Category: Kissing Books

I fear writing anything to screw up our less-than-eventful week in Romancelandia. Our favorite friend is still out there, somewhere, but she doesn’t appear to have shown her face since that inadvisable attempt at gaining sympathy. No one else has tried to tear down romance in anything beyond the usual way. And folks are out there taking steps and making bounds.

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Sponsored by Geekerella by Ashley Poston, published by Quirk Books.

Cinderella goes to the con in Geekerella, a fandom-fueled YA twist on the classic fairytale.

Elle lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching. When she sees a cosplay contest for the new movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the cosplay ball and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Prince Carmindor. Teen actor Darien Freeman has dreamed of playing Carmindor, but Starfield fans have already written him off as another dumb heartthrob. As the con approaches, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets Elle. . .

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News and Useful Links

Alyssa Cole and the fab folks at The Ripped Bodice appeared in Marketplace to talk about diversity and romance.

Jackie Lau informed her husband’s family she was a romance author by appearing on national Canadian television (with Sarah MacLean and Jaime Green). How about that.

Robin Lovett wrote a heartwrenching, amazing article for Publisher’s Weekly about picking up romance while coping with PTSD.

#rombklove is still happening.

Deals

Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips is 1.99 right now. It may not be football time, but physics professor heroines are always in season.

Love Me Deeper by Aja Cole is 2.99. If you finished Wanna Bet and want some more “in love with my best friend” or if you are in the need for more fake marriage romance, this is a good place to start.

A bunch of books by Jackie Collins, including Chances, are 1.99. I have never read her, but I know her lengthy history within and outside of the romance community.

Quarterly reminder that Hamilton’s Battalion, with novellas from Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, and Alyssa Cole, is 4.99.

Over on Book Riot

Is your emotional book buying changing the world? Nikki’s totally is.

Have you read Far from the Madding Crowd? Do you agree with these choices?

If you’re a stats kind of person, the Bookly App might be fun to try. Me? I’m afraid of them. Or just of falling behind. (We won’t talk about when my last entry for the great spreadsheet takes place.)

Recs!

It’s RT week! (FYI, I’m writing this on Monday in preparation for heading up to Reno, so if something has happened between now and Thursday…we’ll talk about it next week.)

During our last When in Romance conversation, I made the decision to work on filling some gaps in my reading, because dang, there were a lot of books and authors I hadn’t read before, and there were some significant holes I needed to fill in my experience. Instead of going for the individual winning books, however, I decided I would start with a book by each of the Career Achievement Award winners.

Why do you all let me make these decisions?

Too Much Temptation
Lori Foster

I went on a borrowing spree and this was the first one that floated my boat. Noah walks in on his fiancee having sex with another man and breaks off the engagement. His grandmother, who practically arranged the marriage, gets so upset, she disowns him. Grace, his grandmother’s assistant, rushes to Noah’s aid, because she’s loved him forever. It takes Noah getting really drunk and seeing Grace, wet and adorable, before he remembers that he totally has the hots for her and tells her so. But Grace, our sweet Grace, has self-esteem issues that she takes as matter-of-fact knowledge. Noah makes her see his way, which is fine with her; his way means she gets to have lots of sex with him, which is the only thing he wants after his breakup. It’s not like anyone would marry her anyway. (OKAY. So, I really enjoyed this book but I have issues with the way the fat rep was approached. She’s like “I’m fat” or “women my size”, and he’s all like “what did I tell you” and “you’re not overweight, you’re gorgeous” and NO. But I will allow the book to be a product of its time with its answering machines and secrets and lack of black people in a southern town, and let myself enjoy the other parts of the book.)

I’m also making headway with:

Summer Vows by Rochelle Alers

Y’all know how much I like a forced proximity romance, and this one involves the headstrong CEO of a Florida recording company and the man reluctant to be her bodyguard. There is a pretty traumatic shooting early on in the book, but Ana is an awesome heroine and I’m sticking around for her. Also. Did you know Rochelle Alers has written over fifty novels, novellas, and shorts in less than the time that I’ve been alive? This is a well-deserved recognition!

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

I KNOW. How have I not read this book? I’ll tell you a secret: I’ve owned it for years. But I was hesitant to pick it up after being less-than-thrilled by Rock Addiction. Nevertheless, it’s been a while since I enjoyed a good paranormal, and since the worldbuilding in Silver Silence is the best of the year, it’s a good a time as ever to dive back in.

Lord of the Fading Lands by CL Wilson

I am not far into this book, but I can tell I’m going to like the worldbuilding here, too. I’m not sure about the romance yet, but we’ll see.

Secrets of Bella Terra by Christina Dodd

Crime and romance don’t usually go together well for me, but the hinted-at quarrel to come in this family vineyard story seemed like a compromise after looking through Dodd’s backlist featuring revenge and deception. If you’ve been following this newsletter long, you’ve probably noticed I’m not super huge on romantic suspense. I dip my toe in here and there, though, so we’ll see how this one works.

Delicious by Shayla Black

I have read Shayla Black, but Delicious looks like the perfect book to remind me of her style. Restauranteur cum exotic dancer heroine plus guest chef hero equals what sounds like fireworks to Jess. If there’s one thing I do remember about Shayla Black’s style, it’s that it’s deliciously sexy. So while I will be on the lookout thanks to some worrisome reviews about Luc’s emotional treatment of Alyssa, I hope this one is just as yummy as it looks.

Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

This is another one I’ve had for a while, and this is a great reason to bring it back out of the woodwork. Not only does it take place prior to the Regency period, but it also features a woman who works—always a good find in historical British-set fiction. This one also starts pretty dark, but I’m prepared for the rest that might come.

I hope this is a successful endeavor; getting at least one title by each of these authors under my belt is important to my goal to know everything there is to know ever.

Or something.

As long as I don’t get distracted by Wanna Bet. What am I saying; I totally will.

New and Upcoming Releases

His Cocky Valet by Cole McCade (YES. This is a thing that was birthed out of a need to be petty, and the reviews are all positive.)
Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan
How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger
Grumpy Fake Boyfriend by Jackie Lau (May 22)
The Controversial Princess by Jodi Ellen Malpas (May 22)

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 or just want to say hi! (Also, if you’re going to be at RT, definitely hit me up!)

Oh holy mother.

Can we go back to the last Kissing Books, where we were all happy it was May and nobody needed a stern talking to?

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

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Sponsored by The Luck of the Bride, an exquisite new Regency romance by Janna MacGregor.

March Lawson is an orphan who has struggled to raise her siblings on a meager allowance. Instead of preparing to find a husband like most women her age, she must devote her energies to the coldhearted skinflint who refuses to release her inheritance.

When Michael Cavensham, the Marquess of McCalpin, learns that Miss Lawson has been forging his name to procure funds, he can’t bring himself to have the beautiful embezzler arrested. Instead, he visits her home to assess the situation. Can March manage the handsome trustee who controls her purse strings―when he tugs at her heartstrings as well?

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News and Useful Links

So, if you aren’t active on the social media circuit, you might have missed the…wildness that came to light on Friday morning and continues to develop in giant balls of fire.

Let me explain.

There’s too much.

