Team TBR Challenge Review/Rant: The Legend of Hao Lan

​(This is the synopsis from Wiki) Betrayed by her family and her first love, Li Haolan finds herself in desperate circumstances. Her father, State Censor Li He, arranges marriage between her and the far-older Yu Ping, who treats his other wives brutally. When she tries to circumvent this fate by begging her first love, Prince Jiao, to marry her, Li Haolan’s stepmother, Gao Min, orders her killed and thrown into the river. Surviving only by chance, Li Haolan crawls back from the brink of death to discover her reputation in tatters, as Gao Min spread the rumor that Li Haolan shamed the family by eloping with a stranger to explain the girl’s disappearance. Li Haolan’s mother, Wang Wan’er, a lowly concubine, has gone mad with grief over her daughter’s unknown fate. Gao Min orders the murder of Li Haolan’s mother and sells Li Haolan into slavery, just as Li Haolan watches her sweetheart marrying her little sister, Li Xiuyu.

Stricken with the knowledge of everyone’s complicity, and unable to return home, Li Haolan vows she will never beg for another thing in her life as she tries to claw her way out of her fallen circumstances and avenge the death of her mother and the wrongs done to her. The scheming merchant Lü Buwei purchases Li Haolan and takes interest in the fate of this intelligent, unusual girl. Together, they form an unlikely partnership as they both begin to climb the ladders of power.

Through Lü Buwei’s influence, Li Haolan enters Zhao‘s imperial court and makes a match with Ying Yiren, the captive prince of Qin. As Qin and Zhao fall into war, the balance of power changes, with Li Haolan on top.​

The theme this month was a gimme/reader’s choice  and I went with not only one of my most recently watched dramas but the one I most need to process. So the summary/synposis is basically everything that happens in the first episode. I have A Lot of Feelings about this series and an overarching summary in my head is “all the men in this series are trash.” There are only one or two that get more than five minutes of screen time that are mostly ok and … they both die. Granted, most the women in the show are truly terrible too. That being said, I’m … actually not mad I watched this series, but man – it is DEFINITELY not a “happy watch.” Production wise, it’s fantastic. This is clearly a big budget production. The sets, costumes, the actors, the music – it’s all so incredibly well done. It’s a historical drama in terms of not only setting, but it’s based on actual people.
I actually watched the whole damn thing in two days, no thank you, insomnia. I also did fast forward through a lot of the scheming because I don’t care about that shit, and you see it play out anyway so that’s something. I honestly don’t think I missed much though, and I “rewatched” the whole series the next day in that I watched the scenes between the heroine and her husband. And I realized – there aren’t that many. I don’t think I missed any in my second selective fast watch, and it’s possible it could all fit in the span of a single episode. Two at most. Yikes. (They’re also apart for five episodes, which covers the span of eight years/has a time jump.)

Continue reading

A List of Asian Pacific Islander [American] Romance Authors

Hi friends! It’s that time of year again! Welcome to Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

Like previous years, the upper list is “North American” Romance Authors … which sure SAPAHM/APIAHM is for the USA but … I’d posit someone living in Canada [maybe? generally?] has a closer cultural experience than someone who has never lived in N. America? And for the latter, diversity in reading is always good, yeah?

Melia Alexander
Bella Andre
Tessa Barbosa
Grace Callaway
Jax Cassidy
S.A. Chakraborty
Gloria Chao (YA)
Jeannie Chin
Mary H.K. Choi (YA)
Sylvia Day
Sara Desai
Sonali Dev
Piper J. Drake
Pintip Dunn (YA)
Vicki Essex
Hafsah Faizal (YA)
Eilis Flynn
Jen Frederick
Maan Gabriel
Jeanette Grey
Jenny Han (YA)
Karen Harbaugh
Farah Heron
Helen Hoang
Mia Hopkins
Amalie Howard
Uzma Jalaluddin
Julie Kagawa (YA)
Soniah Kamal
Coleen Kwan
Thien-Kim Lam
Ruby Lang
Jackie Lau
Loan Le (YA)
Jade Lee aka Kathy Lyons
Jayci Lee
Hudson Lin
Jeannie Lin
Lisa Lin
Marjorie Liu
Gennita Low
Tif Marcelo
Maida Malby
Sandhya Menon (YA)
Courtney Milan
Tara Pammi
Suzanne Park
Sajni Patel
Cindy Pon
Tara Quan
Alisha Rai
Amara Royce
Sophia Singh Sasson
Nisha Sharma
Royaline Sing
Suleikha Snyder
Jesse Q. Sutanto
Cecilia Tan
Cara Tanamachi
Sherry Thomas
Melanie Ting
Julie Tieu
Gita Trelease
Jen Trinh
Neely Tubati Alexander
Lillie Vale (YA)
Grace Wen
Fortune Whelan
Preslaysa Williams
Cathy Yardley
Jennifer Yen (YA)

