When I first heard that Rose Lerner was writing an f/f/ gothic retelling of Jane Eyre, I was thrilled. My expectations were high! Then Audible picked it up as an Audible Original and I got even more excited knowing I wouldn't have to wait for one of those days when my brain can read words on a page. This book on audio is long--a little over 16 hours. I'm happy to report, however, that it's very much worth the time investment.

Down Comes the Night is pitched as a gothic romantic historical fantasy novel and it both fits and doesn't fit that framing. I've been trying to sift through the various subplots and characters to figure out the essence of the book and I'm not sure it quite came together in the end. A case of close-but-not-quite-there. However, I think this is a book that will work well for a lot of readers, so let's get into it.

It's March! The sun is coming back!

I don't have anything pithy to say, so let's get right to the books, shall we?

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More mini-reviews! Reviews of I Wanna Be Where You Are, Happily Ever Afters, The Sweetest Fix, Lore and Of Wicked Blood.  That's two f/m contemporary YA romances, an adult f/m contemporary romance and two YA fantasy novels with romantic elements.

The Beautiful Things Shoppe is one of those magical enemies-to-lovers romances in which neither character comes off like a jerk. Danny and Prescott end up sharing an antiques shop and have completely opposite approaches to the venture. Danny sells old bits of pop culture including a cartoony cookie jar and Prescott prefers high-end furniture and housewares. They have an immediate dislike for each other, but it's a flimsy thing that quickly gives way to respect and then those inconvenient feelings.

This isn't going to be a review so much as a list of things I loved about Honey Girl. While not really a romance--it leans much more toward commercial fiction and a single character arc--Honey Girl is a gorgeous story of loneliness and hope and love.

Jennifer Yen's debut, A Taste for Love, is the fluffy YA romance you think it is. It reads like a season of The Great British Baking Show with Pride & Prejudice vibes and some complicated Chinese-American inter-generational dynamics.

Ah, February. It's a junk month for weather up here, but it's a big birthday month in my family so between that and the books I think I'll pull through.

Now that Inauguration is out of the way, my activist groups are ramping up our 2021 plans and I'm choosing fierce hope over the despair that keeps trying to take over.

I'm wishing you a fierce, hopeful, and healthy year.

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More mini-reviews! Reviews of Rent a Boyfriend, Call Me Maybe, Witching Moon and Elatsoe.  That's an f/m YA contemporary, an f/m contemporary, an f/f fantasy and a YA fantasy.

The Ex Talk very much appealed to the NPR nerd in me, so if you like romance and you like public radio, you probably don't need to read the rest of this review.