#escapist book tours

[beneathathousandskies]

Cover Reveal: Down Below Beyond - T.A. Bruno

[fazilareads]

The Sword Of Mercy And Wrath (The Swords of Dominion #1) By NC Koussis | BOOK SPOTLIGHT | Escapist Book Tours

TITLE : The Sword Of Mercy And Wrath (The Swords Of Dominion #1) AUTHOR : NC Koussis GENRE : Dark Fantasy/Grimdark INTENTED AGE GROUP : Adult Pages: 400 DATE OF PUBLISHING : March 20, 2023 PUBLISHER : Self Published Welcome to my tour stop for The Sword Of Mercy And Wrath by NC Koussis, hosted by Escapist Book Tours. I am so grateful to be part of The Escapist Book Tours and today I will…

[prettyrealm]

ateez san ideal type reading

this reading is a paid commission, thank you so much for trusting in me! <3

overall:

someone who is exactly who they appear to be (he doesn’t want any tricks or surprises nor does he find this exciting, he just wants an honest person), someone who has overcome a rough childhood (maybe he had one as well?) and has the knowledge and wisdom to act as a right hand to him giving him good advice & guiding him through emotions, someone generous, nurturing & loving with an angelic vibe (like a genuinely innocent person), someone who he can gossip about others with, a soulmate type connection that others will see and be jealous of (he wants to be viewed as like “love birds”), someone who can trust to always take his side (if he doesn’t like someone then his partner doesn’t like that person either now), someone devoted to a higher power or belief system (even if it��s someone who looks up to a life coach or reads self-help books), someone that will get up and move with him at any time without complaints (he may even want to travel the world with someone, or be able to take them with him on tour), someone who he can live with comfortably, someone wounded that he can help fix, but he doesn’t want this person to have a victim complex or seek sympathy, he wants to be able to work to grow with them.

turn ons:

when someone really intense or crazy about him (like, if a partner were to seek revenge on his behalf even on a small scale, he would be really into that), someone almost “toxic” (i think he likes obsession & possessiveness tbh), when someone shows determination or bravery, when someone stands their ground or comes out on top despite the odds, when someone can preach realness, but also practice it (if you can talk the talk you better walk the walk), someone genuinely kind and compassionate, but at the same time i think he wants his partner to have a “cruel” or “cold” edge and be able to detach enough to still be able to advance their own interests (so kind of business minded & putting themselves first when needed be), someone who doesn’t hang out or associate with people he thinks are morally corrupt or trashy, someone who he can trust, but specifically trust enough to tell everyone else’s business to (whether it be group mates or just random industry tea, he would like to be able to spill and rant about it without worries), someone with short hair, freckles/moles or imperfections on the face, on the taller side (or with long proportions), big boobs & big butt.

turn offs:

someone who holds racist views (maybe he can put up with ignorance or insensitivity, but straight up hatred of another race seems to be something he can’t look past), stupidity, people who run away from their problems or have escapist tendencies (he seems to be the type to think you should fight whatever has you in a rut head on), people who don’t like trying new things, when someone can’t commit to things or has what he thinks is no real direction in life (he thinks everyone should have goals and spend their lives going after these goals relentlessly), people who lack self control and discipline, people who engage too much in what he may see as trashy behavior (partying, drugs, drinking), people who act as if they can’t take control of their own lives (he hates excuses), when someone says self-deprecating things, when someone engages in destructive behavior or ignores the consequences of their actions, very short height, when someone doesn’t take care of themselves (messy hair, sloppy looking, not put together), & a wide waist.

