I packed September and October with a lot of over-the-top bananapants reads and sci-fi/fantasy romances — guaranteed to whisk me away from reality for a while. Given the current political climate, we all need a break, right? But the bottom line, in anything that I really enjoy reading, is deep, believable, connection between the characters. Without that, it doesn’t matter how many bananas are in a book’s pants!

Getting Inside by Serena Bell (out 1/3/17, contemporary romance)
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova (young adult, urban fantasy)
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon (erotic sci-fi romance)
Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon (erotic sci-fi romance)
Adore You by Nicole Falls (contemporary romance)
Breathless by Beverly Jenkins (out 1/31/2017, historical romance)
Lonen’s War by Jeffe Kennedy (fantasy romance)
Oria’s Gambit by Jeffe Kennedy (fantasy romance)
The Tides of Bára by Jeffe Kennedy (fantasy romance)
Hold by Claire Kent (sci-fi erotic romance)
Release by Claire Kent (sci-fi/fantasy romance)
Along Came Love by Tracey Livesay (contemporary romance)
Hold Me by Courtney Milan (contemporary romance)
The Beast Prince by Marian Perera (sci-fi romance)
My Scandalous Duke by Theresa Romain (out 11/15, novella, historical romance)
Seconds to Sunrise by Nico Rosso (out 1/16/17, romantic suspense)
Love the Way You Lie by Skye Warren (erotic romance)

Backlist adventures: Angel’s Wings by Anne Stuart, Ravished by Amanda Quick, Wedding? Impossible! by Karen Templeton.