Jax Calder is a new-to-me author who has been on my radar for a while but whose books I haven’t got around to reading yet – and the “new author” prompt provided the opportunity to remedy that. Beautiful Hearts is the first in her Rainbow Redemption series set in and around Auckland, New Zealand; it’s an age-gap romance featuring…
Jay Hogan kicks off her new Mackenzie Country series, set amid the spectacular scenery of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, with The Art of Husbandry, a beautiful story in which she skilfully and sensitively balances a storyline involving grief and terrible loss with the development of a deeply emotional romance. After the death of his ten-year-old…
In Olivia Cunning’s Staged, Steve Aimes, drummer for top metal band Exodus End, is a romantic at heart, but after his ex-wife’s betrayal, he’s been abstaining from emotion (although definitely not from sex). When he sees Roux Williams in the limo that picks up the band, he assumes that she’s a “whore” hired for the…
The One and Only was a New York Times #1 bestseller and deservedly so. It’s the story of thirty-three-year-old sports reporter Shea Rigsby and her gradual realization that her lifelong hero-worship of football coach Clive Carter might go deeper than friendship. However, he’s twenty-two years older, is mourning the recent loss of his wife, and…
Do you like a boss/employee taboo scenario that takes consent and power equality seriously? A hero who wants the heroine’s submission to come from a position of choice and strength, and to also make space for her own pleasure? Are you open to a ‘meet cute’ in a glory hole? Then Suzanne Clay’s Release may…
It’s pretty much impossible for me to not love Scarlett Peckham. Her original plots and strong characters are my catnip, my raison d’être as a romance reader. Thus, The Portrait of a Duchess pleased me to no end. There are a few hinky spots here, but it’s still a great read. Cornelia Ludgate is an…
Romance novellas are very often hit-and-miss for me. Truth be told, the majority of them ‘miss’, usually because the characters and relationship are underdeveloped, so I generally approach with caution. But every so often, a novella or ‘shorter novel’ comes along that defies my expectations – and I’m pleased to say that Con Riley’s His…
Narrated by Gary Furlong Jay Hogan’s wonderful Painted Bay series comes to a close with In Step which is my favourite book of the set and probably my favourite book of of hers full stop. It’s a poignant, emotional romance combined with a superbly-crafted tale of redemption, forgiveness and finally coming into one’s own that…
Jay Hogan concludes her Style series with Sass, a warm, snarky and sexy age-gap/opposites-attract romance between the fabulous Kip Grantham, the sassy, fierce and super-capable manager of Rhys Hellier’s high-fashion store, Flare, and Leon Steadman, the gorgeous hunk who owns the tattoo parlour next door. There was a definite spark between them the minute they…
Eris Adderly’s Bass-Ackwards is the sweetest book you’ll ever read that starts with the hero committing egregious workplace sexual harassment. A standout working-class erotic romance that starts out pushing consent boundaries and gradually works its way backwards to heartwarming, Bass-Ackwards is a kinky, cuddly contradiction that I enjoyed from start to finish – or maybe,…
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