Let me sum up:

• Author Faleena Hopkins decided sometime in late 2017 to trademark the word Cocky in romance series titles, and renamed her books (all with Cocky+type of person as title) from the Cocker Brothers to the Cocky Series
• She began sending authors cease and desist notices, even if their books predated hers
• While I haven’t seen the names or faces of all the authors she targeted, it seemed that she was disproportionately targeting authors of color
• Courtney Milan gave a great summary on the events up to Saturday
• Some authors began to notice their books disappearing from Amazon
• One shared a letter from Amazon’s ban hammer
• She posted a video responding to the “haters” and Jenny Trout watched it so we wouldn’t have to
• The designer of the script used on the cover got involved
• The Romance Writers of America have gotten involved (read up and down their feed)
• People have discovered there are a lot of lawyers writing romance
• An IP attorney is filing a petition to cancel the trademark
• There’s so much more, and it’s so hard to unpack
• Authors have responded to it in various ways including spite projects and awesome retitlings like The Cockiest Cowboy to have Ever Cocked
• I cannot yet confirm that this might have somehow reached reviews
• #cockygate for more information (this rabbit hole is deep and dark)

We won’t get in too deeply about the irony of some full-of-themselves person who doesn’t know anything about how Romancelandia works trademarking the word Cocky(TM), because really.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, how about some good news?

Kit Rocha is going to have a new book featuring a trio of mercenary librarians. Yeah, you read that right.

Roomies is gonna be a movie! And Jenna Dewan is involved.

The Thing About Love is getting the television treatment!

#RomBkLove continues in full force!

And Cindy collected some great romances for AAPI heritage month.

Deals

Looking for a new vampire series in which the first book features a scientist single mother? Fated by Rebecca Zanetti is 2.99. (I really had trouble picking the less weird cover for this one. The other one had the series title over the cover model’s junk and I just…couldn’t.)

Delaney Diamond’s Do Over just came out. Passion Rekindled, the first in the series, is 1.99.

Noelle Greene’s The Marriage Paradox is 99 cents.

Have you grabbed Talia Hibbert’s Wanna Bet yet? It’s 2.99. If you like friends-to-lovers stories, this is gonna be your jam.

Over on Book Riot

Deepali likes to read as protagonist. Do you?

Casey considers whether internalized misogyny has affected her past interest in romance. Spoiler alert: it totally had. But Casey has seen the light.

All the side eye.

Have you read any Robyn Carr? Erin made a reading pathway!

And of course, let’s go back to the happy carefree days of last Thursday, when Trisha and I wouldn’t know what would befall Romancelandia just 24 hours later.

Recs

Riven (May 29)
Roan Parrish

I don’t usually rec books before they come out, but I decided to read this on a quiet, lonely sick day at home and I have no regrets at all. (Also, I forgot there are people who aren’t like us when I went to ballet the next day and our introduction prompt was “tell us something good that happened this week” and my response was “I read a really good book yesterday.” The befuddled “the whole book” I got from the instructor, you all. Sometimes, I forget.)

That’s neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is, this was my first Roan Parrish book, and as I told twitter immediately upon finishing it, I am now ride-or-die for her books for life. I haven’t gone back to read the entire RP catalogue yet, but bet it’s on my list. There were so many Feelings. How does she invoke such things?

You probably want to know what it’s about, huh?

Theo is a rock star. A legit, wears stupid disguises in public, Riven World Tour rock star. He loves to write music, and lives to perform, but he hates stardom. Grateful for a rare night to himself, he wanders the streets of New York for hours, until he happens upon a sound he can’t ignore. That sound is the music of Caleb, a beautiful, bearded, linebacker-built blues guitarist whose day has come and gone. The two hit it off immediately, finding comfort in each other in ways they hadn’t with others, and even though Theo is headed off on his European leg the next morning, he and Caleb can’t help how they feel for each other. Jump ahead a few weeks, when Caleb is hiding out as usual on the farm he inherited, taking care of his vegetables and basically living as a hermit. Guess who shows up out of nowhere? What happens next, lovers, is history.

Even after finishing Riven and moving on to my next read, I couldn’t stop thinking about Caleb and Theo. These are two people who have a lot to unpack, about the world and about themselves, and sometimes they have to do that alone and sometimes they have to allow themselves to ask for help. This is the kind of story that can cut you up inside, but heal you with the strength of love and with the strength of music.

O….kay. I had feelings about this book. You should read it.

For some reason, even though I don’t usually like to read similar books back to back, I was kind of on a gay musician kick after this, so I decided to pick up Body Rocks, the first book in AM Arthur’s Off Beat series. I’d actually read the other two, Steady Stroke and Hot Licks, so I knew a bit about what happened in this one, but I hadn’t gotten to this one. The lead characters are…so so young! One is on the verge of 21 and the other is just a bit older. They’re both aspiring superstars, the high points of two bands vying for the same goal: win Unbound, a national competition that ended in a recording contract. These two invoke different kind of feelings, but if you need to soak up a little extra of the rockstar vibe while working your way up to or coming down from Riven, Off Beat is a nice pool to dive into, with a diverse cast of characters and sexualities.

And I kind of want more. Have you read Moonlight Becomes You by M.J. O’Shea and Piper Vaughn? Tell me your thoughts.

New and Upcoming Releases

Pas de Deux by Lynn Turner
A Song of Blood and Stone by L Penelope
How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger
The Henchmen of Zenda by KJ Charles
Taming the Prince by AC Arthur

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 or just want to say hi!

It’s May, folks! Are you reading spring-y books now that it seems like the weather in most places has decided to jump straight from snow to swimwear?

News and Useful Links

RT Awards have been announced! Congrats to the winner, and yes, I agree wholeheartedly with the Book of the effing Year.

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Sponsored by Kensington Publishing Corp.

Longing for summer and looking for the perfect beach read? Take a visit to the idyllic Gansett Island with Marie Force’sNew York Times bestselling novel MAID FOR LOVE, now available in mass-market print for the first time! Join the 3.5 million readers who have followed the lives and loves of the MacCarthy family on their slice of island heaven. This time prodigal son Mac MacCarthy returns home and unexpectedly falls for hard-working single mom, Maddie, in the most unusual way. Don’t miss the vacation of a lifetime!

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Diana Gabaldon Said Some Stuff and I’m not going to bother linking. She has Thoughts about people calling Outlander romance and she’s allowed to have them. *shrugs*

I’m sorry, have you seen the magnificence that is the new cover for An Unconditional Freedom? This is the third book in the Loyal League series, and I can’t wait for Daniel and Janita’s story!

And speaking of that cover, this is a fantastic story about not just Alyssa, but two of the behind-the-scenes women who were pivotal in the Loyal League’s success.

Last week, I hadn’t even heard of Frolic, and now we’ve had Alisha Rai extolling the virtues of Magic Mike XXL, Bree and Donna (Kit Rocha) pairing romance faves with Avengers, and Alyssa Cole putting together horoscopes and royal romances, and I’m all here for it. Seriously, where did y’all come from and how come I didn’t know about you?

Christina Lauren just announced a new book, too!

Also, let’s all just watch this gorgeous book trailer over and over again.

Finally, who’s ready to fall head first into #rombklove? Ana Coqui kills it again with a month long of prompts for twitter, instagram, and bloggers all over the interwebs.

Deals

Did you pick up Unmasked by the Marquess after I talked about it? If not, it’s 3.99 right now.

Tell Me by Abigail Strom is 1.99. Bookshelves on the cover and a shy bookstore owner. I’m good with that.  

