I am over at Love in Panels with a review of the third book in Jessie Mihalik's Consortium Rebellion series:

In the final book of the Consortium Rebellion, Chaos Reigning, Catarina the youngest of the von Hasenbergs, takes center stage when the survival of not only her house but the whole Consortium is at stake. Catarina is used to being dismissed by others, hiding her sharp mind and unexpected strength behind frivolous conversations and colorful accessories.

Catarina is a fabulous heroine, with a sparkling personality that hides deep hurts and insecurities. Like the previous books in the series, the books are heroine-centered, with the love interest cast in a decidedly secondary role. While Catarina certainly finds Alexander dangerously irresistible his character arc is supportive to Catarina’s narratively and emotionally, single-minded in his desire to protect Catarina, but struggling on to do so while respecting her wishes.

Mihalik focuses on House politics and intrigue in this novel, with most of the action taking place during a house party, crafting a strong sense of menace and tension in which Catarina is deeply comfortable, knowing the ins and outs of the family relationships, proving her ability to judge the intentions of and cultivate loyalty of those she encounters. I loved the focus on this kind of soft power, despite Catarina’s hidden physical prowess and how central Catarina’s deep friendship with Ying Yamado is.

Mihalik delivers a captivating and satisfying conclusion to the Consortium Rebellion saga, full of adventure and intrigue, but never losing sight of the importance of small moments. While I would read a dozen more books in this universe and I hope she is able to return to it at some point, I am ready to follow Mihalik happily to her next space-faring series because I can trust her to deliver great action, fascinating heroines and supportive heroes.

Content Warnings: Violence, Murder attempts, War, kidnapping, death of parents, Past Trauma: Abuse, non-consensual medical procedures

Ana received an advance copy of this book from the publisher for review.

I binge read this series recently and wrote up a series review for Love in Panels:

A great romantic suspense series needs to be able to balance romantic tension and pulse-pounding action, sustaining the momentum throughout the whole book, while crafting a believable resolution to both the intrigue and the romance. Juno Rushdan’s Final Hour series, packed with spy-thriller staples, secret installations, high-stakes interventions, coupled with fascinating characters and intense plotting delivered a great adrenaline rush and romantic punch. It is rare to be as invested in both the romantic and action story-lines as I was when reading the Final Hour series, but neither the action and romantic tension ever flagged.

The series is not for the soft-hearted, as the MCs cross many bright moral lines, engaging in torture and violence without much in the way of oversight or regrets, as officers for the Gray Box, a secret black-ops off-the-books government-sponsored agency authorized to act nationally and internationally where other agencies can’t.

As romantic suspense can often feel like an overwhelmingly white genre, I was pleasantly surprised by the racially- and neuro-diverse cast, which substituted the typical band of brothers for a more inclusive found family set up, where emotionally scarred officers have found common purpose and companionship. Despite the assumed identities & deadly work, they share baked goods and meet for beers, at least until it becomes evident that a traitor or traitors has infiltrated the team and they must uncover the mole and their hidden agenda.

The first book in the series, Every Last Breath, star-crossed lovers, Cole, the white prodigal son of a Russian mobster and Maddox the biracial daughter of a CIA agent who always meant to bring her into the service are unexpectedly reunited. Each thought each other lost, one believing himself betrayed, the other convinced she was responsible for his death and in order to work together they must unearth painful memories (familial rejection, racial bigotry, traumatic miscarriage) while reexamining their life choices. Struggling to trust each other, they try to infiltrate a secret auction in order to stop a deadly pathogen from being sold into the wrong hands. They have to grapple with both what happened to them as a couple and the people they have become as a result of the trauma they both experienced.

I really loved that neither Cole or Maddox is quite sure just what they want from each other. They ruthlessly investigate each other and treat each other as dangerous assets while at the same time trying to grapple with their wounded feelings. I enjoyed the sexual tension and emotional confusion they experienced as they try to figure out what happened to them and whether there can be anything more than closure for them.

