It’s a pretty well known fact that I dig slow burn romances. And while this book definitely qualifies as the slowest of slow burns (the two main characters don’t even share their first passionate kiss until the 77% mark), there are a few things that left me wanting more from this book.

After a strange, upended spring, we now find ourselves in a strange, upended summer with most of us wondering what the heck autumn will bring. How much is my budget going to tank at the library? Will the kids be back in a traditional classroom setting come September? When might life feel normal enough to take a couple of vacation days again?  Uncertain times call for snatching moments of joy when you can - and I think I speak for most of Romancelandia when I say books are a great way to find some joy.  Here are some unusual historicals releasing in June that caught my eye:

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I live in a state where fireworks are legal, sold on the side of the road, in the dang grocery store... I have a love-hate relationship with them. That said, I've loved Erin McLellan's So Over the Holidays series, so I was excited to read Bottle Rocket. These erotic romance novellas follow the Holiday siblings and are set around Christmas, Valentine's Day and now Independence Day and they're packed with sex toys, a bit of kink and queerness.

Confession: I've never read a romance set in the 1980's. It's always seemed too recent to be historical and too historical to be modern. But here we are in 2020 and 1980 is forty years past.

If you're looking for a book in which two people who split up as teens are reunited 13 years later for a week of lots of "no-strings" sex, this is the book for you. As you might expect, the no-strings thing doesn't work. Darn those feelings.

I've been seeking paranormal romance with lighter plots and not so much murder and suspense, so I've gladly sailed through each of Abigail Owen's re-issued Brimstone, Inc. novellas. The first pairs a demigod and a nymph, the second matches up two alpha werewolves and the third hooks up a witch and the warlock/coven official looking for her. Heads-up: all three are connected and I'm not sure they'd work as stand-alones.

Summer in South Africa is ending; pouring rain has started to creep between days with blue skies. Even when it's sunny outside, these days it always kinda feels like the skies are grey. And at least once a day, I remember that I was supposed to be in Seoul, Korea right now for cherry blossom season, and then my heart aches even more. So! I’ve compiled a list of books that bring the much-needed spring blooming feeling with their covers.

Before I start this review, let me just share one thing about myself. I’m not particularly fond of many sports but I have been a dedicated fan of tennis for most of my life. I know the game, I know how to keep score, I know a forehand from a backhand and a dropshot from a volley. A few years ago, when sports romances were all the rage, I was a bit sad about the lack of tennis romances. So, dear reader, you can well imagine my utter joy when one of my favorite authors announced a book featuring a tennis instructor hero.

Ethan Night is a psychically damaged Arrow, walking a knife’s edge, worried about being used as a weapon by those who long abused him, disconnected from the squad that rescued him, unsure that he is safe to be around others and his world so gray he isn’t sure he should even try.

I’m a fan of both comics and romance, so when I heard about Blaze I knew I had to pick it up. Finding out that both of the MC’s were Black men and the story incorporated kink were added bonuses.There’s a lot about this book I liked and a few things I didn’t, but overall it was a fun read.

Danny Griffin is a talented artist with a sunny disposition, an uncanny ability to attract trouble and a desire to explore his submissive tendencies. It’s the latter that sends him down a dark street and into the path of three knife wielding attackers. Luckily for Danny, and unluckily for them, St. Louis superhero Blaze is out patrolling and rescues Danny from certain doom. There’s an instant chemistry and attraction between the two and even though Blaze sends Danny safely on his way, he can’t let go and engineers a way to see him again by buying Danny a membership to the kink club he belongs to.