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Here are my picks for the 23for23 challenge, with a few extra to carry me into the new year. Most of these are queer, but there are a few exceptions.
The 23for23 challenge was started on Instagram, and focus on reading and uplifting BIPOC authors.
I'm currently listening to The Witch King, and I think I'll listen to Blood Debts too. I have Poison Heart and Iron Widow, so they'll be my next physical reads.
Have you read any of these?
#noahs book recs#23for23#queer bipoc books#bipoc books#books to read#book recommendations#queer books#fantasy books#dark fantasy#sci fi#horror#thriller#trans books
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Things I Learnt at Nisha Sharma and Xio Axelrod's book event:
Xio started her writing career writing Buffy fix-it fanfiction AND as a tumblrina
Nisha does, in fact, believe Moghul Express has the best Indian food in Jersey (which… LIES, the correct answer is Bombay Talk) and she's found a way to incorporate it in every one of her romance novels
They spent a solid 5 minutes hyping Sierra Simone (as they should) and apparently, Sierra has a lipstick case shaped like a dildo (God bless her)
Xio also has a band and writes music, which is amazing (one of her newer series is about a girl group)
Nisha started her romance career as a Nancy Drew/Frank Hardy shipper (because fuck Ned)
Nisha is also a childhood friends-to-lovers skeptic
Katee Robert uses Barbie dolls to recreate sex poses for her sex scenes and this is semi-standard practice in the industry apparently
Also, everyone please check out the #23for23 challenge here: https://www.23for23.net/
It's all about putting your money where your mouth is when it comes to reading and supporting BIPOC authors who are writing BIPOC characters and even if you can't read 23 more books this year, I urge everyone to think harder about the diversity of the authors and content you are consuming and consciously try to diversify your bookshelves. I've technically met the challenge this year already, but I'd like to be more intentional about seeking out diversity in my romances.
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We’re so excited for today’s episode—in which we topple TBRs worldwide in support of the #23for23 Challenge! Spearheaded by Adriana Herrera, Nikki Payne and Nisha Sharma, 23 for 23 encourages romance readers to read 23 books by BIPOC authors about BIPOC characters before the end of 2023.
Nikki Payne joins us for a bit to talk about the challenge and why it’s important, and to lay out some clear ways we can all help boost BIPOC books and authors….and then we get down to business, recommending a truly enormous number of books. Get your pencils ready, you’re going to want to take several notes.
You can find links to every book we discussed in show notes.
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Weekly Book Recs: 10/6-10/13
Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne
Easily one of the best Pride and Prejudice retellings I've read, this takes our prickly leads and turns them into an activist versus a billionaire (who has a lot more going for him than "billionaire", believe). It's socially conscious, funny, and touching--and it captures the more melancholic aspects of P&P more than most reboots I've read. There's a real old school 90s-2000s romcom vibe to the fallout aspect of the book. Pick it up! #23for23
Jana Goes Wild by Farah Heron
I blogged a bit about this one as I was reading it--and suffice to say, I was impressed. It's a risky premise--Jana and Anil have a two week fling during which she falls head over heels, finds out he's married, and, after blocking him on every platform possible, discovers she's knocked up... Cut to five years later, and they're co-parents of a daughter while seeing each other as little as possible. Until they end up a part of the same wedding party. At a destination wedding. In Tanzania. It's a big swing of a story, and with a charming hero (Anil and his daughter... my heart) and a heroine who's so hesitant to take a risk after being burned (but so drawn to her baby daddy) it really impressed me. I know this one is polarizing in romance circles; and if you're familiar with romance circles, you can guess why. Cardinal romance rules broken! The heroine isn't perfect and she's a woman of color so the standard has to be impossibly high! Whatever, man. This shit is good. #23for23
Sinner by Sierra Simone
I read this a year ago and wasn't really feeling it, but gave it another shot when my mood shifted--and liked it a lot more this time around. I'd call this perhaps the most "approachable" Sierra Simone I've read so far--it's really a sex lessons/age gap/brother's best friend book, with the added bonus of the heroine being thisclose to becoming a nun. I won't lie--if you wanted to dip your toes into Sierra Simone's work, I think Priest is probably a more... accurate... representation of her standard fare (Sean Bell keeps going "I'm a bad man, my good brother Tyler over there on the other hand" and like. My guy. Sean. Tyler is OBSCENE.) but this one is quite good. And very, very hot. TW: Sean is a primary caretaker for his mother, who has terminal cancer. That is a big part of the book, and while I thought it was done beautifully, it is very sad.
