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Trauma and Phenoms of Color ***TLG (mostly vague) SPOILERS***

This photo cover art on the original mass market paperback edition is my personal favorite, at least until/if they release a Heated Rivalry show cast Hollanov version. (Respect to the talented artist who's crafted the illustrated covers.)  ["Rachel Reid, The Long Game" mass market paperback edition with two shirtless, muscular men in jeans, standing at an angle one in front of the other; the man in back embracing the man in front]   Recent public comments from people who've read (in any and all formats) The Long Game by Rachel Reid and feel annoyed, disappointed, frustrated with Shane inspired this post.  ****(mostly vague) SPOILERS**** Until the death of his father and breaking free of his brother, Ilya has been in a constant mindset of fight, flight or freeze for most of the nearly three decades of his life. Once he's disconnected from his toxic family dynamic, firmly established in his loving relationship with Shane, welcomed and embraced by Yuna and David, and...
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Bickering as a Love Language

Sometimes people enjoy poking at each other until they start kissing.    [trade paperback books Restore Me and And Now, Back to You to left of a bookstack from top to bottom of Husband of the Year, Hearts on the Fly atop 5 books with only the bottom page edges showing; a white heart-shaped mug decorated with small red hearts next to a small pot of leafy green plants]  Restore Me (New Haven #1) by J.L. Seegars  contemporary romance  Bloom Books, January 2026  Sloane and Dominic have history and secrets that cause friction. Biting remarks and resentment eventually lead to confrontation and consequences.  It's a poignant don't-stop-until-the-end read rooted in family, friendship, and community.  And Now, Back to You (Heartstrings #2) by B.K. Borison  contemporary romance  Berkley, February 2026  Delilah and Jackson have a lot of issues. Annoying each other helps them work through some of them while they stumble into love. Their B'more ...
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A. Ay-yi-yi Receipts & Unintended Consequences

As a lifelong user of the Oxford comma, adverbs, and other syntactic queues that often generate suspicion of undisclosed, unethical usage of Artificial Intelligence resources, recent events involving indie authors who are being accused of such behavior has me feeling a lot of different emotions at once.  The verified issue regarding uncredited and unpaid for imagery for cover art has me thinking, "Conduct your due diligence and pay artists for their creative labor!"  Then there are the murkier contradictory issues of who gets penalized and cancelled for using Artificial Intelligence and who doesn't. Last year an all-non-human publishing venture was celebrated when it received an initial investment of multiple millions of dollars. As a published indie and traditional author my email inbox is filled with offers for ways to use technology to "streamline" my writing process and "accelerate" my productivity.  If I were a traditionally published author under...
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Inconvenient Attraction, Lurking Danger + More Books

Baking Ice Cubes (Hank Hart #1) by Alexi Venice  contemporary legal suspense thriller  2025  What happens when a potential love connection ends up being a professional conflict of interest? Star-crossed legal eagles attorney Helen "Hank" Hart and Judge Olivia "Livvy" Marshall find out in this courtroom whodunit. A sliding timeline filled with an assortment of dramatic shady characters and justice seekers makes this mystery thriller a fast-paced, entertaining read. Established fans of this author's Monica Spade series will likely experience a bonus enjoyment boost as that one launches this one.   Alexi Venice is one of 9 authors of sapphic romantic suspense contributing to The Sapphic Suspense Collection.  [front cover art of trade paperback Baking Ice Cubes, A Legal Thriller by Alexi Venice; a woman dressed in a hooded jacket, sweat pants and running shoes is running away from a Greek structure that's in flames]  As much joy as reading books adds to my...
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Teamwork Makes It Happen

Losing an hour of reading time to gain more daylight offers a worthwhile exchange.  [7 books, stacked from top to bottom: Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress, The Shop on Hidden Lane, Restore Me, Husband of the Year, And Now, Back to You; Fight, and one book showing only its bottom edges]  Read   Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress by Lorissa Rinehart  non-fiction  St. Martin's Press, 2025  "Go! Go! Go!" quoted from Congresswoman Rankin's journals and "Pivot!" as offered by the author in summary of the subject's life, sum up the scope of a challenging and rewarding life that ultimately benefitted millions of people.  The author's admiration echoes throughout this intimate biography that also chronicles the evolution of the U.S. parallel to technology and industries, and reflects present-day societal struggles of voter apathy, ...
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Deep Thoughts, On Thin Ice & In Hot Water

A late night of watching Storrie Night Live with delightful cameo appearances by U.S. Olympic gold medalist hockey stars Hilary Knight and Megan Keller, Hudson Williams, and musical guests Mumford & Sons with Hozier, Aaron Dessner, and Sierra Ferrell, then scrolling through online reactions that included super satisfying boos  for the unapologetic misogynists  in videos of watch parties  are reasons why the following reviews are compressed.   [NYPC 17 New Year's Poetry Challenge Anthology 2025-2026 MoSt POETRY Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center next to a stack with a small "I am Black History" journal, Gabby Greene Knows Whodunit, Definitely Maybe Not a Detective, Free Falling, Fated Skates, 2 books showing only their bottom edges, Winning the Earthquake...]  Read   NYPC 17: New Year's Poetry Challenge Anthology 2025-2026 from MoSt POETRY, Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center is a collection of assorted responses from poets to a variety or prompts. The Write ...
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Cold Weather, Warm Reads

It's a chilly, rainy, dreary day on the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast - perfect for staying inside and reading.   [10 books on a piano bench, from left to right: India..., Winning the Earthquake..., Two Can play arranged atop 2 books showing only their bottom edges, Gabby Greene Knows Whodunit, Drive Me Crazy, Fated Skates, Free Falling, The Shop on Hidden Lane, Definitely Maybe Not a Detective]  Read   Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood  contemporary romance  originally 2024 (this hardcover money-grab ed. from Berkley, February 2026)  Viola and Jesse's love story contains the key elements that consistently make an A.H. read enjoyable for me: smart, ambitious women who don't apologize for being themselves and the smart, ambitious people who appreciate and love them as they are.  Gaming culture context adds interesting nuance.  Reading   India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent by Audrey Truschke  May need to buy my own copy of this intrigu...
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