#romance novel addict

[comic-sans-chan]

cursed modern human garashir au where ds9 is an old ruined resort that was built by some evil rich motherfuckers years ago and was recently seized back by the native people whose land and economy it had destroyed. it's since been converted into an affordable apartment complex sort of situation (just... with a pool, bar, restaraunts, spa and tennis court built into it lol) and is run by sisko and kira. since it is rundown, odo gets hired back on to keep kids from further vandalizing it and o'brien's team gets hired on from the nonprofit organization sisko works for to fix the place up best he can. dukat is the old overseer of the property who drops by sometimes to remind them he and his hospitality business still exist, and my, what a fine job they’ve done renovating the place! it’s actually nice again. sure would be a shame if someone bought the property out from under them (lmao jk kardasi hospitality and starfleet are friends! no hard feelings. they should collaborate on some future projects, actually).

garak's a sad bitch who just lost his amazing morally dubious nepotism career at obsidian corp. (which absorbed kardasi hospitality) and moved into the complex just for the comfortingly familiar architecture. even tho he's not on the payroll for his (secret) dad's evil exploitative company anymore he's still vital to its continued efficiency and is an absolute sucker who still does unpaid shady work for them from time to time. so no one in the complex likes him, but also he's a very pleasant and fastidious queer man who pays his rent on time and has completely taken over the laundry room, to the benefit of everyone, because all the machines actually work now, it's always tidy, and there's a variety of forever-stocked detergents and soaps available, plus an iron?? there was not an iron before garak moved in. which is how it eventually becomes public knowledge that garak has an online tailoring and fashion design business, and he's actually pretty good at restoring clothes that get fucked by the washing machine or eaten by rats, soooo. yeah. they let him stick around.

meanwhile julian's a hot doctor who works at the local hospital and is absolutely buried in student debt that he refuses to let his moderately-wealthy family help him with because they're awful people who had him on illegal drugs without his knowledge since he was a little kid. they were afraid he had something wrong with him, apparently. he was too far behind in his class or w/e. they couldn't handle having a kid with special needs, so they pumped him full of dangerous experimental stimulants. only reason he found out is because he snuck off somewhere to start transitioning and had some tests done that revealed all the crazy shit in his system. he's insanely lucky he didn't end up in the hospital with seizures or fall into a coma or worse. not to mention his parents still dead-name him left and right over a decade later. it's a whole mess and a huge secret, because he technically has a history with illegal drug abuse, and it's a partially ongoing history because going cold turkey off drugs he's been on since he was six is Not A Good Idea, so??? fuck his life, actually. he lives in the apartment just down the hall from garak's. 

garak hates the country his dad's company expanded into and would like nothing better than to move back home, but it's not really logistically possible. especially since everyone there hates him cuz his (secret) dad's company is a mega-corporation that's completely taken over everything p much and is a complete monopoly nightmare, and he did... kinda... work there for decades. no one would hire him if he went back. it would be an extreme conflict of interest, since everyone wants to stay on tain's good side, including garak. but starfleet is interested in him, so he does some begrudging contract work for them sometimes, but he really has no desire to join them. he just wants to resume his old career and reclaim his assets.

julian's hospital is owned by starfleet, tho. his scholarship into medical school was also from starfleet, in fact--they're the only reason he was able to (sort of) afford becoming a doctor at all. so he's a big fan, even tho they are pretty hardcore anti-drugs in a way that's made him have to forge medical records and risk serious legal charges and prison time. julian comes across as a squeaky clean medical professional and an adorable idiot, but he's intimately familiar with back-alley dealings. which is kind of how he ends up helping garak with his drug addiction, and keeps said addiction off the record.

but basically, how it begins is julian likes to support the local restaurants in the complex and garak finds him there and thinks he's gorgeous, and it proceeds as expected. they fuck nasty and become codependent. ten years later, julian lives in a modest house with garak in his home country and garak irons all his old university hoodies.

[ash-and-starlight]

things i’m going crazay about today: the illustrations in the he who drowned the world illumicrate cover

(artist is glassbearer on ig)

[all-about-books-baby]

Self care

[wuthering-high]

"they're just fictional characters" yes but the emotional damage they cause is real

[gdnewsam]

A Weekend Affair audiobook

By Noelle Vella

[teklarain]

“wyd?”

me: *reading a book and falling into another fictional world*

[dhaaruni]

There's a VERY popular romance series from the mid-2010s in which one of the couples starts dating when he's 25 and she's 18, but they've been tiptoeing around each other since she was 15, and in retrospect, I'm baffled that relationship was considered epic romance™ by fans.

Why are you, a 23-year-old man, lusting after a 15-year-old? The reason she's "a girl that he has never been allowed to have" (to quote the book summary) is because grown men lusting after high school freshman is creepy and that "relationship" shouldn't be endorsed or celebrated!

[toxichem]

✧･ﾟ ——— ❛ @knifvd . ❪ plots please ! ❫ plots please + [ sage ] !

1. — one of these days i ' m going to add you on disco and SCREAM about how the angst you hint at every time to respond to an ask / write a starter for me has grabbed me by the throat and won ' t let go but for now : gimme a mission or something where it really comes out to play , they get trapped and have to survive each other and kingdom / omega valorant while waiting for rescue , or the mission goes off the rails , or even some undercover shit and just —

2. — something pre - val , exploring them before whatever it was that twisted viper and burnt sage out ever happened . something sweet and light , but bittersweet because we know where it ends . i'm talking cute little coffee / park dates ( romantic or not i'm game for either ) , christmas / new years gifts that they adore when they get them and never throw away after the incident , so on and so on .

3. — college au where they ' re feuding professors . idk this one just seems like it would be fun and could be more lighthearted / less angsty than normal verse stuff . a palette cleanser .

