Category: Kissing Books

Happy March, Kissing Books! I hope you’ve had a chance to look out for The Ripped Bodice’s Diversity in Publishing report, which was supposed to release this morning, but if not, we’ll definitely talk about it next week.

News

Feeling Olympic withdrawal? The fabulousness that is Lacy Literacy has given us exactly what you need: The Master List.

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Sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio

Love is in the air when you play an audiobook.  Find your perfect match for your next galentines day book club pick with some great listening suggestions.  Get started at PenguinRandomHouseAudio.com/bookclub.

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Emma Chase’s newest novel, Getting Schooled, is audio-first. What this means is that the audio is available now, but print and kindle won’t be available until June. I don’t know if this is a thing that Audible is going to be doing regularly, but it was definitely news to me. I don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks, but this is definitely a gamechanger. Are you interested in this new development?

AAAAAAAAHHHHH LOOOOOK!

Wendy the SuperLibrarian has taken her monthly Unusual Historicals picks over to Love in Panels, making it even more awesome.

I know the Olympics are over, but I still gotta know: who’s working on this novel? Like, seriously, how have there not been a million ice dancing romances since 2010? I expect at least three by the next Nationals.

Jen started a pretty comprehensive Content Warnings list, and has a really good thread on why it’s important.

Do you need more Science Fiction and Fantasy romance in your life? I definitely do. And these folks are going to help us all out.

Finally, Courtney Milan talks about the intersectionality of romance and it’s awesome as usual. (Also, I have got to up my historical research game.)

Deals

KJ Charles’ An Unsuitable Heir is 1.99 right now. It’s the third in a series, but you can kind of figure out what’s happened previously. Or you can just read the others when you’re done 😉

If you’re looking for some slooooooowww burn and want some Olympics nostalgia, Mariana Zapata’s From Lukov With Love is 2.99 (down from 4.99, which is still a pretty good deal, especially for the number of pages you get in a Zapata book.)

I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter about Talia Hibbert—she’s a lot of people’s new favorite. Her newest, The Princess Trap, is 2.99 right now.

Over on Book Riot

We’re having a giveaway still!

I said I’d get to it! Here are some The Wedding Date readalikes. Well, not quite, but close.

Also, Jenn got to talk to Alyssa Cole and I am aflame with the amount of jealousy I feel. But that doesn’t matter because the words are awesome.

The Ripped Bodice and Changing Hands in Phoenix are doing the damn thing.

Do you read when you wake up? Here are a few perfect picks for you.

What’s your favorite unusual love story?

Did you see this really thought-provoking essay about erotica?

There’s a new tee in the BR store and it’s Pretty Effing Amazing.

And finally, this week on When In Romance, we get serious and then get super silly.

Recs!

There are a few books I want to talk about this week, and they do actually have something in common: they’re one-sitting reads! (If you’re not doing the Read Harder challenge, this probably means nothing to you, but then the question is why aren’t you doing Read Harder?!)

Just kidding. Do what you want.

Anyway.

I’ve got three potential one-sitting reads for you, whether you’re looking for something sweet, something spicy, or something goddamn. The first is the only one that can be read in less than an hour, but if you’ve got a couple hours, you can get through the others pretty quickly as well (unless you’re taking breaks to breathe, which might be necessary, not gonna lie).

Bingo Love
Tee Franklin et al

I don’t recommend comics very often in Kissing Books, but this one needs your eyes and your heart. It will be a joy to both of those, I promise.

Hazel and Mari meet when they are barely teenagers, but their connection is instant. They become the best of friends, sharing a love like no other. Their relationship is platonic, but there’s always something…more, just under the surface. When they finally act on that more, they’re torn apart for almost fifty years. Imagine what can happen when the love of your life randomly shows up at bingo. Tears. Fat, gross, sobby tears, that’s what. (Or maybe that’s just me.) This book is written for crying of all kinds: joy, sadness, grief, delight, they’re all there.

This one can also work for your protagonist over 60, or your comic written or illustrated by a POC. If you’re doing Read Harder.

Two Dukes are Better than One
Lorna James

Let’s go back into prose for this menage romance (if you couldn’t tell from the title). I know some of us are tired of dukes, but come on. Two. Dukes. They’re BFFs, but their family has been feuding since they can remember, so they find excuses to get involved in fisticuffs whenever they’re both at the same event. Meanwhile, Sophia, an Occult enthusiast and accidental reader of a very naughty book, might have let slip to one of said dukes that she has some interest in and curiosity about being intimate with two men at once. Good thing for them, they like to share women.

I do have a few qualms about this book: for once, it could probably have used ten pages or so of exposition, just to make a few things more clear—the actual process of falling in love, for instance, is a little…skipped over. So there’s loooooots of sex and less of the feelings. But it’s tons of fun.

Play With Me
Alisha Rai

If you’re thinking: Jess. You just gave me a menage novella about two dukes. And you’re telling me this is beyond that in the spice level?

Then I’m responding: you’re damn right I’m telling you that. This is Alisha Rai we’re talking about. If you loved Hate to Want You and its follow-up, Wrong to Need You, this is definitely something you need to read. (If you haven’t read it, this is a good introduction to her writing.) Tatiana and Wyatt are old flames who are reunited a decade later, and the sex isn’t just as hot—it’s better. Of course, there are also those annoying feelings that show up too.

I will warn you: this is not a standalone, and therefore does not really end in a HEA. But don’t worry; you’ll want to pick up the other two Bedroom Games novellas pretty much immediately. Well, after you’ve cooled off.

New and Upcoming Releases

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole (YAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!)

Then There Was You by Claire Contreras

Switch it Up by Sara Brookes (you might remember I wrote about another one of her books in an earlier Kissing Books)

My Once and Future Duke by Caroline Linden (I’ll always take title puns)

One and Only by Jenny Holiday

Baby Daddy by Kendall Ryan

As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

Welcome back, KBers!

There were some interesting thinkpieces going around last week. I’d rather read this over and over.

Also, I missed this one last week. There are some great moments discussed here.

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Sponsored by Fierce Reads

When star soccer player Peyton Rios receives an offer from her first-choice college, senior year starts off exactly as planned. But when Peyton uncovers her boyfriend’s dark secret, she confronts him—and finds herself falling down a flight of stairs. Peyton’s knee—and maybe her dream of going pro—is shattered. Everyone is talking: Was she pushed, or did she fall? Peyton knows the truth, even if no one believes her.

With her future on the line, Peyton goes to stay with her uncle in a small Tennessee town to focus on her recovery. Dating is the last thing on her mind—until she meets sweet, sexy Owen Law. But Peyton doesn’t trust her heart, especially when she senses that Owen is hiding something. When their secrets are finally exposed, Peyton has to decide if love is worth fighting for.

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More missed coverage last week – RT had a chat with Beverly Jenkins about Deadly Sexy and positive representation.

The issue of sexual harassment in publishing has been picking up like a tumbleweed, and we’ve been talking about it in romance, too. Here’s a good thread about romance conventions.

I am in complete support of everything said here.

Oh, dear.

Consent is sexy. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.

Ooh, Cat Sebastian on writing queer romance. We’ve all had that discussion of what it means that women write the majority of M/M romance, but we can also agree that Sebastian writes amazing books.

