Sponsored by Bloom Books, an imprint of Sourcebooks.
Isolde de Lara considers her wedding day to be her death day. To end a years-long war, she is to marry vampire king Adrian Aleksandr Vasiliev, and kill him. But her attempt is thwarted, and Adrian threatens that if Isolde tries kill him again, he will raise her as the undead. So, Isolde seeks other ways to defy him and survive the brutal vampire court. Despite their undeniable chemistry, she wonders why the king—fierce, savage, merciless—chose her as consort. The answer will shatter her world.
Welcome to the Kissing Books newsletter. I hope your spirit is doing well. I’m P.N. Hinton, your companion through the world of romance. Whether this is your first time or you’re a regular, I’m glad to have y’all here.
It’s Christmas week! I am almost all done with shopping (stocking stuffers still need to be picked up) but for the most part I’m done. In addition to not wanting to go broke, I have to remind myself that my anniversary is right after the first of the year, as is my partner’s birthday. Then my son’s is in February. So, I don’t have to cram all the gifts into one day and have room to spread it out.
I finished Her Pretend Christmas Date and loved it! Perfect kind of hero for me. Stoic and stodgy on the outside with hidden sexy layers. *fans self* I started One Bed for Christmas to get that set of novellas finished up.
Romance Reflection
This AITA post caused quite a kerfuffle on Twitter and with good reason. Essentially a woman got another woman in an office Secret Santa and, even though she stated she read romance and listed the books she wanted as possible gift ideas, the OP ‘branched off’ and got her a Brian Sanderson book. Nothing against Sanderson, at all but…it’s the blatant all around disrespect for me y’all.
Like, come on. She wrote down the specific books she wanted to get. It would have been so much simpler to just get her one of those. The fact that the OP found them ‘boring’ or ‘hum drum’ is irrelevant because guess what? The gift was not for them! It’s for someone else and she was specific about what she wanted. But nooooo because the OP felt ‘cringe’ buying romance novels for whatever patriarchal and internal misogynistic reason, they went and bought her a book in a genre that, frankly, is historically way more problematic than romance.
And the fact that she called the books she listed ‘normal’ because they weren’t Harlequin and/or didn’t have Fabio on the cover? Jesus wept. Get with the times.
So, yes ma’am, you are in fact the asshole here. Your recipient told you what books to give her, which, might I add, is impressive. Because if a family member asked me right now what book I wanted for Christmas, I would short circuit and blank out. The name of the game is Secret Santa and Santa gets you what is on your list. Don’t branch out. Stick to the list.
That said, I do feel the recipient needs a brush up in etiquette as well. I understand being disappointed, but she shouldn’t have blasted the gift in the office break room because Murphy’s Law dictates that the person you’re bashing will hear you. That’s what the Squad Chat thread is for. And, while I totally get her re-gifting the items she got (because honestly she could have just thrown them away), she should have done it off the property. Don’t get me wrong; the OP was in the wrong all the way. But the recipient also could have handled her disappointment better.
Book Riot Romance
Now, if you have someone in your life who is specifically asking for some fantasy romances, Rioter Isabelle for some gift ideas for you.
You can also check out this list of diverse holiday romances from Rioter Silvana.
And yours truly wrote this piece on some snowed-in romance recommendations.
Be sure to enter our Giveaway for a Christmas Romance Reading Pack.
There’s also this one for a Personal Reading Retreat.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Around the Web in Romance
I chuckled at the thoughts this writer had while watching The Hating Game because I had the same ones while reading the books.
There’s also this reader’s thoughts while reading Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.
Take this fun quiz to find out the first initial of your soulmate. And if you’re already in a committed relationship like me, take it to see how accurate it is. Mine actually got the initial so that was interesting.
Check out some of these new romance recommendations from author Olivia Waite.
Here’s the cover reveal for Roan Parrish’s first rom-com, The Holiday Trap, slated for release next September. ‘The Holiday, but make it gay’? Yes please.
Click here to get read about the upcoming Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum film. She plays a reclusive romance novelist and he’s her cover model. While on tour promoting her latest book, they get kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire played by Daniel Radcliffe to help find the lost treasure from her latest novel. Does it sound similar to Romancing the Stone? Maybe a bit. But I loved that movie, I love Sandra and Channing, and I would love to see Daniel play a villain. So I’m all in.
New Releases
Here are some of the new releases hitting the digital and virtual shelves this week. As per the current norm, the dates listed were the ones showing as of the writing of this newsletter.
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Five Mistletoe Moments by Sheryl Lister * (12/20)
A Man for the Holidays by J.O Mantel (12/20)
Four Stocking Stuffers by Kelsey Green * (12/21)
His Boy to Treasure by Susan Hawke (12/21)
Pirates of Aletharia by Britney Jackson (12/21)
Not Alone on Christmas by D.M. Winters (12/21)
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Destination Wedding by Sean Michael (12/21)
Saving the Omega’s Christmas by GS Holmes (12/21)
Three Sexy Elves by Angela Seals * (12/22)
Two Dirty Santas by Sherelle Green * (12/23)
One Snowy Seduction by A.C. Arthur * (12/24)
Happy Cat Box Set by Lili Valente and Pippa Grant (12/26) – you get five novellas in one with this set!
* these are the last in the Baes of Christmas novella series.
That’s all for today friends. I’ll be back on Thursday with more updates form the Romance world as well as some Kwanzaa romance recommendations. Until then, you can follow me on Twitter under @PScribe801. Have a wonderful week!