On the Shelf: November 2021

Good news! I already have one of my favorite books of 2022! Farah Heron's hilarious and heartfelt Kamila Knows Best! No spoilers, but it's such a good friends-to-lovers romance and a fresh twist on Emma. It will also totally make you crave biriyani. Meanwhile, back in this year, I immersed myself in the world of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova. She's one of my auto-buys, and her first foray into hardcover adult fiction is ambitious and lyrical and kept me turning pages late into the night. 

I then traveled all the way back to some historical romance! Jess Michaels' sexy and sweet Princes Are Wild is the middle of a series, and it ensured that I will be waiting for the next two Regency Royals titles! I hopped to paranormal as Holley Trent wraps her Norseton Wolves series with Watcher and, of course, I inhaled Beverly Jenkins' romantic suspense novella. It's always a treat when this historical romance legend pops into the present  and gives us a present!     

The Reading Rundown
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova (mainstream fiction, magical realism)
A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria (contemporary romance)
Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron (out 3/8/22, contemporary romance, Jane Austen retelling)
Rare Danger by Beverly Jenkins (romantic suspense)
Princes Are Wild by Jess Michaels (historical romance)
Watcher by Holley Trent (paranormal romance)
Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells (erotic thriller, dark romance)

Backlist adventures: I went down a genre rabbit hole, which led me to Jill Sorenson's Riding Dirty and Shooting Dirty from 2015. She was a little ahead of the current "dark romance" boom, IMHO, taking her motorcycle club books that one step further to where everybody is shady/a criminal. And they're a continuation of her Aftershock series. I devoured these like potato chips. They are definitely lizard brain books.

On the TBR/wish list
If You Love Something by Jayce Ellis
Truth, Lies, and Mr. Grey by Shelly Ellis
D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins
Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
Fake it Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley