Category: Kissing Books

BRIDGERTON IS COMING

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date October 19, 2020

Love All Year: A Holidays Anthology

If you’re looking for a good deal re: stories : dollars, you really can’t go wrong with a good anthology. And while there are plenty of anthologies regularly coming out, I gotta highlight the deal that is Love All Year: seven stories, 2.99. Love All Year is a holiday anthology, but like…a legit holiday anthology. Sukkot, Yule, Juneteenth, and more are celebrated within these pages. Check it out!

Recs!

So you know how I broke up with Kindle Unlimited a while ago? That didn’t last long—the itch was getting to me as I was adding more and more books to my “to read when I get KU again someday” list. I still have all the same problems listed in my post, but there was a deal on a six-month subscription so…:shrug-emoji:

I did take the chance to read a couple seasonally-appropriate books, though!

Sanctuary by Alexandria House

All I knew about this book going in was that the subtitle referenced “noire immortals” and I was all for it.

Temple is a radio DJ who gets a couple of song requests that bring up memories of her youth. She can’t believe it when it turns out the requestor is her first love, the man who loved her, loved on her, and then disappeared without a trace. He’s come back to apologize and maybe even get back together…and with a story to tell. Turns out he’s immortal—one of the First People. Oh, and kind of…royalty? She doesn’t let him off easily, but the book isn’t that long, so you don’t have to yell at both of them for too much time. Also, this book is hella sexy. Like whoa sexy. You definitely want to check it out.

The Ghost and Katie Coyle by Anne Kelleher

You know how I was crying about wanting a book like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir but with a different kind of happy ending? Reader, this is that book. I mean, I’m sure there are others (thanks to those of you who reached out with recommendations, I’m on it!) but this one definitely invoked similar energy, but with a ghost that can become solid in certain situations and—you guessed it—hot ghost sex. It’s dated, both in terms of content and themes of consent; there is not a cell phone to be found (though there’s a throwaway line about cell service not reaching the small town) and also there’s one specific scene with a sort of “it’s okay, I wanted it” moment. But otherwise, it’s a super quick read that only leaves us with a couple questions at the end (lolsob, you’ll understand what I mean).

I’ve also got MINK’s haunted house romance, Under His Spell, on my borrowed list, but that ghost appears to be a specter set to haunt the main couple. I’ve got a few more to check out, though!

Any ghostly plans for the 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!

Kissing Books

Looking for Fantasy Romance? Look No Further.

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date October 14, 2020

Over on Book Riot

How many of these fantasy romances have you read? I’ve got more books to pile up and pretend to read!

I haven’t watched Indian Matchmaker (and I’ve read a few things about the casteism involved in the show and am not sure I want to) but this is still an interesting set of recommendations!

Spooky bookmarks!

Have you been keeping a reading journal?

Bookish costumes by sign. I’ll bite. (Funnily enough, the one that matches mine was also my high school mascot :D)

Deals

Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

Speaking of fantasy romance: I’ve been hearing T. Kingfisher’s name a lot recently, and this book sounds as good as any place to start. This one is a fantasy romance featuring a paladin who wants to be useful and the fugitive he goes on the run with. There’s magic, there’s worldbuilding, and there are apparently a lot of pages. And if you like this one and want more, Clockwork Boys and Swordheart are both currently 1.99 as well.

New Books

There are a bunch of books out today in the romance sphere—a couple are more like books in their genre with romantic elements, but might be worth checking out anyway.

So many books.

Sanctuary by Alexandria House

Booked for Christmas by Lily Menon (Sandhya Menon’s adult romance pseudonym)

The Last Rule of Makeups by Nina Crespo

Were-Geeks Save Lake Wacka Wacka by Kathy Lyons

The Vicar and the Rake by Annabelle Green

Now Playing by B. Love (That cover, y’all)

Division Bells by Iona Datt Sharma

Miracles and Menorahs by Stacey Agdern

The Midnight Bargain by CL Polk (this is one of those referenced “[insert genre] with romantic elements)

The Boyfriend Effect by Kendall Ryan

Legal Tender by Shae Sanders

Return to Virgin River by Robyn Carr

Simmer Down by Sarah Smith

Brothersong by TJ Klune (now that the last one is out I can finally read the rest!)