[variousqueerthings]

Thoughts on Jonny Lee Miller please?

sdfghjhgfdsadfgh FRIEND YOU JUST MADE ME VERY HAPPY

(we need to send asks more!!!!!! in this interwebs tumblr cultúre)

JLM THOTS (JLM thot)

okay so I cannot remember when I started watching Elementary, but that was my first conscious JLM (I had watched Trainspotting, but I was but a babby at the time -- I have seen it... some times since then), and listen. we through around the word ND on this here site, but I think Mr. JLM as Sherlock Holmes is one of the original tumblr ND regents, and still absolutely Peak! this man knew what he was doing!

and then I went on a little JLM tour, and I am here to give you the top movies I saw with him at the time (after which I will do the list of movies I want to watch now): Hackers, Trainspotting + T2, Plunkett and Mcleane (seriously, this movie is underrated!), The Flying Scotsman, Mansfield Park, Regeneration -- also most underrated Mr Knightley in Emma + in a fun, odd little show called Eli Stone (I also watched Mindhunters, Byzantium -- which is some great Gemma Arterton -- The Escapist, Aeon Flux, and Dark Shadows, and I'm not necessarily saying don't watch these... well, maybe don't watch Dark Shadows... but they weren't my favourite. although Byzantium is fascinating. misogynist vampires)

Movies I have yet to see that I want to watch: Dead Man's Walk, Complicity, Love Honour and Obey, and Dracula 2000

MOVIES TO SHORTLY GIVE AN EXTRA SHOUTOUT TO

I'm not going to talk about Hackers (famously dreaming about wearing a latex bodysuit and getting railed by his future irl wife Angeline Jolie) or Trainspotting, but T2 -- is it good? yeah, it's not bad actually. did it need to exist? no, no it didn't. did it enjoy textually pointing out that Renton and Sick Boy have some kinda Sexual Tension? yeah, yeah, yeah! actually kind of feels like the main reason it exists is to go "hmmm do you think Renton and Sick Boy are a bit... youknow?"

also shoutout to Robert Carlyle who's in the Trainspotting films and also co-starred with JLM in their very own homoerotic duo film, which includes Liv Tyler "Plunkett and Macleane" loosely based on the history of two real highway men, and it's. just such a great movie. it's one of my "please it's so fun and so silly and such a product of the 90s! Craig Armstrong did the music!" it's kind of got some polyamory going on?

The Flying Scotsman is about a real amateur cyclist, and it's a pretty by-the-numbers inspirational tale, but I quite like those when they're about real underdogs and Graeme Obree certainly was that. From memory (it's been a few years now) I believe I watched this film and went "ah so that's where some of the early development of Sherlock Holmes mannerisms stems from," so it's also just fun as a study of JLM the actor

Regeneration -- gotta mention this one, because of it being about Siegfried Sassoon. he doesn't play Sassoon, but he's very good in it and generally it's a fascinating piece based on a book that I for some reason have only read the sequels of, and I'd recommend anything about Sassoon, I'm easy like that

I also didn't mention Frankenstein up above, but I watched both versions of it back whenever it was being shown with National Theatre Live and he was fucking stunning in both roles. as Frankenstein he's a little different to how I often picture him (read: JLM is not giving pathetic twink, although he is giving twitchy weirdo), but JLM is so physical throughout, so pitch-perfect in how he's interpreting the role. and as Adam/the creature it's like every bit of tension he's ever been able to control is just unleashed, it's sooooo (argh gotta see if I can find a torrent of that so I can rewatch him)

Now the thing about JLM is that he's often cast as kinda the straight man in a lot of his stuff, but he's... so not.... that man is silly! and you can tell! his physicality is a bouncy little weirdo, and for a good long while his body was that of a bouncy little weirdo -- and then he got fuckn Big 🥵😂 (you can take the man out of the bouncy little weirdo, but you can't take the bouncy little weirdo out of the man...... smthin like that. the more i look at this sentence the more I feel like this is an innuendo, oh well. now it's intentional)

the thing I really like about him is that he seems totally un-self-conscious while playing characters who are often under great scrutiny, either for being considered criminal and/or for being visibly non-neurotypical and/or otherwise non-normative. he's a hacker, he's an addict, he's a creature that was created from the bodies of other men, he's a bipolar cyclist, he's giving us Thee Sherlock Holmes of modern times, stimming, kinky, caring, blunt, overstimulated, relapsing, deeply unconventionally in a relationship with Watson that doesn't attempt to fit them into any mainstream language at any point!

also he has the best grimace of ever. he's so good at looking simply. perturbed. uncomfortable. get me out of this party. when he's 70 or 80 he's going to be the best old man face 🥺🥺🥺

also if I am very very lucky and very very nice to my mum, she'll take me to watch him in his current play in London, wish me luck!