Piper Rayne’s Sexy Beast is 1.49. “Single Dads Club”? Sounds good to me.  

Intercepting the Chef by Rachel Goodman is 1.99. Sports and food romance? Here for it.

Over on Book Riot

Do you have a bookish boyfriend? Take the quiz to see who it is.

Some people might think they’re done with fairy tales and retellings. If not, here are 100 to check out. They’re not all romance, but you know. Fairy tales.

Have you seen our new t-shirt?

Pride and Prejudice retellings will never get old for me.

And we’re in the last week of the mysteries giveaway. 15 books! Enter by May 9!

Recs

Pretending He’s Mine
Mia Sosa

I’m going to tell you a secret: I never finished Acting on Impulse. Tori and Carter never spoke to me, and as you know, there’s a million books I haven’t read. (Just you wait.) Ahem. But the premise of Pretending He’s Mine was total tropetonite, and I didn’t want to miss out just because I hadn’t connected to the first book.

And y’all. Julian and Ashley are adorable. A true friends-to-lovers story, Pretending He’s Mine tells us about two people who don’t hesitate to take up a friend’s suggestion to pretend to date, all to avoid a family member’s frustrating comments. Of course, they’ve already realized their attraction to each other by that point, but they decide not to act on it—Julian is not only Ashley’s brother’s oldest friend, he’s his agent. So there’s all that happening. The two of them also have to figure out their own lives, and have to do a lot of thinking and soul searching together and on their own. I don’t always go for friends to lovers (too much Pride and Prejudice fanfiction as a teen), but I heard the words “fake relationship” and came running.

You know how it is.

Looking for more fake relationships? Here are some I’ve loved in the past and a couple I’m excited for in the future:

If The Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman: Martha’s BFF Max accidentally becomes a fake boyfriend when he shows up at a family gathering. It’s all good; they can both handle it.

His Road Home by Anna Richland: a bit of misinformation leaves people thinking Grace is Rey’s fiancee, and she doesn’t bother disavowing people of that notion, especially because he’s been injured in Afghanistan.

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare: Not just a fake relationship; a fake fiance. As in “Maddie doesn’t want a season so she makes up a fiance.” And then HE SHOWS UP. Madness ensues.  (If you enjoy this one, also check out The Duchess Deal.)

His Convenient Husband by Robin Covington: American football player + Russian ballet dancer denied asylum status = perfect reason to get married. Bonus gender non-conforming kid.

One True Pairing by Cathy Yardley: I love geeky stories. I love fandom. I love stars and the non-stars they fall in love with. So of course I would be drawn to the story of a series regular (secondary lead, if you will) who needs to up his Q-score so invites a local to pretend to be his girlfriend while he’s in town for a convention. That never goes wrong, right?

Act Like It by Lucy Parker: Stage actors fake date in order to give both of them a better rep. Richard is a bad boy and needs a new look. She gets to support her favorite charity. They…do not get along very well.

Others I look forward to reading?

Grumpy Fake Boyfriend by Jackie Lau

The Soldier’s E-Mail Order Bride by Cora Seton (with a title like that, I gotta know, right?)

The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert

Life of Bliss by Erin McLellan

Do you have a favorite fake relationship? Tell me what it is! If I get enough recommendations, there’s a chance for a nice collection of fake relationships/fake dating/sham marriages on Book Riot Proper. It’s pretty much the only kind of deception I actually enjoy reading.

New and Upcoming Releases

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

Blend by Georgia Beers

Wanna Bet by Talia Hibbert

A Scandalous Deal by Joanna Shupe

Do Over by Delaney Diamond

An Honorable Seduction by Brenda Jackson (May 8)

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 or just want to say hi!

Can you believe it’s almost May? Prepare yourself for all those ramen-haired Justin Timberlake memes, and let’s talk romance!

News and Useful Links

Four Latina authors on representation. Absorb their words.

And look who they’re talking about in the Times of India.

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Sponsored by Squared Away by Annabeth Albert

In the wake of tragedy, SEAL Mark Whitley rushed stateside to act as guardian to his sister’s three young children. But a conflicting will could give custody to someone else—someone Mark remembers as a too young, too hot, wild party boy.

As the legal details get sorted out, their long-buried attraction resurfaces, leading to intimate evenings after the kids are tucked in. A forever future is within reach for all of them, if only Mark can find the courage he needs to trust Isaiah with his secrets—and his heart.

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Y’all. Have you watched Siren yet? If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a show on Freeform about an adorable pair of marine biologists and the mermaid they help on a mission to find her sister. It’s not obviously a romance, but it’s definitely romance adjacent. Or at least, every romance author I follow on Twitter has been talking about it.

Lucy Parker is writing more books! Next up, London Celebrities number 4!

Naima Simone has been looking at the numbers, and folks, there are things that we need to do to help authors of color succeed.

So, this article was making a good effort. But Olivia Waite (and others) thought the journalist could have benefited from a history lesson or two, especially as far as consent in romance goes.    

I’ve seen writers in residences at libraries before, but never a library specifically looking for a romance one!

Deals

Carla de Guzman’s Chasing Mindy is 2.99! I loved If the Dress Fits.

Have you read anything by Chance Carter? I have very limited experience with men who write het romance, so I’m very interested in Royal Engagement, which is 99 cents.

Melissa Foster’s The Real Thing is 1.99. If you’re into fake relationships, here’s another one for you.

Make Me Stay by Amarie Avant is 2.99 right now. She’s also a new-to-me author, so I look forward to trying out her work.

HelenKay Dimon’s The Fixer is 99 cents right now.

Over on Book Riot

In what seems to be a trend (well, not really), Alison interviewed her mother about reading romance. Romance moms for the win!

Do you like Pride and Prejudice? Check out these sequels.

Trisha pulled together 8 great M/M romances as a good place to start (or continue).

And of course, Trisha and I got to gabbing in this week’s When In Romance. Get ready for white supremacy, Nicholas Sparks, me waxing poetic about Talia Hibbert…and more stuff.

And don’t forget to enter to win 15 of the year’s best mysteries so far!

Recs!

Last week, I shared Laura’s excellent article about what inspires a five-star rating. For her, it’s a physical reaction. I would say something similar. So I thought, what are some of my five-star romances? I’ve left out a few that I might have gushed over on these pages, but some might seem familiar.

Wishes
Jude Deveraux

This is the earliest five-star read in my list. It was the first book I remember having a visceral reaction to (though I did end up having a similar reaction to Velvet Song, but that was mostly for the heroine and the side characters; the hero was trash). Why did I have a visceral reaction to it? The heroine, Nellie, was quiet and overweight, and at that point in my life, I was too—the quiet part at least; I’m still fat. Not only was this book about a quiet, overweight woman (whose kindness was often taken advantage of by her family) finding love, but the man who was destined to fall in love with her liked her just as she was; four words that I wouldn’t hear again until Mark Darcy would say them when I was in high school. On top of it all, Nellie was able to discover herself, figure out how to be the woman she wanted to be, and eventually become an amazing matriarch (as seen in The Invitation).

Take the Lead
Alexis Daria

I was crying when I reached the end of this book. All of the pent-up emotions needed an outlet, and this time, it was tears. Somehow, even when I’m not hearing it, music and the things around it have an effect of me that nothing else really does. Would I have had the same kind of reaction to the story if dancing hadn’t been involved? I have no idea. The character development is amazing, the plot is enrapturing, and the musical numbers are invigorating. So yeah, no question of “if it wasn’t.” It was.

