What I love most is Smartypants Romance’s insistence on representation in romance. With one of its newest books, Give Love A Chai, we are treated to a heroine not often found in the world of romance. So often, romance is white. Over the past couple of years, more and more POC authors are writing their truths into romance, but it’s been a slow process. Even more, the striation of race is still lost to certain groups. With Give Love a Chai, Nanxi Wen treats us to the Asian experience through the journey of her heroine, Ting Ting “Tia.” From just the idea that she has two names to the challenges of living with parents who dote obsessively over her, Tia’s story is one we need at a time when more representative stories are necessary.
Give Love A Chai is a second chance romance between Tia and Andrew. After a decades-long separation, Tia must ask Andrew for a divorce, something that they both believed had been completed a decade before. Tia is engaged and ready to marry, but she needs the divorce in order to move forward (I see you, Sweet Home Alabama). The problem is…Andrew and Tia aren’t done with each other. Additionally, the secrets that devastated their marriage still exist, and while Andrew wants a future with Tia, can she trust him enough to move forward?
For me, I liked the overall idea of the story. You can’t help but root for their reconciliation because there is a desperation to be together between these two. Also, Wen makes it clear at the beginning that Tia doesn’t “fit” within the life of her fiance, Clayton. With that, Wen makes it easy for the reader to want Tia and Andrew to work since choosing Clayton means living a predictable, unemotional life, something that isn’t innate to Wen’s heroine.
The issue for me with Give Love A Chai is its pacing. There were many times when it felt slow, and there wasn’t anything to push me forward. There is quite a bit of internal monologuing for Andrew and Tia that repeated the same misgivings and anxieties. For this reader, that felt overwrought. Instead, I wanted them to move forward, allowing the tension to build in reconciling the past through the revelation of secrets and finding a future in the face of the challenges of her parents’ expectations. The story doesn’t move quickly enough into that level of reconciliation, so the story reads slow.
However, Give Love A Chai sets us firmly in Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City with Andrew as a lawyer for Cipher Security. That adds some excitement to the story. Plus the ending is quite sweet and lovely with a poignant look at an interracial marriage, reconciled and accepted. In the end, Nanxi Wen’s Give Love A Chai will fill your Smartypants Romance cup; it just might take you a bit to get there.
Have you ever read a book that acted so distinctly like a mirror to yourself that it is both painful and comforting in the same moment? For me, Susannah Nix’s Mad about Ewe is that such book. From the first chapter to the last, her heroine’s experience in many ways is my own. Almost to 50 – check. Older children who no longer really need her – check. Finding herself in the midst of middle age and a new identity – check. While I am not divorced like Nix’s heroine, Dawn Botstein’s marriage feels, in many ways, like my own, and Susannah Nix’s story made me both uncomfortable and comforted in equal measure. As a reader, I love experiences like that, when a book forces me to face truths about myself that I don’t want to face in my daily life. I, like many, walk through life in the midst of a daily apathy, simply sleepwalking through it. Yet, when you read a book such as Mad about Ewe, you can’t help but become introspective especially if you are living through a huge life transition, much like Dawn Botstein. Even more, in the world of romance, there are few authors willing to write about the experiences of a hero and heroine in their late 40s. When you find these stories, you cling to them, as I did to Nix’s book.
I think this is what I love so much about the Smartypants Romance books, Each book finds its own space and offers up a piece of romancelandia so that the SPR audience can find themselves represented in SPR’s books. For me, Susannah Nix’s Mad about Ewe found me, evoked me, connected with me. In the grand spectrum of romance, is Nix doing something different with her story? Not really. Dawn and Mike were friends, acquaintances really, in high school, and Dawn pined for Mike. Yet, Mike was too invested in living the life of a popular high school student even though he also carried a bit of a torch for Dawn. Meeting decades later, these two get their chance. As Mike works through his insecurity of never having graduated college and living a meager existence in a job he hates and Dawn finds happiness after a two decades-long marriage that never really fulfilled her, Susannah Nix shows us that it is never too late to advocate for yourself, to make choices that take you on a different journey. Basically, you are never too old, even if your birthday numbers make you seem so. In Mad about Ewe, there is a promise that life doesn’t end at middle-age. Instead, every day is an opportunity to live your best life. As an aside, Susannah Nix’s book also brings you back to Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City world with surprise cameos throughout. What else do you need to read this book?
