Author: P.N. Hinton

Riot Recommendations

It occurs to me that the two new releases I highlighted today both featured the ‘opposites attract’ trope. So, I decided that today’s recommendations would focus on another one of my favorite tropes. And what trope is that, you may be asking? Friends to lovers!

Much like its counterpart, I’m a sucker for these types of stories. I adore When Harry Met Sally and I can even enjoyed Boys & Girls, the early aught’s New Adult take on it. If you don’t remember that movie, that’s cool; not a lot of people do. I know I’m in the minority for being a fan of it and I’m okay with that.

Still, it’s a great trope and here are a few books that fit it. Enjoy!

We’re just a few days away from Halloween so why not pick up some of these paranormal romances to get into the mood?

Take this quiz and find your New Girl soulmate.

If you can choose just one, you’re a more decisive reader than me.

Halloween recs courtesy of The Ripped Bodice.

Riot Recommendations

In terms of paranormal romances, it really must be the Season of the Witch (there’s your earworm for the day). There have been a ton of witchy romances that have hit the shelves this year, and we have even more headed our way in the coming months. And I am here for it. If I’m being honest, I’ve always had witchy tendencies and am working on embracing rather than suppressing that side of myself. So, yes, I am here for all the witch and warlock romances.

I know I’ve mentioned more than one of these types of books when letting y’all know what I’m currently reading and I have, at the very least, three more I want to read this year. And I’m lowballing that number. This trend is even something that we have mentioned here on Book Riot more than a few times this year. It’s evident all around us that witch romances are in.

As an aside, I know that my use of “warlock” is very much a product of the era I grew up in but I stand by it. Warlock doesn’t mean bad or evil, it just means male witch. And part of me gets a giddy thrill over being able to use a gendered modifier in this case, cause we all know that women have had to deal with it their entire existence.

Anyways, let’s get to the recommendations!

Plan a movie outing, get a Hollywood heartthrob. I got Andrew Garfield and am A-Okay with that.

Take this poll to see where you land when it comes to romantic trope preferences.

Riot Recommendations

Today’s theme came to me as a shower thought. I love when I actually remember those! Getting back on track, one of the things that I love about the romance genre is there really is something for everybody.

Alternatively, this means that not everything is for everybody and that is where we get to deal breakers. Which I completely get, since I have more than a few myself. That said, there is something to be said about testing your own boundaries every now and then. Sometimes you may find that one book in a disliked trope or deal breaker that you actually enjoy.

Which isn’t to say you should force yourself to read anything you don’t want to read or that will cause any type of trigger because your mental health is always more important. But if you find yourself looking at a book that you might be interested in if it weren’t for “insert reason here,” give it a chapter or two because you might be surprised.

Below are two books that fit one of those two boxes for me. This is my way of showing that I do practice what I preach, or plan to in the near future.

Some adaptation news: first, we will soon see Thistle Grove, first introduced to us in Payback’s a Witch on our TV screens. There was also a movie announcement regarding People We Meet on Vacation. That said, as exciting as this news is, I am once again reminding Hollywood that both Beverly Jenkins and Brenda Jackson both have an oeuvre of established series that could be adapted for either the big or small screen. Stop sleeping on these stories Hollywood, and get to adapting!

Check out a handful of just a few of the exciting titles headed our way this fall.

If you’ve ever been interested in a mentorship with Harlequin, here’s your opportunity!

Whether you’re new to the genre or a longtime fan, these books are still good reading and staples in the genre.

Cinnamon Roll Heroes!!

Riot Recommendations

October 18th is Chocolate Cupcake Day and in honor of that, I’m recommending even more romances that take place at a bakery or involve a baker. Even if it’s not a chocolate cupcake, hopefully you’ll have something sugary on hand to satiate any sweet tooth cravings you may get after picking these books up.

You can also pick up Queerly Beloved by Book Riot’s own Susie Dumond. I read this earlier this year and adored it!

Congratulations to Alisha Rai on her nuptials! She hasn’t shared the full details yet, but oh how my heart warmed watching this countdown video that was shared.

More Harlequin romances to fall in love with.

If you’re an audiophile, check out this list of romances by Black authors.

More romance cover art, this time on tins and seashells!

Pick random things and get the first initial of your soulmate.

Riot Recommendations

Today’s recommendations are brought to you by the fake dating trope. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of make believe to help you see the happily ever after in front of your face even if you were manipulated into getting there.

Here are some witchy reads to help kick off fall. While not all are pure romance, there is enough of an overlap that they bear including.

And, in case you’ve never read Nora Roberts before, here is a good list to start off of.

Spooky *and* sexy? Sign me up!

Click here for Halloween candy and book pairings.

The Ripped Bodice is ready for the Halloween season.

