#Laura Florand

[roobylavender]

hello! could you recommend some of your favourite books? i read piper's son after your posts about it and I am now hooked on to marchetta and was hoping you would be having some other amazing books in your pocket!

going to cover a range of genres here so hope that's okay !

the queen's thief series by megan whalen turner (political fantasy. but very loose on the fantasy it's more like. greco-roman adjacent)

bruiser by neal shusterman (contemporary ya sci-fi)

rose daughter by robin mckinley (fairytale retelling)

aurora county series by deborah wiles (children's books)

i'll give you the sun by jandy nelson (contemporary ya realistic fiction)

the chocolate thief, the chocolate touch, & the chocolate heart by laura florand (contemporary adult romance)

say yes to the marquess by tessa dare (regency romance)

the girl who drank the moon by kelly barnhill (middle grade fantasy)

bear town by fredrik backman (contemporary adult realistic fiction)

all american muslim girl by nadine jolie courtney (contemporary ya realistic fiction)

the love experiment by ainslie paton (contemporary adult romance)

the flatshare & the road trip by beth o'leary (contemporary adult romance)

poison wars duology by sam hawke (political fantasy)

the f team by rawah arja (contemporary ya realistic fiction)

the final revival of opal and nev by dawnie walton (historical fiction)

good intentions by kasim ali (contemporary adult realistic fiction)

i wanna be where you are by kristina forest (contemporary ya romance)

[acotars]

I'm sorry if I recommend one you've already read, I can't remember which of my book tumblr people has read what but-

Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - five novellas, then one or two full length novels, they're sci-fi and HILARIOUS

Magic in Manhattan series by Allie Therin - urban fantasy set in 1920s New York, very cute (her newest book Liar City is also very good)

Wraith Kings series by Grace Draven - fantasy, friends to lovers arranged marriage

The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand - straightforward modern romance novel. The whole series is to die for but Chocolate Kiss is my favorite!

hi anon!! i’ve heard of murderbot but haven’t read them — i’ve been loving sci-fi romance lately (extremely unlike me) so i will have to check them out!! always looking for more urban fantasy so the allie therin series sounds fantastic. i’ve read radiance and i really liked it but i ended up losing interest by the sequel :/ and the chocolate kiss — this is hilarious i literally just grabbed a copy of this like an hour ago because it showed up on my feed randomly so i’m glad to know it comes recommended !!!!!! thank you so much for sending these AND with blurbs/details. highly appreciate you <3

[ataurusinabookshop]

I don’t know whether I want a beautiful French chocolatier to seduce me with his life altering chocolate creations that will make me fall in love with him and uproot myself to Paris and live in a small but rustic apartment above his chocolaterie or a Hershey bar with almonds

[ladyherenya]

Books read in June

I didn’t read everything I had planned. I was distracted reading other things and now I have to decide which library books I will return unread.

Part of me is stubbornly convinced I should retain my eleven-year-old self’s ability to borrow armfuls of books and read all of them at least once before the return date. Which is ridiculous. Back then I had fewer responsibilities and read shorter books. And having too many books to read is a better problem to have than running out of books.

Favourite cover(s): Thorn, Battle Born and White Eagles.

Reread: All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

Still reading: Descendent of the Crane by Joan He and Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King.

Next up: Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, and The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein.

One day I’ll get back to posting other things on Tumblr but for now, it’s just book reviews.

(Longer reviews and ratings on LibraryThing and Dreamwidth.)

*

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Stephen Briggs): The wizards of Unseen University play football. This is humorous, clever, sharply observant about people -- very much what I’ve come to expect from Pratchett. I enjoyed it a lot. 

Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai: Katrina is horrified when a conversation she has with a man in a café is overheard, twisted into a romance, documented on Twitter -- and goes viral. Her bodyguard offers his family’s farm as a safe retreat. I enjoyed reading this and liked how it’s romance about a woman dealing with panic attacks, but by the final act, its priorities had diverged somewhat from mine. It wanted to get to its happily-ever ending, whereas I thought it had raised interesting issues worthy of further exploration and slower, more complex solutions. I wanted a happy ending, too, but wanted more story first.

Blame It On Paris by Laura Florand: I’ve read a few of Florand’s romances and even though the descriptions of Paris and chocolate shops were lovely and vivid, as stories they were not really my thing. But I loved her memoir, which is very funny. During her year in Paris, Laura isn’t looking to give up her independence, travelling or career plans for romance. But then her friends talk her into asking out the French waiter she admires. Getting to know Sebastien allows Laura to see France from a different perspective, and challenges her assumptions about serious relationships, her (American) culture and her own family.

