Author: Jessica Pryde

It’s Monday again. I know they come every seven days, but seriously. They need to stop.

Let’s talk love.

News and Useful Links

Are you more of a conference person than a convention person? I have come to realize I am more a fan of sitting and being talked at about things than waiting in line to meet people. So I’m super excited to go to the BGSU Researching the Romance Conference in April. Last I checked, there were 35 seats left. So if you really want to go, get on it.

(If you are into the whole meeting people thing, though, you should definitely check out Book Lovers Con in March and Girl Have You Met in April. And Romance Slam Jam in May. Or if you’re really down for an adventure, RARE is in Edinburgh this year.)

There are a lot of romance things happening for charity, if you want to check them all out:

• Penny Reid, Sierra Simone, Kennedy Ryan, and a bunch of other romance authors came together to put together AUSTRALIA: A Romance Anthology to benefit firefighters and wildlife in—you guessed it—Australia.
• The folks at RomanceClass have put together an ebook bundle to benefit the relief efforts after the Taal volcano eruption in the Philippines. At the moment the bundle is 19 books and bids start at ten dollars.
• The Romance for PR auction has been open for fewer than 48 hours and they’ve already surpassed their goal, but it’s still open for anyone who wants to contribute to the relief efforts for the people of Puerto Rico, who have really been given a shit deal over the past couple of years.

Alexis Hall is giving us tons of new books!

Read this great interview with Rebekah Weatherspoon.

Deals

Looking for a post-Great War lesbian romance? How to Talk to Nice English Girls by Gretchen Evans is 2.99 right now (or free with KU). (Also, the cover has that kind of lovely Well of Loneliness feel to it that inspires me to buy the paperback.) This has a quiet young English woman and the brash American girl who comes to her family home for a wedding, and I really need to know why people haven’t been throwing this book at me. (Or maybe they were when it came out and I’ve already forgotten.)

Recs!

I’ve had one of those months where I pick up a bunch of things and set them aside, not because of the content but because I couldn’t hold onto anything. Love Her or Lose Her, for example, was giving me hella feels and I just walked away from it one day and never picked it back up. I’ve mostly been filling the mental gap with novellas, which I haven’t been completely successful with but I managed to make it through one or two.

Baggage Claimed
Alexandra Warren

I don’t recall exactly how I came across this one; someone I follow on Twitter had screenshot a line or passage and I was like “yeah, I’m gonna have to try that out.” You know that meme that starts out relatively normal and ends with “get on a plane to a new place and start a new life”? That’s sort of what Ryan does. She’s just been dumped by her boyfriend of three years at her birthday party (when everyone thought he was going to propose) and somehow finds herself getting a flight to anywhere, just to get away. A reckless decision leads to another, and another, until feelings get in the way.

And don’t blame me if you throw your book, Kindle, or other reading device. It’s super well-crafted.

Taken
Charlotte Stein

I picked this little book up at a library book sale ages ago, and really needed to be in the right mood for it. Up front, this book includes a young woman being non-consensually chained up in a basement…and liking it. Having been unknowing sidekick to a friend with a grudge who TRIED TO BURN DOWN A RARE BOOKSTORE WHAT, Rosie is the one who gets caught by the shopkeeper, who tucks her away in his office/bedroom to keep her there while he calls the cops. But then he decides not to call…but there are some issues with the apparatus he used to keep her there. Meanwhile, she is not only sort of feeling being trapped, but by Johann in particular, a big hairy werewolf (not actually) of a man who just wants to let her go and get on with his life.

I’ve got Jay Northcote’s Passing Through and Dance All Night by Alexis Daria on standby for the next time I have trouble getting into one of the giant pile of longer books I need to pick up. We’ll see what happens next.

What are you reading this week?

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!

Hey folks, happy Thursday! Before we get started, apologies to the author of the Jezebel piece on RWA, whose name is Kelly Faircloth, not Fairchild. (Also, a few weeks ago, I also gave Joanna Shupe’s book to Joanna Bourne. I have been losing and mixing up words recently, so let me know if you see anything else weird pop up. Just call me Mrs. Malaprop!)

Okay, onward.

Over on Book Riot

I rounded up some romance series that would be great on film. And these are just the ones that could be done with a couple buildings and a bar’s worth of extras.

Do you have Kindle Unlimited? This list is more than romance, but is worth checking out.

If you’re a book journaler, or are interested in trying it out this year, this is a good list of prompts.

Jaime can’t seem to quit the Goodreads Challenge, the one I waved goodbye to several years ago. I happily walked away without looking back, but Jaime keeps coming back, for several reasons.

Deals

When was the last time you read a romance featuring a charismatic gentleman who is good at selling things? What do you know about the history of makeup? Combine the two and you’ve got Some Like it Scandalous, a Gilded Age rivals-to-fake-engagement-to-lovers romance. Yes, note the hyphenations. A youthful Theo accidentally gives Daisy a childhood playground nickname that carries into her adulthood, and she’ll never forgive him for it. But he needs a sensible wife for the sake of his family name (and own personal future), so what better person to make a deal with than Daisy, who also needs the boost of a high profile engagement.

