I never underestimate the skill it takes to make something new out of something beloved, and Jalaluddin did it (seeming with ease) with Ayesha at Last. Retellings can be a difficult type of book because something as beloved as Pride and Prejudice comes with the expectations of everyone who loved the book (or zombie book), or the miniseries, or the movie (or zombie movie). As a reader, there’s this hope that all the beats will be there and that all of the characters you love or hate will be there too.

Josh Copeland is looking for a new start.  After realizing that his long-time girlfriend was not changing her mind about having children anytime soon, he has ended that three-year relationship and moved across the country to work in the same firehouse as his best-friend. He has an empty apartment full of boxes, bills for appliances he no longer owns, and guilt and frustration over the relationship in equal measure. The last thing he should be doing is falling in love with a unavailable woman like Kristen, but the more time he spends with her the more he is convinced she is his “unicorn”.

The third book in Kelly Bowen's Devils of Dover series pairs two doctors who both happen to be smugglers as well. Katherine is the daughter of a smuggler and was brought up in the family business. She studied under a midwife and then went to war, and has since been patching up the locals. Harland is a Baron and also a doctor, something his late wife hated him for. Since they both have a disastrous past relationship and are trying to keep secrets (very poorly), their relationship progresses in fits and starts.

Almost nothing seems to bring people together like how troubling a specific trope can be (let’s be honest, it’s the secret baby trope that gets mentioned most often). Seconds later, the conversation will turn to “Oh, but I loved this secret baby book by…” because there is also always an author who manages to defy expectations of a trope.

Here, the Love in Panels team talks about the books and authors who have managed to defy difficult tropes.

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It is hard to jump into a long-running series, especially one with a dozen interconnected books, but Nalini Singh’s Wolf Rain makes it easy. Although there are a lot of familiar characters for long-time readers to enjoy, the story focuses tightly on Memory and her journey to learn how to live outside of captivity. While Singh continues to develop the current Psy-changeling Trinity arc, primarily through alternate POV chapters peppered throughout the novel, it doesn’t distract from the central romance. Long-time readers however will be pleased by a return to the SnowDancer Wolf Den, and its playful and vibrant pack. Alexei’s grumpy and protective personality is the perfect foil for Memory’s fierce but fragile fury.

Little reviews of No Two Ways, Play it Again, and Dating You / Hating You.

Highland Crown is a Scottish romance between a Highlander and a Lowlander, both on the run from the British authorities for aiding Scottish rebels and well... shooting a soldier. The authors, a husband and wife team, call it an adventure romance, and that's absolutely true. There's a lot of hiding and escaping and stabbing. The hero is shot not once, but twice. (Thankfully, the heroine is a doctor.)

Spring has sprung and May is an embarrassing bouquet of riches for fans of unusual historicals! Rule of thumb, I try to keep my Top Picks shopping list to around 4 or 5 titles.  This month, well it’s seven. Some of these are fairly big releases that you may already know about, but I think you’ll find a few surprises on this list as well. Let’s dive in!

I'm not sure how it's possible, but Just Past Two is even hotter than Three-Way Split. The plot is fairly straightforward: a married couple goes to a college reunion and events there set off a very sexy chain reaction. Their sex life has been reliable and consistent, but now they can be honest about their needs and fantasies and the results are a rollercoaster of sexual gratification and fear of rejection.

Hooked on You is a mostly cute romance with a few choices that are complicated. The book is largely about two women in their 50s discovering that their sexualities are not as clearly defined as they thought for most of their lives. And it’s tricky telling a story like this because it can so easily come off as the cringey “gay for you” trope and wildly biphobic, but I think Matthews pulls off the exploration of sexuality well.