Review of Just Like That

Just Like That by Cole McCade. 2020. Note: This review is part of the Blog Tour for Just Like That. It includes an excerpt at the end.  Content warnings for review: This review references MCs with anxiety, depression, trauma, and suicidal ideation, but does not describe these things in detail.  This is one of the …

Review of Eight Kisses

Eight Kisses: Eight All-New Tales of Holiday Romance (anthology) edited by Mindy Klasky and Lori Anne Bailey. Peabridge Press 2019. I enjoyed this collection of Chanukah romances! It's a strong collection, with only one story that didn't work for me and many that I really enjoyed. The vast majority of the stories were contemporary, but …

Review of To Touch the Light

To Touch The Light by E.M. Lindsey. 2019. This romance by a new-to-me author really caught me off guard. There were so many reasons that it might not work for me, that I was genuinely surprised when it did. The writing is beautiful, evocative, so in the moment, and feels very rooted in the real. …

Review of It’s a Whole Spiel

It’s a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories (anthology) edited by Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman. Forward by Mayim Bailik. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2019. I really enjoyed this collection of YA short stories centering Jewish characters written by Jewish authors! It's a very strong collection, with only a few stories that …

Review of Not Your Backup

Not Your Backup by CB Lee. Interlude Press. 2019. Content Warnings for review: discusses internalized aro spec and ace spec antagonism Note: I'm reviewing this in conjunction with Purple day for #PrideLibrary19. This book was part of my #PrideLibrary19 TBR and I'm reviewing it on Purple day because it has a gorgeous purple cover! Here is …

#PrideLibrary19 Day 6: Green books

I thought I’d do a recommendation list for day 6, which focuses on green covers. All the books on this list are queer; I tried to have a bit of a cross-section, identity-wise. This list definitely shows my bias towards contemporary queer fiction, esp romance, but also includes historical romance, speculative fiction, YA fiction, litfic, …

#PrideLibrary19 Day 4: Orange Books

I thought I’d do a recommendation list for day 4, which focuses on orange covers. All the books on this list are queer; I tried to have a bit of a cross-section, identity-wise. This list definitely shows my bias towards contemporary queer fiction, esp romance, but also includes speculative fiction, essays, YA romance, litfic, aromantic …

#RomBkLove: Geek Romances

This post is part of #RomBkLove, a month-long Twitter event where folks share their recs for romances that fit particular themes. For the purposes of this post, geek romance is a romance that centers characters who are enthusiasts of something, be it a special interest, a hobby, a subject, a fandom. "geeks are fans of their subjects, …

Review of Criminal Intentions: Junk Shop Blues

Criminal Intentions: Junk Shop Blues by Cole McCade. 2018. Content Warnings for review: Discussion of trauma and sex.  This is episode 2 in a contemporary police procedural slow burn m/m romance between homicide detectives on the Baltimore PD. It's incredibly queer and complex and I have been excited about it since I first heard the …

Alpha Recs: C

A few weeks ago, the wonderful Dahlia Adler did a thread on Twitter where she recommended five good books for each letter in the alphabet. She suggested I might do a similar set of recs, and that sounded like a lot of fun to me, so I have decided to do a weekly series of alphabet-based …