CW: torture, violence, bigotry, past trauma miscarriage, mental illness

Buy a copy: Amazon  ◊  Apple Books  ◊  Barnes & Noble  ◊  Bookshop (Indie Bookstores)  ◊  Kobo

As soon as I finished Every Last Breath, I sought out the next book in the series. I loved how seamlessly Rushdan had introduced the rest of the Gray Box cast, setting up rivalries and tensions in a way that made me eager to read more about these characters without stealing focus and momentum from search for the pathogen. I didn’t care who in the Gray Box I followed next, I knew they all would be super interesting.

In Nothing to Fear, Willow Harper is a brilliant neurodivergent hacker analyst who must go on the run with the emotionally scarred, widowed operative Gideon assigned to investigate her after he becomes convinced she is being set up and he won’t risk her being scapegoated and killed. I loved that Willow is shown to be an incredibly capable person including being her sick father’s primary carer, despite her autism. The pressures she feels to mask her autism in social and work settings are an added pressure, but she is consistently shown to have agency even when on the run. In the end it is Gideon who more clearly struggles communicating and acknowledging his feelings.

There is a very graphic torture sequence in this book as Gideon uses his black site training to try to break a henchman of the big bad. Willow’s acceptance of his choices and refusal to reject him as he is expected is a pivotal moment, but I wished I skimmed the scene more successfully as it is, I am not sure I am able to accept it as heroic.

I also didn’t love the depiction of his late estranged wife as resentful and shallow when he abruptly opts not to pursue a career as professional athlete and instead becomes a secretive CIA assassin, a move that would naturally shock and upset, if their communication and relationship had been strong, which it never was. I would have loved if that whole story thread had been eliminated.

CW: torture, violence, ableism, grief, past trauma: death of family member

Buy a copy: Amazon  ◊  Apple Books  ◊  Barnes & Noble  ◊  Bookshop (Indie Bookstores)  ◊  Kobo

In the final book of the series, Until the End, Castle, Maddox’s brother and former Navy Seal with more than a passing resemblance to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has longed been groomed to be one of the future leaders of the Grey Box, finds his loyalty and principles tested when their leader Bruce Sandborn makes him choose between protecting Kit, his mission target or surrendering her to the Gray Box.

Kit Westcott, is a caretaker and cultivator of talented hackers. Driven by the tragic loss of her brother she has dedicated herself to caring for her found family, until her group the Outliers are brutally killed. Kit is desperate to protect their work while finding out who set them up to be killed despite being handicapped by serious chronic heart condition.

Kit and Castle’s instalove relationship is a departure from the norm, as the previous couples had pre-existing relationships. Kit, with his lone-wolf whispering ways, gets through to Castle in a way no one outside the Grey box has ever been able to do, making her a target and threat to those who have long been able to depend on Castle to do as he is told.

At one point in the book I found myself very troubled by the tone and behavior of a secondary point of view character, but I was gratified to discover as the book unfolded that it was an authorial choice and foreshadowing, and not odd characterization. However, the ending was somewhat unsatisfying in that the heroes of the Gray Box, instead of fully renouncing and recoiling from the misguided choices that lead to the tragic twists in the series, instead seemingly continue the work, sure that they will not be corrupted as the villain was, which is probably true to life. I was curious that the book did seem to leave it set up for further books.

CW: Murder, PTSD, pathogens, medical procedures, drugging, abduction, stalking, past trauma: domestic abuse, suicide.

Buy a copy: Amazon  ◊  Apple Books  ◊  Barnes & Noble  ◊  Bookshop (Indie Bookstores)  ◊  Kobo

Juno Rushdan’s Final Hour series was an intense ride through the dark hearts and minds of the officers and agents ensuring global threats are eradicated in the shadows. Her characters are morally dark, but unflinchingly devoted to their companions and principles, as they face dilemmas that test their commitment to proper protocol. I would never want to be face off against the Grey Box’s operatives, but I would welcome their rescue and I cheered as each one stepped a little ways out of the darkness for the sake of love.

***

This post contains affiliate links. Ana received a digital copy of Until the End from the publisher for review.

