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ARC Review of Gabriela and His Grace by Liana De la Rosa

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 3.5/5 Pub Date: August 26th

Premise:

Gabriela Luna is on a ship to visit her family her Mexico, except she finds out Sebastian, the Duke of Whitfield, is a fellow passenger. She and Sebastian have a History and she thinks he's a cad, but he's been asked by her family to watch over her during the trip.

My review:

This is a charming, light, bickery sort of enemies-to-lovers romance set in England and Mexico. Per her usual with this series, Liana De la Rosa does an excellent job in portraying Anglo-Mexican relations during the waning days of the French occupation of Mexico, and the unique role the Luna sisters play as, basically, cultural ambassadors during the war.

Sebastian and Gabriela have been locking horns since Ana María and the Fox, and it was pretty funny to realize the root cause of this enmity: Gabby thought Sebastian was attracted to her, but then she stumbled across him getting blown in a library. Whoops. But by the time you get to this book, you get the sense it's really more of a one-sided dislike; Gabby antagonizes Sebastian, and Sebastian just enjoys their banter but doesn't act on his attraction towards her... yet.

So, this book goes HARD on the daddy issues— Sebastian has em in spades, and Gabby's visit to Mexico is anything but idyllic since her parents only value her proximity to whiteness in looks, therefore her marriageability, so she's shoved at suitors even as she's berated for her "attitude". It's rough, especially since so much of what's thrown at her is rooted in racism and sexism both within and outside Latin American communities.

This is where Sebastian really begins to step in as a confidence booster for Gabby (and basically, the perfect intersectional feminist ally). Gabby sees this tender, caring side of him and realizes he's more "charming rogue" than insufferable cad, and at that point, all they need is a "there was only one ship cabin" situation and all bets are off.

There is a third-act breakup; it was spurred by miscommunication and easily resolved, although I do wish we'd seen a little more of the people (no spoilers!) who prompted the breakup rather than a few opaque references sprinkled throughout the book.

The sex:

It's been great to see that as this series progresses, the sex scenes have gotten more confident and explicit. The sex scenes in this book are thorough with a daaaash of desperation, and have some pretty great dirty talk ("you'll never again hear the name Sebastian without growing wet"?? IT WORKS), and trust that there is plenty of praise, because god knows this girl needs it.

Oh, and there is a full-circle moment with the aforementioned bj :D

Overall:

I think Liana De la Rosa did something very special with this series not just in terms of representation, but also writing about a facet of Europe's long colonial history that I don't think many of us know about. I also think that while Gabriela and His Grace can be read as a standalone, you'll get the most payoff reading from Ana María, and following as each Luna sister gets their hard-won, decolonized HEA.

Thank you to Liana De la Rosa and Berkley for the advanced copy.

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Happy Sri Krishna Janmashtami!

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preorder the book from here for this gorgeous added custom art:

ARC Review of The Gilded Heiress by Joanna Shupe

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 3.5/5 Pub Date: August 26th

Premise:

When conman Leo sees Josie performing on the streets, he notices a resemblance between her and Mrs. Pendleton, the mother of a baby who was famously kidnapped some two decades ago. He decide then and there that he will try to pass Josie off as the long-lost heiress, and gets Josie to New York by acting as her manager for her singing career.

My review:

This is a fabulous Gilded Age romance inspired by Anastasia and the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Joanna Shupe has you rooting for the charming conman hero even as he uses the heroine in the confidence-slash-revenge scheme of a lifetime. I also adored the New York City backdrop— you get the glitz and the glamour along with the real toughness and the shady underbelly of downtown life.

So, Leo is a rogue and a charmer; he's for everyone who had a crush on Dmitri from Anastasia or Aladdin growing up, and I thought Joanna Shupe translated that energy into a hero for an adult romance really well. He ropes an unwitting Josie into his scheme to pass her off as a long-lost heiress to grieving parents by promising her fame and fortune onstage as a singer.