A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong

Take You Down by D. Rose

Home by Kris Bryant

Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory (paperback release, the cover is purple now!)

The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke

Never Too Late by Brenda Jackson

London’s Most Elusive Earl by Anabelle Bryant

After Hours Redemption by Kianna Alexander

The Lure of Love by Iris Bolling

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!

Kissing Books

Disney Books For Grown-Ups

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date October 12, 2020

Sponsored by Nicholas Sparks and his new book, The Return.

Trevor Benson is a young Navy doctor who unexpectedly finds himself back in New Bern, North Carolina after a mortar blast leaves him wounded. His late grandfather’s dilapidated cabin seems like as good a place to regroup as any, and he finds solace tending to his grandfather’s beloved beehives. But unexpected encounters with two local women—the deputy sheriff, and a sullen teenage girl who lives in a nearby trailer park—will lead him on a journey of love and forgiveness. In life, in order to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began.

Happy Second Monday of October, folks! If you live in the States and have the federal holiday off, check to see if your city/county/region has made a statement about the dude the holiday is named after, and if they’ve gone ahead and declared it to be Indigenous Peoples’ Day (or some iteration thereof). If you don’t have the day off, hi!

Books. Let’s do this.

News and Useful Links

I love this graphic for the surprise cover reveal of Lyssa Kay Adams’ Isn’t It Bromantic.

I cannot contain how excited I am about Disney Publishing starting an adult line for retelling their stories, starting with Julie Murphy’s If The Shoe Fits, which brings Cinderella into contemporary adulthood.

Roan Parrish is set to publish the first ever (first ever?!?) queer romance for a Harlequin series line. They obviously publish quite a bit through Carina and Carina Adores, but this is their first (EVER) category book to be published with a couple that isn’t m/f, that will have the Harlequin swoop of any color (blue, in this case) and will go to print. I am obviously very excited for Roan because I love her so much and adored Better Than People, but I do have to wonder (as others have since the announcement) about the fact that the first person to write a Harlequin with two men (I’m assuming) on the cover is a cis woman, even if she is queer. I hope Harlequin is working on something with a worthy author who is not. A cis woman, I mean. (And if they are, can we get some non m/m representation up in here?)

There are apparently quite a few romance panels coming up at Frankfurt! Check out Romance Sparks Joy’s Sunday thread, which compiles them for us.

I haven’t listened to this episode yet, but I’ve heard it’s great. “Historical women in pants” is definitely one of my problematic faves (though now that I think about it, I haven’t read one in…a while).

Speaking of podcasts? Have you checked out Romance Ever After? Allie Parker hosts other members of Romancelandia to talk about a specific romcom movie every episode, and the next one is out tomorrow! (Transparency note: Allie is a longtime friend of mine.)

Deals

Heartbeat Braves by Pamela Sanderson

If you’re looking for a way to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day (or any day, really), supporting one of the very small number of Native authors in romance is one way to go. Heartbeat Braves by Pamela Sanderson is the first in a series and is only 99 cents. It features two Native protagonists and also touches on social and cultural issues. The other three are all 3.99 or less, so if you like the first one, just keep clicking 😀

Recs

Spoiler Alert dropped me into a bit of a book-reading slump. I made a respectable foray into My Hallowe’en Heartbreak by Melanie Ting, which was totally cute but not as about Halloween as I’d been looking for. I’d thought a cute Halloween book was what I was looking for, but turned out I was after something different. After countless ~~hours~~ minutes of scrolling through my kindle books, I settled in with The Love Study.

Readers, I want to marry it.

