While not as intense a book release month as May, June is still packed with new books! Let's read some of them!

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Queen Move is a stand alone romance connected to Kennedy Ryan’s All The King’s Men duet that was out last year. Kimba, the female MC here, was the best friend and powerful business partner of Lenix from those books. It stands alone well, there’s no need to read the duet to be able to capture all of the nuance in Queen Move.

Kimba and Ezra grew up together and slowly grow to have feelings for each other but never admit this to themselves - or each other. But their families have a falling out and Ezra moves away out of the blue and they never see each other again until they're adults and both powerful in their own ways. It's a big family secret as to the exact reason of why they had to move so suddenly...and of course that comes back to haunt them.

Queen Move hooks the reader in with chapters throughout Ezra and Kimba’s childhood together. I was incredibly drawn in by these as it sets the tone of their friendship, but when they’re basically torn apart (hence, the angst) we fast forward to adulthood where they meet again and their chemistry is palpable. 

One of Kennedy Ryan’s many strengths is her obvious research and the care she takes with every topic she deals with in her books. From domestic violence to drug abuse, she always handles each with subtlety and circumspection. In Queen Move she deals with Ezra, the male MC, needing to embrace both sides of his family with being Black and Jewish. There were so many small details sprinkled throughout the book that made it so special and apparent the care Ryan was taking with his faith. The research reminds me of Beverly Jenkins or Sarah MacLean.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book but there were also some glaring issues I had with this book that kept me from absolutely loving it.

Mini-reviews of It Sounded Better in My Head, Every Reason We Shouldn't, You Deserve Each Other, The Hideaway Inn and What I Like About You. So that's a whole lot of contemporary romance - three YA and two adult.

We are so excited to reveal the cover of Alexandria Bellefleur's debut romance, Written in the Stars, and to share an early excerpt with you.

A delightful collection of novellas from Ruby Lang, these three stories are sweet and low angst without being overly saccharine. The novellas were previously individually released but really work well together in The Uptown Collection.

As a fan of Kwana Jackson’s other pen name K.M. Jackson I’d been looking forward to her debut under this name with Berkley. The summary alone delighted me because it screams complex family dynamics and the idea of grown men trying to figure out how to run a knitting and craft business really appealed to me.

The romance between Jesse and Kerry is sweet and a bit of a slow burn but is also low angst, which honestly I needed right now. I really liked Kerry in particular and loved seeing her stand up for herself as things went on. And the Strong brothers made me sit up and say ask what is behind each of their stories exactly Ms. Jackson!?

Not even COVID-19 can stop the arrival of Spring. Romancelandia, my sincere wish for all of us during this time is that we snatch our moments of joy where we can find them. Mine has taste-testing new tea blends from a company I learned about on Facebook (hey, it’s not a complete dumpster fire over there…), getting back into a reading groove, and, of course, hunting up new unusual historicals.  Here’s what is catching my eye for May.

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In the final book of the Consortium Rebellion, Chaos Reigning, Catarina the youngest of the von Hasenbergs, takes center stage when the survival of not only her house but the whole Consortium is at stake. Catarina is used to being dismissed by others, hiding her sharp mind and unexpected strength behind frivolous conversations and colorful accessories.

Sometimes you meet a novel that just clicks. Such was the case for Andrea and debut author Kevin Van Whye's Date Me, Bryson Keller.