Josie is equally charming, an impoverished orphan and a spunky go-getter with big dreams. It's rough to see her vacillate between trusting Leo and not, because her instincts are good, but her desire to achieve success and her feelings for Leo get in her way. And you see that conflict repeat over and over as Leo pushes the scheme further and further. There has to be a breaking point, right? (There is, and of course there's a grovel, as there should be). It's also funny because more than one person warns Josie away from Leo and Leo away from Josie, AND YET—

Still, I do appreciate that Josie is the one pushing—she wants Leo as much as Leo wants her, even when he tries to have *some* scruples and hold her at arm's length. There's a great scene at the opera where she nearly gets him to crack, but when she offhandedly insinuates it would just be physical between them to maintain their "professional" relationship, Leo is SO TRAGIC about it. That turning point is EVERYTHING to me, as someone who loves when a rogue or rake hero has this horrified realization that maybe... there are FEELINGS involved??

The sex:

Leo is the kind of hero who genuinely likes women, and women like him, and it's apparent in the way he's so attentive to Josie's needs during sex, and a bit shocked at himself for how badly he wants her, all while giving it dirty in juuuuuust the right way ("Grip it hard, sweetheart. I like a rough tug"?? THAT'S HOT). Standout sex scene was definitely their first because of everything I just mentioned, plus a *clandestine* location, and Josie unwittingly being a bigger tease than anyone expected ("Do you think we would fit?"). We love when an experienced hero is WHEEZING by the end of an encounter.

Josie isn't a virgin and she's been with a couple guys, but this is really the first time she's getting goooood sex and Leo gives her the kind of tenderness and connection she never had before. I will say, there are a few less sex scenes than I expected from a Joanna Shupe book.

Overall:

I liked this book— I think the New York City setting is still unique as far as historical romances go, but it's classic Shupe, and this time with a more downtown setting. The looming specter of pulling off the con kept the romantic stakes high. I would love more historical romances like this, and would strongly recommend to any romance reader.

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Preorder links here!

ARC Review of It Had to Be Him by Adib Khorram

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 3.5/5 Pub Date: September 2nd

Premise:

After Ramin is dumped by his boyfriend for being "boring" when he tries to propose, he books an impromptu trip to Italy, where he runs into his old high school friend and crush Noah, who is visiting with his family.

My review:

This is a charming "the one that got away"-ish romance with a hint of Eat, Pray, Love, but queer and far less "privileged white woman finds herself by sampling other cultures!", vibes-wise. I think Adib Khorram really found his adult romance voice with this book, in part because both Ramin and Noah have gone *through* it life-wise and hit lots of very adult milestones before they accidentally reunite in Milan, two decades after high school.

So, Ramin had a crush on Noah back in high school. Noah was a popular jock, Ramin... wasn't, but they became friends, and you do see a hint of a reciprocal crush on Noah's part in the flashbacks, which I thought was sweet, despite neither being out at the time. But they've completely fallen out of touch when they reunite in Italy, and I thought their mutual awe at how Grown the other was is adorable and the mutual attraction is PRETTY immediate.

With that awe is also the mutual desire to be seen beyond their high school selves, and it was really lovely that both acknowledge that in the other— like Ramin is the "cool" one with piercings and tattoos now? He's definitely surprised! To be clear, this doesn't mean they are perfect, self-actualized thirty-eight year-olds. They're still discovering themselves: Ramin as a single man and Noah as someone fairly new to the queer community who might need to co-parent from a distance, if his son moves to Italy. Their romance feels weighty real fast because of these concerns (and maybe because of their age), and there's a sense of permanence between them pretty quickly.

This book also touches on body dysmorphia and beauty standards within the queer community in the West; something Ramin struggles with and goes to therapy for.

