Contemporary Romance

Review: Yes & I Love You

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Title: Yes & I Love You (Say everything #1)
Author: Roni Loren
Date of publication: 2 March 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Mental health rep

Author's links:

My rating: 3 Stars

Blurb 

Everyone knows Miz Poppy, the vibrant reviewer whose commentary brightens the New Orleans nightlife. But no one knows Hollyn, the real face behind the media star...or the fear that keeps her isolated. When her boss tells her she needs to add video to her blog or lose her job, she's forced to rely on an unexpected source to help her face her fears.

When aspiring actor Jasper Deares finds out the shy woman who orders coffee every day is actually Miz Poppy, he realizes he has a golden opportunity to get the media attention his acting career needs. All he has to do is help Hollyn come out of her shell…and through their growing connection, finally find her voice.

Review

This was a very interesting romance, a first for me in some ways. It's the first time I read a romance with an MC who has Tourette's. I can only judge the representation from an outsider's perspective and I would say it was done with care and compassion. 

I am a fan of Roni Loren, her The Ones Who Got Away series is super despite the heavy subject matter it deals with. I had great hopes for this new series as well and while there were a lot of things that I loved about it, it also had a number of flaws in my eyes. 

The start was great, Hollyn was such an amazing heroine. Her POV gives us a deep insight in her life and daily struggles with Tourette's and social anxiety. She is brave and determined, working to build her personal and professional life. She is so vulnerable, has scars from being bullied in school and then sheltered at home. Yet she is putting herself out there, doing things, taking risks, but also making grown up plans, acting responsibly. And she gets professional help for her mental health issues. And strong support from her best friend (more on him later because there is a lot to that plotline). 

The hero, on the other hand, I have mixed feelings about him. Jasper is a struggling improv actor with ADHD. Hollyn finds very attractive, there is great chemistry between them. Neither of them feels ready for a relationship and they try things as friends-with-benefits, and naturally end up catching feelings. 

I am convinced of his unconditional love, awe even, of Hollyn, but at the same time I can't help but feel that she deserved better, someone taking real care not to hurt her or make her life more difficult. Jasper came off as too immature, he was trying hard to be better, to act like a grown up, but failed repeatedly. He did a couple of things through the story that are inexcusable in my book and she just forgave him all too easily.

I also felt there is some issues regarding the balance of power in their relationship - she was an entertainment reviewer and a positive review of his improv group was make or break for them. There is this underlying doubt that he was with her only to further his career. 

Going back to her best friend. I loved that she had a best friend who cared so much for her and then, boom their relationship took an unexpected turn that I was so annoyed with. I felt there was no need for it, it was unfair both to her and to him. 

Overall, after a great start, this romance didn't go as great as I expected. The story tried to cover too many issues and some fell into the background, and ultimately the HEA was not convincing enough for me. I would say it is still worth reading this romance, even if for Hollyn alone.

CW: social anxiety, MC with Tourette's, ADHD rep, parental neglect

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Alexis Hall

Review: Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

02:30

Title: Something Fabulous 
Author: Alexis Hall
Genre/Themes: Queer historical romp
Release Date: 25 Jan 2022

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Goodreads / Instagram

My rating: 5 Stars


Blurb 

Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.

It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.

Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.

Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.

Review

This is a lovely, light-hearted and fun, more full-on silly at times, Regency m/m romance and I enjoyed every minute of it. It's an opposites attract kind of romance, where the MCs go on a wild chase and have the most ridiculous adventures and in the mean time fall in love.

Valentine, the Duke of Malvern, has my whole heart. He spends most of the story in a state of profound confusion, physically uncomfortable and in deep emotional turmoil. It's not just that his life is completely overturned, his worldview is shaken to its core, his understanding of who he is and what he wants/can have in life is dramatically changed. And it's not an easy journey for him. I wanted to give him the biggest hug and tell him that everything will be all right, that happiness and love is very much in the cards for him. He is demisexual and I loved how that was represented in the story and found it very relatable on a personal level. His whole story touched me deeply.

And then we got Bonny who all light and bright colours and joy. The way he treated Valentine, the way he loved him, it was glorious and sexy and tender and so, so life-affirming.

This is truly a warm hug of a book full of queer people in Regency times living fulfilling, happy lives, on their own or with a partner.

I tend to go for high drama, high conflict romance and this was exactly the opposite and it worked brilliantly for me. It's the perfect escape read for stressful times that made me very happy and content.

