Category: Kissing Books

Hello again romance readers. I’m PN Hinton, your companion for the world of romance. If you’re new to the newsletter, welcome and enjoy your stay. If you’re a long-time reader, welcome back; it’s good to see you again. 

Present me is writing this hoping that future me is coming off a relaxing weekend. The previous two, I’ve been out and about doing more moving around than I have in a long while. I just want a few days to chill and maybe visit a few people. I may go to an (outside) wine bar on Sunday, but, as of right now, even that is still up in the air. Only time will tell what the weekend brought.

But here’s hoping. I’ll be sure to update you next time.

Also, there are officially 14 more days of school. I’m. So. Happy. If I didn’t have to clean it up I would throw a confetti parade come the last day of school. We’re almost there y’all.

More Cover Cover-age

Trish and Jess talked a bit in last week’s episode about romance covers. This always seems to be a hot topic of debate in Romancelandia. Recently, it has been the illustrated cover versus the real people cover versus (to me) the unholy combination of the two. Now, we seem to be cycling back to the clinch covers that were prevalent in the early days of romance. This is almost a complete 180 from the trend of the more “tame” covers featuring barns or other country buildings that have recently been prominent in romance.

Personally, I’m down with this, especially for situations where I’m picking out a new book to read. Publishing has been a bit lazy in that anything with a thread of romance in it is classified as romance, even when it’s really fiction. So, it can be tricky sometimes to determine if a book you’re reading is an actual romance or fiction with a romantic element. The partially uncovered décolletage on clinch covers helped to give rise to the phrase “bodice ripper.” So, there is no feigning ignorance about what genre books with those covers are.

Side note: the whole “fiction” versus “women’s fiction” versus “chick lit” is a whole other ballgame which I may tackle later. 

Emily Henry’s Beach Read is a perfect example of that for me. I loved this book and it came into my life at the right time. But it’s not romance, it’s fiction with a romantic element. I am not sure if her latest, People We Meet on Vacation, is the same as I have yet to read it. But, both covers have two people on the beach in a relaxed vacation setting. We really don’t know from the covers alone what type of story we’re in for, because they’re ambiguous.

And all these covers with the beach chairs, barns, and dogs on docks are exactly that; ambiguous. It’s like “Am I reading about a multi-generational story of estranged family members coming together after the matriarch passes? Or is it a woman embracing a simpler life in the country over the big city after being betrayed by her boyfriend and losing her job all in the span of ten minutes? Is someone going to pin someone else up against the wall of that barn and make the hay fall out of the loft? What’s going to happen? I’m so confused!!” 

The preference for a specific cover type comes down to a concern about perception. What type of readers are we attracting with this specific cover? Are others who may be interested in the book shy about purchasing one with a “scandalous” cover? Would they buy it if it was otherwise? And what type of reader do people think you are when they see you reading those books with the former type? 

Possible cover embarrassment may have been a concern when I was younger and had more flips to give. Now…not so much. That said, I’ll admit that when I typically read in public, it is usually on my e-reader or headphones. So, all the covers are hidden. Ignoring that fact though, and pretending to be in a parallel timeline where I don’t have one, I wouldn’t mind being in public, reading a book with an old school romance novel cover. I’m not saying I would go to the church picnic with it; but I would sit on a plane with it proudly because I likes what I likes.

Romance Round-Up

Berkley announced that it is teaming up with Stacey Abrams to reissue the first three novels she penned as Selena Montgomery. While most of us in Romancelandia already knew Stacey as a talented writer, this is a wonderful opportunity for new readers in the genre as well as established ones who want to revisit the books. 

Enter here for a chance to win a free iPad Mini!

Here are some of the anticipated romantic reads headed our way this month. Surprising absolutely no one, quite a few of these are already on my TBR.

New Releases & Deals

Here are some of the new releases hitting the shelves this week: 

Tempting Fate by Kerrigan Byrne 

Unrivaled by Radclyffe

Back in the Day by Katrina Jackson

The Wedding Night Affair by L.C. Sharp 

Talia Hibbert’s reissue of The Roommate Risk (previously Wanna Bet?) is $0.99 until the 12th. I listened to this as an audio book a few years ago and loved it. The steam factor here had me almost drive off the side of the road multiple times. You can also pick up Alyssa’s Cole An Extraordinary Union and The Prince’s Bride by J.J. McAvoy for the same price. The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara and Tracy Anne Warren’s Happily Bedded Bliss can be snagged for $1.99.