New Books and Recommendations

A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year
Jackie Lau

Saturday (January 25) is Lunar New Year, and I had literally never heard of a romance novel set around the holiday (if you have, tell me about it!). This is the third book in Jackie Lau’s Holidays with the Wongs series, after A Match Made for Thanksgiving and A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas. The final book, A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day, comes out next month. In this one, Zach, the youngest Wong brother, hopes to avoid his matchmaking family at the next big family dinner—Chinese New Year. He decides to ask Jo, one of his best friends, to be his fake girlfriend for the dinner. But not just the dinner, because the town is full of gossips and they would have told the Wongs about Jo by then, so they agree to date in the weeks leading up as well. They’ve both established that they’re not interested in a new relationship, having formed their friendship in the wake of two broken engagements. But some things are changing…

Wow, I hadn’t intended to have a fake relationship theme, but here we are.

There are a bunch of other books out this week, and I want to read all of them!

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord (isn’t this cover adorable?)
Nottingham: The True Story of Robyn Hood by Anna Burke (f/f retelling of the story say what?)
Never A Bride by Caridad Pineiro
Headliners by Lucy Parker
A Promise Kept by Mallery Malone (a female Viking mercenary? I’m down.)
The Edge of the World by Garrett Leigh (This is the book Dreamspinner published even though Garrett asked for her rights back. So she’s trying to recoup anything she lost and also give the middle finger to Dreamspinner.)
Thickerella by Tanzania Glover (which will be followed up by Sleeping Cutie in July OMIDOG I am fascinated.)

What are you picking up 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!

It’s Monday, and for a lot of us it’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Or Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Day if you live in Arizona). If you’re not working today, maybe you’re participating in Day of Service, or picking up Let it Shine or Being Plumville and thinking about the actual context of any of the many quotes you see floating around the internet today.

Or you can be like me, and buy lots of books that you absolutely do not need at a Friends of the Library book sale. (It’s the only ten dollar bag day out of the year I’m not working!)

Anyway, let’s talk Romance.

News and Useful Links

For a while, I thought maybe we’d have a weirdly slow week after the decade ago that was the week of December 23, but the world continues to turn. It seems to have taken a bit of a chill-pill, though. Which is nice. (Knock on wood.)

If you haven’t read Alyssa Cole’s article about Harry and Meghan in The Washington Post, it’s definitely worth a read. And somebody really thought so, because she was on CNN yesterday morning!

I have been watching the Dreamspinner Press debacle since the beginning, and am grateful for the work that Rachel Kramer Bussel did to pull together this article, which outlines everything in layman’s terms.

Especially after TJ Klune lamented that in writing this spectacular (and spectacularly lengthy) article, the author spent over an hour on the phone with him and didn’t mention the actual issue with Dreamspinner not paying their authors. It’s a great rundown of the RWA meltdown, and Kelly Fairchild mentioned there might be follow-up articles. So I will keep an eye out for those.

In happier(?) news, Lucy Eden is organizing a silent auction to benefit the people of Puerto Rico after the massive earthquakes that rocked the island last week, even as the majority of its inhabitants have only slowly been recovering from the slew of hurricanes. It’s called Romance For PR, and you can follow along on Twitter by following the hashtag #RomanceForPR or visit the website. The auction itself starts next week, so I’ll remind us.

And if you need some distraction from…all of it…this thread is essentially every person in love in a romantic comedy (or drama, or random TV series with a side character love interest) ever in three second gif form, and you will get lost for days.

Oh, and I would like a poster of this cover to put on my wall thanks.

And uh…also this one.

Okay, that’s enough for today I think; moving on.

Deals

Have you read any Piper J. Drake? Her romantic suspense novels are seriously top notch. I’ve only read a couple, but I am trying to fix that one by one. Fierce Justice, the fourth book in her True Heroes series, is 2.99, and I’m pretty sure you can read it as a standalone. There might be some reference to the organizations they all belong to, but the story is easy to follow even if you haven’t read the first ones. Also, unfortunately, this is the only one in the series that is on sale (though the rest are still only 5.99 and 6.99, so if you’re looking for a new romsusp series, I’d try them!). Also, I am pretty sure I have heard directly from Piper’s mouth that the dogs live. I know that is important to a lot of us!

Recs!

By no plan or measure, I have found myself reading more sapphic books recently. Maybe it’s because of Dana’s post, or maybe I’ve just been a particular mood. Either way, I’ve got some great recs for anyone looking for romance about women loving women, and occasionally other people too.

Proper English
KJ Charles

I made the mistake of requesting this book be purchased by the library, getting a notification that it had been bought, and then not checking OverDrive immediately (well, in the recommended hour or two that it would show up on OverDrive’s native site instead of my library’s catalog). By the time I remembered, I was double digits on the waiting list and just had to wait my turn. And then I read it within the space of 36 hours and sent it back for the next person to read. Because even though I haven’t read Think of England and don’t have any background for this prequel, I was immediately invested, involved, and enmeshed. (It’s still sort of alliterative when you say it aloud, so I’m keeping it.) Pat and her shooting; Fen and her bosom; all the gentlemen and their own troubles. I couldn’t stop. I probably made some ridiculous faces reading it on the treadmill at the gym. I will say—if you’re going in looking for a deep and thorough murder mystery, you will be disappointed. But if you’re looking for an Edwardian romance with the proper amount of murder, this is for you.

Read harder challenge: Read a mystery where the victim isn’t a woman; read a historical fiction novel that doesn’t take place during WWII.