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Anita Kelly

Review: Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

02:30

Title: Love & Other Disasters
Author: Anita Kelly
Date of publication: 18 Jan 2022
Genre: Contemporary romance, f/non-binary, cooking show

Author's links:

My rating: 3.5 stars


Blurb

Recently divorced and on the verge of bankruptcy, Dahlia Woodson is ready to reinvent herself on the popular reality competition show Chef’s Special. Too bad the first memorable move she makes is falling flat on her face, sending fish tacos flying—not quite the fresh start she was hoping for. Still, she's focused on winning, until she meets someone she might want a future with more than she needs the prize money.

After announcing their pronouns on national television, London Parker has enough on their mind without worrying about the klutzy competitor stationed in front of them. They’re there to prove the trolls—including a fellow contestant and their dad—wrong, and falling in love was never part of the plan.

As London and Dahlia get closer, reality starts to fall away. Goodbye, guilt about divorce, anxiety about uncertain futures, and stress from transphobia. Hello, hilarious shenanigans on set, wedding crashing, and spontaneous dips into the Pacific. But as the finale draws near, Dahlia and London’s steamy relationship starts to feel the heat both in and outside the kitchen—and they must figure out if they have the right ingredients for a happily ever after.

Review
This a debut novel for Anita Kelly (they have some novellas previously released) and my first one of hers I read. Overall, it is a lovely romcom where a lot of things worked great for me, but I still had some issues here and there. 

This is a f/nb romance and it is not my place to comment on the non-binary rep, I can comment on what I liked/disliked about them as a romance character. I did like lot about London - their insecurities, their grumpiness. They came off as aloof and somewhat cold but we also see them being passionate about the things they cared about. They loved their family and this cause some major conflict regarding their acceptance for who they are. They were also passionate about cooking, their dream to make music. And Dahlia!

Dalhia was messed, recently divorced, almost broke, pinning all her dreams and hope on winning the cooking show. I appreciate that she wanted to follow her dreams  and she left her marriage when she realised her husband and her have different dreams. At the same time she also read immature to me, whiny, her constant I-don't-know-what-I-want mood was annoying. I wanted her to go for the things that made her happy and not complain so much about the difficulties in her life.

I really liked the romance, there is great chemistry between the MCs, lot of open discussion of body image, desire, sexuality, explicit consent. At the same time I had some issues. On the one hand the way London sexualised Dahlia all the time made me uncomfortable, it was on the verge of creepy, especially in the beginning when the two of them were not a couple yet. London acted like a macho alpha romance hero when it came to Dahlia and I was not a fan of that.  There are explicit sex scenes in this book which I mostly liked but the one involving the use of fruits in the bedroom was weird and didn't work for me at all. 

There was not a lot of conflict regarding the romance, the focus was more of families, personal goals in life and that was OK. There was a third-act break up which could have been handled better but I just went it. 

The cooking show was fun, presented in its complexity, lot of diverse participants, we get to see some of the behind-the-scene actions that is not very glamorous. 

All in all, this is an interesting debut with a good balance of funny and serious, still it is far from perfect.

CW: transphobia, misgendering, social anxiety, family rejection

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Emily Sullivan

Review: The Rebel and the Rake by Emily Sullivan

02:30

Title: The Rebel and the Rake (League of Scoundrels #2)
Author: Emily Sullivan
Date of publication: 28 Dec 2021
Genre: Historical romance

Author's links:

My rating: 4 stars

Blurb

He holds her fate in his hands—she holds his heart in hers.

Rafe Davies might seem like just another charismatic rake, but in reality, he is one of the crown’s most valuable agents. As relentless as he is reckless, Rafe has never come upon a mission he couldn’t complete. But when he encounters the intriguing-yet-prickly lady’s companion Miss Sylvia Sparrow while on assignment at a Scottish house party, he finds himself thoroughly distracted by the secretive beauty.

Though most women would be thrilled to catch the eye of a tall, dark, and dangerously handsome man, Sylvia is through with that sort of adventure. She trusted the wrong man once and paid for it dearly. The fiery bluestocking is resolved to avoid Rafe, until a chance encounter between them reveals the normally irreverent man’s unexpected depths—and an attraction that’s impossible to ignore. But when Sylvia begins to suspect she isn’t the only one harboring a few secrets, she realizes that Rafe may pose a risk to far more than her heart . . .

