Romance Wrap-Up | April-June 2021

Here comes three whole months of my romance obsession growing, I really can’t stop, especially with historicals.

I thought in this post I’d maybe start adding a few trigger warnings to books, can’t believe I haven’t been doing this already but it took me being slightly triggered to even think of it and I always hate having something pop up in a book I’m not ready for so here we go.

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Love is a Revolution – Renée Watson (TW: racism, parent-child estrangement)

So this was my first time picking up contemporary YA romance in a loooooong time. I’ve not really read this subgenre much since I was a teenager (boy am I feeling old) and I haven’t been too keen to revisit it for several reasons: the worst of which being that I crave the steamy scenes in adult romance (I refuse to be ashamed about this, they are good!) and most mature of which being I’m an adult and the love lives of children feel a little weird for me to pry into even fictionally. But after my success re-reading Howl’s Moving Castle I decided that YA and KidLit need to be more of a priority for me now, especially as they inspired my love of books and cause I have kids now I guess. But anyway, onto the book!
Love is a Revolution focuses on Nala, a young fat black girl growing up in Harlem, New York, who is not quite into the passionate activism that her cousin is. But when she meets a boy named Tye at one of these activist events she decides to pretend she does engage with activism to impress him. And hoo, boy, dear reader, cringe is not the word. I spent most of this book feeling the same deep embarrassment and stress that Nala did. The inevitable reveal of her secret is so much worse than I expected and I found myself projecting all this embarrassment right back onto my teenage self, but what I really enjoyed was Nala’s and Tye’s exploration of what it means to be black and what it means to perform your blackness in a political way versus and private way. The two characters were extremes of each example and they really balanced each other out well. Oh and it never hurts to see a fat heroine being loved and adored without having to change herself or her body.
Renee Watson has made me feel a right fool for assuming YA romance no longer had the emotional punch I needed, clearly I was just trying to escape my teenage self by stepping away from it, but my teen self is still in there somewhere and she still loves reading and she must be satiated, expect a lot more YA of all genres coming soon from this goblin.

To Sir Phillip With Love – Julia Quinn (TW: suicide, post partum depression, child abuse)

Finally made it to Bridgerton book #5! I was so disappointed in #4 I wasn’t sure I’d pick it up, but I already had it on my kindle and wanted something light and sweet to read on my phone while up all night with a baby who dislikes the sound of turning pages (is she even mine?!) and so I turned back to the series. This was not the light fun book I was expecting. Julia Quinn really lured me in with the quaintness of the first four books just to throw some real cruel and much too relevant stuff at me. Eloise is the most fun character in the Netflix series so seeing her deal with a hero who is still reeling from the suicide of his wife who hadn’t been the same since their twins were born and who emotionally neglects his children who are suffering at the hands of a nursemaid who beats them was all just a LOT. But I’ve said it before, Quinn has been brilliant throughout this series at character perception. In her sibling’s stories Eloise was a fun, blue stocking spinster with not a whole lot going on but no one really is how their siblings perceive them and in this story Eloise really comes into her own and we see a whole wealth of emotional depth that Quinn is so good at.

When He Was Wicked – Julia Quinn (TW: spousal death, miscarriage, sickness)

Once again Quinn decided to really attack me on this one. Bridgerton #6 follows Francesca, who, up until this point, has been a minor character only briefly referenced as living her widowed life out at her late husbands estate in Scotland, so the emotional punches on this one were a lot less of a surprise but no less powerful for it. Eloise decides, four years after losing her first husband and miscarrying their baby, that she wants a husband, not for love, but because she wants to attain motherhood, but at the same time her husbands dashing rogue of a cousin, and the new Earl, returns from his trip to India after leaving to escape his pure guilt at being in love with his cousin’s wife. My god, the drama. I could barely take it. The problem is though that this is a lot of emotion to set up and it kind of all fell flat in a heap in favour of focusing on steamy sex scenes and rushing to that HEA. My guess is Quinn got very into writing a bit of darkness in Bridgerton #5 and went all out for this one, but there wasn’t enough of a pay off for me after sitting through all that depressing grittiness. Quinn really had a chance to make me cry my heart out and she kind of dropped the ball, but still I liked it enough to carry on to the last two books.