TL;DR underrated character actor JLM, broader than you think he is, the hero of portrayals of weirdos and freaks and outcasts, I think it's wild that he's danced around playing queers this entire time, make him kiss a man stat!

(there's a whole other, very specific analysis of his gender in Hackers and how that relates to a wider feeling about his particular take on masculinity in a lot of my favourite portrayals of his, and also there was a youtube video that i just spent 15mins trying to find on Hackers from a transgender perspective that's mostly correctly-so about Cereal Killer/Matthew Lillard, but touches on the gender-fuckery of JLM and Angelina Jolie)

(okay I wasn't gonna talk about Hackers, but we cannot forget this scene, we simply cannot!)

[moonpile]

For the Love of Fantasy - at Ald Velothi Harbor House | ESO Housing

Total reskin of Ald Velothi Harbor House.

For Heart's Day I wanted to illustrate the slightly-less-common definition of "romantic". A build about what many of us love about ESO: Fantasy. Inspired by a Neil Gaiman quote (below).

Visitor Tips:

I currently don't use Home Tours but my houses are accessible via the visit script, or search in addons: PTFH; EHT Housing Hub.

Crouch at the foot of the bed, face the door & in 1st person view look skyward.

In the bed, try /sleep xD

A creature escaped the pages of a lorebook left unshelved. Can you find which?

⚠️Please explore primarily in 3rd person view! (1PV is low & narrow; many details & scene compositions can only be seen from the wider FOV & high angles enabled by 3PV.)

Relevant & inspiring excerpt by Neil Gaiman, from the article: "Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming")

“Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you've never been. Once you've visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different. And while we're on the subject, I'd like to say a few words about escapism. I hear the term bandied about as if it's a bad thing. As if "escapist" fiction is a cheap opiate used by the muddled and the foolish and the deluded, and the only fiction that is worthy, for adults or for children, is mimetic fiction, mirroring the worst of the world the reader finds herself in. If you were trapped in an impossible situation, in an unpleasant place, with people who meant you ill, and someone offered you a temporary escape, why wouldn't you take it? And escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens a door, shows the sunlight outside, gives you a place to go where you are in control, are with people you want to be with(and books are real places, make no mistake about that); and more importantly, during your escape, books can also give you knowledge about the world and your predicament, give you weapons, give you armour: real things you can take back into your prison. Skills and knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real. As JRR Tolkien reminded us, the only people who inveigh against escape are jailers.”

In TES, We are all Prisoners, escaping 😉

[jasfhercallejo]

Most travel slogans tempt you to travel to "escape". But of course, one never escapes from oneself. As you may have read in my previous blogs, I also consider myself as an escapist. I travel to find peace of mind, reflect on my previous actions, and learn how to deal with the real world with the eagerness to do better, and thirst to challenge myself to do things I am most afraid of.

Perhaps going out of our comfort zones provides us with a point of access, that most are unfamiliar pursuing. Travel is simply another door to experiencing oneself. Before, I travel to see the world. Now, I travel to let the world see me. The always trying version of me. The Jasfher that is loving and caring, and is unafraid of other people's opinion.

Dave has shown me that there's more to life, and that being in the present is so much simpler when surrounded by people who truly matter. I wholeheartedly take pleasure on the thought that I never have to be someone else for him to accept me.

Traditionally there are tours A, B, C and D. Each tour offering a set of 5+ beaches, islands, lagoons and snorkeling spots. Originally, we booked tours A, B and C. But after giving it some thought, we removed Tour B fro our itinerary, to give time and try scuba diving in the morning, and food crawl from afternoon till night. Probably oune of our best decision during this trip.