Stepping From the Shadows by Patricia A. McKillip: A story about growing from childhood into adulthood. Published in 1982 as McKillip’s “first book for adults”, I can see why this is now out-of-print. It is strange, even by McKillip’s standards for strangeness. In merging the mundane with the magical, the mythical, it attempts something rather interesting and thoughtful, but it isn’t quite successful. However, the descriptions of places are wonderfully vivid, the narrator’s emotions are conveyed with intensity, and there were moments that felt like catching a fleeting glimpse of myself of a mirror. I didn’t always like it, but I’m glad I got to read it all the same.

True to Your Service by Sandra Antonelli: Kitt is sent on a mission to the Netherlands and his boss insists that Mae accompany him. This spy-thriller is, like At Your Service and Forever in Your Service, a bit too violent for me. However, I liked that Mae and Kitt talk about their reactions to distressing events with each other. In fact, the two of them are constantly discussing their thoughts and feelings about what’s happening, including the way Kitt’s job collides with their personal relationship. I really like the way their relationship is an on-going conversation.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer:

Cress (narrated by Rebecca Soler): Following on from Cinder and Scarlet. Cress, born without the Lunar gift for manipulation, has spent years living alone in a satellite orbiting Earth, using her tech skills under the orders of the Lunar thaumaturge Sybil and dreaming of escape. I really enjoyed this. I like how it wove in elements from “Rapunzel”, and dealt with Cress’s perception of herself as a damsel in distress, a girl in need of rescuing.  There is an increasing focus on teamwork and friendship -- this means we see the characters from different perspectives, and we also see different sides to them. 

Winter (narrated by Rebecca Soler): Princess Winter, step-daughter of Queen Levana, is determined that she will never use her Lunar gift to manipulate others -- even though refraining makes her a bit crazy. Meanwhile Cinder and her friends plot to overthrow the queen. This is tense and entertaining, and the narrator does a wonderful job of bringing all the characters to life. I love that the gang are so accepting of each other’s weird quirks and that the romances are given time to develop. I love their teamwork, banter and perseverance. The focus is on the characters’ relationships and the action, and both are excellent.

Thorn by Intisar Khanani: Fifteen year old Princess Alyrra is sent to marry the prince from another kingdom but en route is forced into swapping places with her lady-in-waiting. This retelling of “The Goose Girl” is riveting. I instantly cared about Alyrra, and appreciated how thoughtfully and effectively the story walks a line between darkness and hope -- between fear and trust, sadness and joy. Alyrra’s new life has dangers and difficulties, but also positive things -- satisfaction in her work, a supportive found-family. She becomes increasingly aware of injustice around her, but her story is shaped by her choices -- to be kind, to seek justice and bring change.

The Physicians of Vilnoc, a novella in the World of the Five Gods by Lois McMaster Bujold: Penric and Desdemona are summoned to deal with an outbreak of a mysterious disease. This could easily be an intense story and, oddly enough, it isn’t. Given the current state of the world, I’m glad Bujold didn’t go with the dark, harrowing possibilities and instead wrote about Pen investigating how the disease is transmitted while treating as many patients as he can. Still a stressful experience for Pen, but I was confident his worst fears wouldn’t transpire. And it was satisfying to get a better understanding regarding the best way for Pen and Des to use their knowledge and skills.

Hamster Princess: Ratpunzel by Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher): Like Of Mice and Magic, this is another entertaining twist on a fairytale. When Harriet helps her friend Wilbur to find a stolen hydra egg, they come across someone else in need of help -- a rat with a very long tail.

Battle Born by Amie Kaufman: A satisfying conclusion to Ice Wolves and Scorch Dragons, with a couple of unexpected developments and a lot of expected emphasis on wolves, dragons and humans working together. I liked the realism of this. Anders and his sister Rayna have both cool shapeshifting abilities and special status arising from their parentage. But their success depends upon the support of resourceful friends and wise, trustworthy adults. They save the day, not because they know all the answers but because they bring people together. This trilogy is one I wish I could send back in time for my eleven year old self.

