Category: Kissing Books

It’s the first day of Valentine’s Week! I am not actually a go-hard for the holiday, but I support anything that allows people to think a little harder about love and love stories…even if we have to suffer through the Fabio and Fifty Shades think pieces.

News and Useful Links

Sarah MacLean finished her book and had some time, so she wrote a long thread about the process of hosting the RITA awards last year. Get ready.

Did you see the segment on the Today show yesterday?

Reminder that Olivia Waite, author of one of the other things called Kissing Books, is great.

Avon announced the results of their open submission call for own voices romances. I’m excited for the authors, yes. But you know…just accept more submissions by authors of color and other marginalized folks in general, yes?

Deals

Everybody likes a dragon romance, right? Branded by Flames, the first in Sean Michael’s Dragon Soul series, is 99 cents. You get a dragon shifter and a guy covered in dragon tattoos, and you know, that’s kind of a sign. These are super sexy books, so be prepared.

Black History Highlight

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole, but in this case, I want to talk about the person Alyssa based Elle Burns on: Mary Bowser. She was a woman with many names, but there’s one thing we know: she was a genius. She was a woman who could infiltrate any household and gather information that was incredibly valuable to the cause. Unlike Ellen Burns, Mary Bowser went as far as to pose as a slave in the house of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, where she used regular errands to deliver messages to a Union agent in Richmond.

Recs!

I mean, it’s Valentine’s week, so let’s talk about romances set around Valentine’s Day.

I only read my first Valentine’s Day romance last year, but now I’m determined to read at least one every year. This year, we’ve got a near abundance with three that I know about! So here are some Valentine’s Day romances for you to check out.

Just One More
Jodie Slaughter

What starts out as the worst Uber pool Whitney has ever experienced turns into something much better when both she and Vic, who had spent a good amount of that ride pressed up against her, get out before reaching their destinations. It’s Valentine’s Day and she just wants some cupcakes from her favorite bakery, but he would like to end on a high note after a bad date and invites her for dessert instead. Dessert becomes a night together, which becomes more, as the pair finds they can’t get enough of each other. Just one more, indeed.

Be Mine
Savannah J. Frierson

Ingrid has three roommates. She loves them all in their own ways. When Valentine’s Day comes around, she decides to ask one of them to be her Valentine…which is a surprise to everyone involved! What surprises her most, though, is what comes next: all three are determined to be hers for more than just the holiday of love. But is this kind of relationship something she’s ready for?

Candy Hearts
Erin McLellan

Benji Holiday could kill his sister Sasha when he arrives at the lakeside Valentine’s Day house party she invited him to only to discover that the property’s power is out and the property owner wasn’t expecting company for another day. But William is more than happy to have him stay. The pair tiptoe around each other for a while before they acknowledge their attraction to each other, and Benji suggests the pair—who are both hesitant to start anything serious—be fake valentines. Be romantic. Have some sex. Stare at the lake, look at the moon. But what happens when people start showing up?

A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day
Jackie Lau

The fourth book in Lau’s Holidays with the Wongs series (which I have loved. I mean come on—Lunar New Year romance! Canadian Thanksgiving! Last year, as part of a different series, she wrote a Pi Day book!) gives us the final Wong sibling to have not succumbed to Cupid’s arrow. Amber runs into old family friend Sebastian late one night in a convenience store and the pair begin a no-strings sexual relationship. But as Valentine’s Day draws near, Feelings emerge.

There are a couple more on my radar to check out, including Alexandra Warren’s A Tale of Two Cities: A Valentine’s Novella and Special Delivery Valentine by Roz Lee.

I know Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that people either love or hate, but what better way to spend the long weekend than with a bunch of romance novellas and maybe some chocolate?

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!

Happy Thursday, lovers! It’s a new month, and I’m coming in with a new attitude! There are so many new books out this week and I haven’t even done my planner for this month and I’m sort of freaking out a little bit but it’s all to our benefit so I will just breathe. Breathe with me.

Over on Book Riot

Whether you’re a Nalini Singh fan or not, this is a fun quiz.

Enter to win a Barnes and Noble gift card!

Just getting into audiobooks, or looking for an alternative to Audible? Here are all your questions answered about Libro.fm.

And I know it’s in the footer but I completely failed to include the last episode of When In Romance in the rundown last week.

Deals

If you’re okay with being hungry while you read (like, all the time), Pride, Prejudice, and other Flavors by Sonali Dev is 1.99. As I mentioned in my short review and rec of this book the first time around, there are all the content warnings: 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…I think that’s all of the big stuff. But if you feel confident reading around it, the book itself is lush and lovely…and I’m super excited to pick up Recipe for Persuasion next, because after Northanger Abbey, Persuasion is my favorite.

