Skip to main content

Heartbreak, Murder, Murky Circumstances, Questions of Loyalty

Reading is my happy headspace. The more stressful life is, the more solace books offer. 

[2 trade paperback books face-up - Love on the Rebound and Beautiful Broken Love next to 3 trade paperback books standing spines outward from left to right - Lavender's Blue, Rest in Pink, One in Vermillion] 

Love on the Rebound by Aries Skye 
contemporary romance 
Black Odessey Media, 2024 

Angela Richards is recovering from more than one kind of heartbreak and masking her private hurts with public bravado. Kinston Jordan isn't fooled even as he deals with the aftermath of his own romantic disappointments. 

The name glossary, acknowledgements, and teaser for Love on Board also entertain and entice. 


Beautiful Broken Love by Shanora Williams 
contemporary romance 
Montlake, 2024 

Nearly paralyzed with grief, Davina Klein-Roberts is struggling to move forward. Entrepreneurial success leads her to crossing paths with Deke Bishop who's dealing with his own heartache.  


The Liz Danger series by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer 
Lavender's Blue 
Rest in Pink 
One in Vermillion 
contemporary mystery with romance 
Argh Ink, 2024 

Liz Danger's goal to get in and get out of her hometown, that she hasn't visited in 15 years, with a quick turnaround is a bust as soon as she enters the town limits. Murder, mayhem, all kinds of secrets, interpersonal drama, and ridiculous although dangerous conflicts make this genre mashup a fun read that delivers lots of laughs, emotional complexity, and some spice. 

Fans of the Crusie and Mayer writing partnership rejoice!  

  

[The Game Is Afoot trade paperback book laying face-up next to 3 hardcover books spine-up from left to right - Mrs Spy, Kiss Her Goodbye, Atmosphere] 

The Game Is Afoot (Mavis Miller #2) by Elise Bryant 
contemporary mystery with romantic elements 
Penguin, July 2025 

In the personal and professional aspects of her life Mavis Miller is juggling a lot. She's doing her best and still feeling overwhelmed. And that's before her child's soccer coach drops dead during a match. Outrageous suburban high-jinks ensue. More reading joy for fans of Jayne Allen and Sophie Kinsella. 

note: Readers sensitive to detailed descriptions of spiralling high anxiety and panic attacks may want to proceed with caution. 


My speed reads, for fiction that's saturated in heavy sociopolitical and emotionally wrenching themes and traumatic content without the guaranteed HEA of the romance genre. 

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid 
late 20th-c. contemporary fiction 

Packed an emotional punch for me as a person who remembers watching NASA shuttle launches and landings on school days. A balanced blend of character development, scientific context, and layers of time and place makes this an epic and intimate read. 

Kiss Her Goodbye (Frankie Elkin #4) by Lisa Gardner 
contemporary mystery thriller suspense 

More complicated sociopolitical intrigue and tangled family dynamics combined with personal demons, shady characters, misdirection, and sacrifice. Wrenching with glimpses of hopeful possibilities. 

Mrs Spy by M.J. Robotham 
mid-20th-c. contemporary spy thriller 

So many secrets and most of them deadly... It's a good thing Maggie Flynn knows how to improvise. A heartfelt tale of moving forward through grief, presented with slick style. 


This - and a few of last - week's BAC Issues (Book Acquisition Compulsion), one of which ended up getting read sooner than expected.
[a bookstack of 6 books from top to bottom: The Game Is Afoot and Alice Chen's Reality Check arranged spine-out atop 4 books showing only the bottom of their pages] 

If you value freedom of speech for all, one accessible way to support it is to visit your local public library and to use their many resources and attend their programs. 

Always wishing you good health, peace of mind & joy. 
Happy reading! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen Delivers All the Feels

Black love. Black joy. Black drama. Humanity in its vast melanin array.   [front cover of a paperback ARC for The Best Man: Unfinished Business; silhouette of three adults] The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen  adult contemporary fiction with romantic elements  Storehouse Voices, July 2025   First, dedicated fans of The Best Man franchise and its beloved characters need not fear how they’re treated in this first of three novels. In fact. One thread of Harper’s storyline seems to reflect the real-life author/screenwriter/director’s battle to protect and maintain the integrity of The Best Man universe. Mission accomplished.  Second, once readers - fans or not - start this novel they won’t want to stop. The compulsion to re/watch The Best Man movies and limited series and maybe even to reread this book while anticipating the release of book two in 2026 will prove difficult to resist.  Who are you?  Who are your people?...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more