Time of Our Lives by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka: Two teenagers cross paths while touring East Coast colleges. There’s a lot I found interesting: Fitz’s fascination with words; Juniper’s enthusiasm and passion for the college-choosing process; the way they challenge each other; their intense family situations; and the glimpses of university life. However, I ended up feeling oddly annoyed. I was drawn into the story because Fitz and Juniper’s perspectives and motives were so very real and understandable, but something about some of their later choices and thoughts seemed too pat. Like the level of realism slipped slightly because the authors wanted to get their Message For The Teens across.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord: Two teenagers, two business Twitter accounts and one very public argument about grilled cheese. Pepper and Jack see each other in class and cross paths training at the pool, but they don’t realise that they’re at war on Twitter nor pseudonymously chatting on a school-based app, like something out of You’ve Got Mail. This was a lot of fun -- super cute and full of Pepper’s passion for baking, Jack’s passion for his family’s deli, complicated-but-ultimately-supportive family relationships, and references to internet culture. I like how the story explores the strengths, the pressures and the problems of social media.

Text, Don’t Call: an illustrated guide to the introverted life by INFJoe by  Aaron T. Caycedo-Kimura: The text offers a basic explanation of introversion. It might be a decent introduction for someone new to the topic, but I found it a bit too basic to be interesting. However, the illustrations were great! Very funny and often relatable, and in one or two cases, usefully thought-provoking.

White Eagles by Elizabeth Wein: When Germany invades Poland, eighteen year old Kristina of the Polish Air Force has a chance to escape with her aeroplane ‐‐ and an unexpected stowaway. Her journey allows for a fascinating bird's-eye view of Europe in 1939 and of the challenges posed by such a trip. This novella-sized story is aimed to be both accessible and interesting to reluctant or dyslexia readers. It has moments where I, personally, would have liked more detail but I've worked with struggling readers and I think it's so awesome this sort of thing exists.

[mariaslozak]

In honour of Quatorze Juillet, a sunny memory from my blossoming garden last month. It seemed a fitting environment for enjoying the latest entry from a series rooted in the headily fragrant rose fields—and, fleetingly, a lavender-infused hill with views of the sparkling Mediterranean—of southern France.

A Kiss in Lavender brings together two lost souls, eventually drawing them into the healing bosom of a loving community. A captain in the Foreign Legion, now stationed on Corsica (an island off the French and Italian coasts), the hero has stayed away for years from the people who once meant everything to him—and perhaps still do. Meanwhile, scarred by a childhood in which she was passed from one foster home to another, the heroine uses her local connections and her training as a historian to locate missing persons in order to fix broken families. When she tracks down the hero as her latest project, sparks fly.

While the main theme revolves around the meaning and importance of family, Lucien’s (to me) quite reasonable cause for personal trauma quickly gets shunted off to the sidelines as the story focusses on Elena’s abandonment issues. Elena is one of the pricklier heroines I’ve encountered, and the author pairs her with a sympathetic and very patient caretaker hero. Since Lucien is not your average alpha military romance hero and the narrative is sensitive to current women’s issues, his relationship with Elena takes a less common path.

Since Florand left traditional publishing her stories have sometimes struggled with structural issues. That was not, thankfully, the case here. Instead, shoddy editing in the opening pages nearly did me in. Typically the plunge into the lushly realised worlds Florand creates is effortless for me, but in a first, by page seventeen I actually went back and counted the instances I’d encountered of the words “hard” and “hardened” (ten) and descriptions of butterflies in the stomach (fourteen). Another eight pages on, my eyes had gotten lots of exercise through rolling at embarrassingly overwrought descriptions of emotional pain. Suffice to say, the section read like an early draft mistakenly inserted into an otherwise professional publication.

I’m glad I persisted despite these and some other minor quibbles. Here is a complex heroine I didn’t always like but whom I found interesting, which is far more rewarding for this reader. I wish the hero’s issues had been dealt with deeper, but I enjoyed him as a worthy, modern partner for the heroine. As always, it was fun to tour the sun-drenched Mediterranean landscapes, which serve not only as an uplifting balance to the angstiness but are integral to the plots of all the books in the series. Let me note here that because the story relies in part on family dynamics developed over the preceding installments in the series, and there are multiple cameos, I’d hesitate recommending A Kiss in Lavender to someone hoping for a solid standalone.

Florand’s stories tend to be some of the swoonworthiest in the genre. Her shimmering blend of joyfulness, angst, and warm-hearted sensuality means that even when I feel she is not at the top of her game, as with this book, her writing still packs an emotional punch that I carry with me long after closing the last page.

[brightmaiden]

LITERATURE MEME: [6 / 6] prose writers  ≽ Laura Florand

His hands threaded her hair back from her face, so gently he could have been handling spiderwebs he didn't want to break. "I could kiss you until there's nothing left of you," he whispered. Where the words should have woken that visceral fear of being reduced to nothing in someone else's life, instead an image grew of herself: golden, strong, glowing in his arms like a precious star. "No, you can't." His thumb traced over her lips. "Don't underestimate how long I can kiss you." A soft smile, almost as contained as one of his, full of an astonishing amount of confidence. "Don't underestimate how long I can last." [x]

[summerfitzy]

Their eyes held, one of those moments when they realized that, despite all the surface differences, their souls were exactly matched.

