A quick note before we delve into this month’s deep dive for Hostage to Pleasure. We’ve going to start incorporating Nalini’s Psy-Changeling novellas into our monthly reads and recaps. They may not happen every month but we’ll be adding them in when appropriate. Since this month’s read focused on the relationship between Dorian and Ashaya, we also read the novella Dorian, which can be found in the Psy-Changeling collection, Wild Embrace. Melanie: I know we say this a lot in our deep Continue Reading
#RomBkLove 2021 Day 7: Bad Decisions Book Club
By Melanie Have you ever gone to bed and right around the time you should be turning off the lights to go to sleep, decided instead to start a book, promising yourself you’ll only read the first chapter? And then cue to 4 hours later, you’re holding your ereader in one hand and forcibly keeping your eyelids open with the other hand because you’ve only got 50 pages left and you must know how the lovable fools in your book plan to make their way back to each other. No? Just me? Alrighty Continue Reading
Review: The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel CleetonHistorical FictionMay 4, 2021, by Berkley Review by Melanie Let me preface this review by stating that I know very little about Cuban politics and history. It’s not a subject that’s focused on in the American public school system and I am also not a history scholar so my knowledge on this topic is greatly limited. However, I am a big fan of Chanel Cleeton, read her consistently when she was writing contemporary romance and when she made the Continue Reading
Review: Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan
Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan Young Adult May 4, 2021, by Inkyard Press Review by Melanie I don’t find myself reading too much YA but this delightful book made me want to change that. There’s so much I want to say about this book that I’m a little afraid my review might be all over the place. But before I start in on the actual bones of the review, I just want to address one thing really quickly: I related HARD to this book. Maybe it’s because of the similarities in our Continue Reading
Review: The Road to Rose Bend by Naima Simone
The Road to Rose Bend by Naima SimoneContemporary RomanceApril 27, 2021, by HQN Books Review by Melanie You might suspect, upon glancing at this rather bucolic cover, that this is a quiet, peaceful, drama-free romance...and you’d be wrong. This series starter introduces us to the town of Rose Bend, a charming little town nestled in the Berkshires that has all of the small-town coziness of a Hallmark Channel movie. But that’s really where the similarities end. Unlike the aforementioned Continue Reading
Review: Hot Copy by Ruby Barrett
Hot Copy by Ruby BarrettContemporary RomanceApril 13, 2021, by Carina Press Review by Melanie I genuinely did not know how to start this review, to be honest. I’d heard so many things going into it, I was fully expecting to absolutely love this book and much to my dismay...I did not. First of all, the blurb and the cover do this book no favors. Both give off a lighthearted rom-com vibe but there is a whole heck of a lot of issues addressed in this book that could trigger a lot of Continue Reading
The Psy/Changeling Channel: Caressed by Ice
Melinda: We’re back with a completely new dynamic to explore this time around with Caressed by Ice and I know that we’ve both been really excited to get into this one! The first two books of the series featured male alpha changelings with female Psy but this time we get Judd, an emotionally closed off Psy, and Brenna, a volatile and strong changeling woman. I would not have described either of these two as gentle or easygoing...and yet. Melanie: Judd!!!! I remember loving this book back when Continue Reading
Review: When Tara Met Farah by Tara Pammi
When Tara Met Farah by Tara PammiBollywood Dance & Drama Society Book 1Contemporary RomanceJanuary 26, 2021 Review by Melanie A little bit about me before I delve into this review. I don’t DNF books lightly. In fact, I do everything in my power to resist DNF’ing a book. Ironically, I advise people to DNF on the regular because life is too short to force yourself to read a book that isn’t working for you. But rarely do I ever take that advice for myself. Having said all that, I almost Continue Reading
Review: Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
Accidentally Engaged by Farah HeronContemporary RomanceMarch 2, 2021Forever Reviewed by Melanie A couple of chapters into this book, I quickly realized that it was maybe not a great idea to read this book on an empty stomach. So if you’re reading this review and contemplating reading this book (which you absolutely should read, btw), then consider this your first and only warning. Of the 38 chapters in this book, 30 of them mention food in some context, either just in passing or because Continue Reading
The Psy/Changeling Channel: Visions of Heat
Melinda: Phew, right out of the gate there is so much to talk about with this one and consent because touch and lack of consent is intrinsic to Faith's story. But I don't know that it could be told differently and still be the same story? Melanie: Wow, what a difference 2 years makes! I read this book for the first time almost exactly 2 years ago and while I didn’t love it as much as I loved the first book of the series even back then, I definitely think rereading it for a second time raised Continue Reading