64. Destiny’s Surrender: Billie, a sex worker flees SF a thug tries to steal her son. She goes to the only place she knows he will be safe, his father’s family ranch, unwittingly interrupting his engagement party! Resentment & mistrust must overcome for their HEA. #bkbrk

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 23, 2018

Billie Wells doesn't believe in fairy tales. Her life has always been hard and she has done everything to survive from picking pockets, scavenging and once her body started changing, sex work.  While the attention and care Drew Yates is undeniable, she can't let herself rely on it or even let herself believe in it. She knows who she is and what they are. She is his whore, not his wife or novilla and can't imagine a world where she would be anything but that.  She still soaks up whatever nuggets of knowledge of the world and culture he shares with her, treasures the gifts, the chocolates, and silks he brings on his visits and big and small the luxuries they are to enjoy when they are together.  When she learns she is pregnant she doesn't even consider contacting him, not just because he has been away for months, but because they have never been exclusive for longer than a few days at time, so many other clients could have fathered her child.  Though she misses him terribly, her choices and consequences are her own to deal with.

Drew Yates knows it is time of him to settle down. While his mind often wanders back to Billie when he isn't with her, he knows he needs to find himself a proper Spanish bride to bring back to his mother.   When months of spent among friends and family in Mexico don't yield any likely candidates he renews his search in Yerba Buena (San Francisco). While he doesn't find any women with Billie's curiosity, directness and strength of will, he does identify a young woman, whose poise and beauty catch his attention, among all the young ladies hiding behind their duennas, even though her mother is a terror. He can only hope his mother will be able to nurture her into blossoming. Spotting a heavily pregnant and haggard looking Billie almost distracts him from his chosen course but her adamant rejection and dismissal, makes him more determined to start this new phase of life.  But when an old enemy threatens Billie and her young son, surprisingly, his own, his carefully planning is for naught.

I adored Billie. She is fierce and flinty. She doesn't sink into self-pity or regret for the tough choices she's had to make her whole life and she doesn't anyone shame her. She doesn't ever expect anyone to stand up for her, but has genuine affection when someone willfully and knowingly do so, from Addie, to Alanza to Mariah.  Jenkins doesn't sugar coat or gloss over the hardships faced by sex workers from abuse and exploitation by pimps and johns, social isolation, the risks of disease, pregnancy and abortion, but the sex workers themselves are never vilified. They are working people and have their relationships with their johns and fellow sex workers  shaped by it. The other women have been competitors and peers and while some of their patrons have been kind, others detestable and most forgettable.  Her frankness unsettles many but I loved watching her interact with Alanza, who while bold and courageous has still been incredibly sheltered by her upbringing and station in life. I also love how Alanza who is devoutly catholic, never shames Bilie for anything but the time that Drew and Billie lose themselves in screaming match, frightening Antonio.

Drew goes on a journey in this book. His whole life is upended.  Learning he is already a father, having his carefully cultivated engagement shattered and facing scandal just as his career faces other threats is a lot, but he also has to come to terms with his own feelings about Billie, something he has determinedly tried to ignore for years.  Learning to do the hard work of loving someone rather than simply depending on his charm was great to see. He has to unlearn so many selfish and self-centered habits in order to earn a place in Billie and Antonio's life and it was lovely to see him do the work.

As I previously experienced in with other of Jenkins' novels, I loved the secondary characters. Alanza continues to shine as a steadfast but demanding mother, starting to embrace her own life as her sons grow and find their life-partners. She is a doting grandmother and someone on the cusp of experiencing a sexual awakening of her own.  I also loved Addie, the New Orleans born, mid-wife/seer, who rescues and shelters Billie and gains the revenge she long sought.  I was also curious about Rosa, Drew's smothered and sheltered ex-novilla and wondered if she will find her own HEA in Monterrey among Drew's Mexican family.  

Destiny's Surrender's audiobook was fabulously narrated  by Thomas Penny as I literally couldn't stop listening and he captured both Drew and Billie's emotional ranges!  

