RARM 2020 Archives - Read-A-Romance Month

Jade Lee/Kathy Lyons – Fun, Flirty & So Romantic

August 31, 2020 Leave a Comment

Today’s theme: Saving some greats for last! An eclectic collection of fun, smart books. Be sure to read the posts on Susan Mallery & Uzma Jalaluddin too!

I’ve long been a fan of Jade Lee, and when I realized recently that she’d published some new historicals in the past year, I was so excited!

Then I realized she’d also published the first book in a duet that features werewolves, Geeks and Wisconsin!

I only had time to read one of the titles this month for RARM, and I decided I had to dive into my adopted state. I mean, who can ignore WERE-GEEKS SAVE WISCONSIN? Especially if you’re a romance fan and you live in Wisconsin?!

Well….Not me, anyway.

Lee/Lyons always writes with an amused metaphorical gleam in her eye, but in this book her humor is fully unleashed (pardon the pun). There are humorous elements, witty banter, and some near-slapstick moments. Yet there is also intense romance and very high stakes, physically and emotionally, and Lyons balances the playfulness and tension perfectly.

Her world-building is fantastic, too, in both senses of the word. The main characters are werewolves, but the plot is dotted with a spectrum of fantasy figures, including demons, elves and dragons. In fact, the creativity of the last few scenes—which set up book 2, Were-Geeks Save Lake Wacka Wacka—and the many ways the book uses fantasy concepts; the time/space continuum; and the power of love, is simply delightful and satisfying.

Lyons always plots a bit out of the box, and these are unlike anything you’ve read before. Aren’t we all looking for books like that?

Nero and Josh are meant to be together, but despite the unpredictable world they live in, even they’re stunned by the lengths they’ll have to take to fight for their love and happy-ever-after.

This geek and this warrior are up for it, though.

A very entertaining, sexy M/M shifter fantasy geek romance.

Find the books:
Jade Lee @Amazon
Were-Geeks Save Wisconsin @Amazon
Kathy Lyons @Amazon

WERE-GEEKS SAVE WISCONSIN

When badass werewolves battling supernatural evil realize they need tech support, they recruit a group of geeks with hilarious—and romantic—results.

Chemist Josh Collier is having a blast at a comic book convention when he gets the shock of his life—he’s a werewolf! WTF? Before he can howl, he’s whisked away to a secret lair by Nero, a hot guy dressed as a Roman centurion. Josh’s former life is over, and his genius is needed at Wulf, Inc.

Nero has no interest in babysitting a trainee were-geek when he’d rather be killing the demon that wiped out his entire pack. While Josh analyzes the monster’s weapon, wild passion ignites between him and Nero.

With destiny and their pack in the balance, can they survive the demon out to destroy Wisconsin?

Happy reading!

(This review is part of Read-A-Romance Month. Hope you’ll come back every day to check out my book recommendations. You can find the calendar here. Also check out The Romance of Reading, a Facebook “book club” where we’ll have great authors guest hosting every week.)

Some post and image links are connected to an affiliate portal. A small percentage of your purchases supports my work and this page. Thanks so much!

Enjoy!

Uzma Jalaluddin – A Powerful New Muslim Voice, A Great Romance

August 31, 2020 Leave a Comment

Today’s theme: Saving some greats for last! An eclectic collection of fun, smart books. Be sure to read the posts on Susan Mallery & Kathy Lyons/Jade Lee too!

Oh friends, oh friends, oh friends!

Please tell me you’ve read this book! Or that you are, right now, putting it on your TBR pile. Because you should. You really, really should.

(And if you haven’t, it’s only $1.99 right now!)

Okay, yes, this book came out last year. I read it earlier this year and it was one of my favorite reads of 2020.

Some things that makes any book stand out, in my opinion, are refreshing story lines, unique characters, and when plot, character and voice really synergize in ways we aren’t expecting and take us on a completely unexpected journey.

This book has all of that in spades.

Of course one could say we shouldn’t be too surprised at how different a book about Muslim characters might be, but I’d say that is the wrong way to look at it.

The thing that makes any #ownvoices book most powerful is the ability an author has to tell universally accessible stories in culturally resonant ways. Jalaluddin has introduced us to a Muslim community that might feel a little outside of what we’re used to, but we certainly recognize the emotional touchstones in the story.

Khalid’s mother may be much more conservative than we’re comfortable with, but the author wants us to realize that her outlook is as alien to Ayesha as it is to non-Muslims, and the beauty of the forward motion of the book is that Khalid, too, begins to question his mother’s influence and his choices, especially once he realizes how attracted he is to Ayesha.

Khalid flounders with an unfair professional situation (thanks to a racist supervisor) and through his internal struggle to find justice and adjust to a world that he realizes might not be quite so unforgiving as his upbringing has led him to believe, even as he confronts rigid biases, we see a true hero.