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That’s all she wrote for today. Give me a follow as @PScribe801 over on Twitter if you want more of my bookish ponderings. Until next time.

Hello again romance readers. I’m PN Hinton, your companion for the world of romance. If you’re new to the newsletter, welcome and enjoy your stay. If you’re a long-time reader, welcome back; it’s good to see you again. 

Happy (early) Mothers Day to all the moms, or mother figures, out there. Because I’m a nerd like that I dug a bit into the history of the holiday and found that the first unofficial one was celebrated in 1907 by Anne Jarvis as a memorial service to her mother. Seven years later, then-President Woodrow Wilson made it an official holiday that we now celebrate every second Sunday in May. 

I don’t know what I’m doing for Mother’s Day yet, if anything. Even though I’m fully vaccinated, I am still nervous about being in public places like restaurants if there isn’t a patio option. Plus every place will be extraordinarily crowded, especially after being shut in for the last year. Don’t get me wrong. I love cheddar bay biscuits, but I will not throw elbows to get them.  

Around the Web in Romance

Listen to this week’s episode of WIR to hear more about appliances as romance tropes and romance covers. Also, be sure to pick up Beverly Jenkin’s Vivid and send your questions and feedback to Jess and Trisha.

Have you ever wondered about the history of the himbo? CJ’s got you covered there.

Here’s a few of the romantic suspense books from April that you may have missed out on. 

Check out author Georgia Clark’s recipe for a rom-com!

Recommendations

In honor of Mother’s Day I’m going to highlight some of the awesome mothers from Romancelandia. This doesn’t mean they’re perfect, because no one is. Their flaws are actually why I admire them so much, since I feel they help to encapsulate what being a mom is. It’s not like there is a manual you get when you become a parent and you will make mistakes along the way. These moms show that, at the end of the day, they love and support their children no matter what. For book series, I will be specifying the book with the scene that showcases the maternal love.

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That’s all for now. I hope that y’all have a great weekend. If you want to see snippets of me before then give me a follow on Twitter @PScribe801. Until next time.

It’s May y’all! And I know that I’m a day early but wanted to say May the Fourth Be With You! Hope all the Star Wars fans have a fun day planned of reveling in their fandom.

We made it through another month. I don’t know if I’ve just gotten used to spending a majority of my time on the inside, but this year seems to be moving at a faster pace than last year. Either way I’m glad that we’re here and we made it. Day by day, right? 

I got my second dose last week and it went over well enough. Now, the actual injection hurt; like, it was worse than the first one, so I was expecting to get a lot of the side effects. Initially though, I was fine, apart from a sore arm. The next day started off well, but in the afternoon I was hit with a wave of exhaustion that hung with me until I went to bed. Since then, so far so good. The day itself was a bit of a challenging day for the teenager and me and, due to harsh words before I went out, I ended up treating myself to six bottles of wine while walking around the store waiting to see if I had a reaction.

From the World of Romance

I was scrolling through Twitter, as I often do, and discovered a new to me romance related topic floating in the ether. I couldn’t find the source of it though, and by the time it entered my Twitter-sphere it had morphed into numerous requests for more “steamy scenes” in YA. 

Which gave me a huge pause, as the requests were coming from the adult fans and not the young adults themselves. 

I love YA, and books from that category regularly enter my reading rotation. But, I am personally not comfortable with steamy scenes in my YA. There are very specific YA series and authors that I won’t read because I know they’re in there, and that I’m not going to like it. Now, I’m not naïve in believing that real life teens don’t participate in those types of activities. However, with the age I am and the decade I’m approaching, I’m also perfectly okay stating that I don’t want to read about it. 

This is not shaming anyone for liking anything in YA. There are a lot of damned good books coming out weekly in the category. I would’ve given my eyeteeth (whatever those are) to have some of these books as options when I was a young reader; the first thing that pops to mind is Elise Bryant’s Happily Ever Afters. 