I highly recommend Destiny's Surrender for its fierce and flinty heroine and for having the hero do the emotional work necessary to regain the trust of his heroine.

Today I am over at Love in Panels with my review of Duke by Default, the second book in Alyssa Cole's delightful Reluctant Royal's series.  Stop over there to read it!

42. Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole Portia upends Tavish’s life when she arrives as his Scottish Armory to be his apprentice. Age-gap, cross-class,completely charming & fun. Portia has undiagnosed ADHD, problem drinker. Hero grumpy, child of refugee (7/31) https://t.co/9UKrmhA8Xv

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) May 27, 2018

Review Repost:

The Hot-mess Heiress and the Sexy Swordbae

Cole continues to please with her second Reluctant Royals series book, A Duke by Default, blending sexiness and emotionally affirming themes with challenging character arcs. 

Portia’s new internship, the one that she has pinned so many of her hopes and dreams on, gets off to the rockiest of starts. Misunderstandings pile upon miscommunications and leave both Portia and her new boss, Tavish, a master sword maker, with the worst of first impressions and a face full of pepper spray. But Portia is determined to make it work, even when Tavish turns out to be as stubborn and frustrating as he is attractive.

Portia was Ledi’s troubled and difficult best-friend in Cole’s A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals #1). In A Duke by Default, Portia is determined to remake herself. A Jill of all trades, a nomad and a perpetual student, she has dealt with her feelings of insecurity and her fraught relationship with her parents through avoidance and problem drinking. She only starts to forgive herself and start making progress on her “Project Portia”, when her sister sends a her a link to a video about living with ADHD.

“She’d always been told that she was flighty, flakey, lazy, scattered, impulsive...but she was also curious, and super engaged when something interested her. Still, the negative always outweighed the positive, and she’d always figured that she was just ... a fuck up.

Something in her loosened with relief as the possible diagnosis repeated itself in a loop in her brain. ADHD! ADHD! ADHD She had a word to use for her behavioral patterns. There were other people who felt the same way she did, maybe."

- Portia, Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole

Pulled in too many directions and struggling to keep his armory afloat, Tavish is desperate enough to let himself be talked into accepting an apprentice he doesn’t want but he isn’t at all gracious about it. The grumpy wanker is suspicious of change, skeptical of Portia’s methods and hesitant to trust her. He is frankly a terrible boss. However he is determined to keep his commitments to his community so he is eventually persuaded to listen to Portia. However trusting Portia to manage his web presence is one thing, believing the surprising secret she uncovers about his family is something completely different.

Cole takes Portia and Tavish, who are at times both hard to love and have a hard time accepting love on parallel but distinct personal journeys where they have to reexamine the default ways they react to other people and reevaluate what they have come to think about themselves when confronted with life-changing truths that upend everything they thought they knew. I love difficult heroines, so I warmed up to Portia right away, but it took me a long time to warm up to Tavish. I did love, however, how he changes how he speaks to her, once he realizes how Portia is much more vulnerable and easily hurt than she lets on.

World-building is a underappreciated component in contemporary romance and Cole excels at it. She grounds her fantastical premises (the African prince in your spam folder is an actual prince, and you are the secret heir to a dukedom) by crafting a world that looks and feels modern and familiar. Cole uses little things such as how her characters use or avoid social media to the way she describes Tavish’s working class neighborhood, a mix of long-time residents, recent immigrants & affluent gentrifiers uneasily co-existing to build up a sense of place and currentness.

The only fault I found with the story was how quickly things turned for Tavish and Portia in the last quarter of the book. It jarred me so much that they only way I could move forward was to jump to the end and read backwards before I could go back read to their reconciliation. It was sweet, fairytale-like, yet it doesn’t erase the challenges they will face making a life together.

For fans of the previous book, Ledi and Thabiso make several appearances in the book as do other secondary characters from A Princess in Theory, but the book stands alone easily. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

When his temporary post-prison living arrangements fall apart, Salvador Rosas need a cheap place to crash, quick.  Chinita, an old lady from the neighborhood lets him crash in her garage for $200 and the labor of cleaning it out.  Chinita's granddaughter Vanessa, loses her mind when she finds out, but lets him stay anyway, on probation. 