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega – Crystal Maldonado (TW: fatphobia, parental death, possible eating disorder, weight loss)

So I won’t lie I picked up Fat Chance because the girl on the cover looks a lot like me, I didn’t really know what I was getting into but it was a beautiful and wild ride. The titular Charlie is fat and she is a POC and she is insecure, like all teenagers, and these things inform all her decisions. Especially because her thin, confident friend Amelia seems to be living a perfect life in comparison. So when Charlie finds out that her new boyfriend asked Amelia out first igniting all her insecurities. This book was frankly brilliant, it was everything YA romance should be, Charlie’s voice was clear and real and her struggles were real and all too relatable. I’m excited to see what else Maldonado writes because I’m certain I will love it, I need all the fat rep in my romance books, and all my books really so I always love adding a body positive author to my list.

It’s In His Kiss – Julia Quinn (TW; parental death, estranged parents, sibling death)

This is easily my favourite of the Bridgerton series! This instalment follows Hyacinth, the youngest Bridgerton who has been mostly overlooked having been a child for most of the series, but her story is definitely the best! There’s a mystery, puzzles to be solved, a wonderfully realistic romance, and loads more Lady Danbury. I almost don’t want to read Gregory’s story because, other than Anthony, the male Bridgerton’s pale in comparison to their much notes interesting sisters.

The Wicked Wallflower – Maya Rodale (TW; familial death)

This one took a while to get going for me, I picked it up because the plot is very similar to My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid which I love; Lady Emma accidentally announces that she is to marry Blake, the Duke of Ashbrooke, a rogue she has never met, and Ashbrooke goes along with the ruse to compete in the annual games held for his aunts fortune. At first I wasn’t very into Blake, he wasn’t very likeable but as the story progressed and he grew I kinda grew to like him, the ending was lovely and I got swept up in the last third of the book but until then I didn’t feel it. I’ll definitely carry on with the series though.

How to Catch a Wild Viscount – Tessa Dare (TW; animal attack, injury, war mention)

This was a cute little gothic romance novella. It was apparently Dare’s first published work and it was so wonderfully written it’s nice to know she’s been super talented from the start even if it’s made me feel very inadequate. It’s only a teeny little story but Dare packs a lot of feeling into it. I’ve read another of her novellas before and enjoyed it just as much, I’m accepting I might just have to read everything she’s ever written.

On the Way to the Wedding – Julia Quinn (TW; kidnap, blackmail, gun violence, childbirth)

The first half of this book was cute fluff, all about falling for the best friend of the girl you think you’re into, cute as hell. Half way through it gets wild, suddenly it verges on being a romantic thriller. I got whiplash from the plot twist but damn was it good. I’m really going to miss this series, I think some of them are definitely re-readable, especially the post-Whistledown books.

Romance Wrap-Up | Jan-March 2021

So this was meant to be posted almost a month ago but I had to take a break to push a human out of my body so this and many other blog posts may be coming a bit late. Still, I thought the most efficient way to sum up my romance reads was to do it in three month blocks and do mini reviews because it’s less stress and more fun. So here it is, my first three months of romance reads for 2021:

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Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert – ♥♥♥♥♥

Talia Hibbert is some kind of genius. She’s clearly sold her soul for such talent, but no one soulless could write such powerful emotions! Take a Hint, Dani Brown follows Danika Brown and curvy, black, witchy PhD Lit student who is successful and amazing in every aspect of life except love, and when she goes viral looking all loved up with a security guard they decide to keep up the charade for their own reasons. SO, let’s be real, this has fake dating, witchcraft, big feelings, friends with benefits, internal angst, some hilarious tweets, and a black bisexual heroine who speaks to my soul. If Talia Hibbert ever gets less than five heart ratings from me assume I’ve been kidnapped people.