It’s not like steamy scenes are unavailable. I know that teenagers have physical relationships in real life, and that having those scenes in some books may make those stories feel more realistic. But there shouldn’t be a demand for these types scenes in YA books just for the sake of having them. And if there are, then the majority of the requests should be coming from young adults. 

Around the Web in Romance

News came out this week that Netflix is (finally) adapting a Black romance novel. Hopefully this is a trend that will only increase.

Just in time for AAPI Heritage month, here is a list of some of the most anticipated books by Asian Authors headed our way. I can already hear my bank account sighing in resigned exasperation.

Here is Silvana again shining a light on a trope I didn’t know existed or that I enjoyed. On a personal note, kudos to people who can take care of me when I’m feeling sick. I realized when my allergies attacked me awhile back that I don’t turn into a helpless person when I’m feeling under the weather, but I do get really mean. I’m a tiny ball of sick rage, and I want everyone to feel my pain.

Also in more erotic horror news, this short story came out this week. It made me laugh since I used Jason as an example in one of the last newsletters and now look! I helped to put this out in the world! And, yes, I realize this was already on its way to being live when I wrote it but still…I got a bit of a giddy thrill out of this news. 

New Releases & Deals

Here are some of the new releases headed our way this week. 

The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod 

The Lady Has a Past by Amanda Quick 

Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray

The Heartbreaker by Claire Contreras

As for deals, Finding Home Again by Brenda Jackson, The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham, Status Update by Annabeth Albert are all available for $1.99.

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And that’s all for now. If you’re not already, feel free to give me a follow as @PScribe801 over on Twitter. See y’all Thursday.

Greetings fellow romance lovers. It is I, PN Hinton, your guide into the world of romance. If you’re new to the newsletter, welcome and enjoy your stay. If you’re a long-time reader, welcome back; it’s good to see you again. 

We’re on the second to last day in April before May and the pre-summer shenanigans start. Present me is writing with the optimistic hope that future me (meaning the me on the day when this newsletter comes out) is feeling fine since I’m due for my second dose on Wednesday. I’m both excited and nervous. I’m excited because I will feel better about going out and about once it’s done, but I’m nervous about possible side effects.

Still, it’s better than getting COVID-19. 

Last weekend I made it out to my local bookstore for Independent Bookstore Day with two of my book club buddies and had a blast. I’m proud that I didn’t break my bank too much and only got two books. Surprisingly enough, both were outside the romance genre. A lot of that has to do with knowing the size of my TBR pile already and not wanting to add too much to it. There is also the fact that I do try to be mindful of money; while I would love to go all out in a bookstore, I lack both the funds and space to go full on crazy. Another part is that, while romance is my go-to, I also really enjoy other genres, with the exception of nonfiction or true crime. 

That said, the next book up for us is I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, and I am not dreading it. So yay for reading outside my comfort zone. 

Around the Web in Romance

If you’re looking to dive into Tracy Wolff, Aurora’s got just the pathway for you.

Miss Oprah came out with a list of some of her most anticipated romances heading our way this year. I will say this is a nice mixture of genres and authors, so good on them for being diverse. Luckily for me, a good number of these were ones I’ve already read or are presently on my TBR, so I didn’t add too much more.

Pour yourself a glass of wine and play this game put together by the wonderful librarians of the White Oak Library District. I may or may not have played a handful of times to get a variety of happily ever afters…Also, I love that these select your own outcome stories seem to be making a comeback, and they’re making them for adults.

Read on to find out why Sariah Wilson enjoys writing ‘sweet’ (meaning sex off the pages) romances. Personally, I really don’t mind these types of romances at all; I just like to know what flavor I’m getting into.

Recommendations

I talked on Monday about the upcoming erotic short featuring the Headless Horseman, which got me to thinking about other supernatural romances. Not necessarily dark or monster ones, but ones where the world either is completely in or co-exists with the paranormal. Now, I know the go-to for paranormal romances (or PNR) are vampires and shifters. But there are a plethora of other supernatural hotties out there if you’re looking for a little bit of variety in your reading world. Here are some of my recommendations for those if you’re looking to branch out.

