Love & Romance

Back After This

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by Linda Holmes
First sentence: “The trick was not to be noisy.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: Feb 25, 2025
Review copy sent by the publisher and given to me by a coworker who knows I like Linda Holmes’s books.
Content: There is some swearing, including a couple f-bombs, and some off-screen, mostly fade-to-black sex. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Cecily is a podcast producer and mostly likes her job. She’s not really valued at the company she works for – her ex took the only successful show she ever worked on and that was four years ago and she’s stuck doing mostly the jobs no one wants to do. That is, until the bosses decide to create a dating podcast, the premise is that the dating influencer Eliza will set Cecily up with her perfect mate using Logic and Data and not her gut. Cecily has no interest in a relationship, but she agrees to the premise, if only to protect her job and that of some of her co-workers.

The problem comes when Cecily accidentally meets a guy – Will – who is nothing like the men that Cecily wants her to date. And even though she’s trying to give the podcast her all, she keeps bumping into Will, and they seem to have that undeniable Chemistry. But, will she give in to her heart? Or what Eliza and the demands of the podcast?

In many ways, this is a lot like Is She Really Going Out With Him? – similar enough to be notable. But, even though it’s similar, it’s not the same. I liked Holmes’ take on podcasts (she should know, being on the long-running NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour) and it was interesting to see the work that goes into producing a successful podcast. I did like the logic vs. heart aspect of the story (spoiler, though not really: heart wins out) and Cecily’s journey to figure out what she wants in a relationship and how to get it. I liked the banter between Cecily and Will and the way that their relationship developed. Holmes is good with chemistry, though I think she’s just good at writing normal people well. I liked that Cecily would do anything for her sister or her friends, and the female bonds in the story.

In short, it was a good all-around, charming book.

Audiobook: Is She Really Going Out With Him?

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by Sophie Cousens
Read by Kerry Gilbert
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and a couple of fade-to-black sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Anna Appleby is just trying to keep her job as a columnist at a Bath magazine. Except there is someone – Will – in-house who is trying to steal her thunder and the new bosses want something more “intimate” out of her. So, she finds herself with a gimmick: she and will will run complimentary dating columns, and hers will be an offline one, where her two kids (ages 13 and 7) pick out who she’s going to date.

As Anna goes on both weird and interesting dates, she comes to realize that the one person she keeps thinking about is probably out of bounds. And she’s not really interested in a relationship. Or is she?

This one was incredibly charming. I liked the premise a lot – there were silly dates and uncomfortable dates, and the people Anna met (and not just the ones she went out with) were just delightful. I did like the push and pull between her and Will and thought that they were both stubborn and fun together. I did like the added level of Anna dealing with her ex and his new girlfriend, and the complications with co-parenting.

And Kerry Gilbert was an absolutely delightful narrator to share the journey with. This one was lot of fun!

Swordheart

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by T. Kingfisher
First sentence: “Halla of Rutger’s Howe had just inherited a great deal of money and was therefore spending her evening trying to figure out how to kill herself.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: February 25, 2025 (though you can get the original paperback here)
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There’s some swearing (maybe some f-bombs? They didn’t stand out), and some fade-to-black sex. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Halla is a respectable 36-year-old widow who has spent the past 15 years carrying for Silas, her dead husband’s uncle, as he aged and eventually died. As payment (thanks?), Silas leaves everything to Halla, something which her dead husband’s other relatives have issue with. So, what she decides is that all of this would go away if she were dead, and she unsheaths an antique sword Silas had tucked away to do the deed. Except the sword turns out to be a man – Sarkis – who is tasked with serving the wielder of the sword, which happens to be Halla. What Sarkis expects is a lot of fighting…. what he gets is a very long journey to the temple of the Rat God to petition for help solving the inheritance problem, and then a very long journey back.

It sounds like a whole lot of nothing, but Kingfisher is brilliant in making the nothing so much fun. There are laugh-aloud moments, there is a lot of back-and-forth silliness between Sarkis and Halla (not to mention the Rat Priest, Zale, who is pretty delightful themselves) and a very charming slow-burn romance. I usually don’t like the slow burn ones, but this was, well, charming, cozy, delightful, and very rewarding. It’s not spicy, but I found it didn’t matter. It’s very much like a warm hug of a book, one that you read with a smile on your face the whole time. I wanted to finish it faster than I did, but I’m glad I lingered. And yes, I would happily revisit the land for other stories (I think this is a reprint of a book that’s part of a series? I am going to see if I can find the others) set here.

And I’ll reiterate something I’ve come to believe: I’ll read pretty much anything Kingfisher writes (I’m trying to work up the courage to read her horror, too).