The Duke & I by Julia Quinn – ♥♥♥

I picked this up because I wanted to give the Netflix series a go (a historical romance TV series where everyone isn’t white, heck yes sign me up) and while I enjoyed it it turns out the adaptation is far superior. This book was mostly fluff in my opinion, but the angsty bits were PROBLEMATIC I wasn’t surprised that this was a pre-MeToo novel but was surprised that it didn’t come right from the 70s, the concepts of consent got a bit dubious and then weren’t really addressed that well, but I get that it’s not exactly contemporary. I LOVED the gossip sheet concept, it’s like historical Gossip Girl but I thought a bit more could have been done with it.

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn – ♥♥♥♥

Now this Bridgerton book made me really excited for the second series of the adaptation especially as some amazing casting got announced whilst I was reading it. This (fairly light) enemies-to-lovers romance was amazing, Anthony’s character really developed loads from the first book, it was lovely seeing how he was just a goofy older brother to Daphne in the first book but a whole other person in his own story. Quinn really seems to understand how family sees you vs an actual sense of self and this gets explored really well in this book and also my god the BEES, I won’t spoil anything but the bee motif was powerful and so far this is my favourite Bridgerton novel.

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert – ♥♥♥♥♥

Hibbert wins the roundup again with a five heart rating because the Brown Sister’s Trilogy is incredible. This book follows the youngest Brown sister, Eve, whose parents cut her off after years of her floating between careers and never really settling down. The rep in this book was fantastic, from body positivity to class difference to autism (presented differently in both male and female characters, and done very well in my opinion) it was all just done splendidly, which is what Hibbert is known for. Eve is such an out there character and it’s always so refreshing to read about a character who has my body type, especially in romance, I feel like it never happens. I’m definitely going to have to read all of Talia Hibbert’s backlog because she’s been writing for years and I’ve only read this one amazing trilogy and I can’t wait for more.

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn – ♥

I’m on a bit of a two author spree at the moment, if it’s not Quinn or Hibbert I’m not reading it (I really just want to know who Whistledown is damn it!) so sorry to return to Bridgerton yet again. The third book follows Benedict Bridgerton and has a not-so-subtle Cinderella retelling aspect, which was possibly the only thing I liked about it. I was excited for Benedict because his character is so wonderful in the show, but honestly Netflix gave him a lot more depth than Quinn ever could. At this point I’m only still reading hoping for a return to the brilliance that was Anthony Bridgerton and to a lesser extent Daphne, who’s looking a lot better as the series goes on. Benedict’s character is a bit nothing-y, he seemed to change personality and swing between morality to suit whatever seemed most “romantic” in the scene, there was no consistency and he seemed to be forgiven all things simply because he saved Sophie from rape. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, but the next book is about my favourite character; Penelope Featherington, so let’s hope I enjoy it more.

Romancing Mr Bridgerton by Julia Quinn – ♥♥♥

This installment in the Bridgerton series follows Colin and Penelope, the two I’ve been looking forward to the most, it also gave answers about Lady Whistledown, and made Cressida look a fool, but I still feel a little let down. Colin is the cheery, happy, funny Bridgerton brother, never says a mean word to anyone, except this story’s heroine Penelope, who bears the brunt of all his negative emotions and puts up with it because of her still thriving childhood crush on him. As much as I wanted to love Colin, and though I understand it’s romantic that you can be yourself with someone you love, why was he so aggressively angry to Penelope? The book answers that question but for me it’s not enough to ruin a hero who should have just been a sweet little himbo instead of a ball of rage that only got unleashed on the woman he wants to have sex with, it was just uncomfortable. Also not sure what revealing Whistledown’s identity will do to the rest of the series. Honestly, I’m only carrying on to see more of Anthony, my true literary love at this point. I’m giving you a chance to save yourself, Quinn, please take it!