The Professional by Kresley Cole
Kresley Cole is one of those authors whose style was kind of made for mafia romance--over the top, super hot, and alpha to the nth degree. This is the first non-IAD book I've read by her, and though I was surprised by some differences (it's first person POV, single POV at that) it's a fucking romp, the way I expect a Kresley book to be. There's stalking-is-love, our hero kidnaps our heroine after watching her masturbate to the memory of him in the bathtub, there's a lot of good bit of kink. And it's a bodyguard romance, which I personally love. It's a little softer than some of the mafia romances I've read--but I am more than confident that the next book will be... different.
A Rake's Vow by Stephanie Laurens
In theory, there isn't a lot that's super crazy about the plot of A Rake's Vow--it's basically a rake/resistant virgin book, with a light, fun mystery. But it's just so fun. The tone is perfect. Vane just wants this woman to marry him, because Fate demands it, damn it! And Patience is resistant for a reason I don't know that I've seen a lot, or at all in historicals--her father was a rake, and she doesn't want to end up like her heartbroken mother. (Also, she's raising her little brother and very Practical and doesn't want Vane to be a bad influence on him, and it's all very amusing.) This is a house party book without the party, full of a cast of quirky characters. At one point, he starts putting the moves on her in the conservatory and she's like "what are you doing" and he goes "you followed me into the CONSERVATORY". Like I said, it's so much fun. And Cynster men are conquerors--don't ever forget that.
Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard
A funny, sexy retelling of Clueless (which is a retelling of Emma, and it all works). Out 11/14, read my full review here.
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Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne
TITLE: Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Modern retelling, contemporary romance, Jane Austen retelling, diverse romance
Format: Paperback (401 pages)
Published: November 15, 2022 by Berkeley
Blurb: Liza B–The Only DJ That Gives a Jam—wants to take her neighborhood back from the soulless property developer dropping unaffordable condos on every street corner in DC. But…
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#23for23#Audiobook#author of color#Chick-Lit#Contemporary Romance#diverse romance#Jane Austen retelling#Review#steamy lit con author
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A VERY ambitious #23for23 I don’t know who I think I’m kidding adding Ulysses. As much as I want to read it I just know it’s maybe going to find itself slipping down the priority list. I’m really more a mood reader, so having a set list of what I want to tackle is more than likely not going to happen, but nice to try and focus on stuff that I have been wanting to read for a while. Especially when indecision inevitably happens. And also I really shouldn’t have 23 books I haven’t read 👀 (at Weltevredenpark, Gauteng, South Africa) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm6x6K8r64S/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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2-3-23 means 23 for $23!! Starting now, 23 items are $23 each through February 9th, 2023! Get more than 50% off on some items (like this ADORABLE new dress!) Ready to add new favorites to your wardrobe? Here's the link: https://ift.tt/reXS5gO (or click the link in our story!) #soulflowerbuds #letyoursoulflower #23for23 https://instagr.am/p/CoNJmm4ukEQ/
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23FOR23 ⟶ Day 2: Favourite Disney Film - Hercules
For a true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.
#DisneyEdit#disney#AnimationEdit#disneydaily#mickeyandcompany#Hercules#HerculesEdit#mine*#mygifs#23for23#[this colouring is all over the place but *insert shrug face*]#1k#2k#3k#4k#(HOW?!?!)#5k#(seriously how?!?!)
