Rating: 3.75/5 Heat Level: 3.25/5 Pub Date: April 28th

Premise:

Paint shopkeeper Titus unexpectedly comes into a fortune when he marries a wealthy old woman on her deathbed who is trying to disinherit her douchebag nephew out of SPITE. Enter Nico, Comte de Valois de la Motte, who the old lady was supposed to marry before she picked Titus instead. Nico is in debt and desperately needs the money, so he strikes up a friendship with Titus without revealing his motives...

My review:

This was a surprisingly cozy romance that still had me on the edge of my seat as I waited to see how this love story between literally the nicest, most cautious guy, and a hot fake comte trying to SWINDLE him would play out. What makes this book feel so high stakes is precisely the fact that you see how kind Nico is to Titus when he most needs it, and you know just how hurt Titus has been in the past, by an ex-lover and his family, so you're INVESTED in both their happiness, but also, how... will this work out?

The answer is a (mostly) solid friendship, LOTS of caretaking and bonding over fashion and art and color— Nico and Titus indulge their passions to the fullest possible for the first time in their lives with the money they now have (or are in proximity to). And it's lovely to see Titus's confidence grow as a result of Nico! Like all good swindler romances, what makes the reveal and third-act breakup painful is not that Nico stole, or was trying to steal from Titus, but rather, the fact that he lied even as he fell for him— which also brings up the point, would Titus have given the money to Nico if he'd been honest a little earlier? Penny (ha) for your thoughts.

The sex:

This is on the lower end of heat as far as KJ Charles's romances go, but there are a couple explicit sex scenes. And I appreciated that Nico actually takes care to ask Titus what he likes in bed, because nobody... has ever asked him before.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Rating: 3.75/5 Heat Level: 3.75/5 Pub Date: April 21st

My review:

This is a steamy sapphic romance featuring two rival rockstars forced to work together after their respective bands beat the shit out of each other at a '79 Grammys after-party. Cassie is a classic good girl, Pia is a rebel at heart who disdains everything Cassie represents... except Pia quickly realizes Cassie actually not a total square? And attractive??

I kind of love how swiftly Pia hastened Cassie's queer awakening— literally ONE NIGHT together in a hotel room as they write lyrics to a song that is basically Dolly Parton's "Jolene" except a little more implicitly queer and the sexual and emotional intimacy is already THERE. To be clear, it's far from insta-love, and the natural separation during touring creates a lot of longing and pining. They have clandestine meetings only made a little easier without social media, and write letters and arranging long-distance phone calls while they're apart. And it doesn't help that they're forced to keep their relationship a secret for most of the book, because the world wasn't ready for openly-queer celebrities, queer women in particular. Hell, people are still weird about queer female celebrities, if recent events are anything to go by.

The sex:

I'm trash for an early sex scene and I love that not only did it happen, but Pia was SO SMOOTH in the way she roundly seduced Cassie. Pia likes to give it as rough as Cassie wants it.... and gives it right back. The dirty talk is also great.

Standout scene was probably a Very Good phone sex scene, which is fitting because of their rigorous touring schedules and separations... and plot twist, the phone itself is actually USED. Wild.

Overall:

This was surprisingly cozy for a rockstar romance— the romance between Pia and Cassie is tender and full of caretaking moments while the people around them are very sex & drugs & rock & roll, and the ending feels like a triumph in more ways than one. If that's your jam (ha), you'll enjoy this book.

Thank you to Frances M. Thompson for the advanced copy.

Rating: 3.75/5 Heat Level: 3.25/5 Pub Date: May 12th

Premise:

Genevieve marries her wealthy, seventy-year old husband to secure her younger sister's dowry. When she arrives at his remote Scottish abbey, she's met with multiple ghosts, strange inhabitants, and her husband's very attractive former ward and solicitor Sir Godric.

My review:

This is a pretty unique historical romance, and there was definitely an experimental vibe to go along with the new cover style (one of the better illustrated historical covers I've seen in terms of realism, though I'd have loved to see both the hero and heroine on the cover). I do think it was a mixed bag in terms of execution, especially as a primarily romance reader... but maybe non-romance readers will feel differently.

First, this is single POV, and it is in the first-person. I loved Genevieve's voice— it's droll and witty, worldly in some ways, naive in others... very early-twenties, basically. That being said, this is one of those single POV romances where I did not particularly get a sense of the hero without his POV. We know Godric is an accomplished jurist, clever, mildly judgmental... and not much more. He's there to act as temptation to the newly-married Genevieve and is a foil to her shitty husband, his former guardian. He's supportive and hot, while her husband is ugly, old, sexist, and rapey. No wonder she falls for Godric almost immediately... and so does he, once he realizes she isn't a gold-digger. While they fall for each other real fast, there is an element of longing the author drags out thanks to Genevieve's shitty, very-much-alive husband.

The actual plot is very murder mystery-centric— like, imagine if Catherine Morland had been RIGHT about the fucked shit happening in Northanger Abbey. And there are LAYERS to this mystery! A remote Scottish abbey, multiple ghosts of dead wives, illegitimate children, a secret will, etc. Eloisa's prose is bright and snappy, and I like how she builds the villains up from unserious assholes to outrightly cruel. Her (good) secondary characters are equally charming— special shoutout to Colette, a biracial Black French aristocrat who Eloisa took care to point out was not based on fantasy a la Bridgerton casting, but rather, the historical realities of the time.

The sex:

The sex is very slow-burn, and that is 10000% thanks to Genevieve's husband being alive, and the author unwilling to cross the line and write physical cheating. Is there an emotional affair brewing within days of Genevieve and Godric meeting? Absolutely. The sex itself is pretty standard stuff, a little less explicit than your average open-door historical, I would say, but that's on par for this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Eloisa James for the advanced copies.

I'm on the fence about this one. Games seems to have elements of women's fiction and erotic romance, as the sex is plentiful and the means by which Lili and Alexandr's relationship develops, but on the other hand, this single POV story centers heavily around the heroine, her friendships, and her personal growth. While Games had some components of a romance novel that worked well— the third-act breakup and heroine grovel in particular were very good— other elements felt more suited to fanfiction.

Columbia Masters of Economics student Lili and billionaire CEO of thinly-veiled BlackRock Alexandr meet at a bar, and have an intense one-night stand. To be clear, the intense one-night stand (as advertised in the blurb) goes exactly the way you'd think: there's rough sex, he's more dominant. Lili wants to continue and keep it casual (yk... we're all about keeping it casual these days), and Aleksandr, presumably, is happy to go along with it, all the while engaging in deep discussions about economics and their radically-differing world views.

To be clear I don't think the economics of it all took away from the romance entirely— it's the means by which Lili and Aleksandr connect, and it's how Lili comes to understand him as a lover and a partner by the end of the book. That being said, those initial interactions— the long, meandering expositions and dialogues on economics felt clunky and dragged on— it's one of the places the fanfiction roots are very clear, and it could have done with a lot more editing. The ebook clocked in at 380ish pages, and it could have been much shorter. You don't particularly get the sense of a deeper connection between Lili and Aleksandr for much of the book: there's sexual attraction, respect on an intellectual level, but the emotional intimacy feels almost forced, by means of conversations about their respective tragic pasts.

I do want to note the tone-deafness of a heroine of Lebanese descent fucking and falling for a hero who runs thinly-veiled BlackRock, particularly when the book was happy to touch on current and past geopolitical conflicts, but stayed away from a Very Particular one.

The sex:

Classic darklina experience— more dominant hero, rough sex with choking, plenty of "him biiiig her smol" moments, a size queen heroine. There was some light dubcon in a somnophilia moment, but otherwise, nothing really out there. Lili is someone who uses sex as a coping mechanism, and while I don't think the unhealthier side of this was dealt with particularly deftly (this girl sobbing and insisting "HURT ME" to the hero was giving… 2010s erotic romances of That flavor), it was something of a turning point in their relationship.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Rating: 3.5/5 Heat Level: 4/5 Pub Date: June 2nd

Rating: 3.75/5 Heat Level: 3.75/5 Pub Date: April 7th

Premise:

Deckard , Duke of Warburton, made a battlefield promise to a fellow soldier that he would take care of his daughter after he died... except it takes him several years to track her down, and now she's 18, about to be trafficked into prostitution, has dreams of being an author, and does not want to be his ward.

My review:

This is my first Lenora Bell book and I was charmed by this forbidden age-gap romance between this STERN scarred duke and his adorably fiery ward. This is very much a ballroom historical in sensibilities, despite the darker plot aspects that only seem to linger on the fringes.

Y'all, Analise is an old-timey romantasy author, and I'm 99% sure we read the rest of her novel, there would be dragonfucking (said dragon who begins to behave a lot... like the duke). Which is great! Her sense of whimsy and adventure are the perfect foil for the gruff, grumpy Dex, wants to bring her out into society and marry her off with a generous dowry because he feels guilty for not saving her from her terrible circumstances sooner. Meanwhile, Ana would rather sneak into gentlemen's clubs and ask for kissing lessons.... for writing purposes, of course. Nothing else! Never mind Dex's biiiiig JACKED bod and thiiiiick thighs.......

I thought the story really shined when it was focused on the push and pull between Dex and Ana. My issue with the rest of the sideplots is that none of them.... seem to go as hard as they should, or there wasn't as much focus as there should have been, minus Ana's persistent efforts to write her novels, and a publisher's attempts to thwart her. There is a very real threat from the brothel madam who Dex rescues Ana from, but that is pushed aside for most of the story in favor of society shenanigans and Dex's tragic backstory which also feels fairly low-stakes.

The sex:

Dex definitely has some daddy dom vibes— he's very into praise, very into correction, some bondage, and he also edges Ana over the course of several days by not... sticking it in her even after they're married. I also can confirm there is an excellent "it ain't much but it's honest work" handie. Ana is equally down-bad, ready and WILLING, despite Dex's attempts to keep distance between them.

Thank you to Avon for the advanced copy.