For Valentine’s Day, I dedicated my Instagram stories to a feature of a few of my favourite romances in each trope. However, I realized in COVID a new genre discovery also is an essential component to books on love: self-love. Therefore, I’ve expanded my list of romances to focus more on the theme of love, especially self-love!
(more…)Poignant and Impassioned: My Saving Grace by Melanie Moreland
The Gist: A poignant forbidden romance packed with some classic romance tropes: married in Vegas, grumpy Hero, employee-boss relationship and a second chance romance. The novel is riddled with angst and sweet moments and explores what it means to find The One at the exact wrong time and a Hero who will do all he can to win his girl back. Unfortunately, the plot suffers from a dumb misunderstanding, which detracted from my enjoyment of the novel.
Series: ABC Corp, #1*
Release Date: February 25, 2021
Grace VanRyan has her life mapped out. Law school, a career with ABC, and a bright future ahead of her.
Until Jaxson Richards steps into the picture. He’s everything she hasn’t planned for. Older, sexy, off-limits.
And her new boss.
When the passion between them explodes, will her life blow up along with it?
• Blackmail
• Child abuse and abandonment
• Reference to drug abuse and a child being a drug courier
• Near death experience in a gas like explosion
• No OM drama
• Does kinda have OW drama
– The Hero is never with the OW but she sexually harasses him at work once on-page and becomes an issue later on in the MCs relationship.
• the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away
• No separation
– They work together but they do break up romantically for a few weeks
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: eARC
Rating: 4-stars
*Each novel in the series is Standalone
Note: I received My Saving Grace through Melanie Moreland’s team in exchange for an honest review.
(more…)Magical and Entrancing: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
The Gist: An entrancing standalone epic fantasy; it brings the magic of books to life through the Heroine’s journey to discover who is attempting to sabotage the Great Libraries and made all the more enjoyable by its adorable enemies to friends to lovers romances and themes of friendship.
Series: Sorcery of Thorns, #1
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
• Asexual supporting character
• Allusion to torture
• Gaslighting
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away
• Does have a separation between the Heroine and Hero
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4.75-stars
(more…)Heartfelt and Nostalgic: Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Series: Standalone
Release Date: July 14, 2020
Today, she hates him.
It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.
Tonight, she puts up with him.
When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.
As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.
Tomorrow…maybe she’s already fallen for him.
• Lesbian supporting character
• Bisexual supporting character
• FF side romance
• No OW drama
• Does have OM drama
— The Heroine has conversations with an ex to get closure. It stirs up past regret.
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing each other away
• No separation
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format:
Rating: 5/5 stars
(more…)Saccharine Yet Endearing: Heart Strings by Melanie Moreland
Series: Standalone
Release Date: October 12, 2020
A man that notices it all. Sees her.
The only thing that gets Charlotte Prescott through the day is the haunting eyes and magnetic voice uplifting her in the subway station every evening.
All Montgomery Logan wants to do is ease the pain of the woman he feels a strange, protective pull to. He serenades her from afar, knowing their worlds will never intersect.
Until the day they do.
And everything changes.
Will their differences make them stronger or tear them apart?
A standalone contemporary romance coming October 12, 2020 from NYT/USA Today Bestselling Author Melanie Moreland.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Death of brother due to leukemia when a child
• Discussion of homelessness and starvation
• No OW/OM drama
• No pushing away
• No separation
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: eARC
Rating: 4.75/5 stars
Note: I received Heart Strings through Melanie Moreland’s team in exchange for an honest review.
(more…)Chosen by Stacy Jones
Series: Chosen
Release Date: December 19, 2017
Frrar, Tor, and Arruk have been searching endlessly for a mate to belong to, someone to finally accept them, but they are losing hope. The time of cleansing, when the great waters drown the land, draws near. They are on the verge of abandoning their search and fleeing the forest when they spot a strange, tiny, two-armed female. They are immediately drawn to her, fascinated by her differences, but they must act fast to save her life, and their own, from the coming flood.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• No abuse
• One of the Hero’s family died tragically
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• No pushing away
• No separation between the Heroes and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Kindle
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
(more…)Bentley (Vested Interests, #1) by Melanie Moreland
Series: Vested Interests*
Release Date: February 8th, 2018
Their pasts dictate the men they are, but their present shapes their future.
What happens when these men meet the one person they are destined to be with? Can they fight their feelings and walk away? Or will they each succumb and learn the sweet agony of love?
Bentley
The leader of the group. He is uptight, formal, and cold. Rigid and set in his ways, always following the same path. Until the day, he stumbles upon her.
Emmy
She brings with her spontaneity and light. The world she lives in is so different from his, yet he cannot control the draw to her. Nor can he explain the way she makes him feel.
Happy.
Protective.
Loved.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Hero’s parents died when he was young
• Abduction
• Suicide
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does Not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4/5 stars
*Each novel in the series is Standalone
(more…)A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3) by Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Release Date: May 2nd, 2017
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit—and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords—and hunt for allies in unexpected places.
• Lesbian and bisexual supporting characters
• Death
• PTSD
• Emotional abuse
• Allusions to rape (off-page, descriptions)
• Does have OM drama
– Heroine pretends to be in love with her ex-fiancé for strategic purposes in the war.
– There is no physical intimacy between them-the Heroine is disgusted by him.
• No pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 3.75/5 stars
Note: This is a review of the third book in the series; therefore, there will be spoilers from the first and second book below.
(more…)Brokenhearted, A Series by Amelia Kahaney
Quick Take: This series has been a joy to read! It’s the perfect blend of romance, intrigue, and suspense. It’s a high-action two-part novel (so far), and the best part being a female superhero!
(more…)Where I Belong (Alabama Summer, #1) by J. Daniels
Series: Alabama Summer*
Release Date: June 28th, 2014
One person that she’d do anything to avoid.
Benjamin Kelly. World’s biggest dickhead.
Mia hates him with a fury and has no desire to ever see him again. When she decides to start her summer off with a bang and finally give away her v-card, she unknowingly hands it over to the one guy that excelled at making her life miserable, learning a valuable lesson in the process.
Always get the name of the guy you’re going home with.
Ben can’t get the girl he spent one night with out of his head. When she leaves him the next morning, he thinks he’ll never see her again. Until he sees her lounging by the pool with his sister.
Mia is determined to prove he’s not the same guy he used to be.
What happens when the one person you wish never existed becomes the one person you can’t imagine being without?
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Impaired driving
• Cancer
• Death of family member
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
– The Heroine is a virgin
– In the Hero’s POV, there are allusions to past sexual activities with the OW (his baby momma)
– The OW attempts to give the Hero a BJ but he turns her down
• Does have OW drama
– The Hero’s baby momma is jealous of the Heroine and attempts to cause problems for them (see above)
• Does have the Heroine pushing away
• Does not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
*Each novel in the series is Standalone
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