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan – ♥♥♥

So I finally ended the two-author-stand-off and let Quinn and Hibbert take a rest. After watching the film about eighty times I decided to actually read Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan and I am so glad I did. Though it didn’t blow me away as a romance exactly (Rachel and Nick have already been dating for a year or two when the narrative starts so I didn’t get a meet cute or a first kiss or anything else I usually love about romance) it was a brilliant read. Kwan did so well at describing a world that is completely foreign to me in more ways than one and the drama was enough to propel the story for me even if the romance itself wasn’t. This book was what I’d call sort of low stakes angst, there’s drama and problems but the stress of it doesn’t get you down when you’ve put the book down, you can step away and keep within your personal limits for drama. Though it wasn’t my brand of romance exactly – the hero, Nick, was a bit nothing-y for my tastes – I’ve already bought the second book and I’m excited to see what happens to them.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown | Review

Okay, okay, I know, you probably came here for SFF but the heart wants what the heart wants, and my heart wants ROMANCE. So I picked up Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. A book I’ve seen popping up everywhere, about a chronically ill website designer whose near death experience prompts her to focus on “getting a life” and the man to help her is Redford Morgan, sexy motorbike riding exciting artist. Do you think “getting a life” will include “getting the love of her life?” of course it will, are you new here? HEA’s only on this blog, let’s get to it.

Chloe Brown is the surly, timid, curvy, well dressed, notebook loving heroine of my dreams. She is also the first character I have EVER read with a chronic illness, Fibromyalgia to be exact, and though I don’t suffer from any chronic illnesses I really could feel Chloe’s pain through the page, Hibbert made it so real and described pain (amongst other things) so well you can’t help but fall in love with Chloe.

This book just has so many facets to it it’s incredible. There’s the chronic illness, but there’s also recovering from emotional abuse, restarting a career, restarting a life, overcoming old fears and making some new ones. But overall there is just so much EMOTION. I must admit I don’t cry at books a whole lot, or I didn’t until I started reading romance, but the classic “misunderstanding parting the hero and heroine” had me genuinely bawling. I’d been guaranteed an HEA but I was still unsure, I was crying with them it was so raw and so powerful.

Honestly, I think this is the romance book I would recommend to non romance readers, there is just so much in this book it’s more than just a calming read it’s thought provoking and beautiful. Contemporary romance isn’t really my go to, I prefer historical, but Talia Hibbert has changed my mind entirely.

When a Scot Ties the Knot | Review

Continuing my Tessa Dare binge of this year I picked up When a Scot Ties the Knot the third book in the Castles Ever After series in which young women inherit castles and therefore some freedom. Let me tell you upfront that I love this book so don’t expect an unbiased review, I found no fault with it at all.

This installment in the series follows Madeline Gracechurch a woman with such devastating shyness that she invents a soldier fiancee who she kills off, and after feigning heartbreak she is left to grieve. Of course, the freedom and space this trick has earned completely dissipates when her imagined lover turns up at her door and starts demanding the fine life with her he’s been promised.

UGH. YES. ALL OF THIS. I live for this sort of dramatic silliness that you just know is gonna turn into heartberaking soul-shattering deep feelings, and believe me it does. The characters are just fantastic, Madeline is a shy young woman trying to start her own illustrating career, particularly drawing wildlife for textbooks and such (if you ever wanted to know more than you currently do about mating lobsters this might be the book for you) and it was kind of nice to read a romance heroine who is a little soft and sweet and not 100% witty and strong all the time, mostly because I am soft as a marshmallow and am strong none of the time.

Yes there is a lot of soy sauce on my copy now

And then there is Captain Logan MacKenzie the grumpy highlander who wants the castle he is owed for reasons that will just tear you open. But he is the ideal grumpy, cold-but-slowly-thawing-under-the-warm-touch-of-a-kind-woman hero that I just love. I absolutely adore when a character’s only obstacle to their happiness is themselves, like I will just read endlessly about idiots needing to get out of their own damn way and Captain Logan MacKenzie is that beautiful idiot.