Have you read any Penny Reid yet? She’s not for everyone, but I love her Winston Brothers.

Jen at The Book Queen wrote a long, hard piece about miscarriages in romance.

There’s been some commentary recently about “dark romance” that redeems characters with deplorable pasts. It came in part from USA Today coverage of a novel featuring a hero who was Stasi. As the author of a series that builds more and more justice into a horrible world, Bree has a good point of view and good words in response.

Deals

Renfester gets flung into 15th Century Scotland? Yes, please. True to the Highlander by Barbara Longley is 2 dollars.

The Immortal Collection by Eva García Sáenz is 99 cents. I’ll admit to being super intrigued.

Lynsay Sands’ Immortally Yours is 1.99. It’s pretty late in the Argeneau series, but that one is fun to jump into anywhere.

Over on Book Riot

Author Fulgani Kuthari dropped in to talk about Indian romance and the Desi HEA.

We seriously can’t stop talking about figure skating romances. Jessica Avery has compiled a good list (and there are a couple more in the comments).

Kristan Higgins recommended reading a romance on Valentine’s Day. I mean, I’d recommend that every day, but I get what she’s saying 😉

We’re still having a giveaway! Check it out on Instagram.

Recs!

Like most of the world, I was excited to see Black Panther this weekend. A couple years ago, an entire production filmed a super busy action flick, then turned around and took some time after wrap to make a beautiful rendition of Macbeth.

I wish this book had been published just a little before now, just so Ryan Coogler and crew might have been inclined to do something similar. Because it needs to be filmed. It was written to be the next romantic comedy.

A Princess in Theory
Alyssa Cole

If the dedication doesn’t wrap around your heart and warm it from the inside, the first paragraph will make you cackle and keep reading. You know those spam emails that are definitely not a thing anymore but still live as the most prominent type: the Nigerian Prince In Need. Well, Naledi has been getting emails from the same person from some random African country, determined that she is the betrothed of the crown prince. Ledi doesn’t have time for games; she just wants to finish grad school and move on with her career. But Thabiso is determined to find the woman whose parents absconded with her when she was only a child, setting his life completely on its side. A misapprehension at one of Ledi’s jobs leads to Thabiso becoming Jamal, just another guy who need work in New York. The two build an easy rapport as Thabiso-Jamal works his way through Naledi’s skillfully crafted emotional walls, but his efforts to reveal his true self are constantly thwarted. Time spent as a normal person is life changing for a prince, however, especially as he strives to be a better person for his would-be princess. 

From start to finish, this book is nearly perfection. Personally, I did not give this book five stars, just based on the fact that I am wary of deception between heroes and heroines, even if the deceiver has a logical reason for it (or goes along with a misplaced identity). But as a book, it has all the things you might look for in a romance: excellent supporting characters, natural personal growth, excellent worldbuilding, and a pair of people you can’t help but root for, even if you want to commit violence upon them.  

Have you put this book on preorder yet? You should. You’re going to want to read it immediately. And if you watch Black Panther first, you’ll have the lovely experience of reading with Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong’o in mind. Or at least with their voices in your head.

One thing that I’ve been thinking about since reading A Princess in Theory and seeing Black Panther is Afrofuturism. There is a wealth of Afrofuturist literature about at the moment, and everything that I have read is pretty fantastic.

BUT.

I want some Afrofuturist romance. Not just Afrofuturism with a romantic element, but a story in which the central plot is multiple people falling in love and having an emotionally satisfactory ending. Have you read any? Tell me!

If you want to look at some interesting spec-fic romance by black authors who were influenced by the Afrofuturist tradition, here are some worth having a look:

Radio Silence by Alyssa Cole – Post-apocalyptic, first in a series

Chained by Elise Marion – Medieval fantasy, first in a series

To Find You by Cerece Rennie Murphy – Soulmate romance, standalone

And while it’s not out for several months, keep an eye out for Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope.

New and Upcoming Releases

Baby Daddy by Kendall Ryan

One and Only by Jenny Holiday

Midsummer Delights by Eloisa James

Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

Best Laid Plans by Brenda Jackson

As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

Howdy, loves! I hope you’re planning to cash in on that discount candy today! (Apologies if you’re sugar free or have other dietary restrictions; I know how annoying the pink and red whirlwind gets when you’re in that situation.)

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Sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio

Love is in the air when you play an audiobook. Find your perfect match for your next galentines day book club pick with some great listening suggestions. Get started at PenguinRandomHouseAudio.com/bookclub.

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News

So it’s Romance Week at Goodreads (because of course it is). The name generator is kind of terrible (and not in that fun way) but there’s some other good stuff over there.

We’ve got more great romance rep at BuzzFeed! Let’s hope this continues to be a trend.

Passionflix now has “quickies” and let me tell you…they’re exactly what they sound like. The first one was actually written by Jodi Ellen Malpas, and you can watch the trailer here.

Librarians know where it’s at.

HAVE Y’ALL SEEN THIS?! It’s beautiful.

Check out this pretty cool thread (via Mina V. Esguerra’s very interesting #romanceclass thread) delineating the basic eras of romance.

Finally, Bree has thoughts, as usual, and they’re definitely thinking thoughts.

Deals

Tawna Fenske’s At the Heart of it is 1.99! Seriously, that cover should come with floss.

Debbie Macomber’s Dr. Texas is 1.99. If you’re looking for an entry point, it’s no worse than any other.

Looking for more time travel romance? Once Upon a Time Travel by Sariah Wilson is 2 dollars.

If you’re looking for some retellings, A Katherine Reay Collection, which includes Dear Mr. Knightley, Lizzy and Jane, and The Bronte Plot is 3.99.

Over on Book Riot

Have you tried shojo romance yet? Vernieda pulled together a nice list of complete manga romance series to try out.

We’re having a giveaway! Don’t forget to head over to our Instagram account to enter to win $500 of Penguin Clothbound classics!

This week’s When in Romance was lots of fun. The next one will be called “Trisha and Jess try to talk for the recommended amount of time instead of going long”, I promise.

And don’t forget you can always peruse our Romance page or the romance/erotica tag for the backlist of your dreams!

Recs

A Delicate Affair
Lindsay Evans

This novel is the first of a series called Decades: A Journey of African-American Romance. A group of authors are each writing a novel highlighting a specific decade in history, starting with the 1900s, the era of ragtime. In A Delicate Affair, Golden is a banjo player in a ragtime band in Washington, DC. Having moved up from further south after threat of lynching, Golden has been using his ample talent to get ahead of the curve. When he gets an offer of something better, he’s all ears. But what he’s not expecting is the beautiful Leonie, a rich Washington socialite who pursues him after seeing him play. The two have strong chemistry and quickly develop a deep emotional connection, even when Leonie constantly finds herself saying the wrong thing. But what happens when Golden isn’t sure that DC is where he belongs? This is the first novel I’ve read by Lindsay Evans, but will definitely not be the last. She has major talent not only pulling you into the story, but the place. Setting might not be a character in this like it is in some stories, but you can feel yourself in a dance hall, or churchyard, or even walking down a DC street. I can’t wait to see what happens in the rest of the decades.

