Contemporary Romance

Review: Love at First by Kate Clayborn

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Title: Love at First
Author: Kate Clayborn
Date of publication: 23 Feb 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Author's Links: Goodreads / Website / Twitter

My rating: 5 stars




Blurb 

Sixteen years ago, a teenaged Will Sterling saw—or rather, heard—the girl of his dreams. Standing beneath an apartment building balcony, he shared a perfect moment with a lovely, warm-voiced stranger. It’s a memory that’s never faded, though he’s put so much of his past behind him. Now an unexpected inheritance has brought Will back to that same address, where he plans to offload his new property and get back to his regular life as an overworked doctor. Instead, he encounters a woman, two balconies above, who’s uncannily familiar...

No matter how surprised Nora Clarke is by her reaction to handsome, curious Will, or the whispered pre-dawn conversations they share, she won’t let his plans ruin her quirky, close-knit building. Bound by her loyalty to her adored grandmother, she sets out to foil his efforts with a little light sabotage. But beneath the surface of their feud is an undeniable connection. A balcony, a star-crossed couple, a fateful meeting—maybe it’s the kind of story that can't work out in the end. Or maybe, it’s the perfect second chance...

Review

I have a really hard time reviewing books that I loved and this is one of my favourites of 2021 so far and likely will be an all-time favourite romance. I have read all Kate Clayborn's books and have enjoyed most of them and I think this is her best one to date. 

I am not much of a crier when reading romance but this book broke me and then fixed me in the best possible way. There is such depth of emotion and grief and tenderness that it is hard to put into words but it gets to you and makes your heart ache. 

Nora is amazing, but Will was everything for me. I loved how real they both read to me, awkward and tentative and messing up and feeling too much. We have these two people navigating the world very much on their own, dealing with grief and childhood trauma.

It's the gentlest, most tender romance between two people who are closed off, very much stuck in the past. The focus is very much on romantic love starting as enemies, going through bickering and playing tricks on each other, to end as soulmates. The other main element in the story has to do with family and community in all their complexity - their power to lift you up, the give you strength and unwavering support but also their power to destroy, to make you feel small, invisible, insignificant. 

I loved seeing unlikely friendships blossoming, seeing the struggle between loyalty and moving on with your life, trying new things despite being afraid to do it.

All in all, I just loved this book with all my heart! 

CW: child neglect, grief, loss of parents (in the past), loss of a grandparent (in the past), illness

Add on Goodreads / Buy on Amazon 

Contemporary Romance

Review: Beard in Mind by Penny Reid

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Title: Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers #4)
Author: Penny Reid
Publication Date: 01 Aug 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Humour, Romance

Author's links: Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads
Add to Goodreads

My rating: 5 Stars


Blurb

All's fair in love and auto maintenance.

Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually.

Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever.
She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She won’t shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words.

Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life.

The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity—exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity—and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean missing out on what matters most.

Review

I have only two words for this book - LOVED IT. I know I often say this about Penny Reid's books but this one is definitely my favourite of all her books so far. I didn;t expect it to go in the direction it did, though by now I shouldn't be surprised by anything Ms Reid writes, but it was one tough emotional journey which I love with all my heart.

I rarely cry at the romances I'm reading but Shelly's story brought tears to my eyes more than once. It is so powerful, so raw and at the same time, tender and loving. I'd describe the novel as a story about love and family and friends and true life partners. It's a kind of enemies-to-lovers romance starting with animosity on the part of Beau and misunderstood rudeness from Shelly.

While I liked the complexity behind the easy-going, charming Beau but it was Shelley who stole my heart in this book. Her struggles with OCD, it was nothing like I have read before. I can't attest how accurate the presentation of her mental illness is (though the author includes a detailed note about it in the end of the book) but it was powerful and moving and made Shelley feel like a real person dealing with a serious mental illness in the best way she could. There is no sugarcoating, no making OCD about arranging your library alphabetically or sorting your wardrobe by colour. We see the terrible impact of this disease on all aspects of Shelley's life, and how it affects the people around her.

Beau, oh Beau, he was thee sweetest, kindest, most gentle and considerate man after he got over himself and his initial confusion and hurt over Shelly's rude attitude towards him. He had to deal with a rather nasty revelation about himself which I didn't expect and which broke my heart. It took him a while to figure out how to handle the situation and he made a mistake or two regarding this and it made it all the more real and relatable to me. We see the Winston family being their amazing selves and providing uncomnditional love and support when he needed it the most.

It was I liked how much emphasis the story placed on Beau and Shelley being truly partners to each other. The awesome sex they had was just one aspect of their relationship. Being there for each other, supporting, giving space and alternatively providing comfort and advice when needed.

I especially appreciate all the insight the author offers on friendships/ love relationships/sibling relationships - it's so rich, nuanced, colourful. We get the usual bit of crazy shenanigans though this story very much like Ashley's (though for completely different reasons) felt more serious, not dark but difficult to read at times.

I really can't put into coherent words how much I loved this story. Just go read it (it could work as standalone though I recommend reading at least Cletus' and Duane's books before it, or better add Jethro's to the mix too).

Purchase link: Amazon

Contemporary Romance

Review: Madly by Ruthie Knox

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Title: Madly (New York #2)
Author: Ruthie Knox
Date of publication: 14 March 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Author's links:
Add to Goodreads 

My rating: 4.5 stars

 Blurb

Allie Fredericks isn’t supposed to be in Manhattan, hiding in the darkest corner of a hip bar, spying on her own mother—who’s flirting with a man who’s definitely not Allie’s father. Allie’s supposed to be in Wisconsin, planning her parents’ milestone anniversary party. Then Winston Chamberlain walks through the door, with his tailored suit, British accent, and gorgeous eyes, and Allie’s strange mission goes truly sideways.