Audiobook: Lost and Lassoed

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by Lyla Sage
Read by: Jason Clarke and Samantha Brentmoor
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Done and Dusted, Swift and Saddled
Content: There’s quite a bit of swearing – these characters don’t hold back – and a lot of on-page sexytimes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

It is well established that Gus Ryder and Teddy Anderson do not like each other. They’ve been at each other’s throats, barely civil for years. So, when Gus needs a babysitter for his daughter while her mother is away in Jackson Hole, the last person he wants is Teddy. But Teddy is freshly out of a job because the owner of the boutique she works at decided to sell out and close, and she needs not only the money, but something to do. And who doesn’t love Riley? She’s adorable. What starts as an uncomfortable truce grows into something more over the summer – but what happens at the end, when Camille comes back? Will Gus and Teddy stick? Or will they go back to sniping at each other.

I may have cowboy romance burn out, because I wanted to like this one more than I actually did. I think part of it was Clarke’s narration: his Gus voice was so low and gravelly that I had to crank the volume up just to hear him (I’m not one for deep voices, I guess). Which was more annoying than it should have been. But, while I like enemies to lovers a lot, this one lacked banter. I think it’s because the bulk of the enemies-to-lovers tropes that I like took place in the previous two books, and that just left the resolution for this one. Which kind of left me flat. I wasn’t thrilled with the way Emmy ended up in this one – she was quite self-centered, which you could blame on planning a wedding – and I disliked some elements of the way Sage wrote Teddy and Emmy’s friendship. I did like Teddy and Riley together; that came off as genuine, sweet, and fun.

I think it was me, though. I like cowboys and trucks and rural Wyoming well enough (shoot, those are my people, as my grandmother would have said), but maybe I need a break from them for a little bit.

Audiobook: Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…

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by Jason Reynolds
Read by Guy Lockard
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: It’s a book about teen sex. There is none actual, but there is a lot of talk about it. There is also swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Teen (grades 9+) section of the bookstore.

Neon and his girlfriend, Aria, have been talking about this night for months: they have been dating for two years and are ready to have sex. Except, as the book opens, Neon is in the bathroom, freaking out. As the book unfolds, going backward in time, we learn about Neon and Aria’s relationship to each other, to their families, and to their friends. We learn about how Neon’s parents are handling him having a steady boyfriend and about their relationship to each other. We learn about Neon’s highs and lows, and basically how he got to this specific moment, in the bathroom, about to take this step.

I think this is an important book. Seriously: I think a book that is frank about consent and parents having healthy discussions about sex with their children is important to have out there. It’s a magnet for the book banners, who don’t want any sex near teens, but honestly, I think honest discussion is a better way to deal with teens having sex rather than ignoring it. And Reynolds knows how to write about difficult subjects with humor and in ways that kids (and yes, parents) can relate to.

This is also a book that I think I enjoyed a lot more on audio. Lockhard Is a fantastic narrator, and he made all the characters come alive for me. It’s a quick read/listen, and I’m glad I did.

Highly recommended.

The Ex Hex

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by Erin Sterling
First sentence: “Never mix vodka and witchcraft.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is on-screen sex as well as some swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

When she was 19, Vivienne had a summer fling with Rhys Penhallow, which ended badly – breaking her heart. So, she and her cousin Gwyn “hexed” him – mostly in jest, but maybe there’s something more. Because 9 years later, Rhys is back in Graves Glen to charge the ley lines and things have gone horribly wrong. Maybe the hex that Vivienne and Gwyn did had some teeth after all.

As Vivi and Rhys try to figure out how to reverse the hex, they realize that maybe what they had 9 years ago wasn’t just a summer fling. Maybe it was something more. Can they fix the hex in time?

I picked this up last year intending to read it at Halloween, but never did. So, when I was looking for something fun and fluffy to read, I found this one sitting on a shelf. Why not read a witchy romance? And I’m so glad I did. It was everything I wanted: fun, sassy, fluffy, and utterly delightful. I liked the witchy touches – the tarot cards and the spells – and also the whole Halloween vibe of the book. It’s the perfect cozy book for the season (especially for those of us who don’t do scary).

An utter delight.

The Bones Beneath My Skin

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by TJ Klune
First sentence: “He sang along with the radio.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: February 4, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs; lots of violence; and on-screen sex. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

The thing I have come to believe, after having read 8 of the 11 books Klune has published (I didn’t finish the werewolf series), is that he is deeply interested in Humanity and how we express our humanness. In many cases he has hope: his characters are always flawed, but somehow they find their way to a Better World. Mostly that world is through found family because many of the humans in Klune’s books suck and are terrible people. But that’s the way of the world, isn’t it? We are lost souls, surrounded by people who want to stop us, hurt us, reject us, and yet we find our People and Make It Through and somehow find Happiness.

