Jennifer Yen's debut, A Taste for Love, is the fluffy YA romance you think it is. It reads like a season of The Great British Baking Show with Pride & Prejudice vibes and some complicated Chinese-American inter-generational dynamics.
More mini-reviews! Reviews of Rent a Boyfriend, Call Me Maybe, Witching Moon and Elatsoe. That's an f/m YA contemporary, an f/m contemporary, an f/f fantasy and a YA fantasy.
The Ex Talk very much appealed to the NPR nerd in me, so if you like romance and you like public radio, you probably don't need to read the rest of this review.
Rachel Bloom's brand of humor isn't for everyone, but if it's for you, you'll love I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are. Fans of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend like me will appreciate the blend of gross, awkward, honest and er, musical? humor contained in these essays, screen-plays and journal entries by a young Rachel.
By now maybe you've noticed that I've been on something of a gothic romance kick lately. Maybe you don't follow my reading that closely. This is expected, you are a real human with better things to do. (Unless you're Google crawling the internet, in which case hiiii robot overlords.)
After a lengthy--for the romance genre--break following the first in the Greycourt series, Elizabeth Hoyt returns with When a Rogue Meets His Match. I'm not sure why this series is received less favorably than the Maiden Lane series, but to me the hallmarks of her historical romances are still there. Her writing still pulls the emotions out of me and her plots are complex and action-packed.
Throwing Hearts had me nostalgic for a time when we could volunteer at an old age home and strike up casual conversations at coffee shops. I laughed out loud many times, and really enjoyed that N.R. Walker makes use of allll the innuendos possible during a pottery class.
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The folks from the LGBTQ centre are a mix of lovely and grumpy old people who throw out love-hate banter at all their classes. Clyde, Leo’s old-person partner and friend, is hilariously grumpy –like, people have made formal complaints about his ridiculous insults. The Clyde sub-plot reminds us about the perspective of gay men of the 80s: that they paved the way, the loss they felt, and the stigma many older people in the LGBTQIA+ community still carry with them. Clyde’s romantic interest is from the same generation, and struggles with unlearning the need to be undercover about being gay. He's also given a wonderful introduction to the world of feeling genderqueer and publicly dressing accordingly.
One of the best and most laugh-out-loud enjoyable things about this book is the extremely current dating situation. Leo has to explain to Clyde why he didn’t ask for Merrick’s number (because he needs to stalk him online first to see if he’s married and/or racist) and we obviously experience the classic, painful accidental Instagram double-tap crisis. There’s an unpacking of whether he has the rainbow flag in his bio and a panicked avoidance of actual phone calls. The Instagram ‘like’ situation escalated so amazingly and almost too realistically! I was sitting on the couch listening and felt like I was sitting on the couch right next to Leo and his best friend. Their adorable friendship also had me missing casual late-night hangouts over-analysing crushes with friends. Sidenote: Leo’s voice sounds a lot like Troye’s Sivan, incase that’s something you’re into.
Throwing Hearts is everything N.R. Walker's books always are: Adorable, warm, charming and fun, with interesting characters who are undeniably and openly into each other, which results in memorable dates and sweet, intimate affection. 10/10 recommend!
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Andrea purchased this audiobook.
Content Warnings: There’s some casual meanness and judgement of men who use Grindr and hook-up at gay clubs. Grief and mention of Clyde’s boyfriend who died in the 80s along with most of his friends.
When I heard that Where Dreams Descend was being pitched as a gothic circus fantasy romance, I was intrigued. Then I saw the cover and I swear I gasped. The cover blurb from Claire Legrand says it's perfect for fans of Caraval and The Night Circus and while that is absolutely true, I got some pretty strong Phantom of the Opera vibes as well.
More mini-reviews! Reviews of Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking for Love, Instant Karma, In a Holidaze and Kingdom of the Wicked. That's an m/m contemporary, an f/m YA contemporary, an f/m contemporary and a YA fantasy.