The Love Study by Kris Ripper

I did myself a favor by not reading the blurb to this one upon making the decision to read it. I had a vague recollection of what it was about from the initial discovery, but wasn’t certain of the specifics. But Kris has me covered.

Declan hates his friends sometimes. Mostly when the tidbit they use to introduce him include the fact that he left his last boyfriend at the altar. But that was six years ago and they’ve totally become best friends, so it was all better for everyone. He’s most embarrassed by this introduction when he’s introduced to Sidney, a new friend with a YouTube channel. They think it would be interesting to have Declan on the show in a new segment called The Love Study, where they set him up on dates and he reports back. And he’s kind of into the idea. The problem, of course, is that he might have a crush on his new friend instead, who Doesn’t Date.

Y’all know how this one goes.

I think the thing that worked best for me was Declan. He and I share a sense of humor and also have similar anxiety spiral processes, so I was all in for him as a narrator. But as usual, YMMV. I think his interactions with Sidney were precious and lovely and the endgame of their relationship was something you don’t get to see much. Never fear, though! This is still very much a romance novel with all the beats you’re looking for.

CWs: severe anxiety; panic attacks; mention of estranged family of origin (I really like that term, a character uses it to distinguish from their found family); called-out ableist language. I want to note that Kris makes this an amazingly safe space in regards to queerness, sex, and consent (unless you’re uncomfortable with the term “sex monkey”). Just as an FYI.

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!

Kissing Books

Ensnared, Enraptured, Enthralled

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date October 7, 2020

Sponsored by IN A HOLIDAZE, the sparkling holiday novel from Christina Lauren and Gallery Books.

Maelyn celebrates the holiday as always, with a boisterous mix of family and friends. At week’s end, everyone goes their separate ways, until Mae wakes up on the plane heading to vacation…again. Once she realizes she’s not going nuts, she starts trying things: like tossing out rock-hard brownies before her dad breaks a tooth…and finally acknowledging her feelings for Andrew, her best friend in the entire world. Will that finally stop this endless loop and let Mae start the rest of her life? In a Holidaze is the perfect holiday read for fans of Groundhog Day or Sliding Doors.

One full week into October and it’s the first time I’ve put on something dark and romantic and gothic with good music to enjoy. I suppose I’m not really in the mood for the creepy stuff, since it’s still 100 degrees in Arizona (uy). But hey, it’s the price I must pay for not having to have a whole separate wardrobe for cold weather.

Books! Let’s talk about books!

Over on Book Riot

Trisha went ahead and named the episode after an unfortunate stalling in my brain (lol).

Have you read any Georgette Heyer? This quiz will tell you where you should start.

For some reason my first instinct when I see this post title is to sing “shout hallelujah, come on get happy.”

It was Literary Friendship Day on Tuesday and I wrote about the amazingness that is friend groups in Black, multicultural, and interracial romance.

We collected our favorite books from the last few months. Not all romance, but definitely some worth checking out.

Deals

Block Shot by Kennedy Ryan

Are you ready to sob your heart out? The second and third books in Kennedy Ryan’s Hoops trilogy, Block Shot and Hook Shot, are both 1.99 at the moment. You don’t have to have read Long Shot to read the others, but characters from the first do occasionally appear, at least in passing. These are long, intense, heart-wrenching, angsty books, so if you need some catharsis, these are definitely worth checking out. They also all have content warnings legit up the wazoo (seriously, what is the origin of that? It’s not oisaeu because that makes no sense), so I would check those out on Goodreads or some other trusted review site. (Sadly, they’re not on Kennedy’s website.)

New Books

I finally managed to finish a book this past weekend, and it was glorious. I’m not surprised that it pulled me out of a slump, as I’d thought many times about reading it before its release and just hadn’t been ready. But boy am I glad I picked it up.

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

We all know I’m a member of the Olivia Dade fanclub, and her first publication with Avon is no disappointment. From the moment you see the cover, and read the dedication, to the second you read the final line of the acknowledgments, you are ensnared, enraptured, enthralled. April and Marcus are two fascinating characters, both with their own shit to deal with in their personal lives.

