It’s the first official Kissing Books open thread! (Because let’s be real, most of us are steadily working through those TBR piles now and it’s never a bad time to add to it with books that we know will give us some much-needed escapism.)
Comment below with a trope, a subgenre, a favorite author, the title of a book you’ve just finished reading and want more of in the same vein, and either myself or other KB subscribers can hop in and respond with suggestions (preferably romance, although if these are straight fiction recs in other genres please make sure to note that in your comment).
Feel free to request more than one recommendation, too! In the wise words of Cady Heron, “the limit does not exist.”
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.
Ugh. I just got burned by what I thought would be a romance but turned out to be some really messed up porn (it even had the exact opposite of HEA) so I was hoping for some help finding what drew me to that story in the first place, since it seems to be kind of niche.
I'm looking for some examples of what I believed is called the "gentle giantess" trope. If that's not a term used here in Romancelandia, I guess it would be an inverse of "tall hero/petite heroine."
Basically, I'm looking for a story where the heroine is fit. Bonus point if she has a dominate side (because I haven't seen that in the romances I've read so far), but NO humiliation stuff please.
I get that this might not be an easy thing to find in a genre that's written almost completely by women, but if any one can point me in the right direction, it's Carly & her Crew. :)
So, I'm a new visitor to the world Romancelandia. Pretty sure I can still count everything I've read on one hand (or at the most, one hand and one finger). As such, I'm not sure this recommendation "counts."
Winter Witch by Elaine Cunningham and Dave Gross is a tie-in novel to the Pathfinder RPG, set in it's world of Golarion. I'd say it's probably 50% fantasy adventure, 50% romance, but it's the romance part that really kept me invested in the book. I'm not sure what tropes it falls under. Is jock(warrior)/nerd (mage) a thing (gender-swapped from the expected stereotypes, if that helps)? "I was using you but now I care about you"?
Aside from being a game tie-in, part of the reason I'm not sure it counts is...well, there's no sex scenes. I mean, sex happens, but it's implied or "off-screen," and none of it is between the leads.
But the leads are wonderful together. It was between this book and all of Carly's tweets that had me thinking "gosh, maybe I should give romance books a try." No regrets so far!
General content warning: It is a fantasy story, and it gets rather dark in a few places. Characters die, one of the villains is a really creepy cannibal, stuff like that. The heroine begins her jouney because her village tried to drown her sister for witchcraft.
I'll leave a link to it's Pathfinder wiki page. If it sounds interesting to do, I highly recommend it. It has something of a bad rep in PF circles & I have no idea why.
I just finished Patricia Eddy's In Her Sights and On His Six, suspense/military romance and am looking for a polar opposite as an amuse-bouche before continuing the series?
Something light, fantasy-y, and floofy, the romance equivalent of a floppy beanbag filled unicorn maybe?
I'm obsessed with the Cyclone Series by Courtney Milan. I loved Trade Me & Hold Me almost equally. I think what I like is the flawed nature of both the people who end up in a relationship and that the relationship is not easily committed to even though they care very much for each other.
Resharing this one from Twitter: Beauty and the Beast retellings! Bonus points if historical, extra bonus points if queer.
Ugh. I just got burned by what I thought would be a romance but turned out to be some really messed up porn (it even had the exact opposite of HEA) so I was hoping for some help finding what drew me to that story in the first place, since it seems to be kind of niche.
I'm looking for some examples of what I believed is called the "gentle giantess" trope. If that's not a term used here in Romancelandia, I guess it would be an inverse of "tall hero/petite heroine."
Basically, I'm looking for a story where the heroine is fit. Bonus point if she has a dominate side (because I haven't seen that in the romances I've read so far), but NO humiliation stuff please.
I get that this might not be an easy thing to find in a genre that's written almost completely by women, but if any one can point me in the right direction, it's Carly & her Crew. :)
So, I'm a new visitor to the world Romancelandia. Pretty sure I can still count everything I've read on one hand (or at the most, one hand and one finger). As such, I'm not sure this recommendation "counts."
Winter Witch by Elaine Cunningham and Dave Gross is a tie-in novel to the Pathfinder RPG, set in it's world of Golarion. I'd say it's probably 50% fantasy adventure, 50% romance, but it's the romance part that really kept me invested in the book. I'm not sure what tropes it falls under. Is jock(warrior)/nerd (mage) a thing (gender-swapped from the expected stereotypes, if that helps)? "I was using you but now I care about you"?
Aside from being a game tie-in, part of the reason I'm not sure it counts is...well, there's no sex scenes. I mean, sex happens, but it's implied or "off-screen," and none of it is between the leads.
But the leads are wonderful together. It was between this book and all of Carly's tweets that had me thinking "gosh, maybe I should give romance books a try." No regrets so far!
General content warning: It is a fantasy story, and it gets rather dark in a few places. Characters die, one of the villains is a really creepy cannibal, stuff like that. The heroine begins her jouney because her village tried to drown her sister for witchcraft.
I'll leave a link to it's Pathfinder wiki page. If it sounds interesting to do, I highly recommend it. It has something of a bad rep in PF circles & I have no idea why.
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Winter_Witch
I just finished Patricia Eddy's In Her Sights and On His Six, suspense/military romance and am looking for a polar opposite as an amuse-bouche before continuing the series?
Something light, fantasy-y, and floofy, the romance equivalent of a floppy beanbag filled unicorn maybe?
I'm obsessed with the Cyclone Series by Courtney Milan. I loved Trade Me & Hold Me almost equally. I think what I like is the flawed nature of both the people who end up in a relationship and that the relationship is not easily committed to even though they care very much for each other.
Looking for some diverse romance.
I'm looking for books like Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series.
I read Olivia Waite's first book and I'm obsessed. any particularly good f/f historical romance I can read before the sequel comes out in July? 😿
I need a romantic suspense rec. I've recently finished Anna Hackett's Treasure Hunter Security and Team 52 series.
Have already read Red, White and Royal Blue twice this year - any similar suggestions?!
Any recs for good love triangle reads?
I would absolutely love a "there's only one bed" enemies-to-lovers romance if anyone has one!