Dear Ebony LaDelle, I don’t t recall how your debut Young Adult novel came to my attention, but I liked the eye-catching cover and the premise sounded interesting. A bit gimmicky (a high school boy tries to get a girl to fall in love with him in three dates) but ... more >
CW: Sexual assault, and scenes of remembered trauma and death from Hurricane Katrina, racism. Dear Michelle Hazen, I was attracted to Unbreak Me because it promised to be angsty and it was; but I wonder if my relationship with angsty reads is cooling. Because my reaction to this book wasn’t ... more >
Merriam-Webster’s 2017 Words of the Year – It’s always interesting to see what words make Webster’s annual top ten list, and this year is no exception. Not surprisingly, it is politics that have driven much of the dictionary consultation this year, and the #1 word both embodies and transcends politicization: ... more >
The Internet Archive “Liberates” Books Published Between 1923 and 1941, and Will Put 10,000 Digitized Books Online – Utilizing a section of copyright law that allows libraries to digitize works published between 1923 and 1941 that are “not being actively sold,” the Internet Archive is working with a Tulane ... more >
Nancy Friday, 84, Best-Selling Student of Gender Politics, Dies – If you’re a Romance reader who has never heard of Nancy Friday, you’re not alone. Despite Friday’s groundbreaking work on women’s sexual fantasies (especially rape fantasies), when 50 Shades came out, Katie Roiphe seemed to think that talking about female ... more >
Trigger Warning: sexual assault – not detailed, no description, not by hero Dear Jill Shalvis, I was excited to read One Snowy Night – two adults trapped in a snowstorm is classic romance novel fodder after all and I like your books. However, it was very short – on my ... more >