The Heiress Effect
Courtney Milan

I love every Courtney Milan novel I’ve ever read. Actually, Hold Me was going to be on this list, as was In Pursuit Of…, her contribution to Hamilton’s Battalion. But this one is definitely my favorite. If my iPad had been a physical book, I would have hugged it when I was done. Everything about it was perfect: the heroine; the hero; the setup for the romance; the reason they couldn’t be together; the secondary romance; seeing non-alphas in a historical setting; Mrs. Battacharya. And then of course there was the kicker: I read it when I was sick and felt better by the time I was done. Phyiscal, visceral, whatever. This book works miracles.

As Long as You Love Me
Ann Aguirre

This book broke my heart. I literally had to stop to cry towards the end, when Lauren explains why she can’t be with Ben, and then later when she works to overcome that problem. But before all that, there’s a straightforward, open, friends-to-lovers story that is endearing and refreshing. The second book in what is technically called the 2B series, but what I call the BSB series, this one sent me through the emotional wringer far more than the first one. Not even a single father got me as worked up as this one. So you know it was that good.

Wrong to Need You
Alisha Rai

Interestingly enough, I gave Hate to Want You five stars (all that personal self-discovery and “I’m going to try emotions” thing), but this was basically a six-star read. I didn’t talk about it when I read it because it was the second in a series, and I tend not to discuss those, but…it looks like I have a second-book-in-a-series thing, looking at some of my five star reads. Everything great about Hate to Want You—the melodrama, the relationships, the people, the heart—was exacerbated in the second installment. Secondary characters made me cry. Family meetings made my heart swell. Sadia and her open bisexuality gave me heart (especially after my post for coming out day two years ago).

I don’t have a lot of five-star romances, but these—and the ones I left out because I gushed about them in Kissing Books already—are books that I’d recommend to anyone looking for an essential representation of romance. Wishes might need a revisit, because a lot of Jude Deveraux’s books didn’t age well for me, but the elements that made it magical for me (besides the fairy godmother part) are still there.

What are your five-star romances? I apparently want to cry more.

New and Upcoming Releases

Wanna Bet by Talia Hibbert

Co-Ed by Rachel Van Dyken

After the Wedding by Courtney Milan

Cheeky King by Nana Malone (April 30)

Life of Bliss by Erin McLellan (April 30)

Bro Code by Kendall Ryan (May 1)

That’s plenty, right?

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 or just want to say hi!

Well, folks. The universal conversation on racism continues, and so it goes in romance. But we do have some exciting new things to talk about!

“Kissing Books” is sponsored by Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston from Kensington Publishing Corp.

In the first of a brand new paranormal romance series about three outrageously snarky sisters, New York Times bestselling author Shelly Laurenston returns to the shape-shifters genre and the animal her readers have been clamoring for since the release of her fan-favorite novel, BITE ME: the fearless honey badger!

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News and Useful Links

There has been quite a bit of social media chatter around this transcribed presentation by Elizabeth Kingston, which was originally given at Researching the Romance, a conference held at Bowling Green last week.

(If you’re interested in other happenings from that conference, check out #bgsuromcon18 on twitter.)

This list on goodreads has some great examples of romances featuring people fighting for various kinds of social justice, actively or interpersonally. Do you know others that could be added?

NEW ALISHA RAI ANNOUNCEMENT! I couldn’t have been the only one who finished Hurts to Love You with a need for more of my girl Rhi, right? Well, she’s kicking off a new Forbidden Hearts spinoff series, and I need it to be then, right now.

Finally, how about a little Q&A with Courtney Milan?

Deals

Jamie Wesley’s Slamdunked By Love is 2.99. It’s always nice to see sports romance featuring black players. In any sport.

A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles is 1.99!

If you haven’t yet acquired it, Talia Hibbert’s The Princess Trap is 2.99! It’s a great intro to this fabulous new author, who apparently just…can’t stop writing.

Rachel Van Dyken’s The Matchmaker’s Playbook is 1.99. Read it, then check out the adaptation on Passionflix!

Rhythm, Chord, and Malykhin by Mariana Zapata is 1.49 right now.

Maybe you’ve been hearing a lot of chatter about Kit Rocha’s Ivan? Start the series with Ashwin, which is 99 cents!

Over on Book Riot

I wrote about my mom’s vacation reading. It was the idyllic romance reader’s vacation (and well deserved)!

Do you go to library book sales? How about a survival guide?

And don’t forget to enter to win 15 of the year’s best mysteries so far!

Recs

Unmasked by the Marquess
Cat Sebastian

Let me start by saying thanks to reader Marianne for pointing out a misstep I made last week: in my zeal to announce Cat Sebastian’s first non-M/M novel, I called this one M/F, which it isn’t. It’s distinctly in the M/NB category. I apologize if anyone was hurt by my inadvertent erasure of this protagonist’s identity.

Okay, on to the story! Unmasked by the Marquess brings us the story of Alastair and Charity, two people trying to get things done and move on with their lives. For Alastair, it’s to get his family’s reputation back in order after his father destroyed it. For Charity, living as Robert Selby, it’s to get her sister married and fade into the woodwork. Unfortunately for their plans, they cross paths. While their first meeting leaves much to be desired, Alastair finds himself drawn to Selby in ways that are very inconvenient. Not to mention, his younger brother is one of those seeking the affection of Selby’s sister.

In what is becoming regular fashion, Cat Sebastian weaves a spectacular tale of real people in a time that can leave a reader oversaturated relatively easily. While Charity is a trailblazing character, the first nonbinary protagonist I have ever crossed in a historical romance, the Marquess of Pembroke himself is a noteworthy romance hero as well: older, staid, bisexual, and bespectacled. Not a duke, though still a peer of the realm. The two of them together are pretty magical. You won’t want to miss them.

The Viking Queen’s Men
Holley Trent

Twitter is funny, sometimes. Sometimes, romance twitter accidentally causes book clubs. In this case, someone exclaimed about this book, and then more people did, and then someone shared that it was a very low price on Amazon, and here we are. I haven’t read a good contemporary fantasy romance in a while, and this one checked off quite a few of my boxes. A matrilineal society right in the middle of the desert. A woman flailing with new and unknown responsibilities. Two men who are right for her, and whose only goals are to make her happy. Yeah, this was a good one for me. It might have been the first on the path to Holley Trent completion I set out for after One in Waiting, but it will definitely not be the last, and the Afótama series is a good place to start.

Next up, Her Perfect Affair by Priscilla Oliveras. This is the pairing I was drooling for at the end of His Perfect Partner, and I’m glad to have gotten it so quickly. If you haven’t read either book, now is definitely a good time. Also, if you prefer books more on the sweet scale than the super smexy books I’ve been discussing recently, His Perfect Partner is one of those books in which you don’t realize there isn’t any sex until you’ve reached the end. Or maybe you do, I don’t know, but I was surprised to realize how much it didn’t matter to me in the course of things. We’ll see if Her Perfect Affair is the same.

New and Upcoming Releases

Stay With Me by Love Journey (I know nothing about this book but I LOVE the cover!)

High Heels and Haystacks by Erin Nicholas

Startup Fiance by Shilpa Mudiganti

Rebel Heir by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

Misadventures with a Rookie by Toni Aleo

A Match Made in Bed by Cathy Maxwell

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan (April 24)

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 or just want to say hi!

