Hi friends! As you know, I’ve been on a big kick for adult high fantasy romances! I’m pretty sure I’ve explained “high fantasy” in previous posts … not sure about the other so … By adult I don’t mean “adult situations” I mean “the main characters are considered to have reached the age of majority in their world/culture.” (Although you know, adult situations are good too š ) It seems this is still a genre dominated by YA but … you know. Also, one of my “quirks” is I hold off on reading a series until it’s finished. (Mostly because I’ll blow through an entire series in just a few days.) I do sometimes make an exception but … it’s rare. (And I also need to be assured each book can stand sufficiently alone/doesn’t end on a massive cliffhanger.)
Anyway, here’s my updated list! I would like to note… I’ve branched into YA. I mean – see above, right? I thought about trying to find some symbol to denote YA titles but … that seems too daunting. I periodically make these posts because I ask for recommendations on social media a lot, and a lot of people are always interested, so hopefully this helps usĀ all out. š
Indicative of how things are going, for the year I first typed 2018, and then 2010 and … yeah. If you haven’t noticed we’ve mostly been on hiatus here at ALBTALBS, with only rockstar Babs being on point and writing all the reviews and such as expected. The Heritage Months … I so hate giving up but might be a bust. I joked about next year for APAHM and then Pride (being my birthday month) my “gift to myself” would be… totally taking both months off… BUT ANYWAY. You’re not here to listen to me whine. You’re here to see what I’ve been reading. And it didn’t seem like a lot but … I guess it has been! So whee! There have also been some gems in there that I really hope you’ll pick up!
The asterisk before means Iāve read the book in the past and re-read it this year. Or that I read it this year, and then have re-read it again since the first read. The asterisk after the author name means the book was new to me, but since reading it in 2019 Iāve re-read it. Close to one of those āI got to āthe endā and flipped the book around and started from page 1 and read it through all over again.ā ā¦ Because yes some people do do that! ā¦ š Generally not me but Iāve done something close! š Continue reading →
I am a terrible, overwhelmed human being, so here is my list for the last year. As you will probably realize, Iāve done a lot less reading, and a lot of re-reading. Iāve put an asterisk ā*ā by the books Iāve re-read. Continue reading →
It took me forty years to figure out that I was bisexual. There are many times that Iāve wondered what different paths my life would have taken if Iād worked this out earlier. How many times did I dismiss certain feelings or reactions I had because Iād been taught that those feelings were wrong? Far too many.
CW: Iām going to discuss some of the things I was taught by the church as a child, but I will be keeping the worst of the slurs out of this. However, some of the things I discuss hurt me, and may hurt others too. Continue reading →
Hi friends! You might know that [adult] high fantasy romance isĀ totally “my thing.” So when Anna Kashina contacted me about reviewing her upcoming book I was first, pretty starstruck, then [pretty immediately] was like “DOES IT FEATURE ADULT CHARACTERS AND IS THERE ROMANCE?!” And when she answered “yes” I was like “WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO BE A GUEST AT ALBTALBS?!!?” And she said yes!!! So here we are! I’m so excited to welcome Anna Kashina today! Her newest book Shadowblade is out today!
Romance in blade fights
There are two things I find irresistible in fantasy novels. One is a good romantic subplot, well balanced and integral to the story. The other is a good blade fight ā especially the kind with a lot of cool technique behind it. Itās an additional bonus ā as well as a challenge ā to make these fights emotionally gripping, as well as being technically cool. But if one manages to achieve all this, there is only one more step to the ultimate prize: to combine the two, using blade fights as a tool to advance the romance. Itās so rewarding when itās done well.
I am a sucker for a dark and dangerous male lead with a morally complex character. A superb swordsman, trained to become an elite assassin, in my mind, cannot fail as a romantic hero. In my books, I love to match these kind of guys with strong women who can stand up to them, and have hidden strengths of their own. When developing these characters and their relationships, a sword fight can become more engaging than a love scene, and so much more effective in showing off their strengths and limitations, as well as their morally complex sides. Continue reading →
Hi friends, so it’s a guest review, I suppose is the best way to describe it. I’m thrilled that Amara Royce contributed this post, and as you might know, Hoang’s next book The Bride Test is now out! (Amara sent me this post on the 4th.)
A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there’s not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.
Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchasesāa job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.
It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practiceāwith a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson planāfrom foreplay to more-than-missionary position…
Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he’s making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…
I generally donāt write reviews of the books I read, not even on Amazon or Goodreads. So Iām not going to try to be clever, and Ā I canāt guarantee I will be entirely coherent. But I cannot help gushing about this book effusively! I canāt adequately express how much I adore this bookāand its author, Helen Hoang, for writing it! Iām also squee-ing because her next book is due out for release on May 7th!!