Of all the islands that we've been to, my favorite islands would include Shimizu island and Helicopter Island.

In Shimizu, the tall, black limestone mountains are guarded by beautiful palm trees and a stretch of white sand. The water is crystal clear and perfect for swimming and snorkeling. As a matter of fact, snorkeling at Shimizu Island is very popular. The island is considered to be one of the best snorkeling areas in El Nido and many tourists come here to explore the diverse marine life.

Helicopter Island, officially named Dilumacad Island, got its name because of the shape it takes when you see it from a distance. Once you get closer, its soft cream-colored sand and cerulean waters will lure you in and keep you entranced. It is a good place to relax, unwind, and enjoy the beautiful beachscape.

Going to Palawan with my boyfriend publicly holding hands is, to tell you the truth, invigorating (read: ganito pala feeling ng artista haha). It's like were sucked in our own little fantasy world where it's just the two of us, enjoying this little piece of heaven.

[fairrryprose]

[BOOK TOUR] THE HERO INTERVIEWS (THE HERO DIARIES #1) // ANDI EWINGTON

It's my pleasure to be hosting a stop on the book tour for THE HERO INTERVIEWS by ANDI EWINGTON today with ESCAPIST TOURS!!! This is a fantasy comedy following Elburn Barr, a Loremaster who once dreamed of being an adventurer, following in the footsteps of his parents and chasing down his missing brother who had left to become a Hero, as he sets off on a quest of his own to interview and chronicle heroes, villains, and everyone in between - everyone who contributes to the adventuring scene. Read below to find out more and check out my review for this book!

My review:

5/5 stars

This (mis?)adventure is riotously funny, fully fantastical, with a writing style that keeps you turning pages and chuckling and a whole assortment of interesting characters being interviewed, with some endearing recurring ones like a talking dead-adventurer skull and a skinny unassuming-looking 'Barbarian' whom you wouldn't think could do much smiting and smashing but manages to make a name for himself, as well as many references harkening back to all the ones we've already met and encountered and foreshadowing future encounters, threading them all together. I had such a fun time reading this!

While at first glance you may think the interviews are disparate, there's an underlying, some-may-say sinister, plot/conspiracy that Elburn stumbles into and slowly (unintentionally) uncovers throughout the interviews that we get to piece together.

It's written, of course, in the style of an interview, peppered with (short) footnotes that add to the humor as Elburn gives his observations and shares his private thoughts and opinions, giving us an insight into his character - personality, family, motivations - as well as contributing to the worldbuilding - little tidbits of factoids - that don't distract from the story but serve to enhance it )and, for the discerning reader, injects funny satirical references to our modern world and pop culture... like Blue Ticks....) I, for one, really enjoyed these footnotes!

The ending was a nice and heartwarming surprise, and was laid out quite well with scattered clues. This book may contain subtle political commentary that, while maaaybe bleak, we eventually learn that what makes one a Hero isn't just going off on countless quests and adventures and exploring dungeons and vanquishing evildoers (or clearing out rat-infested cellars!) and washing it all down with a pint of ale in a tavern, that it's not just conquests and exploits and chasing fame and fortune, as is oft portrayed in adventure stories/media. A true hero lies in the everyday.

And of course, I'd be so excited for the next book, to see where Devlin Stormwind's Elburn's adventures take him next!!!

///

About the Book:

The Hero Interviews by Andi Ewington

Series: The Hero Diaries

Genre: Fantasy Comedy

Intended Age Group: 15+

Pages: 925

Published: December 1, 2022

Publisher: Forty-Five Limited (Self Published)

///

Book Blurb:

Heroes… you can't swing a cat without hitting one. You can't even hatch a nefarious plan without some adventuring party invading your dungeon to thwart you. So, it stands to reason they're a force for good—right?

Well—yes and no…

Elburn Barr is a Loremaster who has turned his back on his family's tradition of adventuring and stepped out into the realm of heroes to interview a whole smörgåsbord board of fantastical characters from stoic, swear-shy Paladins through to invisible sword-carrying Mime Warriors.