International Asian Pacific Islander Romance Authors
H. Bentham
Halina Cabrera
Catherine Dellosa
Carla de Guzman
Six de los Reyes
Mina V. Esguerra
Elizabeth Galit
Georgette Gonzales
Agay Llanera
Arlene Manocot
Chris Mariano
Nicola Marsh
Bianca Mori
Farrah F. Polestico
Kate Sebastian
Nalini Singh
Camilla Sisco
Marian Tee
Jay E. Tria
Celestine Trinidad
Ekaterine Xia
Ines Bautista-Yao

Exclusive Excerpt: Rock Icon Ready by Kella Campbell

Rock Icon Ready by Kella Campbell cover Drum tech Kimmy Baker has been on the road with Smidge for six years, and she never wants to leave the band or concert tour life, but it seems incompatible with finding love. In any case, no one could compare to Dice, her drummer and best friend.

She’s always been careful not to jeopardize their friendship or her job by crossing any lines, even though he’s hot and sweet and shares her sense of humor and all her deepest secrets… except for one.

When she accidentally reveals that she wants to have a baby, he offers his DNA in trade for help with a secret of his own. It’s an irresistible proposition, especially when she suspects he might have a hidden dominant side. But as deeper feelings come into play, they’ll have to decide if they’re friends or lovers.

Will her intention to keep her promise of no strings conflict with his traditional impulses?

Is she meant to have forever with her rock icon?

Fall in love with the rock stars of Smidge… Rock Icon Ready is the third book in this series of interconnected standalone novels following each band member as they find their happily-ever-afters.

Excerpt from Chapter 5 of Rock Icon Ready by Kella Campbell

“I want the boys to have a nice party tonight,” Sally said. “It’s been such a hard year, and all this…” She gestured out the window at the tropical surroundings. “I know we’re here to stay out of the way so Valancy can negotiate for us, but it’s also a treat, a real vacation. You know how long it’s been since the boys have had anything but a working holiday, and New Year’s Eve has always been a work night. Some big show somewhere, or one of Awfully Hateful’s corporate bashes.” Continue reading

Team TBR Challenge Review: A Familiar Stranger

Shen Qin, the Prime Minister’s daughter, is due to be married to a powerful general, Xiao Han Sheng, but she is already in love with another man, Prince Ning. In a nefarious bid to disentangle herself from this marriage, Shen Qin traps a female artist, Shi Qi, and uses a magician to perform a type of sorcery that enables the two ladies to swap faces.

Shi Qi wakes up with her face now belonging to the Prime Minister’s daughter and is blackmailed by Shen Qin into marrying Xiao Han Sheng. To her surprise, she recognises Xiao Han Sheng from an old encounter in the past. Conflicted, she has to carry out a charade as his wife, Shen Qin, and matters get complicated when Prince Ning also starts getting interested in her. (Source: MDL)

A Familiar Stranger is a hidden gem. I hadn’t heard much about it and think more people should be giving it love. This is a short webdrama that I thought was incredibly well done. (I don’t quite get all the differences between web dramas in China and such – I do know they’re more an established medium than in the states – but sometimes still quite low budget. That’s not the case here/I don’t know how much was actually spent but it definitely doesn’t lack in terms of quality.) The sets, actors, script, musicality and OST (original sound track) are all great. In fact, after first watching it a week or so ago I rewatched it again a few days later, and have re-started it again for this review. And I’ve watched two other dramas that the male and female lead star in, respectively, I thought they were that good. (Also the theme for this month is “unusual historical” which … *gestures* – I mean, everything I watch now is an “unusual historical” in terms of our usual romance novels.) Continue reading

Review: A Winter Rose by Amy Craig

A Winter Rose by Amy Craig
Contemporary romance by the Wild Rose Press, Inc on July 28, 2021

A Winter Rose by Amy Craig book coverWidow Eliza struggles to raise her young daughter and run her Washington state flower farm. Julien, a charming amputee with a knack for business, stops his road trip to help her out of a tight situation. A Southern native, he has no intention of sticking around a sleepy farm town. Eliza’s grit and dedication warm Julien’s wounded heart, but can they look beyond a business partnership and see the beauty of second chances?