The sex:

There's some light D/s stuff— Ramin admits he likes being topped, causing Noah to reevaluate his previous sexual encounters (lol) and enthusiastically agree to go along with it. I liked that Noah is taking charge while still discovering what he likes while having sex with men, so in that sense, Ramin guiding him along and teaching him. Plus, there is a very high school fantasy of Ramin's from Noah's wrestling days that they reenact....

I also appreciate the PrEP conversation because Noah is new to this, and honestly we don't see it mentioned enough in romances.

Overall:

I think while the romantic stakes weren't super high in this book, there were a lot of very Real Adult Concerns that kept the story moving in a way that also balanced out the very idyllic, romantic setting of northern Italy. I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a romance on the sweeter end that still has plenty of heat.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

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Villain/anti-heroe HR you would recommend?

Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt always and forever: Val has all sorts of schemes and multiple kidnapping plots starting from Darling Beast (3 books before his). He's zany and OTT and everyone is scared/confused/annoyed by him... other than his own heroine. His traumatic backstory is shown only in morsels, but you get a sense for why he is the way he is without the narrative excusing him, and nor do you get the sense he 100% reforms after his arc concludes, and THATS FINE!

The Bootlegger's Bounty by Adriana Herrera: Originally part of the Villain I'd Like To F... anthology; other than Camden being a rum runner during prohibition (so... illegal) and Enzo being a mobster, the most outright villainous thing they do is probably agreeing to let the heroine Rosalia have sex with them in exchange for safe passage to New York— still it's hot, the sex is on the rougher end (including one act you do not... see a lot during threesomes), and if you want a morally grey kinda hero, this is your novella.

The Conquoring of Tate the Pius by Sierra Simone: Also originally a part of the Villain I'd Like to F... anthology! Norman warlord Adelais is leading the conquering force who wants to take over Far Hope Abbey, but when abbess Tate bargains with Adelais to keep away for 3 nights in exchange for sex, Adelais agrees. This is juuuust the right kinda dark, with the added CNC and daggerfucking.

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean: So... Ewan tried to kill his and Grace's foster brother (the hero and heroine aren't related by blood) back in the day when their dad forced them to basically do the Hunger Games to select an heir. She ran with her foster brothers and this man has gone CRAZY trying to find her, and basically goes on a rampage when he's informed she's dead, like, he fully blows up the docks and kills people, I'm pretty sure, in the lead up to his and Grace's book. So theirs is mostly about his redemption arc.

The Villain by S.M. LaViolette: David is a government assassin and Penelope is the sex worker he engages for a set time period— David is written as, basically, a sociopath so there is a certain amount of emotional distance and flexible morality he maintains throughout the book, but I liked how their HEA is written in a way that doesn't compromise his essential character while allowing for growth.

The Villain/The Dove by Victoria Vale: A villain in the sense that her family did his a great wrong, and he decides to ruin them. So when Daphne comes to beg Adam to spare her family, he agrees that he will tell her his reasons for doing this if she basically becomes his sex slave for 30 days. There's some dubcon and some CNC.

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ARC Review of It Had to Be Him by Adib Khorram

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 3.5/5 Pub Date: September 2nd

Premise:

After Ramin is dumped by his boyfriend for being "boring" when he tries to propose, he books an impromptu trip to Italy, where he runs into his old high school friend and crush Noah, who is visiting with his family.

My review:

This is a charming "the one that got away"-ish romance with a hint of Eat, Pray, Love, but queer and far less "privileged white woman finds herself by sampling other cultures!", vibes-wise. I think Adib Khorram really found his adult romance voice with this book, in part because both Ramin and Noah have gone *through* it life-wise and hit lots of very adult milestones before they accidentally reunite in Milan, two decades after high school.

So, Ramin had a crush on Noah back in high school. Noah was a popular jock, Ramin... wasn't, but they became friends, and you do see a hint of a reciprocal crush on Noah's part in the flashbacks, which I thought was sweet, despite neither being out at the time. But they've completely fallen out of touch when they reunite in Italy, and I thought their mutual awe at how Grown the other was is adorable and the mutual attraction is PRETTY immediate.

