Paranormal

Chloe Neill and Chicagoland Vampires mini-reviews

The Heroic Hearts Anthology series reminded me of how engrossing it can be sink my teeth (heh) into a new urban fantasy universe.  Based on the short story I read I wanted to read more.  The short story:

 

Silverspell by Chloe Neill. A Katana wielding Vampire princess & An Alpha shifter prince team up to track down a coven of witches looking to stop or start the apocalypse. Intrigued CWs: murder, kidnapping, magical coercion.

 

It featured characters from Neill's second series featuring vampires in Chicago, The Heirs of Chicagoland series.  I quickly read the first two, before wanting to go back and read the original series.  I then proceed to read about the original couple,  Ethan and Merit, who have a hot and cold relationship through the early books.  I am not sure I am going to read all  of the original series, but I know have enough context to really sink into the second series.

Min Reviews for the Heirs of Chicagoland Series:

Wild Hunger by Chloe Neill (UF with Rom elements, WW/WM, Chicago-set) Elisa, the only vampire born not made, returns home to Chicago to grapple with secrets, new love interest and try to keep fairies from derailing peace talks. (CWs: murder, kidnapping, betrayal).

Wicked Hour by Chloe Neill (UF with Rom Elements, WW/WM, Road-trip). Elisa keeps growing into her power, coming to terms with her monster and falling deeper in love with Connor. (CWs: murder, betrayal by leadership ignoring a sexual predator) . Highly enjoyable cast.

Shadowed Steel by Chloe Neill (PNR/UF WM/WW, Heirs of Chicagoland #3). Consequences of choices push Elisa to claim her ground & independence and forge a stronger bond with Connor (CWs: stalking, murder, kidnapping, mentally ill antagonist).

Devouring Darkness by Chloe Neill (Heirs of Chicagoland 4, UF /PNR, WM/WW)I’ve really enjoyed how Neill has had the heirs grow in power, experience & independence from their parents while still loving them! (CWs: prejudice, blood magic, betrayal) .

I really love how Connor and Elise talk through their conflicts and set boundaries with each other and their parents.  A lot of the series focuses on this second generation finding their place and their own identities while trying to keep loving relationships with their powerful parents.  Learning how to ask for help and learning when to go it alone.

 

Mini Review for Chicagoland Vampires:

Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill (Chicagoland Vampires 1, UF with Rom WM/WW) Turned without her consent, Merit must overcome her resentment to work with her new Liege to unconver who is targeting and killing women. CWs: violence, murder, toxic parents, HP references.

Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill (Chicagoland Vampires, UF, WM/WM)  Merit's romantic entanglements prove a flashpoint in her relationship with her best-friend Mallory who is dealing with her own monumental life change.  Neill doesn't hesitate to show Merit make mistakes in dealing with people she loves and care about, including being unfair to Morgan, Mallory and Catcher. CWs: murder, betrayal, violence, HP references.

Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill (UF, WM/WW, Chicagoland Vampires series). Ethan is an ass but he is 400 yr vamp.  Merit and Ethan consummate their attraction but Ethan immediately backtrack when he is unsettled by the strength of his interest. CWs: murder, betrayal, violence, HP references.

 

I am not a huge fan of hot/cold relationships and unilateral decision making so  I am not sure if I am going to sign on for the rest of this series, but I do enjoy the politics, especially the tensions between groups that public versus those who are closeted.  The major themes revolve around solidarity and mutual aid which have strong queer undertones.

 


Heroic Hearts Anthology


Heroic heartsLast year when this came out I put it in my mental wish-list...but I just wasn't going to plunk down full price for a collection of short stories where I was only likely to read 2 of the stories.  Thankfully one of the libraries I used finally bought the audio version!

I jumped in and read the last one first,  Patricia Briggs whose story was Asil Moreno, who is one my favorite characters.  It was very much worth the wait, I then read Anne Bishop's story, which I enjoyed while cringing again at the brutality.  To my great surprise, I ended up reading and enjoying almost all the stories and I have gone out already grabbed books by several of the authors (Annie Bellet, Chloe Neill & Jennifer Brozek) whose books I had never read before.

  • Dating Terrors by Patricia Briggs. After reading Asil in Roses in Winter…I remembered that I hadn’t tracked this story down yet! And now I want a dozen stories of Asil, Ruby & her gang of ghost “hunters”. CWs: abuse, abduction, violence

  • The Dark Ship by Anne Bishop. I love the world of the Others but oof there is always so much brutality! Set in the Mediterranean CWs: toxic abusive patents, scarring, threat of SA, fascism, violence, gore.