Sal was sent to prison at 19, after spending most of his teens stealing cars and running with a Hollenbeck gang in East LA, ever since his family started disintegrating after his mother and sister's death. He knew back then that Vanessa  was too good for him, with her good grades and her drive. But just as he was being sentenced, she was finding out she was pregnant by the first boy she ever kissed, another gangster just like him, Sleepy.

In the 5 years Sal spent in Prison, Vanessa's life changed. Widowed before she became a mother, she didn't get out of the neighborhood, but she did get her degree. She works hard as bookkeeper, studying hard to pass the CPA exam. She let her life get derailed once and is determined not to let it ever happen again.

Thirsty is told exclusively through Sal's POV, his worries, anxiety and tension about what to do next with his life is central and that focus is what makes this story work. Sal is big, dangerously built, charming and super-sexy, but from his POV we also know how he struggles to acclimate to life outside of prison, to figure out what the right choices are for him.  We  know that he is wary, anxious and utterly convinced that he isn't worth taking a risk on.  That contrast between his outward  appearance and his inner vulnerability allows me to connect to him.

Hopkins does a wonderful job with depicting the complexity of Vanessa and Sal's connection to their neighborhood and their Mexican American heritage.  While I don't love the fact that Sal and Vanessa's ex, were both gang-members and the centrality of gang life to the story, and I wish there were more non-gang affiliated supporting characters in the story, I still liked it.  Chinita and her gang of elderly chismosas were a ton of fun. I also liked the contrasts Hopkins developed between the two white men who enter Sal's life.  Barry is his boss at the gym, sees someone he can exploit in Sal. He might frame his offer to train him to be a trainer as something that would benefit both of them, but Sal is right to be wary. To Barry, Sal is an opportunity.  Alan on the other hand, recognizes in Sal someone with potential.  He mentors and befriends without in non-patronizing way.  He feeds Sal's curiosity by sharing his passion openly and I wasn't surprised that he was there when Sal needed him most.

If you enjoy stories about second chances, about finding a new path in life despite past mistakes, try Thirsty. Despite my wariness that the story w
ould reinforce the very harmful stereotypes of Latinx criminality, it was a story that was very respectful of the challenges of growing up with few choices and focused on building a better future. 

 I loved this book and you should absolutely grab this book before the sequel, A Treason of Truths comes out this fall!

Read my review over at Love in Panels!

This past weekend #readRchat, a monthly romance reader focused twitter chat, asked us to name of our Mid-year Favorites.  These are mine:

Favorite Books 

A/1 Hurts to Love You by Alisha Rai, Ivan by Kit Rocha and Her Perfect Affair by Priscilla Oliveras ( and bonus: Duke by Default by Cole out at the end the month) https://t.co/XJmM1P8noT

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

This has been such a good year for books. I know authors have struggled more than ever to write stories with HEAs, but as a reader I need HEAs more than ever. So thank you all for keeping your fingers typing and your pens and pencils sharp.

Rai's Forbidden Hearts series is soapy intersectional romance that is super sexy. It has a fantastic overarching family saga plot that is finally unraveled in Hurts to Love You. My favorite book in the series is undoubtedly, Wrong to Need You but I loved how Rai wrapped up the series and seeded her new one in this one. 

I adore Kit Rocha books, so it should be no surprise that Ivan (The 3rd book in their Gideon Rider's series) made my list. This was a cross-class, bodyguard/princess romance.  Ivan is the son of a martyred hero, who grew up on the streets when he and his widowed mother lost everything because of his uncles's failed coup. He seeks redemption and wants nothing more than to die protecting the Rios family. That is until he fell in love with the Rios princess, Maricela, who he is assigned to protect. 

