It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a resident of Romancelandia in possession of a few hours of free time, must be in want of their next great read. It’s a also a truth, less universally acknowledged, that in order for that read to qualify as “great” it also has to be, on some level, relatable. And it is a bitter truth, often whispered but rarely acknowledged, that “relatable” is frequently coded language for white. While we would all like to think a community built on love and the belief that everyone deserves to live happily ever is devoid of the soul crushing inhumanity of racism and prejudice, that is simply not true.
If you've read reviews on our site before, you'll note that we include a bunch of information with each review. This includes tropes (enemies-to-lovers), tags (Regency), and a "heat" rating. In the body of each review, we do our best to include content warnings as well. We are not alone in this, but it's also far from a universal practice.
Since there's been a lot of discussion about content warnings in the romance community lately, here's the Love in Panels approach. What content warnings are, what they are not, how they benefit readers (and authors), and how we use them. I've also included notes on other approaches used by reviewers/readers where appropriate.
One day, I will understand why Zen Cho’s fantasy world works for me. There is a reason that this might be the first fantasy novel I’ve reviewed. Fantasy and I are those friends who only get along under very specific conditions, but we don’t know what those are and get annoyed if you ask us why. We roll our eyes at each other unless we’re talking about Zen Cho.
One of the many joys of running a blog is that sometimes I get to see covers before they are released out into the world. And this time? This time I got to order a paperback before anyone else, including our fabulous author, Olivia Dade. There's a little pencil on the spine and a few other adorable details on Olivia's first self-published book,
Teach Me.
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I'm getting ahead of myself, though. First, let's talk about the book! Then we'll show you the cover, and THEN an exclusive excerpt!
If you combine Reisz's signature mindf*ckery, panty-melting erotic scenes, and banter with Greek mythology and the modern British peerage... you get The Rose.
Amy, who is Sri Lankan-American, is reading Nisha Sharma's new romance, The Takeover Effect, for Love in Panels and Nisha was gracious enough to answer her questions for us!
Read on for their discussion about writing across age ranges, weddings, and the Indian-American experience.
April book showers bring May book... flowers
I'm tired, just give me this one, okay? Here are some books we're excited to read!
I was late to pick up Charlie Adhara’s first two Big Bad Wolf books and I was rewarded with that lateness by being able to read all three in short-succession. The books are a cross between police procedural mysteries and paranormal romance. They are suspenseful and character-driven stories with slowly unfurling worldbuilding that builds on itself with each book. I loved seeing Cooper and Oliver’s story unfold, and getting caught up each mystery.
More mini-reviews! This time we've got an f/f with royalty, an m/f contemporary, and an f/f erotic novella.
