May’s reading slate introduced me to one of my favorite heroines of the year so far: Hattie in Sarah MacLean’s Brazen and the Beast. In my head, I kind of pictured her as Gwendoline Christie from Game of Thrones. She’s determined to get what she wants, and when she decides that’s the titular Beast…well, he has no choice but to fall into line—and fall head over heels in love. I also picked up KJ Charles’ delightful f/f romance Proper English, which features a bit of light crime-solving at a country house party and two heroines, Pat and Fen, who are competent and awesome in completely different ways. Just the kind of people you want solving mysteries. And what’s a Charles book without a bit of murder, right? She’s my go-to author for all sorts of diverse historical mayhem, and probably my favorite historical romance author of the moment.

I didn’t linger too much in history, though! I also took a great trip through Swati Teerdhala’s Indian mythology-inspired debut, The Tiger at Midnight—which is slow to start but grips you and holds tight once it gets going. And I loved Ruby Lang’s upcoming contemporary romance about urban planners in Harlem.

The Reading Rundown:
Proper English by KJ Charles (historical LGBT+ romance)
Know Your Place by Shelly Ellis (urban fiction, mainstream fiction)
The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden (horror, thriller)
Playing House by Ruby Lang (out 8/12, contemporary romance)
He’s Not My Boyfriend by Jackie Lau (contemporary romance)
Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean (out 7/30, historical romance)
A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn (historical mystery)
The Tiger at the Midnight by Swati Teerdhala (young adult fantasy)
Three-Way Split by Elia Winters (erotic romance, ménage)

Backlist adventures: An Affair in Winter by Jess Michaels.

On the wishlist/TBR:
Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews
Teach Me by Olivia Dade
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse