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My top 7 "hear me out" wild, weird and awesome romance recs

5/8/2025

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Sometimes you just need to read something a little...different. Something that makes you stop, sit back, and say, "What the hell did I just read" while also thinking, "that was AWESOME". So, with that in mind, here my favorite "hear me out" romances that I sincerely hope you'll give a try:  

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5 perfect book boyfriends that won't let you down this Valentine's Day

2/14/2025

3 Comments

 
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Does the thought of going out into the real world--where all the PEOPLE are--this Valentine's Day make you recoil in horror? Well, if so, this book list is for you. Because these book boyfriends won't expect you to leave the house or put on hard pants. (That's REAL love!) So, without further ado, here they are:   

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Awesome authors you can buy your adult romance ebooks from directly

1/2/2025

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Look, I'm not saying no one should shop at the big online book sellers. I buy books from them, too. But one of the best ways you can support your favorite indie author is to buy directly from their websites when possible. Not every author has a direct sales site, but a bunch of them do--and more and more are building them as we speak, because the big book sellers (especially the one that starts with an "A") aren't known for being kind or fair to authors. So, without further ado, here's a few amazing romance authors who sell books directly on their websites, allowing you to put money in their pockets' instead of into some billionaire's pocket:  

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The BEST annoyed at first sight romances

7/5/2024

2 Comments

 
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I asked Twitter not too long ago to recommend some great "annoyed at first sight" romance novels. Not enemies to lovers, and no bullies. Just people who took one look at each other and instantly felt an overwhelming rush of annoyance. So, "annoyed to lovers", if you will. As usual, Twitter did NOT disappoint. So, prepare yourself for the biggest list I've done in a LONG time. You're welcome... 

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The best fresh start romance novels

5/10/2024

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One thing I love about romance novels is that when a character experiences a huge life change, it usually means better things (especially love) are right around the corner. If only real life worked like that, huh? But anyhoo, here are some of the best romances I've ever read that began with a character who either chose or was forced to imagine a new life for themselves:  

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Caped and Fabulous by Isabel Jordan

4/5/2024

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Superhero romantic comedy 
Release date: 04/05/2024
​Available everywhere books are sold
Buy Now
Did you ever find yourself watching a Marvel movie and wishing it was, well...hornier? More romantic? And I mean GOOD romance, not whatever it was they were trying to do with Bruce and Natasha? Well, this series has you covered... 

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Why Kobo Plus is a great way to support your favorite authors AND your reading habit

3/29/2024

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An alternative to Kindle Unlimited that helps everyone win
A guest post by author Isabel Jordan

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I’m going to be brutally honest and say something that might not be super popular.

I most definitely am in this business for the money.

That’s not to say writing isn’t my passion. It is. I’ll be cranking out stories until my great, great, great grandchildren pry my ergonomic keyboard from my cold, dead hands. But publishing…well, publishing is another story entirely. 

Publishing is hard. Time consuming. Sometimes soul crushing and disappointing. If it didn’t help put braces on my kid’s gnarly teeth, groceries in my fridge, and a roof over my family’s head, I wouldn’t do it.

So, it was ultimately the decreasing revenue I was earning in Kindle Unlimited (KU) that prompted me to pull my books from the program a few years ago. 

While KU is great for readers, it’s not always kind to authors. For more background, Romance Rehab did a great article about why so many authors are pulling their books from KU. But the three factors that prompted my decision were:
  1.  Amazon demands exclusivity. If your book is in KU, you can’t publish it (in ebook form) anywhere else. And if your book is found on an illegal pirate site at no fault of your own, Amazon will consider that a breach of their Terms of Service (TOS) and can shut down your account, no questions asked (*gulp*).
  2. Amazon puts the money they earn from KU subscription fees into a giant pot and uses that pot to pay authors each month. They pay authors fractions of a cent for each page of their books read—and those fractions can change each month at Amazon’s discretion. (Exact subscriber numbers are not made publicly available, and Amazon determines what constitutes a page read.) And while they recently raised the KU subscription fee from $9.99/month to $11.99/month, the payout for page reads has actually gone down, not up. 
  3. Big publishing houses are allowed to skirt the KU exclusivity clause whenever they want. Self-publishers and smaller publishing houses aren’t. That kind of hypocrisy doesn’t sit well with me.

But even though I’m not planning to put my books back into the KU program unless some changes are made, I do think subscription-based reading programs can work. I understand we’re living in hard times and the cost of buying every book you want to read can become unaffordable quickly. This is especially true for romance readers, who are typically more voracious than any other genre fiction readers. (Seriously...y'all are amazing.)

Which is why I made all of my books available to Kobo Plus subscribers.

