Only 3 more weeks of 2022 and there's so much to do!  Buy gifts. Wrap gifts. Deliver gifts.  Send cards.  Read purely for pleasure. Attend awesome bookish events like the engaging Fatty Fatty Boom Boom discussion with the author, Rabia Chaudry, hosted by the Prince George's County Memorial Library System at the Greenbelt Branch a few days ago. Bake goodies. Share goodies. Enjoy goodies. Appreciate friends and family. Socialize. Write. Rest.  Merry, Happy, Joyous, Festive Holy, Pagan and/or Secular Winter Holiday Celebratory Wishes to all! 

  Matchmakers Run Amok   Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai  contemporary romance, Avon, October 2022  Mira's and Naveen's pasts come back to bite them while offering opportunities to heal in this romp with substance.  Sweetwater and the Witch (Harmony #16) by Jayne Castle  paranormal romance, Berkley, September 2022  Can two people with sketchy dating histories perfectly match each other? Ravenna and Ethan find out while working together to answer questions about shady dealings.  The Matchmaker's Lonely Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen  historical mystery romance, Shadow Mountain, September 2021  An intrepid amateur sleuth crosses paths with a cynical police detective and alters the course of their lives and those they love.  New Spins on Old Tales  Robin Hood A Turn of the Tide (A Stitch in Time #3) by Kelley Armstrong  historical time travel romance, KLA Fricke, Inc., October 2022  Greek mythology  The Maiden and the Unseen by Jeanette Rose & Alexis Rune  contemporary supe

  Family ties, love, maintaining connections, resources, political power dynamics and more link these two superficially different books, nonfiction versus fiction, historical fact versus futuristic speculation. These letters record, examine, testify, process, implore, admonish, celebrate the breadth of human experiences.  I Can’t Wait to Call You My Wife, African American Letters of Love and Family in the Civil War Era by Rita Roberts  non-fiction history  Chronicle Books, October 18, 2022  https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/i-cant-wait-to-call-you-my-wife?_pos=1&_sid=521df2c94&_ss=r   In the acknowledgments the author expresses her intention to use “letters to provide a more real and personal understanding of the past” in order to share the history of African American experiences with non-academic audiences. She achieves that goal. Images, maps, newspapers, pamphlets, portraits, handbills, and marriage licenses support detailed historical facts animated by the intimate wr

  To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins  historical fiction, romance  Avon, August 2022  A little bit of Undercovers, The Equalizer, and a grifter’s interpretation of Alias  swirled together and set in the late 1870s make To Catch a Raven a heist tale that’s a perfect concluding entry for this “Women Who Dare” series. Intrepid Raven Moreau unapologetically follows her own code of conduct. So does Braxton Steele, but his differs from Raven’s. A chain of events with national implications forces them to work together where their differences generate friction and sexual volatility that smokes on the page until it combusts. Betrayals past and present, unexpected allies, hidden agendas, challenges, and dangers make working together as trusting partners their only chance for survival and success. Ms. Bev’s signature benchmarks of excellence in distinctive nuanced characters who resonate with compelling authenticity in organically detailed historical context that inspires further personal resea

  So many books!  So many authors and creators of bookish merch!  Storytellers Musicians Food  See great pics and reels from yesterday's event on our socials:  https://www.instagram.com/thewritewomenbookfest/   https://twitter.com/writewomenpub   https://www.facebook.com/thewritewomenbookfest/   Tag us and use #TWWBF2022 and #TWWBF2022swag to share your posts about your experiences, freebies, and purchases!  Special thanks to the Glenn Dale Farmers Market, Fable Grounds Coffee, Rosa Bakes, Soulatarian food truck & all the food vendors who fed us!   https://www.facebook.com/GlennDaleFarmersMarket/   https://fablegroundscoffee.com/   https://rosabakes.square.site/   http://soultarian.com/  

  Come see the awesome TWWBF2022 display at the Barnes & Noble Bookselllers at the Bowie Town Center in Bowie, MD!  15455 Emerald Way  Bowie, Maryland 20716  https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/store/2093   Fiction, non-fiction, kids, signed editions... So much variety.  Great gifts to yourself and others!   The manager and the whole team at B & N Bowie Town Center exceeded all of our highest expectations for this second year of partnering with them. Our gratitude is tremendous. Thank you!  