I really wish I had some more scathing critique or something I could point out as wrong or anything, just to be my usual bitter self but this was just the perfect fluff as everything I’ve read of Tessa Dare is. She might be my hero.

Romance Round-up #3

Another Romance Round-up here. As usual I’ve been reading loads, I cannot help it it’s my newest addiction. I think after a couple more round-ups I might try reviewing the books individually as I get more of a feeling for the genre, but if I keep reading them this fast I don’t know how I’ll manage! But anyway, here goes;

Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare – ♥♥♥

Carrying on with my Tessa Dare adventures I picked up the next in the Castles Ever After series and this one wasn’t quite as fun a read. It was a little darker in places and there were some fun moments but really I didn’t feel the same thrill. I love a good meet cute and the hero and heroine in this installment have known each other since childhood so I just didn’t feel it as much. It was also a whole LOT of rich white people which though pretty chill to read about all their problems seemed a bit… dumb to me. Still, excited to read the next one because even though this wasn’t my favourite Tessa Dare can still write!

The Winter King by CL Wilson – ♥♥♥♥♥

I absolutely adored this book beyond belief. It was probably the longest romance I’ve read but I flew through it. It has an edge for me as it’s fantasy romance and you all know I’m a sucker for any kind of fantasy. I did expect the world building to suffer in favour of the romance but actually the world building was incredible and lush without being too complicated. It also set up the next installment so perfectly I am living for it. I finished it and downloaded the sequel, The Sea King, almost immediately.

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory – ♥♥♥♥

This would have had three hearts from me if it weren’t for the incredibly emotional sister subplot. I really enjoyed this Guillory’s prose is great, I love fake-dating, I love reading strong black women, I love how much time was spent with Alexa and Drew just getting take aways and having sex? Incredible. BUT, I wish the fake dating had been dragged out more! Also Drew was NOT good enough for Alexa, Alexa will have a special place in my heart forever.

His Bride for the Taking by Tessa Dare – ♥♥

This was a novella, or a short story more like. I’m not sure how I feel about the pacing of the story. There was a slight twist and because of the length it seemed to come out of left field a bit but let’s be real, this is Tessa Dare so overall it was a really fun read, just not as substantial as I’d like. Maybe I need to try out more short romance fiction and see if this is a personal problem with the form but still this wasn’t my favourite.

The Devil’s Submission by Nicola Davidson – ♥♥♥♥♥

This was another novella and I LOVED it. It’s the second in the Fallen Series, they’re more erotic romance than just romance, there is a LOT of sex. This one was about a reconciliation between a separated couple and their growth as they rekindled and sorted out their whole dom/sub relationship and my god do I live for female dominants guys, this is a thing I did NOT know I needed in literature but Davidson wrote it so damn well I actually liked this a lot more than the first one. It also set up the third rather well so I’m excited to finish up the trilogy.

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian – ♥♥♥♥♥

Another Marquess (which is funny because I’m more of a Duke girl myself) and my first Cat Sebastian read if you can believe it. Honestly, this book was so well written and so full of emotion and feeling that I might have a new favourite, I would do anything for Cat Sebastian, excuse me whilst I download and devour every book she’s ever written. This was also the first book I’ve read, possibly ever, with a non-binary protagonist and they were absolutely perfect.

Romance Round-Up

Once again I’ve been flying through romance novels to try and pretend reality isn’t happening. I am in deep denial folks. So here’s a few books I’ve read that have made me feel a little lighter during dark times.

Bossman Bridegroom by Meghan Quinn – ♥♥♥

I picked up this romantic comedy for my online romance book club and was a little dubious about the boss/ceo brand of romance. A few points in it did make me a little uncomfortable, but for the most part I was roaring with laughter and enjoying the banter. Like I said, a few dodgy scenes, but mostly it was a pretty low stakes chill read and I loved it.