There is definitely a Pride & Prejudice vibe, and Khalid and Ayesha have to navigate unworthy suitors, social missteps and a mistaken identity or two, but the payout when these two finally see each other for who they truly are and find their way to each other is wholeheartedly satisfying.

I just loved this quietly powerful yet completely entertaining romance. I sincerely hope you’ll pick it up.

(Side points: This delightful book was a debut! I hope she has something new out soon. And isn’t that cover striking and gorgeous?)

Find the books:
Uzma Jalaluddin @Amazon
Ayesha At Last @Amazon

AYESHA AT LAST

A modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice for a new generation of love.

Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn’t want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and who dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.

When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself.

Happy reading!

Some post and image links are connected to an affiliate portal. A small percentage of your purchases supports my work and this page. Thanks so much!

Enjoy!

Susan Mallery – A Queen of Friends & Lovers

August 31, 2020 Leave a Comment

Today’s theme: Saving some greats for last! An eclectic collection of fun, smart books. Be sure to read the posts on Kathy Lyons/Jade Lee & Uzma Jalaluddin too!

Susan Mallery has been a great friend to Read-A-Romance Month through the years, so I felt it would be appropriate to close out this new version of RARM with a quick review of her recent release, THE FRIENDSHIP LIST.

I’ll admit I haven’t been as on top of Susan Mallery’s books in the last year or so as I usually am. But when I read the synopsis of THE FRIENDSHIP LIST it felt like a must-read for me this summer.

Mallery always writes great books, but this re-invention story of two 30+ friends—one a single mom, one a widow—sounded like a good reminder that we can always restart, no matter how stuck we are, or how complicated our past has been.

It was spot on, but the twists and turns it took were both entertaining and poignant, especially for Unity, the widow, who at first only paid lip service to wanting to change, then realized she truly was living half a life.

Mallery writes a bang-up romance, and the two romantic arcs in this book are wholly satisfying. But what this author also excels at is the power of friendships, and the ways these relationships are the rocks on which everything else builds.

It’s interesting that the hook of the story—the titular list—is only conceived after a fight between the two best friends, and that it starts out as a kind of conciliatory gesture with a nod to the fact that they could both use some changes.

Neither of them could imagine what the next few months would bring, and some of it does not feel welcome at all, again, especially for Unity.

But sometimes the most important breakthroughs are the hardest ones to face, yet once we do, a whole wealth of dividends are waiting on the other side. Mallery perfectly reflects this in her newest trade title, an insightful, warm, compassionate story of two friends as they grow and heal with intention and a little help from unconditional love.

(And in case you’re interested and missed it, she also published a new Fools’ Gold novella this summer—A FOOL’S GOLD WEDDING—which served to catch us up with a bunch of residents and friends. Yay!)

Find the books:
Susan Mallery @Amazon
The Friendship List @Amazon
A Fool’s Gold Wedding @Amazon (novella – $2.99)

THE FRIENDSHIP LIST

A witty, heartfelt and irresistible story about two best friends determined to help one another shake things up and live life to the fullest in a summer that will change them forever.

Susan Mallery has delivered the perfect escape about the power of female friendship and the importance of making your dreams come true.

Single mom Ellen Fox couldn’t be more content—until she overhears her son saying he can’t go to his dream college because she needs him too much. If she wants him to live his best life, she has to convince him she’s living hers.

So Unity Leandre, her best friend since forever, creates a list of challenges to push Ellen out of her comfort zone. Unity will complete the list, too, but not because she needs to change. What’s wrong with a thirtysomething widow still sleeping in her late husband’s childhood bed?

The Friendship List begins as a way to make others believe they’re just fine. But somewhere between “wear three-inch heels” and “have sex with a gorgeous guy,” Ellen and Unity discover that life is meant to be lived with joy and abandon, in a story filled with humor, heartache and regrettable tattoos.

Happy reading!

Some post and image links are connected to an affiliate portal. A small percentage of your purchases supports my work and this page. Thanks so much!

Enjoy!

Samantha Vérant – Bonjour et Bienvenue To Sophie Valroux

August 30, 2020 Leave a Comment

Theme for today: Lovely books with Paris & France themes! Be sure to read the posts on Samantha Vérant & Roselle Lim & Jenn McKinlay too!

Full disclosure: Samantha Vérant is an author I’m pretty friendly with. Back when we met (on twitter), she’d just published a memoir, SEVEN LETTERS FROM PARIS, and I’d done a post on the Kirkus blog about books set in Paris and she got in touch to ask if I might be interested in reading her book.

Turns out we were in Paris/France the same summer (1989) and had some eerily similar experiences. We’ve been friends ever since and even met when I traveled to Paris to attend the first-ever Romance Novel Conference in 2016. We keep in touch fairly regularly, so I was excited when she told me that after two memoirs, she was writing a novel.