I reviewed the 4th book in the Big Bad Wolf Series by Charlie Adhara for Love in Panels

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing has all the hallmarks of a classic house-party mystery: isolated location, communications cut-off due to unexpectedly bad weather and a full cast of shady characters with hidden motivations. Full of tension and secrets, Adhara continues to craft fascinating mysteries while complicating and deepening the relationship between the cross-species crime-solving & romantic partners, Dayton and Park, who in this installment go undercover at a relationship retreat while tracking a missing person.

Adhara continues to tackle traumatic topics, like PTSD and bigotry with care, and it makes each realization by Oliver and Cooper more meaningful and hopeful despite the darkness of Adhara’s world of secretive werewolf packs.

Fans of Oliver and Cooper will love this mystery and be further drawn into this world, while cursing having to wait another year before Cry Wolf comes out. Readers who have not yet jumped on the Big Bad Wolf bandwagon should not hesitate to run off and catch up as Adhara’s rich storytelling and engaging mysteries are worth the investment of reading the prior three.

[Editor's Note: This is Book 4 in an ongoing series following the same couple. If you want to read about the first three, Ana put together a series primer/review.]

Content Warnings: murder, non-consensual medical procedures, mental illness, past trauma: child abuse, torture, guns

Ana received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

I reviewed A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole for Love in Panels

In A Prince on Paper, a made-for-the-tabloids relationship provides a much needed distraction from a kingdom-shaking referendum for Johan and an opportunity to escape for Nya. Nya and Johan at first glance seem an unlikely match, a smothered and cloistered teacher and a globe-trotting serial heart-breaker, yet Cole develops a sweet and believable intimacy rooted in the secrets they share only with each other.

Like the previous installments of Cole’s Reluctant Royals, there are lots of delightfully funny text exchanges, strong friendships, and scene stealing secondary characters. But in this one, Cole also inter-cuts the romance with snippets of a very engaging trickster folktale that Nya is telling Johan and the intrusive notifications for the dating-sim game Nya used to play obsessively. Both narratives allow Nya to explore and make sense of her relationship with Johan, inspiring her to trust and challenge.

I loved the resolution of this romance even if I was initially put off by Johan’s oddly infantilizing nickname “Jo-Jo '' and his frequently over-the-top interjections in Lichenbourgian. However, Cole won me over with his grief-fueled secret agenda to protect his sibling and continue his mother’s philanthropic activities.

A Prince on Paper is tender and funny and highly enjoyable, and make sure you don’t miss Cole’s introduction of the first couple in her new series, Runaway Royals.

Topics: list

I reviewed The AI who loved me by Alyssa Cole (in audiobook) for Love in Panels

Alyssa Cole’s smart, sweet and short science fiction romance playfully mashes multiple tropes into a fun and surprising adventure. It is simply excellent.

Cole creates a compelling cast of characters, full of humor and sass, and casually drops compelling bits of world building all over this story. In a future in which the world has fragmented into techno states that manipulate the news and control people through health care debt, and surveillance is an ever present reality, Trinity Jordan is just a Black woman trying to get better after a near fatal accident. She doesn’t need the complication of being suddenly, inconveniently attracted to her new neighbor, Li Wei, especially when the more she interacts with him the more she is sure things are not what they seem.

Funny, sharp, and refreshing, I loved how the narration highlighted the way Cole intercut Trinity and Li Wei's POV scenes, contrasting their vastly different perspectives along with their interactions with Penny, the apartment complex’s AI, brought to sassy life by Mindy Kaling. I loved how the book seesawed between conversations about the importance of consent and the nature of identity, hilarious exchanges about vocabulary choices, and miscommunications about spiders.

The AI Who Loved Me is a study in contrasts, a dark setting populated by bubbly characters and sexual tension galore, with a twisty story with a deeply philosophical bent. My only disappointment with the story is that the sequel is not immediately available to listen to. If you are looking for darkly funny romance, with great world building and a delightful cast of characters, pick this up!

Content Warnings: Past Trauma: violence, coercion and manipulation

Ana purchased this audiobook.