(Unfortunately, there was a delay with the release of the second, but the third, Love’s Serenade by Sheryl Lister, is available for preorder! Check it out!)

So…I got so distracted by figure skating that I failed in my plan to read more figure skating romance! But my plan is to start the Red Hot Russians series (the first of which is Pairing Off), and apparently Mariana Zapata (whose work I have frequently peddled on this platform) has given us From Lukov With Love, the newest addition to our figure skating romance collection. Have you read The Winning Edge? I’m all about M/M Olympics romance! And when I’m done with those, I’ll maybe check out The Magic Broom, which is about CURLING. So there’s that.

New and Upcoming Releases

Whiskey Sharp: Unraveled by Lauren Dane

By the Book by Julia Sonneborn

Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia

For Always: A Donovan Friends Novel by AC Arthur

Make Me (Dirty Royals) by Kaye Blue

Have I mentioned that Tempest is finally out? And that A Princess in Theory will be out in less than two weeks’ time?

That’s good for now, right? As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

Well, it’s still February. It’s time for all the think pieces about romance and the Day Of Love. Let’s skip those this year, shall we? (Except this one. This one is great.)

News

The finalists have been announced for the Audies. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to an audiobook, but I’ve read some of the books in prose and can see how they would fare well in audio. Have you listened to any of them?

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Sponsored by Kensington Publishing Corp

Award-winning author Michele Sinclair returns to the Scottish Highlands, the land of her fan favorite McTierney Clan full of fierce warriors and vibrant women. As the most sought-after bachelor in Scotland, the seventh McTiernay brother claims he cannot be caught and taken to the alter, not by seduction or love—until a roving Highland beauty lays siege to his heart.

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Are you going to BookCon? It looks like they’re working to attract the romance crowd more, so that’ll be fun!

The first few novels in DARE, Harlequin’s newest imprint, have been released. Off Limits, one of the set, is free all month. Interested in submitting your own? You can do that!

The Governess Game! Look!

Also, this is super cool.

The New York Times has a romance column now. It’s neither brief nor worthy of disdain, so I’m interested to see how it continues. We’ll see. What was it that Trisha said? Bemusedly wary?

Deals

Alice Clayton’s Wallbanger is 1.99!

For the Sake of Love by Anamika Mishra is also 1.99!

Looking for a bad boy prince? Royally Bad by Nora Flite is 1.99. The second book, Royally Ruined, is too.

Love Will Always Remember by Tracey Livesay rounds out the plethora of 1.99 gifts this week.

Over on Book Riot

Do you watch The Good Place? If not, get on that. I’ll wait. Okay, now you can read this.

#riotgrams is back!

Deb Harkness has a new Clermont book coming out! Are we excited? (I…should probably finish the All Souls Trilogy, huh?)

Recs!

So there are two important things happening right now: Black History Month and the Olympics! The best way to celebrate is with books, of course.

Tempest
Beverly Jenkins

A great moment in black history that Beverly Jenkins does fantastically is the Reconstruction. The final installment of her Old West trilogy, Tempest takes us into the wilds of Wyoming, where Regan has agreed to be a mail-order bride to Dr. Colton Lee. Things go a little awry when crack shot Regan shoots her intended in the midst of a potential Stagecoach holdup. They start to get along, however, after some bedroom negotiations, and along with his young daughter, start to become a family. While Colton’s initial change of heart regarding Regan takes the reader by surprise, it isn’t completely unbelievable, and helps to develop quite the rapport between the little family and those around them. Showing us a world in which black people are not usually represented, but have been well-recorded, Beverly Jenkins also introduces us to some important figures and events in that time period, including Dr. Alexander T. Augusta (which Ms. Bev herself writes about in this article), one of the first black men commissioned into the Union Army and the first black member of the medical faculty at Howard University.

Looking for more love stories featuring prominent figures in black history?

The Preacher’s Promise by Piper Huguley

In the Morning Sun by Lena Hart

Through the Storm by Beverly Jenkins

Vivid by Beverly Jenkins

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Let it Shine by Alyssa Cole

Be Not Afraid by Alyssa Cole

Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole

Okay, so I’m predictable. I’m so sorry. But these are all fantastic.

Also, check out this Race and Romance resource guide from Love Between the Covers.

Medal Up
Nicole Flockton and Fiona Marsden

I’m going to start with this: I love figure skating, and I adore love stories that are somehow connected to figure skating. The Cutting Edge is a regular watch, and Yuri!!! On Ice is definitely the first anime I have ever managed to complete…over the course of an afternoon. Kiss and Cry is one of the Pride and Prejudice fics from the aughts (ots? zeros?) that I can pretty much remember in its entirety (there’s this part late in the story where she looks down and is like “wait, are we waltzing? On ice?”). So you’d think I’d have a whole repertoire of skating romances, right? Apparently not! These two are my first, and it’s a travesty. But they were totally fun!

The two stories in this duology are happening right now. Okay, not really, but if the couples and their friends existed, they’d be enjoying Pyeongchang this very moment.

The first novella, Fighting Their Attraction, follows Australian snowboarder Brady and Arielle, a Canadian figure skater, as they find love in the Olympic Village. (Side note: About five percent in, when I realized the hero was Australian, I had the happy experience of hearing Chris Hemsworth in my head when I read his POV. It made an adorable book even more delightful. It didn’t hurt that I had watched the Dundee trailer a couple times in as many days, just cause.) Brady has a bunch of baggage, including guilt over messing up Olympic dreams before, and just wants to get through and win Gold. Arielle’s baggage comes in the form of her coach/Mom, and the two of them are quite the pair. There’s less of a Big Misunderstanding and more of a Big Miscommunication before they can find their happy ending.

The second novella, Man of Ice, takes up the story of Maybelle Li and her pairs partner Bohdan Dovzhenko. Maybelle and Brady from Fighting Their Attraction were once pairs partners themselves, and can maybe rekindle the friendship that was broken years ago. Belle’s new partner is fantastic to work with on the ice, but a bit cold himself (thus the whole Man of Ice thing). Bohdan isn’t deliberately hateful, but he doesn’t really know how to open up to his partner; being friends is completely out of his comprehension. But when their dynamic changes suddenly one night, all bets are off.

Next up on my list is Tamsen Parker’s Snow and Ice Games. I’m gonna make it through everything Olympic by the times the Games are done.

(I know. Yeah, right.)

New and Upcoming Releases

Lovestruck by Nana Malone

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

Check Me Out by Becca Wilhite

Fire on the Ice by Tamsen Parker

Awaken Me by Farrah Rochon

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin and Jenn St-Onge (February 14)

That’s good for now, huh? By the time we meet again, Valentine’s Day will have passed (and we’ll have had a nice chat on Insiders, if you hang out over there). Have a chocolate filled day, and catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

Happy February, KB! Do you have enough tea, coffee, and mexican hot cocoa to get through the next month or so?

News

Just when I thought it was going to be a quiet week in the romance world, an article went up on Bitch Media (which is usually pretty awesome). It was an interview with debut author Jasmine Guillory, and neither she nor her interviewer presented themselves as very knowledgeable about the state of romance historically or now. How? For one, they talk about a limited number of black women writing romance and neither mentions Beverly Jenkins or Brenda Jackson in their discourse. They also seem to think authors like Farrah Rochon, Cheris Hodges, Donna Hill, and countless other women haven’t been writing romance for years. No major publishing houses have been publishing romance by black authors? UM. The MOST MAJOR publisher of romance has (well…”has” until they officially kill it) an imprint dedicated to publishing romance by and about black folks. A google search could have helped with that.