  • Little Things by Jim Butcher. The narration by James Marsters is what sold me on this story of sprite defending his Knight when all the big people dismiss them. CWs: violence, grief.

  • Comfort Zone by Kelley Armstrong. I liked how complicated all the conflicts in this story are, how nothing is simple but everything is, in that the best thing to do is to talk to each other. CWs: violence, murder, lying, minor in danger.

  • Train to Last Hope by Annie Bellet. Despair drove them apart when their teen daughter disappeared, but one last lead, brings them back together. Cried in the car listening. CWs: grief, murder, violence, kidnapping.

  • Fire Hazard by Kevin Hearne. Extremely goofy story, Oberon, Atticus’ wolfhound relates the story set during the Australian Wildfires. CWs: violence, arson, ass candles.

  • Graves Gambles by RR Virdi. Body jumping (quantum leap-like) monster hunter shuts down luck stealing leprechaun CWs: child abduction, murder, suicide. Ick, not for me.

  • Silverspell by Chloe Neill. A Katana wielding Vampire princess & An Alpha shifter prince team up to track down a coven of witches looking to stop or start the apocalypse. Intrigued CWs: murder, kidnapping, magical coercion.

  • Troll Life by Kerrie L. Hughes. Station Master of a sentient rail line protect young runaways from vampires and wizards. CWs: slavery, kidnapping, abuse, violence.

  • The Return of the Mage by Charlaine Harris. Mercenaries go back for one of their mages 20 years after he went missing, nothing is what one expects. I liked it but it felt like set up. CWs: violence, deaths, toxic rulers.

  • The Vampires Karamazov by Nancy Holder.  Such a snore. Not for me. Cw: murder, cat calling, violence, spiritual elements

  • The Necessity of Pragmatic Magic by Jennifer Brozek.  Old witches avert disaster at a little museum. Loved the interplay between them. Would read more CWs: mental clouding,

 

 

 


Bear with Me by Mae Marvel

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Bear with Me by Mae Marvel

My second book of the year was a #shopmyshelves choice. I got this free novella by Mae Marvel, the pen name for  the writing duo of Ruthie Knox and Anne Mare ( who used to write as Mary Ann Rivers) as newsletter freebie.

A small town on the edge of one of the remotest US National Parks a Park interpreter and resident Kodiak bear expert is inspired to create the Fat Bear Bracket after she develops a fascination for one bear in particular and want everyone to notice her awesome bear-ness.  While she can do countless interviews about the resident bears once her bracket goes viral, but at the same time she can't find the words to speak to Lauren, her next-door neighbor and longtime crush.

The story was wonderful exploration on being, intimacy and trust-building.

I hesitate to label this a PNR because although it features a love interest that can turn into a bear, Marvel choose to intentionally not focus on the mechanics of that.  She changes into a bear and the author encourages you to just go with it, and not overthink, much like Mira is challenged to do.

PNR, Lesbian, White Cis Women. Arborist and National Park Service Interpreter.

Fat Bear Week, mutual pining, big secret, meddling small town, obnoxious friend

No Lore.  (as acknowledged in the content notes)

Story about trust, intimacy, feelings to big to name, and relationships that are worth the risk of pain and complications.

Cw: violence, dangerous interaction with Animals.


Magic Tides by Ilona Andrews

5179fHOeehL._SY346_Kate and Curran are deep into renovating their new home on the Carolina coast, a fresh start for all of them after leaving Atlanta and all its claims behind them. But nothing is never that simple, Kate, Curran and Conlan might be in a new city but they can’t leave themselves behind. They will always help those who need helping and keep those close to them safe…even if it means taking on powerful new foes.

It was just a delight to reconnect with Kate and family. We’ve seen them at fringes of other stories since Kate’s story officially ended…new people have taken their places, others grown into new powers and responsibilities but they are not diminished. They have gone to new places and are taking other roles, in this case safeguarding Conlon’s childhood but when a person is in need, they step up.

The Andrews are a consistent auto-but for me, but I don’t keep up on their weekly blog posts or serialized stories so that I can enjoy them in big delicious gulps. When I got the unsolicited ARC in my inbox just as I finished reading Sweep of the Heart at the end of the year I knew it was going to be great and it didn’t let me down.