Through his transcribed journal, he'll take a cheeky peek at the truth lurking behind the hero myth—and everything associated with them. Across his many encounters, he hopes to uncover his brother's fate—a brother who has been missing for ten summers after brazenly setting out to forge a heroic name for himself.

Will Elburn discover what really happened to his brother, or will he fail in his quest and become another casualty of the adventuring trade?

The Hero Interviews is a departure from the usual swords and sorcery yarn—it's a sometimes gritty, sometimes amusing, but completely bonkers look at the realm of heroes.

See Also:

(This is our attempt at a bit of fun. We ask our authors to come up with a few short, clever, possibly pop culture laden, descriptions of their books just to give a little taste of what’s to come for readers.)

Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire! • You Talkin’ to Me? • So, Mr. du Lac, How Long Have You Been Dead?

///

Book Links:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Interviews-Andi-Ewington-ebook/dp/B0BFMBQXLR/ 

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hero-Interviews-Andi-Ewington-ebook/dp/B0BFMBQXLR/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62951981-the-hero-interviews 

///

Content/Trigger Warnings:

Shown on Page (things clearly told to the reader): 

Mention of an Orc Suicide-Watch

Toilet humor (poo jokes, etc)

that Barbarians punch Camels (in reference to Conan the Barbarian

Cats eating Mice (A Wild-Shaped Druid)

 Self-satisfying Treants

Some slapstick violence

Drug references

Ale references

Alluded to (things only mentioned in passing or hinted at):

Toilet humor

Sexual encounters

How a blind monk "sees" (using an herb)

Herbal use (drugs)

Drinking (ale)

///

Author Bio & Information:

Andi Ewington is a writer who has written numerous comic titles including Forty-Five45, Campaigns & Companions, S6X, Sunflower, Red Dog, Dark Souls II, Just Cause 3, Freeway Fighter, and Vikings. Andi lives in Surrey, England with a plethora of childhood RPGs and ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ gamebooks he refuses to part with. He’s usually found on Twitter as @AndiEwington.

///

Check out other stops on the tour for this fantastic book below!

[brandonwayneb]

War Wick

Up White Widow Maker

Down Pentecostal

Down Mormon

Down Free May Zen

Jehovah

Widow Maker

Daisy Meadow

Telepathic

Tell Hay Tea

Teacher Cherry

Jessica Bell Bella

Jacob Corn Corner

Auto Top Sea

Borgs Goggles

Xmen Scott Jean Gray

Hot Potato

Blame Silver USA

Blame Silver ENGLAND

Silverware Polish Dutch

Sweet Top Dandified

dandelion daffodils

skip to Mona Lisa, 007

skip to rapture USA

skip to rapture ENGLAND

RED+

PISH CYCLES

VISHNU BISON

“Biscuits” “CUT”

“Business” “Hélicoptères”

Taurus, “RUSS”

Brussel Sprouts

Helicopters “Silver Floor Russ”

Russ EYE ANNA.

Torrents+

united states coverups

england coverups

spell sausage sage pot

spell top surgery guy know mastered FLUSHED REALMS

SPELL FLUSH POT SAUSAGE

SPELL SARAH GATE

EXTORTIONISTS

STORK+

CUPID+

CASTLES+

RED+

Dragon Blood+

International Saviors

“Silver” escapist languages

FURBY+

SILVER FURBY

Future May

Future Fay

Free May+

Pocket D

Government lies

Clover Clover,

Red Row Ver

Verse Sion

Extortionists

Mckinney Texas,

dead children, mutilated public entities

Salute 7

List corrupt lingo jumps

“Brooklyn NYC”

“Dallas TX”

“Houston TX”

“Austin TX”

Boo Boo Book Brianna, Brooklyn

Dial Hairless Pocket Ass, Dallas

Hue Blue Hefty Head Ignore, Houston Blue Bell JESSICA cream, May, Mat tour re,

Austin, ODD TEN ADUITS

languages corrupt “usa”

hop, skip, edit..