  Less than 2 weeks until TWWBF2022!  The 4th annual The Write Women Book Fest is on (rain or shine) on Saturday, October 8 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. on the grounds of Marietta House Museum, 5626 Bell Station Road, Glenn Dale, Maryland 20769.  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/   Come enjoy this FREE event!  So many talented authors, poets, craftspeople, musicians, the Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Maryland Romance Writers, a kids tent, baked goods, coffee, free swag bags* to the first 50 guests and more, more, more.  Many, many thanks to the regular Saturday farmers market and food trucks for making themselves available to the book fest attendees!  [Authors Sylvia Day & Karin Tabke generously provided swag even though they are NOT participating TWWBF2022 authors. They're on our wish list.;-)]   *The Blerdy Binge Reader blog tote and T-shirt are not part of the giveaways but were created by generous and gifted event founder Heather Brooks as a lovely surp

  [Ebooks shown were borrowed from TWWBF2022 Partner Prince George's County Memorial Library System and from Anne Arundel County Library System via OverDrive.]  Come to the Author/Poet/Publishing/Artisan/Foodie/Music/Books-pa-looza on the grounds of Marietta House in Glenn Dale, Maryland on Saturday, October 8 from 12 noon to 5 p.m.  It's FREE TO ATTEND!  https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/ Fiction  romance authors  Golden Angel * C. Rose Dahl * Britt Delaney * M.K. Hale * Mae Harden * Emmy Lou Hayes (erotica) * Lang Johnson * B.K. Lockamy * K. McCoy * Natalina Reis * Katherine Rhodes * Alyssa Roberts * L.C. Son * Nancy C. Weeks * Erin Wright (TWWBF2022 Keynote Speaker) * Aria Wyatt  scifi, fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, speculative  Marissa D'Angelo * Amy L. Bernstein * K.M. Bishop * T.L. Ford * E.R. Griffin * Karen Janowsky * A.L. Kaplan * Alexis C. Maness * Claudine Marcin * Aline P. Mora * Leslye Penelope * Cherease Richardson *  Jaimie N. Schock * Dea Schofield

  The 4th annual The Write Women Book Fest is on Saturday, October 8th!   You're invited to join us for all kinds of creative bookish, poetic, artistic, musical, foodie fun and more from 12 noon to 5 p.m. on the grounds of Marietta House Museum at 5626 Bell Station Road, Glenn Dale, Maryland 20769.  It's FREE TO ATTEND.  Please request free tickets using this Eventbrite link so we'll know you're coming!  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-write-women-book-fest-2022-tickets-288300343087   Reading (borrowed from Prince George's County Memorial Library System  https://pgcmls.info/ ) that's helped distract me from my event-planning stress:  Being Haunted  After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez  The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston  Some of It Was Real by Nan Fischer  New Beginnings   The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery   Harlem Sunset (early 20th c.) by Nekesa Afia   Twice a Quinceanera by Yamile Saied Mendez  Adversaries Join Forces  The Accidental Pin

  The 4th annual The Write Women Book Fest is 8 weeks away!  More than 100 authors, poets, musicians, artisans, publishing platforms, organizations, local businesses, a kids' tent with story times and more will be on the grounds of Marietta House Museum, 5626 Bell Station Road, Glenn Dale, Maryland 20769 on Saturday, October 8th from 12 noon to 5 p.m.  IT'S FREE TO ATTEND!   Please use this Eventbrite link to let us know you're coming.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-write-women-book-fest-2022-tickets-288300343087 Hope to see you there!  Being outreach director and co-host for TWWBF2022 means my reviews are on hiatus until after the event but I'll still post pictures of the books I'm reading for pleasure, stress relief and because it's impossible for me not to read books. 

