Kelly Bowen starts off a new series with A DUKE IN THE NIGHT, an historical romance with strong feminist themes. While this book is not as strong as her Season for Scandal series, it's immensely satisfying to see a strong, wealthy, white man taking cues from a woman.

This month marks a new venture, of sorts, for my Unusual Historicals column. It will now be cross-posted over at Love in the Panels! Suzanne and I worked together at Heroes & Heartbreakers (RIP), and this seemed like a happy marriage of getting more eyeballs on new historical romance titles (always my nefarious goal!). So what is catching my eye this month? So glad you asked!

The month of the Valentine brings more sci-fi romance novels to enjoy!

This review originally appeared at Heroes & Heartbreakers in July 2017. Since that content is no longer available, we're giving it a new home!

Once upon a time, cartographers would label maps with fun phrases like "here be dragons." This was basically a whimsical way of saying that they didn't know what was past this explored territory but it was probably going to kill and eat you. Pretty xenophobic, but also occasionally realistic because hey, there are actually things in the ocean that can kill and eat you. One of those things, depending on the story you're reading, is the mermaid. 

The plot summary for the book is so accurate that I don't think you need me to rehash that in a review. They have a meet-awful but are still drawn to each other, Josh decides porn isn't for him, takes up cam work for the same company instead. This is the bare bones plot of the book and, despite the porn industry setting, honestly the least interesting thing about it.

Sometimes, a book disappoints because it's a mess, but sometimes, it'll disappoint because there is so much potential and adorableness, and it squanders it. Melissa Brayden's Strawberry Summer does the latter. I had been so charmed in the beginning, but the pacing and some storytelling choices aggravated me enough I needed to complain to friends.

We talk a lot about the books we're excited for, new releases, and so on. But what books did we actually read and love? Our team whittled down their lists to one (or two) top picks for the month.

Maria Vale's debut novel THE LAST WOLF is an immersive tale of identity, trust, and love. It's a fresh take on the werewolf subgenre, steeped in history and tragedy. It is also wildly funny,  completely endearing, and stomach-churningly violent.

February is known for hearts and chocolate and romance, so what better to do than read a romance novel (or five) during the month? Here are some of the new books we're looking forward to in February 2018.