Marcus, unhappy with the direction the showrunners of the ongoing historical fantasy series he stars in have taken it, has taken to writing fanfiction and being an admin of a fan server for the show. He writes and betas stories for April, but neither knows who the other is. When a Twitter incident involving April, cosplay, and assholes leads to Marcus asking the young woman on a date, the two meet and she immediately sees past the Golden Retriever persona he’s created to detract people from the fact that he’s dyslexic. The two have true chemistry, but things get in the way. At first, at least.

This book is particularly fun if you’re in any kind of internet fandom, but I think you might still enjoy it if you’re not. I’ve seen some people say that the most off-putting element is the inclusion of interstitials between the alternating POV chapters—segments of fics, conversations on the boards, scripts from Marcus’s most ridiculous movies—but I absolutely loved them. But as with most things, YMMV.

CWs: fatphobia and fat shaming (on the internet and from family members); discussion of fatphobia; toxic parenting and emotional abuse; dyslexia; earthquake talk and simulation; estranged family member; ongoing deception (which is usually a hard limit for me but she made it work); discussion of suicide (by fictional character)

Okay, that’s probably enough about that. There were other books out this week, too!

Claimed On Halloween by Isla Chiu

Football and Ballet by Jason Collins (A m/m romance between a quarterback and a ballet dancer? Sign me up.)

After Hours Redemption by Kianna Alexander

Wicked by Jaci Burton

The Place Between by Kit Oliver

Brass Carriages and Glass Hearts by Nancy Campbell Allen

Knight of Paradise Island by JL Campbell

If the Broom Fits: A Halloween Romance by Sarah Sutton

Teach Me Tonight by Natasha Washington

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

The Ippos King by Grace Draven

He Ain’t Your Ordinary Bae by Tay Mo’Nae

Worth It by Chloe B. Young

Type Dirty To Me by Roxanne D. Howard

Her Sweet Temptation by Nina Crespo

Cat’s Got Your Heart by Jem Zero

In Her Arms by Melissa Tereze

The Bookworm’s Guide to Dating by Emma Hart

Her Secret Song by Mary Connealy

The Solstice Kings by Kim Fielding

Homecoming by Rick R. Reed

I only included one, but there are a lot of Christmas books out this week.

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!

Kissing Books

The Ghosts I’ve Loved

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date October 5, 2020

All Kinds of Game Changers

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date September 30, 2020

Sponsored by Nicholas Sparks and his new book, The Return.

Happy Halloween, folks! I don’t particularly partake, myself, but I enjoy how enthusiastic people get about it. It also means it’s officially the start of Nightmare Before Christmas season. Because I feel similarly about film that I do about romance novels: there need to be more love stories about Halloween. :’D

Let’s talk about books.

Over on Book Riot

Carole followed up her deep-dive on fat representation vs. fat acceptance with a nice long list of must-read fat positive romances. I’ve read a bunch of them but have more to check out. How many of these have you read? What do you think about the rep in them?

Sometimes, I love small town romances, and sometimes, I don’t. Laura Marie pulled together a list and I’ve only read one, so I’m looking forward to seeing where my leanings lie in regard to this group that are some of the best.

Hope is all of us, to some extent. (Even me, who hasn’t had a public transit commute in years. Still miss my daily reading time, though.)

Have you heard about our savior, historical fiction?

I hadn’t thought of it this way, but yes. Totally.

HAHA we’re all going to The Bad Place.

Do you reread?

When your favorite author comes out with a new book, what do you do?

Curious about books like Ammonite?

Deals

I know I’ve been talking a lot about a particular Game Changers series, but you might want to check out the one by AC Arthur. Play to Win and Playing For Keeps, the two books out in the series now, are 3.99 each (as of writing this on September 29). The books center friends who have come together to open a sports bar and the interesting relationships in which they find themselves. AC Arthur always puts people in odd situations and these are no different—especially the second one, which has a particularly fun premise.