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa – ♥♥♥♥♥

This fantasy romance blew my mind. I read it in under 24 hours which isn’t weird for a romance but factor in that eleven of those hours were taken up by me listening to Andy Serkis read The Hobbit live and at least eight of them were sleep it’s pretty impressive. This is the first time I stayed up past 1am reading since having a baby and it was worth the exhaustion. If you like a sexy bad boy and kidnapping and apocalyptic plagues in your romance this might be for you! If you’re wondering why read about apocalyptic plagues now, Jess? That’s not a good idea! I have to tell you it’s a freaking good idea. It felt relevant and didn’t make light of any of the hard stuff and drove the stakes way up so I couldn’t stop reading.

War by Laura Thalassa – ♥♥♥♥♥

I loved Pestilence so much that I picked up the next installment and pretty much fell right in love with the second horseman of the apocalypse instantly. War is an impressive mixture of violence and tenderness. The actual character War hits a little different than Pestilence, he’s a little more human and relateable, but all the more frustrating for it. I preferred the plot of Pestilence but definitely found it easier to see why someone would love War. I’m so pumped to see how Famine goes down.

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare – ♥♥♥♥♥

This was my first ever Tessa Dare novel (I know, I’m late to the party) but I absolutely loved it and I can see why people like her work so much. The plot was formulaic without being too predictable, it was a fun and lively read and I’m so glad there are more in the series. I’ve bought the start of another of her series The Duchess Deal, so expect a lot more Tessa Dare appreciation on this blog.

 

Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan – ♥♥♥♥♥

So this was another bookclub read and boy am I so glad I joined this bookclub! It’s only since reading romance that I’ve come across this many biracial characters and being biracial myself it’s genuinely touching to read about characters like me falling in love and being happy. This book is deeply cathartic, so sweet and every moving part of it is handled brilliantly with sensitivity and sincerity and my god you will end up crying. Although I still prefer fantasy/paranormal and historical romances this makes me want to read more contemporary.

 

Heiress for Hire|Review

I picked this book up for its absolutely gorgeous cover! We all love a strong colour palette. But I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. I picked it up expecting a straight romance, but was kind of surprised to find that there was a whole mystery going on too!

Heiress for Hire by Madeline Hunter, follows Minerva Hepplewhite, a young widow who has been left a massive portion of a Duke’s riches unexpectedly. Unexpectedly because she never once met the man. Enter Chase Randor (Chase is such a top notch romance hero name) the nephew of the Duke with a long standing career in solving mysteries. Both Minverva and Chase pursue the same goal; finding out what lead to the Duke’s death, and start to get in each others way.

The plot was about 50% romance and 50% murder mystery and strangely I actually enjoyed the mystery more! Piecing together what had happened as I read, realising what little hints means gave me a greater appreciation of the mystery genre and made the whole read more fun. Which is good because the romance side of the book was not entirely fun.

Minerva struggles to get past the abuse she suffered from her late husband, and given that this is a romance and must have a HEA she does. But I felt like more time could have been given over to the romance and the struggle in general because it just wasn’t there? Half the fun of romance is the ups and downs, the will they won’t they, the ridiculous misunderstandings that need to be rectified before they finally settle down. This had none of that really, even the two main characters suspecting the other of murder didn’t stop them being entirely devoted. It was a breath of fresh air, but maybe I like my air a little polluted okay, I’m a city gal, I wanted a bit more FIRE in the romance. But it was also really inspiring to see a woman take charge of her own sexuality and recover a part of herself that she though an abuser had taken away entirely.

All in all this was definitely a cosy read. Despite the romance, the abuse, the possible murder, the stakes didn’t feel too high. It was actually a perfect quarantine read because I wasn’t stressed at all! I just got to have a read and relax and enjoy getting to know these snarky fun characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the free eArc of this book!