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And that’s all for now. I hope y’all have a great weekend and start May off right. If you want to hear a little bit more from before Monday, give me a follow at @Pscribe801 at Twitter. Until next time.

Welcome to the last week of April. We made it through another month. This makes me especially happy because it means that we’re almost to the end of the school year. With the exception of last year, I think this is one of the first years that most parents are equally as excited as the kids for the end of May to come.

Or at least this parent is. 

All kidding aside, I’m proud of my kiddo and how well he handled this last school year. It certainly was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. It did not go the way anyone was planning on but he made it. And so did a lot of other kids all over the world. In fact, we should all be proud of the younger generation. They’ve handled this unprecedented time well considering their age. Even if some don’t understand the severity of the situation, they still did a good job. And, hopefully, this year will be a good example of what we need to implement in our educational system and what can get thrown out. 

My vote for first up at the chopping block? Mandatory standardized state testing. It’s bullshit. It doesn’t teach the kids anything. And it only serves to stress them, the teachers, and their parents out. It can go the way of the dodo.

Romance Tidbits

Apparently #copypastecris is back and suing Twitter. The request is to take down the tweets and accounts that talked about her alleged plagiarism. Which is an interesting stance to take…I guess. I mean, if I was at the center of a plagiarism scandal, I would keep my head down and not call any more attention to myself. My advice would be to go the way of the force behind #cockygate and just fade away. I mean, I’m sure she’s still out there writing stuff; she’s just not as in the public face as she was a couple of years ago when she came out with her court case.

There is a MMF Headless Horseman erotic horror novella that is going be released soon. And there’s a string of words that I never thought would be put together before, although if Ichabod looks like Tom Mison then I would at the very least be intrigued. This does fall under the umbrella of monster romance, which is actually a genre of romance that I’ve haven’t dipped my toe into yet. Which isn’t to say I won’t ever. But I’ve always found the overlap of horror and/or romance and erotica to be very interesting, because there is a connection and it’s something I may research a little bit later.

We could chalk it up to how often the people in horror movies hook up during the murdering shenanigans but, I’ll be honest, I’ve never gotten that. The only time it made sense to me was in Cabin Fever because that was a situation where once you got the illness you were gone. There was no hope for you at all. So, yeah, I would totally go out on an orgasmic high. But with a serial killer chasing us? Naw, we’re gonna wait if we have a fighting chance. I promise I’ll rock your world if we make it out, but I’m not pausing for sexy times when a goalie with a machete is after us.

From Book Riot and Around the Web

Speaking about things that both excite and frighten, check out this list of erotic horror titles from the Book Riot Vault.

Enough with the bad sex awards because we know we have that in spades, especially outside the romance genre. Time to boost up those remarkably great sex scenes!

Here are some of the highly anticipated LGBTQ YA romances headed our way soon.

Here are some more awesome romances to pick up as recommended by Eloisa James.

New Release and Deals

Here are some of the new releases hitting the shelves this week.

An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler by Vanessa Riley

A Wicked Bargain for the Duke by Meg Frampton

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (mass market re-release)

Wild Dreams by Mari Carr

The Hate Project by Kris Ripper* 

Up in Smoke by Annabeth Albert

It Takes a Thief by Sloane Steele

*I read this one and found it delightful because it was the first time I had read about two grumps in the same relationship. I also felt it was a good representation of someone with anxiety, and how their loved ones accommodate them in it. 

As for deals, Destiny’s Embrace and Destiny’s Captive by Beverly Jenkins is $1.99; not sure if I mentioned this before but it always bears to repeat anything about Ms. Bev. I am also not sure why the bookends in the trilogy are the ones on sale but a deal is still a deal right? She’s the One by Sandra Kitt is also $1.99. A Change of Heart by Sonali Devis currently $2.99. And you can pick up Spice and Smoke by Suleikha Snyder for free. 

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And that’s it for now. As always, you can follow me on Twitter under @Pscribe801. Until we meet again.

Greetings fellow romance lovers. It is I, PN Hinton, your guide into the world of romance. If you’re new to the newsletter, welcome and enjoy your stay. If you’re a long-time reader, welcome back; it’s good to see you again. 

