On the Shelf: January 2022

I'm trying something a little more laid-back in 2022—and that is to let myself read and reread as my heart and my moods dictate. The past few years have become this mad rush to finish front-list titles before or as they release so I can hype them up. And, don't get me wrong, I still want to do that as much as I can, but I also want to take some pressure off myself and remember what solely reading for my own comfort is like. Rereads are just as valid. Older books are just as valid. And who am I competing with besides myself? Come on now, Suleikha! Make this easier on yourself!  

So, per my new groove, January was a great mix of older titles and new books! Weddings were everywhere, like with Chencia C. Higgins' D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding and my friend Mona Shroff's The Five-Day Reunion. I had a whole horror movie and horror novel thing going on. I inhaled two books by the brilliant Silvia Moreno-Garcia. And I joyfully devoured Jess Michaels' 99th book, To Kiss a King. It's classic grumpy/sunshine and opposites-attract historical romance set in a fictional monarchy. And it features the following smokin' hot exchange:

When he looked up at her, she nearly buckled. "There is something so intoxicating about having a king on his knees before me," she said softly.
His cheek twitched. "This king will always go to his knees for you."

Jess and I will be doing an Instagram Live in April, ahead of her 100th book release, so follow our socials for updates on that front! 

The Reading Rundown
The Wedding Set-Up by Sonali Dev (romance, short story/novella)
D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins (contemporary f/f romance)
To Kiss a King by Jess Michaels (historical romance)
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (historical fantasy)
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (historical noir)
The Five-Day Reunion by Mona Shroff (contemporary romance)
The Wicked House of Rohan by Anne Stuart (historical romance, dark romance, short story)

Backlists and rereads: I kicked off the year with a revisit to The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller, which I first read back in 2020. Then I went back to 2002 with Robert R. McCammon's Speaks the Nightbird and to 2015 with the multiauthored Midian Unmade anthology, based on Clive Barker's Cabal and edited by Joseph Nacisse and Del Howison.

Currently reading: Truth, Lies, and Mr. Grey by Shelly Ellis, out 3/29/22.

On the TBR/wish list
The Emma Project by Sonali Dev (5/17)
Road of Bones by Christopher Golden
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel (4/26)
The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa (4/5)
At the Quiet Edge by Victoria Helen Stone (5/1)
The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri (8/16)
Fake it Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley (6/21)
The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams