books about romance – Page 2 – Equal Opportunity Reader

[REVIEW] Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams

(Buy it from Bookshop here.) I want to fight Queenie. Okay, maybe not fight. Not physically, anyway. I just want to take her out for coffee and a very stern junior auntie-in-training chat about her life and her choices, ending with one question–“Girl, why don’t you love yourself at all?” She’s twenty-five, works at aContinue reading “[REVIEW] Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams”

[REVIEW] This Is How You Lose The Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

ID: A black tablet displaying the cover of This Is How You Lose The Time War(sky blue background with red and blue cardinal birds reflecting each other surrounded by title text). The tablet is held in front of a leafy green bush by a black woman's hand.

(Buy it from Bookshop) This may be the unlikeliest romance novel I have ever read. Red and Blue are super soldiers in the time war, traveling across the 4th dimension bending history through sheer violence. Somehow, they begin a mocking correspondence, taunting each other while busy sinking Atlantis and riding with Genghis Khan to manipulateContinue reading “[REVIEW] This Is How You Lose The Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone”

[Review] Signs of Attraction, by Laura Brown

A brightly lit tablet displays a book cover photo of a bearded Latino, held up in front of a narrow dark urban street.

(Find it HERE.) There’s a lot of things I expect from romance novels, and intersectionality is not one of them. However, that’s exactly what this book offers and it’s an interesting surprise. Main girl Carli is a Hard Of Hearing undergrad from a troubled background. Main guy Reed, a handsome grad student, is not onlyContinue reading “[Review] Signs of Attraction, by Laura Brown”

[REVIEW]Royal Holiday, by Jasmine Guillory

(Buy it HERE.) 🎄⠀As much as I love Black romance, this is somehow the first book by Jasmine Guillory I’ve ever read. As romances go, this one is pretty standard. Social worker Vivian gets the chance to accompany a relative to the UK for Christmas–while they work hard styling royals, she plans to read, drinkContinue reading “[REVIEW]Royal Holiday, by Jasmine Guillory”

[REVIEW] Jingle Balls, by Vanessa Waltz

(Find it HERE.) I can’t believe I’m actually posting this… I’m not even going to pretend I can keep a face straight enough to actually review this. Just know that it’s exactly what the cover and title promise. This is the kind of good and terrible fun read no one ever admits to in publicContinue reading “[REVIEW] Jingle Balls, by Vanessa Waltz”

[REVIEW] When The Wind Chimes, by Mary Ting

(Buy it HERE.) ⠀ As far as I am concerned, there are only 2 categories of holiday reading–romance novels and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The end of the year is often hectic and it’s nice to take a moment and remember that love is real and ghosts sometimes yell at stingy rich guys. TheContinue reading “[REVIEW] When The Wind Chimes, by Mary Ting”

[REVIEW] Pumpkinheads, by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

(Buy it HERE.)⠀🎃⠀Deja and Josiah are college-bound high school seniors working their last shift ever at a seasonal pumpkin patch job somewhere in Nebraska. From September 1st to Halloween every year the two are best friends, but the good times are coming to a bittersweet end. They decide to turn their last shift into aContinue reading “[REVIEW] Pumpkinheads, by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks”

[REVIEW] The A.I. Who Loved Me, Alyssa Cole

A Kindle e-reader sitting in front of an iced coffee and a donut on a wooden table. The book displayed on the reader is The A.I. Who Loved Me. There is a Black woman, an Asian man, a house cat and a basket of laundry on the cover.

(Buy it HERE). I have to admit–I wasn’t sure what to think about this romance novella at first. The premise seemed like it could easily go very wrong. Trinity, a Black data analyst is home on admistrative leave recovering from PTSD from a mysterious work accident when she falls for Li Wei, a Chinese…robot? Correction–he’sContinue reading “[REVIEW] The A.I. Who Loved Me, Alyssa Cole”

[REVIEW] The Passion According To Carmela, by Marco Aguinis (translated by Carolina De Robertis)

(Buy it HERE.) 🌟🌟🌟🌟 This book sat on my Kindle at 35% for months, because frankly, the first 3rd of this book is pretty obnoxious. It starts as a whimsical love story between two privileged elites playing at revolution in Bautista-era Cuba in order to relieve themselves of their pampered boredom and exercise their intellectualContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Passion According To Carmela, by Marco Aguinis (translated by Carolina De Robertis)”

[REVIEW] Odd One Out, Nic Stone

(Buy it HERE) ⭐⭐⭐/5Courtney loves his best friend Jupiter. Jupiter loves girls. New girl Rae isn’t sure who she loves or how she feels about it. Odd One Out explores their individual perspectives & the questions they have about their emerging sexualities & relationships.⠀🏳️‍🌈⠀I love how casually diverse this book is. Race, culture and sexualityContinue reading “[REVIEW] Odd One Out, Nic Stone”