Book Reviews / Conversations / Need A Rec!Christmas / Diwali / Easter / Halloween / Hanukkah / holiday novella / holiday romance / holiday setting / Juneteenth / Kwanzaa / Passover / Ramadan / recommendations / Rosh Hashanah / Valentine's Day / winter / Yom Kippur18 Comments
Janine: ‘Tis the season for books set during the winter holidays, and I’d love to know your thoughts on the holiday settings in romances and in other books. Generally speaking, do books set during the holidays draw you? What do you like least and/or best about them? Which holidays do ... more >
Interviewsbook plots / category romance / Contemporary / Guild Hunter series / Hard Play series / Nalini-Singh / PNR / productivity / Psy-Changeling Series / Psy-Changeling Trinity Series / recommendations / SFF / Suspense / world building / writing routines20 Comments
I’ve been reading Nalini Singh’s riveting books for sixteen years, and am a big fan of several of them. She has published a lot of novels across a variety of genres, with a remarkable degree of consistency. In this interview, we talk about these topics and more (including my recent ... more >
Conversationsapology / family-reunion / recommendations / redemption / tropes50 Comments
Yesterday we held a conversation about redemption and reparation in the genre. Today we talk about the book redemptions that worked or didn’t work for us. Janine: What are some examples of books where redemption or reparation felt sincere, meaningful and satisfying? What are examples of books where you ... more >
Book Reviews / Conversations / Need A Rec!marriage-of-convenience / recommendations / tropes36 Comments
Last Monday we had a conversation about the fake relationship and marriage of convenience tropes. When we were putting that post together, I asked DA contributors for recommendations and/or dis-recommendations of romances involving fake relationships and marriage of convenience. Friday’s post on recommendations for fake relationship books was published last ... more >
Book Reviews / Conversations / Need A Rec!fake relationship / recommendations / tropes14 Comments
On Monday we discussed the fake relationship and marriage of convenience tropes. In the same email conversation, I asked DA contributors for recommendations and/or dis-recommendations of romances involving fake relationships. Here is what came up. Layla: Some of my favorite fake relationship romances are Kylie Scott’s Lick (I think it ... more >
ConversationsAmazon / book buying / book pimping / book reviewing / Book Reviews / critique / differences of opinion / fake reviews / Goodreads / honesty / Humor / mini reviews / negative reviews / online reviewing / reader response / recommendations / review blogs / review grades / spoilers / transparency30 Comments
Janine: As a reviewer I think a lot about what I want to see in reviews. I try to notice what kind of information I appreciate most or least in other people’s reviews because it helps me craft my own. I think that what we value in reviews is a ... more >