Tag: romance

Twelve Diverse Books Flying Under the Radar

Olivia Chanel13 Comments

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Hi everyone, welcome to my new blog post with a few diverse books I love but feel are underrated and are flying under the radar among book circles. In this blog post, I have 12 diverse books that I’ve read and loved, that also have less than 50 reviews on Amazon. Moreover, some of the books also have less than 100 ratings on Goodreads. I have marked these books with a star (✯). These 12 books are in need of some love, and I hope you’ll find a new gem to read and review among these.

The first four books that I definitely feel need more loving are,

 

  • Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw (✯). Goodreads & Amazon link. This book is about a fat bisexual woman of color who also happens to be a werebear and a fashionista. The ship is really cute, and I love how they play scrabble together.
  • Fragile Chaos by Amber R. Duell (✯). Goodreads & Amazon link. Fragile Chaos is about the god of war and his sacrificial bride. This ship is on fire, there is serious chemistry, and I love the entire world with the gods and goddesses.
  • The Little Queen by Meia Geddes (✯). Goodreads & Amazon link. This is a novella written in the style of a fairytale about a young queen who goes on adventures to learn about herself and on her journey falls in love with another young girl.
  • The Paths We Choose by Maria Hollis. Goodreads & Amazon link. This book is a new adult story about two girls in a no strings attached relationship who fall in love and find out that there is something more between them.

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ARC Review of Illegal Contact by Santino Hassell

Olivia Chanel2 Comments
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Illegal Contact by Santino Hassell

Publication Date: August 15, 2017.

Publisher: InterMix.

Genres: Romance, Sports, LGBT, and Contemporary.

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Purchase here: Amazon

Synopsis: The rules of the game don’t apply off the field in this first Barons novel. 

New York Barons tight end Gavin Brawley is suspended from the team and on house arrest after a video of him brawling goes viral. Gavin already has a reputation as a jerk with a temper on and off the field—which doesn’t help him once he finds himself on the wrong side of the law. And while he’s been successful professionally, he’s never been lucky when it comes to love.

Noah Monroe is a recent college grad looking for a job—any job—to pay off his mounting student debt. Working as Gavin’s personal assistant/babysitter seems like easy money. But Noah isn’t prepared for the electrifying tension between him and the football player. He’s not sure if he’d rather argue with Gavin or tackle him to the floor. But both men know the score, and neither is sure what will happen once Gavin’s timeout is over…

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Thank you, InterMix, for my e-ARC of Illegal Contact. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review; this does not affect my opinion. Any quotes mentioned below are taken from the ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Illegal Contact by Santino Hassell has become one of my favorite romance reads of the year and has shown me how romance is done right. This dislike to love story between Gavin and Noah will surprise you and draw you in like you never saw coming. If you want a sports romance between two men that manages to be both cute, sexy and has that little extra look no further. Illegal Contact is it for you. As my first Santino Hassell book, Illegal Contact has cemented me as a fan and I need to read the rest of Hassell’s work as soon as I can.

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SURPRISE: I’m doing #ARCAugust ✯ Featuring My Entire August TBR

Olivia Chanel2 Comments

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Hi, galaxy travelers and readers! As the title of this post suggests, I made a last minute decision to, for the second year in a row, join ARC August hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat. Last year I thought it went so-so for me since I didn’t read the books I wanted to go through during the month. However, I’m excited to give it another shot this year. Especially since I’m actually reading a lot more this summer. I’m very excited to share my August TBR with you all.

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The ARCs I want to get through during August are the following,

 

I have a few ARC requests pending so I might also add a few more books to my TBR before the month is over. I’m really hoping I’ll be accepted for them, but we’ll see how it goes.

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ARC Review of The Queen’s Game by Carla de Guzman

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The Queen’s Game by Carla de Guzman

Publication Date: August 1, 2017.

Publisher: Independently published.

Genres: Romance.

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Purchase here: Amazon

Synopsis: There are only two reasons why Nina would come back home to Cincamarre–one, if Auntie Delia promises to stop butting into her business, two, if her father died and she was made to ascend the throne to be queen.

Unfortunately for her, it was the second thing that brought her home.

As a princess who’s sunk a yacht and been caught kissing popstars, it’s easy for her aunt, the regent, to think she’s ill prepared for the throne. But Nina doesn’t think that having to fake date Felipe, the handsome, squeaky clean Prince of Concordia was the best solution for that.