Hoangās The Kiss Quotient truly wrecked me in all the best ways. I loved the main characters and many of the supporting characters. I adored the depiction of the female main character Stellaās subjective autistic perspective, as well as the male main character Michaelās handling of the heroine without realizing sheās on the autism spectrum. I adored the depictions of Michaelās family life, especially his mother. I adored the integral issues of consent, and I want everyone to read this book! Thatās what the tl;dr boils down to, but for more details, keep reading.
Hi friends! So … usually these posts are OMG I WANT/NEED THEM NOW! But … this one happened because of twitter. If you follow me you might know periodically I tweet [kindle] freebies and books on sale. It’s ~scary out there in bookworld now (so much to eventually talk about…) but anyway – so these lists are more and more curtailed – but! This was one I’d read before and enjoyed:
At the time, Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn was free for kindle. Anyway, this was the tweet that set it off – and people began listing other books, but I’m in recovery and this didn’t happen as quickly as I’d like so… whatever. Good news,Ā Maneuver by Chelle Bliss (I haven’t read/finished this one yet) also has a pierced hero.
I want to say this was a “trend” that was pretty popular in the late 00s/early 10s but it seems to be less common now. I know there are more but these are the books off the top of my head I remember… and some crowdsourced from conversations where people gave me permission to use their replies. š Continue reading →
Hi friends! Back with a quiet feature of ALBTALBS – where I (and anyone else can!) look for recommendations from the community. It’s pretty self explanatory … but I am desperately seeking them! I’m in a Mood what with recovery and such, and … I just want books with a strong strong strong romance/pursuit from the start.
Merriam Webster defines smitten as: deeply affected with or struck by strong feelings of attraction, affection, or infatuation
Which … yeah. I want your favorite books where the hero is taken from the start. He’s head over heels for the his love interest, whether overtly or not – but he’s now pursuing her, courting her … or him! M/F or M/M … or other pairings are welcome. I just want a romance where one of the characters is gaga for the other(s) from go. If you have F/F recs I’d love to hear them too. F/F is definitely a genre I’m not very familiar with, but I’m very glad to see there are more stories being written in Romanceland/more visibility.
Off the top of my head …Ā Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas would be one such book. In fact … I’ll list them, in no particular order. Continue reading →
Hi friends! I’m so excited to welcome back Beth Kery! Her most recent release is Swim Deep, which I even reviewed (a rarity!) We also had an exclusive excerpt of the book which you can check out if you missed it earlier. I think this post really helps sum up how I felt about the book upon reading it. I really do hope you read it becauseĀ I need to talk to someone about it. You guys!!! Anyway, without further ado…. Beth!
Genre Bender By Beth Kery
For almost everyone who did an early read of my new novel, Swim Deep, I heard a similar theme: What would you call it in regard to genre? Was it a suspense? A thriller? A romance? Maybe a contemporary suspense/thriller with romantic and paranormal elements? Thatās too much of a mouthful . . . plus it leaves way too many possibilities. When it comes to Swim Deep, I have a feeling that every reader will have a different idea of how to label this novel. No matter what the reader calls it, my hope is that it takes her on an entertaining, thrilling ride for a few hours.
I get the idea of wanting to pin down a genre before I read a book. It helps you to choose a book based on your mood. Do I feel curling up with a cozy mystery, or freaking myself out a little bit with a horror or a thriller? Usually, a writer starts out knowing before she ever places the first word on the page what it is sheās writing, be it a romance with a happily-ever-after, a suspense, or a paranormal tale. That knowledge guides the way the story begins, unfolds and ends, and tells her the expectations for the hero and heroine. When it came to Swim Deep, though, it was the story that came to me first. It was the plot and certain vivid scenes in my mind that guided me more than any rigid rules in regard to genre. Continue reading →
Hi friends! We have Cynthia Sax back with us today, and I’m thrilled to have our first official Smithsonian Heritage post of 2019, for Women’s History Month, and such a great topic. I’m out of it so you’ll have to forgive me on timing and mistakes etc – especially when we’ve got such a wonderful guest and post!
Trailblazing Women In Science Fiction Romance By Cynthia Sax
When Limecello suggested this topic, I immediately agreed to cover it, thinking it would be an easy post to write. Iād search on Google, read a couple of posts on the history of Science Fiction Romance, add my own experience in this wonderful subgenre and bam, my post would be done.
Except when I searched on this topic, very few posts were mentioned. Wikipediaās coverage of Science Fiction Romance was sparse and mentioned only one book, a book I knew couldnāt have been the first Science Fiction Romance.
This canāt be right, I thought. There must be more articles. My mad Google skillz must be failing me. So I put out a call in a SciFi Romance group for reference articles. A couple more resources were mentioned (including Heather Masseyās A Brief History Of Science Fiction Romance) but it was clear much of the history of this female writer dominated subgenre hasnāt be recorded and, if it isnāt recorded soon, it might never be noted. It would be lost. Forever. Continue reading →