Winston doesn’t do messy. But after a pretty stranger ropes him into her ridiculous family drama with a fake kiss that gets a little too real, he finds out that messy can be fun. Maybe even a little addicting. And as the night grows longer, Allie and Winston make a list of other wild things they could do together—and what seems like a mismatch leads to a genuine connection. But can their relationship survive as their real lives implode just outside the bedroom door?

Review 

Ruthie Knox is one of my favourite authors of contemporary romance. I have enjoyed most of her previous books but somehow I missed that she started a new series. I haven't read Truly yet but after I finished Madly which I absolutely loved, the first thing I did was to go on Amazon an get it :)

Madly is exactly the kind of contemporary romance I like to read - life-like complex characters, struggling with life and love, discovering themselves, making mistakes and growing up as people. And the romance part was just perfect - a bit whimsical, both characters acting simultaneously slow and fast, cautious and daring.

The heroine, Allie, is fabulous in my opinion and I feel there is a lack of heroines like her in romance. She is young and independent and smart and financially successful. She doesn't depend on no man and doesn't need a man in her life to support her, take care of her. She needs and finds a partner, someone who appreciates and loves her with all her contradictions and complexity - being smart and beautiful, young and rich, self-confident but also desperately trying to keep her family together, hungry for the love and approval of her loved ones, deeply involved (albeit, often misguidedly) with their lives.

Winston was an interesting character as well. He has just turned 40, divorced, re-evaluating his life. He appeared stuffy and distant, too set in his ways, deeply unhappy and lost. he was not prepared for Allie and all the possibilities she brought with her. And it took him some time to grasp it and take a chance on being happy, on falling in love, on being vulnerable and honest with himself and the peole in his life he cares about.

I liked how Allie and Winston challenged each other, how they opened up to one another. The game of the list of sexual dares that want to try was an interesting and effective way to bring them together in raw honesty. Their romance was a curious mix of daring and hesitation, of I-don't-need-this-in-my-life-right-now and This-is-so-exciting-and-new-and-perfect-for-me.

The story explored different family relationships, between sibling, between parents and children, withing the romantic couples themselves. in all their complexity and dysfunction. And I liked where the author went with all of them. Through them she built a compelling picture of the characters' lives - complex, interwoven, changing and evolving.

I have only one minor quibble with the story and this has to do with Allie's mum and her relationship with her dad and her artistic career. I was surprised with the development of this plotline and I am not sure how to take it. On the one hand she is presented as a strong woman, one that balanced having a family and a suitable way to express her creativity. She is someone who hasn't sacrificed her dreams but have found an alternative way to pursue them. On the other hand, I felt her behaviour was deceptive to her family, keeping a secret like that, leading a double life. This didn't sit very well with me. I'd say it is a matter of personal preference and not a weakness of the story itself. Other readers may not feel like that about it, so don't let this minor issue of mine stop you from taking a chance on this wonderfully complex romance. 

Madly it's a beautiful and compelling modern day love story that fans of contemporary romance would greatly enjoy.

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / Ibooks / Kobo

Favourites

Review: Lively St. Lemeston series by Rose Lerner

02:17

This is a joint review of the first three books in the Lively St. Lemeston series of historical romance by Rose Lerner which I binge read in a week some time ago.

In short: I loved everything about these books!

Title: Sweet Disorder (Lively St. Lemeston #1)
Author: Rose Lerner
Date of publication: 18 March 2014
Genre: Historical romance

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Add on Goodreads

My rating: 4 Stars


Blurb 

Political intrigue could leave his heart the last one standing…alone.

Nick Dymond enjoyed the rough-and-tumble military life until a bullet to the leg sent him home to his emotionally distant, politically obsessed family. For months, he’s lived alone with his depression, blockaded in his lodgings.

But with his younger brother desperate to win the local election, Nick has a new set of marching orders: dust off the legendary family charm and maneuver the beautiful Phoebe Sparks into a politically advantageous marriage.

One marriage was enough for Phoebe. Under her town’s by-laws, though, she owns a vote that only a husband can cast. Much as she would love to simply ignore the unappetizing matrimonial candidate pushed at her by the handsome earl’s son, she can’t. Her teenage sister is pregnant, and Phoebe’s last-ditch defense against her sister’s ruin is her vote—and her hand.

Nick and Phoebe soon realize the only match their hearts will accept is the one society will not allow. But as election intrigue turns dark, they’ll have to cast the cruelest vote of all: loyalty…or love.


Review


This is one of those rare historical romances that are not about dukes and ladies and ballroom dances but rather about more common ordinary people and how politics affect their struggles to find a respectful place in life.

The heroine, Phoebe, is an amazing character whom I loved so much. She is a somewhat overweight widow, writing stories for a living and trying to cope with living on her own. She is strong and independent but also caring and deeply connected with her family (her sister, to be precise) and ready to sacrifice herself for her sister's well-being and happiness.

Nick is an ex-army officer, wounded and using a cane, a young man who is not sure of his direction in life. Throughout the story we see him as a kind man, a little lost but ultimately noble and true to himself. Like Phoebe, he is bound by family obligations and his own sense of duty, but also fumbling around to find his own happiness and the right way to move on in life.

The romance was unexpected for both of them, it was not something they were actively looking for, but it felt so right and it was the thing that they both needed at that moment. It develops against the background of Tory/Whig political struggles which add yet another obstacle before they could be together.

The complications before Phoebe and Nick coming together were numerous and seemed impossible to overcome, yet they did overcome them in a way that worked well for everybody as well. It was a fitting happy end, realistic, fraught with difficulties and sacrifices but all the sweeter for that.

The story has a strong cast of strong supporting characters, each with their own story, adding richness and depth to the plot, making it real and easy to relate to.

