New Year, Big Book Energy

Happy New Year!

This year is scheduled to be my most hectic professionally with multiple writing projects, the expansion of The Write Women Book Fest from one day to two along with additional partnerships, and other commitments and goals outside of my bookish endeavors. So fewer and much shorter reviews this year even though I'll probably (try to) read as much as usual.

Seduced by Passion (Billionaire Island Brides #1) by Ana E. Ross

contemporary romance, December 26, 2022

Xiomara and Raph's love story is a sweeping family saga filled with secrets, conflict, temptation, themes of cultural historical context, in addition to an emotionally layered development of their relationship. Plus, blazing chemistry.

No More Sidelines (Solomon Pro Athletes #1) by Leslie North

contemporary romance, December 22, 2022

What starts as a series of adversarial encounters leads to a cease-fire that evolves into friendship then love for Claire and Marcus in this thoughtful, compressed story about grief and moving forward from different types of loss. Their story offers an immersive sense of the volatile dynamics of competitive environments in professional sports and performance innovation.

[note: original copyright date of 2018 is probably why the Washington Commanders NFL team is referred to by their previous name in the eARC NetGalley provided]

Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin

contemporary women's fiction-romance hybrid

Berkley, November 2022

As much about generational connections and mentorship, chosen family and crossroads as it is about romance, Drew and Jasper's love story is complicated, tenderhearted, and fun in addition to being thought-provoking.

And here are a few of the many books read purely for pleasure during my winter holiday reviewing hiatus:

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Hot Love in the Kitchen & Travelling Through Time

Redemption of the Heart by Moni Boyce contemporary romance Love Snacks Publishing 8 January 2019 Despite addressing heavy themes of domestic violence, incarceration, and grief, Redemption of the Heart is a charming and sweet spicy read in the tradition of a 21st-century interracial homage to Janet Dailey’s monthly romance era. Gemma’s open-hearted ingénue contrasts starkly with Alex’s jaded workaholic. They struggle with a variety of challenges, but ethnicity isn’t one of them—a spin that feels particularly modern. Once readers commit to their suspension of disbelief regarding the cascading impact of lacks in due diligence by several characters, it’s easy to settle in to enjoy this love story. The recent public debate about the pros and cons of Gillette’s “We believe the best man can be” campaign ties in with the contradictory messages in the story threads about toxic masculinity. There’s a scene in which Alex apologizes to someone who was openly bragging among cowork...

A Million Lives Book Festival - An Unfortunate Exception, Not the Event Rule

[2 decorative stickers on lined writing paper from left to right: a round smiley face arranged upside down to look like a frown and a round smiley face arranged right sight up] By now most bookish folk and others have heard about the inaugural A Million Lives Book Festival held at the Baltimore Convention Center last Friday and Saturday. To recap: according to participating authors and attendees many promises were made and almost all of them were broken. As outreach director and co-organizer for The Write Women Book Fest scheduled to host its 6th event Saturday, July 19 & Sunday, July 20 of this year at the Bowie Comfort Inn & Conference Center in Bowie, Maryland, U.S.A., my reaction to the feedback being shared about A Million Lives is nightmarish. Even though we aren't connected to it in any way or familiar with the event organizer or her company, our completely unrelated event has felt some minor residual effects because people are worried. And that's an understanda...

Author Cherry Dawn Fagbemi Chats with TBQ + More Books

Hearing author Cherry Dawn Fagbemi read a cliffhanger of an excerpt from Bad Seed at a Prince George's Memorial Library System event last year led us to stay in touch. Here's our recent conversation about her life, her work, this book and a future project on this episode of The Bitchy Quill podcast with founder Heather Brooks, who's also the founder of The Write Women Book Fest scheduled for Saturday, July 19 & Sunday, July 20 at the Bowie Comfort Inn & Conference Center in Bowie, Maryland, where this author and 100+ more will engage with readers, give away swag, sell and sign their books on day one; an assortment of panel chats on day two: https://youtu.be/a73_k4DQZKI [ front cover of a trade paperback book, "BAD SEED, The Midnight Cries of an Island Girl, A Novel by Cherry Dawn Fagbemi"] This week's BAC (Book Acquisition Compulsion) bookstack includes a hockey romance because the Washington Capitals' first-round playoffs win happened during...

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