Release date Jan 17

CWs: child abductions, violence, gore, murder


Mini-Reviews 2022: December

December reading is like much of the past year. Full of romantic suspense and books by much trusted authors like Nora Roberts, Ilona Andrews and Molly Harper.  I have also begun what will likely be my next binge author, Louise Penny whose Armand Gamache mysteries have completely  charmed me.

 

111. Nightwork by Nora Roberts (WM/WW, thief, Cw: cancer)  the first 1/3 of this book is all about Booth and his journey into larceny as a child to support his mother dying of cancer.  It is super compelling and I cried so hard. Romance is 2nd chance. Cw:crimes,lies, betrayal.

112. Carnal Innocence by Nora Roberts (WM/WW, violinist, Mississippi delta, serial killer, CWs: murder, depictions of racism, racist violence & slurs)

 

I should have quit this. I guessed the murderer early on & the rest was just a mess. Might do good for this to go out of print.

113. Hidden Riches (WM/WW, cop/antiques dealer, grumpy neighbor/sunshine landlord).  A shipping mishap, an auction & obsessed collector’s minions combine for an engrossing story. Cried buckets at the end. (CWs: grief, rape attempts, guns, murder, past trauma: child abuse )

114. Sweep of the Heart  by Ilona Andrews (UF, WM/WW, intergalactic spouse selection competition!) the innkeeper books are a non-stop roller coaster and this one was a fantastic ride ( CWs: grief, murder, betrayal, violence and shenanigans).

115. Witches get Stuff Done by Molly Harper (audible audio original WM/WW, witch/librarian) When Riley inherits a ghost-stuffed manor, she finds purpose, community & romance. 1st in series (CWs: grief, murder, harassment, secrets) .

116. Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths (Harbinder Kaur #3, contemporary mystery series, lesbian Anglo-Indian DI) A death at a school reunion with ties to a long-ago death of student, untangles memories and relationships (CW: murder, betrayal, buried memories).

117. Still Life by Louise Penny (WM Québécois Detective, small town murder mystery) this has long been on the TBR but finishing the tv series spurred me to meet the real characters. Really rich storytelling (Cw: murder, homophobia, bullying, kidnapping, fatphobia).

118. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache 2, WM, Québécois detective) the first two ep of the book are based on this and wow there is just so much that doesn’t make it in!  Would you know God? Cw: emotional abuse, fatphobia, mental illness, past trauma: abandonment

119. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (WM Québécois detective, IGM #3) the murder takes a backseat to the machinations of those looking to force Gamache out.  (CWs: fatphobia, murder,betrayal, guns).

120. A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny (IGM #4, WM, québécois Detective)

 

A rich estranged family gather and soon one in murdered.  Vastly different than the TV adaptation. 

 

CWs: murder, child endangerment, emotional abuse, slut-shaming, name-calling.


#Rombklove 2020 Day 2: Space Romance / Romance espacial

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RomBkLove  2020 Day 2: Space Rom/Romance espacial

#Rombklove 2020 Day2: Space romances are out of this world! What are some of your favorites? What makes this setting unique?


Rombklove 2020, día 2: ¡Los romances espaciales son algo de otro mundo! ¿Cuáles son tus favoritos? ¿Qué hace que sean únicos?

Day 2: Archive

GR BookLists:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/147762.RomBkLove_2020_Space_Romance_1

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/147762.RomBkLove_2020_Space_Romance_1

 

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. 

For a list of all of these month's prompts and archives go to: https://www.anacoqui.com/2020/04/rombklove-2020-celebrating-inclusive-romance-during-a-pandemic.html



 

 

 

 

 


#Rombklove 2020: Day 1: Comfort Reads / Lecturas reconfortantes

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RomBkLove  2020 Day 1: Comfort Reads / Lecturas reconfortantes is hosted by Heather Lire

#Rombklove 2020 Day 1: Comfort Reads. What books do you turn to when everything else is hard? Angsty? Light? What comforts you? @heatherlire shares her list of comfort reads


#Rombklove 2020, día 1: ¿Qué libros son tu refugio cuando todo lo demás falla? ¿Prefieres lecturas profundas o ligeras? ¿Qué te levanta el ánimo? @heatherlire comparte su lista de lecturas reconfortantes.

 

By day Heather is a hard-working high school Spanish teacher. By night she's a contemporary romance author, and book reviewer. Heather writes under the names Heather Lire and Kenzie MacLir & has run the review website The Book Reading Gals since it's inception in 2008.

 

Heather  has made her post available in English and Spanish!