It has been thrilling to see a Puerto Rican authors getting  RITA noms and mainstream attention, so I was excited to read Oliveras's Her Perfect Affair. It didn't disappoint. I really loved Rosa's and Jeremy's story, especially the way she didn't a cave under the pressure and compromise herself into a marriage of convenience.  I love the Fernandez sisters and I am looking forward to the third book so much. 

I"ll have a review up of the fabulous Duke by Default over at Love in Panels in a couple of weeks.

Favorite books read in 2018 published in prior years:

A2/ #readRchat Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs and Jo Walton’s Tooth & Claw https://t.co/K7ZvOSA07H

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

My favorite books of the first half 2018, written in previous years were Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs and Jo Walton's Tooth & Claw.  I had originally skipped reading Fire Touched because my libraries didn't own it in ebook or audio (while they had all the other ones) and Penguin backlist prices are always steep.  However I was shamed by all the other Briggs fans for skipping what they consider one of the best books in the series. They were not wrong to shame me. I really loved how Adam, Mercy and the Pack work together and they dynamics of how their pack shifts to make room for Aiden.

Jo Walton totally committed to her concept in Tooth and Claw. It is fantastic and fully, Austen or more accurately Victorian Fiction starring dragons. Not with Dragons, but Dragons.  The worldbuilding was fantastic from the cannibalistic Lords getting rich and fat off the flesh of their peasants to the politics of honor and power.  As an Austen fan, I adored it.

Favorite New Installment of an Ongoing Series:

A/3 #readrchat All my top 4 we’re continuing a series however I did really enjoy Ocean Light by Nalini Singh part of her huge psy/Changeling world and Iron & Magic by Ilona Andrews (spin-off from the Kate Daniels series. https://t.co/M80Vis4ilt

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

Iron and Magic is a book I really enjoyed and definitely didn't know I wanted till I read the excerpt the Andrews had posted on their website. I found Hugh a fascinating villain but I was not one of the ones clamoring for his story. However I am fascinated with Hugh as someone recovering from religious zeal and although I don't know a lot about Elara, I do want to know more about her past and the power she carries.

Ocean Light, I really enjoyed Ocean Light, especially Kaia and her clanmates. I was fascinated by seeing the story of Bowen's background and how he became the Alpha of the humans but it was decidedly a middle, set-up book, were the focus was on clicking things in place for the Trinity vs. Consortium fight that has been brewing for several books. 

Favorite Debut Book of 2018: 

A/4 I haven’t read any debut books this year. Although I have read plenty of new-to-me authors and I have a couple on my TBR for the month. #readrchat https://t.co/ks1kex1rJa

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

I focused this year on new-to-me authors but I didn't necessarily start with their debut books. Some of the New-t0-Me authors I have read and enjoyed this year are Therese Beharrie, whose Surprise Baby, Second Chance, I reviewed this month, Mia Hopkins, whose Thirsty was erotic, emotional and fascinating and Ada Harper's whose Conspiracy of Whispers was fantastic.   Hoping I fall in love with during the second half of the year with a couple of debut books whose ARCs I am over due to read but are both historical which I haven't been reading much of right now, (sorry Jude Lucens and Eve Pendel).

Favorite Author Discovery:

A5/ Austin Chant, whose Peter Darling knocked my socks off. #readRchathttps://t.co/rSFOrj2VW3

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

I adored Peter Darling and I immediately checked my TBR to see if I had bought Austin's other books Coffee Boy and Caroline's Heart.  I am saving them for I need something beautiful and moving to read.  

Favorite Underrated Book of the Year so Far:

A6/ Rogue Acts Anthology from the Rogue Series. I think it had 3 amazing stories and bunch of other really good ones. I loved O’Keefe, Dade & Lang’s stories in this a lot. These anthologies are great! #readrchat https://t.co/KmnEFVnlPt

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

In my review in January I wrote the following:

Cover Me by Olivia Dade:  This story was the second story in the ARC I received. Once I read this story in the ARC, I just went ahead and pre-ordered my copy because I wanted to own it.  This gentle romantic story starts as a marriage of Convenience between long-time friends for insurance purposes ignites into so much more. . I loved the incandescent scene at a townhall meeting were Elizabeth roasts her congressman & opens James eyes to Elizabeth and to everything she has quietly been shouldering alone. James is such a sweet hero determined to care for his new wife, who has been a caretaker for so long that she struggles to let him take care of her for a change. 

