Romance Books

#WhatchaReading ? I read A Mother for Christmas, a kindle freebie. A bit mawkish, but I can't say I wasn't warned by the title. The prose was quirky and had some personality to it. Could have used more payoff at the end.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I read How to Excavate a Heart, a YA sapphic romance, which starts off frothy but goes to some darker places. This is a good one for readers who get frustrated when people say they prefer same-sex romance because it doesn't have all the gender politics.

Also, the first book I've ever read that doesn't just acknowledge being written on native land, but offers suggestions for reparations.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I listened to Handmade Holidays by 'Nathan Burgoine after @herhandsmyhands 's rave ( https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2023/12/18/handmade-holidays-by-nathan-burgoine/ ) & she was not wrong. :-)

Such a tender and funny story of queer found family, friendship & love, and the structure is simple & elegant: each chapter is a different Christmastime, and we see everything we need to see about what happened in between. (Except at the very end, where I felt I missed out.)

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I'm still sniffling after finishing Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender. Painful but beautifully tender and hopeful m/m romance that explores how abuse and trauma can negatively impact a relationship. Checking the CWs highly recommended!

Excellent full cast audiobook, which does justice to the partially epistolary "multimedia" structure. One of the narrators seems to be NB, though both main characters are apparently cis.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I didn't love the style and tropiness of Eight Dates and Nights, but I did love reading a Hanukkah book that was really focused on Hanukkah. And it's really cool to read about Jewish history in a rural area of Texas.

Favorite moment: It's not a queer romance, but the MMC has a bumper sticker with a Pride flag and the words "Shalom Y'All Means Y'All."

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I finished the most waste of time old Harlequin, The Wild Side by Diana Hamilton. One of those awful misogynistic old skool books that's pretty fun if you're in the right mood -- but then there's the most lukewarm ending! Why did I suffer through all that angst?! Where is my payoff?!

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@romancebooks

I #read Gnome Sweet Gnome by Elva Birch (#book 2/Lawn Ornament Shifters) today because rn it’s #free (not sure how long that will last), and because the cover & title made me laugh. This shorter-length Christmas story takes rom-com almost to absurd #romance. Get ready for a jewel thief owl shifter to meet her mate as a Norwegian gnome factory owner. #reading #books #romancelandia @romancebooks
https://amzn.to/3NlwpzF

#WhatchaReading? On my third try, I finally finished The Wake Up Call. I liked it fairly well by the end, but I don't read Beth O'Leary for tropiness and this was all trope all the time. And I'm just not that fond of the "she's a childish pain in the ass and somehow he loves her for it" relationship dynamic. There was some nice tenderness and angst... the supposedly stoic MMC really gets punched in the gut, poor sweet baby.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

I #read Claimed by the Barbarian Warlords by Charmaine Ross (#book 1/Stolen Planet). I think it’s great when FMCs assert & fight for their own agency, but the burden of assholery behavior that provokes the fight for independence often rests on the MMC(s) in that plot line. This is the case for this story. I wanted to kick the alien warlords for being dumbasses for 75% of the book. #reading #books #romance #romancelandia #romancebooks @romancebooks
https://amzn.to/47O0TTb

I #read Snowed In With A Dragon by Sara Ivy Hill. This Christmas #book of a sweet stalkerish dragon who waits for his girl until her boyfriend cheats on her is a little red-flaggy if you want your #romance to be perfectly socially acceptable. Hill does honor consent. #reading #books #romancelandia #romancebooks @romancebooks

https://amzn.to/3GC9M6e

If you read sci fi #romance, today’s your day. 30 free #books (electronic) on Dec 7:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/scifiromlovers/ouixfnbg9x

#book #reading #read @romancelandia @romancebooks

I went browsing for Hanukkah romances and found such interesting stuff from Harlequin I was unaware of. A book with a Japanese and Jewish MMC, another with an autistic FMC (both in their medical lines) and a Harlequin Presents with a plus size model on the cover! They have really upped their representation game, though I don't know if it's reflected in their actual authors.

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@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I finished Evvie Drake Starts Over and am so glad I gave it a chance. (I had read it was NOT a romance, which made me very nervous. 😂 But any book with such great banter between the leads and a happy ending is romance enough for me!)

Also read Let it Snow by three YA authors and... meh. It has not aged at all well, is kinda racist, and I only really liked Maureen Johnson's story anyway.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I read the lovely Agents of Winter by Ada Marie Soto. Third in a series and you should really read them in order; also you want to read them all. 😁 (Unless you are very agin gentle and/or asexual romance.)

My review of the first book is here: https://willaful.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/snowinlovebingo-shorts/

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? My last two romances were Lies and Lullabies and Love at First Spite and they were prefectly cromulent ways to pass the time but I don't have much to say about them. (Except the MMC has a rather unusual disability in LaFS. And it irked me that we don't see any decision process when the FMC gets pregnant in L&L.)

Also listening to Evvie Drake Starts Over, which is thoughtful and funny. Wonderful narration by Julia Whelan, as usual.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

I’ve #read as an #audiobook Lucifer by DB Reynolds (#book 11/Vampires In America).
Said this before & will say it again, one of my favorite series & one of my favorite #books in the series. But start at the beginning, or at least with Jabril. #romance #reading #romancelandia @romancebooks
https://amzn.to/3uuY1v

#WhatchaReading ? I just finished Seeing Blind by Poppy Dale, a very sweet, sort of "shop around the corner" romance which is my catnip. Part epistolary, which is also my catnip. Kisses only. Kiss only, really. 😁

One character has prosopagnosia, which is a significant disability for him. Can't say if it's an accurate portrayal but it was very interesting.

Slightly disconcerting that it's set in Manhattan and CA but the author is quite obviously British. 😁

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

I discovered I could use a Nora Roberts book for a challenge prompt, which is awesome... but now how do I pick from her 143,679 book backlist?!

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@romancebooks

I #read Trouble For My Troll by Honey Phillips last night as a bedtime #book. This standalone #romance from the Fairhaven Falls world is a small-town monster #romance about a troll who isn’t very troll-like tbh. But I liked it. #reading #books #romancebooks #romancelandia @romancebooks

https://amzn.to/3SVrhpg

I #read as #audiobook Darkness Dawns by Dianne Duvall (#book 1/Immortal Guardians). This is a #repeat series for me. Paranormal vampire hunters fall in love & save the world, one book at a time. #reading #romance #books #romancelandia @romancebooks
https://amzn.to/3R5EZVy

I #read as #audiobook Band Sinister by KJ Charles (2018). This 🏳️‍🌈 M/M historical #regencyromance is mis-titled, but otherwise is charming. It was in the Audible Premium Plus catalog, so I didn’t pay anything extra for it. #book #romance #reading #books #romancelandia @romancebooks

https://amzn.to/3QYT4Ux