September gifted me with a great mix of YA fiction and adult contemporary romance. The former included the immensely satisfying Moxie, by Jennifer Mathieu, about a girl pushing back at the sexist bullshit pervading her high school and Julie Murphy’s utterly charming Dumplin’, which will soon be debuting in movie form on Netflix. Both books are set in Texas—-resulting in what’s probably the most productive amount of time I’ve spent in Lone Star State!
In the romance realm, I traveled up to Kentucky for Tiffany Reisz’s hilarious and sweet BDSM romance, Picture Perfect Cowboy. The story features characters from her Original Sinners universe in a much lighter context, and it really whet my appetite for BDSM romcom. More funny kink, please! Then I left the States entirely, stopping in South Africa for my first Christmas romance of 2018 —- Therese Beharrie’s adorable Her Festive Flirtation —- and immersing myself in New Zealand’s desi community via Nalini Singh’s steamy arranged-marriage plot, Rebel Hard. Both of these romances feature women of color navigating family expectations and weddings, and they really hit home while also warming my embittered soul!
I sort of threw myself head-first into reading in August. It was a rough month for various reasons, and books turned out to be a great place to hide. I was able to channel a lot of rage and frustration into Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone, an incredibly timely (and entertaining!) thriller about a sociopathic woman getting revenge on a man who definitely deserves it. Meanwhile, the Obama-Biden bromance mystery Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer was a wonderful and funny reminder of when we had kindness and competence in the White House. Despite its noir tone and hints of melancholy, it was basically like a hug from “Uncle Joe” Biden. And historical romances by KJ Charles are always a good bet, because they reflect England as it was, not as most white Regency and Victorian authors imagine it to be. Unfit to Print features a British Indian lawyer as a protagonist and deals with Victorian pornography and sex work—and it’s just a damn good romantic mystery!
Like Never And Always by Ann Aguirre (young adult, mystery/thriller)
Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer (mystery/thriller)
Forever Knight. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Angel. Moonlight. True Blood. The Vampire Diaries. There’s been a lot of beloved vampire content on TV over the years. I’m here to tell you that The CW’s The Originals, which took its final bow on Aug. 1, ranks at the top.
Is it weird that I feel guilty if I haven’t read 10 books in a month? I feel like I’m slacking! Fortunately, it’s really about quality, not quantity—and July had no shortage of quality reads! In fact, I met two of my favorite heroines of the year so far: Portia Hobbs, in Alyssa Cole’s A Duke By Default, and Cherry Neita, in Talia Hibbert’s The Princess Trap. Two amazingly relatable women, written by two amazingly talented women! Portia, who is trying to get her life together and eventually discovers that she has ADHD, really spoke to me. I felt so seen as I recognized my own mess in hers. As for Cherry…? Man, I wish I had her take-no-shit attitude!
So, I feel like 15 books in two months is kind of a sad showing for me — but, in my defense, I moved from New York City to Chicago so I had a lot going on! The ARC of Stripped, by Zoey Castile, was probably the last book to go in my packing boxes! If you loved Magic Mike XXL, this delightful, sexy, summer romance definitely needs to go on your list! (And you’ll never look at the Coney Island Wonder Wheel the same.) Meanwhile, Sarah MacLean and Tiffany Reisz are at the top of their game with Wicked and the Wallflower and The Chateau, respectively, and Tessa Dare’s hilarious The Governess Game threw me a lifeline when I was drowning in doubt post-move.
The reading rundown:
Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean (historical romance)
April was a great month in reading, mostly because I finally got around to Samira Ahmed’s New York Times best-selling YA novel, Love, Hate and Other Filters. In turns relatable and harrowing, it’s a story about growing up Muslim and American while trying to embrace your own path, your own destiny. (And Samira’s author’s note at the end almost made me burst into tears.) Then there was Sayantani DasGupta’s The Serpent’s Secret, which is based on Bengali folktales. It totally sent me back to my childhood! I wish I’d had this book, and a heroine like Kiranmala, when I was 10 or 11 years old.
Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed (young adult fiction, YA romance)
Pretending He’s Mine by Mia Sosa (contemporary romance)