Day 1: Archive

GR BookLists:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/147733.RomBkLove_2020_Comfort_Reads_1

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/147756.RomBkLove_2020_Comfort_Reads_2

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/147758.RomBkLove_2020_Comfort_Reads_3

 

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. 

For a list of all of these month's prompts and archives go to: https://www.anacoqui.com/2020/04/rombklove-2020-celebrating-inclusive-romance-during-a-pandemic.html


Love in Panels Review: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Big Bad Wolf #4) by Charlie Adhara

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.


Review: The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller

Alva Webster is staking what is left of her fortune and tattered reputation on restoring an abandoned and some think haunted house in Upstate New York. Naturally she thinks Professor Samuel Moore’s enthusiastic approach is yet another improper but too common proposition.  As fascinated as Sam is about the prickly and sharp widow, it is her ghost that most interests Sam, a wildly successful inventor from a renowned family of scientists. When contractors flee her house in terror, she reluctantly agrees to partner with Professor Moore in hopes of debunking the ghosts stories and getting her restoration project back on track, but instead find herself drawn into a complex mystery and sure to be hopeless romance.  I was utterly charmed by this debut, so much so that I ordered a print copy of the book for my keeper after reading a library copy. Biller does a fantastic job creating a sympathetic yet prickly heroine, whose traumatic history rightfully makes her wary of marriage and romance. Biller does a fantastic job of unraveling both Alva and the ghost’s past traumas, and carefully building up the romance and tension between Alva and Sam. I loved the way Biller had Sam confront his enormous privilege without zapping away his hopefulness and enthusiasm. I loved how Biller allowed Alva to regain agency in her life, while at the same time learning to trust and rely on others.  

 

I highly recommend The Widow of Rose House to lovers of mystery with supernatural elements and all those who enjoy seeing an MC break free and find love, family and purpose after a life of trauma. 

 

Content Warnings:Ableism, domestic abuse, mental illness, Murder


Love in Panels Post: Looking Back -- 15 Favorites from 2005 to 2019

I put together this list for Love in Panels:

 

Sometimes the urge to do something is so strong you just have to go with it. I’ve been reading romance for close to a decade and as we close this decade I felt a great necessity to look back at the Romance novels that marked me as a reader. Although I only started reading romance seriously during 2010, I started with what my library collection had, so my first romance novels were really books that had been out for years (Balogh, Kleypas, Quinn, Garwood, Dodd, Krentz and Chase). They were an excellent crash course on romance, if Romance is only for white, cis, straight historical ladies. I don’t regret reading them, I just regret thinking they were the only things out there.

This list is not some prescriptive list of the best books in the last decade but a survey of the books I’ve read over the past decade that I can still look back at fondly and that I think still have something to say to romance readers.

This post contains affiliate links (in the book titles).

twilight2005 -- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Much maligned and mocked I still have a special place in my heart for Twilight which I read in that transitional time where I learned that I loved reading about relationships and I wanted happy endings. Full of classic PNR and gothic elements, and found family feels, I can happily admit that Twilight sucked me in and I enjoyed the journey, especially the more bananas it got.

(CW: Violence, murder)

slave-to-sensation2006 -- Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (Psy-Changelings #1)

This was one of the first romances I ever read. Singh’s intricate world building appealed to my SF/F reader heart. I still love the core story, that of a MC who thinks they can’t feel or that they are broken beyond helping, finding their power and community. I still love romances where the MC not only find each other but find their people and a new way to live.

(CW: Violence, murder)

the-mane-event2007 -- The Mane Event by Shelly Laurenston ( Pride #1)

I love Laurenston’s madcap adventures and feral heroines. I love her sense of the ridiculous whether she is writing as G.A. Aiken or Shelly Laurenston. Although I discovered this series as the 11th book was coming out, I immediately went back and read the rest. No one piles up more supporting characters, over top aggression and ridiculous fights into her novels than Laurenston and that is 100% an endorsement. (CW: Violence)

cry-wolf2008 -- Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs (Alpha and Omega #1)

I still remember what I was doing when I listened to Anna and Charles’s first encounter. They are still one of my favorite romantic pairings, as they are so very different but they bring out the best in each other. Romances frequently put MCs through the wringer, but I love that Briggs has built Anna back up slowly and carefully, honoring the work that trauma survivors have to put in to heal while always being true to the hopefulness of their love together.

(CW: Abuse, violence, murder, Past trauma: Sexual assault, abduction, forced turning)

not-quite-a-husband2009 -- Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas

This polarizing second chance romance blew my mind with its conflict and angst when I first read it and I still think about it. Thomas always challenges me with her romances, with the obstacles she places between her MCs and with the pain she deals them.