With that awe is also the mutual desire to be seen beyond their high school selves, and it was really lovely that both acknowledge that in the other— like Ramin is the "cool" one with piercings and tattoos now? He's definitely surprised! To be clear, this doesn't mean they are perfect, self-actualized thirty-eight year-olds. They're still discovering themselves: Ramin as a single man and Noah as someone fairly new to the queer community who might need to co-parent from a distance, if his son moves to Italy. Their romance feels weighty real fast because of these concerns (and maybe because of their age), and there's a sense of permanence between them pretty quickly.

This book also touches on body dysmorphia and beauty standards within the queer community in the West; something Ramin struggles with and goes to therapy for.

The sex:

There's some light D/s stuff— Ramin admits he likes being topped, causing Noah to reevaluate his previous sexual encounters (lol) and enthusiastically agree to go along with it. I liked that Noah is taking charge while still discovering what he likes while having sex with men, so in that sense, Ramin guiding him along and teaching him. Plus, there is a very high school fantasy of Ramin's from Noah's wrestling days that they reenact....

I also appreciate the PrEP conversation because Noah is new to this, and honestly we don't see it mentioned enough in romances.

Overall:

I think while the romantic stakes weren't super high in this book, there were a lot of very Real Adult Concerns that kept the story moving in a way that also balanced out the very idyllic, romantic setting of northern Italy. I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a romance on the sweeter end that still has plenty of heat.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

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as someone who dislikes all parties involved to varying degrees, I think it's great that the first time Edwina Mountbatten shows up onscreen in The Crown, within 10 seconds she

a) insinuated her and dickie have an open marriage in front of a cabinet minister

b) hit on the cabinet minister for foreign affairs in front of dickie

c) said she "quite approved of foreign affairs" obviously referencing her affair with Nehru

d) suggested dickie has a big uniform collection to compensate for a small dick

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got approved for an arc of a sapphic romance between a two publicists, one for a football player, and one for a pop star and now I'm curious if this book is the first to be tradpubbed that overtly references Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

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did they make President Nasser hot

... Did they make John Major hot

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Sophie Week is happening on September 7th - 13th!

It's time to come out of the shadows and celebrate Sophie with us! 💚🎀

#SophieWeek

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ok so Shupe heroines prior to The Gilded Heiress are pretty much all uptown girls but is Josie really a downtown girl if she's mostly hanging around Herald Square and Union Square?

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ARC Review of The Gilded Heiress by Joanna Shupe

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 3.5/5 Pub Date: August 26th

Premise:

When conman Leo sees Josie performing on the streets, he notices a resemblance between her and Mrs. Pendleton, the mother of a baby who was famously kidnapped some two decades ago. He decide then and there that he will try to pass Josie off as the long-lost heiress, and gets Josie to New York by acting as her manager for her singing career.

My review:

This is a fabulous Gilded Age romance inspired by Anastasia and the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Joanna Shupe has you rooting for the charming conman hero even as he uses the heroine in the confidence-slash-revenge scheme of a lifetime. I also adored the New York City backdrop— you get the glitz and the glamour along with the real toughness and the shady underbelly of downtown life.

So, Leo is a rogue and a charmer; he's for everyone who had a crush on Dmitri from Anastasia or Aladdin growing up, and I thought Joanna Shupe translated that energy into a hero for an adult romance really well. He ropes an unwitting Josie into his scheme to pass her off as a long-lost heiress to grieving parents by promising her fame and fortune onstage as a singer.

