Not sure how I missed this, but Candy Hearts, a limited time anthology to benefit the Transgender Law Center and the National Center for Transgender Equality is coming out tomorrow! 16 low-angst Valentine's Day stories by queer authors, including our own @NathanBurgoine

Thanks to @thesmutreport for including this in their recent round-up.

https://apostrophen.wordpress.com/2024/01/17/anthology-announcement-candy-hearts

@romancelandia
@romancebooks
#romancelandia

#WhatchaReading ? I should be doing so many other things, but I can't tear myself away from The Billionaire's Wake-Up-Call Girl. Really fun and... *fans self*. I'm hoping it will justify the arrogant billionaire by having him use his power to completely destroy the FMC's truly evil ex. 😂

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I finished You Say It First by Katie Cotugno, which I seem to have liked rather more than most romance readers. I thought the mix of romance/coming of age was well done and appropriate for YA, and I liked how much the opposite-attract couple grew from being together, even though it was a somewhat fraught relationship.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

My daughter loved How to Excavate a Heart! What sapphic YA romance next?!

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

Doing a reread of Naked in Death at #Litsy and just realized the main characters are a cop and a billionaire. Wow did that not age well. 😂

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I started Early Morning Riser... I'm not sure it's romance? But I really like the voice and I'm pretty sure a romance reader rec'd it so am hoping for the best.

Also read Four Weeks in Winter by Jane Donnelly, which is available from the Internet Archive. Enjoyable oldie, with the main character's boss acting as her fake fiance to protect her from a jerky old flame.

Started the new Olivia Atwater but I don't seem to be in a gothic mood.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I read the We Could Be So Good epilogue, "Bells are Ringing," which was perfect. They're exactly themselves, yet somehow they've also grown. Funny and awwwww.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I read A Mother for Christmas, a kindle freebie. A bit mawkish, but I can't say I wasn't warned by the title. The prose was quirky and had some personality to it. Could have used more payoff at the end.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I read How to Excavate a Heart, a YA sapphic romance, which starts off frothy but goes to some darker places. This is a good one for readers who get frustrated when people say they prefer same-sex romance because it doesn't have all the gender politics.

Also, the first book I've ever read that doesn't just acknowledge being written on native land, but offers suggestions for reparations.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I listened to Handmade Holidays by 'Nathan Burgoine after @herhandsmyhands 's rave ( https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2023/12/18/handmade-holidays-by-nathan-burgoine/ ) & she was not wrong. :-)

Such a tender and funny story of queer found family, friendship & love, and the structure is simple & elegant: each chapter is a different Christmastime, and we see everything we need to see about what happened in between. (Except at the very end, where I felt I missed out.)

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I'm still sniffling after finishing Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender. Painful but beautifully tender and hopeful m/m romance that explores how abuse and trauma can negatively impact a relationship. Checking the CWs highly recommended!

Excellent full cast audiobook, which does justice to the partially epistolary "multimedia" structure. One of the narrators seems to be NB, though both main characters are apparently cis.

@romancelandia
@romancebooks

#WhatchaReading ? I didn't love the style and tropiness of Eight Dates and Nights, but I did love reading a Hanukkah book that was really focused on Hanukkah. And it's really cool to read about Jewish history in a rural area of Texas.

Favorite moment: It's not a queer romance, but the MMC has a bumper sticker with a Pride flag and the words "Shalom Y'All Means Y'All."

@romancelandia
@romancebooks