As in the only word to describe making the mistake of falling for someone who is not only ten years younger than you, but your best friend’s son…
About the Author:
Xavier Neal is a best-selling romance author who enjoys hopping from sub genre to sub genre like a game of Hopscotch she can’t resist.
In between writing, she loves to read (everything from romance to self improvement books), watch movies (old and new), eat too much Tex-Mex (her Chuy’s t-shirt collection is out of control), and watch AHL hockey games LIVE (preferably against the glass whenever possible).
She currently resides happily in Texas with her bearded husband “Lumberjack” and her rather lazy dog, Missy.
R.S. Grey’s new standalone rom-com, To Have and To Hate, is out now! Check it out and order yours today!
About To Have and To Hate:
Marry a man I barely know to save my family from ruin.
It might’ve been simple, if my betrothed were anybody else.
On our wedding day, my husband-to-be arrived at the courthouse like a black cloud rolling over Manhattan. Walt didn’t crack smiles or pepper in pleasantries as we exchanged hollow vows in front of the judge.
His disdain for me was so palpable I assumed we’d walk out of that ceremony and resume our regularly scheduled programming. But then fate was like, Hold my beer. I got this.
In desperate need of help and with nowhere else to turn, I had no choice but to ignore a crucial rule in our contract: Ishall only contact Mr. Jennings II in case of emergency. But hey, what’s a little fine print between husband and wife?
Turns out, Walt’s a stickler for legalese—I think it might be his love language. Oh, and his attitude at the courthouse wasn’t a put-on. My so-called husband is a jerk. He takes what he wants without giving any consideration to other people—specifically ME, his blushing, contractually-obligated bride!
I knew life with Walt would be no honeymoon, but a marriage of any sort should still come with a few standard guarantees:
To have and to hold.
For richer or poorer.
In sickness and in health.
But after experiencing Walt’s version of wedded bliss, I say let’s forget about all that lovey-dovey crap and just take me straight to death do us part.
R.S. Grey is the USA Today bestselling author of over twenty novels. She lives in Texas with her husband and daughter, and can be found reading, binge-watching reality TV, or practicing yoga! Visit her at rsgrey.com
Rebecca Jenshak has revealed the cover for Bad Crush, book two in the Campus Nights Series!
Releasing April 27, 2021
There are a lot of really great ways to tell your best friend’s brother you have a crush on him, I’m sure.
I should tell him. I’m planning on telling him. But every time Adam’s around, I turn into a nervous wreck.
On the stage, I’m bold and brave, but standing next to him, I’m shy and timid.
Overnight I go from pretending I don’t love him to pretending I do and hoping he doesn’t realize it.
See, Adam needs a date. He’s newly single and not looking for a real girlfriend, so he asks his good friend and brilliant actress (me) to play the part.
Acting like I’m in love with him is easy. Hiding my feelings is the real challenge.
Now I have to tell my fake fiancé that I’m not pretending.
My bad crush has gotten me in way over my head.
Photographer:Wander Aguiar Model: Zack Salaun Cover Designer: Lori Jackson Designs
Rebecca is a new adult romance author, sports lover, and caffeine addict. When she isn’t writing, you can find her hanging with family and friends or with her nose buried in a book.
“Okay, people, you do not want to miss Heart Smart by Emma Lee Jayne! It’s fun and flirty and the chemistry crackles. Warning, though! It will keep you up past your bedtime!” – New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner
Heart Smart, an all-new enemies to lovers contemporary romance from Emma Lee Jayne, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!
I’m a jerk. Everyone I know or have ever worked with agrees. “Misanthropic asshole” is the term I hear most often.
I don’t care what other people think as long as they leave me alone to focus on my research on soil microbiology. Plus, I walk with a cane thanks to a childhood accident. I have scars on my face. And if that isn’t enough to scare people off, my bad attitude and general grumpiness seal the deal. Which is just the way I like it.
Except, I’ve been short listed for one of the most prestigious academic fellowships around. To win it, I’ll have to give a series of speeches. On a stage. With an audience. While being filmed.
Yeah. None of that is going to happen.
Unfortunately, my boss has a plan. He brings in one of the communications lecturers to give me a “make over,” help me write the speeches, and manage my social media.
But the last thing I need is some nosy, bossy, gorgeous woman meddling in my life.
And Holly is the solution…
I’m a mere communications lecturer at a prestigious research university. I’m used to being outclassed and under-educated compared to the PhDs who surround me.