This book technically has a lot of elements I love in my favorite books–disabled characters, interesting family dynamics, and love interests falling in love and learning to work together. Unfortunately, it did not work for me. I am sure that this book would appeal to lots of other people, so I will do my best to highlight the parts others might enjoy, but please keep in mind this was not working for me as a reader. Also, there are mentions of suicide and death in a vehicular accident in this book, as part of the background for Eliza, one of the love interests. Eliza is a widow, running a flower farm and raising her young daughter in a small town in Washington. Julien is passing through said small town when he agrees to help Eliza out at her farm for a short time–at least to start. Continue reading

Review: Bright Familiar by Jeffe Kennedy

Bright Familiar (Bonds of Magic Book 2) by Jeffe Kennedy
High fantasy romance released by Brightlynx Publishing on July 9, 2021

Bright Familiar by Jeffe Kennedy book coverHe wanted her with consuming passion… and so did the monster within.

Lady Veronica Elal has been freed from her tower—and entered a life of servitude. It doesn’t matter that her wizard master has odd ideas about circumventing Convocation tradition and making their relationship equal. Nic prides herself on her practicality and that means not pretending her marriage is full of hearts and flowers. Besides she understands that, despite her new husband’s idealism, they face obstacles so great the pair of them could be crushed to nothing, even without dashing themselves brainless trying to fight the Convocation.

Lord Gabriel Phel has come this far against impossible odds. He was born with powerful wizard magic, the first in his family in generations. He’s managed to begin the process of reinstating his fallen house. And—having staked his family’s meager fortune to win a familiar to amplify his magic, a highborn daughter to be mother to his children, his lady, and lover—he rescued Nic in a distant land, successfully bringing her home to House Phel. Though she’s cynical about their chances of success, he’s certain they can defy their enemies and flourish. Together.

But, the more Gabriel discovers about working with the fiery Nic, attempting to learn the finer points of wizardry and marriage, the more illicit fantasies plague him. His need for Nic—and the dark cravings she stirs in his black wizard’s heart—grow daily. Though Nic has reconciled herself to being possessed by Gabriel—and indeed yearns for even more from her brooding and reluctant master—creating a new life for herself isn’t easy. Especially when Gabriel seems determined to subvert the foundation of her world. Starting with her father.

This is a good sequel to Dark Wizard, which I reviewed and enjoyed. I’m a bit grumpy that it ends on a cliff hanger, although I appreciated that the cliff hanger doesn’t have to do with Nic and Gabriel’s relationship. When I reread this book, I struggled a bit with the pacing, but I also found it fairly absorbing both times I read it. I would not recommend picking up this book before reading Dark Wizard because it follows closely on the events that ended Dark Wizard. Nic and Gabriel have to navigate their relationship and how it differs from the one they had imagined, figure out what their life together will look like, and deal with the repercussions from their actions in the previous book. That last part is a bit of a spoiler. Continue reading

Aidee’s Anticipated Books of 2023

*EN: Aidee sent this list on January 5, all delays are my fault.

Anticipated Books of 2023

First, this list is late because I was struggling to track down books I was truly excited about. However, it was like a slow snowball, because I now have more than ten books I’m looking forward to, and I’m sure there will be many more I grab throughout the year that aren’t on the list. As always, these books are not in order of how thrilled I am about them, but they are loosely in order of when they are supposed to be released into the wide world (presuming nothing funky will happen that affects release dates).

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert book coverBradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes . . . except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.

Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption—yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed . . . or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (which is already out if you are reading this list)

Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children Book 8) by Seanan McGuire *This book is also already available 

Happily: A Personal History-With Fairy Tales by Sabrina Orah Mark *This book is also already available 

Furious Heaven by Kate Elliott

The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott *This book is also already available 

Rogue Familiar by Jeffe Kennedy

Radiant Sin (Dark Olympus #4) by Katee Robert *This book is also already available 

A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas *This book is also already available 

Mr. and Mrs. Witch by Gwenda Bond *This book is also already available 

Backpacking through Bedlam (InCryptid Book 12) by Seanan McGuire *This book is also already available 

Ana María and The Fox by Liana De la Rosa

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Witch King by Martha Wells

Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang

Resonance Surge (Psy-Changeling Trinity Book 7) by Nalini Singh

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

A Dance of Smoke and Steel by Milla Vane

Ana María and The Fox (The Luna Sisters Book 1) by Liana De la Rosa book coverA forbidden love between a Mexican heiress and a shrewd British politician makes for a tantalizing Victorian season.

Ana María Luna Valdés has strived to be the perfect daughter, the perfect niece, and the perfect representative of the powerful Luna family. So when Ana María is secretly sent to London with her sisters to seek refuge from the French occupation of Mexico, she experiences her first taste of freedom far from the judgmental eyes of her domineering father. If only she could ignore the piercing looks she receives across ballroom floors from the austere Mr. Fox.