I hope that your weekend and week so far has been amazing. I did get to meet my book club in person on Saturday, which was my highlight. We’re a small enough group to where it wasn’t too huge of a concern and I’m slated for my second dose next week. So, we all decided we needed the mental boost of seeing each other in person.

The one gray spot that day was that right before I left for the meetup on Saturday, I got a notice that my package containing Jesse of Bowties and Books‘ TBR cards weren’t able to be delivered. I took this to mean that my office was closed during the small window of time that the mail tried to deliver it and resigned myself to waiting. When I got them Monday I was confused why they weren’t delivered Saturday, since they fit right in the box.

The rest of the weekend was rough as hell. On Sunday, allergies smacked me square in my face. I’m talking puffy, watery eyes, coughing…the whole nine yards. Hell, I couldn’t even wear my glasses most of the day since it just further exacerbated the situation. I stayed in PJs alternating between squinting at various YouTube videos and reading.

On a positive side I did manage to finish one book so there’s that. 

Bookish News

This upcoming Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day. For us die-hard romance lovers though that can be tricky because there isn’t always an overlap in the Venn diagram of “Great Romance Selection” and “Indie Bookstore”. I know it can be tricky to find the romance books you want on those shelves. Still, I encourage you to walk into your local one and try to find at least one thing to buy since every little bit helps. And you can always check Bookshop.org to see if your local indie is there as an option, and help them make money that way.

The winner of the next WIR book club pick was announced. Want to know what it is? Well, give this week’s episode a listen (if you haven’t already) to find out.

Talia Hibbert won the AAMBC (African Americans on the Move Book Club) for Romance Novelist of the Year, a well deserved honor. Head on over to their Twitter page to get a list of the other winners.

Due to what other recent articles have said about the romance genre, I was a bit hesitant about this recent Washington Post article. But, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t condescending. I’m sure a lot of that had to do with the fact that they spoke to some of the authors who were the pioneers in the genre instead of letting someone who has never read romance prattle on about it. 

Have you ever wondered what your romance life would be like if you lived and loved like the Bridgertons? Check out one Rioter’s foray into a virtual romance using the books as a guide.

Reading Recs

The first thing I did when I finally got my hands on my TBR cards was to shuffle through the deck and check out just a few of the prompts. One was an epistolary novel, which is one of my favorite ways of telling a story. I’m not sure why I love it so much, but I know it’s high up there on my list. Below are a few that I have found or read that I feel are good examples of a way to fall in love through letters and other written methods of communication. Please note that while not all are purely epistolary, that this type of written correspondence plays heavily in all the books listed here.

Honorable mention also goes to the various books that make up The Boy series by Meg Cabot. Yes, it’s more than a bit dated but they’re still good, pure, and fun reads.

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And that’s all for now. Hope this weekend treats you well and that I can avoid another allergy attack. If you want to give me a follow, I’m @PScribe801 at Twitter. Until Monday!

Hello again fellow romance lovers! I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to crush this coming week. I’m back with some of the latest in the romance world and I have big feelings about both so let’s jump right in.

Last week the RWA announced the finalists for their Vivian (previously known as the Rita) awards after much aplomb. And, while I do extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the finalists…well….I was underwhelmed. Now to be fair I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed, but I expected to be at least ‘whelmed’ (Score for the 10 Things I Hate About You reference). 

I also expected to know more than two or three of the listed books. Don’t get me wrong; I was happy to see the few authors or books I knew on the list. But I feel that there should have been more BIPOC books on the list especially given everything that organization has gone through in the last year. Apparently I’m not the only one as the finalist list has caused a fair amount of grumblings on Romance Twitter.   

In case you forgot some of last year’s shenanigans, here is a quick recap. They tried to cancel Courtney Milan for calling out a racist book. They canceled the then-Rita Awards last year after more stories of mistreatment by their BIPOC authors surfaced. After that, they tried to recover ground by renaming their awards “Vivian,” in honor of Vivian Stephens, a Black woman who was a founder but was never properly recognized in the origin story.

Those last two seemed like desperate attempts to recover the trust that they lost. But, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to work that way since, for many, that finalist list just proves that nothing has changed. And in a world where we like our HEAs, that’s just sad.

