Romantic comedy 
Publication date: 05/12/2020
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Another winner from Helena Hunting. That doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, right? 

To me, a feel-good, comfort romance is a book I can read over and over again and never get sick of. It can be a book that makes me laugh, cry, and feel all the feels, but that WON'T leave me in a horrible, emotionally drained book coma for weeks. (So, fairly low angst, in other words) We'll talk about my favorite high-emotion comfort reads another day. Today is all about the hilarious ones. So, happy reading, y'all!

According to social media and pretty much everyone I follow there, this show, which is based on the series by Sherryl Woods, is a must-watch for romance fans. So, who am I to argue with all of social media and everyone I follow there? I gave it a watch this weekend. And here's what I think you'll probably love (and hate ) about it...

I recently started reading a VERY popular new release. I'm not here to name and shame, so I'm not going to call out the author. But the hero was a complete douchenozzle who treated women like garbage. I couldn't see anything this hero could do over the course of the book that would redeem him. I mean, even if he cured cancer , I'd still of him as that asshat who cured cancer that one time.  But if you were to go look at the reviews for this book, there are HUNDREDS of them gushing about how great this book is and how SWOONY the hero is. So, what do you do when you loathe a book that everyone else seems to universally love? Well, since it happens to me more than I care to admit, I feel particularly qualified to give advice on this matter. Here it goes...  

First of all, I think I deserve a big round of applause for NOT going for the easy "out of this world" pun in the headline for this post.  You're welcome. But seriously, when you're in the mood for something a little different, why not give space romance a shot? I've checked all over the interwebs and gathered these recommendations from super smart romance readers, so get your 1-clicking fingers ready. Enjoy!

Heat level: N/A
Time travel/Humorous historical fiction 
Publication date: 05/15/2020
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: Kinda?

I'll admit that I downloaded this one based solely on the title. I'm a bit of an asshat myself, so the title just spoke to me on a gut-deep level, you know? The fact that it was  MaryJanice Davidson read was icing on the cake. 

I will admit that my reasons for watching this movie were completely, 100% shallow AF. I wanted to watch Chris Hemsworth fighting bad guys while wearing a tight T-shirt, OK? I'm not sorry, so I won't apologize. But the movie ended up being way better than I bargained for. It was an intense, gripping action movie that was surprisingly emotional at times. There wasn't any romance (even though there was a nice blink-and-you'll-miss-it chemistry between main character Tyler Rake and Nik, the badass woman who brought him into the mercenary gig), but it wasn't that kind of movie and never pretended to be, so I was fine with the lack of smooching. But the whole thing got me thinking: what romance reader wouldn't love a badass, troubled and angsty ex-military man who has been THROUGH THINGS kicking the crap out of bad guys in an effort to save a cute kid? The answer? None. So with that in mind, I present to you this list of 8 romance heroes you'll love if you, like me, drooled a little over Tyler Rake. You're welcome.     

So my BDSM/erotic romance tastes can be boiled down to two questions: “Are the characters worth reading?” and “Is it a love story powerful enough to linger in my mind?”

You’ll notice neither of those questions is about the sex. That’s because if I’m browsing in the BDSM/erotic romance genre, I expect there will be explicit sexual content. The answers to those two questions tell me if the eroticism was integrated in the story in the right way.

​Back in the 80s, I was a reader who wanted much stronger erotic content, but I wanted it with all the quality elements of an intense love story I’d experienced from reading authors like Kathleen Woodiwiss, Laura Kinsale, Penelope Williamson, and the 1980s-1990s greats like them. Yet when I started writing BDSM romance, the attitude in the romance industry was “sex is lazy writing.” If an author put a lot of sex in their books, it was because he/she didn’t want to put in the time to develop a good story with memorable characters.

However, I believed a great love story could be written with soul-deep eroticism and engage the heart, mind and libido of an intelligent, well-read woman. I’m so happy that time has proven me right, AND made room for a very lovely and diverse genre in the romance section.

So, if you want to give BDSM/erotic romance a try (pause for me to cheer and do a couple backflips – grin), there is so much to offer in this genre. You can ease into the waters at the shallow end or jump right into the deepest part.

When I first told Jennifer I’d provide this list, my thought was to compile a list of my favorites and then ask my readers for their recommendations. I ended up with 160 recommendations (not including my own), and for a while the idea of how best to present this info to a new BDSM/erotic romance reader in a way that would be helpful and not overwhelming stumped me. After I examined the list and noted how often certain authors were referenced, I decided to put together a list of ten authors I and/or many of my readers would recommend to someone wanting to explore the BDSM/erotic romance world.

All ten of these authors are excellent. The order should not be taken as a rating of one over the other, though the authors listed #1-7 take a more mainstream or romantic approach, whereas 8-10 get more extreme on the emotional and physical end of things. I don’t mean extreme as in “hotness.” At its heart, BDSM romance is a pretty profound exploration of Dominance and submission, and how those qualities manifest in the characters. Sometimes that can be a bumpy journey outside of comfort zones. It’s one of the reasons I love this genre – because the authors of it don’t leave a corner of the amusement park untapped, including the shadowy corners.

While I haven’t read all these titles personally, my readers recommending them suggest they live up to those two questions I started with. When I was verifying titles/spellings, I was seeing a lot of high Amazon review ratings, which also seem to support that.

​I hope this list helps you become a fan of the genre. Or, if you are already one, that it gives you some more good reads!

Contemporary Romance/Rom Com
Publication date: 04/26/2020
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Contemporary Romance
Publication date: 03/12/2020
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Well, when I asked a while ago which book on my TBR list y'all wanted to see me review the most, this one won by a landslide. And for about 90% of the book, I was really loving this choice. But...

It's a known fact that I'll pretty much download anything that promises me a grumpy character that falls for a sunshine-y, happy character. It gets me every single time. My Kindle is positively overflowing with books that feature this trope. And I've read some GREAT ones along the way, folks. These are but a few of my all-time faves. Happy reading! 

Contemporary Romance/Rom Com
Publication date: 04/25/2020
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Cover love. I gots it.  I mean, I love this author too, but I bought this book based on the cover alone.  

Romantic Comedy
Publication date: 04/23/2020
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

She had me at "grumpy boss romantic comedy."