Romance
Romance is a genre I really didn't pay much attention to until I was in my mid to late 20's. For clarification I always loved the romance story lines in other genres, I just never read anything that was specifically romance. Here you’ll find my favorite swoon worthy moments, kick your feet on your bed and giggle moments, and cheesy moments that sometimes give you second hand embarrassment (or is that actually just me)? You’re also going to find spicier books in this section as well (STFUATTDLAGG;)) these will be notated just in case that’s not your jam!
The books recommended in this section are intended for mature audiences.
Indigo Ridge
Devney Perry
“I don't think I could quit you if I tried."
"Even if we fight?"
"Especially when we fight.”
Devney Perry- Indigo Ridge
Content Warnings: Murder, Death of Parent, Suicide, Dementia, Car Accident, Violence, Sexually Explicit Material.
This is an Adult Romance
I started listening to this book on Audible while driving back home from seeing Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour and IMMEDIATELY became obsessed. Like obsessed obsessed. Picture in less than two weeks I consumed six of Devney Perry’s books and wouldn’t shut up about how AMAZING they are (I still clearly have yet to stop talking about them).
There are six books and two novellas in this series (The Edens) after Indigo Ridge is” Juniper Hill, Garnet Flats, Jasper Vale, Crimson River, and Sable Peak. The two novellas are Christmas In Quincy, a prequel, and The Edens-A Legacy Short Story also a prequel, which is centered around Anne and Harrison Eden, the parents of the main characters in the rest of the books. I have not read the novellas yet but I am sure they are just as amazing as the rest of her books.
Each book follows a different Eden sibling. Every book is set in Quincy, Montana, a picturesque fictional town that really had be second guessing leaving the small mountain town I lived in, in Wyoming. The Edens are quite affluent however they all know the value of hard work and many of the siblings own businesses around the town or work at family businesses. They are what I always refer to as a "staple family" in a small town like Quincy, you can't imagine Quincy without the Edens and you can't imagine the Edens without Quincy. These staple. This book (and the others) are spicy (contain sexually explicit scenes) and while they are *chefs kiss* I personally thought they were pretty mild. All the books have a cozy hallmark movie vibe, just add a Christmas tree, in the absolute best way! The entire Eden series is currently available on Kindle Unlimited. You’re going to find a mixture of tropes throughout the series, you’ll find the fake marriage trope in Jasper Vale, single dad in Sable Peak, second chance romance in Garnet Flats, ect. What they don’t have is the third act break up trope, this trope isn’t my favorite because I feel like more often than not its the case of a really simple miscommunication issue and it annoys me more than anything. I have read books that have a third act breakup that I genuinely liked, I just think it’s become almost a staple of the romance books I read and it’s rarely done well.
Indigo Ridge follows Griffin Eden, the eldest Eden son, and Winslow Covington. Winslow has come to Quincy to start her new job as the Chief of Police, a difficult enough position without having to convince the entire force and town that she didn't just get the job because her Grandfather is Mayor. Winslow runs into Griffin pretty early on in the book they have a bit of an encounter before she realizes that he's an Eden, so basically Quincy royalty. I think I’d describe Griffin and Winslows relationship as a really mild version of enemies to lovers, there's quite a few tense moments early on in their relationship and a good fight or two as strong personalities mash together. As the oldest Eden Griffin is definitely used to being in charge, telling people what to do, and having them listen. Winslow, being the fierce female she is is ABSOLUTELY not going to do something just because someone tells her to without there being a good reason behind it. When Winslow has to investigate a presumed suicide on the Eden Ranch during her first week on the job you know things are going to get explosive in either a good, bad, or intriguing way between her and Griffin.
Indigo Ridge was a whirlwind for me, I went from literally begging Griffin and Winslow to get over themselves and admit they love each other to being devastated thinking they weren’t going to get a happily ever after. I know most romance novels have an almost guaranteed happily ever after (HEA) but I’ve been burned and emotionally devastated before and now live in fear. It's very suspenseful thriller meets rom-com so if you usually read thrillers and are trying to get into the romance genre this would be a great read for you to do that.