Black History Highlight

There’s so much to Black history, and so little romance to talk about when we talk about it. Obviously, Beverly Jenkins is the go-to when we talk about North American-focused Black history and heritage in romance, but there are other authors who have done great work writing meaningful, poignant romances featuring Black characters in our shared historical timeline.

A Champion’s Heart by Piper Huguley

Piper Huguley is most known for her Milford College series, which draws us into the lives of people living in the decades before the turn of the 20th Century, but there are so few romances set during the Great Depression that I always recommend this one to new readers. There is a couple you want to succeed in their relationship, but also in their lives, and the setting is one that leaves you regularly on edge about whether they might actually make it work. But it’s a romance, so you know things will work out some kind of way.

New Books!

There are so many new books out this week, some of which came out earlier than I expected or just sort of came out of nowhere!

Never Kiss a Duke
Megan Frampton

I missed this one last week, so I thought I’d drop it here. I don’t know what this trend with ladies owning gaming houses has come from, but I like it. Here, Ivy is in charge and hires Sebastian de Silva, former duke, now left with nothing but his charm. There’s obviously going to be some tension regarding the fact that she is his employer, but hey, if her own personal goal is to never kiss a duke, she’ll succeed (because he isn’t one anymore lolsob).

Her Twin Baby Secret
Therese Beharrie

Alexa has decided to have children on her own. Which is fine. But she hits it off with Benjamin—a business rival—after they pretend to be in a relationship for some reason, and now she wonders what the future might look like. I love Therese Beharrie’s various baby books like nobody’s business, so I’m a little biased, but I think you’ll have fun with this one.

Blame it on the Billionaire
Naima Simone

If there’s one thing Naima Simone kills us with it’s drama drama drama, and this one is definitely going to be one of those! There’s a blackout, and Nadia and Grayson take supreme advantage of it. When the lights come back on, Grayson surprises Nadia with a fake engagement proposal (ANOTHER ONE! I AM LIVING!), but there are plots afoot to take her down.

Ignite on Contact
Jaci Burton

This is the second book in Burton’s new Brotherhood by Fire series, which I was intrigued by as a big fan of the 9-1-1 universe (though I think these might have been more inspired by Chicago Fire, which I’ve never seen). In this one, younger brother Rafe is all about that casual life, and ER nurse Carmen doesn’t have time for anything more. They start out with what they both think is a little fun, and then Rafe goes and catches feelings, to his own surprise.

Temporary Wife Temptation
Jayci Lee

Natalie and Garrett are both in need of a spouse. Not for love and companionship, but for the sake of family pressure and other appearance-related things. So when Garrett proposes that Natalie marry him, in order to prevent his matchmaking mother from thrusting the bride of her choice upon him, Natalie agrees. They also agree they won’t have sex. Or fall in love. Hah. Yeah, cause that always works.

Hearts on Hold
Charish Reid

So there’s a sexy, tattooed children’s librarian and a “tightly wound” university professor. She comes to him with a proposal for the university and public library to work together, and the fire blazes between them almost immediately. There are sexytimes. There are apparently spreadsheets involved. That’s all I know

And then of course the ones I talked about earlier this week, A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane and The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa, which both deserve all the yelling.

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 February 3, and I’m writing this as my DH finds random Superbowl commercials I missed while I was at rehearsal. Not gonna lie; we’ve watched the Smaht Pahk one multiple times. The infernal month is over, and now we’ve got new things to talk about.

News and Useful Links

Ever thought about getting relationship advice from a romance author? Roan Parrish is starting a podcast! Called Dear Romance Writer, this will be an ongoing podcast featuring Roan and guests answering questions about love and life.

“He did a really good job, and looked good in a tool belt, and I kept him, and got many, many, more bookshelves out of it along the way.” Read more in this great profile of Nora Roberts.

While this isn’t specifically about romance, apparently authors using KDP earned over $300 million via Kindle Unlimited last year. That’s just KU, not a la carte sales. I’d love to see how much of that was romance, cause I know how we are.

Please enjoy this thread of romances as valentines.

The auction is closed, so I won’t link to it, but the Romance for PR folks made TWICE their goal. Huzzah!

And this bundle for Taal relief is still available.

Deals

Check out one of the most talked about sci-fi romances of 2019! Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik is 1.99 right now, which is great considering the next two in the series are both 11.99 on Kindle (:scream emoji:). This is one of those space opera style books that drops you into a world expecting you to understand, but you’re so into the story you don’t particularly care. I will say the romance is not always in the front seat here, but it’s a great love story nonetheless.

Recs!

There are so many exciting books coming out this month! I’m going to be talking Black History plenty this month, so definitely keep an eye on the horizon for that, but today, I’ve got some pre-order recommendations. (Some of them as soon as tomorrow.)