Working Title
Holley Trent

Holley Trent just kind of dropped this one onto our laps in the weeks before Christmas, and I’d been meaning to get to it before now, but here we are. Bringing us back to the universe of Writing Her In and Three Part Harmony, we find ourselves at the Upstate retreat belonging to Lisa, Everley’s BFF from Three Part Harmony. In a wild turn of events, she’s been in a relationship with Everley’s boss Joey, but is ready to break up when his needs and hers don’t match. And now, Joey and his entire team—including Finch—are doing some team building at Lisa’s retreat. And she just wants to end it. But he isn’t ready to give up the love of his life. And Finch, a quiet editor who immediately feels a spark with Lisa, is ready to fight for a chance in her own right. (Note, this is an F/F/M romance, not a love triangle, but Finch and Joey are not into each other like that.)

Read Harder Challenge: Read the last book in a series.

Being Hospitable
Meka James

Kiki is perfectly cool with letting her best friend’s younger sister stay with her while doing a post-college internship in her city. She has the space, and likes Charley enough. But what she isn’t expecting is for the younger woman to mount a full-on assault with tiny sleep clothes and sensual touches. This is her best friend’s younger sister, after all, and Kiki has only recently seen the light when it comes to the young woman being attractive. Also, Kiki had been pretty sure Charley was straight. Charley, on the other hand, has had a crush for years, and is ready to use their forced enclosure to prove that she’s worth looking at in a new way. This is a sexy sexy little number, so be prepared!

And while I’ve picked up books with other relationship groupings, I’m also still very much in the mood for more. I pulled My Lady Lipstick and The Butch and the Beautiful off my shelf, where they’ve been lounging since early last year, and I think I might try finishing Chasing Sunset after putting it down a couple of months ago. Who knows; maybe I’ll even finish something written by Radclyffe.

What are you reading this week?

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!

It’s Thursday and the world still turns. I’ve started keeping a desk calendar and daily to-do list at home in hopes that I will be just as productive on my couch as I am at my desk. And I’ve been adding books to my Reading Log when I start them, so I’m not scratching my head as I count backwards, trying to remember when I picked something up or started listening in the car. Have you been working on any ways to keep track of your reading or homework?

Anyway, let’s talk about stuff.

News and Useful Links

Courtney Milan sent a hell of a letter to RWA asking for one thing in return for her settling all claims she might have against the organization: complete transparency.

If you want to laugh, cry, and wonder how the heck an organization could skip over buying that domain, behold.

Carina Adores is coming! They’ve announced the first four books that will be coming out this summer. The line will focus on short novels focused on LGBTQ+ protagonists written by people who share those identities.

The title of this upcoming Kwana M. Jackson book is all you need.

Did you see the cover reveal and process conversation for Stephanie Burgis’s Moontangled on Love in Panels? It’s fascinating.

And hide your wallet before you open this.

Over on Book Riot

Dana did the work for us in collecting some great wlw romances.

Natalya gave us another one of those hide-your-wallet lists featuring 12 romance authors we should all be reading.

If you’re looking to read more litfic this year (or just listen to people talk about it), Book Riot has a new podcast! It’s called Novel Gazing, and they’re going to talk all things literary fiction.

While it covers more than romance, you should definitely check out the Most Anticipated Books of 2020 list. There are some good ones on there that you should definitely make sure you add to your TBR!

Did you know you could compare your Goodreads reading with a friend?

And Trisha and I did our best.

Deals

Have you read Cat Sebastian’s A Delicate Deception yet? I promise not to bug you about it every time, but it’s really the best. It’s 3.99 on Kindle right now, and is also 3.99 if you preorder the mass market paperback. The last book in the Regency Impostors series (as far as I know), this is a heartwrenching book about two people who discover the importance of found family while falling in love and dealing with their anxiety. Did I mention that while this is a m/f romance, both of them are queer? Just wonderful.

New Books

The year is ramping up, and so are the releases! I haven’t read any of them yet because I am a failure!

Strange Love
Ann Aguirre

Ann Aguirre is really the best at putting words together to make us want to read her longer strings of words, and she describes this one as “the Bachelor meets The Hunger Games with bonus alien abduction” so I’m ready. There is also apparently a talking dog! I said I wanted to read more science fiction romance and Ms. Aguirre has delivered for me.

My Nora
Holley Trent
(rerelease)

When artist Manora moves to a rural town in Eastern North Carolina, she hopes to be able to focus on her work and avoid the locals. When she discovers definite potential with her neighbor, she resists getting into another relationship. It’s her last one that got her into this mess in the first place. So she keeps pushing the man away, and you know what happens there with a Holley Trent story. Also, this one is 99 cents at the time of writing. You should definitely check it out.

Wolf Gone Wild
Juliette Cross

Hashtag-More-Werewolves-2020! Mateo hasn’t been able to shift for months, so he goes to a powerful witch, convinced he’s cursed. Do you really need to know more about this one?

Her Passionate Promise
Sheryl Lister

This is one of several books subtitled “Women of Park Manor” that was released recently, and I’m super curious about how they’re connected. Many of the authors are names that I’m familiar with, either from publishing several lines with Kimani or from other outlets. But the others, including Her Little Secret by Elle Wright and Her Forbidden Fantasy by Angela Seals, were all released at the same time.

There are a couple more I’m looking forward to picking up, like Brenda Jackson’s Husband Material (which is apparently a rerelease) and The Inheritance by Ali Vali. But the books keep coming (and they keep on coming) so I have to figure out the best way to stop.

