LGBTQ+

Part rom-com part dramedy, Mrs. Nash’s Ashes has a stellar premise on paper that convinced me to pick it up blindly despite this type of romance genre being hit or miss for me. With an opposites attract setup, a long-lost LGBT love from the 1940’s, and a road trip featuring classic rock tunes, Sarah Adler’s Mrs. Nash’s Ashes has a winning combo that grabbed my attention from the get-go. The comedic elements and dialogue are stellar and the back and forth between the emotional and romantic Millie vs the detached and logical Hollis are easily the strongest bits of the novel. Unfortunately, I found the this book was full of missed opportunities to do more with its narrative and the conclusion veering off in an unexpected and disappointing direction. The Miss. Sunshine and Mr. Overcast Grouch is a classic trope for a reason and Mrs. Nash’s Ashes is no exception. I found the witty banter and comedic timing to be spot-on with the best moments involving Millie doing something random or poorly thought out and Hollis reacting in stony disbelief. I liked the chemistry between the two leads, and I enjoyed the story the most when it was just the…

I picked this up off of another Amazon Kindle algorithm suggestion which was a surprisingly specific choice that had me amused. It managed to find a novel that combined my recent reads involving a silly romcom, mysterious dead bodies, British-set narratives, and an M/M LGBTQ+ focal couple. It’s honestly quite an impressive of feat (even though the dead bodies discoveries are more of a plot device to get Ray out of his house, this is decidedly not a murder mystery or investigative story). Reviewing and critiquing Isabel Murray’s Not That Complicated is akin to reviewing and critiquing a risqué reality tv dating show. They’re meant to be simple entertaining affairs full of salacious situations and R-rated spice, not shooting to be the most ambitious or critical experiences. It knows exactly what the assignment was and delivers a flamboyantly over the top, outrageous romcom story managing to get Ray and his youthful love-interest Adam together in multiple steamy scenes. While there’s obviously a lot of bedroom action to be had (not my cup of tea but quite hot, I think?), I found Not That Complicated to consistently be funnier than it needed to be. “You can’t buy me any more than…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. A Holiday TV-movie taken straight off ABC family given a queer spin with harder hits and surprisingly solid pacing, in Boy Meets Boy #2 Janovsky takes everything that was good in #1 and refines it. While I enjoyed the first book in the series, I sometimes felt like I was over-scoring it because of how cute and breezy it felt vs directly looking at its objective qualities. This one beefs up all of the weaker elements with better execution. The pacing is better, characters (especially the side characters) are more developed and complex, the overarching plot being more compelling and involved, I was pleasantly surprised given how predictable most holiday fairs can be. There are still the usual tropes of a Grinch warming to the holiday cheer but the plot twists and it’s conclusion help elevate the material beyond simply being cute. It also helps that the comedy is cranked up to an 11 thanks to the protag’s overdramatic spoiled rich boy persona. The first 50 pages of diva material can be off-putting but we love a good…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. I had a hard time trying to figure out why I couldn’t really get into this one despite the novel having all the elements to be a compelling and romantic read and I think the biggest problem I had was finding the protagonist August and her love interest Jane to be bland and uninspiring. There’s quite a colorful variety of characters of various ethnic backgrounds and sexualities that provide fun group dynamics and banter which help pad out the novel (the side characters are frankly more interesting than the leads), but I felt like the actual core story and romance was thin and lacking development. To their credit McQuiston tries to pull some creative scenes to break up the monotony of repetitive constant scenes all taking place in a subway train car, but I often found myself applauding the effort that went into the book rather than actually enjoying the book. I also felt like there was very little plot progression in the first 250 pages other than establishing that August is out of place in a big…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. As someone who does not like romance or comedy novels, this one was already fighting an uphill battle that it somehow got over (specifically the first 50 or so pages). A feel-good and easy casual read, this is a collegiate-set coming of (young adult) age story written with the unapologetically earnest and rose-tinted glasses tone that made Heartstopper so appealing. At times it tiptoes the line of being corny and cliche, but the witty banter and Wren’s hilariously relatable internal monologues helped to keep it in the perfect sweet spot comfort read for me. The inclusion of the senior and snappy divorcee/widowed character Alice Kelly who serves dual-roles as both a central plot mechanism and as a older social mentor for Wren was refreshing and different from what I’ve read in this genre. Timothy Janovsky also nails the internal battle introverted feeling folks go through when it comes to romance and the novel is filled to the brim with Millenial/Gen Z pop culture references and slang, some of which are incredibly recent or hyper-specific to the target demographics…