New Books

I’m still slowly making my way through Well Played because what is even time anymore, but there are some great books out this week that you should check out if you get the chance. There are so many, I’m skipping descriptions this week, but have fun clicking!

Fast Breaker by Chencia C. Higgins

Follow Me Darkly by Helen Hardt

The Never List by DL White

The Love Study by Kris Ripper

Lay Your Head On My Pillow by Tanzania Glover (Super short but call me a sucker for 90s art and R&B titles)

A Second Bite At Love by Tempestt Chantel

Her Night With the Duke by Diana Quincy

Ties that Tether by Jane Igharo

Beauty Tempts the Beast by Lorraine Heath

Now or Never by Nyora René

Roommaid by Sariah Wilson

Her Sweet Temptation by Nina Crespo

To Be Her Girl by Emily Cradduck

In Buffalo With You by Megan Fuentes (This is the first in a series about people falling in love at World Fairs and I didn’t know what I wanted until I wanted it)

Once Dishonored by Mary Jo Putney (Pants!)

Breakfast in Bed by Rochelle Alers

Immortal Angel by Lynsay Sands (New Argeneau!)

Crowne Rules by CD Reiss

The Flaw in Our Design by Monica McCallan

Well. That’s plenty. Reading anything good 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!

Kissing Books

Wanna Get Away?

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date September 28, 2020

You’re Gonna Want Some Bao

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date September 23, 2020

Sponsored by the Limerence Imprint of Oni Lion Forge Publishing Group.

An erotic, adults-only graphic novel that pushes all the right buttons, Cheat(er) Code is a hilarious, sexy, and surprisingly tender story about navigating heartbreak and rediscovering your own confidence. When Kennedy is transported into his video game console after a relationship-changing fight with his boyfriend, he’ll need to confront his biggest fears to get back to reality before the game glitches him out of existence. Thankfully, his favorite video game characters are there to help him rebound, and sometimes, the unexpected (and unexpectedly hot) is just what you need to hit the reset button.

It’s another Thursday in September and new books are out! Also, there’s a cricket somewhere in my house and it seems to only want to scream when I’m busy and can’t look for it. Do you have any weird pests that hang about when you’re trying to concentrate? Read, maybe?

Anyway. Books!

Over On Book Riot

If you haven’t seen it yet, Vanessa Riley revealed the cover of her next historical romance, An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler.

Trisha and I talked about the pandemic’s effect on publishing and what that implies for romance (or how romance is the outlier). And we talked about a couple of books and authors.

This is an interesting article about jointly authored novels, although Christine doesn’t talk about romance, where we know there are some author duos who do pretty well for themselves.

This is a mood.

Your chance for free stuff is almost over.

Deals

Have you checked out Rebekah Weatherspoon’s A Cowboy To Remember ahead of the release of If The Boot Fits? It’s 1.99 right now (or available to read with a KU subscription!). It’s the first in Rebekah’s contemporary fairy tale adaptation series, and is a take on Sleeping Beauty. Except this time, it’s a celebrity chef with amnesia caused by a violent attack by a rival. In order to recover and hide the fact that she doesn’t know what seasoning is anymore, she goes back to the place where she spent much of her youth. And the boy she loved is in charge of helping her discover herself again.

New Books!

Oh hey, the 22nd has passed, and now I can actually talk about The Duke Who Didn’t! So let’s start there.

The Duke Who Didn’t
Courtney Milan

We all scream a bit every time we’re offered a new Courtney Milan book, since she has the ability to release books when it’s right for her and right for the book, instead of on the rigorous schedule that authors who work with publishers are required to. So yes, we might go…a year and a half…without a Courtney Milan book, and even longer for a full length novel (if you’re wondering, it was After The Wedding in 2018). But what a book it was!