What are you reading 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!

It’s the first cover reveal of 2020! I’m excited to share this one with y’all. I got to introduce you all to Evie Dunmore’s debut novel, Bringing Down the Duke, early last year, and the follow-up looks just as great! Check out the cover and read an exclusive excerpt after it.

(We’ve got a lot to talk about on Thursday, so keep an eye out for another extra-long KB.)

In this second book in the League of Extraordinary Women series, we land back in the world of Suffragist England, and this time we’ve got a female protagonist who is very vested in having total control over a newspaper and the lord who will offer it to her…at a cost.

(I hesitate with that kind of conflict—especially if beds are involved—but knowing Evie, she’ll twist it on its head.)

So, here it is; yet another magnificent cover directed by Rita Frangie and designed by Farjana Yasmin:

The details! The tea; the cat. You can practically tell what their expressions are even without actual faces.

We wouldn’t leave you with just the cover, though! Here’s a brief excerpt from A Rogue of One’s Own.

---

He halted before her, too close, and she raised her chin. By some irony of fate, she had gained a bare inch in height since their first encounter in Wycliffe Park.

“You shouldn’t idle on our doorstep,” she told him.

A gleam lit his eyes. “You shouldn’t traipse about alone at night.”

On his right ear, his diamond earring glimmered coldly like a star.

Her lip curled. “Don’t trouble yourself on my behalf,” she said, and resumed walking.

“I rather wouldn’t.” He was next to her, needing only one stride where she took two. “However, I’m afraid I’m obliged to escort you.”

“Truly, there is no need for gentlemanly overtures.”

“A gentleman would insist on carrying your bag. You are veritably lopsided.”

He was, notably, not insisting to carry it.

And she was walking in the wrong direction, she realized, appalled. Blast. She could hardly turn back now—it would look as though had been running from him, quite mindlessly, too.

“A lady’s reputation is in greater jeopardy when she is in your company than when she’s on her own after dark,” she tried.

“Your faith in my notoriety overwhelms me.”

“It certainly worked a charm on Lady Henley.”

“Who?”

She sniffed. “Nevermind.” And, because it did irk her that he would endanger their household’s reputation for nothing at all: “I suppose where the chase is the aim, names are but tedious details.”

“I would not know.” He sounded bemused. “I never chase.”

“What a worrying degree of self-delusion.”

He tutted. “Have you not read your Darwin? The male flaunts himself, the female chooses, it has ever been thus. Beware the determinedly chasing male—he is hoping you won’t notice his plumage is subpar.”

“Whereas, yours is of course superiorly large and iridescent.”

“I assure you it is not iridescent,” he said in a bland voice.

Annoyance crept hotly up her neck. “The ladies do not seem to mind.”

“My dear,” he murmured, “do I detect jealousy?”

Her fingers tightened around the strap of her satchel. Could she make her wrong turn look deliberate? Unless she changed direction, she would end up in Oxford’s town centre.

“I think that is exactly what it is,” Tristan said. “It would certainly explain your frequent sabotage of my liaisons.”

“I know you find your own banter highly entertaining, but it is wasted on me tonight.”

“I remember the one time with Annie.”

Despite herself, her mind began listing the Annies she had known. She wrinkled her nose. “The parlor maid?”

“Yes, her.”

“Please—any member of my family would have chased you off the girl.”

“Not with such genuine howls of outrage. Besides, the girl was quite vexed about the interruption after she had so diligently stalked me all summer.”

Was there a creature vainer than him?

“She had a poor taste in men,” she said. “It does not mean she deserved to be despoiled on a garden table.”

“Despoiled? Good Lord.”

He sounded vaguely affronted. Admittedly, he had only been sixteen, perhaps seventeen years of age, and Annie a good few years older, but a servant had no recourse against a nobleman in case she did not wish for his attentions, and most often, they did not.

They were halfway down Park Road, and she wished him gone.

“Who would have thought,” she said, “the infamous rake remembers his liaisons.”

“Oh, I don’t,” came his soft reply. “Only the ones who got away.”

Who probably were very few.

She stopped in her tracks and faced him. “Was there anything in particular you wanted, my lord?”

His eyes glittered yellow in the streetlight, not unlike Boudicca’s.

“It would not be too particular, I think,” he said, his voice low. Almost a purr.

Text copyright © 2020 by Evie Dunmore. Used by permission of Berkley.

What do you think?

As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback, book recs, or just want to say hi!

It’s Thursday, which means New Books! Let’s pretend we’re not in The Bad Place right now and talk about romance.

Over on Book Riot

If you missed it, I reflected on this whole RWA mess, including what can come out of it.

And while the death of Johanna Lindsey got kind of lost in the rest of it, PN wrote a lovely piece looking back.

Win a gift card to Barnes and Noble!

Nikki talked about reading way more books than she previously had in a year, and why she doesn’t plan to continue on the same path.

There are new perks for Book Riot Insiders for you to check out.

And authors of all kinds are participating in #AuthorsForFireys, a Twitter auction to benefit the fire departments fighting the countless fires spreading across Australia.

Deals

I don’t know if now is the best time for a book set in the early days of a post-apocalyptic United States, but if you want to read about people falling in love even when the phones have stopped and there are no answers, Radio Silence is 1.99 right now. It’s the first in a series, but you’ll want the rest immediately when you’re done (though they’re not on sale at the moment). The protagonists of this introduction to the Off the Grid series don’t get along immediately, which you all know is my tropetonite. But the family interactions are what really make this book great. I will include a content warning for an attempted assault early on, so read with caution.

