To Read or Not To Read

Dial A for Aunties is a wholesome and hilarious riot—which is never how I thought I'd describe a book that starts with a murder, but it's true! Sutanto crafts a novel that is part romance, part murder mystery, and in its entirety about the power and love of family. Jesse Q. Sutanto grew up shuttling back and forth between Indonesia, Singapore, and Oxford, and she considers all three places her home. She has a masters from Oxford University, but she has yet to figure out how to say that without sounding obnoxious. Jesse has forty-two first cousins and thirty aunties and uncles, many of whom live just down the road. When she's not writing, she's gaming with her husband (mostly first-person shooter) or making a mess in the kitchen with her two daughters. You can find her online at JesseQSutanto.com .  When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a...

Had I read Better Than the Movies in high school (had it been published then), I am convinced it would have been one of my absolute favorites. Lynn Painter's YA novel checks all the romance boxes, and is an addictive read to boot. I highly recommend this one to anyone looking for a quick and swoony read to finish up their end-of-year reading challenge!  Lynn Painter lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband and pack of wild children. She's a biweekly contributor to the Omaha World-Herald's parenting section, even though she is the polar opposite of a Pinterest mom. When she isn't chasing kids, she can be found reading, writing, and shotgunning cans of Rockstar. You can find her online at LynnPainter.com .  Liz Buxbaum has always known that Wes Bennett was not boyfriend material. You would think that her next-door neighbor would be a prime candidate for her romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only proven himself to be a pain in the butt, ever since they were little. ...

The Bromance Book Club has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary romance/rom-com books this year. Hilarious and yet absolutely heartfelt and emotional, this book is definitely a must-read for everyone loving the genre right now. Lyssa Kay Adams read her first romance novel at a very young age when she swiped one from her grandmother's stash. After a long journalism career in which she had to write way too many sad endings, she decided to return to the stories that guaranteed a happy-ever-after. Once described as "funny, adorable, and a wee bit heartbreaking," Lyssa's books feature women who always get the last word, men who aren't afraid to cry, and dogs. Lots of dogs. Lyssa writes full time from her home in Michigan, where she lives with her sportswriter husband, her wickedly funny daughter, and a spoiled Maltese who likes to be rocked to sleep like a baby. When she's not writing, she's cooking or driving her daughter around from one sporting eve...

Kerry Winfrey's small town romance feels like reading a warm hug. A second-chance romance between the town gardener and country music's up-and-coming star is a quick and heartwarming read. Kerry Winfrey writes romantic comedies for adults and teens. She is the author of Waiting for Tom Hanks, Not Like the Movies, Very Sincerely Yours, and Just Another Love Song , as well as two young adult novels. She lives with her family in the middle of Ohio. You can find her online at AYearofRomcoms.tumblr.com , or on Instagram @KerryWinfrey.  Once upon a time, Sandy Macintosh thought she would have her happily ever after with her high school sweetheart, Hank Tillman. Sandy wanted to be an artist, Hank was the only boy in town who seemed destined for bigger things, and they both had dreams to escape town together. But when Sandy's plans fell through, she stayed in their small town in Ohio while Hank went off to Boston to follow his dreams to be a musician, with the promise to stay toget...

For the secret true crime lovers among us, look no further for the contemporary romance of your dreams. Love in the Time of Serial Killers might not be a true crime novel, but it certainly has fun parodying on the genre as well as championing it, all while crafting a fun "and they were neighbors" romance that culminates in this genre's guaranteed happy ending.  Alicia Thompson is a writer, reader, and Paramore superfan. As a teen, she appeared in an episode of 48 Hours in the audience of a local murder trial, where she broke the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera. She currently lives in Florida with her husband and two children. You can find her online on Twitter and Instagram @AliciaBooks.  PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She's even analyzing the genre in her dissertation—if she can manage to finish writing it. It's hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida cleaning out her childhood home, deali...

I am sad to report that I did not enjoy this one as much as I'd hoped. Better Than Fiction 's concept is simultaneously cute and cliché—a bookstore owner who hates books and an author who is determined to make her see differently—and had so much potential. Unfortunately, I found that it underdelivered in key areas, making this read one that could be entertaining and fun if you didn't think very hard about it at all. Alexa Martin is a writer and stay-at-home mom. A Nashville transplant, she's intent on instilling a deep love and respect for the great Dolly Parton in her four children and husband. The Playbook series was inspired by the eight years she spent as an NFL wife and her love of all things pop culture, sparkles, leggings, and wine. When she's not repeating herself to her kids, you can find her catching up on whatever Real Housewives franchise is currently airing or filling up her Etsy cart with items she doesn't need. You can find her online at AlexaMart...

Dare I say the best book of the series, this is where Tessa Bailey hits her stride. Full of hilarious banter and relatable characters, Tools of Engagement is the perfect romance for fans of HGTV and Bailey's more recent publications.  Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband and her best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, and she managed to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the workforce as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention. She now lives in Long Island, New York, with her husband and daught...

The second book in this Tessa Bailey series, Love Her or Lose Her is as entertaining as the first, with some tropes that felt fresh to me. However it falls short of feeling truly contemporary, with a resolution that feels rushed in the face of the progress the characters made.  Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband and her best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, and she managed to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the workforce as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention. She now lives in Long I...

Tessa's Bailey's Fix Her Up is an enjoyable read, one with the right combination of tropes and interesting supporting characters to make me read until the end. While nowhere near my favorite of Bailey's, Fix Her Up was a quick and light read that was entertaining and cute.  Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband and her best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, and she managed to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the workforce as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention. She now lives in Lo...

