Hey everyone! I literally get anxiety sometimes about lines (where should the line go when it branches off, do people know I’m in line, is it okay that I’m walking forward before I’ve been officially waved up??? etc) because RULES but yes, I do enjoy romantic suspense books with rule-breaking and chases and major threats to life.
 
Juno Rushdan is a romantic suspense author I discovered last year and I am a big fan. Until the End features Castle Kinkade, a Dwayne Johnson-esque member of the Gray Box, an off the books government ops team, and Kit Westcott, a striking woman who funds the Outliers, a hacking group that angers government orgs like the one Castle belongs to. They’re brought together when Castle’s boss believes Kit is passing on critical info to bad people via drives & Castle witnesses someone trying to kill her.
 
Juno tackles big issues—past abuse, a heart problem, PTSD, murder, bioweapons—without dragging down the compelling plot. The attraction between Castle & Kit is immediate—despite what Castle & his team suspect her of—and both steamy & adorable, & the book overall is sex positive. I was caught up in the story, loving Rushdan’s storytelling and suspense finesse.
 
This is probably largely the result of the current political climate, but sometimes I have a hard time seeing how people with very different political ideologies, including those related to national security, can come together without losing sight of who they are. Though Juno does a fine job of showing how Castle & Kit come first for each other & how they’re both willing to re-assess when their partner pushes back, I’m still a little skeptical of how it works for this couple, especially how it relates to one Outliers project.
 
I enthusiastically recommend Juno’s books and can’t wait to see where this series is going next. The (very) good news is that her books are full of very attractive, very smart, & brave characters and she’s. not. afraid. to. go. there.

Eloisa James’s Say Yes to the Duke takes on one of my favorite trope combos: enemies to lovers with an uptight, seemingly emotionless duke. God love those men. Throw in a socially anxious Miss who fancies herself in love with the already-engaged vicar and well, who’s to blame me for falling as hard as I did?

Miss Viola Astley doesn’t feel like a Wilde and this, paired with a disastrous encounter at a ball, has resulted in anxiety related to societal events, marriage, & sex.

Devin the duke was raised in isolation & learned to put on a mask as a coping mechanism. He wants to marry Viola’s sister Joan only because she ticks off his boxes, and Viola overhears him coldly assessing her sister and calling *her, Viola,* a mouse in the same supercilious tone.

You have to read to see how mouse-y sweet Viola is with the jerk duke. Spoiler alert: not very mouse-y at all.

I just really loved this book. It was nearly everything that I wanted and needed. I love how Viola puts herself out there despite her shyness (that’s me in certain situations), I love how the Ice Man looks out for her and encourages her, I love how sexy their romps are. I love how Devin’s so closed off at first, poor dear, and has to learn that it’s safe for him to share his feelings with her.

Some of the transitions feel somewhat abrupt and some of the coincidences in the book are a bit much but Say Yes to the Duke is a funny, heartwarming, and did I mention sexy? foray into opening up, learning how to be married, and falling in love.

It made me really happy. 

I flew through the pages of Meryl Wilsner’s Something to Talk About rooting for Jo & Emma but also not feeling like my heart was held hostage by a stoically evil mastermind with nothing to lose & that made for a wonderful reading day. I’m highly recommending this adorable, funny, astute book that also feels pretty darn hopeful.

Jo Jones, a writer & producer on one of tv’s hottest shows, tells her assistant Emma Kaplan that she’s coming with her to the SAG Awards. The press turns a red carpet moment between them into a tender moment between a couple, & suddenly both women are battling invasive interest from paparazzi, friends, & family about their supposed love life. But they don’t even think about the other that way...right?

Something to Talk About puts a welcome spin on the age gap, boss-employee romance. Jo is not willing to let her attraction make Emma feel any kind of way in the workplace & this leads to some back & forth between the two that is at times a little annoying (kiss already!) but that I ultimately respected. Emma is her employee & that boundary means something to Jo.

Luckily for them they won’t have that dynamic for long, & that was another aspect of the romance I loved: both female leads’s ambition. As a Chinese American, female child actor & then writer/producer, Jo has faced her share of discrimination, & this was before their red carpet episode put a newly intense focus on her love life. But she’s taking on a major franchise. And Emma’s attached to Jo & her job but she’s not afraid to go after what she wants. Through it all they support each other generously & fiercely (do not come for either of them!)

The way that they finally realize their feelings, the way that they finally act on them, makes for the slowest of the slowwwww burns, and encouraging them along is a truly fantastic cast of secondary characters, including Emma’s sister Avery.

The ending chapter feels the slightest bit abrupt but the Epilogue is one of those perfectly fitting endings that left me feeling replete with those HEA feelings.
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CW: sexual harassment.

Q: what’s your favorite space romance series?

Imagine the culture that allowed the Medicis to flourish, put it in space, add in some good people determined to be better than their parents, & some kissing (v. important), & voila: you have Jessie Mihalik’s The Consortium Rebellion series.

