📖 Q: have you ever been to Paris?

Eight Weeks in Paris by S.R. Lane is one of those books that I just fell into—it’s a blissful (& also angsty) Paris-set trope-fest that engaged me on every level & felt like Moulin Rouge meets French Kiss.

Trope-wise, this is opposites attract, sunshine & the grumpy, coworkers, caretaking, stormed in, forced proximity. (Do you hear my heart going pitter patter?)

Nicholas Madden is a “serious actor” who gives me Richard from Lucy Parker’s Act Like It vibes. He’s got a grumpy, temper-fueled, brilliant rep & he’s very invested in the current film he’s starring in with Chris Lavalle, a stunningly attractive man mostly known as a model & influencer.

Including film scenes + real life scenes it’s easy to see the two becoming confused—something the book really makes clear—especially as both leads wrestle their feelings over the magnetism of their relationship & as Nicholas in particular considers what he might lose by publicly coming out.

The writing & plot are sublime, the emotion is so stirring, & this is the kind of book I could read again & again bc there’s so much there. I wish I could have read more past HEA, especially since the big fight hurt me so bad 😆.

I jumped into Sonali Dev’s The Rajes series with the final book, The Emma Project, a retelling of—you’ve prob guessed it—Jane Austen’s Emma.

Brimming with passion & vitality & with characters who feel layered, this is an interesting read that I’m still trying to pin down.

I could definitely tell that this was the final book. It has the air of things boiling up & coming to fruition over a period of time & unfortunately I do think I would have appreciated some of the pacing & structural elements more had I read earlier books.

But with that being said I found lots to appreciate about The Emma Project, newby to the series that I was.

Starting with the complex characters—even the secondary characters assert themselves & contribute to the story, whether the leads want entirely want them to or not 😉.

The family dynamics are sometimes loving, sometimes frustrating, & it’s really cool how past main characters aren’t perfect in this book just because of their once-vaunted MC status.

The Emma Project features childhood friends to lovers, 12 year age gap (she’s older), once fake-engaged to your brother, workplace romance. The sex scenes are mostly fade to black but there’s a lot of emotional intimacy here; it’s really sweet seeing how much Vansh knows Naina & vice versa—their understanding goes bone deep.

There are a lot of challenging family undercurrents in this read, including an abusive father (see my CWs) & I would have liked possibly some more time just on the development of Vansh & Naina as a couple, outside of their families. Those loom pretty large.

But this is a rich story told in a lovely, happy, & haunting voice & I would imagine a great conclusion to the series.

I have a family history of addiction & drug & alcohol abuse & I was both wondering how those topics would be treated in a romance & also aware that I was coming to the table with my own experiences & feelings on the topic.

Now that I’ve offered that review caveat I’ll say that in general I love redemption stories + second chance stories, how much hope they offer & how satisfying the narrative arc often is, & in the case of Trusted & True by Rhenna Morgan, protagonist Callie Moore is clearly invested in making good choices & in “making amends.”

She’s obviously done a lot of work thinking about her past actions, triggers, and motivations & leans heavily on the things that help her stay healthy & safe.

In general I really enjoyed Rhenna Morgan’s focus on blue collar leads & found family with this romance, & the hero Danny’s admissions that professionally, he’s not satisfied.

But I have two big problems with this romance. First, the relationship between Danny & Callie just moves so quickly. The end, in particular, feels rushed.

Second, two of Callie’s past actions—really big & tbh troubling admissions—are just lobbed into the plot & then they’re pretty easily dismissed by the characters…but not by me. Callie made a huge mistake when she was a teen in particular—one that makes me feel very uncomfortable but the other characters are kind of like, oh it’s okay (obviously exaggerating some here).

I believe in second chances but the execution of a second chance arc just doesn’t totally work for me in this book. Maybe if these were things the characters had started to process before the book started—instead of being quickly introduced in this book—it would have been more successful for me.

I had never read a Caroline Linden book before All the Duke I Need but I loved this romance. Seriously loved it.

From the hot leads to the hot chemistry between them, from the surrounding familial drama to the estate workings, from the cute little moments—throwing apple cores & walnuts to the almost-kisses—this book is a total delight.

Did I mention that one of the MCs is compared to a pirate in appearance & total charmer but is sometimes moved to blushes and/or stupification (is that a word?) by the heroine’s sass?!

Other things I love:

💛 Class difference. He’s an estate steward & she’s the duchess’s ward (& almost grand-daughter) & heiress.

💛 Secrets & a twist I didn’t anticipate

💛 A consideration of the brutality of colonization (though I wanted the consideration to be even more assertive)

💛 Angst. Kind of kidding here bc you might know I’m not one for angst but it’s really well done here & I could feel the pain & rawness of their separation.

This is a wonderful book & this couple made me so happy. I feel like I had the biggest smile in my heart/possibly on my face reading their interactions. So good!

A commode heiress named Cleopatra Lewis with an unconventional upbringing who’s also the granddaughter of a viscount.

A self-made brawny American businessman, Jacob Astor Addison, who is the possessor of a formidable jawline.

What kind of trouble could they get into when they both want the same costume business?