In even more Bridgerton news, the latest buzz (see what I did there) was more speculation on why Rege-Jean Page will not be returning next season. It’s been rumored that, even though he was offered a large sum of money to guest star in a couple of episodes, he still declined. Some have taken this to mean that he wasn’t interested since he wasn’t the focal point of the story. Of course, as with all hearsay, take that with a grain of salt. 

If this is true, though, then I get it. I went into the first season expecting to see only Daphne and Simon and ended up with a lot of background stories for other characters. If my memory does serve me, only one or two episodes focused solely on them for the full duration. Otherwise, they had to share their love story.

Personally, I could have done without all that extra for the other characters. I know that the idea was to plant the seeds for the later seasons, but I still could have done without.

Bluntly put, we got a lot of unnecessary fluff plot devices for other characters apart from Simon and Daphne. I went in wanting to see their love story; not the other brothers sowing their wild oats. 

I will say that now that the expectation has been set, this trend better continue in all the other seasons. There was already enough of a division all around when they cast a Black man as Simon. It’s going to be a bad look if he is the only hero in the series that has to share his love story with the other characters. First season set up be damned. 

For Your Further Reading Consideration

I know I’ve said sports aren’t my bag, but if you’re a fan of that sub-genre, check out some of these hockey romances.

Looking for some books to kick off spring? This list is a good place to start.

Also as a treat, here is an excerpt from the recently released Love in Color by Bolu Babalola.

New Releases and Deals

Here are some of the new releases headed our way this week.

The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert

Just One Night by Carly Phillips 

Legion of Kings by Danielle James

Sugarlips by Katana Collins

Rescued by the Werewolf by Jules Monroe

There is an Honorable Mention this week and that is The Son of Mr. Suleman by Eric Jerome Dickey, who passed away in January. Most of his works are more romance adjacent, but he has always been one of my favorite authors and it was a sad day when he passed. So I wanted to call out that his final book will be released on the 20th. 

As for deals, No Holds Barred by Stephanie Nicole Norris, She’s Got Soul by Aja, and Loving the Lieutenant by Elise Marion can all be snagged for $0.99 while The Lawrence Browne Affair can be yours for $1.99.

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And that is all for today friends. If you want to catch up with me and maybe see snippets of what I’ve been reading, catch up with me @PScribe801 over on Twitter. See you on Thursday.

Hello again KBers. We’re almost there at the Friday night finish line. One of the chat threads I’m in with my in-laws recently posed the question of when does the weekend start. And my response was “Friday at 5:00 pm”. Because that’s how I roll. 

Of course, those are ‘banker’s hours’; so not everyone has them. I’m fortunate enough to and I’m super grateful for it, especially since that hasn’t always been the case. My oddest weekend ever there was Monday and Tuesday off, and while it had its perks, I really do prefer at least one traditional weekend day off. 

That said, whatever your work week is, I hope that it treats you well. I also hope that you’re ready for your well deserved weekend, whenever that may fall. I’m super excited for this weekend because I get to meet with my book club. Since I got my first Pfizer dose last week, we’re all at least halfway vaccinated now. So, we may shoot for an in-person meet up. Hopefully, we will be able to move back to that permanently next month since I’ll be fully vaccinated by then.

I think this optimism is something that a lot of people are feeling right now. This time last year we were still in what we thought would be a temporary lockdown, not knowing what was ahead of us. Now that I’ve gotten the first of the Fauci Ouchies, I’ll feel more comfortable in more social settings. Which will be great for both the kiddo and me since both of us miss seeing our friends and family in person.

Romance Tidbits

If you haven’t already voted for the next WIR Book Club pick, you may still have the chance to by checking out Jess’s poll here.

Want a sneak peek at the upcoming Rebel Carter release? Well then you’re in luck!

This one is for my second chance romance lovers out there. This love tweet from actor Richard Lawson to Tina Knowles even made me swoon and feel like a big old softie.

Straight from Lady Whistledown herself, Bridgerton has officially been renewed for Seasons 3 and 4.