  It's a perfect day, week, month, season, year to buy, borrow, loan, trade, swap, read, write, hype and/or review books by and about Black, BIPOC and BAME (because Black people are often multi-ethnic and multi-cultural) people.  In addition to your local library, here are some independent bookstores that offer an abundance of Black Books Matter reading selections:  https://aalbc.com/bookstores/list.php   

Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide  20th-c. contemporary speculative literary fiction  Akashic Books, March 2021 (paperback, July 2022)  Blurred lines between the living and the dead, reality and fantasy, slumber and consciousness make Nephthys Kinwell's winding routes through Washington, D.C. multifaceted renderings of people who are haunted by their pasts while they seek and decipher clues on how to move forward through grief and disappointment into their purpose. Creatures of Passage slides across and between genres and weaves together heavy themes into a buoyant narrative with the exquisite language and imagery of accessible poetic sensibilities that lifts readers' spirits.  Free Will or Destiny?  The Mutual Friend by Carter Bays  contemporary fiction with romantic elements  Dutton, June 2022  Six Degrees of Separation in the age of screen fixation and addiction  The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen  contemporary fiction with romantic elements  St. Martin's Press, February

It's Complicated  American Royalty by Tracey Livesay  contemporary romance  Avon, June 2022  Cinder-Nanny by Sariah Wilson  contemporary romance  Montlake, June 2022   All the Queen's Men (Her Majesty the Queen investigates #2) by S. J. Bennett  contemporary mystery  William Morrow, March 2021  Dukes Do It Better (Misfits of Mayfair #3) by Bethany Bennett  historical romance  Forever, May 2022  Family Feuds   Lucy Yi Is Not a Romantic by Lauren Ho  contemporary romantic women's fiction  G.P. Putnam's Sons, June 2022  A Daring Pursuit (Ruthless Rivals #2) by Kate Bateman  historical romance  St. Martin's Paperbacks, May 2022  From Bad to Cursed (Witches of Thistle Grove #2) by Lana Harper  contemporary supernatural romance  Berkley, May 2022  STEMinists in Love - contemporary romance novellas by Ali Hazelwood  Under One Roof  Berkley, May 2022  Stuck With You  Berkley, June 2022  BelowZero  Berkley, July 2022   The Love Hypothesis novel by Ali Hazelwood  contemporar

Men + Fur Babies, fiction   The Great Gatz by Lauren Baratz-Logsted & Jackie Logsted  Ruff and Tumble* by Lucy Gilmore  * Please, please, please tell me this is the start of a Seattle Lumberjacks sports romance series!  Hard Knocks and Victories in the Game of Life, non-fiction     Pass interference: The History of the Black Quarterback in the NFL by Wisdom Martin Act Like You Got Some Sense, And Other Things My Daughters Taught Me by Jamie Foxx, Corinne Foxx, et al.  Game, An Autobiography by Grant Hill  My Seven Black Fathers: A Young Activist's Memoir of Race, Family, and the Mentors Who Made Him Whole by Will Jawando  A Way Out of No Way: A Memoir of Truth, Transformation, and the New American Story by Rev. Sen. Raphael G. Warnock  Kid Lit   I'm Perfectly Designed by Karamo Brown  Documentaries   After Jackie   The Story of Trailblazing Black Baseball Players Who Fought for a More Inclusive America  history.com  A Dream Delivered: The Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson  anc

  Historical fiction   Assembly of the Dead by Saeida Rouass  The Business of Blood (Fiona Mahoney #1) by Kerrigan Byrne  A Treacherous Trade (Fiona Mahoney #2)  A Vocation of Violence (Fiona Mahoney #3 - October 11, 2022)  A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong  The Lady Sherlock Series (currently 6 titles) by Sherry Thomas  The Lady Violet Mysteries (currently 6 with #7 this August) by Grace Burrowes  20th-century fiction    Dead Dead Girls (Harlem Renaissance #1) by Nekesa Afia  Harlem Sunset (Harlem Renaissance #2 - June 28, 2022)  The Blanche White Series (4 titles) by Barbara Neely Hither Page (Page & Sommers #1) by Cat Sebastian  The Missing Page (Page & Sommers #2)  Contemporary      The Lizzie Stuart Mysteries (5 titles) by Frankie Y. Bailey  The Odelia Grey Mysteries (12 titles) by Sue Ann Jaffarian  The Sharon McCone Series (30+ titles) by Marcia Muller