In real life the harsh truths of war compete with the majestic images and inspiring words of the successful Artemis II mission. The following fiction reads examine the complicated nature of humans on Earth.  [3 books from left to right: The Charmed Library, Hearts on the Fly, Husband of the Year]  The Charmed Library by Jennifer Moorman wasn't available for renewal due to being requested by a whole lot of other patrons (yay for this author!) so I'll try again. The speculative supernatural premise is very intriguing.  Hearts on the Fly by Toni Shiloh  Christian contemporary romance  Bethany House Publishers, February 2026  Val and Jabari struggle with unexpected circumstances that challenge them to reconsider the purpose of their lives. Personal and professional connections make things messy.   Husband of the Year (Teachers in Love #4) by M.A. Wardell  contemporary romance  Forever, 2025  Olan and Marvin each believe they've found their f...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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, ...

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 ...

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...

Family, friendship, romance, couplehood, polyamory, community... Relationships form,  intersect and overlap, diverge, collide, merge and combust in infinite ways.   [a Pointillism acrylic paint canvas showing 5 overlapping freehand hearts in dark blue, orange, red, yellow and green; all against a light blue background]    [8 books, from left to right: India..., Winning the Earthquake, Son of the Morning, Definitely Maybe Not a Detective, The Wild Card, Two Can Play, Common Goal, Role Model; arranged on a piano bench]  Reading   India...  Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds...  Read Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi  contemporary supernatural fiction  Avon, 2025  Lush language combined with lyrical pacing and shady characters with questionable intentions that swirl around mysterious Galilee Kincaid, her origins and her purpose, transcend the limits of categories. It's gorgeous and captivating.  From th...

  [8 books from left to right: The Love Audit, August Lane, Heated Rivalry, The Long Game, India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent, Remember That Day, Son of the Morning, The Bodyguard Affair]  Read   August Lane by Regina Black  contemporary romance  Grand Central Publishing, 2025  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice...  August Lane has legitimate cause for hating Luke Randall. Maybe if she'd never loved him she could forget him, but he's coming back to their home town and she has a plan that includes making him an offer he can't refuse without exposing himself to public ruin. Will it destroy or renew them? Their struggles, failures, and victories lead them back to each other in this achingly lush, layered narrative.  The Love Audit by Lucy Eden   contemporary romance  Forever, 2025  Succession collides with a Hallmark Channel movie in this spicy tale of regrets and redemption. Jasmine and Derek are force...

As a GenX-er, remembering the 1989 image of one Chinese man standing in the path of a line of military tanks to protest the violent authoritarian response against peaceful protestors feels like it happened forever ago and also like just the other day.  [front cover of a trade paperback copy of Looking for Tank Man, A Novel by Ha Jin with a "NEW" sticker in the upper right corner; split image of 2 different faces of Chinese people]  Looking for Tank Man by Ha Jin  contemporary (circa 2008) fiction  Other Press, 2025  Pei Lulu's scholarly pursuits lead her into risky situations at the intersection of academic, sociopolitical, and cultural maneuvering. The conclusion of the novel launches her into the next fraught phase of her life and prompts readers to consider what they'd do (or not) in similar circumstances.  From the end of chapter 40:  He even said that his department might be the right place for me because they had just started a project on dictato...

On this 40th anniversary of observing a U.S. federal holiday honoring the life and legacies of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this blog post riffs on perceptions, expectations, and inheritances across generations and cultures.  There are so many elements to enjoy and appreciate about the characters, storylines, themes, and visual cues and queues that make Heated Rivalry compelling media. For me, Shane and his nuclear family dynamics in isolation and in the context of a racialized worldview resonate as familiar.  An expectation of excellence projected onto and infused into a beloved only child* born to parents who endured hardship and overcame challenges in order to succeed as individuals and as a couple, these parents set high standards and expect their offspring to meet and exceed them. It's a common stereotype about Asian people. It's been my personal experience that Black people in and from African nations and in the United States aspire and strive toward greatness as th...

Rewatching Heated Rivalry and reading upbeat romances have distracted me from and helped me take time to process 2 recent losses of people who have loved and encouraged and supported me throughout my life. They lived long, mostly healthy, rich, meaningful lives that contributed so much to others. I'm working hard to let my gratitude outweigh my grief.   These books offered intrigues and added joy.  [bookstack of 7 books, from top to bottom: All the Men I've Loved Again, Second Chance Romance, Much Ado About Hating You, All Superheroes Need Photo Ops, Crash Test, Undead and Unwed, The Baby Dragon Bakery]  All the Men I've Loved Again by Christine Pride asks What if? when young lovers who were separated by challenging circumstances cross paths again later in life.  Crash Test by Amy James offers fans of Heated Rivalry a racing world homage that hits similar emotional notes and nods within a more condensed timeline and different narrative structure.  Much Ado About...

Generous, thoughtful people who love me gave me lovely books for Christmas! One to help me feed my body, another to strengthen my spirit, and a third one that supports maintaining hair health and appearance. [3 books arranged face up: Taste of Home Made from Scratch Home Cooking Made Easy, Beautiful Braids Boutique Workbook Learning to Braid Natural Hair Techniques, Black Firsts 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events 3rd Edition]  Taste of Home, Made from Scratch Home Cooking Made Easy  Beautiful photos of the final results with each step-by-step recipe, some with multiple photos to show recipe progression.  Beautiful Braids Boutique Workbook, Learning to Braid Natural Hair Techniques by Nicole Taylor  This book offers definitions of terms, tools, supplies, and techniques in addition to detailed text instructions and results photos for braiding beginners. A test, skills drills, and lined pages for note taking at the end encourage practice for further ...