New Releases

The first Tuesday of the year was this week. Publishing is amping up again after the holidays, and we’ve got the first small batch of new releases.

Jeremiah by Jayce Ellis

In Jayce Ellis’s debut novel, Jeremiah is a paramedic in DC who isn’t particularly in the closet, but he’s not out there telling everyone about his sexuality. After he and Collin have an…encounter…they don’t seem to be able to get rid of each other. But can something casual become “take home to mom” material?

The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz

This haunting romantic suspense novel is the first in a new series, and while many have said it’s reminiscent of previous series, I am fascinated by the setup. In a previous generation, there was a gas that put all the residents to sleep for two days. Now, Cat’s friend has gone missing, and the only person who takes her seriously is Slater, an agent with a secret organization. Since this is a setup for a new series, I’m looking forward to the norms Krentz will establish here, and can’t wait to see if there’s something supernatural happening.

A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year by Jackie Lau

This is the third Holidays With the Wongs book, and I am so excited to pick it up. This one centers the younger Wong brother, Zach. He’s been set up with potential life partners at previous family holiday gatherings, so in order to avoid potentially being set up again, he makes an arrangement with a local dentist to keep his parents off his back. But there’s always a problem with faking a relationship, especially when there’s kissing involved…

Royal Playboy by Nana Malone

Nana Malone has found her corner of the world, and it’s bad boy royals and their friends. The covers are just the tip of the iceberg on how sexy these books are. Just so you know, Royal Playboy is the first in a duet, so it doesn’t end in an HEA.

There are other books out this week, but these are the ones I’m planning to check out. What are you reading 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!

Happy Monday, lovers! The world is even more on fire than it was when last we spoke, and it’s time to dig into more romance novels.

News and Useful Links

A lot of authors have pulled their books from consideration for the RITA awards (see the #NoRITAs hashtag). If you want to give them some support, here are a couple of links:

• Romance Sparks Joy pulled together a list of authors from underrepresented groups who have pulled their books, with links. Any money made from affiliate links will be used to fund giveaways of books by underrepresented voices.
• All About Romance created a larger list of authors who have pulled their books in an Amazon storefront. I salute them, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that they’ve contributed to the wrong end of the white supremacy conversation.

Here are some updates on the RWA front:

• Kathryn Lynn Davis talked to The Guardian. We’ll never know how much of it is people associated with RWA pulling strings and how much of it is Davis covering her own ass, but there are definitely some things to ponder.
• Mikki Kendall wrote a really insightful piece on what this whole thing looks like for publishing as a whole.
• And of course NPR is one of the few outside news outlets that approaches this whole thing without needing to step on romance to do it.
• Damon Suede is still President, and the board members who were recently appointed are still there. That’s all you need to know about that.
• Yes, Chuck Tingle did write Not Pounded By Romance Wranglers Of America Because Their New Leadership Is From The Depths Of The Endless Cosmic Void.
• Things change every day and I’m honestly not sure what’s happening anymore.

Because we need something thrilling and exciting: if you’ve read the Reluctant Royals series, “Girls With Glasses” might be familiar to you. IT IS NOW REAL.

Girl Have You Read is doing a quick romance challenge specifically around Black romance, so check it out and decide if you want to join in.

Deals

Have you read any Kerrigan Byrne? How To Love a Duke in Ten Days is 2.99 right now! This historical romance features two people with darkness in their pasts and their presents. I haven’t read this one or any of her work, but it’s been on my list to pick up forever! Kerrigan Byrne is one of those authors who I have regularly seen on the periphery but haven’t managed to pick up her books. I’m going to continue my goal of reading more new authors this year, and hers might be one of the first I try!

Recs!

It’s a regular Monday in our schedule, and I took the time at the end of the year to pick up some missed releases from 2019. I haven’t finished them all yet (facepalm) but they’re worth checking out.

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
Sonali Dev

I love Sonali Dev’s writing, and I love Pride and Prejudice, so I was baffled when, way back in June on a long flight home, I couldn’t get into the story. I’d barely scratched the surface of Trisha Raje’s weird brain, and I turned off my Kindle and read something else. But when I picked it up the morning of January 1st (a hard copy this time), I devoured half the book in one sitting. And this is a book that nearly qualifies for the Doorstopper task on the Read Harder challenge, short a mere 35 pages. Sonali Dev continues to tell quite the story from the perspectives of Trisha, a brilliant neurosurgeon who has major trouble talking to people, and DJ, a brilliant chef whose sister is one of Trisha’s patients. Note: ALL THE CWs are necessary for this book. There’s discussion of multiple past rapes (one of which included use of Rohypnol); discussion of lost pregnancies and attempts to get pregnant; family discord and estrangement; brain tumors; bad reaction to potential blindness; an Assigned Criminal At Birth law enforcement interaction…there’s just a lot going on here. If you’ve read Sonali Dev, she likes to make all her characters suffer a lot before they get their happy ending, and this one is no exception. So just go in with certain expectations, and be ready for something that’s more “suggested by Pride and Prejudice” than something that follows the beats more closely.