Romance Wasn’t Built in a Day | 2020 Romance Reads (so far)

So, I’ve read a few romance books now in my newfound love of all things lovey dovey, but I don’t feel like I’ve read enough of them to do really big chunky reviews like I do for SFFH, I know nothing about the genre yet and no one wants to read another “it’s a bit like Pride and Prejudice” take so I’ve decided to do a sort of listicle review of the few I’ve read so far this year. So here we go, my romance reads of 2020 so far:

Adult Romance

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore – ♥♥♥♥

This first one follows Annabelle, an Oxford student whose way is paid by the suffragists as long as she campaigns for them, and she seems to keep running into the same very sexy duke during her campaigning who just happens to be their political enemy! This book is the first adult romance book I’ve ever read and it was an incredible experience so it’ll probably stay a favourite for me. It has literally everything; suffragists, castles, the fucking queen, dramatic horseback rides, amazing sex scenes, brilliant characters, and, my fave, realistically harsh feedback from a university tutor. I feel like it didn’t sweep me up that much, but as I was new to the genre when I read it I might return to it and see what I think.

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid – ♥♥♥♥♥

The second of my adult romance reads I think my love for the genre really started with this book. It’s about Kitty Danvers, a woman who needs to make sure her sisters find good matches and are comfortably married, and she decides to ruin her own reputation to do it. She pretends to be engaged to a reclusive duke to bring her sisters up in society and marry them off, but then her duke (scarred and disabled in an accident) reenters society and sparks start flying. This is a loose beauty and the beast retelling and the series (Sinful Wallflowers) focuses on women who have been put on the shelf by society getting into all sorts of scandals so they basically don’t end up alone and bored forever. It’s pretty amazing, and though I know there’s nothing terribly out of the ordinary for romance I started to really appreciate the tropes and feelings and just really fell into it. I love this book.

Surrender to Sin by Nicola Davidson – ♥♥♥

Surrender to Sin is about Grace, a young woman about to be forced into an unwanted marriage who decides to ruin her reputation by creating a public scandal with a renowned brothel owner Sebastian AKA Sin. This book was more erotica than romance, but I thought I’d give it a go and although I LOVED the sex scenes (Nicola Davidson really has a gift) I didn’t feel like the romance was based on much else other than mutual kinks. Which would have been fine had it not been a little less marriage plot-y but I didn’t believe the true love too much. Still, a pro sex work erotic novella with actual plot (I’ve only read plotless porno erotica before now) and a high speed carriage chase! Yes please, I’ve already bought the second book in the series!

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston – ♥♥♥♥♥

The first contemporary romance and the first MM romance on the list, RW&RB is about the son of the president, Alex, and a prince of England, Henry, falling in love. It’s pretty much beautiful, and it’s the first political novel I’ve ever been interested in without any dragons in it. This book really surprised me, I had been clinging to my comfy historical romance blankie (and I still am) but this was just lovely. My favourite thing about it was these two characters who are literature and history nerds writing each other love letters through email and signing off with excerpts from famous love letters it completely melted my heart.

YA Romance

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han – ♥♥♥♥

This one, as we all know (and if you don’t watch the Netflix films because they’re amazing) is about Lara Jean, writer of secret love letters, whose love letters get sent out to all her various crushes. In order to make one recipient jealous she fake dates even hotter love letter recipient, Peter Kavinsky, and sweet jesus is this adorable. I read it in like a day. It didn’t entirely blow my mind, I’ve read this sort of YA before but I really enjoyed it.

 

PS. I Still Love You by Jenny Han – ♥♥♥♥♥

This was my favourite book in the trilogy. This never happens, I never love the middles of trilogies, except for High School Musical 2. In this one a much better, much more handsome letter recipient, John Ambrose McClaren, turns up just as Lara Jean is getting super jealous of Peter’s ex-girlfriend. This book was incredible. It rekindled my love triangle obsession. I have no notes, good job Jenny Han, keep it up.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han – ♥♥♥

Okay, final book here. This one is a little bittersweet, young high school loves are preparing to go off to college and they don’t get into the same schools, shocker. I didn’t feel the same enjoyment with this one, I really dug the college narrative and the growth of the characters, but the romance felt a bit dead to me, hence the bittersweet. I still enjoyed it, but anything would be a let down after the incredible PS I Still Love You.