I loved the twist and turns, the unexpected changes kept taking me by surprise and I absolutely enjoyed them all.

The writing it beautiful as well, not too flowery but rich in historical details, with a refreshing sense of humour. It was a pure delight following Phoebe and Nick's romance and I whole-heartedly recommend this book to all lovers of historical romance.

Purchase links: kindle / kobo / nook / iBooks / samhain / all romance


Title: True Pretenses (Lively St. Lemeston #2)
Author: Rose Lerner
Date of publication: 13 Jan 2015
Genre: Historical romance

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Add on Goodreads

My rating: 4 Stars
Blurb

Never steal a heart unless you can afford to lose your own.

Through sheer force of will, Ash Cohen raised himself and his younger brother from the London slums to become the best of confidence men. He’s heartbroken to learn Rafe wants out of the life, but determined to grant his brother his wish.

It seems simple: find a lonely, wealthy woman. If he can get her to fall in love with Rafe, his brother will be set. There’s just one problem—Ash can’t take his eyes off her.

Heiress Lydia Reeve is immediately drawn to the kind, unassuming stranger who asks to tour her family’s portrait gallery. And if she married, she could use the money from her dowry for her philanthropic schemes. The attraction seems mutual and oh so serendipitous—until she realizes Ash is determined to matchmake for his younger brother.

When Lydia’s passionate kiss puts Rafe’s future at risk, Ash is forced to reveal a terrible family secret. Rafe disappears, and Lydia asks Ash to marry her instead. Leaving Ash to wonder—did he choose the perfect woman for his brother, or for himself?

Review 


This is the second book in the series but can be read as a standalone, set in the same universe as the first book but not closely connected with it. This is the most unusual historical romance I've read, even though I haven't read that many.

We have a Jewish hustler hero and a heroine who needs a husband to able to access her inheritance money.

This story shows us the other side of politics - the world of Tories and the politics of the rich and influential. It offers a nice contrast between the heiress Lydia, well established in her world, rooted in her home, with clear sense of who she is on the one hand, on the other, we have Ash, a Jewish man in disguise, drifting around England, with no past and no home.

Their romance was a truly challenging and eye-opening journey for them both, a discovery of what it means to be a brother, a sister, a lover, what the meaning of family is and how to love them, what home is and how to make one for yourself and your loved ones.

Both Lydia and Ash had to change their expectations and plans, give up their presumptions and find their free will and road to personal happiness.Ms Lerner presents the reader with a profound exploration of identity which I found fascinating in the given historical context. 

We have the same exquisite writing as the first book, the same attention to detail, the same depth of character development (with even more intensity) and abundance of plot twists.

Overall, this book was both similar to and different from the first one in the series but it was an equal pleasure for me to read it.

Purchase links: kindle / kobo / nook / iBooks / samhain / all romance


Title: Listen to the Moon (Lively St. Lemeston #3)
Author: Rose Lerner
Date of publication: 5 Jan 2016
Genre: Historical romance

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Add on Goodreads

My rating: 5 Stars



Blurb

When upstairs valet meets downstairs maid, the line between work and play blurs. Lively St. Lemeston, Book 3 John Toogood dreamed of being valet to a great man...before he was laid off and blacklisted. Now he's stuck in small-town Lively St. Lemeston until London's Season opens and he can begin his embarrassing job hunt. His instant attraction to happy-go-lucky maid Sukey Grimes couldn't come at a worse time. Her manners are provincial, her respect for authority nonexistent, and her outdated cleaning methods-well, the less said about them, the better. Behind John's austere facade, Sukey catches tantalizing glimpses of a lonely man with a gift for laughter. Yet her heart warns her not to fall for a man with one foot out the door, no matter how devastating his kiss. Then he lands a butler job in town-but there's a catch. His employer, the vicar, insists Toogood be respectably married. Against both their better judgments, he and Sukey come to an arrangement. But the knot is barely tied when Sukey realizes she underestimated just how vexing it can be to be married to the boss... Warning: Contains a butler with a protective streak a mile wide, and a maid who enjoys messing up the bed a whole lot more than making it."

Review


This is the latest book in the series and I can honestly say it's my favourite. The is an amazing under-the-stairs romance about a valet/butler and a maid of all work and I loved everything about it.

There is so much depth in this story and both the characters of John and Suckey are drawn up with such love and care and understanding by Ms Lerner that the reader can't help but fall in love with them.

The romance follows the common trope of marriage of convenience but it's done so exquisitely and absolutely captivating, that it felt like I was reading something fresh and in many ways unique. Suckey and John feel like real people and their fears and dreams and hopes and mistakes and small victories are easy to relate and understand.

This is not your typical romantic love at first sight, though both hero and heroine were attracted to each other from the beginning. It was in their marriage, in actually living (and working) together that they discover who the other person really is and learn to love and respect them.

On the surface, John and Suckey were such an unlikely couple. He is a perfectionist, hard-working, and ambitious, always trying to do his best. She is much more easy going, not really lazy but definitely not as pre-occupied with her work as he is. Finding a balance between their conflicting natures was fascinating to read. Both John and Suckey had to face their fears and learn to trust the other, to be honest and open about their feelings. It really is a lesson of communication and though set in the world of servants in Regency England and I found it universally relevant and applicable to any love couple at any time of history.

The richness of details about the servants' lives with its joys and troubles made a very engaging, rich story and was a pure pleasure to read.

Purchase links: kindle / kobo / nook / iBooks / samhain / all romance

Overall, this is a fabulous historical series - rich in details, diverse in characters, impeccably written and really engaging. There will be more stories in the series coming, hopefully  soon and you can learn more about them on the author's site.

