Sponsored by Bloomsbury USA.
Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. Hunt Athalar is an enslaved Fallen angel tasked only with killing those he’s told to, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and gain his freedom. As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they uncover a dark power that threatens everything they hold dear and discover a blazing passion— one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.
Howdy, folks! I hope all you folks who were affected by Daylight Savings Time have survived. I mostly have to remember that I’m three hours behind my mom (and the beginning of Primetime) instead of two.
Right. Books!
News and Useful Links
Do you follow #readRchat? They had a great discussion about podcasts last week. Be prepared for a lot of adds to your podcatcher and your TBR.
Jen DeLuca showed us the cover of Well Played and I’m just waiting. Waaaaiiiiting.
As I am for Denise Williams’ debut, How to Fail at Flirting, which looks fantastic. (Also, if you haven’t been following along with her class, you should definitely subscribe and then check out the backlog of Twitter discussions.)
Oh, also Renee Dahlia’s.
Kevin Kwan has announced a new book…and it’s coming out way sooner than you’d expect for an announcement in March. (I know he doesn’t technically write *romance* but I know some of y’all liked the Crazy Rich Asians books.)
As a heads up, OverDrive has changed how their ebook and audiobook checkout works re: holds. I know a lot of us use OverDrive through our libraries if they have it, so just know those auto-checkouts aren’t happening anymore.
Honestly the best route to see the cover of the new Sedgwicks book is via this tweet by Cat Sebastian. And she has put a name to my new favorite genre of romance 😀
OOOOOOOOHHHH WE’RE HALFWAY THERE, OOOH-OH…Romance…for literacy…on a…prayer? Okay, that didn’t work but keep it moving!
If you have instagram and want to play, The Ripped Bodice has made something fun for you.
And you just…needed to know this.
Deal
Have you read Pamela Sanderson’s Heartbeat Braves? There is a small number of romance written by Indigenous US authors, especially set around Indigenous communities, but this and the subsequent book in the series are great contemporary romances featuring a group of people we are rarely offered happy stories about. The others in the series are all less than five dollars, the fourth having released in May of last year. I’m not sure if it’s still ongoing, but you’ve got plenty to keep you busy for the time.
Recs!
Yesterday was International Women’s Day, and I thought it would be a good time to talk about some romances set outside the US, featuring some awesome women. Every woman is awesome in her own way, whether it’s her ability to empathize with a teenager who is trying to find themselves or write steamy romances without punching the man who can’t help but regularly insult her writing.
Emilia Cruz — A Summer for Scandal by Lydia San Andres
Emilia is a badass. Living in a (nonexistent) Caribbean city in the early twentieth century, she writes super scandalous, telenovela-level serials under a pseudonym. Not only does she love what she writes, but she continues to do it even when it is being flayed alive by an anonymous critic (who happens to also be the gentleman falling in love with her…but that’s another story). She’s a suffragist and a women’s rights advocate, which is a lot for the people around her. But she stands her ground and fights for all the things she wants.
Amira Khan — The Chai Factor by Farah Heron
Amira can stand her ground in any situation. Almost. But what can manage to throw her is getting home from Uni only to have a barbershop quartet living in her apartment…well, the apartment her grandmother keeps for her. She hadn’t expected Amira to randomly come home while working on her Master’s essay, but Amira need’s a change of scenery to get through the damn thing. So she and the quartet come to an agreement about sharing the space, and she gets the damn thing done.
Nya Jerami — A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole
Is it cheating if the international nation the protagonist is from doesn’t actually exist? Thesolo is basically Wakanda, so. But Nya is an awesome woman no matter what nation’s royal family she’s a member of, and she doesn’t have to fight any aliens to prove it. Instead, she has to take on the personal guilt of having been part of a plot to take out the leaders of the nation, even though she wasn’t involved in any of the plotting itself. She also has to figure out where she belongs in this new world order, in which her father is no longer there to both plan and run her life. She’s kind, thoughtful, and observant, and sees no problem faking an engagement with a European prince to get both their ways.
Ai Li — Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin
A literal badass armed with literal sharp objects that can kill you, Ai Li plots her own kidnapping to escape an arranged marriage with a warlord. Except the kidnapping doesn’t work quite as she’d have liked and she ends up on a road trip (is it still a road trip if it’s on foot?) with the pale warrior who helped her and then lost to her in a fight. She’s got goals for her family and for the kingdom, and will stop at nothing to make sure her family and its legacy is set to rights.
Who are your favorite international romance badasses, and your favorite unsung moment of awesomeness?
As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at wheninromance@bookriot.com if you’ve got feedback, bookrecs, or just want to say hi!