willaful

#WhatchaReading? Betrayal/remorse is my romance catnip and historical My Deceitful Duchess by Aydra Richards is a pretty good one. (Not as OTT as Exit, Pursued by a Baron.) But I was irked by the "romance hero Aspergers" portrayal, partly because it's such a cliche and doesn't go into any of the real issues, and mostly because if you're going to write an autistic love interest, take the opportunity to have him react in different ways!

cont.

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#WhatchaReading ? I finished Every Time I fall by Lexi Ryan. TBH, I had intended not to read her again, because the last book was anti-abortion, but I could not resist the gorgeous fat woman on the cover of this. (And I got it from the library.)

Characters have loved each other forever, but each has bad insecurities that make them think the other could never want to be with them. cont.

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#WhatchaReading ? I read the sweetest YA graphic novel romance, Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy. An insecure hockey player being bullied by her team captain asks a theater kid who's often taunted for being gay for help with dealing. He's actually pan and totally falls for her passion for her sport. There are also parents and best friend problems. Thoughtful & engaging.

I don't love the aesthetic but the art is very effective at conveying emotion and bits of humor.

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Read an old Harlequin, Only You, in which the office girls all sneer because the hunky hero's secretary must be 50 and "what a waste!"

That puts her maybe 14 years older than him... a smaller age difference than between him and the *18* year old heroine. 🤢

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Not sure how I missed this, but Candy Hearts, a limited time anthology to benefit the Transgender Law Center and the National Center for Transgender Equality is coming out tomorrow! 16 low-angst Valentine's Day stories by queer authors, including our own @NathanBurgoine

Thanks to @thesmutreport for including this in their recent round-up.

https://apostrophen.wordpress.com/2024/01/17/anthology-announcement-candy-hearts

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#WhatchaReading ? I should be doing so many other things, but I can't tear myself away from The Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call Girl. Really fun and... *fans self*. I'm hoping it will justify the arrogant billionaire by having him use his power to completely destroy the FMC's truly evil ex. 😂

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#WhatchaReading ? I finished You Say It First by Katie Cotugno, which I seem to have liked rather more than most romance readers. I thought the mix of romance/coming of age was well done and appropriate for YA, and I liked how much the opposite-attract couple grew from being together, even though it was a somewhat fraught relationship.

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My daughter loved How to Excavate a Heart! What sapphic YA romance next?!

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Doing a reread of Naked in Death at #Litsy and just realized the main characters are a cop and a billionaire. Wow did that not age well. 😂

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#WhatchaReading ? I started Early Morning Riser... I'm not sure it's romance? But I really like the voice and I'm pretty sure a romance reader rec'd it so am hoping for the best.

Also read Four Weeks in Winter by Jane Donnelly, which is available from the Internet Archive. Enjoyable oldie, with the main character's boss acting as her fake fiance to protect her from a jerky old flame.

Started the new Olivia Atwater but I don't seem to be in a gothic mood.

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#WhatchaReading ? I read the We Could Be So Good epilogue, "Bells are Ringing," which was perfect. They're exactly themselves, yet somehow they've also grown. Funny and awwwww.

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#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.

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