Favourites

Review: A Gentleman's Position by K. J. Charles

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Titlle: A Gentleman's Position (Society of Gentlemen #3)
Author: K. J. Charles
Genre/Themes: Historical, MM romance
Release Date: 5 April 2016

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Facebook Group / Goodreads
Add on Goodreads

My rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis

Among his eccentric though strictly principled group of friends, Lord Richard Vane is the confidant on whom everyone depends for advice, moral rectitude, and discreet assistance. Yet when Richard has a problem, he turns to his valet, a fixer of unparalleled genius—and the object of Richard’s deepest desires. If there is one rule a gentleman must follow, it is never to dally with servants. But when David is close enough to touch, the rules of class collide with the basest sort of animal instinct: overpowering lust.

For David Cyprian, burglary and blackmail are as much in a day’s work as bootblacking—anything for the man he’s devoted to. But the one thing he wants for himself is the one thing Richard refuses to give: his heart. With the tension between them growing to be unbearable, David’s seemingly incorruptible master has left him no choice. Putting his finely honed skills of seduction and manipulation to good use, he will convince Richard to forget all about his well-meaning objections and give in to sweet, sinful temptation.

Review


A Gentleman's Position is the final book in an amazing queer historical series, Society of Gentlemen. It brings a hard won and well deserved happiness to Lord Richard (the protector and father figure of the Richardians) with his trusted valet, David Cyprian. It's a passionate tale of love, lust, class and obligation but above all for me it is a story of determining one's identity, of growing and changing, becoming a better person for yourself and for the people you love and care about.

This series made convinced that Ms Charles is a true master of the historical romance. Her stories are vivid and detailed, carrying a strong sense of the Regency athmopshere in all its complexity - political and social unrest which further add to the difficulties the characters have to surmount on their way to happiness.

Lord Richard had a lot of learning to do and some atonement for his past mistakes and boy, did he keep on making mistakes even when he had the best intentions. I found his journey fascinating and oh, so real. Taking a hard look of who you are and finding out that you are not in fact the person you thought you were and you don't to want to be that person any more takes a lot of courage and is not easy to deal with. His mistakes, though painful to his friends and loved ones, were avoidable, they were part of his growth and untimatelt he managed to rise above them and be the man he wanted to be. 

David Cyprian, on the other had, was just as amazing as we came to expect him to be from his appearance in the previous books. He seemed so in control, so sure of himself and tiny glimpses of slef-doubt and insecurity made him feel human and easier to relate to. He was not perfect, noone really is, but we saw how much effort and thought he put into being the best he could be. 

The romance appeared totally impossible, both were stuck in their respective positions and there was no way to make things between them work on a personal level, yet their love for each other proved stronger than prejudice and fear and stifling norms and the petty morality of the times.

I really, really like the depth and sympathy with which Ms Charles explores issues of identity and the clash of the political with the personal. We saw it in the previous books, most noticeably in A Seditious Affair, and it was also present here. The problems Richard and David and rest of the their group face were real, life-threatening and Ms Charles never cheapened them or made their solution trivial or too easy. It didn't work like that at the time, and the the historical accuracy of her stories made them stand out.

A strong place in this story was taken by the issues of consent and abuse of power, what marriage/relationship in Regency England could/should be.

I also very much loved and appreciated the supporting characters in this story - Richard's brother and his wife, David's mother and her husband. Ms Charles creates a truly diverse world representative of the times and this makes the characters and their roamnce feel even more real.

Speaking of the series as a whole, I think Ms Charles has done a remarkable job with them. The stories are interwoven, complex and engaging. Her writing is superb and her attention to detail makes all the difference when reading a historical romance. The characters in the series are deliciously imperfect, real people of different walks of life, facing harsh choices and decisions and really struggling to find happiness and love at a time when this could easily mean the death sentence for two men in love with each other.

I haven't read much historical romances and even less queer ones, but this is definitely the best I have read and can't recommend it enough.
Purchase links: Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Publisher / ARe

 My reviews of the previous books in the series:
A Fashionable Indulgence - 5 Stars
A Seditious Affair - 5 Stars

Amy Jo Cousins

Interview with Amy Jo Cousins on her Bend or Break series and a few other things

04:36

Amy Jo Cousins is my second guest in the author interview feature which I recently started (Alexis Hall was the first one a few weeks ago). Read on if you want to see what she has to share about her writing and to learn more about her fabulous NA LGBT series Bend or Break.



Interview with Amy Jo Cousins on the Bend or Break series and a few more things 


  
ER: Hi, Amy Jo and welcome! I’m so happy to have you here today.
I want to start this interview with some general questions on your writing. You have been a romance writer for some time now, can you tell us how that happened, when did you realize this was what you wanted to do in life and how did you go about actually doing it?

AJC: I always wanted to be a writer, but until my late twenties, that was mostly a fantasy, a theoretical dream. I would start a lot of projects, but I never finished any of them. I think I didn’t believe it could really happen (which was a lot more realistic twenty years ago, before epublishing), so I only dabbled at it. But when I was approaching my 30th birthday, I decided I needed to (pardon the crassness) shit or get off the pot. It’s amazing how motivating the feeling that you are getting old and accomplishing nothing can be. At the time, I actually wanted to write a literary historical novel about a composer in fin de siècle Vienna. I figured I’d work on that, but I wanted to practice writing query letters and I knew romance publishing had the fastest turnaround as far as response times. So I made up a romance novel synopsis and wrote a query letter that I mailed to Harlequin. Snail mail! Man, this was a long time ago. I figured it would get rejected (everything did, especially back then) but maybe I would be lucky enough to get a personal response and I’d learn how to write a better query, so I’d be prepared when the time came to pitch my composer books. This is what I told myself. In hindsight, I think I really wanted to write romance novels, but was afraid they weren’t serious enough for an English major. (I was young and foolish. Forgive me.) In any case, Harlequin requested the ms. and then bought the book, which I had to sit down and write in a hurry! And the rest, barring a ten year gap in my writing career due to single parenting taking over my life, is history.

