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When the residents of an apartment block are told no one’s allowed in or out, it brings out the best (and the worst) of the people caught inside. From a one-night stand that gets extended for a week—to a bachelorette party with a bridezilla in meltdown mode—to finding out the love of your life likes pineapple on his pizza. Through break-ups, make-ups and everything in between, one thing is for certain: no one’s life will be quite the same at the end of their quarantine.
Hey y’all, welcome to the Kissing Books newsletter. I hope your spirit is doing well. I’m PN Hinton, your guide through the roller coaster of a ride that the world of romance can be. If it is your first time here, welcome and if you’re a regular reader welcome back.
I survived the snowstorm weekend mostly unscathed! I say mostly because I broke a car door handle off. but I stayed warm and didn’t get too much cabin fever. So, it all balances out.
Romance Reflection
Today’s brief romance reflection is something that floated around all the wings of Twitter, including Romancelandia, that stated that adult fiction needed to be at least 80k – 120k to be considered a viable book option and that anything under that was not a good sell.
Which is crap. Books can be too long and when they are that’s my first complaint about them. A good number of books out there should have been edited better before hitting the printing press. Now, some people may want to point the fingers to other genres for the ones that are really guilty of this but truth hurts. And the truth is romance is just as guilty of this as well over the years.
You can tell an impactful story in less than 80k words. And if you can, you should. Don’t inflate words to get to a fake and arbitrary word count. This isn’t to say that there should never be long books. But if they are long, they need to be worth the journey.
Book Riot Romance
The latest episode of When in Romance is live, and the 100th episode is up next! *Kermit flail* Click here to listen to the latest episode and to learn how you can be a part of the 100th episode celebration. Be sure to be thinking of some memories to share.
Read more about Ashley’s foray into erotic romance books.
There’s also this history of fashion in romance novels by R. Nassor.
If you’re an audiobook fan, check out some of these titles Kenda rounded up for Valentine’s Day.
You can also prepare your wallet for these new romance novels that Michelle put together.
Make sure to get your own Read Harder Book Journal from Book Riot to track your reading for the year!
Around the Web in Romance
As it’s February, here’s an annual reminder that a Black romance is a romance novel by a Black author where all involved parties are Black.
Speaking of awesomeness in Black Love, check out this interview with Beverly Jenkins Black love and the history of it.
Authors Kosoko Jackson and Ashley Herring Blake will be on a panel to talk about their upcoming releases via an event from Loyalty Bookstores. You can register here.
If you have a friend new to the romance genre, here are some good recommendations to help ease them in.
I’m with Suleikha on this; if I have to know this, so does everybody else.
Looking for a romantic escape? There are some books that can help you out.
Cover reveal for the latest and holiday-related Bromance Book Club book!
If you have a young romance lover in your love, some of these YA Black Love reads may be perfect for a buddy read with them this month.
Recommendations
Another color that is synonymous with Valentine’s Day is purple. I know that a lot of people love this color as well. In fact, two of my good friends both claim this as their favorite color. Whenever I think of the color purple, I automatically think of The Unicorn Club from Sweet Valley Twins. It was the club full of popular girls that Jessica was in and they picked it since they found out it was the color of royalty. As such, they always wore one purple item a day to stand out from others in school.
Looking back on it as an adult though, I wonder how practical this was. It’s not like they could prevent other people from wearing purple. So, how could you really tell who was part the club unless there was something else to denote them? And I can’t even imagine the arguments this would cause. I can tell you right now that teachers do not get paid enough to deal with a tear-streaked pre-teen yelling, “She can’t wear purple, SHE’S NOT A UNICORN!” on a regular basis.
I digress. Here are some romance novels that highlight the color purple that may catch your eye if you’re also a fan of that color.
A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
When Naledia starts receiving emails saying she’s really a princess betrothed to African prince Thabiso, she immediately deletes it as spam. However, then the prince shows up and, wanting to observe his princess a bit, keeps his identity a secret at first. When the truth is revealed, will the chemistry between them be develop into love?
Black Cats & Bad Luck by F.N. Manning
Mason is a guy with perpetual bad luck in everything, including love. One a trip to Colorado he meets Horatio, a shifter who is sure that Mason is his mate. However, sinister forces and Mason’s own doubts threaten to doom the couple before their relationship gets the chance to fully bloom.
Love at First by Kate Clayborn
After a brief encounter years ago, Will and Nora meet up again. This time though it us under less than pleasant circumstances: he is determined to unload the apartment he got as an inheritance from an estranged uncle, and she is equally determined to not let another outsider into the found family that the other tenants have made. Will this be a second chance opportunity for them to find the love that they have been looking for?
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
And that’s all I have for y’all this week! I hope that you enjoy your upcoming weekend and that if you’re celebrating Galentine’s or Valentine’s Day that you have a great time. I’ll be back Monday with some more romance updates and new releases.