[obstinaterixatrix]

oh yeah, there’s this other bl I’ve been keeping an eye on that’s almost done being tl’d, I might put it in the rec tag but I’m still waiting to see how it plays out because like… this is the most low key and to some extent respectful/optimistic depiction of gambling addiction I’ve seen in a story? ever? it’s quite fascinating, the standard narrative is for the character without addiction to be very involved with discussing and being in conflict and supporting etc. like even when the conclusion is ‘the character with addiction needs to find their own way through recovery’ there’s still a huge emphasis on the other character’s role up to that conclusion. it’s like… you know how people talk about Rat Heaven as in the experiment examining addictive behaviors and conditioning and environmental needs and enrichment. that’s essentially the way this narrative goes. li starts off as his life’s been derailed by a series of tragedies which led to and exacerbated gambling which led to conflict and dissolution of his support system which exacerbated everything etc, and the mc just kind of lets li crash at his place and after a while of having stable shelter and food and an environment that’s… receptive to him would probably be the best descriptor, li just starts adjusting to the stable environment and independently pursues recovery. I feel like having the outside perspective actually enhances it too, the writer never writes the li’s thoughts, only what li says out loud to mc. like there’s half a chapter left so there’s still time for things to end up :/ but yeah actually I really like this approach to a romantic narrative that is tied to a serious topic. oh actually I should specify the respect/optimism is after a while into it though and more in the metanarrative sense, there’s still a lot of fear/stigma/reacting to how li is in the present

edit from the future: the second half of the last chapter sucks

[alltimebibliophile]

Book Title: The Ruthless People ( 4 book series)

Author : J.J. MCAVOY

Book description: To the outside world, they look like American Royalty, giving to charities, feeding the homeless, rebuilding the city. But behind closed doors is a constant battle for dominance between two Bosses, cultures, and hearts.

Ruthless People is a romantic crime fiction set in modern day Chicago, following the life and marriage of Melody Nicci Giovanni and Liam Callahan-rivals by blood and leaders through fear. Their marriage was arranged by their fathers in hopes to end years of bloodshed between the Irish and the Italians. Liam, next in line to lead the Irish, believes he's getting a simpleminded wife, one he can control, one who bends to his every need . .. the complete opposite of Melody. Bred to be a Boss, a world-class marksman, master of disguise, with no mercy and no fear. Twenty-four years later, she has achieved more than any man could even dream of, killing anyone who steps in her way. She knows exactly what type of man Liam is, and she would rather die than give up the power she has spent her whole life building. But with no other family left, she must not only learn to work with Liam, but the whole Callahan clan. The Mafia of the past is evolving, and with rival bosses gunning for them, Melody and Liam will have to figure out how to work as one to take down those who stand in their way, all while keeping up appearances.

Book review: Okay it’s been long since I stopped reading romance novels, but I had to post this. I see people loving arranged marriage romance everywhere but I am surprised no one talks about this.

I read this book back in 2015, and absolutely loved it. It had everything that I love in a trope like arranged marriages with the added benefit of it having a ruthless and badass Female Lead.

Melody was absolutely ruthless and smarter than Liam, she didn’t take anyone’s bullshit and was always a step ahead of everyone. Unlike most FL she was not the damsel in distress waiting for the guy to help her.

Now that I reread it 2-3 years ago, I did see some problems that I overlooked as a teen, but still that didn’t dampen my enjoyment of it.

[jessread-s]

✩🎁✨ Holiday Haul Part 1:

Happy holidays everyone!! I hope you had a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, or fantastic week if you do not take part in any of the named festivities 🥰 I took a much needed break from booklr to spend time with my family (which is why this post is going up so late…oops 🫣), but I’m excited to share with you my spoils from this season before we head into the new year!

One of my favorite gifts that I received from Santa is the book cart pictured above!🎅🤍 I was just starting to run out of shelf space and Santa came through right in the nick of time! For the foreseeable future, my romance novels will call this shelf home and I cannot wait to add stickers to the frames!

Did you receive or treat yourself to any bookish merchandise this holiday season? If so, let me know what you got in the comments!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

@ever-so-ali

[makaylan]

An ideal Saturday morning. Aka everything you need to know about me in a single picture. 🤣🥰

[despazito]

Are we calling women who read shitty harlequin romance novels porn addicts now?

If you read one paragraph of vintage victorian smut you'd hurl.

[wxrmlust]

Quick Question, Y'all.

Some of y'all might not know this, but I do have an urban fantasy novel with queer (bisexual, nonbinary, etc), dynamic characters and a slight romantic subplot available for sale. It's currently only on Amazon, but I am looking into the various markets for self-publishing so that I might find something that works better for me and for my readers.

That said, I want to know if folks would be interested if I decided to do a small giveaway involving 5-10 signed paperback copies of my novel, A Thousand Years. The Amazon listing is here, so you can see if it's a book you might enjoy. The 5th year anniversary of its' writing is coming up and I would love to share it with some new sets of eyes. 💖

I don't really mind either way if the book is reviewed or not (although it would help), I just want to get my writing in the hands of more people. I may or may not run the giveaway through Goodreads; I have not explored that mechanic yet.

Due to shipping costs, I will probably only be able to ship to folks in the US.

Answer the poll?

*when I say Kindle in the poll, this is not limited to Kindle. I can prepare other digital versions for whatever folks may need.

If you'd like a digital version but also signed, say something in the comments. I can probably make that happen with Adobe ;)

I am also working on setting things up to make other digital versions of this work widely available.

[gdnewsam]

A Weekend Affair audiobook

By Noelle Vella

[teklarain]

page by page i fall more and more in love with everything reading has to offer.