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Desiderio, asam matuto sa Gilas program
Ni ERNEST HERNANDEZ
INAMIN ni University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons scoring machine Paul Desiderio na maging siya ay nabigla nang malamang kabilang sa Gilas #23for23.
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1/23 : later when you grow up
dear my (future) daughter
i’ve been learning about Duval life cycles, it explained 8 stages of individual lives, but i’m not going to start this posting explaining about my homework, lets talk about the understudied human bond between mother(/father) and their daughter/son, between you and me.
later when you turn into ‘adult’ phase, like most species emm lets say in Kingdom Animalia, parents will treat differently their child when they turn into an adult. of course, for us, homo sapiens, we have some extra privileges, i mean, it is more complicated than ‘abandon’ their kids into feeding and predator attacks and jengjeng they magically survive.
truth to be told, this is the truth of growing up, let me tell you
for your first decades, like my parents had made most of my decisions for me. i will do it for you, pick the town you born, your first school, books you could read, and so on, later when you grow up, maybe you will realize, that i could be wrong, too, that i am an ordinary human and sometimes you know better. there are possibilities you may fail to accept our different perspective and get disappointed, in case we come to that point, i wish you could take wiser road; remind me that we could sit together over dinner, or we could stay over the night. at that time, maybe i’ll take your opinion into account, start seeing you as an adult.
later when you grow up, you’ll get into the point to let me off the chart as number one person who you look up to for your guidance. at that time, forgive yourself, and its okay for me also because i (we both) know that i (every parent) have exclusive shelf, whose saying and deeds stored properly in our mind as a life guide.
later when you grow up, i’ll rely you on certain thing, you’ll get to take the ‘parent’ role every once in a while. because we made for another. it is a very simple and yet wonderful concept, don’t you think? (indeed, i should say, it is a privilege (and blessing) to have enough time to be parents for their parent)
on top of that later when you grow up, i will nag differently, like when i ask you “when are you getting married?” instead of, “are you happy?”, remember one thing, that i still want the best for you, always.
selamat ulang tahun bapak :)
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September was a good month for reading ! I've already started on my first October book, Black Leopard Red Wolf. I can tell you right now it's unlike anything I've read before, is dark as heck, and I'm loving it.
I've got three books under my belt for the 23for23 challenge so far, here's to twenty more. 📚🏳️🌈👏
#noahs book recs#september reads#books i read#october reads#fall books#queer books#queer bipoc books#bipoc books#book recommendations#fantasy books#house of always#the salt grows heavy#the mermaid the witch and the sea#criers war#witchmark#kings of the wyld#silver in the wood#drowned country#bro and the beast#silver under nightfall#black leopard red wolf#the alchemy under moonlight#venom and vow#light from uncommon stars
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I started the month strong by cracking, buying the last two books, and finishing Sierra Simone's Thornchapel series (here are my final thoughts), and then mostly spent the rest of the month on ARCs (see below) and a pretty diverse array of romances. All in all a great month!
Bed Me, Baron by Felicity Niven (releases September 7th)
I haven't had this much fun reading a historical romance in a long time. It's one of those romances that start off relatively light and frivolous (and there's an immediate "teach me" moment), but by the end, it really packs an emotional punch. For my full analysis on friends-to-lovers and the daddy of it all, here's my review.
Full Moon Over Freedom by Angelina M. Lopez (releases September 5th)
I'm not one to read romances with magic in them, but Angelina wrote wrote this deeply cultural and spiritual take on magic and superstition and intertwined it with the romance masterfully. Here's my full review.
The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy (releases September 26th)
This book felt particularly special to me because the heroine is a first-generation immigrant and retains both her family's Palestinian culture and that classic can-do American spirit. The cultural rep as well as the feminist legal themes are compelling reasons for why we should be reading and writing more historical romances set later in the Victorian era. Here's my review.
