Three years!  Three years and every year I feel like we need it more that ever.

#RomBkLove  is meant to give all of romancelandia an opportunity to talk about romance, build up the community, and create new relationships between readers through the sharing recs about books they love. We want to continue to celebrate inclusive romance, and lift up the work of Disabled, LGBTQIA+ authors &  authors of color, particular Black authors who are consistently ignored by romance institutions.  #RomBkLove has two pieces, the  inclusive rec posts created by the #RomBkLove Team and the twitter/instagram discussions created by all readers and we hope you enjoy them both!

This year we are welcoming 18 new bloggers/reader/reviewers to the #RomBkLove team of 32!  You can follow the team on twitter through the RomBkLove 2019 Team twitter list. I am incredibly thankful to this team and I hope you are looking forward to their inclusive rec posts as I am.

How to participate?

Readers: Respond to the prompts! Share your favorite books, characters, scenes, or thoughts on tropes.  Make sure to include the #RomBkLove hashtag with your tweet! If you have read and loved a book by LGBTQIA+, Disabled, and/or  Authors of Color that fits the prompt please, please mention it.  You might think everyone has heard of the book but I can guarantee you there are lots of people who still need to hear about it.  

Authors: You are welcome to participate too, as fellow readers. The tag is not meant for self-promotion. Boost fellow authors, celebrate the community but do so in a way that respect reader spaces. Respect the conversation.   Join in to rec the books you love that fit the theme/trope/prompt. Yes, you can say “I wrote a book with this trope” but please don’t spam the hashtag with generic promo. 

THE PROMPTS:

Day 1: Exceptions by Ana @AnaCoqui, Day 1 Tweet Archive
Day 2: POC in History by Jessica Pryde @jessisreading , Day 2 Tweet Archive
Day 3: Magic and Monsters by Elisabeth Lane @elisabethjlane Day 3 Tweet Archive
Day 4: Creatives: Artistic Innovators by Rachel Garcia @TorchlightInDrk Day 4 Tweet Archive
Day 5: Romance for Beginners by Bree @Bree_TheGoddess,  Day 5 Tweet Archive
Day 6: Meet-Disasters by Aarya Marsden Aarya_Marsden Day 6 Tweet Archive
Day 7: Neighbors by Suzanne @cerestheories Day 7 Tweet Archive
Day 8: Second Chance by Jen @Twimom227 Day 8 Tweet Archive
Day 9: Short Stories & Novellas by H Bentham @bentchbites Day 9 Tweet Archive
Day 10: New-To-Me Authors by Chachic @chachic_ Day 10 Tweet Archive
Day 11: Seasoned (Older Characters) Romance by Kini @kinilei1  Day 11 Tweet Archive
Day 12: Clue Me In by Maria @maria_reads Day 12 Tweet Archive
Day 13: Unusual Sports Romances by Ellie @e_savova Day 13 Tweet Archive
Day 14: Off the Beaten Path: Unusual Locales in Romance by  MaryLynne @emmelnie Day 14 Tweet Archive
Day 15: Unforgettable Family by Jazmen Greene @blklitreviews Day 15 Tweet Archive
Day 16: Fake relationships by Nix @Scorchingrevs, Day 16 Tweet Archive
Day 17: Love Me All the Curves Agata Weronika @Aqueda_Veronica Day 17 Tweet Archive
Day 18: Career-oriented by Carolina @wutheringreads Day 18 Tweet Archive
Day 19: Communities by Wendy @SuperWendy Day 19 Tweet Archive
Day 20: Celebrations! by Stacey Agdern @@nystacey Day 20 Tweet Archive
Day 21: Dancers by Danielle @DanieReads  Day 21 Tweet Archive
Day 22: Beautiful covers by Cande @iamrainbou Day 22 Tweet Archive
Day 23: Co-workers  by Ericka @e_bookpushers Day 23 Tweet Archive
Day 24: Retellings by Isa @Mikkuchan07 Day 24 Tweet Archive
Day 25: Someone famous by Alex @alextweetsbooks Day 25 Tweet Archive
Day 26: Travel/road trip romance by Trisha Brown @TrishaHaleyBrwn Day 26 Tweet Archive
Day 27: Rebellious readers by Kat, @Bookthingo, Rudi @Rudi_bee and Gabby  Day 27 Tweet Archive
Day 28: Romancelandia/found family Melinda @MelindaEdits & Meka Mektastic Day 28 Tweet Archive
Day 29: Geeky romances by Corey Alexander @TGStoneButch  Day 29 Tweet Archive
Day 30: All the pairings: Beyond m/f & Heteronormativity Jennifer Porter @JenniferRNN Day 30 Tweet Archive
Day 31: Change-Makers  by Leigh Kramer @hopefulleigh Day 31 Tweet Archive
Thank You!

Every year, I meet new people via #RomBkLove and as result my reading and twitter life is richer. I hope it does that for you too.  See you all on May 1st!

I reviewed The Austen Playbook in Love in Panels:

In the Austen Playbook, Parker delights with a clever opposites-attract romance.

 Set in a crumbling estate begrudgingly opened to a television production crew and a querulous cast of thespians, Parker throws together a grumpy and frustrated theater critic with a charming and impulsive actress. While full of Austen references, it is not a full blown retelling, allowing for the story to surprise by calling back to beloved Austen moments at unexpected points. The conflict embedded in Freddy and Griff’s explicitly Hufflepuff/Slytherin personalities is fodder for much of the humor. While it comes close to becoming repetitive, neither of them become caricatures. Parker’s resolution of the high stakes literary mystery did not wholly satisfy, but I loved how Griff and Freddy worked out their differences.

Parker layers present-day conflicts with past scandals, creating an engaging story that is at once playful and profound. I was completely caught up in the saga of the Fords and Carltons and how the choices of one generation echo down the years. With its cast of colorful, vain, and occasionally villainous supporting players, The Austen Playbook made for a full blown house party mystery from Parker.

The Austen Playbook is one of my favorite reads of the year so far and one of my favorites of the series, perhaps even surpassing my love for Pretty Face.

Content Warnings: Bullying, workplace harrassment 

Although I really liked the characters and the setting this is a DNF review!

This book had a fabulously hot beginning with it is white-hot flirtation/hookup but when I had to bow out when Adrien kept delaying telling Faith a crucial piece of information, and I lost patience with the sight-seeing around NOLA with that hanging over the couple. 

For the rest of the review visit: Love in Panels