1/ Hearts on Hold by Charish Reid, m/f contemporary. I have not read that author before but I was drawn to the premise of a small-town romance between a Uni professor (the heroine) and the local librarian (the hero). Out on 3 Feb. 

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2/ A Heart of Blood and Ashes, fantasy romance by Milla Vane (aka Meljean Brook). I have read and enjoyed some of this author’s steampunk romance in the Iron King series. This is her first new book in a couple of years and I looking forward to trying it. Out on 4 Feb.

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3/ House Rules by Ruby Lang. The final novella in a series of three, all stand-alones, contemporary m/f romances involving city planners/architects/real estate agents. I like Ruby Lang’s voice and her writing generally works for me. Out on 10 Feb

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4/ The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood. This queer adult fantasy is on my TBR list  because I want to read more fantasy and its cover is simply gorgeous. Out on 11 Feb

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5/ One Last Chance by Therese Beharrie, another final book in a series of m/f romances, standalones. I have enjoyed the first book and need to catch up with the second before this release. Out 17 Feb

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6/ Fire & Water by Alexis Hall is the next installment in his Urban fantasy f/f series. Alexis Hall is one of my favourite authors out there and I am here for all his books. The first two books in this series were published by Riptide and since then have been polished and re-released. This book is brand-new, never-before-seen and I am binge-reading them all starting at the beginning of February. Out on 24 Feb.

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7/ A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon. I'm not much of a reader of cowboy romances but I am intrigued by this one, it features a Black cowboy written by a Black author. Out on 24 Feb. 

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Add on Goodreads / Pre-order on Amazon - 
I already tweeted abut that book but I'm giving up on it after reading 70%. I just can't accept the romance between the MCs when the heroine was engaged the the hero's dead brother but both hero and heroine now claim to have been in love from the first time they met. Do not recommend!

9/ One Night with the Sexiest Man Alive by Ainslie Pato. Book 1 in a new series of contemporary m/f romance, described by the author as her attempt at category style romance. I already have the ARC and I can't wait to read it. Out on 27 Feb. 

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Author: Ruby Lang

Genre/Themes: Contemporary romance

Release Date: 11 Nov 2019

Author links: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 3,5 Stars

Blurb 

Love can take root where you least expect it.

Tyson Yang never imagined that one day he’d be the de facto spokesperson for an illegal community garden. But when the once-rat-infested-but-now-thriving Harlem lot goes up for sale, Ty can’t just let all their hard work get plowed under.

Even if he is irresistibly drawn to the lovely but infuriatingly stubborn real estate associate.

Magda Ferrer’s family is already convinced this new job will be yet another flop in her small but growing list of career path failures. But her student debt isn’t going anywhere, and selling her uncle’s historic town house and the lot nearby means a chance to get some breathing room.

Ty is her charming rival, her incorrigible nemesis, the handsome roadblock to her success.

Until one hot Harlem night blurs the hard line drawn between them, and the seeds of possibility in this rocky garden blossom into love…

It was a nice, somewhat subdued city romance. I loved the focus on community, coupled with some interesting and very real family dynamics. I  liked how none of the characters are perfect, they have their strengths and weakness and makes mistakes but learn from them. It's not some preachy story, rather, it's about kindness and supporting, uplifting each other. 

It's very much focused on unlikely friendships and love connections. all about building, something, creating. I liked seeing the heroine acting like an adult, dealing with very real issues of dealing with dept, struggling professionally. While I loved seeing her as a newbie in her job, I never felt like she settled properly in her job. It never read to me like being a real estate agent was her dream job and despite being good at it, it never felt properly satisfactory to her. I have mixed feelings about this to be honest. Lots of people do a job that they are good at without loving it, but still I would have preferred to see her happier/more optimistic about her career choice. 

It's a true enemies-to-lovers, they were literally at the opposite sides of the fence. There was no real hate though, both understood the position of the other. Lots of angst there and a feel-good, working resolution of the conflict. 

While I liked the overall writing, I wanted more character development, stronger connection between the MCs, more focus on their romantic relationship. I didn’t really buy the whole plotline with her uncle and his neighbour/classmate. It seemed far-fetched and at odds with the very real, down-to-earth feel of the rest of the book. 

Title: Headliners (London Celebrities #5)

Author: Lucy Parker

Genre / Themes: Romance / TV presenters/ British

Release date: 20 Jan 2020

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Goodreads

My rating: 5 Stars

Here is a list of ten books (including full series I read in 2019), romance and fantasy which I read and loved in the past year. I tweeted out those in December under the hashtag #myfavebooks2019.

