to ensure my spot in the event and for a goody bag. Free bookish swag is always awesome.
In honor of that, I decided to recommend a few books where librarians play a huge part. I haven’t read all of these but they all seem to be very popular and well loved by the romance community.
American Dreamer by Adriana Herrera
Nesto Vasquez and Jude Fuller are a food truck owner and children’s librarian who connect when the latter works up the courage to flirt with the cook on a lunch outing. An opportunity for a promising future together presents itself to the lovebirds, if they can only allow themselves a chance for it. This is the first in the Dreamers series and is currently on sale for $1.99. Look at that: a rec and a deal all in one fell swoop.
Hearts on Hold by Charish Reid
Victoria Reese is working to get a partnership between her stodgy college and her local library, and enlists the help of hottie librarian John Donovan to help. He is more than happy to, along with tempting her with kisses and teasing her about her late book. This is a delightfully steamy romance with just as much sweetness. Plus, there is something that can be said for an author actually getting me to somewhat enjoy a poem by T.S. Eliot.
Key of Knowledge by Nora Roberts
Dana Steele is a life-long book lover and librarian who is at a crossroads in her life. Her new boss is making her dream job more of a nightmare, prompting Dana to solve her personal riddle that will free the soul of a long-imprisoned goddess, resulting in monetary security and an opportunity to open her own bookstore. She only has four weeks to solve this mystery and change her life forever, while finding a second-chance romance with her ex Jordan. This is the second in a trilogy but you don’t necessarily need to read these in order to enjoy them.
And that’s all she wrote for now. Catch up with me over on Twitter @Pscribe801. Until next time friends!