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Heart on Fire by Amanda Bouchet

The riveting conclusion to the Kingmaker Chronicles

The destiny Catalia “Cat” Fisa has spent her entire life running from has finally caught up with her. To become Queen of Thalyria, Cat and her dedicated husband Griffin Sinta will have to go to war with the severely oppressed Fisa—and it’s violent alpha…Cat’s homicidal mother. When Cat’s magic refuses to work like it should, she has to unleash the power she’s been afraid of. And when her misuse of the God’s gifts lands her in Tartarus, a land reserved for eternal punishment, Cat will have to accept herself—past, present, and future—if she wants any chance of making it out alive.

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If you want a few other takes on it:

• Mel tells it like it is
• Ms Bev is sick and tired
• Romance Novels in Color responds
• LOOK AT ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

There’s probably more. Send me to the awesome takes.

(PS, while the article is not great, The Wedding Date is still fantastic. Not revolutionary, no. But it’s still good, and you should read it. There are good things there, including the hero having a BFF who actually makes sense.)

Conversely, Jaime Green has written a spectacular, well-researched article for BuzzFeed. There are some really good takes, and some awesome quotes from people like Sarah MacLean, Tracey Livesay, and Maya Rodale. I’ll warn you: it’s hella long. But it’s so damn good.

If you’ve listened to Episode 1 of When in Romance (!!!) You’ve heard some of my (and Trisha’s) feelings about the current discourse on romance and consent. We missed the female pain article, but Bree has some really good commentary on expectations of female pleasure and pain (and if you’ve read Beyond Shame or anything else she’s written as half of Kit Rocha, you know she delivers).

Preach.

On a more fun note, these are the the thought processes romance authors have to work through. I love it.   

And speaking of The Ripped Bodice, they are doing guest recs, and Sil from The Book Voyagers has some amazing ones!

Deals!

Elise Marion’s Chained is free! I will admit, I was completely drawn to the cover and know very little about the book. But it’s free, so…

HeartShip by Amy Jo Cousins is 99 cents right now!

Wrapped Up in You, the LGBT short that just got picked up by PassionFlix, is also 99 cents.

Lena Hart’s His Flower Queen, the first in the Queen Quartette, is free too!

Over on Book Riot

Did I mention that When in Romance has launched?

Paranormal spinoffs? Yes please!

Lacey turned to romance novels thanks to the political climate, and we’re glad. We don’t need to tell you about how romance can make you feel better in this terrible time, but hey, something to give your friends!

Do you have a ridiculous TBR at home? I’m totally going to try this method of getting through it.

Recs!

I don’t read a lot of friends-to-lovers stories, but I want to. I just occasionally have trouble with the dynamic, and I’m not certain why.Well, I know why: I love enemies-to-lovers stories. They are part of my foundational romance reading, and my favorite dynamic. But it was fun to read a couple childhood-nemesis-to-lovers stories this past week. They’re not quite enemies, but they’re not really friends. These two are also both historicals that aren’t Regency, so that was really fun.

Because of Miss Bridgerton
Julia Quinn

While it’s nice to see the callbacks to the older Bridgerton novels (which actually take place a generation later), it’s even nicer to read a story set in the Georgian period in England. They’re talking about the war with the colonies and giant dresses; it’s quite lovely. And of course we have Billie Bridgerton, eldest daughter and proxy-heir until her younger brother reaches his majority. She loved managing the property and also running about in trousers, which is what she’s in when she finds herself trapped on a cottage roof after running up a tree after a cat. Who comes to find her is none other than George Rokesby, the boring eldest brother of the clan; the one Billie likes least—and the feeling is mutual. But when both find themselves stuck on the roof…well, they get to know each other a little better, and continue to do so once they’re back on the ground. It’s pretty darling.

Josephine [and the Soldier]
Beverly Jenkins

This book was originally published by Avon as Josephine and the Soldier but was republished by KimaniTRU (Harlequin’s response to a need for diverse teen romance) as just Josephine in 2009. While Josephine is seventeen, her would-be beaux are older. Towards the end of the Civil War, Josephine Best and her family live in a black community in Michigan, just outside Detroit. There is an influx of wounded soldiers staying at the boarding house in town, and one of them sets his cap for Jo. Their budding courtship is jostled by the arrival of Adam Morgan, childhood friend of Jo’s brother Daniel. Also wounded in the war, Adam takes refuge with the Best family while he recuperates. Since Jo had hardly begun puberty when they last saw each other, Adam is taken aback by the beautiful, capable woman she’s become; she runs her own business and is as determined and headstrong as her mother. Jo, meanwhile, has to figure out if she prefers George, the gentle, sure-thing beau who has more of a traditional outlook on life, or Adam, the known ladies man who is bound to break her heart.

Josephine is the second in a duology; its precursor, Belle [and the Beau], is similarly precious and features another determined, capable young woman.

I realized that I’d done myself a huge disservice by not recording “enemies to lovers” as a goodreads tag when I finish a book, but I’ve found a couple more for you to try if you like these two:

A Summer for Scandal by Lydia San Andres

An Unnatural Vice by KJ Charles

My Fair Concubine by Jeannie Lin

Okay, that’s enough to start with. How about some

New and Upcoming Releases

Awaken Me by Farrah Rochon

HeartOn by Amy Jo Cousins

The Bittersweet Bride by Vanessa Riley

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Tempest by Beverly Jenkins (is FINALLY OUT YAY)

That’s definitely enough until next week! As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

How goes, KBers? I was feeling a bit down earlier this week, after getting some disappointing news about an author I hadn’t read but who had some potential, but books, amIrite?

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Sponsored by Penguin Books

A quirky collection of illustrated vignettes about love in its many forms. With simple and elegant illustrations, You & Me & Why We Are in Love tells us about love in all its forms, not concerning itself with who or what you love, but above all, how you love. There’s the requited love that Daisy has for nature, and then there’s David who buys flowers for his wife of twenty years, not to mention Jean, the punk rocker who is secretly looking for a girl who is just like his grandmother.

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New stuff

AAAAAAAAHHHHHH IT’S SO PRETTY

This thread is a couple weeks old now, but will never get old. Representation is hella important, and not just to the people who are part of those diverse groups.

Your regular reminder that Beverly Jenkins, Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and veteran romance author, is still running a GoFundMe to get the film adaptation of Deadly Sexy off the ground.

Have you tried out Book+Main? They recently sent out a guide to making the best of it; could definitely be useful for potential power-users!

We all love foodie romances featuring a chef who thinks he’s more Hell’s Kitchen, but is more Master Chef Junior, right?

Want some bonus scenes? Check out this hot one from Alexis Daria and some fun from Tessa Dare!

I recently met Callalily on the interwebs and her new site, Sense and Disability, is pretty awesome.

Holy Jesus this is a lot of work. But we’re all better for it. 

