The Earl That Got Away is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion set in the Victorian Era. I love Austen’s novel (and the 1995 BBC adaptation starring Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds), so I was excited to read this variation, especially as it features an American-Arab heroine Eight years earlier, Nalia Darwish had met and…
Smooth prose and excellent pacing make Follow My Voice, a Booktok and Wattpad viral sensation that will soon be an Amazon Prime Video, an easy to read YA love story/coming-of-age story. A hopeful look at a young woman rebuilding after everything has been broken, this gentle tale covers some harsh subjects, including fat shaming, suicide,…
Middling books are the hardest to review because what is bad about them isn’t awful, and what is good about them doesn’t transport them to great. The Dating Prohibition is a very middling book. Kendra Porter has come home in disgrace. Well, not in disgrace, technically speaking, but she had hoped to travel, discover amazing…
ALexa Martin’s How to Sell a Romance is a lighthearted breezy romcom that also explores the workings of pyramid, multi-level marketing schemes. Emerson is a kindergarten teacher. She’s single, enthusiastic, self-aware and broke. Her boss at school, Nora, has persuaded her to come to an event with her to find out about Petunia Lemon, a…
Pugs and Kisses is listed as a standalone at Amazon and Fantastic Fiction, but fans of the author will quickly recognize it as the second story about three friends living in New Orleans. You don’t have to read the first book, Pardon My Frenchie, to enjoy this one. Within days of ditching her pet-hating fiancé,…
Behind Frenemy Lines is my first read by Zen Cho. While it is a romance, the novel is equally an exploration of politics, workplace harassment and casual racis, but I have to say that the romance storlyline is light and low-key. Kriya has just moved to a new law firm in the city of London,…
The set up for Mia Sosa’s When Javi Dumped Mari is so intriguing! Javier Báez and Marisol Campos are friends from college who friend-zoned each other early on and stayed that way. Their friendship has had ups and downs over the years, which we see in flashback. The book begins when Javi and Mari meet…
K-pop has hit hard in the music scene of the 21st century, but we have only recently had that reflected in the (English-language) romance book market. XOXO captures the sparkly, sugary energy of the genre and translates it into a charming YA love story. The letter from the judges is burning a hole in Jenny…
This is my first read from Alexis Daria and I’ll be back for more! Along Came Amor is the third in her Primas of Power series. It kicks off with Ava Rodriquez alone in a Jersey bar on the night her divorce comes through. She’s tried to be the perfect sister/ daughter/ friend/ wife so…
Overexposed first saw light of day as a short story in 2020’s Working Stiffs anthology. It was one of the stories in the collection that worked well for me and I planned to check out other books by K. Evan Coles and the other authors whose work I’d enjoyed, but… I probably got sidetracked by…
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