In Chaos Reigning, the last book in the series, it’s Lady Catarina von Hasenberg’s turn at bat. The youngest member of one of the most powerful Houses on Earth, Cat’s known for being charming & not terribly bright—a persona she wears in public to survive. She’s going to use that reputation on a fact-finding mission into who kidnapped her older brother. Though Cat’s got a plan, her interfering older sister Bianca hires the mysterious Alexander Sterling as Cat’s bodyguard without her consent. Will they be able to find the answers they need without destabilizing things further in the Houses?

Mihalik crafts a story that feels fresh & exciting, that I don’t think that I’ve quite read before. She seems to delight in the big & small details that constitute the Consortium, & while some of the more technical sci-fi language isn’t my fave, I respect the heck out of it because her care & attention is how new worlds are created.

Besides the top-notch world-building, I’m here for the people. Cat’s journey to seeing herself as a leader, as capable of achieving big things & as an integral part of her House and family, is heartwarming. The bond between the von Hasenberg siblings is all the more touching because of how very mercenary their parents are.

And the relationship between Cat & Alex is slow and sweet with a dirty finish, just my style, especially since there’s a bodyguard involved. A thumbs up for nice heroes, particularly when they’re invested in their romantic counterpart’s consent, repeatedly share their feelings, & aren’t scared off by the perception of their upper-class/lower-class social divide.

As much as I liked this book, there are some aspects of Cat’s story that need more deliberation. I didn’t feel like there’s ample evidence of Cat’s incompetence/lack of intelligence at the beginning of the book--to me, events like her mother’s luncheon overtly show her skillful maneuverings.

And while Chaos Reigning isn’t marketed as a romance, the relationship between Cat & Alex mostly fits the bill--but it’s also somewhat superficial if you probe too much. There’s no real sense of conflict between them (it’s all external), & more important, no real consideration of their relationship, how their insecurities and pasts might relate to being together. Shouldn’t Cat have been more suspicious of Alex’s intentions, for example, given her background and parents?

TCR is a great way to spend some time and I recommend it to anyone who wants sci-fi meets romance meets women harnessing their power. It’s not perfect, but it is really fun, original and romantic, and I can’t wait to see what Mihalik writes next.

On a basic level Yaffa S. Santos’s A Taste of Sage calls to me: enemies to lovers set in the creative & delicious restaurant world, with some magical realism elements thrown in the mix. And let’s go ahead and give a round of applause to the person(s) who designed the cover because it’s a vibrant slice of happiness.

But unfortunately the more that I read of this upcoming release, the more I was confused by its execution, taken out of the story in the passages where narrative subtlety is lacking, & ultimately pretty shocked by a direction the plot takes.

Lumi cooks a spontaneous daily menu of Dominican food at the restaurant she’s just opened. At a catering job she meets famed chef Julien Dax, who arrogantly—& w/out knowing her identify—insults her food to her face. Oops.

Shortly thereafter Lumi’s restaurant goes under & she ends up interviewing with Julien. Lumi gets the job after a very brief interview & has to figure out how to put up with the uber traditional, conceited jerk who rubbed her the wrong way from the get-go. For his part, Julien feels a strong attraction for Lumi but it’s up for debate whether he’ll be able to tear down her walls.

Food is more than a profession for the hero & heroine in ATOS; there’s a lot of love for it and for the act of creativity that Lumi nurtures with her plates. Full recipes are even included throughout the book. There’s potential in Lumi’s and the book’s overall devotion to food & in Julien’s later care of Lumi.

But I didn’t feel like I really emotionally connected with the characters, even when they were at their lowest, & on the whole ATOS feels emotionally thin to me. This romance just isn’t for me.



CW:







graphically described burn injuries

Q: are you a fan of classic movies? Tell me about it!

I grew up watching classic movies. The glamorous clothes, the dance numbers, the rat tat tat of the banter, the Cary Grant. Seriously, GOOGLE HIM RIGHT NOW. That’s part of the reason why I’m drawn to Amanda Quick’s Burning Cove series, romantic suspense books set mostly in a town where the rich and famous of the 1930s play when they want to escape LA. Only, sometimes they get murdered there (!).

In Close Up Vivian Brazier is living on her own after she refused to clean up an ignominious affair with a society marriage. Though she wants to be an art photographer she’s currently a news photographer taking pics of murders & the like. She also has a sixth sense that helps her “see” things.

After helping solve a murder, Vivian herself becomes the target of a killer. Are the two events related? And will the mysterious man who shows up on her doorstep claiming to be able to protect her, a Nick Sundridge, actually be able to do so?

Close Up takes on the tone & cadence of those classic movies I loved. Though there are moments when the book veers into affected for the most part it’s dry and glamorous & has the Katherine Hepburn assured & courageous sensibility I adore.

The attraction between Vivian & Nick is strong & immediate & the way that they offer support without trying to change or temper the other is lovely. Give me all the sex positive romances with intrepid, daring heroines you can.

The plot of this one is a little convoluted. But Amanda Quick isn’t afraid to go there. Her stories are maybe more dramatic than they need to be but they’re also entertaining & dishy & I’m like, (in my best Hepburn voice), *bring the car around, won’t you? I’ve got a killer to catch.