White Whiskey Bargain
Jodie Slaughter

People have been talking about this book since long before it came out, and my intention had been to read it long before now. But things got in the way and it got pushed further and further down the list of things I had borrowed from KU. But I realized now was the time to read it, and boy am I glad I started. Hannah and Javier are the heirs to their family moonshine businesses in the hills of Kentucky. Hannah, actually, is no longer an heir; after the sudden death of her mother, she’s taken over as the HWIC in the family business. When a rich white family from out of town threatens both families and their livelihoods in increasingly bloody ways, the families decide to join forces. And what better way to prove that they are serious than for Hannah and Javier to marry? That’s right, folks. It’s a modern-day marriage of convenience story, and it’s hot and feelsy AF.

The Good, The Bad, and the Dad
Jaxon Knight

You might remember me talking about Rival Princes, the first romance I’d ever read that takes place in a theme park? This is part of that series. The father of Minako, a delightful little girl who stole the show in the first book, is the protagonist here. And he has not one but two—count em, two—suitors connected to Fairyland. One is a prince…the other is a pirate. A prince. And a pirate. And a dad.

I KNOW, right?!

I also just realized these are all books that would work for Read Harder tasks, so if you’re still looking for a retelling, a book with a rural setting, or a romance starring a single parent…you’re welcome!

So how are you starting out your first full week of 2020? More importantly, what are you reading?

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!

Happy New Year, Lovelies! I’m so looking forward to leaving 2019 behind. Though I have to admit: it was an amazing year in books! There were so many books I loved, books I wanted to throw at people, books I hope everyone else read and loved as much as I did (though every story is obviously YMMV). I hope everyone had a safe and meaningful holiday, and that you’re ready for a new year of Kissing Books.

(Heads up, it’s gonna be another extra long one!)

News and Useful Links

If you’re on social media and follow me or other romance people, you might have seen the massive implosion of Romance Writers of America that started on the same day as my last newsletter. It was revealed that Courtney Milan, at the recommendation of an ethics committee ruling, had been heavily sanctioned by the Board of Directors for putting another author’s career at risk. What had Courtney done? Called the author’s book a “fucking racist mess” and pointed out legitimate reasons why. (Please note, I have not read the book in question, nor had I heard of the author in question before Courtney’s twitter thread this past summer.) The author’s associates, who also brought ethics charges against her, have documented history of racist actions and saying racist things for the whole world to see, but Courtney was the one who was slapped with penalties. RWA is the largest trade organization for romance writers in the world, I think, and they lost the trust of a lot of people. This wasn’t the first thing that lit people’s Spidey-senses, but it was definitely the last straw. Among other things, a lot of authors pulled their submissions for the RITAs. I’ve got a longer reaction piece coming out on the site soon, but if you want to read a complete rundown of what happened, here are a couple of different formats for you to get the information:

• Sarah Wendell on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books with the initial story and several updates
• Claire Ryan (who already got an engraved blade from Nora Roberts for opening up the #copypastecris thing) compiles the facts
• Romance Sparks Joy twitter moment
• Cate Eland’s amazing step-by-step twitter thread

Speaking of Romance Sparks Joy. They pull together a tweet thread of things happening in Romancelandia every week, and this one’s covers a LOT.

In happier news…

Cole McCade has a new two-book deal with Carina Adores!

If you’ve read Holley Trent’s Writing Her In, you know a bit about series bibles, but did you know about this awesome person who makes them in real life?

Netflix’s Virgin River (which was apparently number three on the rising watch charts the week it released?!) has been greenlit for a second season (and I am CHOMPING AT THE BIT WHERE IS IT I NEED IT NOW). If you haven’t checked it out yet, definitely set aside some time. My intention the day after Christmas was to watch an episode while I had my lunch and then get back to my book. I am sad to tell you that there was no more reading done that day. None at all.

I also watched the adaptation of Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret on HBO and it was ADORABLE. (Also, while the two leads—one of whom is Tyler Superman Hoechlin—are white, almost nobody else in the movie is. I was delighted by this casting decision!)

Do you like bingo-style challenges? Here’s a great one to check out!

A less happy thing is that Bookstore Romance Day cut ties with RWA, who was a major sponsor of their efforts. They are now running a GoFundMe to recoup funding in order to put on as great a day as they did last year.

Looking forward, Jennifer Prokop wrote about 2020 romances she’s looking forward to.

And here’s one from Oprah Magazine (FYI, if you’re like me and are like “where is the rest” it’s a gallery :facepalm:).

I have no idea if I caught everything from the last ten days, but that’s probably plenty to take in.

Over on Book Riot

Are you doing the Read Harder Challenge this year? I’ve started out every year since the challenge was created with the intention of completing it, and something always gets in the way. But I’m going to try to complete it this year (maybe even with books I own or have been meaning to read forever!). The easiest task for all of us is probably the romance one, but if you’re looking for where to start with a romance starring a single parent, Trisha pulled a few together.

And Isabelle wrote this incredibly thoughtful piece about the types of happy endings she wants to see more broadly in the future.

Do you go to book festivals or conventions? You really should, if you can. (Not RWA though.)

Some published authors are pretty open about the fanfiction they used to write (or in some cases, still do).

And finally, don’t forget to make a copy of your 2020 Reading Log!

