There are some weeks where, by the time Thursday rolls around, I am READY for it all to be over because it feels like it has been going on for five billion years — and then there are others where you practically blink and it’s Thursday already. This is one of the latter, but the good news is that I managed to get some reading done in the span of time between last week’s newsletter and this one. One more thing to appreciate this project for: it forces ME to read, too! Can’t recommend books if you haven’t been reading any books to recommend.
A reminder that I’m going to be opening Kissing Books up to guest recommendations OR subscriber takeovers soon (probably both, to be honest), so if you’ve got a book you want to shout out on the weekly newsletter or want to take over an entire installment of Kissing Books sometime, feel free to give me a shout. You can reply to this email directly, hit me up in the Twitter DMs, whatever’s easiest or most convenient.
Note: If the book links look a little different, it’s because yours truly is an official IndieBound affiliate now! So if you like any of my recs and feel inclined to buy it through my Kissing Books-specific link, I’ll receive a little kickback in return. Consider it a tip, if you will! I’ve also become an Amazon affiliate too if you prefer to get your books that way (and some books are only available in e-format currently), so now you’ll have both options moving forward.
Strange Love by Ann Aguirre (AMZ)
(sci-fi romance)
This, like so many romance novels, was recommended to me via Twitter, though I’ve been a fan of Aguirre’s writing since her epically awesome Sirantha Jax series — so when I heard she was writing a sci-fi romance involving a socially awkward alien and a frazzled, fierce heroine I knew I was going to have to put my eyeballs on it IMMEDIATELY, and I’m so glad I did. Zylar of Kith Balak is desperate to find love, so he’s resorted to the equivalent of an intergalactic dating service, but when a freak solar flare damages the AI of his ship, he accidentally rescues someone from a different planet altogether — a human named Beryl Bowman, who definitely wasn’t the match he’d been paired with. Unlike other romances of a similar vein that really play up the abduction storyline (and give us aliens who are, well, kinda alphaholes), Strange Love is the closest thing I’ve read to an alien rom-com. Zylar is a pure beta/cinnamon roll hero to the core who deals with issues of inadequacy and worries that he won’t be enough for Beryl, and she’s the one who ends up steering their blossoming relationship as they adjust to all their differences, biological and otherwise. (He calls her “precious gem” because of her name, IT’S VERY SWEET.) Also, there is a talking dog named Snaps who frankly steals every scene he’s in.
Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey (Indiebound | AMZ)
(contemporary romance)
I honestly don’t think I’m ever going to be able to start a Tessa Bailey without finishing it in one day, and that’s not a complaint. There’s just something about her as an author for me that pulls me headlong into the story until the very end. It was the case with her first book in this same series, Fix Her Up (which I recommended in a previous installment of this very newsletter), and it still holds true with this follow-up. Rosie and Dominic Vega were high school sweethearts who eventually got married and fell madly in love — but something’s been off between them for a long time and Rosie doesn’t know why. She does know that there’s never been an issue between them in the bedroom, but she’s feeling unfulfilled and decides to make a daring break, walking out the door in the middle of their scheduled weeknight for a between-the-sheets romp. Now, the clock is ticking, and both of them are going to have to work together to find out where things went wrong — with the help of a slightly hippie-dippie marriage therapist — and acknowledge their own roles in contributing to their relationship’s downslide. This is a fun, swoony, steamy second-chance romance, and it’s really fulfilling to follow Rosie and Dominic’s journey while they uncover what the other person needs and, ultimately, fall in love with each other all over again.
Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder (AMZ)
(contemporary romance)
Sometimes, you just want something short, sweet and a little sexy — and Snyder’s novella delivers on all fronts. Pinky Grover has been working in her family’s Indian restaurant for a while now since returning home after her mother got sick, but she’s always had dreams of getting out of the small town eventually. Enter bad-boy biker Trucker Carrigan, who finds himself stopping into the restaurant almost every day — and not just for the samosas and mango juice. I genuinely would have read an entire full-length novel about these two and their Captain America references, not to mention their super simmering chemistry — and aside from the obvious Marvel Easter eggs, there’s a lot about Trucker that will probably remind you of at least two of the Chrises. It’s sharp, funny and sex-positive, but delivers on the angsty emotional moments too, all which make the eventual HEA incredibly satisfying to read to.
Kissing Books is a weekly newsletter about, well, exactly what it sounds like, plus other non-romance novels that might have varying levels of smooching in them. Questions? Comments? Reply to this email, or find me on Twitter @carlylane. If you’re reading this on Substack or someone forwarded this email to you, consider clicking that helpful button to become a regular subscriber.