Chloe Fong likes lists. She maintains her list every day, covering the very mundane to the hardest of tasks: naming the sauce her father has been working on for years and has finally protected. The pair are planning to become the best and only thing known in sauce across England. And the first step is to have jars to sell at the Trials, a three day festival/attraction attended by people from across England and beyond. Including—well, maybe including—Jeremy Yu, who she befriended when they were younger, but who hasn’t come to Wedgeford for the Trials for three years.

And then he comes, and he has a plan. He wants to figure out the best way to tell Chloe who he is…because he wants to marry her. But how do you tell the woman you’ve known for nearly ten years that you’re the absentee duke who owns the entire town and who has several nicknames amongst the townspeople, including The Duke Who Didn’t. But she wouldn’t believe him if he told her all out, because he’s far too charming for his own good. So he offers to pay her to help him make a list of the qualities he wants in a wife. How long will it take her to notice that said qualities are all hers?

This story is the perfect kind of warm hug for 2020. There’s a lot of pining, a lot of longing, plenty of misunderstandings, and some pretty heady emotional angst. But don’t come here looking for that deep, darkest of the dark moment. Also, because of the evolution of the town of Wedgeford, there are very few racially charged moments in a Victorian romance centering two people of Chinese descent, and the worst of it is offpage.

Also, you’re gonna want some bao. Lots of bao. At some point I put the book down and spent way too long looking for gluten free bao I didn’t have to make myself. I was not successful. But that is the only grievance I have with this book. (That and the pacing of “no relationship” to “yes relationship” but that’s a minor thing.)

So yeah. That’s one book.

Common Goal
Rachel Reid

I went on a Reid kick a few weeks ago and was grateful to have had an ARC of Common Goal when I finished Tough Guy. In this fourth installment of the Game Changers series, we circle back to Eric, the quiet goalie and friend from Game Changer, who is trying to embrace his bisexuality after a divorce. He is definitely into Kyle, the bartender at a regular haunt, who is unrequitedly in love with his best friend. But they come to an arrangement after a few friendly conversations…which of course leads to emotions. Oh man, does Rachel Reid do emotions. Get ready. Maybe read this one first.

(I also don’t recall everything that might require a content warning. Apologies. There’s no sexual harassment or assault. Otherwise, I recommend checking out the Goodreads reviews.)

I also recently started reading Well Played by Jen DeLuca, the follow-up to Renaissance Faire romance Well Met. This time around, we get to hang out in the brain of Emily’s fellow pub wench Stacey. So far, I’ve been happy with the guest appearances by Simon and Emily, and am also picking up the rivulets of information that will inform the rest of the story. So far, pretty fun. Looking forward to more!

And then of course there are:

The Black Lion by Victoria Vale (has anyone read this author? Because I am intrigued)

The Guardian by Donna Grant

The Ghost of Hillcomb Hall by Joshua Ian

Behind the Scenes by Christina C. Jones (*distressed groan*)

Love All Year: A Holidays Anthology (another anthology yaaaaaay! And about a bunch of other holidays)

Benched by Sara Elizabeth Santana

Knight of Grand Crossing by Hiram “Shogun” Harris

A Sinful Encore by Lisa Renee Jones

Next Door by Hannah Altagracia

Divorce Retreat by Donya Fenner

Lies and Lullabies by Sarina Bowen

Nashville Days by Julie Capulet

A Flick Between Friends by Shae Sanders

Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey (I didn’t finish the second book, but am intrigued by this premise)

Criminal Intentions: Season Two, Episode Seven by Cole McCade

Her Name is Julia by Monica Cristie Robinson

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!

Kissing Books

Do We Really Need Another Persuasion?

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date September 21, 2020

Sponsored by Now That I've Found You by Kristina Forest, with Fierce Reads.