News

We have had some interesting developments since last week.

First, NPR was doing so well, and then they did this. Courtney Milan was regretful about having expanded her recommendations to non-black POC, but really, how could she have known the reporter would pick the one person who wasn’t black. Alisha was unaware the reporter would be framing it around anything besides the general diversity problem, or she would have stepped aside. NPR eventually apologized for their misstep, but leaving out black voices when you’re talking specifically to issues relating to black authors was a big editorial mistake.

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Sponsored by the New York Times bestselling author of The Secret of Flirting, Sabrina Jeffries.

The moment spymaster Baron Fulkham meets the stunning Princess Aurore of Chanay, he’s positive her royal persona is a ruse and that she’s actually Monique Servais, the mysterious actress he met three years before in Dieppe. But as he pursues his suspicions, he uncovers a plot of attempted assassination and betrayal that could very well destroy his career, expose his own secrets…and ruin the woman he’s rapidly coming to love.

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And then All About Romance posted a 100-book-long list of top romances of all time…that had no books by black authors on it. The discourse around their revision of the list and the poll that produced it also led to a good conversation around the term POC and when to use it.

In happyland, Alyssa Cole wrote this magical essay for Bustle about princess stories. (Also, if you missed her list of princess books to check out, here tis!)

Also, I saw the hashtag #RomanceWakandia on twitter and I need every black romance from the US and other nations ever to somehow to be linked to it. Don’t ask me how, but it’s gonna happen. 

Deals

Savannah J. Frierson’s Go With Your Heart is 99 cents.

The Viking Queen’s Men by Holley Trent is FREE right now, and the rest of the series is all 3.99 or less!

Jamie Wesley’s This is True Love is 99 cents.

Hometown Hero: Boys of Brockview by Sasha Devlin is also 99 cents.

Over on Book Riot

It’s National Library Week! Not only are we giving away a Kindle Fire, but there’s plenty of library related content. And check out this list of librarian romances from last year! (ALSO. I finally found one: a librarian by an AOC. The second book in the Sea Port series, the first of which I peddle below, features a librarian. What are your favorites?)

In a hurry? How about some erotic short stories?

Lacey had a guy friend visit The Ripped Bodice in her stead (because she lives very far away). He didn’t explode upon entry. 

Erotic audiobooks, you say?

Trisha and I talk about some stuff on When in Romance.

And don’t forget to enter to win 15 of the year’s best mysteries so far!

Recs

This has been quite the week of reading for me. The two books I finished are both four-alarm-fire hot and the one I started is probably not going to be any tamer.

Priest
Sierra Simone

This book is one of those that was once destined to hang out on my Want to Read shelf forever, until it repeatedly came up on the Insiders forum. When it was finally a reduced price, I decided to get it, and then we decided to read it for one of our chats. So it was time to try it out.

And y’all. This book. It’s not for everyone. I’ll just…tell you what she says in the author note:

There is sex, more sex, and definitely some blasphemy.

You’ve been warned.

Yeah. So if lots of sex and some seriously uncomfortable locations for sex (it’s right there in the blurb: “I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church.”) are your thing, give this one a try. Here, we have Tyler Bell, Catholic priest in a small Missouri town, and Poppy, a potential convert who has never been to confession. The two have immediate chemistry, leading to a few issues for Tyler. He loves his work, but he is also unwilling to let go of the vowbreaking sex (and potential love?) he has with Poppy. My biggest problem is actually that Poppy is a less developed character than Tyler, in part because he’s the narrator of the story. But if you’re interested in a bizarre intersection of theology and sex, this book is definitely for you.

CW: discussion of suicide, childhood and sexual abuse. And, you know, sex in sacred places.

From Scratch
Katrina Jackson

I came across this book on Twitter on Saturday afternoon and found myself immediately downloading it. I didn’t get to it then and there, but when I found the time, I was ready. The first few pages are a bit jarring, but the author picks up her stride pretty quickly. In this novella, Mary moves to the tiny town of Sea Port to start afresh after an unsatisfying life as a college professor. In her endeavor to win the town’s support for her bakery, she runs into Santos and Knox, old Marine buddies and BFFs who have since moved to Sea Port to become the fire chief and a member of the small police force. The three have an immediate chemistry, and Mary—surprising herself—isn’t shy about her desire to become involved with both of them.

Short, hot, and approaches morality from a very different perspective than Priest.

CW: discussion of child abuse, drug abuse, and homophobic violence.

(Also, From Scratch is one of those books that doesn’t currently have a romance ranking but has an erotica one. Figure your shit out, Amazon.)

I just started Unmasked by the Marquess, which comes out next Tuesday. A genderfluid heroine trying to get her childhood friend married and a stodgy Marquess butt heads in Cat Sebastian’s first M/F romance. And of course, since it’s Cat, she went ahead and made it hella queer. I can’t wait to get back to it! (Which I’m gonna go do now, byeee.)

New and Upcoming Releases

The Art of Love by Suzette D. Harrison

Pretending He’s Mine by Mia Sosa

One Unforgettable Kiss by AC Arthur

Beauty and the Biker by Jamila Jasper

My Lady’s Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel  by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris

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 or just want to say hi!

Well, since we last spoke, romance twitter has been calling out the racism in romance that so many authors have not felt the confidence to speak of before. Having never gone to the RWA national conference and having only ever gone to one chapter meeting for my local RWA, and of course, having never made any attempt to publish, I don’t have anything worthwhile to contribute.

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Sponsored by Flatiron Books

Following two sisters in their pursuit of passion and independence, this is a genre-bending novel that is part coming-of-age, part historical fiction, with elements of mystery and paranormal. When one of the sisters goes missing, the other must put aside her books to find her–and start living.

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So here are some words:

• Courtney Milan, dropping some knowledge
• Piper Huguley on some history
• Jen has thoughts on structure and purpose
• Barbara Ferrer tells a horrifying story

This is just the tippy tip top of the iceberg, and I recognize that three of the people I’ve listed here are not black women. If you’d like to read more (because it’s exhausting, painful, and uncomfortable work that needs to be done), I’ve retweeted countless other stories of what it’s like to be black in romance. Just hit my twitter feed and start scrolling (there is also some other, much more fun stuff, which you probably need). These tweets include some stories, yes, but their authors are often engaging white readers to help do something about it. If this is you, take their words to heart, and see how you can contribute to the breaking of the cycle.

This is not the end of this story, and I imagine you’ll be hearing more about it from me as things evolve. Which we hope they will, because we’ve apparently been here before. (RWA made a statement about diversity and inclusion in 2016, which has different goals than their 2018 statement, and members of the board have spoken to that statement, but I don’t know what has been done in practice.)

In other news, which muse are you? I got Thalia, the muse of Comedy. Here’s what it says:

When it comes to romance novels, your taste runs to biting dialogue, witty remarks and ridiculous plots. The more over the top it is, the more cutting the criticisms characters make, the more helplessly everything goes wrong, the better.

If you’ve seen any of my book reviews ever, you know they are…very much not wrong.

And speaking of over the top and cutting criticisms, have you seen the cover for Jasmine Guillory’s new book, The Proposal? I can’t wait!

Also, let’s celebrate NPR’s most recent coverage of Alisha Rai. NPR is doing Good Work.

