Hello Stranger by Katherine CenterRomantic ComedyJuly 11, 2023St. Martin's Press Review by Jen It was maybe two years ago when Brad Pitt started talking about how he suffered from face blindness. Do you remember that? It’s a rare neurological disorder called, prosopagnosia. I had never heard of it before then. It’s when a person struggles to recognize people’s faces. Not like you can’t remember people…but you literally can’t see their face organized like a face. What does that have to Continue Reading
Review: You, with a View by Jessica Joyce
You, with a View by Jessica JoyceContemporary RomanceJuly 11, 2023- BerkleyARC Review by Angela The blurb for this book does not do it justice. What might appear to be just a fun, enemies to lovers, road trip romance is really so much more. So, so much more. Noelle Shepard is unemployed and living with her parents, down in the dumps, and a little lost. She is still grieving over the death of her beloved grandmother when she comes across pictures of her with a man who isn't her Continue Reading
Review: Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn SolomonContemporary RomanceJuly 4, 2023 by Berkley Review by Melanie This is the third Rachel Lynn Solomon contemporary romance I’ve read and I think that’s enough data to conclude that she’s now an auto-read author for me. Her voice is just a perfect blend of biting wit and vulnerable self-doubt, her characters are beautifully rendered with layers of complexity and the romance just feels like a punch to the solar plexus. There’s so much care taken, Continue Reading
Review: Role Playing by Cathy Yardley
Role Playing by Cathy YardleyContemporary RomanceJuly 1, 2023 by Montlake Review by Melanie This is now the second Cathy Yardley book I’ve read and I really have to make time in my reading schedule to dive into her backlist. Her voice is sharp and funny and I love how she writes her MCs and the way her characters communicate like adults, no game playing. Well, no mind games, at the very least. Her author’s voice really works for me and this book just hits perfectly on every Continue Reading
Review: Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder
Will They or Won't They by Ava WilderContemporary RomanceJune 27, 2023 by Dell Review by Melanie I was a huge fan of Ava Wilder’s debut novel and was especially intrigued by the premise of her second novel, Will They or Won’t They, which, based on its description, happens to be a second chance romance, one of my favorite tropes. One could argue that it’s also an enemies-to-lovers trope but I would say this is more of a costars to casual sex to secretly pining to antagonistic costars to Continue Reading
Review: The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley PostonContemporary/Magical RealismJune 27, 2023, by BerkleyARC Review by Angela This book surprised me in all the best ways. I adored The Dead Romantics, released last year, but I think I might just love this book a little bit more. As with the Dead Romantics, this is another grief book, set in a magical apartment in the modern day, with seven-year slips in time. This is also a romance, with a lovely developing relationship between a grieving book Continue Reading
Review: Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin
Much Ado About Nada by Uzma JalaluddinContemporary RomanceJune 13, 2023 - Berkley Review by Melanie I’m not always super fond of Jane Austen retellings - they are usually a bit hit or miss for me - but I think I may be predisposed to loving Persuasion retellings since second-chance romance is one of my favorite tropes. Much Ado About Nada tells the story of Nada and Baz, who have a very storied past. The book is mostly set in the present day but does occasionally take a detour to Continue Reading
Review: Magic Claims by Ilona Andrews
Magic Claims by Ilona AndrewsKate Daniels: The Wilmington Years #2Urban FantasyJune 13, 2023- NYLAARC Review by Angela You never really know how much you will miss certain characters and worlds until a series ends, and you're not sure if you'll ever see them again. Which makes these last two books in the spin-off to the Kate Daniels series so special. The first book, Magic Tides, gave readers a sense of what Kate, Curran, and Conlan were up to after leaving Atlanta and settling down Continue Reading
Review: Keyed Up by Sarah Estep
Keyed Up by Sarah EstepContemporary RomanceMay 4, 2023 Self-published Review by Melanie I discovered this book by sheer stroke of luck while scrolling through Instagram which is extremely unusual since I don’t actually spend a lot of time on Instagram. Somehow, the universe must have known that this book would speak to my personal reading id and check all my boxes. The author had done one of those posts with multiple arrows around the book and labeled each one with specific micro tropes Continue Reading
Review: Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane
Big Gay Wedding by Byron LaneLGBTQ+May 30, 2023 by Henry Holt and Co. Review by Kate H. Big Gay Wedding is like a romance novel that starts at the epilogue. Instead of the meet cute, the inciting action, turning point, and so on, we jump to right after the proposal. The focus of the story moves around almost the entire wedding party: the grooms, the moms, the grandfather and the sheep. Yes, the sheep. And when I say it moves around, I really Continue Reading