Gideon Fox elevated himself from the London gutters by chasing his burning desire for more: more opportunities, more choices. For everyone. Now, as a member of Parliament, Gideon is on the cusp of securing the votes he needs to put forth a measure to abolish the Atlantic slave trade once and for all—a cause that is close to his heart as the grandson of a formerly enslaved woman. The charmingly vexing Ana María is a distraction he must ignore.

But when Ana María finds herself in the crosshairs of a nefarious nobleman with his own political agenda, Gideon knows he must offer his hand as protection . . . but will this Mexican heiress win his heart as well?

S.O.S.

Hi friends,

[Apologies if you already saw this – the original post went live while the host was moving things so the site was down for some time, so I’m re-upping it as new. Especially since I need a lot of help/lot more than I had anticipated.]

You may or may not know but … the site was down for a while – the hosting company had to make some changes and it was a big mess … and I’ve also got a lot going on.

It’s mostly explained in the GFM post and updates so … I literally cringe even asking this, but if you’re able to help at all, I’d really appreciate it. “Please help Limecello.”

Or if you prefer Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Limecello

Or buying actual items, I was advised to create a registry and I did once I found someone to collect and get things to me since I’ll be down for the count. You can find it here.

I really appreciate everyone’s generosity – Romanceland is so giving and wonderful – and the support. <3 People sharing the links to things directly for greater reach – all that helps if someone doesn’t have the budget to give money. (Which I obviously understand.)

So, thank you all for your patience.

~*~

As for a new/current update … I’d thought the robot wounds had stopped bleeding but they have not, unfortunately. My eye has been twitching for over two weeks now, and on average I’m getting about 3 hours of sleep a day. It’s rough going, but I’m trying. And I really appreciate everyone keeping me company and being so kind. Thank you. ❤️

Team TBR Challenge Review: The Blood of Youth


Blurb: As a disciple of the Lei Clan, Lei Wu Jie can’t wait to prove his worth as a hero, but as a novice who has only just entered the martial arts world, the path to becoming a true hero is difficult, at best. Undeterred by the challenges that lay before him, Wu Jei makes his way to the great city of Xue Yue, certain that his time there will mould him into the hero he so longs to be. Unfortunately, his trip to Xue Yue is waylaid by an unfortunate mishap at the Villa of Fallen Snow.

As proprietor of the Villa, Xiao Se has all the looks of a wealthy innkeeper, but he can barely afford to keep the inn open. Struggling with his business, Xiao Se is less than pleased when his establishment is damaged by the antics of a young, wannabe hero. Demanding he makes amends for the damage he caused, Wu Jei can think of only one way to appease the grumpy Xiao Se, and that is to take him with him. With no other options, the two set off together without any idea of what fate has in store for them.

Befriending several people along the way, including Wu Xin, Sikong Qian Luo, Tang Lian, and Ye Ruo Yi, Xiao Se and Wu Jei soon find themselves caught up in an adventure far greater than any of them could have imagined. While facing countless dangers, the group stumbles upon a trail of clues that tie one of them to a battle for the throne that took place over a decade ago. The question is, is the intrepid hero ready and willing to take his rightful place as the leader of the people? And where will the brotherhood go from there?

And a secondary trailer because why not

I really enjoyed this show. I started writing this review when I was rewatching (again again) and on episode 6 where there’s a lot of great humor. The Blood of Youth has such a badass ending. The theme for the March TBR challenge is “baggage” and boy howdy does our (main) hero have a lot of it. The most eyebrow raising aspect is – and … get ready to mark your calendars because this is rare – ignore the “romance” in it. Truly it’s terrible. I recoiled from my screen during most the “romance” scenes 😅. I liked the great balance of this series between plot and serious matters and humor, as well as the great relationships that are displayed. Really in my opinion it’s a buddy epic, and a journey of the hero “re-discovering” himself. It’s a bit of a wuxia fantasy – there are a lot of suspension of disbelief elements (basically people flying, near sentient weapons etc), but just go along for the ride. It’s a good time. Continue reading

2023 “BHM” List of Black Romance Authors

Hi friends! It’s that time again! As you know the Smithsonian Heritage Month posts stopped working a few years ago so since then I’ve been posting lists of authors for most of the Smithsonian Heritage Months. I’m really excited to offer this updated and IMO extended list for 2023, and hope you all find a new author to love.

I compiled this list through the past year, so my apologies if there are any errors. Also, if you know of anyone to add, please let me know. (Or as always if someone wants to be removed from the list, let me know and I’ll be happy to do so.)

Happy reading!