Finally: Harlequin date videos are back. This one isn’t as hilarious as the Viking or the Highlander, but I still enjoyed it a very great deal. Though with A Princess in Theory (I know, that’s not Harlequin) and books like Therese Beharrie’s Falling for his Convenient Queen, they missed their opportunity to throw in a little bit of not-white-ness. (Though of course, with Kimani closing and only a portion of their authors being signed to other series, who knows what they’re thinking over there.)

Deals

Invaluable by Alana Albertson is 99 cents.

K.M. Jackson’s Through the Lens is 3.99.

Deliver Me, the first book in Farrah Rochon’s Holmes Brothers series, is FREE right now.

Savannah J. Frierson’s Reconstructing Jada Channing is 3.99.

Feud by Phyllis Bourne is 2.99.

Over on Book Riot

Bookworm on Tinder? It’s like a romance novel come to life. Or something.

Sonja makes us really glad we have access to huge amounts of romances wherein this doesn’t happen.

We’re excited about some books coming out this month, including some good-looking romances.

Have you seen Rah’s list of affirming trans books? Good books in all categories.

Recs!

Here are some books I’ve recently finished or am reading right now and have every intention of finishing someday, when I’m not wildly busy. Three of them are non-Regency, US-set historicals, and the last is a queer retelling of a classic. If either of those are your jam, you’re in for a treat.

The Doctor’s Discretion
EE Ottoman

This historical romance, written by a trans author, features two doctors—one black, one white—in nineteenth-century New York. They have been hired to catalog a deceased doctor’s library, but that’s not what matters. What matters is that they are ridiculously attracted to one another, and after an evening together one doctor enlists the other to assist him in saving a patient. This is not the conventional style of saving, though; this patient, on the verge of imprisonment, would first have to undergo the most intrusive analysis imaginable by the hospital’s senior doctors and other interested parties from all around, all because he lives as a man but has the body of a woman. It’s a quick, surprisingly light read. Also, you’ll learn a lot about mid-nineteenth-century medicine.

Night Song
Beverly Jenkins

When I picked this up, I didn’t realize that it was a reprint of Beverly Jenkins’s first novel. This is where the original Henry Adams story lives. Our heroine, who grew up in Georgia before, during, and after the Civil War, joins the earliest part of the Great Migration and joins one of many black communities in Kansas. She isn’t too keen on the hero, in part because he is a cocky bastard, but also because he wears Union Blues—the same color as the men who killed her grandfather in cold blood and destroyed her family home. But they’re growing on each other.

Let Us Dream
Alyssa Cole

I know. I KNOW. What took me so long, right? It’s been sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to pick it up. This story first appeared in Daughters of a Nation, an anthology featuring multiple novellas about women fighting for women’s suffrage. Here, Bertha owns a club in 1917 Harlem. She uses her influence and space to help educate the women who might be gaining the vote, and that same influence to sway the thoughts and minds of the men who would be voting for the vote. What she wasn’t expecting is to be so smitten with her new dishwasher, Amir, an Indian immigrant who wants more rights for people like him.

Pride and Porters
Charlotte Greene

I’ve only just started this book, and the writing is a little off-putting, but I can’t resist a good Pride and Prejudice retelling. This one particularly stuck out as one that features a lesbian (f/f, wlw, whichever way you want to say it) romance. Erin and her sister Jen run a brewery in a small city in Colorado, and Charlie Betters is looking to learn more about the trade. Charlie’s friend Darcy is…not a great person. She’s a snob who might say she’s looking out for her friend, but she’s also more than a bit of an asshole. But people can change, right?

New and Upcoming Releases

Still Loving You by Sheryl Lister

Scoring Off the Field by Naima Simone

Cheeky Prince by Nana Malone

The Thief by JR Ward (April 10)

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren (April 10)

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 or just want to say hi!

Look, I know I said last week was quiet, and it really wasn’t. This week, it really has been quiet, so let’s look at the big newsmakers that I might have only touched upon last week:

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Sponsored by FALLING STAR, a Nashville-set contemporary romance from bestselling author Terri Osburn.

A country star looking for a comeback has one last shot at fame—and maybe one last shot at love.

Naomi Mallard is a fixer by nature. And as PR manager for Nashville’s Shooting Stars record label, she’s facing her biggest fix: redeeming country music bad boy Chance Colburn. Chance has spent his life running from demons and making tabloid headlines that have sent his career into a tailspin. Now he’s struggling to find his muse and maintain his newfound sobriety, all while counting on the woman he once betrayed to repair his tattered reputation.

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News

The Romance Writers of America RITA and Golden Heart finalists were announced last week, and while I mentioned them cursorily last week, now we have time and space to discuss it. The first thing I noticed, that many others did as well, was that while there are authors of color on both lists, there are no black authors. Some people, confused after reading some awesome books last year, wondered at that. And I think I can say we were all amazed when authors like BEVERLY FUCKING JENKINS saying she’d never submitted because back in the day, Bozo the Clown would have been named a finalist before she did. I’m sure this would no longer be the case, since, you know, she has a RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. But authors of color who don’t have her name, don’t have her titles, might see the limited number of RITA winners of color as another place where the gate is kept, locked against them. It was mentioned in that same thread that the RITAs could benefit not only from some restructuring, but also from better recruitment practices for the judges. We all know that publishing has a problem when it comes to representation, and it’s not surprising that it’s also trickled down into organizations for people in publishing. This is one of those “I have no solutions, just stating the problem” issues, but if you have thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

Alexis Hall wrote a really good blog post about it, too. (Which resulted in this thought-provoking tweet thread, too.)

And in case you missed it last time, there is a brand new, amazing site created and maintained by queer authors of color. The database alone is amazing for finding new authors to explore, but there are other parts that are definitely going to be awesome to have regular access to. Also, the statement they make on their homepage, which addresses various stakeholders individually, is incredibly powerful.

Deals

RITA nominee Take The Lead is 3.99. If you haven’t read it yet, you should!

Alessandra Torre’s Love, Chloe is 99 cents right now.

A Fashionable Indulgence by KJ Charles is 1.99 through the month. Be forewarned: you will get hooked.

Over on Book Riot

Trisha and I had hella fun talking about indie publishing and some of our favorite new recs on this week’s When In Romance. Also, seriously. Let’s take back that hashtag.

Wondering what you should read next? This quiz is surprisingly helpful.

We’ve still got a giveaway for a $250 Barnes and Noble gift card!

Recs!

This week’s recommendations brought to you in part by People Who Can’t Words. I loved all three of these books in very different ways, but boy, did all six of these people have issues with wordsing.

Hurts to Love You
Alisha Rai

That’s right, y’all. It’s out, and I’m done, and I’m still crying at how beautiful this whole trilogy is. The third installment of the Forbidden Hearts trilogy centers on Gabe, Livvy’s boss at the tattoo parlour and old friend of both sides of the family, and Eve, the youngest member of the Chandler family. Both have family issues up the wazoo, and also have their own opinions on what the other deserves in a mate. Even when they make the decision to try using their words, they end up not doing it right, leaving them with what both thinks is the only option. Which isn’t an option at all.

Overall, a beautiful, melodramatic, conclusion to a magnificent series.

