Legendary reads and Brit-filled anthologies
Or a quick look at what I've been whittling down on my TBR lately.
Is there ever a BAD time to read romance? I say no, especially if you want to take a break from the overall state of the world (she says, gesturing vaguely to everything) and just lose yourself in a story full of reliable tropes and devices for a while. In fact, I’m writing this on the night of the U.S. vice presidential debate for the sole reason that I want to focus on something that has brought me joy in several different forms these last few weeks.
But I’ve also been scrambling a little to catch up with my to-read pile; there are SO many books releasing again, which is delightful, and I have yet to get around to reading as many as I would like to, but that doesn’t mean I am not excited for each and every one of them. It just means that my ARCs are going to dominate my reading priorities for — oh, the foreseeable future.
Some romance-related links you might be interested in:
12-must read romances with great fat representation, over at BookRiot
Which Hollywood sex symbols actually have sex on screen? A study, over at The Ringer
I moderated a panel all about romance and fantasy for this year’s New York Comic Con and you can watch it here!
The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan
(historical romance)
Is there anything better than the confirmation that we were getting a new Courtney Milan romance in this hellscape of a year? I say no, and I didn't realize how much I was going to need this one in particular until I had the ARC to tuck into over the course of a glorious weekend. Childhood friends to lovers, a type-A heroine who meets a much more lackadaisical hero, a terrifically tranquil (and diverse!) small-town romance, and about as low-angst as you can get. It was so nice and refreshing to have a romance with a major conflict (or what I thought was going to be a major conflict) turn out to be Not A Big Deal At All, and yet there's enough struggle in the story that I didn't even really miss that third-act misunderstanding that would normally break the couple up until their reconciliation moment at the end. If there's any author I completely trust to break the typical romance mold and still manage to keep me hooked until the very last page, it's Milan.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
(young adult fantasy)
This book was so stunning that I wanted to take my time and savor every bit of it — and it's a good thing I did because this was so richly dense with Arthurian myth (updated with a few contemporary twists, of course) and had so much to really unpack in terms of the heroine's journey. It's an amazing meditation on grief, growth, loss, magic, heritage, the racism and oppression built into the history of a place, and finding your own inner power. After her mother dies in a tragic accident, Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her past — so enrolling at UNC-Chapel Hill seems like the best escape route, until she witnesses a magical attack her first night on campus. All at once, she’s thrown into the world of the Legendborn — students who hunt supernatural creatures down with ties leading all the way back to the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table — and starts to unlock her own power, as well as unravel the mystery of what really happened the night her mom died.
Naughty Brits anthology by Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, Louisa Edwards, Tessa Gratton and Sierra Simone
(contemporary romance)
I spent so long coming through the stories in this collection that I didn't want it to be over, and the thing I love most about anthologies is that there’s always a wealth of options to dive into. From new to me authors (Louisa Edwards' Tom Hardyesque hero and Tessa Gratton's delicious inaugural romance!) to authors that I already know and love (Sophie Jordan's gorgeously stoic bodyguard and Sierra Simone's deliriously hot love-to-hate-to-love-again story) to authors I adore writing a fantastic contemporary story (looking at you, Sarah MacLean), this was one of the best anthologies I've read in recent memory and turned me on to some new names while reminding me exactly why I'm already a huge fan of others. This was a perfect complement to fall, crisp and sexy and fun and immersive, and it made me long for the week I spent in London on my honeymoon in the best ways.
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.