Discounted Candy is Best Candy

Happy Day After Valentine’s, also known as half-off all the chocolate day!  That’s almost more exciting to me than the actual holiday. Don’t worry, I always give equal attention and adoration to its cousin; the Day After Halloween. Yesterday also put us officially halfway through February, something I am still astonished by.

No matter your personal feelings on the day of love, I hope that you had a great weekend and spent it the way you wanted and were able to relax. I’m forecasting that I spent it bundled up in my apartment because of the Arctic snap that swept through my home state (see what I did there?). Seriously though… I was not happy with that. I’m not Elsa. The cold bothers me. A lot. So, I’m sure I did my best to stay indoors all weekend.

Even though the day is officially over, there is still Valentine’s fun to be had. Author Christine Ragland threw down a “You can only choose one” trope challenge last week. There were a lot of interesting and difficult choices there. If you want to read over the options there were and see how your personal favorites fared, check out her tweet from last week.

Personally I only had strong feelings about a few, which were Wild West, Ravish, Sex in an Elevator, and Grump & Sunshine. For that last one I don’t care which is which either. I also like nerds, but I don’t necessarily want them to end up with the jocks, so on that one either one being the last trope standing would have worked for me.

Speaking of the Wild West, I also want to take a moment and wish Beverly Jenkins a Happy Birthday!! Miss Bev’s latest Wild Rain has been receiving all the recognition and I am. Here. For. It. This was such a wonderful read for so many reasons. The Black cinnamon roll hero, two things that don’t typically get put together. A non-virginal heroine who refuses to be shamed for that and is independent, proud and, while she wants her man, she doesn’t need him. And they are able to learn how to live on and love on their times and not society’s. So. Much. Goodness. 

I linked to Carole’s review last time (and I’m going to do it again), but be sure to also check out this podcast episode she was part of. You can also hear direct from the Queen herself in this interview.

I know I’m looking for fun ways to pass the time or, more accurately, sanity breaks between WFH and/or juggling distance education. If you’re in that same boat, I wanted to share some of the things that gave me that mental break last week. Like this list from Vulture on what books to pair with your favorite rom-com. My favorite off the list is When Harry Met Sally, which gives me a reason to read another Christina Lauren. I also kind of want to pick up House Rules now because of the comparison to The Lovebirds, which I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. I mean I expected to enjoy it because of the stars, but not quite as much as I did. 

Or check out this list of books on the fake-dating trope, which is going to be a very popular trope this year. Book Riot also had a quiz to find your perfect Valentine’s book.

I was remiss in linking this list of YA romances last time, but I shan’t repeat it with this one.

New Releases

Here are some of the new releases headed our way this week. There is quite a bit and I’m sure I missed some, so, apologies if I missed one you were personally looking forward to.

My One Week Husband by Lauren Blakely 

First Comes Like by Alisha Rai 

Blindsided by Victoria Denault

Slapshot by Rebecca Jenshak

Holdout by Jacqueline Snowe

Hard to Score by K. Bromberg

Crossed Hearts by J.R. Gray

Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

Close Quarters by Kandi Steiner

Submission Impossible by Lexi Blake

Like You Love Me by Adriana Locke

Deals

And here are some of the deals that you can snag up now or soon.

Say Hello, Kiss Goodbye by Jacquelyn Middleton is going to be $0.99 * 

Heart of Stone by Chiquita Dennie is free right now. That’s a price almost no one can argue with.

The Rancher Returns by Brenda Jackson is $1.99

The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodwiss is also $1.99 +

*Please note that this doesn’t actually go on sale until the 18th. But since I like putting deals with new releases I am including it in today’s newsletter + This is very old school romance. As in it’s genuinely recognized as one of the first. So, it has all the problematic themes that go hand in hand with those older books. Please exercise caution before deciding whether or not to read it.

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That’s all she wrote for now. Catch up with me over on Twitter under @PScribe801. Thanks for taking the time to read and you’ll be hearing from me again later this week.