Heartstopper Vol. 3 by Alice Oseman – ♥♥♥♥♥

The first graphic novel and the second MM romance on this list, I read the first two last year and I’d give them both 5 hearts too FYI. This installment is all about Nick and Charlie going on a school trip to France together. It’s honestly the purest, fluffiest, happiest read of my life. Of course I’ve read the novellas in this series and I know this is sort of where it starts to get a little dark for Charlie and that began towards the end but Oseman spared me the heartache this time and didn’t shine too harsh of a light on it. Probably the most diverse romance books I’ve ever read. Everyone needs these comics.

There were a couple other romantic reads this year, but they were related to Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series which is a sort of romantic paranormal steampunk alt history saga of whimsical brilliance that deserves its own novel length post so I will definitely come back to Gail Carriger when I have about a year free to rant about how much I love her.

To All the Books I’ve Loved Before

Recently, in my own writing, I’ve hit quite a few walls plot wise. These were not small garden walls that can be stepped over or rested on like a spare seat, it was a little more Fort Knox than that, and I recently figured out why; I’m trying to write fantasy romance without the romance. I was trying to push the elves and magic to the forefront and ignore the human element, so to speak but why?

I’ve had a problem with romance my whole life – in books at least in reality it’s all a little easier and less dramatic. But when I started using, or rather misusing, romantic tropes in my writing I decided to ask why I disliked romance so much. The answer is I don’t. I love romance. (Please picture me declaring that I love love in the rain or something for dramatic effect.)

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han; Loved this trilogy so much

Almost all the books I love have romantic elements. I’ve adored Uprooted and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet was the perfect mix of sci-fi and tenderness, even my favourite part of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell was Jonathan Strange driven to insane magics in the search for his faery-led wife. Cassandra Clare, Sarah J Maas, Gail Carriger, Maggie Stiefvater, every book I’ve truly loved and found comfort in and returned to over and over has had a strong romantic subplot. Some of them are just plot, in a lot of them the fantasy falls into the background. And let’s be honest, as much as I love vampires they weren’t why I was reading Twilight.

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid; I devoured this book, Stacy Reid is the answer to my prayers

All these books are things I’ve called my “guilty pleasures” a phrase I’ve come to despise over the past few weeks. What I have been a little happier declaring I enjoy is romantic films and shows, which is why when I was stuck indoors with a cold-ridden baby and no desire to read I decided to watch To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix, and let me tell you Lara Jean’s completely unembarrassed love of romance novels got me. So I went on Goodreads to have a look for some romance books and lo and behold it was Romance Week!

So since then I’ve read a few romance novels. I’ve read the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before books (PS I Still Love You is easily the best in the trilogy, but that’s another post) and I’ve read a couple historical romances and devoured them way quicker than anything else I’ve read recently. It’s a brave new romantic world, so why didn’t I visit it before? Why do I feel guilty for reading a genre with diversity, drama, brilliant writing, and maximum entertainment factor? The answer is simple; internalised misogyny.

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore; Suffragists and romance! The perfect book!

After just some small research into the genre (which for me basically means listening to podcasts and browsing for new books online) romance seems to be one of the few genres dominated by women and read predominantly by women too, which seems to be one of the only reasons I can see for why I didn’t like it. There are so many romantic genres it’s impossible not to find one you like, there’s fantasy romance, sci-fi romance, historical romance, time travel romance, western romance, LGBT romance, interracial romance. Even just within historical there’s Victorian, regency, Scottish (?? I assume because of Outlander the romance world thinks Scotland is a thing of the past), American civil war, and even underground railroad romance.

What I’m saying is this is a vast and intense genre and despite the fact that I’m just scratching the surface I’d call it insta-love. Or more likely enemies-to-lovers given my previous aversions. Basically if anyone is actually reading this and I’m not just talking to myself (which I’m very okay with believe me) there will be a lot more romance on this blog in the future.