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Cozy Contemporary Fantasies: With All My Haunted Heart and The Vampire Knitting Club

8 Sep
Cover of With All My Haunted Heart by Isabel Sterling Image of two young women kissing at night in front of a Victorian Style House in which all the lights are lit. Quote from Stephanie Burgis, USA Today Bestselling Author of Enchanting the Fae Queen says "A gorgeous queer romance full of both literal and metaphorical ghosts and magic."

With All My Haunted Heart
by Isabel Sterling
Paranormal Sapphic romance fans will be enamored With All My Haunted Heart by Isabel Sterling. Pippa’s magic business has been suffering due to a new competitor opening in town, when she is asked by an owner of a B&B to help haunt her new business in order to have a marketing gimmick to encourage guests to stay there. Usually Pippa only banishes ghosts, rather than make them appear, but her need for cash and her feelings towards Elle have her using her magic in potentially dangerous new ways. I enjoyed the relationship dynamic between the couple, but also how the novel handled issues of friendship and family estrangement. The romance is the focus of the story, but there is also strong world building with a society were only a small portion of the population are witches and many have chosen to only use their powers for healing in order not to upset the larger nonmagical populace, which felt like an analogy for some larger societal issues in our own world. With All My Haunted Heart is categorized as adult fiction, but if you also enjoy YA literature as well, you can check out Sterling’s teen witch series, These Witches Don’t Burn.

The Vampire Knitting Club
by Nancy Warren
The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren will appeal to both those who enjoy cozy mysteries as well as contemporary paranormal romance fans. Lucy is getting over a breakup with a cheating ex-boyfriend when she travels to Oxford, England to visit her grandmother, who owns a knitting shop. When she arrives she learns that her grandmother has passed away and though she is told it was due to natural causes, Lucy is suspicious. The audiobook narrated by Sarah Zimmerman kept me entertained on my work commute, although I felt the narrator’s tone was a bit snarkier then the character seemed intended by the author. The book is the first in a continuing series with 15 books and a novella length prequel about one of Lucy’s love interest as well as a Christmas novella, and a spinoff series starring one of Lucy’s friends. If you prefer your romances closed door and sweet rather than spicy as well as mysteries and fantasies without gore than this would be a great pick. Warren also has written the The Great Witches Baking Show series for those who enjoy foodie fiction.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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LGBTQ Romances: One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker and Delilah Green Doesn’t Care

28 Jan

If you love our blog, than we have some great news; starting in February new posts will go live twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Here are two romances perfect for some Valentine’s Day reading.

One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker
by Timothy Janovsky
One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker is a sweet grownup romance twist on the Willy Wonka story. In this version Charlie is an adult and aspiring tattoo artist though his blue collar family is still poor and desperately in need of cash. His version of a golden ticket comes when he finds an advertisement for a match making contest to win the heart of the scion of a famous Italian chocolatier family, Dario Cotogna. He is one of five contestants (representing a range of genders since Dario is pansexual) who slowly drop off as in the book (and movies) that the story takes its inspiration from. Dario suffers from agoraphobia and his late grandfather set the competition in motion as a way to push him out of his comfort zone and hopefully find a partner. What at first was simply a way for each man to meet their transactional goals becomes much more. It was fun seeing how Janovsky took the material from one of my early childhood favorites and shaped it into something though recognizable was still new and infused with added depth. The story is very much written in Janovsky’s own voice rather than mimicking Dahl’s quirky, but occasionally a bit dark and cynical literary style. Whether you are a fan of the original story or just like a fun romance this should be a treat; you can also check out Janovsky’s other romance novels Never Been Kissed and You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince and New Adult.

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care
by Ashley Herring Blake
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care is a fun romance between Delilah, a former high school misfit and now successful photographer, and Claire, a single mom who was also one of her step sister’s cool clique. The two meet again during the wedding prep for Delilah’s step sister, Astrid’s wedding. Their meeting brings up some old hurts from their high school days, but also sparks of attraction. The story does a nice job of depicting individuals working through complex family and friendship dynamics. Besides the romance between Claire and Delilah there is also a un-romance plot where they and Astrid’s other friends try and break up the wedding which they are sure will doom Astrid to unhappiness due to her truly horrible fiancé. I thought Kristen DiMercurio did a nice job narrating the audiobook that I enjoyed listening to. If you enjoy this story, you can also borrow several other sapphic romances by Ashley Herring Blake including Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail, Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date, and Dream On, Ramona Riley.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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