Romance Round Up: Oct 26
My month’s romance reading. Not as prolific as usual largely due to a busy couple of weeks off but I still have some goodies.
Revenge of the Sunshine by Jackie Lau
Absolutely lovely to have Jackie Lau back and this is a highly enjoyable one: a cheated-on woman decides to get revenge by fake dating her ex's brother. Zoe is a very sunshine sort of person except for the outburst of revenge, and it's really good to see her developing a harder edge--not unkind, just not letting her desire for everyone to be happy continue meaning letting people get away with shit. Bennett is a solid hero, kind and mostly thoughtful, and his third-act behaviour is underpinned by real issues and genuine pain. A fine romance.
The Devouring Time by Jordan L Hawk
A 1920s adventure romance set in the Widdershins world. A rare book dealer is used as patsy by a sinister conspiracy which takes over his body and leaves him with amnesia and an urgent need to find out what he's been up to for the last year. Much cosmic horror results. There's a romance, though it doesn't really take centre stage much: we're more concerned with the unspooling mystery and the thoroughly spooky world of the setting, plus it is always a delight to see Widdershins again, especially through the eyes of someone who wants to know what the bobbins they put in their drinks.
Only One Tour Bus by Suleena Bibra
Grumpy sunshine romance in which miserable Irish git Callum and intolerably perky American Asha are forced to cooperate as tour guides and share a bus/party of tourists across Europe. Great concept, very much done as romcom (which is to say, not overburdened by gritty realism). Asha's perkiness hits the right balance: from her POV we see a woman who's determined to enjoy the world in front of her; from Callum's we see especially at first just how trying this is to live with when she's insisting on going to the gift shop for the hundredth time. Callum doesn't come across as quite up to her, for me, and I felt like more serious conflict would have balanced it better, but overall a zizzy and enjoyable ride. I look forward to where this author's going next.
The Last Thorn by Talia Hibbert
Romantasy with all-in enemies to lovers set up (he killed her father, who murdered his family, now they’re soul bonded, sucks to be them), and also a Beauty and the Beast set up except they’re both beasts. Serenia has fangs and is largely uncivilised thanks to a brutal upbringing; Casimir has a lot of blood on his hands and is pretty damaged by war and loss. This could have gone pretty dark. It does not, because when he gets custody of her as a prisoner of war, he may detest everything she stands for but he treats her with honour and decency all the same. That allows Serenia room to learn just how twisted her upbringing and values were, and them both to start un-beastifying.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. The main characters are strong, flawed, sympathetic, the romance lovely, the sex hot, and the feeling intense. There’s a fun ‘who’s the hidden villain’ plotline, and a good array of war-damaged secondary characters. I didn’t feel the worldbuilding was as elaborated as it might have been in a fantasy novel but for me, this was very much a romance in the end: a story of two damaged people building trust, starting to heal, daring to love despite all the pain around and inside them. I cared about them both; I really loved that they are at heart decent people. Wow, it’s good to have Talia back.
(I’m writing here as an entire novice to the romantasy genre, it's not my usual reading and I'm not familiar with the tropes and beats. I should also note that I had an ARC and we share an agent. As ever I don't leave enthusiastic blurbs if I don't mean them.)
The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater
A rather dark faerie story where, as in all the best spooky tales, humans show themselves to be at least as monstrous as the monsters. Lovely sinister setting with building weirdness, and a very understated and slow burn romance between a satisfyingly hard-nosed but soft-centred heroine and a distinctly scary love interest. There's a certain amount of backstory relating to the Half a Soul trilogy lore, such that you might want to reread to get your hand in to the world, but that would not be a hardship, and there's enough explanation that it stands alone if you must.
Rosemary & Thyme by Olivia Atwater
Delightful second instalment of the highly sinister fae world threatened by an even worse evil. It's a remarkably vivid book in a dreamlike sort of way. There's strong descriptions and intensely conveyed feelings, and a very disconcerting way of reality shifting around you. There's a powerful sense of threat too, and the villain's aims and powers are genuinely horrifying. The romance is very low key (and honestly I'd have been delighted for Lord/Lady Foxglove to have twice as much on page time), but the story here is very much a hurt woman fighting for what's right and the people she loves.
The villain is unapologetically a GenAI metaphor and all the better for it. Absolutely loved the on page rage. Involving, weird, and resonantly hopeful against the odds. I cannot wait for the next instalment. (I had an ARC of this from the author.)