We don’t need to remind you all that the world’s on fire, but also, daily life continues. (Our statement on the end of Roe v. Wade and ways to support abortion seekers and providers here.) And once again, reading and talking about and writing about romance is helping us make it through. Here’s what we got up to this month.
Our Favorite Reads…
Erin’s Choice: The Will Darling Adventures by KJ Charles
Chemistry AND mistrust AND a giant conspiracy.
Ingrid’s Choice: Next of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young
Crisp writing AND multi-dimensional characters AND a lovely slow burn.
Holly’s Choice: The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett
Lots of emotion AND sexy rumpus AND cooking.
More from the Blog…
- The Great Smut Debate continues! This month we tackled point of view.
- In Hearts and Crafts, Ingrid tackled writing tension.
- Erin talked erectile dysfunction in romance.
- Ariella Talix shared her fist smut-reading experience.
- A whole week on the Interwar Period! Here’s our discussion of the setting, which is, frankly, underused in romance novels.
- TBR Challenge: After the War
Notes from Romancelandia…
- Here’s a video about the historical accuracy of costumes on the covers of romance novels
- There’s a new romance podcast in the world…and it’s all about bodice rippers. Check out episode 1 of Let the Bodice Hit the Floor here.
- Ana Quiring wrote an excellent piece on The Millions about class and queer regency romances.
- Marie de Blassie talked about genre fiction and the “not like other writers trope.”
- And Jenica at Firewhiskeyreader is starting on a project to systematically reread her favorite contemporary romances to determine which is actually her one true favorite. (If you’re looking for a rec, you might try out some of the books on this list!)
Coming Soon…
We’re planning a whole week on Fake Relationships, and are super-excited to read ridiculous shenanigans with bonus angst! And we were planning on not reading any ARCs this summer but, uh, there are so many books we’re too excited about.
The Smut Report 
Thank you for sharing my essay on the Not Like Other Writers trope! Maria
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