Baby Daddy
Kendall Ryan

This one is definitely a different style, and a different pace. Emmett and Jenna also have trouble wordsing, and we as readers will share a similar kind of frustration as they go through their own stuff. Of course, their stuff is not the stuff of the Chandlers and Kanes. Instead, their stuff is all about sex. Of the baby-making kind. The two get stuck on an elevator when Jenna is on her way to a fertility clinic in Emmett’s building (y’all know how much I love stuck-in-an-elevator stories), and make the outrageous decision to go the old-fashioned route. So these two people, who have only just met, decide to work as hard as humanly possible to get Jenna pregnant, because that’s what she wants, and when it’s done, they’re done. Or at least that’s what they keep telling themselves. Neither’s very happy about it, though.

Cute, frustrating, and a nice introduction to a new-to-me author (though I just read another of her books, Dirty Little Secret, only to discover that it did not stand alone and I was not happy. FYI.)

A Girl Like Her
Talia Hibbert

If you’re at all active on romance twitter, this is a book and a name you might have heard a bit about recently. Talia Hibbert sort of popped up out of nowhere, and she hit the ground running. This was my first book by her, but it will definitely not be the last. In A Girl Like Her, Ruth is the girl that people don’t understand. She’s blunt, she’s forward, and she doesn’t suffer fools. This is, in part, the way that her autism presents itself. Evan is former military (did I mention that he was inspired by that gif of Infinity!Cap walking?) and also has a habit of trying to take care of people like he wishes someone had him when he was younger. How does that play out between the neighbors? Evan can’t stop feeding Ruth, of course.

Seriously, this story is adorable, and heartwarming, and heartbreaking. Read it, and then join me in devouring the rest of her stuff.

New and Upcoming Releases

Her Perfect Affair by Priscilla Oliveras

Invitation to the Blues by Roan Parrish

Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston

Twice Bitten by Lynsay Sands

Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon by Kerrelyn Sparks

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 or just want to say hi!

And that’s a good thing. Really.

News

Simon and Schuster released their official statement about Crimson, stating that the market had changed. Which, really? I’d like to see their research. My guess is that the ebooks there weren’t selling at the same pace as their bestsellers, and they cut their losses. That’s just a guess, but I have no other one. What do you think happened there?

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Sponsored by The Marquis and I by Ella Quinn

In the latest of Ella Quinn’s Worthington series, Lady Charlotte Carpenter’s brother-in-law put a brothel out of business—but it’s Charlotte who suffers the consequences. After being abducted by thugs, she’s rescued by a dashing gentleman, only to realize later she’s seen him before—with two courtesans! Unwilling to tarry with such a man, Charlotte escapes again…but a gossiper has spied on Charlotte, and rumors spread quickly. Soon, everyone knows Charlotte spent the night with Constantine, Marquis of Kenilworth, and all agree the only answer is marriage—including Constantine. Yet, Charlotte’s abductors aren’t finished, and Constantine will do anything to protect her.

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Also, The Guardian published an interesting piece highlighting race issues and the Riptide and Crimson happenings, with some perspective from either Bea or Leah Koch (it actually just says “Koch says” so nice work, Guardian).

The other thing we’re still hearing about is the Audible Romance Package Paygate, which I hope is on its way to a satisfactory resolution for the company, for Audible, and for us readers/listeners. Isobel Starling wrote about it at the beginning of this month, and recently tweeted about there being no change (also tweeting at Publisher’s Weekly to see if they were looking into it). I don’t know what’s going to happen there, but we’ve seen what happens when companies pay enough in licensing or royalties for unlimited romance (they stop doing it because it’s too expensive).  

In happier news, this is just perfect. I want to be a Writer in Residence at a completely random, unexpected place.

The Wall Street Journal asked a few romance authors about the workplace romance in the age of #metoo, and Sarah MacLean had good words. In one tiny space, she touches on the history of consent in romance, big cornerstone romances, and the continuing evolution of the genre. She also links to the Journal article, but since it’s behind a paywall, I’ll let you check that one out on your own if you’re able (if you’re not a subscriber, see if your local library does!).

Also, here’s some news! Here’s hoping that means NYT will actually be worth looking at again.

As someone who keeps randomly picking up books set in Australia (like the adorable Cutie Pies, a recent release), it was awesome to get a tip from an Australian KB reader (hi Kat!) about the Australian Romance Readers Awards, which is an interesting blend of international titles. The shortlist is a combination of books I’ve never heard of and ones I love dearly, so I look forward to hearing the results in May!

Some awesome people got together and did an awesome thing.

Also, Chrissy Teigen whined on Twitter about there not being enough rom coms, and we’re banking on her influence to get that shit done. Hopefully by this time next year there will be 30 announced, all adapted from awesome romance novels. In the meantime, the new adaptation of Rachel Van Dyken’s The Matchmaker’s Playbook is available on Passionflix. The trailer looks pretty great.

Finally: contest finalists yaaaaaaas.

Deals

Fraternize by Rachel Van Dyken is 2 dollars, if you’re interested in more after checking out The Matchmaker’s Playbook.

If you’re still in that princess mood, Delaney Diamond’s new Princess of Zamibia is 3.99.

Are the Forbidden Hearts books the only ones you’ve read by Alisha Rai? You should check out Glutton for Pleasure, which was the first romance with a South Asian heroine that I ever read. (Warning: if you have a twin squick, this one is not for you.)

Over on Book Riot

Do you love the Black Dagger Brotherhood? Erin collected some quotes for you.

Dana tried really hard to listen to audiobooks, but just can’t.

Want to win a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble? Read on!

Recs

I started picking up those not-big-name #ownvoices books immediately after the last Kissing Books, starting with one that’s more romance adjacent than romance, but it would definitely appeal to romance readers (especially if said romance readers are working on the Read Harder challenge and are looking for science fiction by a woman with a lead woman).

Ascension
Jacqueline Koyanagi

Alana is a Sky Surgeon. She falls in love with ships faster than she would any woman. But she and her aunt are both in need of higher pay to maintain their flow of meds for a debilitating disorder, and she’ll do anything to get it, especially if that means leaving her dusty planet. She stows away on the Tangled Axon, home to a darling crew of loyal folks looking for a way to save their pilot, who has her own secrets. What Alana doesn’t expect is the sudden influx of feelings she has for the ship’s captain. Of course, while all of these feelings are happening, there are explosions, manhunts, metaphysical activities, and a spacewalk or two. CW for chronic pain and maiming.

Signs of Attraction
Laura Brown

As of writing this, I’ve still got a quarter left, but something incredibly significant will have to happen for me to not recommend this book now (I’ll tell you next week if that changes). Reed and Carli are both hearing impaired—Reed has been deaf since birth, Carli hard of hearing and reliant upon hearing aids since she can remember. Laura Brown is also hard of hearing, and brings that experience and her experiences with the deaf community to the forefront of this story, bringing readers into a world we might not be familiar with. The two, a college senior and graduate student, meet the first day of class. While their attraction is mutual, their bond is solidified by Reed introducing Carli to the world of accomodation, which she hasn’t experienced thanks to a…less than happy childhood. While the love story is sweet, and both Reed and Carli have some awesome character growth and resurrection, this one definitely has a CW: talk of suicide (past and present), child abuse, non-sexual assault, and addiction. Somehow the sweet and the heavy balance each other out, but you have to be ready for it.

Next up, A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert, which has been exploding in my Twitter feed. I haven’t yet encountered a reviewer who didn’t love it, so I hope I do. Have you read it? What did you think? I’m really looking forward to reading a book featuring a black woman on the Autism Spectrum, something that is overpoweringly white and male in literature, with a few recent exceptions.

