Garrett Leigh’s Kiss Me Again is a beautiful, angsty, slow-burn romance between two men – broken in different ways – whose love story is one of learning and acceptance and gradual healing, showing clearly that while love can’t fix everything, it can provide understanding and visibility and a safe space where two people who are…
Fearne Hill’s Island Love series wraps up with Vine, a heartrending and heartwarming story about a young man struggling with serious mental health issues and the neuro-divergent (or “differently normal”, as he puts it) gentle giant who helps him find his way towards a brighter future. The author’s presentation of mental illness is honest –…
If, like me, you were introduced to Penny Reid’s romantic comedies through her Knitting in the City series, then you’ll be delighted to know that Bananapants, which features the next generation of the couples in those stories, hits all the same high notes. But it’s not all laughs, as there are some serious mental health…
Narrated by Nick J. Russo Working my way through Nicky James’ backlist brought me to The One That Got Away, a standalone romantic suspense novel from 2021. It’s a tense, compelling story featuring the kind of interesting, complex characters the author writes so well, and the superb narration by Nick J. Russo makes audio a…
Narrated by Nick J. Russo Nicky James takes a break from romantic suspense to write a complex and emotional contemporary romance. Promises of Forever is a character driven story about two men who formed an unusual friendship in their youth and are now meeting again thirty years later. Koa Burgard is a traumatized ten-year-old attending…
Taking a short break from the world of romantic suspense, Nicky James returns to the arena of contemporary romance for her latest novel, Promises of Forever. If you, like me, yearn for angsty romances you can really get your teeth into, then you need look no further because this story delivers on both counts; it’s…
Olivia Dade’s At First Spite is the first in her new contemporary romance series Harlot’s Bay, named after the residence of the characters in Harlot’s Bay, Maryland. It’s a romantic comedy, but does deal with some pretty heavy emotional themes (the author prefaces the story with a content note). If a book can make me…
Canadian Boyfriend is shockingly weighty for the usually lighthearted Jenny Holiday, but heavy subject matter looks good on her. The book is just thoughtful enough to keep the winter chill away, but is also a completely trenchant character study. There’s a couple of quirks that keep this from reaching DIK status, but it’s a very…
Narrated by Nicholas Boulton As I noted in our January Picks post, Alexis Hall’s Glitterland has been re-recorded to include some bonus material that was not available with the recording made in 2016. With Nicholas Boulton in the narrator’s chair once again, there was no question in my mind that the narration would, once again,…
The humor is really fun in this one! There’s actual letter writing, a large family, fake dating and a sweet rescue dog named Lieutenant Dan. The whole thing worked for me! The story opens with Dr. Briana Ortiz finding out the promotion she wants so badly could go to the new doctor, Jacob. Brianna is…
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