Josie is equally charming, an impoverished orphan and a spunky go-getter with big dreams. It's rough to see her vacillate between trusting Leo and not, because her instincts are good, but her desire to achieve success and her feelings for Leo get in her way. And you see that conflict repeat over and over as Leo pushes the scheme further and further. There has to be a breaking point, right? (There is, and of course there's a grovel, as there should be). It's also funny because more than one person warns Josie away from Leo and Leo away from Josie, AND YET—

Still, I do appreciate that Josie is the one pushing—she wants Leo as much as Leo wants her, even when he tries to have *some* scruples and hold her at arm's length. There's a great scene at the opera where she nearly gets him to crack, but when she offhandedly insinuates it would just be physical between them to maintain their "professional" relationship, Leo is SO TRAGIC about it. That turning point is EVERYTHING to me, as someone who loves when a rogue or rake hero has this horrified realization that maybe... there are FEELINGS involved??

The sex:

Leo is the kind of hero who genuinely likes women, and women like him, and it's apparent in the way he's so attentive to Josie's needs during sex, and a bit shocked at himself for how badly he wants her, all while giving it dirty in juuuuuust the right way ("Grip it hard, sweetheart. I like a rough tug"?? THAT'S HOT). Standout sex scene was definitely their first because of everything I just mentioned, plus a *clandestine* location, and Josie unwittingly being a bigger tease than anyone expected ("Do you think we would fit?"). We love when an experienced hero is WHEEZING by the end of an encounter.

Josie isn't a virgin and she's been with a couple guys, but this is really the first time she's getting goooood sex and Leo gives her the kind of tenderness and connection she never had before. I will say, there are a few less sex scenes than I expected from a Joanna Shupe book.

Overall:

I liked this book— I think the New York City setting is still unique as far as historical romances go, but it's classic Shupe, and this time with a more downtown setting. The looming specter of pulling off the con kept the romantic stakes high. I would love more historical romances like this, and would strongly recommend to any romance reader.

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Tomato recipes?

oh lol I should be asking you guys that because right now we're just making more raita and salads. A lot of what we have ends up going into the base for things like rajma or daal or channa and the like. A really good fall/winter recipe that we'll probably end up using the frozen tomatoes for is egg curry— I feel like a lot of cultures have their own variation of this (eggs in purgatory, shakshuka) but we do hard boiled eggs instead of cracking them into the tomato-based curry (spices and aromatics are your usual North Indian fare— cumin, coriander, garam masala, chili powder, maybe turmeric?, onion, ginger, garlic).

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have some tomatoes

help.

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Me and a fellow writer lovingly describing our extensive lists of plot bunnies to each other:

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I bought Captured by Beverly Jenkins on a whim at the Ripped Bodice two year anniversary celebration— I was looking for Indigo but since it wasn't there I picked Captured up instead, and ended up LOVING it. There is SUCH a cinematic quality to this book— the various pirate fight scenes, their homecoming and the long, sultry days spent in Cuba, and even the quite dark but satisfying climax.

The hero feels like an old-school gentleman pirate— he may be doing some illegal shit, but he has his honor! Jokes aside, I don't think you can debate the righteousness in capturing slave ships and slavers, which is what Dominic Le Veq does, among other things.

Per Beverly Jenkins's usual, the heroine Clare errs on the prim side but also Gets Shit Done and is supremely unimpressed by the hero, as impressive as he objectively is— man has to WORK for her affections. And he does! With supreme effort, he restrains himself from having sex with her until he can do it right (in bed, at home in Cuba) and the sex we get is WILDLY erotic— there is a "teach me" component because Clare's past experiences were not... good. Or consensual, and deeply dehumanizing. I think that's the part that stuck with me the most— the fictional portrayal of violence white Americans inflicted on enslaved people is often limited to white men, when white women are equally capable of inflicting their own brand of violence. The woman Clare serves, Violet, is one of them. Violet descends to outright villainy, but Beverly Jenkins also makes it a point to write other white characters who have some level of sympathy for enslaved people, but when push comes to shove, they place their interests before abolition and liberation.

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tell me why I thought there was (row)boat banging in Waking Up With the Duke by Lorraine Heath :(