The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose is a rivals-to-lovers romance set in the world of London’s West End theatre scene. It’s a very promising début from author Robyn Green, but although I enjoyed it overall, there are pacing and plotting issues that prevent me from giving it a higher grade, and the use of a…
Set in London, Outlier is an opposites-attract, angsty romance that features neurodivergency and some major grovelling. Vicky is the titular outlier. Spectacularly beautiful and independently wealthy, her autism affects her everyday life, along with childhood trauma, and her amazing ability to remember everything she’s been told, even as far back as childhood. Mike is an…
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,…
Now her books are being traditionally published, we’re having to wait a bit longer for new titles from KJ Charles owing to the longer lead-times usually required by the industry. Last year saw two new releases, the brilliant Death in the Spires in February followed by The Duke at Hazard, in July, but her next…
The first book in a new series from Jax Calder, The Revenge Game is a tender, messy and heartfelt romance featuring two emotionally damaged but likeable leads, plenty of humour and lots of solid, genuine character growth. It’s entertaining while also addressing some serious issues in a sensitive but honest way, looking at the long-term…
The death of their mother forces two sisters to confront some hard truths about their lives, their relationships, and their pasts in Julia Kelly’s The Dressmakers of London. Sylvia Shelton Pearsall has married up. All the lovely things life can give one – a beautiful home, fashionable clothes, the right kind of friends – she…
Sally Malcolm’s No Man’s Land is a darkly chilling paranormal historical romance set in 1917 that draws on ancient folklore and superstition to weave a compelling (and scary!) story of secrets, lies, and betrayals as the war raging in Flanders threatens to bring the horror of the battlefields to the streets of London. Josef Shepel…
C.S. Harris’ long-running series of historical mysteries feauturing aristocratic amateur sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr reaches its nineteenth instalment with What Cannot Be Said, in which our hero is asked to investigate the murder of a noblewoman and her daughter. With the mysteries around Sebastian’s own heritage and family circumstances now resolved, the last few novels…
The Beatles famously sang, “I get by with a little help from my friends.” The Underground Library is the book form of those cheery, uplifting lyrics, showing, through the lives of three young women, that a little help can make all the difference. 1939: Sofie Baumann doesn’t want to go to London on her own….
The prompts for this year’s TBR Challenge are certainly… different! January’s is “Once More With Feeling”, which immediately sent my mind to second chance romance. I enjoy the trope as a rule, but couldn’t find one I own that I haven’t already read, so I broadened my horizons somewhat and plumped for Redemption, the first…
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