Nina’s ready to learn the ropes of her new role and make it hers, and reconnecting with Felipe only makes her want to be a better queen. But is the monarchy ready for Queen Nina?

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Thank you, Carla de Guzman, for my advanced review copy of The Queen’s Game. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review; this does not affect my opinion. Any quotes mentioned below are taken from the ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

I am in love with The Queen’s Game and this contemporary romance story featuring Filipino main characters. As soon as I saw the blurb I knew I had to read it. I have a weak spot for contemporary royalty and mix that with #romanceclass and you know it’s a winner. This story features a princess, Nina, and a prince, Felipe, who grew up side by side because of their neighboring nations, Cincamarre and Concordia. Later on, in life, they reunite when Nina returns after several years of travel to attend her father’s, the king’s, funeral. What then begins is a story of a fake relationship that turns into something real. This book has royalty, fake dating and childhood friends; this book has it all.

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ARC Review of The Little Queen by Meia Geddes

Olivia Chanel2 Comments
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The Little Queen by Meia Geddes

Publication Date: August 1, 2017.

Publisher: Poetose Press.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, and Fantasy.

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Purchase here: Amazon

Synopsis: When her mother and father pass away, the little queen must figure out how to be a little queen. And so she begins her adventures, journeying away from her palace and into the world to determine how she should go about going on. The little queen soon encounters numerous folks who teach her a thing or two: the book sniffer, the dream writer, and the architect of silence are just a few. Along the way, the little queen finds friendship, love, and meaning in being a leader in her world. The Little Queen is a magical exploration of self-discovery, vocation, community, and home.

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Thank you, Poetose Press, for my eARC of The Little Queen. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review; this does not affect my opinion. Any quotes mentioned below are taken from the ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

The Little Queen by Meia Geddes starts with two simple sentences that lay the basis for the entire story: “On a little world, upon a little hill, a little tear fell down a little face. A little girl was now a little queen.” The story follows a little queen who lost her parents and is now trying to figure out how she can be a little queen, and if it’s something she can be. She is filled with insecurities and a bit of sadness too. To figure it all out, the little queen goes on several adventures and meets a lot of different women that teach her lessons about life and about who she is. Along the way, she even falls in love with a girl.

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Saturday Night Author Fever #9 with Maria Hollis

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Hi everyone and welcome to my interview series Saturday Night Author Fever, where I interview authors with a bit of a 70s music and diversity theme. I personally love 70s music, especially disco music, and sometimes on Friday nights when no one is looking you can find me dancing to classic 70s songs such as September, Bennie and the Jets and We Are Family. However, books are my true passion and because of this, I thought it would be a great idea to mix my two loves and start this interview series. The questions will be similar every week, but with a new author every time, and I hope you’ll enjoy the answers as much as I have. Now let’s get this party started!

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This Saturday Night we welcome Maria Hollis. Thank you so much for sitting down with me today in my galaxy of books.

Maria, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your books? What do you think about 70s music?

I’m Maria Hollis and I write F/F stories, usually romance and paranormal. My contemporary New Adult series is called Lillac Town and has two novellas published so far. The Melody of You and Me is about a girl who dropped out of school, is feeling a little bit lost in life and suddenly finds herself falling for her new coworker. And The Paths We Choose is about two girls who have a one night stand and need to figure out if they want something beyond that. It also touches in the subject of homophobic families and how the main girl had to leave her home because she wasn’t accepted there. All of them have happy endings and hopeful stories for women who love other women.

I love 70’s music! I grew up listening to this kind of sound because it’s the music from when my parents were young. So, I was used to it since I was a kid and until today they are still listening to it and influencing my taste.

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Everything You Need To Know About Reading Contemporary Poetry (with 40+ Recommendations)

Olivia Chanel13 Comments

Hi, galaxy travelers and book readers! Today is all about poetry, contemporary poetry to be exact. Have you been wanting to read poetry, especially contemporary poetry, but have no idea where to start or what books to read? Look no further, I’m here to help. Let’s start with the definition of poetry if you’re a newcomer to the subject.

Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language — such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre — to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning (Wikipedia).