HE DID IT. He came out to the world (in more ways than one) and we’re all fucking proud. I hate why he felt he had to do it, but I hope he doesn’t regret it. And now we have a face to go with the final two Five Boroughs novels, which have both been announced!

Deals

If you’re lolling about in Forbidden Hearts limbo, Alisha Rai’s Falling for Him is 99 cents.

Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders is too!

If you’re a preordering kind of person, Exposed, a new anthology featuring works by Santino Hassell, Robin Covington, Tiffany Reisz, and more is available for that same 99 cents!

Darynda Jones’s First Grave on the Right is 2.99 right now.

Over on Book Riot

Dudes. DUDES. When in Romance. It’s a thing that lives. (Listen to Episode 0!)

How did you learn about sex? Probably not this way. 

We’re giving away a library cart! Enter to win here!

Recs!

This week, let’s talk about two books that take very different approaches to the fling trope. Two people have strong sexual chemistry, but their time together is limited. They’re not going to risk their hearts for some hot sex, but…well, you know how it goes.

Under His Kilt
Melissa Blue

Somehow I ended up with two copies of this book; I must have requested an ARC or something and let it get buried. But I got a fresh copy (for free) on Amazon, and was in the mood to read it pretty much immediately. Fair warning: there aren’t actually any kilted men in this story, which is sadness upon sadness. But there is a delicious Scot with a delicious accent, and delicious…other things.

Jocelyn’s museum is hosting a traveling exhibit for which Ian is overseeing the installation. Both love their work, and are good at their jobs. Jocelyn is turning thirty soon, and wants to ring out her twenties with a bang. Literally, if she can help it. But she doesn’t see that happening with Ian, who seems to be excessively professional. But one conversation changes all that, and the two enter into an arrangement that allows for some fantasy on both ends, with a set end date—when it’s time for Ian to move on after the exhibit’s installation. The book is brief, but packs a punch. And there are more!

Playing the Part
Robin Covington

Romance novelist Piper James is excited that one of her books is being adapted to film. What she’s less excited about is the fact that she’s been called upon to be a consultant to the film’s leading man, an action hero who is trying to break into more dramatic roles. The only problem? He’s having a little trouble with bringing his character to life in the more romantic scenes. Piper is willing to help him in order to stay in good graces with her publishers, with whom she’s still on thin ice after a bit of drama the year before. And when she and Mick, the biracial ball of hotness she’s been brought in to tutor in romance, immediately hit it off, she’s open to a repeat and continued performance—as long as it stays out of the press and ends when she heads back to New York. Well. As we know, in Hollywood, nothing ever goes as planned.

If you’re looking for more, there’s also One True Pairing by Cathy Yardley, which I think I’ve talked about here before. That one also has another favorite trope: fake relationship. So great.

What are your favorite fling-turned-more stories?

New and Upcoming Releases

Rogue Acts anthology

When Love Calls by Sharon Cooper

Twice in a Lifetime by Jodie Griffin

My Last Love Story by Falguni Kothari

Game of Hearts by Cathy Yardley (in the same series as One True Pairing!) (Jan 30)

Tempest by Beverly Jenkins (Jan 30)

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory (Jan 30)

That’s good for a week, right? As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

Hey there, KBers! We’ve officially gone to weekly! How exciting is that? There’s plenty that happens all the time, so we’re going to have plenty to chat about (and maybe this way, they won’t be so long all the time).

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Order your ISBN Thinking Of You tee for your Valentine/Palentine!

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First, news!

RT Book Reviews’ RT Awards are up! The winners will be announced at a ceremony during the RT Annual Convention. There’s a pretty solid collection of nominees. There are still a few categories with no authors of color (at least that I’m aware of, please correct me). We’ll see what happens when the winners are announced.

Forever My Girl is out this week! I will admit, I thought it had already come out and I’d just missed it, which I’ll admit happens pretty frequently for me. I recall first seeing the trailer and thinking it would be out soon, then hearing basically nothing until the recent onslaught of advertisements for it—everywhere, including Goodreads! Have you read the book? I haven’t yet, but I’ll get to it. Eventually.

There’s gonna be a special way for you to get/read The Wedding Date and it’s pretty exciting. It won’t beat the artwork for The Ripped Bodice’s release party, but it’s pretty close 😀

KB/BR fave Santino Hassell wrote this Hypable article, and it is definitely something I will stand behind—particularly the Punisher one. It’s basically the only reason I kept watching 😉

If you haven’t experienced this bit of magic, you’re in for a delight.

Remember that event Alisha Rai and Alyssa Cole had at Politics and Prose in DC? They recorded it!

Deals

Annabeth Albert’s Off Base is 1.99, and is one of the nominees for the RT Awards.

The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs is 2.99, if you haven’t been Hamilton’ed out.

Hate To Want You is STILL 1.99. Get it.

Rough & Tumble by Rhenna Morgan, another RT Award nominee, is 1.99, too.

On Book Riot

Working on your Read Harder list? I pulled together some romance and romance-adjacent books to use for a bunch of the categories.

We listed our most anticipated books of the year. What are yours?

We remember audiobook narrator Katherine Kellgren, narrator of hundreds of audiobooks, including several romances.

Recs!

This past Monday was the day selected in the United States to celebrate the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I realized a few days before it that in Arizona (where I live), it’s also called Civil Rights Day. With that in mind, it’s a good time celebrate activists in romance.

Let it Shine
Alyssa Cole

I’m not a rereader; there are too many books in the world for that. But this darling novella is one I find myself revisiting regularly, either to read certain portions or to lend a few hours to reading the whole thing straight through. Sofronia is a softspoken young woman who does what she can to support her church and her family. Ivan, a friend from her childhood, comes back into her life, helping to put her on the path to joining the Freedom Riders. The two have a lot to overcome, both inside and outside of their community. While brief, this novella carries a lot of weight, about personal struggles and the struggle in the world at large during the Civil Rights Movement. It’s a great world to dive into for a very brief amount of time.

If you’ve made it through that and want to dive deeper into the world of civil rights and music, Windy City Blues by Renee Rosen is an interesting read. I haven’t made it all the way through, but it’s pretty fascinating.

Rogue Desire
Adriana Anders et al

The 2016 election left several people feeling either helpless or restless. The restless ones found different ways to #resist, including compiling this anthology of activism-related stories. The first novella, Grassroots, drops us into the life of Veronica Cruz, a fed-up preschool teacher who has decided to run for City Council. Her campaign isn’t going so well, but she refuses to give up, including extending his canvassing to the underkept house where Zach Hubler lives. Zach is fascinated by her passion and her goals, so he does what he can to support her, and the pair strike up a quick rapport. But how far is he willing to go?

This is just the first of eight pretty fantastic novellas in Rogue Desire. The rest include road trips to save the world, providing information for Robin Hood hackers, and working inside and outside of the system to make change. There have been two additional anthologies published: Rogue Affair and Rogue Acts. While the first anthology has several stories featuring characters of color, the anthologies that follow are much better at presenting #ownvoices stories. Rogue is planning on producing several more anthologies (yay!) and is receiving submissions in a semi-ongoing basis, if you might be interested in joining the movement.