I always enjoy Eloisa James romances. They seem so sophisticated—I think it’s how her characters banter— & they’re sexy & bold. She’s keeping the streak alive for me with How to be a Wallflower, a romance featuring a lead whom every other character knows is *not* a wallflower.

Cleopatra is a standout of the book. Every time she does something without permission, like staying in a hotel while unwed, smoking a cheroot, deciding to buy a business, I cheered internally.

As Jacob comes to appreciate the same qualities that once bedeviled him & stops being as misogynistic 🙄😆 he grew on me too. Do you remember how I described him earlier? He’s a real fox.

But one development in the romance arc happens abruptly for me & overall the arc isn’t quite as smooth & straightforward as I would like, particularly when it comes to potential other entanglements like the woman in America Jacob has “an understanding” with.

All things considered How to be a Wallflower is invigorating, refreshing, sensual fun & the epilogue has me 👀 for what I assume is book 2.

It’s been a long time since I’ve watched a really good rom com. But parts of Kate Spencer’s In a New York Minute give me those vibes.

Take Meg Ryan walking the streets of NY knowing she has mail…from you; add some BFF moments like in 27 Dresses; add in an uptight lead who’s often misunderstood like Sandra Bullock in The Proposal; & a beautiful, alive city, NYC, that shines & welcomes & helps make magic happen.

But there are other parts of this book, mainly a lot of what happens after 65%+, that frustrate me. Honestly, there was one moment where I deliberated not finishing bc the characters made me that annoyed.

Hayes, the hero, is uncertain & by God ruminates over his mistakes & that feels so RELATABLE & often refreshing. But he also keeps dilly dallying about a relationship with Franny.

Franny, the heroine, is going through a lot professionally & personally. Also relatable. But the conflict—which she urges forward like she’s emptying a bottle of lighter fluid on a campfire where delicate little s’mores are cooking (does this analogy work or not?) 😆—had my eyes & heart feeling like 🙄.

Basically there is so much passivity in their relationship from the beginning to the ending pages. Maybe that is relatable too. But it was not a reading experience I loved all the way through.

There’s a lot to commend itself about this read. It is often adorable. It is often funny. The best friends are amazing. I love how refreshingly insecure the hero can be. But most of the moments shine for me toward the beginning & not so much at the end.

Somewhere there’s a bar called Moonies where people can drink, sing karaoke, & fall in love…

In this latest novella in Anita Kelly’s Moonlighters series, Wherever Is Your Heart, MCs Mal & June build a long-building slow fire into something bigger & lasting.

As Anita Kelly tweeted last week, this book is “a quiet tribute to mutual pining, soft butches, growing old, & taking a chance during Pride. (Doesn’t that sound amazing?)

This book is so good. The writing is gorgeous & feels real (that’s a description that might not mean anything specific to you but it feels like something particular to me 😆) & it’s often funny.

I love the pacing, how Anita relays info about Mal and June’s long history, & the idea of a simple road trip that’s actually a momentous step/moment for two people.
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This whole novella is soft but packs a punch.

Francesca May’s Wild and Wicked Things is a dark, engrossing story where magic is both something that’s craved & feared…if you’re smart.

It’s set in the years immediately after magic helped ravage soldiers in war & opens with protagonist Annie going to Crow Island, where the father who left her & her mother lived & died.

As the blurb mentions Annie’s soon fascinated by her neighbor Emmeline, a rumored witch who seems to know Annie’s estranged best friend Bea—also on the island & newly married.

Basically this is a twisting, twisted book that’s quite dark but also has hope, found family, & love too. I’ll be honest—some of the discussions of magic confused me (like it’s premise within the book 🥴) but the setting & the plot-points are compelling & entertaining to watch unfold. As is the complex characterization (though I didn’t really find a lot to grab onto with Bea).

This book isn’t for the faint of heart, really. It is scary & gory in spots 😆. But the Sapphic representation, the sense of danger & recklessness, of throwing off weight & enjoying oneself, are all winning.

I’ve written this before (way to be original, Jess 🙄) but every single time I’ve read a Grace Burrowes book I think, it feels like I’m watching Downtown Abbey right now. Restraint & repartee meets drama!!! (Why am I feeling like that koala in the movie Sing right now?! 😬).

Never a Duke has that same Downton Abby-ness. Also a truly nice hero, an unconventional heroine who isn’t liked by many of her contemporaries, & sweet love story that wavers a little for me toward the end but for the most part soundly holds my interest.

Burrowes explores class boundaries & the legal system compellingly with this one when she repeatedly relays how poor people are punished for trying to exist, trying to keep themselves & their families alive & fed & provided for.

It’s a belief that the leads Ned Wentworth & Lady Rosalind Kinworth share & that draws them together, despite the fact that Ned was born on the rougher side of London & was sent to Newgate for crimes & also nearly transported for them & Lady Rosalind is the daughter of an Earl.

Binding everything together is a stirring mystery focusing on missing young women in service & an attraction that shimmers between Ned & Rosalind, despite the many obstacles between them.

Rosalind occasionally comes across as somewhat high-handed to me but watching her pursue him & challenge the seemingly indomitable Wentworths also has its fun recompenses.

Never a Duke is another strong installment in this series. It’s been really fun meeting such an unconventional & powerful family that straddles class lines & seeing them shake the aristocracy—& my own reader expectations—up a bit.