Review: Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai

Title: Hate to Want You
Author: Alisha Rai
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 2017
Rating: 5/5 Glowing Stars

Why oh why did it take me so long to finally pick up this book?!?! I added it to my TBR when it came out, then I picked up a copy at The Ripped Bodice bookshop when Alisha Rai happened to be there and was kind enough to sign it for me and then I put it on my shelf reverently and haven't cracked it open since. But, I decided it was time and I'm so glad I did. After reading a few lack luster and overly tropey romances lately (reviews to come), Hate to Want You was like a breath of fresh air. 

So the premise is a juicy second chance situation between Olivia, or Livvy, Kane, who had a youthful romance with Nicholas Chandler that ended abruptly and resulted in meeting each other once a year, for the past nine years, for a one-night tryst on her birthday. Except this year, the tenth year, Nicholas, who lives for Livvy's annual text messages, doesn't hear from her. He also doesn't hear from her when she shows up back in the town where they both grew up and where he still lives, helping his family run their massively successful business-- a business which Livvy's family also used to run, until Nicholas' father cut her mother out of the partnership following a tragedy that killed Livvy's father and Nicholas' mother. There has been bad blood between the two families since, but Nicholas can't stop himself from showing back up in Livvy's life and the two become entangled once again.

The plot alone was enough to keep me reading, but beyond that, I love the characters that Rai has created. Every character has a past that impacts their present behavior, and everyone is recovering from something, some more successfully than others. Livvy and Nicholas both have histories that make communication almost impossible, and Rai touches upon both mental illness and the emotional work that women are expected to put into relationships in sensitive and intelligent ways. Both Livvy and Nicholas have a lot of growing up to do, including working on themselves before they are ready to bring each other into it. I found this incredibly realistic of actual relationships, so while Hate to Want You may feature a dramatic-sounding plot, the characters are so well-drawn that it was easy for me to become invested in their growth and their story.

Oh, and the love scenes are rated wided eyed blushing emoji for steaminess.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes complex characters in their contemporaries, plus teenage romances given a second chance. I already have book two in the series and book two was just released last month, so I know what I'll be reading for the next few weekends. I can't recommend this series enough!

Review: Tell Me by Abigail Strom

Title: Tell Me
Author: Abigail Strom
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 2017
RITA Category: Contemporary Romance - Mid Length
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Heroine: Jane, a nerdy bookstore owner who hasn't dated in awhile and spends most of her time working, reading, and working on her secret novel. Hero: Caleb, a tough, outdoorsy type who is also her sister's best friend and business partner, and crazy handsome. Um, yes to this all of this! I went into this book not knowing much about the set-up, but was instantly drawn into the story. Jane is shy yet sarcastic and doesn't have a ton of dating experience, and thinks she meets the perfect man until she finds out she's not his idea of a perfect woman. Meanwhile, Caleb hates staying in one place and has a hard time finding a reason to commit to one woman (or city, or country) for an extended period of time. Still, the fact that Caleb works with Jane's beautiful, adventurous sister means they get thrown together and, though their interests clash, they find (to their surprise) that they have great chemistry together. All of this taking place largely in a bookstore only added to how much this book spoke to me.

However, I went into Tell Me without knowing much about the plot, so I was not prepared for the sudden shift in tone about halfway through the story. This was in the description, so not a spoiler, but I hardly ever read the descriptions before I start a book, because I like to be surprised. Suddenly the plot totally changed, and it was a little jarring to go from cutesy romance to tragedy and grief. However, I really enjoyed Strom's writing style and I was already super invested in Jane and Caleb, so I powered through the sad bits and I'm glad I did. The shift in plot definitely contributed to the growth of the main characters, and I really liked that the length of time it took for them to (finally!) get together was realistically long and that they didn't fall in love over night. Even the side characters had inner lives and personal growth, which I appreciated.

I would definitely recommend this book to readers who like quirky heroines, opposites-attract romances, and who don't mind a bit of tragedy combined with their romance. 