This story was just fantastic, and then you add the fact that O'Keefe and Lang's stories are included in there too, and I can't believe more people aren't reading these. They are just stellar nuggets of contemporary romance. 

Favorite Audiobook :

A/7 Favorite Audio I’ve listen to this year was Tooth & Claw by Jo Walton with Narration by John Lee #readrchat https://t.co/TCZXQP89da

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

I was delighted with the narration for this book. It was sly, arch and funny and I really got a great sense of all the characters.

Best Surprise of 2018:

A8/ can’t say I ever go in not expecting to love a book but I was absolutely delighted with how good Katz’s Cybernetic Tea Shop #readrchat really great SFF f/f ace rom. https://t.co/LBfBhagyJl

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

Ruby Lang recommended this book during #Rombklove and it was just a delight to read. The 
worldbuilding was subtle and the story sweet and all about how we make connections.

Favorite Romance Adjacent/Related piece of Pop Culture:

A/9 my fave Romance adjacent thing so far in 2018 is starting to watch #JaneTheVirgin, such great Latinx rep, fun romance dramedy #readRchathttps://t.co/zYudXpTo6f

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

My 14-year is a big fan of the CW and of television in general. She was shocked to discover that I had not been watching Jane the Virgin, especially since she knows I love romance. My only defense is that I watch TV sporadically, binge watching British murder mysteries series when I am burnt out of reading.   But I have adored what I have watched of the first season and I look forward to spending time with my daughter as we watch the Villanueva family find their HEAs.

Most Anticipated book of the 2nd half of 2018:

A/10 I’ve already read Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole which is a great sequel so I’m now anticipating Free Fall by Emma Barry & G.Turner and Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews. #ReadRchat https://t.co/tJBN4CoaKE

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) July 7, 2018

I hope you are all anticipating A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole. I loved what Cole did with Portia ( the difficult best-friend in A Princess in Theory) and the personal  journeys she takes Portia and Tavish on.  On my TBR for this month is Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner's Free Fall from their fantastic Space Race Era historical romance,  Fly Me to the Moon series.   I'm also anxiously awaiting the concluding chapter in the Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels series, Magic Triumphs.

A Year in Review:

2018 has been a fantastic year for romance. I have read so many fantastic books. If you want to see all I have read so far this year, you can read my bookthread on twitter. I am posting a mini-review for each book I read this year. I have loved keeping track of my reading this way.

2018 #BookThread : This was my first book of the year and fits the #rombklove Fire/Ice theme for Jan & Feb https://t.co/ihzD4Qvhj7

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) January 7, 2018

I also decided that I should drop all that data into spreadsheet and crunch some numbers. 

I still overwhelming read M/F, 90% of the books I have read so far this year have been M/F, which shocked me until I read through the list again. I have been reading a lot of backlist UF and Contemporaries featuring m/f couples. Just looking at that stat alone, I am glad I decided to log what I am reading.

31% of the books I read were by AOC, so there is still a lot of room for growth there.  The numbers show that I am overwhelmingly reading Contemporary, PNR and Urban Fantasy with a smattering of the other sub-genres. I've only read a handful of Historicals or SFR this year.

When I heard that Ilona Andrews was writing a book for Hugh, I was mystified. In the Kate Daniels novels Hugh was the brutal, remorseless Warlord for Roland, who cut a brutal path through Atlanta, killing many of Kate's near and dear friends and allies. He is not a  heroic figure. He was a capital V-villain. But if we know a character's eye-color you know someone out there in Romancelandia is hoping for their book. I didn't think I was one of those people, and then I read the excerpt and I reconsidered.