It Had to Be a Duke by Vivienne Lorret (releases November 28th)
Adorable, hysterical, full review coming in a couple months, but here are my reactions.
What Was Meant To Be by Heather Guerre
Small-town romance done right. This one really hit on an emotional level; Rain has been under her father's thumb her entire adult life and was never given the resources and support she needed as someone with autism. As a result, she finds herself coerced into marry Wes, a guy in rural Wisconsin she's never met, so Wes can get the property he needs for his resort (basically a dowry :/). What follows is heartbreaking and uplifting at once: Rain begins to exercise her independence and she and Wes slowly come around to an tentative understanding. This is a book where fucking leads to feelings and there are some great sex scenes in this one. Rain is the dominant one in their sexual relationship, and Wes is 100% here for it... a Good Boy, if you will. It's a soft domme vibe but effective and very natural in my opinion, and I would love to read more of this dynamic in romance novels.
Knockout by Sarah MacLean
I knocked this one out in a day (here are my final thoughts). Plotwise my favorite in the Hell's Belles series (a series of mysterious targeted explosions? come on), and the romance between Imogen and Tommy was a perfectly done Grumpy/Sunshine. Also, if you weren't imagining Detective Inspector William 'The Duke' Wellington while reading Tommy Peck, you were reading it wrong.
Rules of Engagement by Christina Dodd
If there's one thing Christina Dodd excels at, it's writing a bitchy hero in that early 2000s kind of way. Kerrich has a little St. Vincent in him; his biggest issue (apart from his trauma from accidentally mooning the King of England after he fell off a trellis because he saw a girl naked) is that alllll his servants find him so hot they can't help but proposition him, so he decides to find the ugliest governess, procure a child, and become "respectable" thanks to a blackmail threat. Also, he does unironically wear a monocle and I'm here for it. Pamela is the kind of pragmatic heroine I love: she's willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, but when push comes to shove, she feels very little shame in seeking pleasure.
The Prize by Julie Garwood
If you find yourself missing the Lillian-Westcliff dynamic but perhaps want to see it play out in a medieval setting, then this is your book! Royce is a hypercompetent Norman lord, and Nicholaa (yes there's an extra 'a' there) is, as the blurb perfectly puts it, a "resourceful, rebellious and utterly naive" Saxon lady. In the grand theme of Westcliff, there was definitely some conversation about how it was "unlike" Royce to do some not-entirely-consensual stuff during the deflowering scene, to which I say no, it really was... in character. Man was on the brink.
But if that's your jam, then you'll probably enjoy this one.
Redhawk Reunion series by Robin Covington
I found a new favorite Harlequin Desire series this month! The Redhawk Reunion series is about three siblings of Native American descent who were removed from their parents' home by CPS without cause and separated (I strongly urge everyone to look into Indian Adoption Project, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and Haaland v. Brackeen to learn more because it used to be upsettingly common due to government policy). Adam, the hero of the first book, hires PI Tess to find his long-lost siblings and they fall into a FWB situation with a side of secret REVENGE. The second book involves Adam's sister Sarina, who accidentally marries his business partner Justin in Vegas, and they too end up in a FWB situation except, well, as a married (for convenience) couple. As far as Harlequin Desires go, both are top-notch and deliver exactly what you want from this imprint.
Also, I believe the next book is supposed to be about Adam and Sarina's brother Roan and the President of the United States' daughter, whose portrait he's supposed to be painting and I'm VERY excited for that.
#trivia's book round-up#book recs#romance novels#felicity niven#angelina m lopez#diana quincy#vivienne lorret#heather guerre#sarah maclean#christina dodd#julie garwood#robin covington#historical romance#contemporary romance#harlequin#sierra simone#23for23
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Weekly Book Recs: 9/22-9/29
Duke of Depravity by Scarlett Scott
A very classic historical--pair a drunken, PTSD-ridden war veteran duke with a takes-no-shit governess who's actually spying on him because he's suspected of treason? It's delicious. This is the first time I've read Scarlett Scott, and I love the heat to her books, the wit and sense of humor matched with melodramatic emotion. The air is a bit... Tessa Dare meets Elizabeth Hoyt. Which is a really good combo, I've gotta say. Will definitely read more from her soon.
