It’s February, so please allow me to review three recent romantic reads for you!
A satisfying romantic novel needs three things: creative communication, a scintillating setting, and emotional devastation. ❤️
Creative Communication
Hidden Love Letters ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In November, I read Secretly Yours, by Tessa Bailey.
So your longtime crush jogs the same path, shirtless, daily. Is that reason to leave an anonymous love note? Oh…oh, she’s actually doing it. Well, it’s not worse than theft, or vandalism, or day drinking to support a friend’s wine shop. Hallie is dealing with life just fine.
Cooking For Love ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In December, I read The Romantic Agenda, by Claire Kann.
All the ingredients are here. One’s a casual baker, another’s a culinary perfectionist, a third is smitten, and the fourth? Well, he’s never tasted anything so unexpectedly sweet.
PDA At Work ⭐️⭐️⭐️
In January, I read the audiobook The Love Hypothesis, by Ali Hazelwood.
Academics barely have time to eat, much less to date. Olive prefers her friendships to potential romance, anyway. But what if her friend needs her to find love? Faking it with a colleague is the obvious choice. Hypothesis: Kissing Adam will solve everything.
Immersive Destination
Romance blooms in unlikely places. Did you expect a tropical vacation? A beach in Greece, perhaps a charming villa? Nope.
Research Lab ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Love Hypothesis opens with frazzled Olive caught out in a lie. She’s at the lab, not on a date getting over her ex. Unfortunately, no one has work-life balance, so Anh sees her, and so does the unpleasant professor who she hastily kisses! Flickering fluorescents? Not so romantic.
A Woodsy Cabin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Romantic Agenda centers around a weekend in the woods. The cabin is more of a large house. Requirements: a boating lake, a full kitchen, and a reason to take secluded hikes. The location didn’t add much to the plot, but it was complicit to the drama!
A Vineyard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Secretly Yours provides a more traditional romance setting. Hallie, a gardener, has been infatuated with vineyard heir Julian for years. While determined to write his novel, Julian finds himself distracted by wine-related small town drama.
While the research lab was creative, and the cabin was fun, Tessa Bailey’s small town vibes charmed me the most! ❤️
Emotional Devastation
Grief Isn’t Sane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In Secretly Yours, Tessa Bailey writes grief like it’s a mutating beast. I wasn’t expecting such unapologetic truth from a wine-centered romance. Trauma isn’t pretty, but a shared understanding might help two lost souls breathe again.
Fear Of Rejection ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For friendship, Olive Smith kisses Adam Carlson. Because her friend is watching. And lying is apparently what she does to preserve her found family.
Ali Hazelwood is a friendship genius, devoting pages of The Love Hypothesis to lighthearted ease and unbreakable bonds. I appreciate that the romance doesn’t strangle the friendships in the story.
As a neurodivergent woman, I feel pretty represented here! I’m sure many academics, like Olive, are neurospicy, which comes with a learned fear of rejection. Best to choose friends who value your humor, brains, and intensity!
Breaking Down ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Claire Kann’s The Romantic Agenda has broken and healed me. I’m still fondly recalling awkward bonding moments between friends and lovers. Everyone grew. No one was spared the pain.
Main character, Joy, is heartbroken over her best friend, Malcolm. Malcolm is hoping to introduce his bestie to his potential wife during a perfectly planned weekend. How far will Joy go to preserve the peace? Should she stop hiding?
Memorable Reads
All three novels were packed full of quirkiness and depth, setting up and exploring real issues.
The Romantic Agenda: prejudice, amatonormativity, gender bias.
The Love Hypothesis: systemic issues in academia, consent, neurodivergence (implicit).
Secretly Yours: grief, trauma, mental health.
Call it whatever you like – a rom-com, a contemporary fic, or a fluffy romance – but my favorite authors will break my heart. 💔
Thanks for reading!
– Do you agree these three components equal a quality romance?
– What did you read for Love Month?
– I didn’t rate the spicy content because I don’t care about the spice! 🌶️ Do you read Ali Hazelwood and Tessa Bailey for the spice?
Check out last year’s Book Love!
❤️❤️❤️
Voice of Reason 