First of all, here are some quick facts that are good to remember about poetry. The thing about poetry is that it’s an art form you can consume in any way you like. There are poetry collections about love, about nature, self-growth and so much more. There are long poems, short poems, poems written in the form of a sonnet, haiku or in free verse. The possibilities when it comes to poetry are endless. What I personally love about poetry is the fact that I find them easy to read and that the really great ones have both inspired me and made me take a deeper look at myself and my life to relate to what is being said on the page. That’s why I prefer contemporary poetry over older poetry because it feels that much easier to relate to. Because of this, I have a couple of contemporary poetry collection recommendations for you all.

To make it easier to navigate the recommendations I’ve marked the books written by LGBTQIA+ authors with (❃) and authors of color with (⬖). I have marked my personal favorites with (♕) and the free ones are marked with (ツ).

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The first six poetry collections I have to recommend you are,

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ARC Review of Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw

Olivia Chanel4 Comments
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Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw

Publication Date: July 18, 2017.

Publisher: Book Smugglers Publishing.

Genres: Romance and Paranormal.

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Purchase here: Amazon

Synopsis: Zelda McCartney (almost) has it all: a badass superhero name, an awesome vampire roommate, and her dream job at a glossy fashion magazine (plus the clothes to prove it).

The only issue in Zelda’s almost-perfect life? The uncontrollable need to transform into a werebear once a month. Just when Zelda thinks things are finally turning around and she lands a hot date with Jake, her high school crush and alpha werewolf of Kensington, life gets complicated. Zelda receives an unusual work assignment from her fashionable boss: play bodyguard for devilishly charming fae nobleman Benedict (incidentally, her boss’s nephew) for two weeks.

Will Zelda be able to resist his charms long enough to get together with Jake? And will she want to? Because true love might have been waiting around the corner the whole time in the form of Janine, Zelda’s long-time crush and colleague. What’s a werebear to do?

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Thank you, Book Smugglers Publishing, for my eARC of Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review; this does not affect my opinion. Any quotes mentioned below are taken from the ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

I love Bearly a Lady and the main character Zelda McCartney. This book is funny, cute and sexy. It is impossible not to enjoy the characters and their banter, chemistry, and tension. I love the world Cassandra Khaw has created, with shapeshifters, vampires, and fae etc., and I want to see more of it. Seriously, give me more of both the main ship and the world. Not to forget, the book is also really feminist and calls out bullshit like no other. We deserve to see more of that, especially in romance.

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Saturday Night Author Fever #8 with Jay E. Tria

Olivia ChanelLeave a comment

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Hi everyone and welcome to my interview series Saturday Night Author Fever, where I interview authors with a bit of a 70s music and diversity theme. I personally love 70s music, especially disco music, and sometimes on Friday nights when no one is looking you can find me dancing to classic 70s songs such as September, Bennie and the Jets and We Are Family. However, books are my true passion and because of this, I thought it would be a great idea to mix my two loves and start this interview series. The questions will be similar every week, but with a new author every time, and I hope you’ll enjoy the answers as much as I have. Now let’s get this party started!

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(gif source)*

This Saturday Night we welcome Jay E. Tria. Thank you so much for sitting down with me today in my galaxy of books.

Jay, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your books? What do you think about 70s music?

Hi, my name is Jay E. Tria. I’m an author born and bred and living in the Philippines. I like walking and flying (via plane, no wings), so I try to do those as often as I can. I am a proud and grateful member of #romanceclass, a community of Filipino authors and readers. I write contemporary romance, these days mostly about Pinoy indie rock boys and girls and a Japanese idol. I’ve written YA too, a Japanese high school romance where I poured out all my J-dorama/manga dork feels. Also YA urban fantasy, about a beautiful ghost haunting the best friend she left behind.

I think 70s music is funky and bright and edgy and is the perfect soundtrack to get people up and dancing. My parents are fans of this music era, so I have fond memories of waking up every Sunday hating that the radio is so loud and that the songs are so big but eventually getting into the vibe and learning all the lyrics.

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Cover Reveal for Ripped Pages by Maria Hollis

Olivia Chanel6 Comments

Hi everyone, welcome to another fun post I have for you today. I have a cover reveal for Maria Hollis’ next book Ripped Pages and both this cover and the synopsis just blows me away. An f/f Rapunzel retelling? This sounds too damn amazing. I cannot wait to get to read this thing. I know you’re waiting so without further ado here is the cover for Ripped Pages.

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