The Chocolate Heart by Laura Florand

[atumbleamongthepages]

HRM - Snow-Kissed, by @LauraFlorand

HRM – Snow-Kissed, by @LauraFlorand

In a snow-kissed Christmas cabin, a heart-wrenching tale of love, loss, forgiveness–and new hope.

After the utter destruction of her marriage and her happiness, Kai knew it was better to shut herself away from the world than to hurt and be hurt.

Holed up in her mountain cabin, she plans to spend her Christmas alone. Until her not-quite-ex-husband shows up as the first flakes start to fall.

N…

[rendezvouswitharomance]

A Kiss in Lavender (La Vie en Roses #4) by Laura Florand

A Kiss in Lavender (La Vie en Roses #4) by Laura Florand

A Kiss in Lavender (La Vie en Roses #4) by Laura Florand

  Synopsis: A hardened exile

It had taken Lucien Rosier fifteen years at war to rebuild himself after he lost his family. To remake himself, he had left behind even his name. Now a captain in the Foreign Legion, the last thing he wanted was to face his past. Even for her…

A woman longing for a home

Lucien Rosier had been her hero once, when…

[roger-davies]

amour et chocolat #5 / #6

[femmenerd]

It is 2:20 AM & my eyes and nose and mouth are puffy & red-limned because the h/h in this book are so emotionally VULNERABLE and love can be so flaying and TRANSFORMATIVE.

[wishfulromancing]

« Next time I’m here — he laughed, and Magalie broke down at last and shivered extravagantly with pleasure — I promise I’ll stay and let you bewitch me. »

the chocolate kiss . amour et chocolat series . laura florand

[ataurusinabookshop]

The Amour Et Chocolat series by Laura Florand (3/7 volumes)

[penelopebourne]

He had given this to her. As if he found her worth every good thing he could imagine. 

- The Chocolate Heart by Laura Florand

insp. by @billiebridgerton (x)

[mariaslozak]

For a moment I thought The Chocolate Temptation was a new release from one of my favourites, Laura Florand, but instead it’s her latest cover remake. I haven’t read it yet and I’m glad to be able to get this sleeker edition.

“Now, in her sixth book in the internationally bestselling Amour et Chocolat series, Florand takes us into a top Paris restaurant's pastry kitchen and into the hearts and irresistible temptations of its chefs for The Chocolate Temptation.

She hated him.

Patrick Chevalier. The charming, laid-back, golden second-in-command of the Paris pastry kitchen where Sarah worked as intern, who made everything she failed at seem so easy, and who could have every woman he winked at falling for him without even trying. She hated him, but she'd risked too much for this dream to give up on it and walk out just so he wouldn't break her heart.

But he didn't hate her.

Sarah Lin. Patrick's serious, dark-haired American intern, who looked at him as if she could see right through him and wasn't so impressed with what she saw. As her boss, he knew he should leave her alone. The same way he knew better than to risk his heart and gamble on love. But he was never good at not going after what - or who - he wanted. He could make magic out of sugar. But could he mold hate into love?

[roobylavender]

do you have any romance novel recs or recs for novels that predominantly feature romance? i'm on my hands and knees looking but i can't find a single popular one on goodreads that doesn't have a really cheap/cringe version of dislike-to-love where the man is pointlessly and overwhelmingly cruel to the woman at first yet people have the gall to say that this condescension and antagonism turned into love. somehow. they'll never be wallylinda smh

ironically i don’t read a whole lot of romance for this reason and bc so many of the mainstream picks in the genre are incredibly cringe but a few of my tried and true favorites do include:

amour et chocolat by laura florand / this is a series of six books set in the paris chocolatier and patissier scene. the general set up of each book involves a fierce woman trying to make her way in the world and the chocolatier or patissier she inevitably meets who is both fascinated and heartbroken by the walls she puts up for initially unknown reasons that he is desperate to know and battle against. which i realize sounds suspect but there is such a raw, tender honesty to these books and the way the couples interact with each other that always pierces me at the core. like the men are a bit intimidating and self assured but they ultimately have the biggest hearts and are positively desperate to pamper the women if only the latter would let them so it leads to this like, fierce battle between two people who are trying to love each other more than the other does. and it’s incredibly endearing like the books make me go crazy not to mention florand did extensive research in actual cafes and bakeries and salons so the chocolate and pastry descriptions and metaphors are to die for (my personal favorites are the chocolate kiss, the chocolate touch, the chocolate heart)