Riot Recommendations

The theme of today’s recommendations are holidays! I know we’re getting into that time of the year where we’re taking on back to back holidays and it can be overwhelming and stressful. So, sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the real world chaos that those can entail and read some fictionalized ones.

Separate from the major ones, there are also some random holidays that may not be well known or celebrated but can still be fun to discuss. It’s also good trivia knowledge so you never know when that type of information may come in handy. That is why the first rec is centered around a well-known holiday and the second is one that, in its own way, honors a lesser known one.

Here are some historical romances that don’t cut back on the spice level.

There’s still time to pick up some of these romances by Latine authors before National Hispanic Heritage Month ends.

I would totally relish having a reading space like this.

Also, while this TikTok is not romance or even book adjacent, it is witchy and Halloween related and just plain old adorable so I’m including, since I am sure we could all use the serotonin.

Riot Recommendations

The start of Fall for me typically means a lot for horror or ‘spoopy‘ novels, spread across various genres. And I don’t care what type of supernatural entity is involved either; I’m here for all of them. Naturally though, I especially love it when those types of genres overlap with the romance one.

And there has been an increase in this sub-genre in the last year or so, even contributing to coining the term ‘horro-romance,’ which I am all for. Which leads to my recommendations for this week, all of which are in that sub-genre.

And for my monster romance lovers have no fear since I plan on highlighting some of those as well this month. Just keep an eye out for upcoming newsletters!

Be sure to put this event on your calendar now!

I love these wise words from Viola Davis and can’t agree with them more.

Following that train of thought, check out this list of married couples who have decided trolling is their love language.

Riot Recommendations

I have been pulling extra hours at the day job over the last week because Mama needs that coin that comes with OT pay. True it gets tiring but Future Me will be grateful come payday. One way I have maintained a strong performance is because I am able to put on my ear buds, pick a Spotify playlist, and power through the day.

After all, a good playlist can make almost any stretch of time go by faster and make it slightly more enjoyable.

Now, my need for constant music flow during my nine to five got me thinking about how many romance novels borrow song titles for their own books. It’s not a consistent enough theme to be anything more than a sporadic pun, but it is still interesting to note and led to today’s recommendations: books that are also song titles!

If you’ve been looking for some romances with Trans representation, here is a good jumping off point.

Plan a birthday party, get paired up with a 90’s heartthrob.

This is sound advice right here.

If you can’t get enough of enemies-to-lovers, this list has some options that you may have previously overlooked.

Riot Recommendations

I have noticed an uptick in romances that are inspired or based of Shakespeare. Now, I know that Romeo and Juliet is always a popular one with the forbidden love aspect, although I would agree with my whole chest that the play is a tragedy and not a romance. So, of course in that regard the adaptations in Romancelandia do deviate from the source material.

But there are more options to adapt than that one play and that is something that a lot of romance writers have proved in the last few years. And I’m here for it because, for the most part, I do enjoy Shakespeare. Now, do I think that his works are super brilliant? Absolutely not. If you ask me, his plays, even the non-romance ones, are the Elizabethan equivalent of beach reads. I could write an entire article on that so rather than ramble on, let’s check out the recommendations for today!

Build a taco, pupusa, and an agua fresca to give insight on your soulmate.

Check out some of the favorite romance novels right now.

This is an exciting line up for an upcoming spooky season romance panel!

Changes are coming to Amazon’s return policy for ebooks and I’m so happy to hear it.

Riot Recommendations

I recently made the somewhat questionable decision to read Book Lovers and The Dead Romantics at the same time. Now, this choice wasn’t questionable due to the books themselves because I thoroughly enjoyed both. No, it was questionable because each involve a dead parent. The former had a dead mom and the latter a dead dad. And both of my parents have since moved on from this mortal realm.

Now, this isn’t a recent loss by any means. My mom will have been gone for 31 years this upcoming November and it will have been 12 years for dad in February. Still, the grief is called a constant bedfellow for a reason, since it never really goes away. You just learn to live with it and expect the unexpected moments of getting hit with it.

That said, I still think it’s important to touch on these topics in romance. Death is inevitable, which means that you will at some point experience these types of losses while with your partner. That isn’t to say that I want to read about it all the time, but I still think it has a place and dealing with it and other painful topics is important. That’s why my recommendations today are books that deal with heavier life topics. I will include the content warnings I know of but be sure to also research on your own to prepare accordingly.

If suspenseful romance is your thing, check out this list of fifteen recommendations.

This is an impressively well-rounded list for some of the romance debuts we’ve had from last September to this one.

Build a wedding play list and get a guess on what type of engagement ring is perfect for you.

Two of my favorite authors at one speaking engagement? Yes, please.