And if that’s not enough for you, here’s your reminder that Santino Hassell’s Down By Contact is finally out!!! The second in Hassell’s Barons series, this one tells the story of Simeon Boudreaux and Adrián Bravo. This might not seem like it fits in this collection of activism romances on the surface, but honestly, isn’t the act of two men of color who live in the public eye just existing as a couple activism in itself? There’s also the fact that this is just a spectacular work of fiction, and you should read it. It can work as your first Hassell read if you’d like; very little from the first Barons book is necessary to your understanding of this story. But, you still want to read Illegal Contact if you haven’t already, not just because it’s amazing, but to get more of an insight into Simeon’s character.

Okay. That’s enough. So how about some new and upcoming releases:

Seared by Suleikha Snyder (okay, it’s been out for a while but somehow I missed it)

Make the Play by Jamie Wesley

Blood Fury by JR Ward

Most Likely to Score by Lauren Blakely

Sex, Not Love by Vi Keeland

The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Lauren

That’s good for now, right? 

In case you missed the announcement (or just didn’t make it all the way down my favorites list), we’re moving to weekly! So be prepared to catch Kissing Books in your inbox every Thursday. As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

Happy 2018, KBers! It’s a new day, new dawn, and all that jazz, so let’s get down to business (don’t say it).

News and Interesting Stuff

Folks. Alisha Rai. She did the thing. 2018 is, indeed, looking up.

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We’re giving away a stack of our 20 favorite books of the year. Click here to enter, or just click the image below.

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Has the loss of the monthly shopping list at Heroes and Heartbreakers left you scrambling to figure out what the hell is wrong with Amazon’s “featured” algorithm in the new releases list? You want to go to Aestas Book Blog. Talk about WORK. It doesn’t cover every book, but it’s a good place to start. I doubt we’ll find something that lists every new release every Tuesday, because that’s a lot. But many is good.

And if you are all about those master lists, here’s one for athlete heroines.

Bree had some thoughts on twitter last month, and it’s a downer way to start 2018, but we have to keep thinking about it. This particular thread is long af but condenses a lot of things many of us have tried to say about both the internal and external issues with society and romance. Yes, it sucks what preconceived notions non-readers come in with, but also what practices insiders maintain. As usual, no solutions, just things that make you go hmm.

In happier news, have we all seen the cover for Wicked and the Wallflower, Sarah MacLean’s upcoming Bareknuckle Bastards book? It’s marvelous, and I expect the same of the novel.

I get ads for this Lovestruck: Choose Your Own Romance game pretty much every day, mostly on facebook. I don’t do games, just cause, but it looks…really diverse? It could be total crap, I dunno. Have you played it?

You’ll get plenty of recs from me, but if you’re looking to do some lengthy research on romances by authors of color for the Read Harder challenge, have a look at WOC in Romance (and support their Patreon!)

Deals

Still holding out on Alisha Rai? Hate to Want You is 1.99.

Truth or Beard is 2.00 right now! If you haven’t heard me exclaim over the Winston brothers, well…don’t get me started.

Johanna Lindsey’s Love Only Once (the first in her Malory-Anderson series) is 1.99 as well.

If this is the year you try Shelley Laurenston, The Unleashing is also 1.99.

Over on Book Riot

It’s a brief list, but if you’re looking to read more books by Native American writers, here are a few romances. (Related: have you read any Robin Covington?)

Also, Book Riot favorite Alexis Daria wrote about writing and Dancing With the Stars.

We can all get stuck sitting the same way for too long when we’re enraptured in a romance novel. How about some yoga poses to help us out?

And now, recs!

There was a tweet or a meme I saw just a little while ago (that of course I can’t find now, excellent librarianing, Jess) that went a little something like this:

Hero: I’m a grump who doesn’t believe in love, fun, or happiness.

Cinnamon roll too good for this world: *exists*

Hero: well fuck.

Or something like that. I might have made up the hero’s last line, but you get the meaning.

That’s a kind of book I love but don’t read much of, and the first book of the year I want to talk about is like that: It Takes Two to Tumble.

It Takes Two to Tumble
Cat Sebastian

Benedict Sedgwick is a young vicar who probably smiles way too much. He has taken on the temporary role of governess to a pack of hellions belonging to the staid Captain Dacre, who has only just returned on leave after several years at sea. Ben, however, understands the Dacre children far more than their disciplined father, and worms his way into the hearts of the entire Dacre brood. (Sound familiar? Look at that cover.) Not only is there a sweet, slow burn between the two gentlemen, but there are also baby ducks. And possibly goats. It’s overall a delight to read and I can’t wait for the next Sedgwick book, or Cat Sebastian’s other novels coming out this year.

If you, like me, endeavor to read more cinnamon roll (or bun)/grumpy gus novels in 2018, here are some potential books to try:

An Unseen Attraction, KJ Charles

When a Scot Ties the Knot, Tessa Dare

A Bollywood Affair, Sonali Dev

Hamilton’s Battalion – “The Pursuit Of…” (all three are marvelous stories, but Henry is the Cinnamon Roll of Cinnamon Rolls)

Sunset Park, Santino Hassell

(Hmm…I’m noticing a pattern in my reading…)

Do you love cinnamon rolls and grumpy gusses (who are not in any way alphaholes)? Send me your recs!

Finally, new and upcoming releases:

Soaring on Love by Joy Avery

A Distant Heart by Sonali Dev

Dirty Talk by Lauren Landish

Heart on Fire by Amanda Bouchet

Prince Charming by CD Reiss

Down on Me by J. Kenner (Jan 16)

 

In case you missed the announcement (or just didn’t make it all the way down my favorites list), we’re moving to weekly! So be prepared to catch Kissing Books in your inbox every Thursday. As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

It’s the last Kissing Books of 2017 and I’m gonna do something different! Let’s just ignore the world for a little bit and look back on a year of Romancelandia.

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My favorite author-in-the-wild moment: Alyssa Cole and Alisha Rai on their trip up the Pacific Coast. There was a crown and a castle; it was beautiful.

My favorite twitter thread: Suleikha. When you start a #notRWA2017 thread with “Diversity isn’t a trend. Or a buzzword. If you think you must color in or gay up your book to sell it, you’re already dead wrong”, you know it’s going to be pretty amazing.

My favorite twitter exchange (and a thing I still want): KJ Charles is my favorite.

My favorite bit of romance news: Okay, so I know I’m supposed to be hearkening back, but Suzanne posted an interview with Cat Sebastian last week that includes a cover reveal for her next book and it is :all the emojis: And one of the characters is enby and it’s just. I can’t words.

My favorite romance bookstore: I mean, they’re the only one, so….but don’t forget The Ripped Bodice has a Patreon!

My favorite romance accessory: It’s a tie between the “Disrupt the Patriarchy, Read Romance” mug and the “Slayer of Words” t-shirt. It was actually the notebook, but that’s not available anymore :(.

My favorite acceptance speech: Queen Bev, of course!

My favorite romance-related Book Riot post: Once again, it’s a tie:

• Laura Sackton’s “I love romance because it’s predictable and I’m not sorry” takes the regular critique of the genre and sets it on its head. Yeah we know how it’s gonna end. So what?
• In a similar vein, The Hill We’re All Going To Die On is Sarah Nicolas’s post “If It doesn’t have an HEA (or a HFN), it’s not romance.” I found myself yelling “preach” in my seat as I read it several times, and come back to it regularly.