New and Upcoming Releases

Wanderlust by Lauren Blakely

With this Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Hurts to Love You by Alisha Rai (!!!) (March 27)

Her Perfect Affair by Priscilla Oliveras (March 27)

Invitation to the Blues by Roan Parrish (March 28)

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 or just want to say hi!

Oh man, y’all. It’s been…a week.

News

When we last spoke, there had been a collection of evidence, including tweets, screenshots from blog posts and public forums, and a few other pieces of evidence indicating that the person writing under the name Santino Hassell was misrepresenting themselves to us. If you’ve been reading Kissing Books long enough, you know that I spoke recently about pseudonyms and authors’ right to privacy, which I still stand behind. BUT. But. Misrepresentation is a completely different thing. It involves deception, manipulation and, to some extent, betrayal.

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Wishlist upcoming releases you’re dying to read. Get exclusive podcasts and newsletters. Enter to win swag. Do it all when you join Insiders.

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After Kissing Books went out last week, Riptide announced that they had severed ties with Santino Hassell, ended contracts, removed previously published works, and offered money to people who had previously purchased books by that author. (Probably just those who purchased them via Riptide, though.) But there was another element to this whole thing.

Apparently the person writing as Santino Hassell is also…not a great person. Intrepid folks on twitter have been talking about it for a couple of years, but backlash was such that they pulled away. But now, there have been accounts of manipulation, gaslighting, harassment, and other forms of misconduct, on top of the things said and done to tender sympathy and gifts. It was bad.

By the end of the week, Dreamspinner had also ended any contracts. Berkley Romance announced their dissolution of ongoing contracts earlier this week. We’re still waiting to hear from St. Martin’s Press about a not-yet-published series.

But that wasn’t the end of it, folks.

SH withdrew from most social media and posted this on their website, and since, there’s been mostly silence from that front. But that was not the only thing happening, apparently, and romance was ready to take it down.

Queer POC author Xen Sanders posted this report which indicates some deeper issues at Riptide. Not much later, Riptide made another statement, in which they announced that the executive in question, Sarah Lyons, had resigned. They also remarked on Sanders’ statements regarding institutional level racist activities. (They have quite a history, it seems, and did not handle most of them well. If you want to know more about that, Courtney has words.) After an incredible response, they issued this statement, announcing how they’re moving forward. 

This part is particularly important, and I am hoping they stick to their word:

It’s our responsibility to produce media that is helpful, not harmful, and given our current environment, we cannot be assured of fulfilling that responsibility. So, we’re going to change. The anger that has been directed toward us in the past days is justified, and we thank those who were willing and able to point out our flaws to us. We have work to do.

Seriously, we were getting to the burn it all down and start afresh phase, so I’m hoping this helps, and that this isn’t just another empty promise. Even still, authors like Jenny Holiday, Alexis Hall, and KJ Charles are ending their contracts with Riptide and reacquiring the rights to their work. Other big names have announced that they will no longer submit their work to Riptide to publish. 

If that wasn’t enough, there was icing on this cake of nails: Crimson Romance, who we saw in the 2017 Ripped Bodice report on Diversity in Romance, had the highest percentage of romances published by authors of color and one of the highest increases between 2016 and 2017, announced its closure. There has, as of writing this, not been any statement from Simon and Schuster regarding reasons for this, but authors, editors, publicists, and other members of the Crimson team have expressed their sadness, uncertainty, and thanks.

What. A. Week.

With all that, here are some tidbits of happy:

• There has been a resounding response to all this Riptide mess from people willing to support authors who want to pull their works.
• The RWA Award Winners were announced
• Robin Bradford, a familiar name if you’re on Romance Twitter, was named one of the Library Journal Movers & Shakers
• This exchange brought us all back to life
• Courtney’s next book! It’s real!
• Have you seen the cover of Making Up?
• Talia Hibbert sounds like someone I want to be my BFF. Also, a WOC writing #ownvoices autistic rep is Important. 

Deals

Do you love a good song-pun title? Cathy Maxwell’s If Ever I Should Love You is 1.99.

I don’t read a lot of romantic suspense, but Silent Threat sounds pretty damn intriguing: a former Navy SEAL who has lost the use of an arm and his hearing, and a peace-loving ecotherapist he can’t help but arguing with. Sounds good, right? It’s 2 dollars.

500 pages for 99 cents? Lingus by Mariana Zapata is your book.

Mourning the end of the Knitting in the City series? Check out Penny Reid’s Kissing Tolstoy, which is 3.99!

Over on Book Riot

This week’s episode of When in Romance is called This Is Very Complicated and yeah.

Sometimes you want something long, and sometimes, you just want something quick. Here are some erotic short stories for you.

This is totally my kind of vacation. Doing stuff? No. Reading with a view.

Recs

One thing the whole SH thing made me realize is that many of us are guilty of finding our favorite examples of #ownvoices authors and end up falling back on those authors as recommendations for pretty much any situation. With that in mind, I’ve been looking at other authors and works by those authors—authors of color, queer authors (especially men and enby authors writing m/m and other queer romance)—to share, more varied and more often. Sure, I still love books written by white ladies and will share them with you magical readers, but let’s have a look at some people who can fill those spaces of our go-to authors.

Love Comes Silently
Andrew Grey

If you listen to When in Romance you know that I’d realized with my constant centering of SH, I had neglected this author, who just got the RWA Centennial Award for publishing one hundred books. So you’ve got plenty of backlist to check out. Love Comes Silently has a sad setup: a young father caring for his cancer-stricken daughter; and his neighbor, a former singer who can no longer use his voice. This is a quiet, sweet novel, and I can’t wait to see more of what Grey’s got for me. (And like I said, there’s a lot.)

One in Waiting
Holley Trent

Okay. Y’all. I read it. The novel with the confusing cowboy hat. And this time, there is a cowboy! Since he plays minor league baseball, his offseason time is occasionally spent on a ranch or two, and he brings his expertise with him when he and our other hero spend some time on the heroine’s ranch.

If you follow my compatriot Trisha on Twitter or Instagram, you might have seen the magnificent diagram she made while I was explaining this book to her during When in Romance. Leary and Ren, our heroes, are partners and teammates, and they run into Emilie, the mother of Leary’s now-teenaged daughter. Ren certainly finds her attractive, but doesn’t really pursue anything until he realizes she can help with something else: he’d like to know more about BDSM, and wants Emilie to help her, since Leary doesn’t get it. And that, folks, is where I’ll leave you. It’s Very Complicated. But it’s damn fun.

Here are some others I want to try:

From the Ashes by Xen Sanders

Buildings: A New York Love Story by BL Wilson

The Doctor’s Discretion by EE Ottoman

Signs of Attraction by Laura Brown

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (It doesn’t come out till June but I’m putting it on my list now)

I’m also going to try to spend as much time hanging out on Queer In Color as I do WOC In Romance.

What romance by an author from a marginalized group do you love to recommend? Let me know!

New and Upcoming Releases

Princess of Zamibia by Delaney Diamond

A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert

Sinner by Sierra Simone

Running to You by Andrew Grey

With This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas (March 20)

Also, I just discovered that there are gorgeous new releases (with new covers!) of Josephine and Belle by Beverly Jenkins, if you’ve been holding out on those.

Have thoughts? Catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!