This fall, I'm not feeling spooky—instead, I'm feeling like Macy and Elliot have the right idea, by transforming a closet into the perfect reading retreat, and diving into words to avoid the chaos of everything else. Christina Lauren paints the perfect cozy and romantic picture with Love and Other Words , the perfect novel to introduce readers to their swoony novels and compelling characters! Christina Lauren is the pen name of writing partners/best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the  New York Times, USA Today , and #1 internationally bestselling authors of twenty-eight books, including the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series,  The Unhoneymooners, Love and Other Words, In a Holidaze,  and  The Soulmate Equation . Find them at  ChristinaLaurenBooks.com  or @ChristinaLauren on Instagram and Twitter. You can find more of my reviews of their work  here .  Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard a...

I am obsessed with what Gallery Books is doing with the new covers for the Christina Lauren books, as it is convincing me to add more of them to my shelves—which is exactly why I picked up Dating You / Hating You . But it was the fun premise, the silly pranks, and relatable characters that kept me reading. For fans of Elena Armas's The Spanish Love Deception and Sally Thorne's The Hating Game , Dating You / Hating You will satisfy that need for a workplace romance combined enemies-to-lovers. Christina Lauren is the pen name of writing partners/best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA Today , and #1 internationally bestselling authors of twenty-eight books, including the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series, The Unhoneymooners, Love and Other Words, In a Holidaze, and The Soulmate Equation . Find them at ChristinaLaurenBooks.com or @ChristinaLauren on Instagram and Twitter. You can find more of my reviews of their work here .  Despite the odds stac...

Julia Whelan's latest Thank You for Listening is an absolute delight, and a must-read for contemporary romance's biggest fans. Featuring all of the romance tropes you can imagine, as well as characters with hilarious banter and relatable insecurities, this novel will absolutely steal your heart. Julia Whelan is a screenwriter, lifelong actor, and award-winning audiobook narrator of over five hundred titles. Her performance of her own debut novel, the internationally bestselling My Oxford Year , garnered a Society of Voice Arts Award. Whelan is also a Grammy-nomiated audiobook director, a former writing tutor, a half-decent amateur baker, and a certified tea sommelier. You can find her online at jmwhelan.com .  For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She's found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing g...

For some much needed holiday cheer, I warmly recommend Maggie Knox's The Holiday Swap . A heartwarming story of two twin sisters who switch lives during the Christmas season and come to realize so many things, about themselves and each other, The Holiday Swap is part cheery, part thoughtful, and all around fun. Maggie Knox is the pen name for writing duo Karma Brown and Marissa Stapley. Brown is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author of five novels, including the #1 national bestseller Recipe for a Perfect Wife , as well as the nonfiction bestseller The 4% Fix: How One Hour Can Change Your Life. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Self, Redbook, Today's Parent , and Chatelaine . She lives just outside Toronto with her family and a labradoodle named Fred. Stapley is a former magazine editor and the internationally bestselling author of four novels: Mating for Life, Things to Do When It's Raining, The Last Resort , and Lucky . Marissa's journalism...

Elena Armas's follow up to The Spanish Love Deception is every bit as trope-y, romantic, and exciting as its predecessor. The American Roommate Experiment is full of heart and spice, with that satisfying happily ever after that Armas herself is the biggest fan of. Elena Armas is a Spanish writer, a self-confessed hopeless romantic, and proud book hoarder. After years of devouring HEAs and talking—okay, fine, yelling—nonstop about them, she has finally taken the leap and decided to create some of her own. She hopes these stories make your heart skip a beat or two, your palms a little sweaty, and your cheeks flush in that rosy pink that makes other people want to peek at the page you are reading. You can find Elena at  www.authorelenaarmas.com , and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, and TikTok. You can find more of my reviews of Elena's work  here . Rosie Graham has a problem. A few, actually. She just quit her well-paid job to focus on her secret career as ...

Shauna Robinson does it again! The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks is one of my top reads of the year. With a head-over-heart conflict that got my heart racing, literary references and bookish themes that had me cheering, and characters with such big hearts that I couldn't help rooting for, dare I say that Robinson's sophomore novel is even better than her debut, and that I hope she continues to write and publish, because I'm going to need some more!  Shauna Robinson's love of books led her to try a career in publishing before deciding she'd rather write books instead. Originally from San Diego, she now lives in Virginia with her husband and their sleepy greyhound. Shauna is an introvert at heart—she spends most of her time reading, baking, and figuring out the politest way to avoid social interaction.  Must Love Books  is her debut novel. You can find more of my reviews of Shauna's work  here .  When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend...

Kiera Cass's newest novel, A Thousand Heartbeats,  is a standalone fantasy romance that will capture your attention as much as your heart. Told in the alternating points of view of main characters Princess Annika of Kadier and the solider Lennox of Dahrain, this story of fated love and ultimate sacrifice will enthrall all of Cass's fans. Kiera Cass is the #1  New York Times  bestselling author of The Selection series and  The Siren, The Betrothed,  and  The Betrayed . She is a wife and mom and too many other things to list. If she could make a crown out of anything, it would be the unending tears of her readers. You can learn more about Kiera and her books at www.kieracass.com . You can find more of my reviews of Kiera's work  here .  Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn't her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon by forced into a...

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel Remarkably Bright Creatures is a charming and heartwarming novel, featuring a cast of characters including a grief-ridden woman, a group of small town women who love to gossip, a man trying to find his way in the world and, of course, a giant Pacific octopus.  Remarkably Bright Creatures  almost made me cry with the amount of heart and hope it has, in the face of life's darkness. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Shelby Van Pelt lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her family. This is her first novel. You can find her online at shelbyvanpelt.com .  After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at th...