Review

This was my first book by Emily Sullivan and it's been such a delight. It is the second in the series but stands completely on its own.

I loved so many things in it - the writing worked great for me and I found the story engaging. I care fore both MCs right from the start and appreciate seeing life in the Victorian era in Europe was more than ballroom dancing and gossip.

This story has so many secrets at its heart, it made for a wild ride indeed. The heroine is a rebel, a suffragette in hiding, pretending to be something else. The hero is very much in hiding as well, he is a spy, spending his time playing a part. Their connection is based initially on seeing the true self of the other person behind the mask they wear in front of others.

Both Sylvia and Rafe are in a way so deeply undercover that they have lost their sense of who they really are. We see them question and coming to the conclusion that it is not worth to lose yourself, to give up on being your authentic self for anything.

Rafe has these big plans for himself and his career only to realise they don't make him happy. As a wealthy gentleman he was in a much better position than her to shape his own life.

It was much more difficult for Sylvia. It was fascinating for me to see how Sylvia reclaimed her place in the world, a world which had forced her to make herself as small and invisible as possible.

The story had everything - drama and suspense, solid romance, sexy times, messed up families and corrupt politicians. Ultimately, it was hopeful, the bad guys getting their dues, some family reconciliations, second chances and lovely marriage proposals.

Now, I am excited to read more in the series.

CW (as listed on author's site): Grief, Parental death (in the past), on page sex, murder/violence, suicide (off page), blackmail, slut-shaming, caretaking (in the past)

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2021

My Favourite Books of 2021

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Here is the list of the top 10 romances I loved reading in 2021. They are arranged by order of reading, none more deserving than the rest. 

1. Love at First by Kate Clayborn. I love Ms Clayborn's writing so much and this is my favourite book of hers to date. It's a grief romance (by some chance I read quite a few of those this year) that made me ugly cry through parts of it and gave a most satisfying it-was-all-worth-it end. Highly recommended but check the CWs first. 
Read my review 

2. Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall. Mr Hall is my all-time favourite author and I would read anything he writes. This was just as good as any of his other books. This is a contemporary m/f romance with a bi heroine, it has some WF vibes and a love triangle of sorts which I found very moving and satisfying. 
3. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells. This is the latest installment in the Murderbot series of Sci-fi novels and all I can say is that I love Murderbot with all my heart, this rogue Sec Unit is sarcastic and loyal and more humane than many humans I meet in real life and in fiction. 

4. For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten. A debut fantasy romance, dark retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. There is a bit too much gore for my taste but I liked the world building, the story was very engaging and the romance was very, very good. 

5. Subtle Blood by KJ Charles. This is the final book in the Will Darling Adventures of m/m historical romance set in the 1920s London. The whole series has been great and this was the perfect ending. The love confessions are some of the most romantic ones I have read. 

6. Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron, contemporary arranged marriage/fake relationship romance with Indian Muslim MCs. Messy families for the win, amazing independent heroine, great hero. 

7. The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri. This is my favourite non-romance book of 2021. It's a most amazing fantasy inspired by Indian history and myths. Budding f/f romance. Gorgeous writing. I just loved everything about it.

8. Last Guard by Nalini Singh. Another winner in the Psy-changeling series. After 15+ books and shorts in the series, this one is probably in my top 3. First time a hero with disability in the series, amazing heroine, great suspense plot, nothing I can say about the book and whole series could be enough. 

9. Battle Royal by Lucy Parker. All of Lucy Parker's books I have read so far have been amazing and this one was no different. It's another grief romance despite some cute romcom moments. It's moving and angsty with the ultimately the perfect ending. 

10. The Brightest Star in Paris by Diana Biller. I was late discovering Ms Biller, I only read The Widow of Rosa House this year. This is book 2 in the series and it's a historical romance unlike any other I have read. Set in Paris in 1870/80s, a historical period I don't know much about. There is a lot of trauma and grief and darkness and not one but three friendly ghosts. It's brilliant. 


Bonus recommendations:
Greek myths retellings became a thing for me this year and I didn't know I could enjoy them as much as I did.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I think everyone has already read this book which came out 10 years ago but I only got to it now and it's utterly gorgeous.

Lore Olympus, a comic by Rachel Smythe. It's my first adult comic/graphic novel which I read following a recommendation by a friend. I never knew a comic could bring forth so many feelings in me. It's everything I love in romance - moving, funny and smart.


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