Brooklyn, Saint Benard

Dallas, Saint Benard

Houston, Saint Benard

Austin, Saint Benard

Bindi Hindu

Saint Pandora

Saint Panera Bread

Mckinney, Texas

“Human trafficking and mutilation cover ups”

MAC KID KNEE STONE

CAMERA.

Smile!

SILVER WARLOCKS

Second Sights

Purists+

RED+

Vogue Dragons+

[calturnerreviews]

#BlogTour – #BookReview of #ThirtyDaysinParis by Veronica Henry @veronica_henry @orionbooks @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours

#BlogTour – #BookReview of gorgeous feel good novel #ThirtyDaysinParis by Veronica Henry @veronica_henry. Thanks to @orionbooks and @RandomTTours for the opportunity. #RandomThingsTours #bookblogger #bookreviewer #wordpress #bookrec

I’m delighted to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for gorgeous and uplifting feel good novel Thirty Days in Paris by Veronica Henry. Thank you to Anne Cater and Orion Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this lovely book. About the book: A gorgeous, uplifting and romantic new story set in the city of love from the queen of escapist family drama, Veronica…

[beneathathousandskies]

Blog Tour (Book Spotlight): Curse of the Fallen (Fallen Light #1) - H.C. Newell

[fazilareads]

Sordaneon ( The Triempery Revelations #1) By L.L. Stephens | BOOK REVIEW | Escapist Book Tours

TITLE : Sordaneon (The Triempery Revelations #1) AUTHOR :  L.L. Stephens GENRE : Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Political Fantasy FR RATING : ⭐⭐⭐⭐(4 – 4.5 Stars) DATE OF PUBLISHING : November 9, 2021 PUBLISHER : Forest Path Books NO OF PAGES : 511 Welcome to my tour stop for Sordaneon (The Triempery Revelations #1) by L.L. Stephens, hosted by Escapist Book Tours. I am so grateful to be part of The…

[thenerdynarrative]

Hi Friends! Today I get to host the Escapist Book Co. book tour stop for Sarah K. Balstrup's debut novel, THE WAY OF UNITY. Come have a listen and see if you think this Killer Nashville Claymore Award Finalist for Best Sci Fi Fantasy is for you! https://youtu.be/mk7F9CeDAXI

[miniatureworlds]

The Aftermath Dislocation Principle part 3: The Bridge, by Jimmy Cauty, a 1:87 scale dystopian cityscape.

Podcast: A Life In Miniatures

'People become writers for myriad reasons - novelist Max Porter suspects that for him the crucial spur was his fascination with Bekonscot model village, which he visited scores of times as a child. It was there that he discovered the pleasure and value of people watching at a life-size and miniature scale.

In 'A Life In Miniatures' he returns to Bekonscot to celebrate not just the care, craft and love that have gone into its construction, but also the opportunity it affords to create complicated stories out of the various people and scenes on show. He interrogates whether these places are necessarily escapist and reactionary or offer a more radical opportunity to critique society.

He visits Jimmy Cauty of KLF fame to hear about the dystopian model village he has toured around the world in a shipping container and talks with Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain, about the miniature appearance of a miniature village that appears in that book. Max also speaks with academic Melinda Rabb about the rise of miniatures in 18th Century England - and how smart phones are keeping the tradition alive in various unexpected ways.

(17 May 2022, BBC Radio 4, 30 mins)

[alexsfictionaddiction]

10 Popular Romance Books That Are Worth The Hype

I know that a lot of you will be turning to those familiar pastel-coloured book covers with cute taglines in the coming week. Rom-coms and tropey romances that are often little more than a quick, addictive escape seem to be everywhere right now but how do you know which ones are really worth your time?

You will have almost certainly seen all 10 of these books before, if you regularly engage with online bookish content. They all have loyal followings and for a good reason. They contain romantic pairings who are easy to root for, identity and sexuality exploration and plenty of hilarious and heartwarming awkward situations. I’m pretty sure you’ll find a new favourite here!