This one – even though it’s a republished book that Klune wrote in 2018 – is no different. The setting is different: It’s 1995 and Nate has just been fired from his job at the Washington Post. His parents have also died – it was a murder-suicide – and left him the family cabin in a remote part of Oregon. So, he heads out there and discovers two people – a man and a girl – in his cabin. He doesn’t kick them out., and that decision changes his life forever.

That’s the basic plot without giving too much away. (Saying it’s Stranger Things meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind but gay would be a decent elevator pitch.) It’s a good book – I think his later books are better, but that’s not to say this isn’t good – but it’s a weird one. I don’t think this one is going to be for everyone. It’s also coming on the heels of Somewhere Beyond the Sea, which is amazing, so there’s a lot to live up to. But if you’ve committed to reading everything Klune writes (and why haven’t you?) then it’s a good one. It’s more action-packed and less ruminative than his other books, but there are still quirky-charming characters and a love story at the center of it. It’s about finding family and home and happiness, and who doesn’t want to read about that?

So, while it’s not my favorite one of Klune’s books, it’s still a good one.

Audiobook: Apprentice to the Villain

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by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Read by Em Eldridge
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Assistant to the Villain
Content: There is violence and swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for Assistant to the Villain, obviously.

Trystan has been taken by King Benedict, and it’s up to Evie to save him. Which she does, but that unleashes a chain of events that have both Trystan and Evie scrambling to fulfill the prophecy and save the magic in Rennedawn.

I enjoyed the first one well enough, and I honestly wanted to like this one. I enjoyed the narrator of the first one and thought that it would be just as much fun. But then, the slow-burn romance that started in the first book never really went anywhere. Sure, they almost kissed, but then he pulled back and they went back and forth with “I love him/her but I can’t” or “he/she doesn’t want me” and I just lost patience with it. Sure, there’s a plot that was supposed to be interesting, but about 80% of the way through the book and the plot wasn’t anywhere near to wrapping up and I just lost patience with it. I don’t want yet another book of will-they-won’t-they and pining and growling and being jealous and not communicating and I just bailed.

Some books are for some people. This one ultimately wasn’t for me.

Swift and Saddled

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by Lyla Sage
First sentence: “I’ve come in contact with a lot of liars, but none quite so big as Google.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Done and Dusted
Content: There is swearing, including many f-bombs, as well as on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Ada Hart is an outsider to Meadowlark, Wyoming, brought there as an interior designer for Wes Ryder’s guest ranch. What she expected: to get the job done well. What she didn’t expect: to fall in love with Wyoming, Rebel Blue, and Wes Ryder.

There’s a lot more than that – Ada is coming off a bad divorce from a controlling husband and is gun-shy about relationships; Wes is trying to find his footing with the new guest ranch he’s in charge of. There’s a lot of push-and-pull, but eventually, they come to figure things out. While I don’t think it’s as spicy as Done and Dusted, there are some good sex scenes and banter between Wes and Ada. I appreciated that there wasn’t much of a third-act fallout, and it was quickly resolved. I also appreciated Wes’s support of Ada, both as she worked through her trauma and of her budding career.

Sage is a good writer, and she knows how to write a good romance. These are a lot of fun.

Audiobook: Assistant to the Villain

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by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Read by Em Eldridge
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are descriptions of murder and mayhem, as well as a depiction of sexual assault. There are swear words, including a few f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Evie Sage is on the run after quitting her less-than-desirable job at the town blacksmith when she encounters none other than The Villain. He’s the guy who’s been terrorizing the kingdom for years, the guy whom everyone is supposed to be afraid of. And he offers her a job? As his assistant?

Which she’s actually enjoying? (That’s not even bringing up the fact that her boss is actually hot. And a decent human being.)

So, when it looks like there’s a traitor in their midst, it’s up to Evie and The Villain to figure out what’s going on and stop them before they put too many (more) lives at stake.

I felt about this one much like I felt about Fourth Wing: was it good? Probably not. Was it a lot of fun? Yes.
Yes, it is. I like the magic system that Maehrer created, and it was highly amusing the way she superimposed a modern office space on this fantasy world. (There’s an HR Director!) I liked the push and pull between Evie and The Villain (though awkward power dynamic much there?). I really liked the narrator; I think she’s what made it really fun for me. I did have quibbles with the way the ending twists happened (the fake-out was the one that really bothered me), but in the end (even though it ended on a cliffhanger), I immediately picked up the second one.

You can’t get a higher recommendation than that, can you?