Deals

Syncopation by Anna Zabo is 1.99 right now! The first book in their Twisted Wishes series, this one features a second-chance (ish) romance between a frontman and the band’s new drummer. This is also the first romance I ever read featuring an aromantic character, and the way Anna frames their love story (yes, that is possible) is just so good. And the rest of the series just gets better, so you’ll want to check out Counterpoint and Reverb as well.

And if you haven’t yet read one of my favorite novellas of 2019, Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole is 1.99. While it’s a connector novella in the Reluctant Royals series, it’s mostly one you can read on its own (though there are events related to those in A Duke By Default, so if you are planning to read that one, read it before picking up Can’t Escape Love).

Recs and New Books!

Love Lettering
Kate Clayborn

If it seems like you can’t escape this book, there’s a reason. While I’d been meaning to pick up a Kate Clayborn book forever, I’m glad I started with this one.

Meg is a letterer in New York. While that once meant creating custom designs for wedding packages and greeting cards, she’s found her niche making custom planners for New York’s elite (aka people who can afford to live in NYC and still have expendable cash). She’s finally gotten an offer for a massive project, but she’s been feeling creatively blocked. When a hidden message in a wedding program comes back to bite her, it’s the man who found it who helps her rekindle her creativity. Though Reid saw the sign that his getting married wasn’t a good idea, he’s yet to see the sign that New York is the place for him. And Meg is just the person to help him find it…through a different kind of sign searching across New York City. The time they spend together is immediately precious, and the pair helps each other in the most surprising of ways.

I am always the person who is fascinated by characters’ work and life outside of their romance, and this book delivered. I don’t always understand the language of the job, but I love Meg’s passion for her work and the things she sees around her. Each letter is another clue into both leads’ characters, and you all know I love a well-built human in my romance novels. This is not a fast-paced book; in fact, it’s a super slow burn. So if that’s not your thing, move on to the next. But if you love the ability to enmesh yourself in something for a few hours or a couple days (depending on how long you can shut out the world), this is definitely a book worth reading.

Grand Theft N.Y.E.
Katrina Jackson

Katrina Jackson, in all her masterful wisdom, decided to release two New Years related books on the same day. One was a sexy af novella, the other a much longer One Day-style drawn out romance. While I have every intention of picking up the latter very soon (like, when I finish writing this soon), I am very glad I chose the former to read to ring in the new year.

Cleo is a master thief. She doesn’t live the pickpocket and petty burglary life anymore, though. Now, she and her team pull elaborate cons to help rich people (men, mostly) lose their money while staring at her perfect posterior as she strolls away in one of her many wigs. But what she wasn’t expecting at a job was to be propositioned by another person entirely, only to have literally the best, most memorable night of her life. But when she leaves before Robert awakes, taking his watch and his classic Jag as mementos, the security professional knows he has to do anything to get her back.

When I say this novella was sexy af, I mean it down to my core. Kat pulls no punches in making the chemistry between the two ooze off the page, and their shenanigans are not limited to bedrooms or enclosed spaces.

And if you’re more interested in the Same Time, Next Year slow burn book, you’ll want to get Every New Year right now.

Other new releases:

Sweet Talkin’ Lover by Tracey Livesay
The Prince of Broadway by Joanna Bourne
My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid
Second-Chance Sweet Shop by Rochelle Alers
A Private Affair by AC Arthur
A Fluid State by Rob Browatzke

What’s your first book of 2020?

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!

 

Well folks, it’s the last Kissing Books of 2019. Can you believe it? We’ve had such a journey this year. Ups, downs, highs, lows. Hair-pulling controversies and absolute and utter delights. What’s been your favorite romance moment of 2019?

Since we won’t chat for a couple weeks (Book Riot is closed from December 25-January 1), you get all the KB components this good Monday morning. Think of it as a blast from the past from back when we were only doing this once a week.

News and Useful Links

We learned yesterday that OG romance novelist Johanna Lindsey died several weeks ago. She was 67.

Is anyone surprised that the bestselling book of the 2010s was Fifty Shades of Grey? Considering how many I see on shelves every time I go into a used book store, I’m surprised that people are surprised. As someone who DNF’d the first book and only saw the first move, I am very much aware of how much of an impact that book had on bookstores and booksellers, and how much the wave in the earlier part of the decade affected a large component of adults with money to spend.

Have you seen the trailer for Netflix’s adaptation of PS I Still Love You? Lara Jean is back!

Check out this Romance Humble Bundle! It’s hella white, but at least the money goes towards the ACLU.

If you missed what RWA had to say about The Hallmark Channel (which has a publishing arm and also partners with other romance publishers) removing advertisements featuring a lesbian kiss and then putting them back again, here’s there complete statement.

(And the reminder that RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Suzanne Brockmann acted as producer and writer for The Perfect Wedding, a pretty cute gay romcom.)

And if you’re still looking for holiday romances to read, check out this list from Autostraddle.

Over on Book Riot

I got to thinking about the whiteness of sports romance, especially after reading a few that didn’t live up to that stereotype.

And Sil matched a bunch of romance couples with their Hogwarts house pairings. (Because we can be disappointed in a creator and still use key cultural components of their intellectual property to have our own kind of fun.)

Do you like comics? I want to read about all of these people.

Deals

Have you read the book half of Twitter still can’t shut up about? White Whiskey Bargain by Jodie Slaughter has all the things: moonshine, marriage of convenience, an Appalachia that isn’t just white. And did I mention family rivalry? It’s 2.99 right now (and you can also read it on Kindle Unlimited if someone happens to give you the gift that keeps on giving).