-Love, Alex x

Well Met by Jen DeLuca.

The first in a trilogy of books, full of Shakespeare, small town shenanigans and sizzling chemistry in this enemies-to-lovers saga. Emily and Simon share plenty of funny and sexy interactions and they are very well suited, even if it takes them a while to realise it! The Renaissance faire setting is a unique setting that I don’t think I’ve come across elsewhere but it lends itself perfectly to the cosy, romantic vibe of the book.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.

What better place for a witty, sharp-tongued romance than two work colleagues who apparently despise each other? Josh and Lucy both come out with some hilarious one-liners on their journey to discovering that the constant bickering and the strangely sexual dreams may mean that they actually like each other. The Hating Game is now also an Amazon Prime adaptation, so read it before watching!

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman.

You will be hard pushed to find a cuter YA romance than that of Charlie and Nick in Heartstopper. As the volumes progress, we get to know both of them very well and watch their relationship ride the peaks and troughs of navigating secondary school with being gay (Charlie) and bisexual (Nick). With a wonderfully diverse cast of side characters, I’ve never finished a Heartstopper comic without an intense case of the warm fuzzies and a lot of hope.

Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert.

Heartwarming and incredibly addictive, Chloe and Red’s story will no doubt make your face hurt by grinning. Both Chloe’s inner monologue and the interactions with Red are wonderfully authentic. There are some laugh-out-loud scenes set alongside some parts where the deeper issues are discussed, causing them to form a meaningful, beautiful connection. Talia Hibbert gives voice to characters who so seldom get the chance to speak, which is just fantastic!

The Idea Of You by Robinne Lee.

Arena tours, chic art fairs, the streets of Paris and the warm glow of Miami sun, the very cinematic The Idea Of You has it all. Heady, romantic and thoroughly escapist, Solene and Hayes are an age-gap couple who have a likeability, an easy natural vibe and a LOT of chemistry. There are some very graphic sex scenes, so bear that in mind before picking it up!

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams.

When he discovers that he has never given his wife an orgasm, what’s a man to do other than seek inspiration in Regency romance novels? The concept of this series is pure genius and of course, a romance book club made up of baseball players is always going to be hilarious. Gavin and Thea are a couple who I wanted nothing but pure happiness and satisfaction for. Warm-hearted and very funny, The Bromance Book Club is a very strong Valentine’s recommendation.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood.

Fake dating and enemies-to-lovers in one, The Love Hypothesis is a worthy inclusion on this list. Olive and Adam are both in STEM academia, a notoriously tough world for women and this is touched upon several times. As well as the romance being easy to root for with a VERY steamy climax, The Love Hypothesis knows exactly what it is -a very tropey rom-com that doesn’t hold back when poking fun at itself. Olive is also demisexual, which we need to see more of in romance novels!

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich.

Wonderfully genuine and beautifully written, If This Gets Out follows the slow-burn, secret romance of Ruben and Zach while they’re both members of a world famous boyband. Touching on themes of homophobia, control and finding freedom, the relationship is easy to get on board with and features some gorgeous romantic scenes. Our heroes are in a pretty unique situation, which makes for a lovely, refreshing, YA queer read.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang.

A character-driven, very funny and sexy romance is the perfect tonic to many things, which is why The Kiss Quotient should be on your shelf. Stella has Asperger’s while Michael is a male escort, which makes for an unlikely pairing that somehow just works. With loveable characters and a lot of information about the realities of being a woman with autism, this trilogy of books is a fantastic coming-together of wit and sex!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Behind the glamour of 1950s Hollywood, Evelyn Hugo’s life saw husbands come and go and she must recount it all now for her memoir. Exploring the dark side of fame, the intense pain of forbidden love and the brutal nature of ambition and power, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a sprawling novel, full of heartbreak and a slow burn of an ending that smacks you right in the stomach. I’ll never stop raving about this book and putting it in as many hands as I can!