The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee by Annika Martin
Annika Martin's Billionaires of Manhattan series always evokes the sense of a truly great cinematic romcom. A lot of "romcom" novels are not actually funny, and she has such an upbeat sense of humor in her writing, along with some serious sex appeal. I didn't love the third installment after super enjoying the first two, but this one was a return to form--it may be my favorite yet. You pair a hairdresser obsessed with daytime soaps and Hello Kitty on a yacht with her stern client who hates everything she represents (... or rather, he's obsessed with everything she represents) and force them into a fake relationship... You have magic. Actually, fake dating is so ubiquitous in contemporary at the moment that it often doesn't work--but here, it so does. A fabulous "grumpy hero has a love realization" moment included.
The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert
Kind of wild that I've been bitching about being bored with fake dating lately, only to recommend two fake dating books back to back. But in my defense a) they're both really good and b) they both came out a few years ago, back before the trope was quite so exhausted. Anyway! This is great. I'm a sucker for a good royal romance, and this hits. Ruben's a very "nice guy in the streets, fuck you and leave (consensual) bruises in the sheets" type of hero, which is difficult to resist. And he's a Danish-ish prince! But where Talia Hibbert really excels is in writing great heroines, and Cherry is no exception. No nonsense yet bratty (in other words, the ideal match for Ruben) with a tough veneer that masks a very sweet, very kind heart. It's super hot--there's a moment where he tells her he likes to take control in bed, and has an "oral fetish", as if these are potential problems--but it has a soft center. TW: domestic violence (not between the couple). #23for23
Her Errant Earl by Scarlett Scott
A classic "marriage in trouble by way of his dipshittery" book, short and sweet--or not so sweet. I personally enjoy a cheating book. In this case, Will and Victoria never really had a relationship before he began cheating; he marries her to appease his father, sleeps with her once, and is off on his way for six months. But it doesn't hurt her any less, and so you have a lot of groveling, some secret keeping, and plenty of righteous anger on her part. It's not complicated, and it could stand to be a bit longer. But if you want a good long grovel with actual misdeeds to make up for? This is it.
Her Lovestruck Lord by Scarlett Scott
Another "low-down cheating dog" book, as the second installment of Scott's Wicked Husbands series (a series with a premise for me if there ever was one). In this case, however, Maggie's husband Simon never bothered to consummate the marriage before ditching her--because he was already in love with a married woman, who subsequently dumped his ass, leading him to accidentally deflower his wife at a masked sex party, during which she was planning on cucking him in revenge. Whew. And I kind of fucking loved this one. Whereas Will of Errant is a rake through and through, Simon is stern. And possessive as fuck. And so confused, because he does not love wife!!! But why is wife all he can think about??? Why wife so pretty??? This one is for the "alpha male is downed by love" crowd, with a charming heroine and a third act twist that I didn't love, but--I did love the subsequent angst. Definitely scratched an itch.
#romance novel blogging#book recs#weekly book recs#books#book reviews#also read and super enjoyed the ever so angsty soulbound by kristen callihan#and am adoring forevermore so far#but! i don't think those two truly stand alone and so i'm not including them here
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Hippie New Year to everyone from all our buds here at Soul Flower! 💛 Here's to riding into 2022 with sustainability and positivity at the forefront of our minds. Cheers to a brighter, greener future! What are your goals this year?! Comment below :D #hippienewyear #hippievibes #happynewyear #23for23 #2023 #ecogifts #soulflowerbuds #letyoursoulflower https://instagr.am/p/Cm6griwu-4K/
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23FOR23 ⟶ Day 6: Prequel, Original, or Sequel Star Wars Trilogy - Original Trilogy
May The Force Be With You
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