In a Jam reminded me why I fell in love with romance novels. It's beautifully written, with dedicated arcs for both of the main characters and a hard won romantic arc that somehow feels epic and down-to-earth at the same time. 

Come on, sunshine and flowers and birds and the sense of renewal that will hopefully bring positive change. We just gotta work for it.

Here are some new books!

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New quarter, new Shop Your Shelves board! I reused some squares from the first two boards, but I hope you'll find the new ones fun (and challenging)!

Below you'll find rules, explanations for the squares and a link to square and story boards.

More mini-reviews!  Reviews of This Poison Heart, My Dear Henry, Blood Debts, Cruel Illusions, So This is Ever After and Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove. I liked or loved all of these audiobooks, a couple of which I felt were enhanced by the listening experience.

I'm way behind on writing reviews, so the only two books I can give accurate content notes on are My Dear Henry and Blood Debts.

Hope you find something you'll like!

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K.J. Charles starts a new series with The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, an historical gay romance set in rural Kent, England. Gareth and Joss are together for a couple of blissful weeks at a London meeting house for gay men, but when Joss says he needs to go back to Kent for a while to tend to his business, Gareth breaks things off entirely. Gareth's father, a selfish nobleman, left young Gareth with his uncle when his mother died and started a new family. Gareth quite reasonably has abandonment issues and doesn't want to be left by another person he loves.

Harper Collins Romance Mini-Reviews

After three long months, Harper Collins and the HCP union reached an agreement! That means us bloggers and reviewers can safely post coverage of Harper Collins books without crossing the picket line.

Among other things, the union secured wage increases for staff, which led the other big NYC publishers to increase wages. I mention this because unions aren't just good for the people in them, they're good for labor overall. I urge you to support the unions around you, even though it's "inconvenient" at times. I was really disappointed in my peers who continued promoting HC titles, reviewing them on Goodreads, etc. during the strike. Let's do better, friends.

On to the books!

I'm writing this as snow falls and while I always look forward to spring, I'm enjoying the snow. As the climate crisis deepens and winter changes, I find myself appreciating even the slushy mess at the end of the driveway. (Most of the time.)

Harper Collins and the HCP Union reached an agreement after a three month strike. That means increased pay and union benefits for the staff and the return of Harper Collins content to LiP!

I hope you have a great month of reading and hope you'll share here or find me on Instagram or in Discord to tell me all about it.

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Once again, I'm publishing a Top Off Your TBR post and wondering if the Harper Collins Publishing Union will have a fair contract in hand by the time these books release. The strike began on November 10, 2022 and Harper Collins/NewsCorp finally agreed to mediation last week. I'm cautiously optimistic that the two parties can reach a deal sometime soon, but we've been asked to keep applying pressure until it's all official.

With that in mind, I've listed a few Harper Collins titles below and marked them with an asterisk *. There are a couple I would have loved to feature in the top part of this post, but out of solidarity with the union, I'm holding off for now. (I'm cheating a little by showing their covers, but you're already here and Harper Collins can't use any of this for their socials, which is the point of the union's ask.)

I also wanted to mention that we're heading into the second month of Shop Your Shelves Winter Bingo and I've loved all the posts you've shared with me on Instagram. I'm not doing great on my own board (classes started, sick kids, a death in the family, a surprisingly time-intensive volunteer assignment) so I really appreciate the inspiration and fun!

I hope your month is full of excellent reading.

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I've fallen so far behind on reviewing books that I decided the only solution is to publish a big list of little reviews! These are primarily f/m contemporary romances, with a sapphic historical fantasy and two f/m contemporary fantasies thrown in.

You'll notice that the content warnings are sparse and well, that's because it's been a while since I read the books. If you have questions about anything in particular, please let me know and I'll do some research for you!

Ratings are based on whether or not I recommend them to fellow readers -  DNF (Did Not Finish), Pass, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), Read It, Read it Soon.

I was pleasantly surprised by Not the Witch You Wed. This fake engagement romance is what I thought we were getting with that big crop of paranormal rom-coms that includes The Ex Hex, Payback's a Witch, and all the others. It's funny, sexy and generally a good time. It doesn't take itself too seriously and while there are internal and external obstacles in the protagonists' personal and romantic arcs, it's not a heavy book.