I loved Xeni and reviewed it over at Love in Panels

In the Loose End series, Weatherspoon is writing HEAs for scene-stealing supporting characters from previous series, and while the romances between the MCs are absolutely central, I am loving the way Weatherspoon also centers the novels around the power of friendships and found families. This ever-present community of caring queer and POC friends, everywhere from the small town Xeni’s Aunt Sabel and Mason call home to Xeni’s Los Angeles, make it safe for Weatherspoon to explore heavy topics such as familial estrangement and biphobia..

The emotional intensity of Weatherspoon’s initial chapters, whether it is Claudia running for life straight in Shep’s arms in Haven, Liz fighting off an attacker in her home in Sanctuary or Sloan arriving home to discover her nanny has walked off the job and left her twin daughters alone at home with no notice in Rafe, powerfully introduce her heroines. We meet Xeni as she stands surrounded by near-strangers at her beloved aunt’s memorial desperately trying not to break down, and from that moment I loved her and wanted her to find her happy. And so it seems did her aunt who has arranged to do some matchmaking from beyond the grave.

Xeni’s inconvenient but necessary husband Mason is a plus-sized gentle but gigantic Scottish musician, who is as trapped as Xeni by her Aunt’s inheritance stipulations but never forgets just how much more painful and inconvenient this all is for Xeni. I loved how he looked for ways to make their temporary marriage be a source of joy, calm and security for her as she tried to sort out the truth after the startling will reading. From distracting her with kisses and later orgasms, to cooking for her at the end of a long day, and to helping her pack and sort through her Aunt’s house, Mason soon makes himself both irresistible and essential to Xeni even as they are both convinced their marriage will not last.

I am not a fan of instalust/instalove romances, but I adored the fated-mate energy to Xeni and Mason’s courtship. They have fantastic chemistry and easy rapport, so much so that Xeni can only come to believe that there is magic at work. But even as they have fantastic sex, from scorching hot pegging to tender kissing and cuddling, but they never lose sight of the peculiar intensity of being forced together in this way,  just how much they don’t know about each other, and how much work they need to put into figuring out their family dramas. I was disappointed, however, about how the ending was structured, with too much of that work recapped and summed up in an abbreviated way. Their reunion lacked the emotional intensity, I was craving, although it still left me happy and hopeful for both of them, knowing them to be surrounded by folks who accept them, love them and want them thrive.

While it is mighty hard to top the sexy sweetness of last year’s Rafe I adored Xeni. While Xeni is a great deal angstier than Rafe, it was equally engrossing and hard to put down.

Content Warnings: Mention of past miscarriage, mention of past abortion, biphobia, homophobia, Past trauma: emotional abuse and coercion, grief, death of family member

Ana purchased this book.

I've been very busy for the past few months with podcasting and I have simply not gotten around to updating anything on this site.

For those of you who don't follow me on twitter, sorry!

Here is what is new:

I am co-hosting a #RomBkLove inspired podcast, called #Rombkpod with several fantastic fellow readers, Meka, Melinda, Sarah Jean, and Danie, held together by our producer Sarah.  You can find our podcast at all the usual places. We recently passed 1,600 downloads, and I am so excited to see our audience growing and to do our part in concentrating on talking about the fantastic inclusive romances out there.

I also agreed to be part of the Ripped Bodice Excellence in Romance Writing award's inaugural judging panel.  I am thrilled to be part of such a fantastic body and I look forward to our book nomination discussion when the year draws to a close. 

At the end of the year I am leaving the #readRchat team.  It has been fabulous to work with Ellie and be part of this community. However with all my new projects I need to let some stuff go. I know Ellie and MaryLynne are looking for new folks to help crafting a monthly slate of questions.  If you have a passion for romance chat on twitter please contact them and let them know you are interested.  I know they are very interested in hearing from LGBTQIA and POC readers as we are always seeking to lift up more non-white cis het voices in romance.

What is still true:

I am still reviewing over at Love in Panels.  I am proud to be part of this project, especially when my editor and co-reviewers do such amazing things like putting together the Romance for RAICES auction.  If you don't already support us on Patreon, would you consider doing so?

