Heat Factor: kissy kissy
Character Chemistry: I only wish people found my verbal diarrhea as adorable as Hennessy finds Jordan’s
Plot: I’m not sure there is one? Jordan is figuring himself out.
Overall: really fun read with very little angst or tension
To cap off our week of Donut romances (reviews here, here, and here), we put together a list of coffeeshop romances!
Coffeeshops are magical places where people from all different walks of life come together to build community. What better place to set a romance novel, amirite?
Elizabeth and Sidney meet in Elizabeth’s chocolate shop when he holds meetings with his criminally-minded lieutenants there. What better place to take care of business than a place where you can eat delightful bonbons, right? Elizabeth and Sidney are really kind and gentle with each other, and while Sidney has some baggage to deal with, this low-stress romance hits the spot.
Is an ice cream shop a coffee shop? In this case, I would argue yes, because Drew only orders coffee when he brings his niece to Ginger Scoops—because he hates ice cream. When he falls for Chloe, the owner, both hilarity and heartfelt moments of connection ensue. Bonus points for an excellent grumpy-sunshine dynamic that involves rainbows, unicorns, and, of course, ice cream.
It begins and ends at the coffee shop. Owen has had a totally cute crush on his physiotherapist since they met, but he’s too shy to do anything about it except for continuing to work out at the gym so he can keep seeing Toma. Toma gets just the push he needs to ask Owen out when an April Fool’s prank gets out of hand.
After watching Evie try and fail for a spilled coffee meet cute in their coffee shop, Ben isn’t entirely sure he wants himself or his daughter around this mess of a woman. Evie uses the coffee shop as a safe space as she tries and fails to get her life on track, and makes friends along the way. Bonus points for being a real rom-com.
The coffee bar in Indy’s used bookshop is the center of action in not only Rock Chick, nor the whole of the Rock Chick series, but in many other books Ashley’s set in Denver. Instead of cozy coffee house vibes, you’ll get quirky characters and a ton of bonkers goings on. Content notes: Lots of alphaholes and violence, among other things. I recommend looking up CWs.
Instead of being set in a coffee house, Bossy centers on Bryson opening up a Singaporean kopi shop when he returns home to Australia instead of joining the family business. After falling in love with the Singaporean coffee shops while living overseas, Bryson is excited to open the shop and achieve success on his own, and Michael supports him 100%.
It’s easy to find romance including women loving women, and it’s super easy to find romance including men loving men. It’s even pretty easy to find throuple romance that’s not exclusively about tittilating sex. But it’s not always so easy to find romance, especially Own Voices romance, featuring stories about all those other letters we see in our Pride hashtags.
In my ongoing quest to read everything, I made myself some special shelves on my Goodreads list to help me focus. This week, let’s talk about ace (that’s asexual, but if you’re looking at the spectrum more broadly, we can also encompass gray, demisexual and aromantic) romance I’m excited about (which is in no way comprehensive, but it’s the Saturday Smutty Six, not the Saturday Smutty Everything-on-my-list).
Titles link to the book’s Amazon page.
There be dragons in this fantasy romance. One protagonist has his dragon magic stolen (gasp!), and he must roam the earth as a mortal, seeking to recover it. And he’s mind-linked to the other protagonist, but they don’t know when they find each other!!! Sounds epic. Bonus points: The author is non-binary and asexual, so this is an own voices story.
I think K.J. Charles might be a genius. At the very least, her writing is incredibly tight. This short story is a Lilywhite Boys prequel, so you’ll be able to engage with these characters a bit more if you continue the series. I like to see trans and ace representation in historical romance, so I’m going to keep track of any I find and add it to my TBR.
Historical romance in an unusual period: the 1970s. It sounds super angsty, since one protagonist is married with children and can’t figure out why he doesn’t like sex, and the other is gay in 1970s America, and it occurs over the course of a decade. I’m super intrigued.
Please find enclosed a M/M pairing with a vampire and a vampire hunter in a non-linear timeline. The vampire hunter is autistic, and the vampire is asexual, and together they find love and solve some shady mystery shenanigans. Bonus points: This fantasy story includes Asian protagonists and is written by an Asian author.
I was probably drawn to this book initially because my children are currently obsessed with a book about an Antarctic research station, but, I mean, it’s a forced proximity, enemies to lovers slow burn set at the South Pole, so… Aren’t you also interested? Plus, I do love an awkward scientist. Bonus points: This author is lesbian and neurodivergent. We’re on a roll with own voices stories in this list, amiright?
In an unexpected twist, Upside Down features not one, but two ace protagonists! And one of them is a librarian! While one protagonist is exploring his new understanding of his asexual label, the other is helping him to do it. Sounds utterly charming, doesn’t it? I bet it’ll get me right in the feels.
Please let me know if there are any ace romances you’re excited about, as I’m constantly updating my TBR, and I’ve already blown through my 2020 reading goal, so I need all the books.
The Smut Report 