Review: Between the Devil and the Duke by Kelly Bowen

Title: Between the Devil and the Duke

Author: Kelly Bowen

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: January 2017

RITA Category: Historical Romance - Long
Rating: 4/5 stars

This was my first Kelly Bowen historical, and I was pleasantly surprised! I try not to read too much about a book's plot before picking it up, and I was immediately drawn into the story of Angelique Archer, a noble lady whose family has fallen on extremely hard times, forcing her to use her quick mind to win card games and support the family with her gambling winnings. Angelique loves math and focuses on ensuring her family's home isn't lost and that her younger brother's can continue their education. I immediately liked her, and that she was smart, capable, and understood how she struggled with asking for help, as it meant that she had to admit that she was in trouble. I also liked the hero, Alexander Lavoie, the owner of the club where Angelique plays, who is impressed by her skills with cards and wants to hire her as the first dealer for his club. His offer could solve her problems, as she would have a steady income. However, as a lady she is hesitant to accept a job, and her instant attraction to Lavoie only complicates matters. 

I loved the chemistry between Alexander and Angelique, and romances where at least one character is a commoner is kind of my catnip, so I loved that this book didn't have the typical duke hero, despite the title. I became pretty invested in the characters, both good and bad; I literally screamed whenever Angelique's loser brother would squander their money or do something stupid, and the twist at the end of the book had me gasping. It was a fun, engrossing read that featured a few elements of intrigue that I thought made it a bit more exciting that a typical historical romance. There is definitely a mystery element to the story, thanks to cameos from some of the characters from the previous books in this series, which I now have to go back and read because I have to find out how those characters ended up together.

Between the Devil and the Duke is a good read if you want something different than the more traditional historical romance. The writing is snappy, the characters are well developed, and the romance itself is pretty steamy. Alexander is the type of hero that appeals to me; he's kind of a bad boy, but not really, and he's looking for a woman to be his equal rather than a damsel in distress. If you're looking for a quick-paced historical romance that has a nice mystery woven into the romance, I would definitely recommend this book!

Reading Diversely in Romance

In my last post, I talked about attempting to read all of the 2018 RITA nominees, and to be honest it did stick out to me that this was probably the biggest swathe of white authors I've ever attempted to read in my life. While there are a few authors of color on the list, the absence of black authors was definitely striking. RWA addressed this in a blog post about needing to do better, which has sparked an inspiring (and, at times, enraging) discussion on Twitter amongst romance readers, writers, and booksellers; discussion is 100% necessary for change, and I thought I would be remiss to not mention all of this going on while also posting reviews of the RITA nominees as I read them.

As someone who is not 100% white (I'm half white, half Filipina), I already try to read diversely because I don't like reading about straight white people all of the time. I get incredibly excited when a heroine is Asian or if an author is Filipina, and I love supporting other authors of color besides those who write about characters who reflect my culture and heritage. That's because I just want to read good books, and often good books are written by authors of color and perspectives that are underrepresented in traditional publishing. So for every RITA nominee written by a white author, I'll be reading another romance book by an author of color. I have a ton on my TBR, so this will give me the excuse to work my way through them, and I'll be reviewing them alongside the RITA nominees. My hope is that next year the list of nominees will be more representative of the diversity of romance authors that are writing and being widely read and loved by romance readers. Until then, I think it's essential to keep discussing, keep dialog going, and to keep reading good books, books that happen to be written by black women.

How do you discover authors you love who may not be as widely promoted as most mainstream white authors whose covers feature white models? Are you more likely to use your purchasing power on books written by authors whose work is often pushed to the side in award nominations? I know that I often do; if an author that I know is excellent isn't being recognized by mainstream organizations, I make an effort to buy their books, pre-order their books, and promote them online. I'm also more likely to purchase them for my library; although I don't select our adult romances, I do get to purchase young adult, and contemporary romance is hugely popular amongst the teens at my library, so I'm always making an effort to purchase YA romance written by black authors and authors of color or LGBTQ authors because...dun dun DUN! Teens love reading them! Anyway, I don't know how this will all pan out in regards to the RITAs and the nomination process moving forward, but if there is a positive it's that the bubbles of many are bursting and hopefully that will lead to progress.

We shall see.