The Worst Best Man (February 4)
Mia Sosa

I started reading this book last week and sadly got sidetracked, but I was loving what I’d read. We begin three years ago, moments before a wedding, with a best man slash brother and the bride. He’s the one who has to tell her that he was just informed—through text, no less!—that the groom has changed his mind. Fast forward to Lina, who is about to move into a new chapter of her wedding-planning life, and Max, marketing genius, working on a job together. And not only is it awkward, it’s downright contentious. Mia’s books have been hit or miss for me in the past, but this is the perfect cocktail of personalities and situations that would make her kind of snark shine!

A Heart of Blood and Ashes (February 4)
Milla Vane (aka Meljean Brook)

If you have been looking for a doorstopper of a fantasy romance, may I point you in the direction of this incredible tome. I haven’t made it far into this book, because there’s just so much of it, but if all you’ve been missing in your life is some intense, well-built fantasy, this is the book for you. I will say that part of what pulled me away is the depiction of contention between the two warring races; there is language that might be off-putting or traumatic to a reader. But I hear the romance part is super intense, like Captive Prince level intense.

Moontangled (February 14?)
Stephanie Burgis

This is book 2.5 in Burgis’s Harwood Spellbook novellas, and I am super excited to read the story of two women that have intrigued me since the beginning. Also: have you seen that cover? This is set in an alternative historical Britain that has a matriarchal society, where women are politicians and men study magic. But Cassandra Harwood has magic, and is certain that other women do, too, so she’s started a magic school for women. Juliana is a student there, and her former fiancé, Caroline, is visiting. There is drama, and strife, and a visit to the fae territory just outside of the school. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I can’t wait to find out! (A lot of people recommend reading Thornbound before picking this up, but it’s not completely necessary.)(Also I’m getting conflicting information from various sources so maybe you’ll luck into a book that’s already released?)

A Cowboy to Remember (February 25)
Rebekah Weatherspoon

If amnesia and Black cowboys are your thing, you need to preorder this book so it’s in your hands immediately on February 25. This is the first in a new series, loosely based on fairy tales, featuring modern-day cowboys and the people they fall in love with. In this one, a bad fall has left Evie without memories of who she is or who she knows, but she’s been dreaming about Zach, a man she was friends with in her youth. There’s family drama and maybe a star-crossed situation, but it’s a romance so it all turns out well.

Thursday I’ll be giving a longer rundown of the rest of the books out this week, but in the meantime, give these upcoming February books a look-see.

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!

January has been ten thousand years long, but it’s almost over. Almost. A bunch of good-looking books came out this week, so let’s get to it.

Over on Book Riot

How good are you at optimizing your library holds?

Whether you read mostly physical books or need a way to lean your electronic reader of choice at the right angle to avoid neck pain, this is a great list of different hands-free reading aids.

If you have an everlasting love for Lara Jean Covey, these are fun!

Deals

If you’re making your way through Beverly Jenkins’s backlist, the entire Destiny trilogy, starting with Destiny’s Embrace, is 1.99 right now. These were the first Beverly Jenkins books I read, which led me to dig up years’ worth of her backlist and read every new release. The Yates brothers and the women they fall in love with (and their extended families) are all delightful people, and I hope you take the chance to get to know them. Not only was this my first Jenkins, this was my first Reconstruction-era romance ever. I learned a lot.

New Books

Whiteout
Adriana Anders

A chef and a scientist trapped on Antarctica after an attack on the research station where they both work. This is not only a romantic suspense novel, but it’s between two people who don’t particularly like each other (!!!) who are stuck together (!!!) and have to work together to survive the deadly tundra they’ve found themselves in. I might have to take a few weeks before I read this one, because I’ve been watching The Magicians and am just going to think about antarctic fox/fox sex if I read it too soon.

The Lord I Left
Scarlett Peckham

There’s been this whole thing on Twitter recently about whether social media sells books, and I can tell you I know about this book because of this tweet. There’s a minister who works with sex workers and “London’s most notorious whipping governess” whatever that might mean. Not only is there snow, but there’s a road trip. Scarlett writes lots of kinky sexytimes, so I’m sure this one will be no different.

Then, Now, Always
Mona Schroff

This cover has been around for a while and I’m delighted every time I see it. I will say that if people never telling people they have children is a thing that doesn’t work for you, don’t read this one, as the whole premise is set around it. Maya is a successful lawyer who gets into some trouble and needs Sam, the father of her teenaged daughter. Like I said, he doesn’t know he’s a father, but comes back into Maya’s life for him and Samantha, and to also help her with her legal troubles.

There were a lot of other books that came out this week. What are you picking up for the 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 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!