ER: Continuing in these lines – what is the best and the worst thing about being a writer?

AJC: One of the best things is that I have an excuse to research anything I want, which is nirvana for the geek like me. Plus, I never have bad dates, because I am professionally interested in pretty much anyone. ;) The worse is that I spend all day sitting, way more than I ever did in my office jobs, even. I used to use any excuse to get up and walk around the office, going to talk to people instead of emailing or calling them. Now I sit, all day, and although I try to remember to get up and move around, I’m frequently unsuccessful at that. Being a writer is a terrible health risk. But I’m getting back into running again, which I cut waaaaay back on when I hurt my back (thank you, writing!), so I’m excited about that.

ER: Can you share some more details about your writing process – do you have a daily goals of words to write, do you use NaNoWriMo (like many other authors), or do you have a different strategy?

AJC: My writing process is in constant flux. Very rarely does one thing work for long, I think because I get bored with routine. So I’m constantly changing it up. I did #1k1hr sprints for a long time, then did pomodoros for a while, which are shorter sprints with breaks in between. Lately, I’ve been assigning myself the task of writing 500 words per hour, and as soon as I finish the 500 words, I’m allowed to do whatever I want for the rest of the hour. This kind of bribery has been very effective. Also, graphs. The visual representation of progress is an effective motivator for me, which is probably one of the things I love about NaNoWriMo. Most years I will start NaNo, but I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself. Sometimes I finish, sometimes other things get in the way and I don’t. I almost never have only one project going at a time, so that’s not the best event for me these days, but I enjoy the community and the temporary sense of urgency and it has led to some interesting projects.

ER: What is the easiest and the most difficult thing for you when it comes to writing?

AJC: Easiest for me is dialogue. I frequently “hear” scenes first as a conversation in my head, and then I figure out where that conversation is happening and what everyone is doing while they’re talking. Conflict, on the other hand, is my nemesis. I have a habit of writing my characters as being so reasonable that it’s hard for them to be in conflict with each other. I think maybe I want to get to the HEA so much, I forget sometimes that they need to have some real problems first!

ER: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

AJC: I am a plantser. Or is it a potter? A mix of both. Some books I work out in pretty significant detail before writing, and they are inevitably the smoother for it. Other times, I think I know exactly what’s going to happen in the book and just start writing. I always regret this.

ER: And final question on your writing process before we move on to talk in more details about your books. What is your favourite subgenre to write in?

AJC: Well, contemporary sure does make my research easier. I mean, there’s always research, but I’m working on plotting a historical series in 1930s London and I’m already flinching at the amount of research I’ll need to do.

You know what I’d love to write though? Epic fantasy. I doubt I ever will, because I’m not that into the kind of worldbuilding you need to do if you want to do it right, but some of my favorite authors write epic fantasy and I wish I could too.

When I wrote Off Campus, I had no idea this would become a series at all. As soon as it was done, though, I knew I wanted it to be. Usually I can’t tell if a story I’ve written is good or not, but with Off Campus I knew I’d written something special. It’s one of my only books that I actually reread for pleasure. So I started thinking about what came next for everyone. I actually had a story planned for Steph about her and Amira, her college girlfriend, until I realized it would be too depressing to break them up (because I always knew she and Cash would end up together in the long run). My original series proposal included Nothing Like Paris, The Girl Next Door, and Real World. But Level Hands and the new books were surprises, lovely ones! 

ER: The next release in the series are the two novellas, Love Me Like a Rock and Hard Candy. Meeting Austin and Vinnie in Level Hands, I was convinced that they will end up together despite their differences, so why did you chose different partners for them?

AJC: While I was writing Real World, I realized that Vinnie was going to assume Austin would wait around for him forever and that if Austin ever met a guy who paid some serious attention to him (and one who was down for a whole lotta banging), Vinnie might miss his chance. As soon as I thought about that, and about who the right guy for Austin would be, Sean popped into my head and it was all over. Vinnie was one bummed out dude and I was happy, because not every teenage friends with benefits situation works out in the long run, you know? I mean, most of them don’t. So it felt right for Vinnie to screw up, Austin to move on, and for both of them to meet awesome guys who were perfect for them.

ER: This is a bit of unfair question but who is your favourite character in the series? I love them all but against all expectations I can relate the most to Rafi.
AJC: Well, Cash is my favorite to write, because he’s pure goodheartedness, and that make me happy. But Tom is my favorite overall. I’ve got a lot invested in a person like that getting their HEA. J

ER: Which book was the easiest to write and which the most difficult?

AJC: Real World was the easiest by far. Tom and Reese were so familiar to me, I knew so much about them, that it was simple to slip back into their heads again. And I knew I wanted to wrap their story up (for now, she says mysteriously) with a big, swoony holiday proposal, so the story as a whole came together pretty quickly for me.

Level Hands, now… Oh, that book nearly killed me. I have never cut so much from a ms., and that’s always painful! The conflict in Level Hands is almost exclusively internal as opposed to external. It’s all about Rafi struggling to find his place and figure out a way to navigate in an entirely new environment. Making that book come together was a struggle and I’m so grateful for my editor Christa’s help with that one.

ER: And now question I know all the fans of the series what to ask – will there be any more Bend or Break books coming soon?

AJC: Not soon, but there will be more! Right now, I’m basically waiting on resolution with Samhain. There seems to be some question as to whether or not they are closing after all. If at some point I do get the rights back to the series, I will definitely be writing more Bend or Break books. Varun, Cash’s friend from The Girl Next Door, has a book, as does Andie from Nothing Like Paris. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that I get to write them!

ER: Speaking of upcoming releases, what will happen with this series now that Samhain is closing down?