Recommendations

April has historically been known as Autism Awareness month, but this year the Autism Society of America has renamed it Autism Acceptance month. And I, for one, like the change. I feel that the use of ‘awareness’ makes it seem more like a disease that can be cured. When you combine that with ignorant tweets of people who want to be in the Senate likening it to an epidemic (I won’t link it per usual but trust me it’s gross) it just highlights how acceptance is still needed for people in the neurodiverse community. 

This is something near to my heart because my son has ASD. And I won’t lie; it’s hard sometimes. But I wouldn’t change anything about him. I am fiercely protective of him when it comes to how people treat him. While he may not be at the level that other kids his age are socially, he beats a majority of them by a country mile for things like emotional health and cues. So, acceptance is the much preferred term for me as well as using red rather than blue, since that serves to perpetuate the myth that ASD only affects males. 

There’s a lot of talk about needing diversity but we forget that means more than just sexual identity, ethnicity, or race. In the past, not as much attention has been paid to people who are different physically or mentally. Often in books, they were relegated to side characters and usually used to show the kindness or goodness of the hero or heroine. 

Luckily, this is something that has recently changed in the romance community. We have a lot of prolific writers out there who are neurodiverse and who write characters who are similarly neurodiverse in their books. Relationships are never easy, even with people who are neurotypical. But these books serve to show that being neurodiverse should never be a deterrent or a reason why someone doesn’t get their happily ever after.

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And that’s all for this week. Catch up with me over the weeknd @Pscribe801 over on Twitter Until Monday!

Hello again! I hope that you got plenty of rest, reading, and relaxing done over the weekend. Also that you’re ready to face this week like the bad-ass that you are! I know that I am ready to face the challenge of this week. A lot of that is because I was able to get my first vaccination last week through my partner’s job. He got it at the same time so we were able to rough the waters (as it were) together. 

Up until the moment where it was actually injected, I’ll admit that I was on the fence about whether or not to get it. Historically, there is a lot of deep-rooted mistrust from people of color towards the medical field. Between the Tuskegee Experiment and Henrietta Lacks, the feelings there are rightfully warranted. Hell, I don’t even go to the doctor for myself even though I’m always right on time for my son. I know that I need to get better at it though, especially with my entire family’s health history. 

In fact, they’re the reason I decided to get it done. I realized that it would help get one step closer to being able to meet with my family for holidays. I miss that so much. A lot of the elders in my family have already gotten at least one dose themselves, if not a full vaccination. I figure if they were able to get over their own concerns, which run deeper than mine, then I figured I could bite the proverbial bullet as well. 

Speaking of vaccinations…

Romance Related Fun

Romancelandia has been fairly tame lately (furiously pounds on all the wooden furniture nearby). One pure thing that happened for us though is that a challenge went around for romance authors. It was the “being vaccinated does NOT mean” with various romance novel plot points. It was great seeing everyone dig into their bag of tropes o’tropes and come up with a unique answer. I’m not sure if Kate Clayborn came up with this or simply shared it, but since it is where I first stumbled across it, I’ll share that thread here.

Keeping with the fun Twitter trends, Really Reading Romance also threw down this gauntlet. The replies were varied on this one and hilarious. Seriously take a moment to look through some of the replies or re-tweets. It took me a moment to figure out my own opinion on this but I came up with one for books and movies. Okay, here goes. *deep breath* 

I’m not a fan of sports romances. At all. I’ve tried multiple times to get into a few but it’s just not for me. Personally, I have an issue with the idolatry that we give athletes, even the truly philanthropic ones. Of course, I’ll recommend and hype them up since I know I’ve done that before. However, chances are I am doing that at the advice of a fellow book dragon whose opinion I trust a lot and not from personal experience. 

My movie related take is that My Best Friend’s Wedding is not a rom-com. It’s a movie about a woman who acts like an entitled, spoiled brat when the ‘back up’ man that she never wanted is suddenly unavailable and tries to break up an obviously happy couple. Best part of that movie (apart from the singing scene) was the brutal verbal reality slap Rupert Everett’s George gives her at the end by reminding her no one is chasing her. Truth hurts, ma’am.

In the hustle and bustle of life and this last year, a lot of us still forget to take the time to stop and be goofy. Sometimes all you can do is laugh. Whether it’s with your partner, kids, friends, or extended family, be sure to take the time to be silly.