At long last, the book is about to release! Yay!

I read THE SECRET FRENCH RECIPES OF SOPHIE VALROUX and I loved it! There were a couple little things that made it not quite perfect, but overall, it was so charming and entertaining that I pretty much forgot about its few flaws by the end of the book.

There is a juicy romance, family tension, food/kitchen/restaurant drama and at the center of it all is Sophie, the betrayed chef who goes to France to take care of her grandmother and ultimately finds herself.

The backdrop is so delightfully french—the beautiful chateau, the ambiance, the sensibility and the food—and it’s completely satisfying when Sophie drops into it so wholeheartedly, reconnecting with the inner cook, if you will, who loves fresh, perfectly prepared food.

It takes her a while to embrace her role as a leader and remember her joy and prowess in the kitchen, but once she does, things come together in most aspects of her life, including a gratifying come-uppance moment for her lying, scheming ex.

This was Vérant’s debut novel, and it was a fun, truly delicious read (pun intended). Her world-building for this luxe, elegant château estate and restaurants is creative and clever (not to mention mouth-watering) and I look forward to her next book, when I get to check in with Sophie and her new friends and see what they’re up to.

Find the books:
Samantha Vérant @Amazon
The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux @Amazon

THE SECRET FRENCH RECIPES OF SOPHIE VALROUX

A disgraced chef rediscovers her passion for food and her roots in this stunning novel rich in culture and full of delectable recipes.

French-born American chef Sophie Valroux had one dream: to be part of the 1% of female chefs running a Michelin-starred restaurant. From spending summers with her grandmother, who taught her the power of cooking and food, to attending the Culinary Institute of America, Sophie finds herself on the cusp of getting everything she’s dreamed of.

Until her career goes up in flames.

Sabotaged by a fellow chef, Sophie is fired, leaving her reputation ruined and confidence shaken. To add fuel to the fire, Sophie learns that her grandmother has suffered a stroke and takes the red-eye to France. There, Sophie discovers the simple home she remembers from her childhood is now a luxurious château, complete with two restaurants and a vineyard. As Sophie tries to reestablish herself in the kitchen, she comes to understand the lengths people will go to for success and love, and how dreams can change.

Happy reading!

Some post and image links are connected to an affiliate portal. A small percentage of your purchases supports my work and this page. Thanks so much!

Enjoy!

Roselle Lim – The Delights of Magic, Paris & Tea

August 30, 2020 Leave a Comment

Theme for today: Lovely books with Paris & France themes! Be sure to read the posts on Samantha Vérant & Jenn McKinlay too!

Roselle Lim’s recent release, VANESSA YU’S MAGICAL PARIS TEA SHOP, maintains the charm, elegance and lyricism as her debut, NATALIE TAN’S BOOK OF LOVE AND FORTUNE, with the added appeal of a Parisian setting.

Lim’s characters are Chinese-American and the mystical threads that weave through her books manage to tie in to the mythos of ancient Chinese magic and superstition, while deftly keeping the storylines modern and fresh.

In this storyline, main character Vanessa definitely considers her gift much more of a burden, but when she goes to Paris to study with her aunt, she discovers a new city, a possible new love, and an eclectic new array of friends and acquaintances might be just the catalysts she needs to effect an unexpected but welcome change.

While Lim is telling a vividly personal tale that mainly revolves around the Parisian transplant Vanessa, she also shines a light on the racism and stereotyping that impedes fair play around the globe. Of course in the story the good guys thrive in the end and love lands gently on a number of couples, but the plot element serves as a good reminder that paying attention and calling out bad behavior can change lives for the better, while ignoring it benefits the worst characters, both in fiction and in real life.

Lim’s writing is graceful and accomplished, allowing her to tell a layered, imaginative, entrancing tale with the lyricism and radiance it deserves.

I love magic in my fiction, and Lim constructs it beautifully. I’ve been enchanted by both books and highly recommend them if you haven’t had the pleasure of discovering them yet.

Find the books:
Roselle Lim @Amazon
Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune @Amazon
Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop @Amazon

VANESSA YU’S MAGICAL PARIS TEA SHOP

From the critically acclaimed author of Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune comes a new delightful novel about exploring all the magical possibilities of life in the most extraordinary city of all: Paris.

Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s fortunes—or misfortunes—in tealeaves.

Ever since she can remember, Vanessa has been able to see people’s fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.

After her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa sees death for the first time. She decides that she can’t truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric Aunt Evelyn shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to California and bonjour to Paris. There, Vanessa learns more about herself and the root of her gifts and realizes one thing to be true: knowing one’s destiny isn’t a curse, but being unable to change it is.

Happy reading!

Some post and image links are connected to an affiliate portal. A small percentage of your purchases supports my work and this page. Thanks so much!

Enjoy!