AJC: If they do close, we’ve been told that we will all receive our rights back in a gradual unwinding process. When that happens, I will get the entire series back into circulation as soon as possible. I anticipate a very rapid turnaround!

ER: You also write het romances, what are your plans in this direction?

AJC: Right now, I am mostly looking at including some het romance within the predominantly LGBTQ series I’m planning. I like writing about groups of friends or co-workers or neighbors, and those groups will continue to have people who form m/f relationships too. I don’t have any plans to write a strictly, or even mostly, het series in the near future, but you never know. I have more story ideas than I can handle, and I’ll write the relationships that allow me to tell those stories best.

ER: And my final question is what advice would you give to aspiring authors?

AJC: Write, write, and write some more. With every new story or novel I write, I learn new things about writing. I also learn how to push myself further, to try

ER: Thank you very much, Amy Jo for doing this interview!

 AJC: Thank you so much for having me!
Author Bio and Links

Amy Jo Cousins writes contemporary romance and erotica about smart people finding their own best kind of smexy. She lives in Chicago with her son, where she tweets too much, sometimes runs really far, and waits for the Cubs to win the World Series.





Amy Jo Cousins' latest release is the duology Between a Rock and a Hard Place, which includes the two novellas - Love Me Like a Rock (Austin' story) and Hard Candy (Vinnie's story). 


Synopsis

When friends lose the benefits, can the friendship be saved?

Love Me Like A Rock

With the right art tools, there’s almost nothing Austin can’t make real. Except an official relationship with his best friend, rowing teammate and occasional hookup, Vinnie.

Emotional and sexual frustration fuel a spark between Austin and Sean, the nude model in drawing class. After a quick and very dirty encounter, all the reasons Austin has been waiting for Vinnie go fuzzy in his mind. 

But if Austin can’t get his head and his heart on the same page, he could lose both his friend, and his lover.

Hard Candy

Vincent always assumed he and Austin would eventually end up together. But now that Austin’s in love with another man, Vinnie is at a loss. 

After the world’s most awkward one-night stand with Bryan, a dance major, Vinnie is drawn to his vibrant spirit and calm center. 

Physically, the rowing jock and the glittery dancer can match each other stroke for booty pop. But for the lovers to meet on common ground, they’ll have to find a way to get moving in the same direction. 

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iBooks


Cara McKenna

Interview with C. M. McKenna

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This is my first author interview I've done on the blog and I'm both very excited and very nervous about it. I read Badger by C. M. McKenna (aka Cara McKenna) back in September and this story with all its intensity and darkness and just a sliver of hope has stayed with me ever since. I had so many thoughts about it which I tried to express in my review but I also had so many questions I wanted to ask Cara. I gathered my courage (and wits) and approach Ms McKenna who was wonderful and agree to my request for interview. 

So, this happened. 

I’d like to welcome Ms McKenna on my blog today answering some questions about her non-romantic love story Badger, which she published earlier this year with Brain Mill Press.

Interview


Ellie: Welcome, Cara and thank you agreeing to do this interview. Badger left a lasting impression and I have many questions about this story, so I’m diving right in. 

Badger is unlike anything I’ve ever read, stunning, raw and genre-defying. What inspired you to write this story?

Cara: Why thank you! I actually wrote it way back in late 2011, fairly early in my writing career, at a point when I was feeling restless and unsettled and unsure what to do next. I’d gotten some shitty medical news, and one gloomy September morning I was riding the train into Boston on my way to a minor surgery, feeling pretty gloomy myself, and I was watching the graffiti-peppered overpasses slide by as I approached North Station. I remembered a story a good friend had told me about a friend of hers. He was a young man with some mental health issues who would occasionally go online, posing as an underage kid, and invite creepy old men to his house, like DIY To Catch a Predator. Once the pervert would arrive he’d assault them from his balcony with a paintball rifle. This struck me as both horrifying and strangely charming, though by the time I was riding that train I hadn’t thought about it in a few years. That anecdote was the seed that Badger grew out of, watered by my own strange mental forecast that autumn. I never did meet that friend of my friend.

Ellie: This is such a curious tale! You did make a much deeper and darker story out of it and I really like how it is all grounded in real life. 
Badger is not a romance in the strict sense of the word but still I’d say it’s a story about love (and abuse and hurt). I’m curious how you would define/describe this book.

Cara: These days I tell people it’s lit fic, for lack of a better term, and a fucked-up love story, but no, definitely not a romance. Romance, as a genre, requires that a few specific promises be kept to the reader regarding how the story is going to unfold, and Badger breaks some of those promises. My publisher calls it “neo-noir,” though I’d never heard that label before. I think that just means it has a gritty, grimy, urban, almost comic-bookish feel about it, which fits, I’d say.

Ellie: The story is as much about Badger as it is about Adrian. Do you have a favourite of the two/ Who was easier to write?

Cara: Well, the book’s written entirely from Adrian’s perspective, and I found her easy to inhabit. I’ve never been addicted to Vicodin or fallen in love with a mentally ill bicycle vigilante, but we both went to MassArt, both lived in Jamaica Plain, both floundered our fair share and abused Nyquil on occasion. She came very naturally for me, as a narrator. Badger would have been a far more challenging point-of-view to maintain. His perspective, if I pulled an E.L. James and wrote a companion book in his POV, would read completely differently from Adrian’s version. He’s very visceral, very much locked in the present, very reactionary. He possesses almost zero self-awareness. His dialogue and actions were intuitive to write, but I have almost as little understanding of what goes on in his head as Adrian does. It’s not a place I’d relish spending an entire book in.

Ellie: I guess this means there won’t be a story from Badger’s POV? I personally feel we leave Adrian at a good place, hopeful for her future, yet I’m wondering if you have any plans to write more of her story.