Just a warning these books are addictive. The entire Edens series are standalone books so you can technically read them in any order, however you will get spoilers if you do that. If that’s your thing though and you just like to go off of vibes don’t let me stop you. There are so many kicking your feet and rolling around on your bed squealing moments that I regretted starting and finishing this on a 10 hour drive because you can’t roll and squeal while you’re driving a car unfortunately. If this hasn't convinced you to give this series a try then I don't know what will!
Happy Reading!
Hate
Tate James
“I'm not looking to reconcile with any guy who declares the female orgasm a myth perpetuated by feminazis.”
Tate James- Hate
Content Warnings: Violence, Sexually Explicit Content, Stalking, Panic Attacks/Disorders, Bullying, Gun Violence, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Murder, Drug use,Abandonment, Blood, Car accident
This is an Adult Dark Romance
Ok first thing, The Madison Kate series is a DARK romance series. For dark romances you can expect usually a longer list of content warnings. I always try to provide as many content warnings as I can, the ones listed above are just for the first book in this series. You could also expect to see a lot of anti-heros and morally grey characters or villains in the place of “normal” protagonists. Depending on the book you may see explicit rape or sexual assault scenes, human trafficking, or even child abuse. You’ll also usually most likely see some of the more taboo kinks like knife play or dubious consent. Usually dark romances have content or trigger warnings on the actual book (even on kindle) or it’s pretty accessible without plot spoilers. Most people on “booktok” or “bookstagram” are pretty good about listing content warnings for this type of romance.
Hate starts with the main character MK (Madison Kate) and her friend Bree attending an illegal MMA fight at an abandoned amusement park, The Laughing Clown, on Halloween night in West Shadow Grove. This decision changes the course of MK's life. A series of events leads to MK being sent away by her father. When she returns she's adamant about getting revenge on the three men who she believes caused the events that disrupted the plans she had for the future who are coincidentally the three male main characters: Archer, Kodiak, and Max who I'm actually obsessed with.
From the start I was HOOKED! The Madison Kate series is made up by four full length books: Hate, Liar, Fake, and Kate, with a novella called Vault. The best description I have four this book is similar to a mafia why choose romance. There’s also some enemies to lovers, protective alpha male energy, would burn down the world for her kind of energy happening in this book which I love personally. If you don't know what a why choose romance is think the opposite of a love triangle. Instead of the main character choosing between love interests they choose to have multiple usually three or more at the same time. You may hear why choose romances also described as a reverse harem, the romance world is navigating away form this descriptor for obvious reasons. While there are very explicit spicy scenes(that live in my head rent free all of the time) throughout there is still an underlying plot that is driving the characters. There are also side characters introduced who later get spin off series that make up the entire Shadow Grove Universe. Suggested reading order is: Madison Kate series, Hades series, and The Guild series. I’ve also read the Hades series and it’s just as good as the Madison Kate series.
All the books are currently on Kindle Unlimited, including the spin offs which is amazing because without that I would have spent a SIGNIFICANT amount of money on all of these books. Warning thought Tate James is notorious for leaving you on a major cliff hanger. For this reason I typically wait until her series are complete before I start them otherwise you are in for some significant emotional damage!
Happy Reading!
The Viscount Who Loved Me
Julia Quinn
“And then there was Kate Sheffield.
The bane of his existence.
And the object of his desires.
All at once.”
Julia Quinn- Never Saw Me Coming
Content Warnings: Death of Parent, Sexually Explicit Material, Panic Attacks/Disorders, Grief
This is an Adult Romance
I became obsess with Bridgerton a couple of years ago with everyone else! Wish I could say I knew Bridgerton before the show but I can’t. Anyway, I had no idea that Bridgerton was based on a book series until AFTER I had already binged watched the entirety of season one (season two did not exist yet). Usually I’m a very strict book before show/movie girlie but this one snuck up on me! I immediately HAD to know what happened after Daphnes season and I wanted the physical copy of each book not the kindle version because why would I make anything easy for myself? The physical copies were hard to find for no reason. (there was a reason we were in the middle of the pandemic and everyone did the same thing I did, they just became obsessed when the show actually premiered and not months later). Once I got my hands on the books I FLEW through all of them and I was maybe one of the most difficult things to pick a favorite because I loved them all. The ViscountWho Loved Me has the enemies to lovers trope which is one of my personal favorites so that’s what pushed it to number one for me.
