There are a lot of romances we’re eager to read coming out in May, but there’s one real stand-out that’s sure to make a big splash, Helen Hoang’s follow-up to her hugely successful 2018 début, The Kiss Quotient. In The Bride Test, she takes the arranged marriage trope out for a spin and we’re sure it’s going to be another hit from this incredibly talented author. […]
For my professional life, I travel about forty weeks a year. It’s… a lot. My husband and I joke that I should just perpetually forward my mail to various Hiltons around the world. And I’ll be honest, hours upon hours of hotel TV is not my jam. There is only so much Investigation Discovery I can watch before the commercials just do my nut in. Thus, I read. There are days, however, where I am too professionally fried to keep my eyes open. Thus, I have become an audiobook fiend.
While the selection on my library apps (Hoopla and CloudLibrary and Libby, for the record) are great, those interfaces are not the best. They don’t save my bookmarks, for one, and I seem to always be losing my place in the story. Audible, we all know, is the leader in audio storytelling for a reason, but the cost was often too high […]
March brings another lot of exciting new releases, and as usual, AAR staffers have chosen the books they’re most looking forward to reading over the next few weeks. We’ve a fairly broad range of titles for your consideration – mysteries, contemporaries, historicals, sports, paranormals, suspense – and would love to hear from YOU about what you think of our choices and which books you’re most looking forward to getting stuck into in the coming weeks! […]
Well, we’ve already chosen the books we’re most looking forward to reading in January and February 2019, and we’ll continue to update you with our regular monthly look at what’s Coming Soon… but what about what’s Coming Not So Soon? AAR staffers have looked through the new release lists for the next few months and have picked the books we’re most eagerly anticipating in 2019. […]
Humans learn through stories – the ones we tell ourselves, the ones we’re told, the ones we tell about others. This year, Netflix gifted us all with Hannah Gadsby’s brilliant Nanette (which you must watch if you haven’t!) that makes that point achingly well. After watching it, I spent a lot of time thinking about the stories romance tells – especially the ones I needed to hear this year. Hence, my list. The following – in no particular order – are the ten books released this year that brought me joy, immersed me in another story, celebrated love, and centered women.
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
I have bought approximately five copies of this book to give to friends, sent with a post-it that they must read this. Count this as my post-it to you: this is making appearances […]
Here we are, heading into the back end of the year with our regular monthly look at the books we’re most excited about reading over the coming weeks. As usual, this is just a small selection of the books released every month – we can’t include them all, so please drop by and let us know if you’re looking forward to something you think we should know about! […]
A few weeks ago, I selected a book to review that admitted it was a novella, but pretended it was a stand-alone. When I opened it up, the book was fifty seven pages and was about the farthest thing from a stand-alone I could think of. Instead, I think it’s a few chapters the author cut from another book and just… embellished. There was no time to invest in the characters, and instead I was expected to believe they were obsessed enough with each other to go from dreaming of having sex with one another to marriage – in fifty seven pages.
My pet peeve radar went off.
I loathe this. First of all, fifty seven pages is not a novella. It isn’t even a short story. It’s a plot bunny that needs further unpacking. 13,000 words may sound like a lot, and writing that much is arduous, do not get me wrong, […]
Hello, dear readers, do you have a minute? I have a question for you.
My husband and I are about to take a vacation that will involve about two days of travel on either end. We will be on planes for fourteen-hour stretches and I am looking to stuff my Kindle to the brim. I read a lot, but I know I barely scratch the surface when it comes to good stories and that is where you come in! I’d like some recommendations of what you think I sho
uld read on the plane. This means nothing that was shortlisted for the Man Booker, and nothing that requires a lexicon to decipher. Plane reads, people.
Here’s my parameters: I’m most partial to contemporary – romance, suspense, or fiction – but historical is my second love. I’m here for anything involving a country house […]
A new book from Tessa Dare is obviously a big event for many romance fans, and the AAR staffers are no different, with many of us choosing The Governess Game as one of the titles we’re most looking forward to reading in August. In fact, we’re looking forward to quite a few historicals this month – Caroline Linden, Kerrigan Byrne and Virginia Heath all have new books coming out, Bec McMaster continues her Blue-Blood Conspiracy series and there’s a long-awaited new book from Susanna Kearsley, too.
These are (some of) the books we’re most looking forward to reading in August – tell us in the comments which books YOU can’t wait to get your hands on!
The Governess Game by Tessa Dare (28 Aug)
In The Governess Game we get to know […]
LBGTQ+ PRIDE is celebrated in many countries throughout the world in June, and here at AAR, we’re doing our bit to celebrate the idea that Love is Love is Love and that romance is for everyone by choosing our favourite queer fiction and queer romances. We could all have chosen more than one (or two!), but these are the ones that have stuck with us over time and to which we return again and again.
What are your favourites? We’re always ready to be switched onto new books and new authors, so jump into the comments and let us know!
The Last Herald-Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey
This wasn’t the first time I encountered a gay protagonist, but I’m including it because many readers have admitted it changed their lives. LGBTQ+ […]