Cara: I don’t, no. Often when people ask me that question about a book, my answer has to be “Never say never,” but with this story I know for sure it ends where it ends. I love Adrian, but a sequel to Badger without Badger himself…? I just can’t see that having the same dynamism of the original.

Ellie: As a follow-up to the previous question, what was the easiest/most difficult thing about writing this story? Did you have to do a lot of research and what kind?

Cara: The book was fairly easy. Or rather, it poured out of me very quickly—110,000 words in about three and a half months, with zero halts in the inspiration department. It wasn’t easy, per se, because it’s a pretty rough book full of ugly emotions, but it did flow, probably as much as any other story I’ve written. It certainly flowed the easiest of any book of that length that I’ve written. I didn’t have to do much research; I know Boston the way you know a fond ex-lover’s body. I researched substance abuse queries, mainly. Random things like whether or not drinking cough medicine can fuck up a drug test (pro tip: it can.)

Ellie: That’s a good tip :) Will keep it in mind.
This book is a big departure from your other works. Were you worried how your romance fans will take it?

Cara: Sort of. I mean, my romances range from sweetly dirty all the way through dark and gritty, so I knew my readership was up for a high-ish level of angst and some pretty kinky sex. Still, Badger takes all that to a much starker place. There’s some quite gnarly sex scenes and dubious consent at times, and just some real meanness, in some of the sex. I was prepared to publish it under my usual pen name, provided it was made clear it wasn’t a romance, though in the end I decided to tweak my name to add a little extra distance. I mean, I’d hate for someone who’d just read and loved, say, my vacation-fling novella for Cosmo to go and pick Badger up, thinking it’ll be another fun, dirty romp like that then wind up in therapy.

Ellie: Do you have any plans to write more books like Badger, closer to general fiction than romance?

Cara: I do. No immediate ones, though; I have contracts to fulfill first, and I need to keep making money. Romance pays, and it’s fun, and those aren’t facts I can easily ignore. While I suspect Badger might be the strongest and most genuine book I’ve written so far, I also suspect it won’t be one of my bigger commercial successes. But all that said, I do have an idea for a series I want to explore when I’m no longer under contract, something that I imagine would land somewhere between After Hours and Badger in terms of tone and genre. Women’s fiction, I think it would probably get classified as. Not quite a romance, and messy and homely, with raw, realistic sex and a deeply flawed female narrator…if not a Badger-level train wreck.

Ellie: Oh, that is some exciting news. I will definitely be on the look-out for this new series. 
I have a final question, unrelated to Badger and concerning your future books. I have been reading a lot of LGBT books lately, have you thought about writing one yourself?

Cara: I already have! A few of my backlist titles are male/male, or ménages where the men have their way with each other. I love writing male/male. All three of my Sins in the City books for Penguin feature three-ways in which the men have contact, the second book in particular—Downtown Devil. That’s out next June. I’ve not written lesbian or trans romance yet, though I could imagine going there someday, if the right story grabbed me.

Ellie: Thank you for answering all my questions, Cara. It was a pleasure having you as a guest on my blog. Badger is one of the best books I have read this year and strongly urge people to read it because it tells an important story. It may not be the easiest of books to read but it is definitely worth it. 

Cara: Thanks very much for having me! It was a pleasure.

*** *** ***
Author Bio and Links

Cara McKenna writes award-winning contemporary romance and smart erotica, sometimes under the name Meg Maguire, and has sold more than thirty-five novels and novellas to Penguin, Harlequin, Samhain, and Signet Eclipse. She's known for writing no-nonsense, working-class heroes with capable hands and lousy grammar. She is a 2015 RITA Award finalist, a 2014 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award winner, a 2013 and 2011 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award nominee, and a 2010 Golden Heart finalist. Cara writes full-time and lives in the Pacific Northwest with her own bearded hero.


Badger was released 31 August 2015 by Brain Mills Press. 

 Blurb

C.M. McKenna’s compelling voice has earned a devoted audience and multiple awards for her erotic fiction (as Cara McKenna.) Her page-turning literary debut, Badger, disturbs and titillates with the story of a recovering pill addict whose compulsive fascination with a Boston antihero spirals out of control.

Nearly twelve months sober, Adrian Birch feels like a nobody. But when her wrist is broken in a hit-and-run accident, she’s avenged by the Badger, a secretive street vigilante. Instantly obsessed, Adrian takes to staging suicide and constructing chance meetings to get his attention. Their resulting affair is harsh and needy, wrought with McKenna’s signature dark eroticism—until the connection gets out of hand and ignites the violent passions of the city.

Hailed for her “evocative,” “intense,” “deftly drawn,” and “engrossing” stories by reviewers at Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and Jezebel, McKenna now establishes herself as a rising star in neo-noir. Badgerchallenges the reader to imagine how an impulsive young man is killed, offering only the perspective of the fascinating and unreliable Adrian Birch.
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Purchase links: Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Brain Mills Press

Amy Jo Cousins

Review: Level Hands by Amy Jo Cousins

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Title: Level Hands (Bend or Break #4)
Author: Amy Jo Cousins
Date of publication: 25 August 2015
Genre/Themes: Romance, queer
Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Add to Goodreads

My rating: 5 Stars

Synopsis 


When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as smooth sailing.

Rafael Castro is so far out of his element he can’t even see it anymore. Carlisle College in Massachusetts is a long way from his Chicago home, even farther from his Dominican Republic roots. 

The only thing keeping him attached to his last nerve is the prospect of seeing Denny Winslow again. The first time they met, Denny taught Rafi to fly across the water, rowing hard in a knife-like boat. Now, two years later, on the wings of a rowing scholarship, Rafi is attending Denny’s elite college. 

Even before the excitement wears off, Rafi is struggling with classes and fending off rumors that Denny’s family, not Rafi’s talent, won him his spot. To quash the gossip, Rafi tries to steer clear of the man he wants. A plan that evaporates in the fire of renewed attraction.