Again, because I don’t make things easy for myself I’ve spent a significant amount of time trying to very specifically find the UK covers for these books, they’re cuter than the versions that I originally bought. I've been able to get my hands on several but I still have a couple that I'm missing. Once I have them all I’ll either donate or resell the extra copies.
The entire Bridgerton Series is seven books (one for each of the children). You don't necessarily HAVE to read them in order but I highly recommended it. If you haven’t noticed I always recommend reading book series in order and that is primarily because my brain is incapable of reading a series out of order. I accidentally read The Robert Langdon, Da Vinci Code book out of order and I’m still bitter about it to the point that haven’t finished the series because of it. I own them all. My personal preferences aside you really can read them in any order, I think the flow and storylines of this series works best in order though.
The Viscount Who Loved me is the second book in the series and follows Anthony Bridgerton the eldest child Bridgerton child and Kate Sheffield, who is also the eldest child in her family. Kate considers herself to be on the shelf, usually meaning you’ve been on the marriage circuit for a few seasons and have be overlooked to the point where it is considered highly unlikely for a match. This is not actually the case for Kate. Kate’s family, her step-mother (a nice one) and her younger sister Edwina., couldn’t afford for her and her sister to each have their own season. Kate decided to defer having a season of her own and is instead focusing on Edwinas and ensuring that Edwina not only finds a match with someone that she loves (or at least likes) who also is wealthy enough to overlook Edwina lack of dowry but also help the family out of financial ruin. The Viscount Who Loved Me is enemies to lovers (is there anything better than a good enemies to lovers because I don’t think here is). I love Kate and Anthony more than you probably should love fictional characters. Several of their more explosive interactions had me dying with laughter. From the first meeting, to an encounter during a horrendous thunderstorm, to the incident with the bee IYKYK, and finally a runaway carriage! I was ROOTING of them every step of the way. They're both impossibly stubborn and fiercely protective of their families. I also loved the Netflix adaptation of both The Duke and I (Daphnes season) and The Viscount Who Loved me. The casting was phenomenal and I liked most of the changes that they made to both! You still get the same “vibe” in the Netflix adaptation as you do in the books, which for me is the sign of a good adaptation.
Something I really liked about the enemies to lovers trope in this book is that it wasn't just a "oh we don't like each other and then BOOM they have like one moment and suddenly they're in love". You actually get to see the inbetween moment. The ones where they still don’t like each other but suddenly can’t stop thinking about or obsessing over the other, while telling themselves how much they hate them. I loved watching Anthony and Kate go from absolutely hating each other to eventually tolerating each other to being in love which is absolute my favorite thing about the enemies to lovers trope. Talk about jump up and down and squealing!
The Viscount Who Loved Me introduces the Bridgerton Family's favorite game, Pall Mall, a surprisingly vicious version of croquet what I think is croquet? Honestly it seems similar to the depiction of croquet in that one version of Alice In Wonderland where she’s a brunette and afraid to sing and that cook screams for more pepper, does anyone else know this one? I swear it may have been a fever dream. Moving on, after reading this book all I wanted to do was play Pall Mall and hopefully one day I will.
In The Viscount Who Loved me you also get to see the other Bridgerton siblings more. Something I love to be honest, I love reading about large family sibling dynamics! Probably because my family is fairly small! Daphne and Simon appear again; and also we start seeing and getting to know Benedict and Collin more which set up their storylines perfectly for the third and forth books.
Again I loved all of the Bridgerton books! After reading these I moved onto the Rokesbys series which is a prequel to the Bridgerton series there are four books in this series and if you read and loved the Bridgerton books you’ll also love the Rokesbys!
Happy Reading!