I am still podcasting, Beyond the Sectors with Chelsea, but we are rapidly running out of published Kit Rocha Beyondverse books, so we will likely go on hiatus after next few  episodes. But if you love Kit Rocha as much as we do, please listen, and let us know what you think.

Rombklove will be back next May but in the mean time check out RombkPod as I have made a point of reaching out to a lot of our past participants and inviting them as guests and cohosts. If you are a POC, LGBTQIA blogger or reader and interested in taking part. Let me know. 

I am also doing quite a bit of sensitivity reading for Puerto Rican Latinx characters. This year, I have read for, Mia Sosa, Ruby Lang, Lucy Eden, Alexis Daria, among others. If you want to learn about my rates and what I offer, please email me at anacoqui @ gmail dot com. 

What I've read and you might have missed:

First of all I keep a bookthread on twitter with everything I have read. I write bullet reviews there and it helps me keep track of my reading.

The 2019 #bookthread:

1. Resisting Desire (Rogue Nights) by Talia Hibbert (m/f, contemp., novella).

A web journalist receiving threats seek shelter with her brother’s BFF who broke her heart after a passionate encounter. Big soft hero

(CW: death threats, past harassment)

— Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) January 1, 2019

You can also find a list of all my Love in Panels reviews here: https://www.loveinpanels.com/prose/author/ana-coqui

These are all the book I have reviewed there since I last updated this blog:

The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker

Proper English by KJ Charles

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

American Fairy Tale by Adriana Herrera

Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

Alisha Rai and The Right Swipe: A Conversation About Modern Love

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews

Flying with Angels and Hunters - Nalini Singh's Guild Hunters Series intro and overview.

Archangel's War by Nalini Singh

American Love Story by Adriana Herrera

Gilded Cage by KJ Charles

Grumpy Jake by Melissa Blue

Get a Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

I wrote a Top 5 list that mentions 35 books for Suzanne and that will be out next month over at LiP. This has been a great reading year.

I can't wait to see what 2020  has in store for us!

I reviewed Get a Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert at Love in Panels

In Hibbert’s first traditionally published romance, she continues to highlight prickly heroines and the sweet heroes who are determined to love them. Although I only had a mild appreciation of her novellas I found myself loving this novel wholeheartedly, more than living up to the anticipation and hype. The novel felt fully satisfying and complete, establishing, building up and then resolving a full story. Hibbert's use of situational humor and word play cushions the heavy themes she addresses in this story such as ableism, abandonment, domestic abuse and mortality.

In Get a Life, Chloe Brown, Chloe and Red are both recovering from their own traumas, Chloe re-learning to have a full life after drawn out and difficult diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and Red from the end of abusive romantic relationship. Hibbert focuses on their journeys toward greater self-realization and agency, and learning to build boundaries while accepting love and support.

The climactic conflict felt organic and inevitable, growing from both their insecurities and soft spots.

The audio narration by Adjoa Andoh was fun and engaging. I particularly enjoyed the distinction between Red’s gruff working class accent and Chloe’s posh and prim accent. Andoh also did a great job contrasting Red and Chloe’s effusive inner monologues with their more restrained and terse dialogue, which built on the way Hibbert used that gap to develop their characters and show just how much both are working to protect their fragile hearts. Hibbert skillfully uses what isn’t said, what is misunderstood, what is assumed to build natural conflict between Red and Chloe and lead naturally to the resolution of it too. My only complaint is that a lot of fantastically interesting supporting characters such as Chloe’s pushy Caribbean extended family faded to the background midway only to roar back near the end and play a pivotal role in the conflict.

Hibbert continues to prove with Get a Life, Chloe Brown that crafting romance novels with deeply layered representation (race, class, identity, disability and trauma) that are also funny and a joy to read/listen is possible. I am now eagerly anticipating the next book in the series with Chloe’s bossy big sister Danni and once you read Get a Life, Chloe Brown, I am sure you will be too.

Content Warnings: past trauma: ableism, past trauma: domestic abuse, abandonment

Ana received an audio copy of this book for review via Libro.fm