“Tons of fun to read.” —HelloGiggles. “A pitch-perfect rom-com.” —Maurene Goo, author of Somewhere Only We Know. Eighteen-year-old Evie Jones is poised to be Hollywood’s next big star until a close friend’s betrayal leads to her being blacklisted . . . Fortunately, Evie knows just how to save her career: an appearance with America’s most beloved actress—her grandma Gigi. The only problem? Gigi’s disappeared. With time running out and her comeback on the line, Evie enlists the help of the last person to see Gigi before she vanished: Milo Williams, a cute musician Evie isn’t sure she can trust.

The weeks go by, time moves on, and commercials for some kind of Zoom sitcom air during Sunday Sportsball. I guess this is our true new normal?

Let’s talk romance novels!

News and Useful Links

You know that Ripped Bodice shirt I mentioned last week? They have masks now!

I’m still not sure we need another Persuasion adaptation, especially if they’re not doing anything new with it. (I might still be holding onto a now-deleted dream casting of Ruth Negga and Idris Elba as Anne/Wentworth and if you’re not going to give me that, don’t give me anything…as much as I love Shiv Roy.)

Check out CCJ’s new merch.

Have you felt like it’s time to break that glass for your emergency read? Join #rainydaytbr for a quiet reading party.

If competence porn is your thing, this thread is magical.

Finally: there was an interesting mishap last week involving a book called The German Officer’s Girl with a certain insignia flapping on the cover. None of us wanted to have the “No more Nazi romance” conversation again, but we did. And according to the publishers, the cover art is misleading, as the protagonists are a resistance fighter and a British officer. So like, in the future, just a recommendation for anyone writing WWII resistance romance: don’t put German officers and swastikas on the cover of your WWII resistance romance? And if you’re working with a publisher and they put Nazis and swastikas on the cover of your WWII resistance romance? Change publishers.

Deals

It’s fall! I’m so excited for autumn, even though I don’t live in a place with changing leaves anymore (sadness). The cover I always think of when I think of Fall is Changing Colors by Elyse Springer, the fourth and final book in her Seasons of Love series (YES I KNOW). It can stand alone, but the other two I’ve read, Thaw and Heat Wave, are both delightful and similarly inexpensive at 2.99 each. (I have heard that Whiteout, the first, is pretty spectacular, but I was not into the type of deception at the center of the story. Total case of Your Squick Is Not My Squick, so check it out!)

Recs!

You’ll be happy to know I finished The Roommate and it was utterly delightful. Very much #romancesowhite, but you know.

As I mentioned, I’m excited about fall. Sure, here in the A-to-the-Z that just means fewer 100-degree days, but the feeling is there. The merchandise. The leggings. The scents. The food I can’t eat. The warm fireplaces and the hot chocolate. …Okay, that’s not for a couple of months. But still. The warm fuzzies are coming, and I’ve got a few books that will work perfectly for that feeling.

Her Halloween Treat
Tiffany Reisz

The only category romances I’ve read by Tiffany Reisz (maybe the only ones she’s written?) are all holiday books. She’s got one for Halloween, one for Thanksgiving, and one set during the December holidays. But Her Halloween Treat is my favorite of the three. Joey has had quite the shock—turns out she’s the woman on the side, say what? So she takes refuge at the family cabin, which is remote enough, except for visits from a family friend. A hot family friend. A hot carpenter family friend. And there’s no weirdness about him being her brother’s best friend or them having lots of rebound sex. It’s a lovely story that doesn’t quite get as raunchy as the books she’s more known for. But it’s got her quality storytelling and that’s all that matters.

sugar butter flour love
Nicole Falls

I love that Nicole Falls has found her place in the land of the novella. This one is about former home ec partners who…don’t get along. But they are corralled into participating in a holiday cooking competition and have to figure out how to work together again. Much like the rest of her holiday-connected stories, this one is fun and funny with a nice dose of sexy and a heavy heaping of title-related competence.

What about you? Do you go for a specific feeling in the fall? Fall books specifically?

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!

Kissing Books

Fat Representation vs. Fat Acceptance. There’s a Difference.

Post author By Jessica Pryde
Post date September 16, 2020