Advantages of Kobo Plus

For readers:
  1. It’s cheaper than KU. For now, the cost in the US is $7.99/month for a Read (eBooks) subscription, or for $9.99, you could get a Read and Listen subscription that allows you access to audiobooks, which easily beats having to buy KU and Audible subscriptions separately. Just as with KU, you can keep up to 20 books at a time in your library.
  2. Superior Ereader support. The app is well designed and easily searchable. For romance readers, their library of available books is pretty extensive, and getting bigger every day.
  3. You can read via the Kobo app on your phone or iPad, so you don’t even need to have a Kobo reader to enjoy the Kobo Plus program (although I highly recommend the Kobo reader. It’s a very high-end reading experience for a very not high-end price.)  There’s also some evidence to suggest that now that Kindles don’t rely on MOBI files, you could download books from the Kobo Plus program (instructions from Kobo for downloading EPUBs here) and read them on your Kindle. (Disclaimer: I haven’t tested that yet, but theoretically, it’s sound. If I’m wrong…bygones.)

For authors:
  1. Kobo Plus does not demand exclusivity. So, an author in the program can publish their ebook anywhere they want and not be in violation of Kobo’s TOS.
  2. Kobo Plus pays authors per minute of material read, which is better than KU’s quickly dwindling “pot” payment method. And in their latest TOS, Kobo announced authors will also be paid if a reader re-reads their work in the program, which is something that KU doesn’t offer.

With all that said, I’m not here to lead some kind of anti-KU revolution. If you’re an author or reader who enjoys the program, use it! You do you. Like I said, these are hard times we’re living in, and since there’s hardly a damn thing worth watching on TV anymore, get your books (legally) wherever you see fit. (Kind of off topic: Don’t forget about libraries, either. They’re awesome, and authors get revenue there, too, because libraries buy their books at a markup.) No judgement here.  I’m just saying that KU isn’t the only game in town anymore, and the more open-minded we all are, the more reading options we’ll have going forward. Because at the end of the day, authors will go where the readers are. When it’s been made clear that readers are enjoying Kobo Plus, more of them will join the program.   

Finally, at the risk of sounding totally self-serving, well-paid authors are happy authors—and happy authors are more willing to keep cranking out the books you love and publishing them for your enjoyment. Just sayin’… 😊

​Anyone interested can get their Kobo Plus subscription of choice here.   
​​
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Back from the dead/presumed dead romances you'll adore

1/25/2024

4 Comments

 
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I can't believe I've been making recommendations for THIS long and haven't done a list of back from the dead romances where one character was presumed dead, then came back. But better than late than never, right? Here ya go: 

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My 8 favorite romance reads of 2023

1/5/2024

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It was honestly a slow reading year for me.  But still, I found a few fantastic romance gems that are worth talking about. In no particular order, here they are:  

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Morally grey heroines in romance novels who could rule the world if they wanted to

11/28/2023

1 Comment

 
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I could probably name you thirty romances featuring morally grey heroes off the top of my head. But what about morally grey heroines? That's not as easy as you might think. But because I'm not one to gatekeep, here are the ones I came up with...you know...if you're into that kind of thing:  

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Criminals Need Love Too by Isabel Jordan

11/27/2023

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Romantic comedy
​Release date: 12/01/2023
​Available everywhere books are sold
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I think I've made it clear that I'll read whatever Isabel Jordan writes. Paranormal? Great. Monsters? Sure. Superheroes? Bring em' on. Rock stars? Not usually my thing, but f-yeah, I'll give it a go. So, why was I surprised when I read about two criminals and STILL fell totally in love with them?  

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Light romance reads that are PERFECT for spooky season

9/29/2023

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If you're like me, you're not looking for anything super scary to read, even during spooky season. That's why I've put together this list of light spooky season reads that are ah-may-zing. You're welcome: 

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5-star rom coms that are also AWESOME on audio

7/28/2023

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I'll admit it. I'm not a huge fan of audio books. But that doesn't mean I don't understand why so many other readers ADORE them. So, here are some of my 5-star faves that also have great audio versions available. You're welcome: 

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Why so many of your favorite authors are leaving Kindle Unlimited & what YOU can do to support them

7/5/2023

22 Comments

 
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I've recently noticed some readers dragging authors to hell and back on the interwebs for taking their books out of Kindle Unlimited. I've seen authors being called greedy and heartless for not making their books available there. And I can't even tell you how much that pisses me off. But I'm not going to rant at readers here. I'm going to assume they just don't totally understand how Kindle Unlimited works or WHY an author might decide to not be part of the program. So, that's what I'm going to do here today. Educate. I'm a giver like that. :)  Here it goes: 

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Hot barbarian romances you NEED in your life

6/30/2023

2 Comments

 
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So, did anyone else look at this movie poster and think, "Huh. I need to read more barbarian romances." Or was that just me? My thought was that there was no way Marvel was going to do this poster justice with the actual movie (which will, I'm sure, be joyless and sexless). That said, here are some barbarian romances that share a vibe with this poster, but that are ANYTHING but joyless and sexless. You're welcome:  

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