My favorite late AF discovery: Rachel’s spreadsheet. I don’t know how I neglected to have a look at the beginning of the year, but I am totally going to use it next year!

And now, actual book stuff!

My favorite standalone: Love by the Books by Te Russ. Here’s what I said way back in March:

I cannot stop talking about Love By the Books by Te Russ. I came across it looking for books about librarians, and I just knew I had to read it immediately. First we have Carmen Jones, a literary agent who has just scored an amazing deal for a first-time author. And on her first visit to By the Books to inform said writer, she meets Sebastian, who turns out to own the joint. The two have an immediate connection, and their courtship is full of dorky, bookish, adorable goodness. I was swooning straight through to the end. How good was this book? Not even a healthy smattering of typos could take away from my enduring love for these people. Of course, it’s all about what you love; I totally decided that these two were my soulmates and that I was marrying them by the time I got to the end. But I guess I can share.

My favorite new series: The Loyal League, hands down. Remember when An Extraordinary Union came out? I was ecstatic:

I have been bouncing with excitement for the chance to talk more about this book now that it will be out soon. If you haven’t pre-ordered it yet, get on it! You’ll want to devour it immediately, I promise. This book has gotten a lot of press in the romance universe, and for good reason: this is a Civil War romance that defies the boundaries of Civil War romance, while still grasping upon the realities of history and giving us an untold story. With kissing.

And spies.

SPIES.

This is a CIVIL WAR SPY ROMANCE.

The heroine, Elle, has an eidetic memory, which makes her the perfect candidate to go deep, deep, undercover, posing as an enslaved woman in the household of a Confederate senator. She’s working with Malcolm, one of Pinkerton’s men, to discover any plans around a plot to sideline the Union in Richmond. The pair share a striking, soulful chemistry, and their banter is fantastic. If you’ve read any Alyssa Cole, you know what I’m talking about. If not, this will make an extraordinary introduction to her talents.

See what I did there? Heh.

My favorite new-to-me series: This one was hard, but I have to go with my gut on this one: The Five Boroughs series by Santino Hassell. I happened to read Concourse first:

This was my first Santino Hassell book, but I went ahead and got Sutphin Boulevard when I finished; I need to start this series from the beginning. And I need to get more of Santino’s writing in my brain. In Concourse, we meet Val and Ash, an Odd Couple if we ever saw one: Val is an amateur boxer who does odd jobs for his super, while Ash is a glam Kardiashanesque socialite with the Instagram following to show for it. Valdrin’s parents moved to The Bronx from Albania, and his mom was Ashton’s nanny, meaning the two pretty much grew up together. Val will do anything for Ash, as we discover very early on.

It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with these two; almost immediately, you can tell there’s something special about their relationship, even if they both drive you mad with frustration. If you’re looking for a friends-to-lovers story with complex characters who have even complexer issues, this is the book for you. Also, you can hit two Read Harder Challenge categories with this one.

But I have been an extreme follower of Santino Hassell ever since.

My favorite one-off character: Cassandra Harwood from Snowspelled. She’s that character you’re always looking for: smart, self-aware enough to know what she wants even if it might be a misguided desire. Clever and caring, who looks out for other people and tries to help ensure their happiness even if it means setting her own goals aside for awhile. Did I mention whip smart? Like clever enough to out-logic a High Elf? And you know those buzzards can do some asshole logic and call it truth.

My favorite repeat character: Oh hey look, it’s Raymond Rodriguez (who also happens to be Santino’s favorite character, too)! In a move that’s not very common in romance, our favorite super-private author couldn’t make his brain shut up about Raymond and David after Sunset Park, and Interborough was born. As he moved on to Chris’s story in Third Rail and Citywide, Ray continued to pop up as Chris’s BFF.

My favorite family: It’s another tie:

• The Winstons (Beard in Mind, etc.). This collection of lovable bearded weirdos (beardos?) and the women with whom they have, so far, fallen in love brought the perfect amount of levity to my reading this year. Penny Reid knows how to make a character just the right amount of ridiculous while still allowing them to be well-rounded and lovable. Also, Cletus was my second-favorite repeat character, followed very closely by Sienna Diaz, everyone’s favorite plus-sized comedian/writer.
• The Bautistas. When you meet Drew Bautista in North To You, you probably won’t expect to fall in love with his family almost as much as you fall in love with him. But you will. You might love their dynamic even more than you do the love story and shenanigans that happen between him and Camille, his food rival and love interest. They have tough times, but they love each other so much, and that comes through pretty much to perfection. As you continue through the Journey to the Heart universe, that family expands and we get to see more of it, and you’re just there for it.

My favorite surprise: Courtney Milan’s Trade Me is definitely one of my favorite books of the year. It was damn near perfect as a book, with a great premise and some hilarious happenings. The surprise isn’t that I loved it. The surprise was Adam Fucking Reynolds, the foulmouthed asshole with a heart of…well, not gold but definitely not lead… that is our hero Blake’s father. Courtney has written a couple shorts featuring him, including one that jumps into the Sinisterverse. He’s also apparently getting his own book in the Cyclone series!

My favorite WTF-to-satisfied novel: You know that book you read the description of and you’re like “that author is seriously Doing Too Much but I need to know how this is going to go?” For me that was Highland Dragon Warrior. Historical Fantasy Romance with an alchemist heroine and the dragon-shifter who will be her hero? My first thought was “this will be either completely terrible or completely amazing.” And to my delight, it was the latter, and I am now a devoted Isabel Cooper fan for life. My review:

I was in a historical fantasy mood (and someone recommended a really interesting sounding one) so I started my weekend with Highland Dragon Warrior, the first in a very promising prequel series to Isabel Cooper’s Highland Dragon series. Instead of the 19th-century setting of the first series, Highland Dragon Warrior is set in the time of Braveheart, when Scotland is fighting for its own sovereignty. The titular dragon warrior, Cathal, is home from foreign wars, looking over the family keep, when Sophia, a Jewish scholar and alchemist (alchemist!) arrives with one request: a few of his scales. He offers to grant them, if she helps him out with a mystical problem he’s having. His friend is dissolving. Dissolving. Sophia takes up the challenge, and her awesomeness and fortitude are what will keep you turning pages until you reach the very end (at which point you will be grasping for Highland Dragon Rebel, which takes place twenty years later, features a badass dragon warrior, and unfortunately has none of Cathal or Sophia except in passing mention).

But you know what my favoritest of favorite things this year has been?

YOU. I love you all for joining me on this journey that was the first year of Kissing Books! You’ve reached out on twitter and instagram, and sent me amazing emails that made me laugh, cry, and find even more books to read. You are my favorite thing about this.

(And I’ve got some news for you! Shhhh. Come closer. Guess what. Kissing Books is moving to WEEKLY next year, after I take a quick break next week. It’s a New Year’s Miracle! I’m super excited.) Is there anything you’d like to see change next year? Something you’d like to see more of? As usual, catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!

See you in 2018!

Well, folks. We’ve had quite a couple weeks. I thought it was going to be pretty quiet, and then things just started coming out of nowhere. Zoom, pow, indeed. Get ready; it’s gonna be a long one.

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Sponsored by A Duke in Shining Armor, by Loretta Chase

The seventh Duke of Ripley will never win prizes for virtue, but even he draws the line at running off with his best friend’s bride. All he’s trying to do is recapture the slightly inebriated Lady Olympia and return her to her bridegroom. The bookish and bespectacled Olympia is bent on getting away from her puzzling marriage to a rakish duke – but is even more puzzled when the world-famous hellion the Duke of Ripley is trying to do the honorable thing in returning her to her intended. Whatever his motivations, she has no intention of making this an easy chase…

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We’ve all probably seen the HRC pullquote about romance novels by now; let’s talk about the reactions we’ve seen:

• Lisa Kleypas dropped some knowledge
• Maya Rodale expressed romance’s beating heart
• Tessa Dare had some choice words for a journalist
• Twitter went for it with recommendations, pulled together by Suzanne at Romance in Panels and a few other people

What this whole thing going on, author Melissa Blue had some words for romancelandia. And there was so much truth, I’d love to see a broader response to her question. Why do we get up in arms immediately upon an outsider’s opinions (especially a high profile one), but spend so little time as a greater community combating the toxicity within? I have no answers, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about.

In related (but not completely connected) news, there are going to be more Rogue Anthologies! And guess what? They’re taking submissions. Have you been looking to publish your resistance romance? Now’s your chance.

Courtney Milan was at the forefront of one of the lastest #metoo conversations, discussing her experience as her non-romance alter ego Heidi Bond, who had do deal with a horrible human being who took her habit of reading romance novels as an in for sexual harassment. No good. Disgusting, actually. But she had more to say earlier this week.

And to wipe that image from your mind: shared without comment. Just pure joy.

Also, if you haven’t read this Shondaland article in celebration of A Hope Divided, you should get on that pretty much immediately.

Bad news: there’s been some dissent among the romance world about the Netgalley blurb for the latest Kristan Higgins book. A few authors have sent her imploring tweets to rethink the book, while others have expressed support for her telling this story. She herself has put out a statement.  I don’t believe in censoring work, especially that which I haven’t read, but I’m moving forward warily with this one. I’ve never read any of her stuff; how does she approach the underrepresented? We’ll see. Her statement leaves me hopeful, but as I said before, I’m still wary. 

Good news: Book Concierge is back! (Though NPR and I are going to have to chat about how few romances are in their “Love Stories” category.)

In movie news

PassionFlix has reopened their Founding Member level. Support the platform, get a couple years free? Plus some other pretty awesome perks? Good deal. Also, you get to watch The Trouble With Mistletoe when it releases.

If you’re not down for another movie subscription, that’s okay! PassionFlix has put their first two original features, Hollywood Dirt and Afterburn Aftershock on Amazon to download! Check them out.

And okay. The Spirit of Christmas might not be a book, but it is definitely a happy place in this current state of ridiculousness. I was introduced to it by that same Melissa Blue mentioned earlier (re-recommending something originally recced to romancelandia by Rebekah Weatherspoon) and I watched it pretty much immediately. Romance ghosts are a tropetonite of mine, and the Prohibition-era costumery? Oh my. On the fence about a slightly ridiculous, but utterly wonderful holiday romance? Read this article.

Deals!

Jill Shalvis’s Chasing Christmas Eve is 1.99. Gotta read at least one of those every holiday season, huh?

Tracey Livesay’s Along Came Love is 99c! If you adored Love on My Mind but haven’t gotten to Livesay’s other books yet, now is definitely the time.

Who wants A Royal Christmas Wedding? We won’t get one this year, but you can read about one for 1.99!

If you’ve been meaning to read The Bollywood Bride, now would be a good time. It’s 2.99 right now!

Over on Book Riot…

Romeo watched Love Between the Covers and was fascinated. He had to do more research.

Romance mysteries? Yes, please!

I have been remiss in the whole holiday romance thing, but Alison is here to help!

Oh hey, more royal romances!

Bears. That’s a thing we like.

Want some good BDSM? We got ya covered.

And of course, more #romancenovelsforhillary.

Oh oh! Also! We’re giving away a stack of 20 books based on our favorite books of the year (did you see that post go up on Tuesday?)! You’ve got a whole month (until 1/14) to enter!

A few recs

Roomies
Christina Lauren

Holland works on the biggest show on Broadway. Sure, she’s a merch vendor and takes photos, but she’s just as much a part of the show as her uncle, the great creator Robert Okai. When a key musician walks off, leaving Robert in a serious bind, Holland has the perfect recommendation: this mesmerising street musician she goes out of her way to experience on a regular basis. After a masterful audition, everyone’s in agreement that Calvin is the best man for the job. There’s just one tiny problem: he’s long overstayed his student visa. Holland wants to do something for her uncle, and so comes up with the harebrained scheme that could allow Calvin to stay in the country. She’s already got the hots for him, so why not marry him?

When I got to the last line, my only word was “Kyooooooooooooot!” There’s a nuanced story here, and it’s great to watch both of these people become their best selves.

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
Mariana Zapata

Of course, once I finished Roomies, I wanted more books about marriages of convenience. The first one I picked up was this one. And I’m gonna warn you, like most of Mariana Zapata’s books, it’s a big-ass sucker, so you might spend the rest of your December reading this one.

Vanessa is a PA. Her client is a Canadian football player (playing in the US) whose nickname is The Wall of Winnipeg. The nickname, from what I can tell, is twofold: the man is so big he has to get his clothes tailored. He is also pretty much an emotional wall. So when Vanessa has saved enough to go off on her own, with the time and stability to continue her graphic design company, she gives her notice and goes her way, not looking back. But just a month later, he starts showing up, asking her to come back. Eventually, he realizes she would be perfect for a little problem he has: if she marries him, he won’t have to worry about his work visa running out.

So how’s that gonna go? I don’t know, I’ll tell you in January.

Up next: I don’t know if I’ll be done with green card marriages when I’m done with Vanessa and the Hulk, but I just came across Operation Green Card, which is the most recent Bluewater Bay book, and I am all about it. A gay Russian man worried for his safety and a wounded American vet get married. They don’t know each other, but they’re gonna get to know each other now. With the backgrounds of each of the characters, it’s probable that we’ll touch on some serious, but I’m also looking forward to what I hope will be some pretty adorable stuff.

Bonus rec: If you get through these and want more forced exposure, Alexis Daria’s Dance With Me just came out! And it’s almost as good as Take the Lead. Almost. Millimeters away.

Finally, new and upcoming releases!

It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian (THAT COVER THO—it straight up looks like The Sound of Music)
Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai (OMG SOOOO GOOD)
West Coast Love by Tif Marcelo
Right Here, Right Now by Georgia Beers
The Hookup by Kristen Ashley (12/19)
The Art of Running in Heels by Rachel Gibson (12/26)
A Distant Heart by Sonali Dev (!!!!!) (12/26)

Also, Rebekah Weatherspoon has been talking about this holiday novella she couldn’t help writing, and it doesn’t have an Amazon link yet, but it has a blurb on her website! Keep an eye out!

Okay. *wipes forehead* That was a lot, but we’ve got plenty to get us through at least some of the coming holidays. Catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!