But Carlisle’s academic pressure cooker has Rafi barely treading water. And when a family crisis hits, both Rafi and Denny must pull hard to keep their relationship from capsizing in rough waters.


Review


This is book 4 in the Off Campus series and while I loved them all, I think this is my favourite story. I rarely do more personal reviews but this book touched on so many personal levels that I can't help it.

It's a tender and sexy interracial mm college sports romance and Amy Jo Cousins covers brilliantly, I'd say, so many aspects of college life and the struggles to fit in, to belong in a place and with a person (you love).

It's Rafi's book through and through, not just because the story is told from his POV. Don't get me wrong, I loved Denny quite a lot and he has a strong presence in the story but Rafi got me teary eyed a time or two in this book.

It is uncanny hom much I could relate to some of his college experience given how differen him and I are. I'm a 36 yo white het woman from a small country in Europe. I went to the best University in my country and who lived with her parents at the time and didn't suffer from racial or sexual abuse but none of my parents have university degrees and pressure to fit was real. My first year was so intense and scary and wonderful without having to navigate a love relationship at the time. 

In short, for long stretches of of the story I felt like Rafi's thoughts were mine. His struggle to make sense of this new, unfamiliar  place, to be good enough/to deserve his place there (since he got there on a scholarship). His experience was powerfully presented and his anxiety felt real and true to life, especially to me as someone who is pretty anxious about a lot of things in life.

And I absolutely loved that the story made me look back on my own experiences in university with just a touch of melancholy and no real sense of regret. 

The story covers Rafi's life in its complexity - the romance, the college, the family stuff, the rowing. There is even a brief and rather sweet appearance of Steph and Cash (with some Tom and Reese on the side). Rafi struggled with so many new things in his life and it all was interconnected and affected deeply his relationship with Denny.

The chemistry was really strong but they had to deal with a lot of issues on practical level, basically they had to find a way to be together. I liked how Ms Cousins didn't gloss over their difficulties and made their romance a perfect one. The love to each other and both felt they belong together but that didn't save them from making mistakes along the way. They are too different in terms of social, ethnic background, financial situation, family situation and their love didn't just magically erase those difference. They had to learn how to be together while still being different. There was no sacrifice on oneself just to make the other happy. Rather what we got were two young people making compromises for each other.

There is an element of coming-of-age to this story. Both Rafi and Denny had to figure out what they wanted in life and how to go about getting it. The ending came as a bit of surprise but I think it fits the characters and I see it as promise, something that helps them to be happy together. 

It's a very moving, touching story and at the same time it felt real. This series keeps getting better and better and is quickly becoming one of my all-time favourites.

I want to end this embarrassingly personal review with my favourite quote from the book which is about Denny but I think it fits Rafi as well and pretty much sums up my way of loving - "Denny needed to take care of him because that was how Denny loved."

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iBooks / ARebooks / Samhain

Favourites

Review: Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh

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Title: Shards of Hope (Psy changeling #14)
Author: Nalini Singh
Date of publication: 2 June 2015
Genre: Paranormal romance

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

My rating: 4 Stars



Synopsis


Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn’t welcome outsiders.

And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she’s too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what.

This time, even Aden’s passionate determination may not be enough—because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken…like Zaira.

Review


This is the latest instalment in my favourite paranormal series and I was excited to read more about the world after the fall of Silence. It turned out to be such a turbulent journey, full of unexpected and sweet, a pleasure to follow through. I just bow my head to Ms Singh for the absolutely amazing paranormal world she has created in this series and the way she keeps elaborating and expanding it with each new book. There is so much going on, so much depth that it never gets boring or predictable.

The strongest element of this story for the me was the suspense/mystery plot. At times it even read more as urban fantasy than paranormal romance but I'm OK with it since it was really well-developed and created a rather engaging story.

This book is set in the aftermath of the fall of Silence and even though the action involves all the races, as well as some new players (Hello, Remy), the romance was focused on two Arrows - Aden and Zaira.

Aden was brilliant - strong and steady, calm and reliable and oh-so-fantastic with the Arrow kids. Clues but caring adults trying to figure out how the raise kids is a favoruite scenario in fiction for me. The tension was even stronger since the adults were Arrows - a squad of super fighters/assassins trained to suppress their emotion at the deepest level. The scenes between Aden/Zaira and the Arrow kids completely melted my heart. Aden focused on turning his Arrows into a sort of pack of his own and his efforts were both painful and admirable.

Zaira was a really troubled character. I liked the intricacy of her character very much, her journey to herself and allowing herself to feel was not an easy one. Her focus on "the beast inside, the madness" was repetitive at times and a bit annoying. Still, Aden was all too patient and he was strong enough to help her overcome her own fear and insecurities.

The romance was strong and captivating but I missed the moment of discovery that you have feelings which I love about the Psy - all the confusion, uncertainty, even refusal to admit, to try, to pursue. Aden and Zaira have had this strong connection/chemistry ever since they met as children and they both knew they belonged to each other. The conflict was based on Zaira's fear of her madness and her reluctance to risk the life of those she loved. They were together from the start, though they did walked their own path of discovery of sensual pleasure and true connection of body and soul.

I very much enjoyed the suspense elements of the story, it was complex, full of twists and turns and kept me on the edge till the very end. The plot is sort of setting the stage for further conflicts in the post-Silence world.

Another element in the story which i particularly liked is seeing so many of the characters from the previous books acting together here. The world has been irrevocable changed and Psy, changelings and humans need to find their place in the new world order. And there are some powerful enemies lurking around!

There will be more stories coming in the series and I'm already curious who will the star of the next book. Remy, probably? I'd love a changeling story next. Or Nikita and Anthony? Or someone totally unexpected?

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / ARE / iBooks


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