To Read or Not To Read

Bolu Babalola's debut novel Honey & Spice belongs on everyone's TBR. Combining a stomach-fluttering romance with a story of growth and reaching your full potential, Babalola uses her incredible writing to bring Kiki and Malakai to life. I already can't wait to reread this one, and to recommend it to everyone I know!  Bolu Babalola is the author of the internationally bestselling short-story collection Love in Color . She is a London-based writer and lover of love. In 2016, she was shortlisted in the 4th Estate's B4ME competition for her short story "Netflix & Chill," a hilarious tale of teen romance. While writing scripts for TV and film, she also works as a culture writer and calls herself a "romcomoisseur." You can find her online at www.bolubabalola.com .  Sharp-tongued (and secretly soft-hearted) Kiki Banjo has just made a huge mistake. As an expert In relationship-evasion and the host of the popular student radio show Brown Sugar , she...

An instant favorite of the year, Set on You is a triumph of the contemporary romance genre. With hilarious banter tempered by a serious look into social media and fitness culture, Amy Lea crafts a story that is romantic, fun, and entertaining.  Amy Lea is a Canadian bureaucrat by day and a contemporary romance author by night (and weekends). She writes laugh-out-loud romantic comedies featuring strong heroines, witty banter, mid-2000s pop culture references, and happily ever afters. When Amy is not writing, she can be found fangirling over other romance books on Instagram (@AmyLeaBooks), eating potato chips with reckless abandon, and snuggling with her husband and goldendoodle. You can find Amy online at AmyLeaBooks.com .  Curvy fitness instructor Crystal Chen built her career by shattering gym stereotypes and mostly ignoring the trolls. After her recent breakup, she has little stamina left for men, instead finding solace in the gym—her place of power and positivity. Enter fir...

I am literally the luckiest person in the world for getting to read all of Mazey Eddings's books in the year 2022, and it is because of this that I can gladly and confidently say that The Plus One is Mazey's best yet. Hilarious and heartfelt, Eddings explores heavy topics with a lightheartedness that only she can achieve, and The Plus One is the best example of that. One of my favorite reads of the year, I can't wait until others get to pick this one up! *Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin, for a print ARC of The Plus One.  * Mazey Eddings is a neurodiverse author, dentist, and (most importantly) stage mom to her cats, Yaya and Zadie. She can most often be found reading romance novels under her weighted blanket and asking her boyfriend to bring her snacks. She's made it her personal mission in life to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain. With roots in Ohio and Philadelphia, she now calls Asheville, Nor...

Beth O'Leary's The No-Show  will capture your attention right away: three women, all stood up by the same man, on the same day. I know I was intrigued, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Throughout the novel, O'Leary won't let you go, and by the end of it, you'll have experienced a book that's made you rethink what life and love and romance are all about.  Beth O'Leary is a Sunday Times bestselling author whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. Her debut, The Flatshare , sold over half a million copies and changed her life completely. Her second novel, The Switch , has been optioned for film by Amblin Partners, Steven Spielberg's production company. Beth writes her books in the English countryside with a very badly behaved golden retriever for company. If she's not at her desk, you'll usually find her curled up somewhere with a book, a cup of tea and several woolly jumpers (whatever the weather). You can find her ...

Terri-Lynne DeFino's Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story  is an immensely fulfilling, heartfelt novel about family. Following three generations of the Palladino family throughout one dramatic year of their lives, this read will charm you, and make you feel like you're one of the family by the time you finish that last page.  Terri-Lynne DeFino was born and raised in New Jersey but escaped to the wilds of Connecticut, where she still lives with her husband and her cats. If you knock on her door, she'll invite you in and feed you. That's what Jersey Italian women do, because you can take the girl out of Jersey but you can't take Jersey out of the girl. She is the author of the novel The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (and Their Muses)  and the Bitterly Suite romance series. You can find Terri-Lynne online here .  Lively widow Varina Palladino has lived in the same house in Wyldale, New Jersey, her entire life. The town might be slightly stu...

A marriage in trouble and a Northern California week-long vacation? What could go wrong? In Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka's newest adult romance brings it all to the table: awkward reunions, the thrill of new things, the high stakes of saving what's most important to you. Eliza's and Graham's story is beautifully crafted to capture what can happy after the happily-ever-after we're so used to, allowing readers to fall in love with romance all over again.  Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka met and fell in love in high school. Austin went on to graduate from Harvard, while Emily graduated from Princeton. Together, they are the authors of several novels about romance for teens and adults. Now married, they live in Los Angeles, where they continue to take daily inspiration from their own love story. You can find them online at EmilyandAustinWrite.com . You can find more of my reviews of their work here .  Eliza and Graham are anticipating an anythin...

Tessa Bailey is back again with another addictive, sweet, hilarious rom com! Secretly Yours is such a quick, fun read. Full of the tropes the contemporary romance novel audience loves—grumpy x sunshine being the biggest one—plus some new twists (I'm loving the books that take place surrounding vineyards!), Secretly Yours is the perfect February release. New York Times  bestselling author Tessa Bailey can solve all problems except for her own, so she focuses those efforts on stubborn, fictional blue-collar men and loyal, lovable heroines. She lives on Long Island avoiding the sun and social interactions, then wonders why no one has called. Dubbed the "Michelangelo of dirty talk" by Entertainment Weekly, Tessa writes with spice, spirit, swoon, and a guaranteed happily ever after. Catch her on TikTok at @authortessabailey or check out tessabailey.com for a complete list of books. You can find more of my reviews of Tessa's works here .  Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian ...