Romance Roundup (Feb 26)
Last week brought the sad news that longstanding romance review blog All About Romance is closing down. This in turn made me reflect on just how many review outlets we've lost--it seems astonishing to recall that we literally used to have Romantic Times magazine, published in a print edition.
The review blogs are dwindling in number, and because there's nothing so annoying that a tech company can't make it worse, Goodreads has now made it so you can't simply share links to reviews for everyone to read, and demands sign in to a GR account. (I am toying with a move to Storygraph, but I don't like it very much so far. I am currently posting reviews on both, in a 'worst of both worlds' sort of way.)
Anyway, as one small candle against the darkness, I'm going to start posting monthlyish romance review round-ups in the hope of spreading the word a bit and boosting visibility for books and authors. Please feel free to offer your own romance recs in the comments (reviews, please, not self promo, and anything that looks even slightly AI will be zapped).
Irritatingly Storygraph doesn't do buy links. But apparently Goodreads does allow you to view books pages without being logged in, so I'm using that for links. (All the titles are clickable links even if it's not showing up that way, but I'm literally having a new website built so I can't be bothered to fix it sorry.)
Without further ado!
My Usual and You by Mina V. Esguerra (m/f contemporary)
Manila-set romance with an older heroine! Erika is 41, and has given up a high powered corporate career to help her best friend run a cafe. She also has a series of friends-with-benefits rather than relationships, because she is not about letting anyone tell her what to do or what she should want (career in law, marriage, babies). She does what she wants and if people don't like it, she removes them from her life. But then Daniel arrives in her life, and a tempting corporate job comes calling.
What's really satisfying about this is, this isn't the story of Erika discovering that she was wrong or she should be more compromising or that she just needed the right man. Rather, it's about someone who has actively chosen her own goals continuing to do that, but who needs to learn not to let her own choices limit her. Erika expands her horizons by letting herself be open--not to any corporate job but to a goal she finds fulfilling; not to social expectations but to possibility with someone who's shown he respects her. Daniel is a perfectly matched hero: much less sexually experienced than Erika, very willing to follow her lead, but with a quiet calm strength that means he isn't afraid of making himself emotionally vulnerable.
A thoroughly involving, grown-up romance that I read with immense pleasure.
A Reckoning in Whitehall by Kit Walker (trans m/m contemporary)
Part 10 of an ongoing novelette series, you can get the first installment free. Absolutely terrific series, contemporary Moriarty and Moran. Here Moran is pretty much the same (public school / army violent mercenary and card cheat), and Moriarty is a young trans guy who is a brilliant computer person. They have some moral feelings, zero moral restraints, and whizz around doing horrible things to people who richly deserve it (mostly highly privilleged Establishment or capitalist twats), but there's a lovely relationship there too between two people with zero idea between them of how to actually have a healthy relationship.
Well written, pacy storytelling, ingenious plots, massive comeuppance-granting satisfaction, and the whole thing is gigantic fun. I have read all ten of these with great pleasure and strongly recommend you do the same.
Love's a Script by Mimi Grace (m/f contemporary)
A very cute slow burn romance, where she works for a matchmaking agency and he's a sceptical radio host being matchmade for a programme.
As with all Mimi Grace's work (I wish she did more), this is immensely likeable. Mary starts as a little bit of a pushover but finds her spine; Ruben is a charmer. The plot leans in to 'meant to be' tropes very deliberately as a nice contrast that doesn't undercut the effectiveness of Mary's work, and I particularly enjoyed the subplot about Mary's work friend/possible rival and how it plays out. It's just...nice, it's really nice, and I'm not saying that in a 'damning with faint praise' way because I really needed something nice. Soothing and satisfying.
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang (m/f contemporary)
A powerful contemporary romance. Grant was driving the car that Helen's younger sister threw herself under. It wasn't his fault but that doesn't stop her blaming him or make it easier when they start working together.
This is a really grown up romance about tired people with trauma and awkward families and no great options, and it is swooningly romantic in Grant's painful self abnegation, Helen's fear. Hugely involving, very emotionally focused.
The Bootlegger's Bounty by Adriana Herrera (m/m/f historical)
A m/m/f erotic romance which is 90% pervy bonking (in all combinations of two, plus three), and why not. I was kind of expecting more plot just because the intriguing set up seemed to allow for it (and honestly Bootleggers of the Caribbean sounded great, as do 1920s New York nightclubs) but let us not look a gift horse in the mouth. Well, you never know what's in there. If you are looking for assured historical filth, look no further. Also the cover is *gorgeous*.
Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis (m/f fantasy romance)
Hugely readable fantasy novel in which the abused figurehead archduke escapes his own court and ends up dark magician/librarian to the villainous witch queen, who is not of course that villainous. This is a thoroughly sweet story with protective femdom bi heroine, submissive hero finding his feet (and knees), and two other witch queens waiting for their own stories.
Very much on the frothy end of things, mostly--there's trauma just under the page but not painfully dwelled on--with the sort of anger-fuelled kindness or possibly vice versa that underpins all my most comforting reads.
The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur (f/f urban fantasy romance)
A romcom in which a just-dumped woman sells her soul for wishes in order to get the girl back. This is played out via a series of scenarios that put Sam, the MC, back in contact with Hannah, the ex, as masterminded by Daphne, the demon. Obviously, as these play out Sam comes to understand that Hannah was not the one after all Some of the scenarios are absurd, some funny, and the last one, where Sam asks to go back to where it all went wrong, is a genuine gut punch.
This treads a fine line, in that the lead spends a lot of time with her ex and a lot more time thinking about her ex. This inevitably crowds Daphne off the page a bit; there's also the perennial problemof making us believe that the ex is totally wrong for the heroine without making us impatient with the heroine's mooning over an obvious wrong'un. Bellefleur pretty much pulls it off. Daphne has a strong personality, and is threaded well through the Hannah parts, and while Hannah does absolutely come across as someone Sam should not be with, we can also see her as a flawed person who made bad choices rather than a straight-up villain.We definitely believe in Sam's personal growth from something of a pushover to looking for what she wants, and we believe in her moral core. Also Daphne's demonic side is occasionally unsettling and genuinely hot. Enjoyable.
Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe (m/f contemporary)
Debut romcom in which Hallie needs to come up with a web series urgently and turns to conspiracy theorist podcaster Hayden to create a show. Hayden is a true believer, Hallie is a sceptic, it becomes apparent he needs her to spar with him on camera for best results, and off we go into an entertaining tour of US creepy sites and peculiar theories along with a very sweet slow burn romance.
I enjoyed a lot about this. Hallie's dreadful, abusive ex is a slightly obvious villain but I liked how the plotline was dealt with. Hayden is rather lovely: very gentle, seriously short-sighted (myopia, not metaphorical), very good at compromise and support. Hallie is sparky and has some excellent lines.
But I found it really hard to treat the conspiracy theories as a fun hobby. The book argues that it's harmless entertainment, and Hayden specifically doesn't do racist conspiracy theories. But in the real world even harmless conspiracy theories *lead* to racism, and especially antisemitism, and I just couldn't quite let that go enough to take full enjoyment of the story. This is why we can't have nice things.
You've got to be able to find something you like in that lot. Recs for brilliant romance welcome, no self promo, no AI.