Romance Round-Up: Reviewing 15 Romance Novels I Read in Q1
Average Rating: 2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️.5
👋🏾 Happy Wednesday! In this newsletter, you’ll find…
📚 15 unfiltered book reviews
🎙An audio version of this newsletter
There are way too many reviews to give plot synopses, so I’ll link every book mentioned below.
Publisher: Various
My Thoughts
You see, I’ve always been a voracious reader, but I discovered the romance genre in middle school and haven’t stopped reading the genre since! Next to the sci-fi/fantasy genre, I find most romance to be the ultimate escape. Why?
Well, the plots are usually wholly unrealistic. The main characters tend to fall in love fast… and sometimes they even marry within moments of meeting each other. Inside these plots based around love, you get smutty sex scenes of varying depth alongside a WIDE variety of heroes and heroines. Typically, I can count on authors in the romance genre to follow a formula that centers on the femme reader. There is something about the love story working out 9.5/10 times that is super comforting.
Unfortunately, last year, I noticed a change in the genre. I shouldn’t say unfortunately because change isn’t a bad thing. However, I really found myself unhappy with contemporary romance all of 2023. It was either heroines that were unbelievably submissive or heroines that were so flawed that a relationship was the last thing they needed.
This is why at the top of 2024, I decided to delve into the catalogues of unread seasoned authors that are widely acclaimed. You may remember me gushing over the Le Veq family series by Beverly Jenkins. At this point, I’ve read so many romance novels that I rarely rate anything at the 4-star level, but Jenkins brought originality that couldn’t be denied.
Then I turned to an old favorite - author Mary Wine. Wine often writes witty heroines who aren’t intimidated by their Highland counterparts. In these novels you get old-school romance: highland damsels in distress who need saving by strong highlanders. I really enjoy the wit Wine is able to convey despite pretty formulaic plots. The first three books (⭐️⭐️⭐️) in the series delivered as anticipated, but the last two (⭐️⭐️) let me down 😩. Regardless, hats off to Wine for great smutty sex scenes.
I found this trip down old romance lane largely satisfying, so I unearthed the one series by Johanna Lindsey I hadn’t read (the Sherring Cross series), and picked up where I left off with book two: Love Me Forever. Though Lindsey was one of the authors that helped me fall in love with the genre way back when, after reading this work I realized that my romance standards have changed quite a bit over time. The plot on this one was a bit too far-fetched and very much not worth my coins.
Of course, I then overcorrected by choosing to read Single Dad’s Club by Therese Beharrie, published in 2023. Remember my thoughts above about my 2023 reading adventures? Enter my first ⭐️ read of the year. This was ridiculous. The plot didn’t connect, the romance was lackluster, and it was unnecessarily long. Plus, the editing is questionable considering how many plot points were dropped. The hero and heroin in this novel have such low self-esteem that they should definitely work on themselves instead of seeking a partnership. Just no!
Also, because of a romance book club I’m following, I tried a short story collection: Even If The Sky Is Falling by various authors…. published in May of 2023. This collection only has a couple of good stories mainly because the base plot each story works from is disjointed. The build-up to quick love was never quite satisfactory and mostly mediocre. Though I gave the book an overall ⭐️⭐️’s, I would recommend you skip this collection.
After striking out twice, I turned right back around to romance authors of the past. In my consumption of the works by Sarah MacClean, I typically find them a hit or miss. However, I decided to try the Scandal & Scoundrel series plus book one of the Bombshell series to satisfy my curiosity. Ironically, it was the last book that helped this series ratings-wise: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. MacLean juxtaposes four sisters in this series who are unique and interesting against men who are traditional, full of scorn, and have strong personalities.
What did I find was missing from books one through three? Chemistry. I didn’t believe the tension between hero and heroin until Bombshell. Otherwise, I found the women in the series to be too self-sacrificing for their character setup. Nonetheless, I’m not mad at the time spent reading the first three and I will definitely finish the Bombshell series.
15 books later, where did I go wrong? Starting with the works of Beverly Jenkins set the bar too high. But maybe that’s a good thing. Clearly, I’m jumping all over the place in search of a bit of originality alongside undeniable romance. I’ll continue reading Jenkin’s catalog while I hop around in search of the old school in the new school. Have you read any good romances lately? Please 🙏🏾 share in the comments below!
Beverly Jenkins LeVeq Family series
Mary Wine HIghland Hellion series
Therese Beharrie Single Dad’s Club
Even If The Sky Is Falling by various
Johanna Lindsey Love Me Forever
Sarah MacLean Scandal & Scoundrel series