Annabelle'e debut romance, The Vicar and the Rake will be published on October 12. Annabelle stopped by to talk about the Forced Proximity trope! Romance as a genre thrives on tropes. They’re the secret sauce of every romance novel, creating reliable reader satisfaction and making sure certain parts of the book stick in your brain long after you’ve finished the final page. When I sat down and decided to write my debut romance, The Vicar and the Rake, choosing what tropes to play with was Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- Reviews for books by Lorraine Heath, Christina Lauren, and Rosie Danan
Beauty Tempts the Beast by Lorraine HeathSins for All Seasons #6Historical RomanceSeptember 29, 2020, by AvonARC This is the last book in the Sins for All Seasons series and features the last Trewlove sibling, Benedict aka Beast. If you've read the previous five installments then you know that the Trewloves were all (except for Fancy) taken in as infants by Mama Trewlove and given a good and loving, but poor home. Beast doesn't know who his parents are or why he was given up as a baby. Continue Reading
Review: All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan Byrne
All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan ByrneDevil You Know #2Historical RomanceSeptember 29, 2020, by St. Martin's PressARC Favorite Quote: Gratitude suffused her as she observed her friends. The fiercest and most fantastic relationships she'd cultivated over the years. They were her family, and she did, indeed, love them dearly. Kerrigan Byrne is an author who always seems to write stories that satisfy my reading wants and needs. I really, really enjoyed the first book in this series and Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- Reviews for books by K.J. Charles and Evie Dunmore
The Sugared Game by K.J. CharlesThe Will Darling Adventures #2Historical LGBT Mystery RomanceAugust 26, 2020 Self PublishedARC After getting to know Will Darling and Kim Secretan in the first book in this series, I was excited to get another chance to dive into another adventure with them. The Sugared Game kicks off two months after the events of book one, Slippery Creatures. After finally seeing closure to the inheritance process Will is officially the new owner of a bookstore and has Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson and Mr. Malcolm’s List by Suzanne Allain
The Year of the Witching by Alexis HendersonFantasy/HorrorJuly 21, 2020 by AceARC I've never hidden the fact that I make a lot of my book buying decisions based first off the cover and then by reading the blurb. The Year of the Witching caught my eye in a Twitter thread about up and coming, new authors of color and as soon as I clicked on the link I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. This is kind of a mash up of all the dystopian, religious cult like horror stories you've read... yet Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis: The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Devil of Downtown by Joanna ShupeUptown Girls #3Historical RomanceJune 30, 2020, by AvonARC Another Greene sister and another anti-hero, bad boy to catch her attention. The Devil of Downtown is the third and last book in the Uptown Girls series and features the youngest Goode sister, Justine. Justine's mission in life is to help the needy and poor while finding dead beat husbands and dads and make them be held accountable. She usually works with the legal aide her brother-in-law Continue Reading
Review: Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean
Favorite Quote: High above on the rooftops, watching her warrior. And him, ready to do anything for her favor. I don't know how Sarah MacLean does this, but I feel like every time she releases a new book I suddenly discover a new favorite for my keeper shelf. This series has been magical. Four children born on the same day to different mothers thrust together by an evil man determined to create an heir. Only three made it out to freedom, one staying behind with a monster, but ultimately Continue Reading
Guest Post: Independent heroines in historical romance by Renee Dahlia
Independence equals having money of your own that you can spend without having to ask permission from someone else. It sounds like a simple concept, but when you consider that up to the 1970s in many countries women couldn’t open a bank account or hold a credit card in their own name without a male signature on the application form. All women, any man – a husband, a brother, a father, it didn’t matter as long as it was a bloke giving permission. To write an independent heroine in historical Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- A Dark and Stormy Knight by Kerrigan Byrne and Beach Read by Emily Henry
A Dark and Stormy Knight by Kerrigan ByrneVictorian Rebels #7Historical RomanceJune 2, 2020 Self PublishedARC Kerrigan Byrne quickly jumped onto my auto-buy list the moment I read the first book in the Victorian Rebels series, The Highwayman. I was with Fiction Vixen back then, so I went back through Goodreads and read my review and I was positively gushing with praise and adoration for this author's words. Jump to five years later and I still look forward to every one of Ms. Byrne's Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- Reviews for books by Sajni Patel, K.J. Charles, and Kwana Jackson
The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni PatelContemporary RomanceMay 12, 2020 by ForeverARC I don't normally do this, but I did read Kini's review before I began writing mine. I was curious what her thoughts were and it appears we had a lot of the same issues with this book. She is spot on with her content warnings... mentions of past sexual abuse, rape, and trauma as well as emotional abuse and slut shaming that had me turning Kindle pages angrily. It was a lot, and I wasn't quite expecting Continue Reading