Hugh is reframed in this book. He continues to be the fully-committed brutal warrior in the ridiculous over-sized horse.  Having been exiled and cast aside by Roland, he has been un-moored and has spent nearly a year drowning himself in alcohol, until the surviving members of his Iron Dogs come find him.  They are being killed off by Roland's men and they need to regroup for safety.  Starving and down to their last coins, Hugh chooses to accept an unlikely alliance. 

Elara has a castle full of followers and mysterious folks very determined to push her out of it. She needs Hugh and his troops as protection. She offers him a bargain. A marriage of convenience, where she will provide them income and a secure location and he provides protection.  Both are desperate enough to make the bargain without looking to closely at each other's past.

Elara and Hugh's flirtation through mutual antagonism is one of my favorite tropes. Their tit-for-tat battles while putting on a nice face for bystanders just made me gleeful. I love particularly how their hyper-awareness of each other due to their suspicious natures, means they see each other in a way no one else does.  They see past the bluster, and facade of control, to see when they are fearful or hurt.  They are both under incredible pressure as leaders. Although they both have trusted friends on their sides, in the end they are both alone in making the hard choices for their communities. They have a lot of unvoiced feelings and secrets yet to unpack and I am eager to see where things go next for this couple.

I can't wait to learn more about Elara, her past with the Remaining and the reason she left with her Departed and just how Hugh will come to terms with what she truly is. I expect Ilona and Gordon Andrews to continue to unpack the dangers of religious devotion and where the lines are drawn between adoration, love and loyalty.

If you are a Kate Daniels fan already, I hope you pick up Iron and Magic.

48. Therese Beharrie ‘s Suprise Baby, Second Chance (eARC, 8/7) forced-proximity, SAfrican-set m/f. Rosa left their seemingly happy marriage without a word & their near reconciliation has consequences.Strong emotional conflict as they face their anxieties https://t.co/BbUvioLYKK

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) June 23, 2018

Rosa walked away from what Aaron thought had been a happy marriage. Her surprise abandonment, shattered his confidence and his sense of what they had together.  It is Rosa who is blindsided when she walks into what she expects is her mother-in-law's birthday bash to find herself stranded alone with her estranged husband at his family's vacation home.

Stuck together for the weekend, Rosa and Aaron can no longer avoid talking about the hidden guilt and anxiety that has driven them apart. Despite the fact that they both care deeply about each and still are deeply attracted they find a way to reconcile and overcome the ways they have denied each other trust and intimacy when they needed it most.

Beharrie has her characters unpack  and reckon which whole host of mental anguishes and anxieties that stem from the very particular way they met. Cancer, caretaking and parental abandonment both physical and emotional play a huge role in their relationship dynamics, more than each of them realize at the start of the novel.

The escalation of their confrontations and the very realistic way they spiral off-topic to other sensitive topics felt very real, especially they way to very verbal people can talk circles around each other while failing to understand what the core conflict really is.

The book felt emotionally true, especially Rosa's conflicting desires and questioning of her choices and her deep fear of becoming someone Aaron comes to resent. Aaron's struggles to confront his own anxieties about being someone deserving of love where equally heartbreaking.

And this is all before they have to figure out how to respond at the news of an unplanned pregnancy.

This book packs an emotional wallop that never shies away from the very un-cute downsides of forced proximity scenarios. I appreciate how truly uncomfortable it is not to be able to escape an emotionally intense conversation because you are literally trapped in a the room together and then seemingly trapped in a relationship because of impulsive choice.

Neither of these characters responds in all the right ways. They really struggle which makes their efforts at trying to put together their relationship and becoming more accepting of their own mental health struggles was highly emotional book to read.

An ARC of Surprise Baby, Second Chance was provided by the author, Therese Beharrie for review consideration.

Surprise Baby, Second Chance is available for pre-order right now and it due for release on Aug 7, 2018.

 

#Repost @loveinpanels with @get_repost ・・・ Luke enjoying the day and Surprise Baby, Second Chance by Therese Beharrie. Cc: @anafc98 #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #catsofinstagram #catsandbooks

A post shared by Ana Coqui (@anafc98) on Jul 3, 2018 at 2:48am PDT