Q: what’s one of your favorite places to travel to?

Adriana Herrera’s Finding Joy is the sweetest little treat and then BAM it’s dirty and steamy and . That’s the combo that makes my world go round. Add to that two characters who truly connect on an emotional level & an immersive journey into Ethiopian culture & you can see why I’m smitten.

American Desta Joy returns to Ethiopia—the place where he spent part of his childhood & that’s very special to his family—determined to help others & decide his next step. Soon after he meets the handsome, strapping, & delightfully kind man who’ll be the driver & logistics coordinator on their aid surveys: Elias.

The chemistry between Desta & Elias is immediate. There are some friend feelings & eventually the revelation of some mutual less platonic inclinations. But neither man can be fully who he is or romantically with who he’d like to be with in Ethiopia, something Elias has long been all too aware of.

I loved this book. Finding Joy is romantic and sexy. It also takes on topics like misogyny, the effects of Occupation, & racism because that’s what Desta and Elias are passionate about. Other incorporated subjects include music & YA lit & Ethiopian history & food. It makes for a delectable romance.

My only quibble is that sometimes Finding Joy seems to do more telling rather than showing, but that didn’t bother me so much because while it’s DEFINITELY A ROMANCE, it also feels so travelogue-ish.

This is a beautiful story. It’s also a love song to Ethiopia and to being who you are, loving who you want to love.​

This Time Tomorrow, an all-new enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance with all the steam by New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey is available now!
 
 
Roksana, heiress to the vampire slayer throne, has performance anxiety.
 
She’s supposed to kill Elias, but so far she’s only succeeded in maxing out his credit card. Now her failure to stake the brooding vampire has sent her back to Moscow in disgrace to face her mother’s wrath. Expecting punishment by death, she’s given a rare reprieve. She now has three tasks to complete, the last of which is to finally kill Elias. She will not fail this time.
 
If only the memories of one magical evening—back when Elias was human—would stop holding her back. He claims to have forgotten that night. Why can’t she?
 
Three years ago, Elias was a SWAT team member on a guy’s weekend in Vegas. Playing poker and minding his own business, his life changed forever when a captivating blonde strolled past his table in a light-up bra. He followed Roksana as if compelled, his very bones demanding he do so, his soul resonating with the belief she would be important to him. Always. That turned out to be a vast understatement—and nothing has changed. 
 
Roksana embarks on her mission, determined to win back her mother’s approval, but when an astonishing truth emerges in the eleventh hour, will her stake pierce the very heart that beats in her honor? Or will love triumph over duty?
​
This Time Tomorrow, an all-new enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance with all the steam by New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey is available now!

Download your copy today!
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3eIJL56
Apple Books:  https://apple.co/2ZZNTJT
Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/thistimetomorrow
Kobo: https://bit.ly/36SxyYY
Nook: https://bit.ly/36TY18t


Add THIS TIME TOMORROW to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2zrU9PE
​

“Beers on me later,” Elias muttered, keeping his attention on the cards. “You can ask me whatever you want…”

He trailed off, that scrape between his shoulder blades growing more pronounced, until he couldn’t concentrate enough to decipher the suits of his cards. What the hell was going on? Throat dry, he laid down his hand and turned in his chair--

Silence fell around him when he saw her.

She was golden. Radiant.

Miserable.

The long-legged blonde limped through the casino with a beautiful pout on her face, a pair of high heels shoved under one arm. There was a fine sheen of dew on her incredible face, telling Elias she’d just escaped the stifling Vegas heat. Simply by existing, she commanded fealty and the casino seemed to part around her like the Red Sea, creating a path for her to complete a wobbly strut toward Elias’s poker table—and the closer she came, the more his lungs compressed, as if he was running out of fucking oxygen.

Who is she?

No idea. But the discomfort between his shoulder blades was gone.

Like a balm had been applied.

The girl was beyond gorgeous. He’d never noticed cheekbones on anyone in his life, but he noticed her high ones. The indigo blue of her eyes. And Jesus, he definitely noticed the way her soft mutterings made his heart flop over. Who are you?

Vaguely, he heard Latte ribbing him. “Bet you’d call her back, huh, Silent E?”

“Forget what I said about him being mysterious,” Kenny quipped. “Everything he’s thinking is right there on his face.”

More laughter. But the buzzing in his skull was already drowning them out.

Elias watched the blonde’s high heel fall out of her arms and flop sideways on the casino floor. He was on his feet before it stopped moving, abandoning his hand at the table without a thought so he could scoop up the shoe and follow. He didn’t have a choice in the matter. Going after her was a requirement, searing him, compelling him.

And a moment later, when she looked up at him from her seat at a slot machine, his world righted itself with a grinding snap. He hadn’t even known it was off kilter.

The blonde crossed her impossibly sexy legs and his body reacted swiftly, hardening.
​
“Well?” she said in a husky Russian accent. “Make it good. I only have five minutes before I wreak the havoc.”

​Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.
 
Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the workforce as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.
 
She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eleven years and seven-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

​Website: https://www.tessabailey.com
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2sScu5g
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Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/2NSjQgA
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Join her Reader Group: http://bit.ly/2uoDGZP
Stay up to date with Tessa Bailey by joining her mailing list:
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Q: what’s your favorite game?

Here’s what we have: a cross-country trek to a game tournament between two men who are competitors & heavily dislike the other (and also look like Armie Hammer and Kit Harington. This is just speculation but let a girl live). What could possibly go wrong—and right (kissing, kissing, kissing!)?
​
Annabeth Albert’s Conventionally Yours is delightful & I adored it. Told from dual perspectives, we get to see where Conrad (handsome, brawny, “Disney-hero”-like) and Alden (good with kids but seemingly awkward/grumpy/reserved with most adults, cute) assume or see the worst in each other. We also the moments when they start picking up on the fact that no, the other person is not the worst person ever. They’re actually pretty cute.

Albert compellingly sketches the conflicts both characters are facing in their families & shows how both they’re moved to meet the challenges facing them. I especially love how Albert portrays Alden’s neurodiversity and his anxiety, which sometimes makes him snap at other people. (<— me. It’s hard to explain how worrying about something irrational can lead to you being mean to someone cute in your vicinity but if you have anxiety, you get it, I think).

The romance between Conrad & Alden is low-angst though still high stakes because I wanted both leads to admit IMMEDIATELY that they loved each other and that—thank God for the sake of the story—didn’t happen right away.

I will admit that my thirsty soul wanted more steam on the page but Thirsty Soul was appeased by the slow burn and all the ways Conrad and Alden are sweet to each other.

This book is great. I’ll take four more like it, please.

CW:

outing not by choice, subsequently cut off by parents​