From Book Riot and Around the Web

I readily co-sign all the books that Jess listed here and will be ready with the popcorn and adult beverage when/if it happens!

Here are some of the romance novel based movies that are currently in the works.

If you love second chance romances, here are some books to add to your likely already massive TBR recommended by Rioter Brooke.

Do you like a bit of crying with your romance? If so, then here are some recommendations for you.

Check out debut author Ruby Barrett’s (see more info below) take on the Cinnamon Roll Character.

New Releases and Deals

Here are some of the new releases headed our way this week, including a few under the radar ones:

Hot Copy by Ruby Barrett (debut) 

Love So Beautiful by Angel Mystique 

Earn Your Extra Credit by Meghan Quinn

How to Catch a Duke by Grace Burrowes

The Marriage He Demands by Brenda Jackson

And here are some deals to help fill out your digital shelves:

Love Always, Wild by A.M. Johnson is available for $1.99

Holiday Brides by Farrah Rochon, Stefanie Worth, and Jewel Amethyst can be snagged for $1.49

Everything But a Groom by Holly Jacobs is also $0.99

Six More Minutes: New-Year Bae Solutions by A.C Arthur can be picked up for $1.99

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That’s it for now. As always you can follow me @PScribe801 over on Twitter. Until next time friends!

Welcome back, y’all! We’re almost at the end of the first full week in April. I hope that it was a good one for you with equal parts productive and relaxation. Despite the craziness of the world, the last year hasn’t been all terrible in that it has really shined a light on how important mental well-being is. 

I realized early on that, as tricky as it may be, I had to take time for myself to rest and relax. I haven’t always been consistent about this, but I let it go completely. Even if it is flying solo to get a frozen adult beverage to-go or using a bath bomb, I try carve out a little bit of me time each week.

Remember the airplane analogy y’all; if you don’t help yourself first, you can’t help others. 

In things I wish I could unlearn, I discovered that there is a book floating around being advertised as a BWWM abuse romance. 

*eye twitch*

I could have lived my entire life three times over and not wanted to know this. There are so many things wrong with this, where to begin? This is a huge difference from ‘bully’ romance in that there is more damaging connotation behind it. The fact that it is specifically advertised as a BWWM romance is triggering and problematic AF. 

Again let me state that, for obvious reasons, I have no problem with IR. 

My problem is that this book is outwardly being advertised as a romance between a Black woman and white man that is abusive with pride. The fact that it even got written and that it is out there getting recommended means that some twisted algorithm is beyond enraging and saddening. 

Bluntly put, being in an IR is hard enough without nonsense like this floating around the world, romance related or otherwise. While not as bad as it once was, in certain parts of the country, it’s still a dangerous thing. I don’t believe any type of love is superior to one or another. Love is love is love is love. But this is not the kind of love that Romanceladia needs or wants.

This goes beyond any shade of dark romance. It borders on some really twisted, gross form of fetishization. There’s no making this book sound appealing at all. Here’s hoping that it, and the one I’ve mentioned before, just goes away.

And, before anyone says that the critics to this book, which of course shall not be named, are being oversensitive, I pose the following question. Would anyone be okay with this if the races of those genders were reversed?

*sips tea*

Around Book Riot and the Web

In happier news, another WIR book club is in the works. The first step is to vote on said book. Be sure to listen to this week’s episode and then head over to either Jess or Tricia’s social media (or both if you really want to put all your chips on one book) to vote.

Erika Hardison has some African and Asian love recs.

Personally, I never get tired of hearing from or about Ms. Bev. In case you missed it, here is the Forbes article about how she combines history and romance into wonderful books.

If you want a new-to-romance reader’s take on why Talia Hibbert is the bee’s knees, here is your chance.

Recommendations

I had been planning on leaving this type of recommendation for closer to Loving Day in June. But, considering the recent developments in what is being pushed as IR as of late, I think it’s time to shine a light on better IRs out there that you can spend your time and money on.

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And that’s it for me, fellow bibliophiles. I hope that you enjoy your weekend and get a lot of reading done. Catch up with me before Monday at @Pscribe801 on Twitter. Until Monday!