1/ To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, YA fantasy retelling of the Little Mermaid. I was gifted this book for the holidays by a dear friend and I absolutely loved it. A beautifully written powerful story about good and evil. Buy on Amazon

2/ Kiss and Cry by Mina V. Esguerra, contemporary sports romance, heroine is an former figure skater, hero is a retiring hockey player, both living in the Philippines where winter sports are very popular. I loved the different aspect of sports we see in this story and the second-chance, low-angst romance. Read my review / Buy on Amazon

3/ Teach Me by Olivia Dade is a warm hug of a book. Contemporary romance with two high school teacher MCs, a fat Ice Queen heroine and a shy divorced dad hero. So much care and support and appreciation this book! Read my review / Buy on Amazon

4/ The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker. Her books consistently work great for me but this one is really outstanding - the grumpiest but most caring hero, the moist sunshine heroine to ever sunshine, a bit of historical subplot, some cozy mystery elements.Read my review / Buy on Amazon

5/ Gilded Cage by KJ Charles is an exquisite historical m/f second chance romance with a bi heroine. I loved everything about it - the romance, the MCs, the crime plot, the HEA. Read my review / Buy on Amazon

6/ The Mysterious Stranger by Ainslie Paton - an intense romantic suspense, childhood friends to lovers. Great rep on gaslighting and emotional manipulation. Modern Robin Hood kind of families. Works as standalone. Read my review / Buy on Amazon

7/ Arden St. Ives series by Alexis Hall this year after the release of the final book and it's definitely one of #myfavbooks2019. High heat, high emotion, coming of age, overcoming trauma, finding oneself, effortlessly and quintessentially queer! Read my review / Buy on Amazon

8/ The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix. E. Harrow is a portal fantasy with an awesome female protagonist, a debut book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I read more SFF in 2019 I have ever done before and this is one of the best I read. Read my review/ Buy on Amazon

9/ The Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh. A breath-stopping first thriller by this author, very atmospheric, great heroine. I had some issues with the final resolution but very much liked the rest of the book. Buy on Amazon

10/ Folk of Air series by Holly Black. It's a YA fantasy series which I picked on a friends' recommendation and thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved book 2 the best and found book 3 the weakest of all but overall the whole trilogy is outstanding, captivating tale of magic and love and power and finding oneself. Highly recommend it. Buy on Amazon 

Honourable mentions: Thrown to the Wolves, m/m shifter murder mystery romance by Charlie Adhara; The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, queer fantasy riff of Sherlock Holmes by Alexis Hall; Thirsty, m/f (ex) gangster romance by Mia Hopkins.

I am starting a new feature where at the end of the month I will do a spotlight post with the next month's releases I am excited to read. I will be sharing it on Twitter as well and in the months when I have already read and review an ARC of an upcoming title I will be linking to my review. This is similar to the EuroRomTalk newsletter we did with a couple of friends in 2019 but sadly, we will not be continuing it in 2020. I am focusing only on titles I am interested in reading, it's mostly romance but there is also SFF as I started reading more of it in 2019 and plan and want to continue in that direction. For a much wider list of upcoming romance releases check out The Book Queen's site.

Off the Record by Rebecca Crowley. This is the final book in a trilogy of contemporary m./f romances featuring three brothers trying to run a newspaper. I love this author’s football series, and I decided to try this as well. The first book didn’t really work for me but the second was much better and I am looking forward to this one with hope and trepidation. Out on 16 Jan. Add on Goodreads / Buy on Amazon

Headliners by Lucy Parker. I have read and loved everything Lucy Parker has written and I am currently reading and loving this one too. It’s enemies to lovers between two rival TV presenters (whom we met in the Austen Playbook). Out on 20 Jan. Add on Goodreads / Buy on Amazon

Mermaid Inn by Jenny Holiday. First book in a new series of contemporary romance. I enjoyed her Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series and I am curious about her next project. Out on 28 Jan. Add on Goodreads / Buy on Amazon

Whiteout by Adriana Anders. Romance suspense set in Alaska. I admit I am intrigued by the setting and I haven’t read a romantic suspense in ages so I am looking forward to this. I have loved some of this authors books, others have been a complete miss for me, so I am cautiously intrigued. Out on 28 Jan. Add on Goodreads / Buy on Amazon