romance

happily ever after guaranteed

Feb 06, 2024

I’m fairly new to the romance genre, unless you count those “Christian romances”1 from my conservative school’s tiny library. And, I don’t. I’ve found romance to be a delightful and scintillating form of rebellion from my purity culture upbringing and have become evangelical about sharing the good news of their benefits to any who will listen. I know at least a few of you readers with similar backgrounds feel the same.

This is a genre where there’s often a female protagonist and things end up good for her! She isn’t brutally murdered or serving as a tool of motivation in the male MC’s journey or simply left out of the story altogether. Often, a romance is shown through the female gaze; exploring and celebrating her desire and rejecting the shame and stigma around it. This is rare in many other genres I think. Though I do hear good things about fanfic… Another tool that helped me in this arena is the (sadly ended) spectacularly lusty podcast Thirst Aid Kit. May I recommend the Jason Mantzoukas episode?

Romance is the highest selling fiction genre2 and comes in more varieties than can ever be comprehended by human kind. There’s something for everyone, so I encourage you to identify your niche(s) of choice and join in the joy. I’m a bit mainstream in my preferences so no spider aliens, krakens or gargoyles for me, but I’ve been known to get on board with some of your high smut/low logic books3, your insta-loves4 and your fated mates/overly obsessed sagas5 . But my favorite romances tend to have:

dual POV6
a M/F main romance
open door sex scenes with adequate tension filled build-up
well-drawn nuanced characters who stay true to their descriptions with believable arcs and deep emotional range
ridiculous scenarios that are well written enough that I’m on board
a well thought out story/setting/context outside of the main romance

I think the below recs meet all of these requirements. 7Stay tuned for other romance adjacent posts for the rest of the month.

So, dramatically toss those purity rings into the ocean and cuddle up under the covers with one of these.

The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta

Whitman “Win” Tagore is an A-list actress constantly working to overcome the racial prejudices of Hollywood so keeps a tight hold on her public persona. Whenever she needs to reclaim her narrative or re-direct attention she calls Leo, a playboy socialite with a big reputation, who has his own reasons to create a juicy on again/off again fake romance for the clicks.8 Though they have obviously electrifying chemistry, they are good at keeping things platonic behind the scenes while hot AF in front of the cameras, without anything really romantic getting in the way for…reasons. When a secret of Leo’s explodes across the tabloids while Win has a family emergency, things start to muddle and get veryyyy interesting.

A beautifully written, transportive romance that deals with universal themes despite its lavish setting. It does dual POV formatting differently than any other romance I’ve encountered and I loved the shift, it created a terrific air of mystery keeping me riveted to the page. The romance gets space to evolve multiple times and I grew more attached to the characters with each passing chapter. Hot, funny, smart and overflowing with angsty yearnings it steadily builds delectable capital “T” Tension, and hits all the targets I want in a romance.

Also, I love this cover, its got such a vibe.

Bend Towards the Sun by Jen Devon

Rowan is a botanist suffering from a bit of an academic quagmire, so takes a job revitalizing an old vineyard recently purchased by the sprawling Brady family. One of the strapping Brady sons is Harry, an OBGYN suffering from his own career demons, who has moved home to brood and self-flagellate. Attraction, tension and inconvenient feelings ensue.

The angst angst angst 9 in this one cannot be overstated. It’s got two broken people connecting, growing, and yearning within a gorgeously lush environment. Full of tension, pining and an adorable supporting cast this one is sexy and romantic; and while it has a few cute, funny moments it isn’t at all a rom-com. The setting, chemistry and emotion had me enchanted while the “Dan in Real Life” geniality of the Brady family added layers of levity and some rich world building that I find rare in romance. I’m more often than not annoyed at the supporting cast taking me away from the protagonists and I’m not even really into nature that much, but was utterly charmed by the dilapidated vineyard. I especially enjoyed the greenhouse.

Not to be all Debbie Downer, but the sequel to this comes out this year and I was not into it. Maybe the author got a new editor 10 or something, but it really did not have the magic nor clarity that this one does. I wrote many ranting notes to myself just to process my frustration. Also its cover is atrocious.11

Speaking of covers, I do not like this cover. It reads grocery store aisle to me, which is where I buy food. Not books.

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

Clever but common, Annabelle is part of the first female cohort at the University of Oxford in 1879. To keep her place there, she must join the woman’s suffrage movement which throws her into close proximity with Sebastian, the Duke of Montgomery. The passionate and energetic Annabelle clashes with the rigid, forbidding Duke in wits and motivation resulting in some quite thrilling chemistry. The Duke wants a suitable Duchess and Annabelle wants the vote so there is definitely no future for these two. Nope, never gonna happen. The stakes are too high for inconvenient love!

Setting this in Oxford among the suffragette movement meant that this one is steeped in fascinating and important history, while also providing the requisite amount of unchaperoned steam. Its got drama, passion, the fight for women’s rights, a bit of sunshine/grump going on and some dashing and swoony rescue scenes right at home in historical romance. This is the first in the League of Extraordinary Women Series, and while I liked the second12, the others get weaker after that. Could just be my personal preference for the first two heroines and apathy for the last two… the couples just aren’t as fun.

This is one of the first historical romances I ever read because its cover isn’t the typical “clinch” 13pose. You know, the classic bodice busting, hair flowing ones? I just can’t get over that sort of cover enough to open them. Please tell me if I’m wrong in the comments and lead me to the right path. I can be taught. I think…

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

trigger warning: sibling suicide

This kidnapped me for two days and left me with a serious book hangover. 14 Helen (bookish) and Grant (homecoming king) barely knew each other in high school, but are forever joined by a horrific shared tragedy. Over a decade later, Helen’s best selling series of YA novels is being turned into a dark and steamy show (think Riverdale)15 and she’s negotiated her way into the writer’s room hoping it’ll help her overcome some recently acquired writer’s block. Guess who also joins the writer’s room? Grant is “great in the room” and continues to be popular as hell, but still internally suffers from his past. Long hours working together creates some intense tension as they clash, connect and begin to mean more to each other than they could ever have imagined. However, their tragic backstory means that there can never be any future for them, oh well.

I started this one16 with high hopes because the author is adapting and directing(!) multiple Emily Henry17 novels including Beach Read 18which is one of my all time favorites. I was not disappointed. The character work in this is superb, with layered emotional depth, inner monologue and clear motivations so I can totally see someone with a director’s skills writing this. I loved the reversed grumpy/sunshine dynamic and the writer’s room setting supported the story without taking over as it provided a narrative device to showcase Helen and Grant’s distinctive characteristics. I really had no idea how Kuang was going to get her characters from here to there because of their tragic history and I think she nails it with interactions heavy with chemistry, emotion, humor and complexity. I couldn’t get enough of watching them interact, even when the subject matter was laden with grief. It’s got hot sex scenes, witty banter galore, a rich emotional core and is one of those stories where each character really needs to do some deep inner work before a deserved and believable HEA is earned. I loved this and will read it again.

I think this cover is bland as fuck and this book deserves something much more eye catching and memorable.