Upcoming Releases!

Since it’s the last KB of the year, I figured I should make sure the last few books of 2019 are on your radar! The books that are released after Christmas always get the short end of the stick, and often fall through the cracks. But I’ve heard a lot from early readers about some of these books, and I am looking forward to getting the time to read them.

Sweet Talkin’ Lover
Tracey Livesay

The first book in a new series about a group of friends, this one gives us a new take on a favorite trope: the workaholic and the civil servant. In this case, a marketing manager who needs to shut down a low-producing factory and Mayor McHottie, who will do whatever it takes to get her on his side.

The Prince of Broadway
Joanna Shupe

The second book in Shupe’s new series set in early Gilded Age New York City, this one is definitely set to be full of fireworks. He’s the owner of New York’s most exclusive casino, and she wants to open one of her own—just for women. He wants to ruin her family, and she knows but doesn’t care; with the knowledge she can gain from him, she has all she needs.

Love Lettering
Kate Clayborn

Do you like calligraphy? Stationery? Planners? You’ll love Meg, who creates custom journals and all kinds of things for New York’s wealthy folks. She hints at the collapse of Reid’s approaching wedding with a hidden word in their wedding program, and when they meet again, Reid wants to know how. Too bad she’s too busy searching for her lost creativity.

There’s also a couple more that I know less about but am also looking forward to picking up:

Second-Chance Sweet Shop by Rochelle Alers

Forever My Duke by Olivia Drake

The Secret She Keeps by HelenKay Dimon

Every New Year by Katrina Jackson

So, That Got Weird by Amelia Klingston

And since tonight is the second night of Hannukah, it’s not a bad time to check out Xan West’s Eight Kinky Nights…

What books are you finishing out the year with?

Enjoy your holidays as best you can, and I hope you manage to spend some time taking in the HEAs.

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!

Happy Star Wars day, KB! This one isn’t going to be quite as long as Monday’s, I promise. But there are a lot of books to talk about.

Over on Book Riot

It’s hard to say what makes an author “like Nora Roberts” but some kind of way Alison really nailed it down. Check out these authors and books that are reminiscent of the prolific princess of…promance. (I tried.)

Enter to win a subscription to the Fresh Fiction box! They aren’t focused on romance, but they do have romance titles pretty regularly. Or, (and?) enter to win a year of free books from TBR! You could get a yearlong hardcover subscription to the excellent program that includes annotated book selections by a few Riot-related bibliologists.

Would you agree with Abby’s ranking of Austen heroines by badassery?

And check out Trisha and me discussing the finer details of “Wanted” versus “Desired” and other fun stuff.

Deals

It’s not too late to start compiling your books for Read Harder 2020. So, if you’re looking for a book for the “last book in the series” task, look no further than A Prince On Paper, which is 1.99 right now. While it gathers people from the previous books at a wedding between [surprise?] the couple in the first book, you don’t really need to have read the previous books in the series…though if you haven’t, you definitely should. (Start with A Princess in Theory.)

New Books

This has been the week of surprise books all over the place, including Adriana Herrera dropping Mangos and Mistletoe a week earlier than originally planned. Some are holiday reads, some are just a total surprise. And then of course there are the ones that I knew were coming out, but wasn’t prepared for. I don’t know when I’ll get around to any of them

This Christmas Rivalry
Beverly Jenkins

This holiday novella was originally published in the Merry Sexy Christmas anthology in 2012, and was just released as a standalone novella. Drew intends to buy the semipro team he GMs, but the owner’s granddaughter inherits it instead. They butt heads and exchange a searing attraction as the team moves forwards towards the championship on New Years Day.

No Room At the Inn
Brooke Winters

“Two women. One bed, And a night that changes everything.” That definitely hooked me. Emma and Sylvia are stranded at the hotel where they work, and as the holiday draws near, so do the temptations of kinky friends-to-lovers fun.

Grounded for Christmas
Savannah J. Frierson

When a snowstorm strands Mary and her brother’s best friend #pilotbae…I mean, Joseph (yes, those are their names) during their holiday travels, the pair try to amend a years-old schism that might just give them a second chance at love. This is a novelette, so be prepared to devour it in a single sitting.

Bittersweet
Christina C. Jones

Christina C. Jones is one of the most prolific authors I can think of. This novella set in her Equilibrium universe brings us into the lives of a familiar face to readers. Anika and her manager trainee Royal don’t get along, but things might change if Royal has anything to do with it. Yes, it’s enemies-to-lovers.

Frostbite
J. Emery

A spoiled vampire and a former monster hunter get snowed in for Christmas? Is this really my life? Vampire Ezra gets kidnapped by a rival vampire clan, and when he escapes, he finds his way to a cabin that is already occupied by Morgan, who has just left his monster-hunting family. As the snow keeps them trapped, they each discover more about the other. And what it means to be to be enemies.

Working Title
Holley Trent

This woman just went and dropped a whole FFM novella, part of her Plot Twist series (which was initially published by Carina, so I wonder if she only had a two-book contract with them?). Lisa and her boyfriend Joey can’t seem to properly break up, which becomes a problem when Jake’s work rival Finch decides Lisa deserves better. And well, if you know Holley Trent, you know where it goes from there.

That’s not even all the ones I’ve come across, but my wallet and I are tired, so I imagine you and yours are as well.

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!