(CW: non-consensual sex)

the-forbidden-rose2010 -- The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne

Marguerite, wily, flinty and fierce is one of my favorite heroines. Doyle’s respect and devotion are swoon worthy and Hawker’s acidic commentary is the best. I think of these novels as Historical Romantic Suspense, they raised my expectations of all Historical romance through their fabulous plotting, sublime characterizations and settings.

(CW: torture, incarceration, murder attempts, political oppression)

dragon-bound2011 -- Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

The most unequal of power dynamics, the alpha-iest alpha to ever alpha and a little thief who outsmarts him, when she should be the one outmatched. Harrison’s Dragos is deliciously overbearing, a dragon who only looks like a man and Pia a delight, as she waltzes into his life and truly overturns it. I loved the world, and all the different supporting characters.

(CW: dubious consent, violence).

beyond-shame2012 -- Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha

I picked up this novel expecting darkly erotic biker club energy and instead I found a series that had darkness and eroticism but so much more. The O’Kanes grow from a scrappy band of bootleggers into world-changing revolutionaries working to make the world safer for love and family. The books are supremely queer and kinky, full of loving constructive community and belonging. They hold up to multiple re-readings, as I find deeper connections each time I do a re-read.

(CW: guns, violence, attempted sexual assault, BDSM, Past trauma: repression, banishment)

[Editor's Note - Remember that Ana has a podcast dedicated to this series!]

the-lotus-palace2013 -- The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin

By 2013 I was burning out on Historical Romance. I had read pretty much all I could bear about overheated ballrooms, weak ratafia and reformed rakes. I thought I was done with Historical Romance. But when I picked up The Lotus Palace, I realized there were a whole lot of historical romances to discover. My World History loving heart loved immersing itself in a new environment, with different strictures and conventions and MCs who don’t give up when things seem hopeless.

(CW: murder)

sweet-disorder2014 -- Sweet Disorder by Rose Lerner

If The Lotus Palace showed me how rich historical romance could be when it stopped centering White Brits, Lerner’s Sweet Disorder showed me that I could love UK historicals again, if I looked for books where the rich and perfect are not in the center. Lerner’s flawed, grumpy, fat heroine, and war-ravaged disabled hero find love and the wrong time and in the wrong person, and their love is irresistible.

(CW: Grief, Poverty, Past Trauma: War)

seditious2015 -- A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles

KJ Charles is one of my favorite writers and A Seditious Affair is one of her best. This enemies to lovers story is full of layers of complication, as class, politics, loyalty, and kink mix into an explosive brew. The resolution is a jaw dropping, roller coaster and it made me so happy to read.

forbidden2016 -- Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins

Forbidden was the first Jenkins novel I read and it is still one of my favorites with its indomitable heroine (she is determined to carry that cookstove with her through the desert), conflicted hero (who has a huge choice to make) and its deeply researched history. I loved the tension between Rhine and Eddy and how Jenkins captures the rich and complicated stew of relationships people of color, Latino, Asian and Native American had in the West, reclaiming book by book that history from all that want to whitewash it.

wrongtoneedyou2017 -- Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai

Everything about Wrong to Need You worked for me. I loved Sadia, her love for her sisters, her feelings about her family expectations for her, her regrets about Paul, her love for her son and both her anger and her love for Jackson. I loved how Jackson and Sadia work out those feelings and face up to the pain of disappointing family and the power of standing with the people you love.

thirsty2018 -- Thirsty by Mia Hopkins

Starkly realistic, Hero only-POV, and super steamy, Thirsty is a lot of things I don’t usually read anymore, but Sal’s story of building a life, when everything seems orchestrated to drive him to despair and not only finding an unexpected passion and someone who convinces him that he is worthy of love was frankly astounding. Sal journey is one that inspires empathy and gives hope while not ignoring stark realities, and that is something romance does when it is at its best.

get-a-life-chloe-brown2019 -- Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

I was so surprised by this book. It did everything I wanted a book to do this year. It was hopeful, true and is showcased a world full of intersecting identities. It is wit and fantasy just added to the trueness of core story. Of people screwing up royally while learning to reach for love and letting others truly know them and love them back.

Ten years of Romance reading and fifteen years of books that have helped me through many hard days, weeks and years. Books that celebrate love in all its many incarnations, books that let me see in to more intimate moments of other people’s lives and help me process my own. These books are worth celebrating, reading and loving. I hope you love them as much as I do.

Topics: list