the love experiment by ainslie paton / a big shot reporter and a comparatively newbie reporter at a paper get paired up to do an experiment where they have to ask each other thirty six questions and maintain eye contact for four minutes and see whether or not they will fall in love with each other. it’s a very fun premise that leads to deeper intricacies about both of the characters that are both delightful and sad and also the male mc lets off steam by boxing at a late night fight club called saint longinus’s church of the cocked fist which is actually run by an ex priest in the abandons of an old church so that had me particularly enthralled. but the romance is divine and so heartfelt it’s been a while since i read it but i weeped a little i think

the flatshare by beth o’leary / a woman decides to leave her emotionally abusive boyfriend and needs to find a place to stay, so she decides to flatshare with a man who works as a night nurse while she works a morning job, meaning they never actually see each other. except eventually they start leaving each other little notes about trivial things and then it meanders into them learning a little more and more about each other each day until they finally [gasp] clash into each other one afternoon and all things spiral from there. but god i love the male mc in this he’s literally like the kindest sweetest person ever and it’s esp lovely bc the female mc trying to break out of returning to her abusive relationship is a very big focal point of the novel so the way he supports her first as a friend and then as a boyfriend is just really nice to see like the book overall is incredibly healing and cathartic

beach read by emily henry / in retrospect i do think i would agree with people that the protagonists in henry’s books aren’t necessarily distinct. like they could very much be blank slates you project onto bc they’re your average white people. but the way that she deals with grief and loneliness and yearning is so palpable that i don’t even care like this had me crying my eyes out at four in the morning bc i was so gutted with grief and misery over the experience of loneliness and rejection. but anyway the premise is that there are two authors who write in very antithetical genres (i think it was romance versus thriller) and also happened to know each other in college who coincidentally end up marooning in the same coastal town to write their next novel. and my memory is vague on the details but i think they challenge each other to try to write in the genre the other excels at and they get to know each other blah blah blah but mostly you deal with the grief of the female mc going through a house her now passed father built for his lover while her mom had cancer and the grief of the male mc over the emotional trauma of his divorce and in that aspect it’s just so good like it makes you feel totally raw and exposed

ghosted by jm darhower / this is maybe the only cringe entry on this list bc i don’t think darhower is really in the same league of writing ability as the other recs and can be quite corny but i love this one for the story.. there’s a dual timeline thing going on between diary entries from a teenage girl in the past and the perspective of estranged lovers in the present. the guy is a big movie star whose claim to fame are the adaptations of a cape comic series he and the girl initially bonded over as teenagers, the girl is his ex who left him when he got too deep into the drawbacks of the film scene (alcohol, drugs, the like) and went on to have their baby who she raises on her own. and basically the guy ends up filming very close to his and the girl’s old hometown and decides to take it as his one chance to set things right so that he can actually be a present and responsible father to his daughter and maybe even win the love of his life back bc he knows he treated her like shit. so that’s really where it gets me, bc he’s incredibly self aware and works so hard to atone and be consistent and reliable. also the way the diary flashbacks tie in is sooo corny but sweet and tragic too like omg i just love the whole thing conceptually it’s very clever and adorable

like any melina marchetta book ever / i know i am cheating here bc her books wouldn’t be defined as romance novels but the romances are nonetheless huge focal points of them and so memorable that i cannot resist recommending them at any opportunity. she knows how to write a whole array of romantic relationships and what i really enjoy is how much emphasis there is in her books on personal accountability. like a lot of the work that the characters have to do isn’t necessarily as partners, sometimes they have to work on themselves before they can be good partners. and i really love that mindset from her bc it results in her romances having such strong foundations to stand on since both people involved are not only stronger together but also strong and fully realized on their own too. there are a lot of different kind of rifts between couples that she explores and there’s so much maturity in those explorations that even the ones with setups i would normally hate manage to win me over. like one literally involves a guy cheating and getting another girl pregnant and him having to live with the guilt and shame of that for years as he tries to atone and understand how deeply he hurt his girlfriend and how he can’t just wish her self worth back into existence and has to work at it a little at a time bc it’s what she deserves from him if he ever wants to have a chance with her again. and they won me over. it’s incredible (personal favorites are definitely the lumatere chronicles or the inner west trilogy: saving francesca, the piper’s son, and the place on dalhousie)