But I’m good at what I do. Brilliant, actually.
When Max’s boss (who happens to be my ex-husband) begs me to help transform this beast of a man into someone worthy of the fellowship, I have my work cut out for me.
It’ll take a lot of badgering, blatant manipulation, and some outright thievery to get Max to cooperate. All of which I handle with the enough professionalism and restraint that should earn me a fancy grant.
What I can’t handle is how unexpectedly attractive I find the stubborn and brilliant man.
This is a battle of wills and wits, and neither is prepared to admit defeat …
‘Heart Smart’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #2 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
He stands up and shrugs out of his wet duster. I take it from him. It’s still dripping, so I walk into the back to hang it up in the work area where it can drip on the linoleum instead of the wood floors. When I turn back, I see Max has also shucked his jacket and draped it over the back of a nearby chair.
And he’s unbuttoning his shirt.
My steps slow. Then stop.
He’s looking down, so he doesn’t see my mouth drop open as he shrugs out of his oxford shirt. He’s wearing a white T-shirt on under his oxford.
I never, not in a million years, would have thought wearing a white shirt under a dress shirt would be inherently sexy. It shouldn’t be.
It’s oddly formal. It calls up images of old-world elegance and cuff links.
But it’s also just . . . hot.
Because while all of Max’s other clothes are ill-fitting—including the pants he’s still wearing—the crisp white undershirt is snug. It highlights every one of those perfect muscles I’ve been trying not to think about since I saw them at his house that day.
Every. Single. One.
From his stupidly broad shoulders to that narrow waist.
I’m still staring—who am I kidding? I’m still drooling—when he looks up from carefully draping his shirt over this jacket.
I must look like a pervy cartoon with bugging eyes and a long, dangling tongue, because he clears his throat and says awkwardly, “I don’t like having hair caught in my collar.”
I nod mutely.
“So I took off my shirt.”
I nod again. Still dumbstruck.
But surely I’ll be able to speak again sometime in the next couple hours.
“I hope that’s okay.”
I clear my throat.
Because the whole struck-dumb-by-his-muscles thing is starting to get ridiculous.
“Yes.” I swallow. “Absolutely. Whatever you need.”
God, I hope that didn’t sound like a proposition.
I clear my throat again and quickly add, “To feel comfortable. You should do whatever you need to feel comfortable. That’s the point, right? You should be comfortable and I should be . . .”
Silent.
I should be silent.
Because, oh my God. Dumbstruck was so much better than this rambling mess.
“Firmer is better,” he blurts.
“Excuse me?”
He blushes and presses his lips together, before saying, “When you’re washing my hair. Or touching me. A firmer touch is better than a light one.”
I nod, the pieces falling into place. I had read that people with sensory issues and people on the spectrum sometimes find light touches over-stimulating.
“Thank you for telling me.” I want to say more. Something that will get him to open up to me. But is that really a good idea? Do I really need more ideas about how Max likes to be touched?
Um . . . that is a big, fat no. No, I do not. Because I’m only touching him to cut his hair and trim his beard. I do not need to be getting ideas beyond that.
About Emma Lee Jayne
I write the kinds of books I want to read. Fast-paced books with lots of world-building, snarky heroines, and swoony heroes. I love story, pop culture, gossip, and baked goods. I’m a modern-day hippy and certified LEGO nerd.
I live in the Austin, Texas hill country, with my geeky husband and two extremely geeky kids. We have dogs, chickens, cats, and more LEGOs than should be allowed by law. Oh, and I stress bake. So if my characters talk about food a lot, that’s why.
Emma also writes as Rita award winning author Emily McKay.
“Street Smart is a laugh-out-loud, hand-over-heart swoon fest that will have you cheering for the good guy to get it all in the end. One of my favorite reads of the year!” -Bestselling Author Ginger Scott
Street Smart, an all-new workplace romantic comedy from Aly Stiles, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!
What could go wrong—four words MBA student Marcos Oliveira ignored when he accepted a prestigious internship at Reedweather Media, a subsidiary of the legendary Sandeke Telecom empire.
What did go wrong? Everything.
And when Marcos stumbles upon incriminating documents that signal corporate espionage against Sandeke’s son Martin, he suspects his strange intern wormhole has just exploded into chaos. When his alluring boss Eva draws him in to thwart the plot, he knows it.
After spending their lives overcoming adversity, can Marcos and Eva handle this latest threat? Even more perilous might be their losing battle against forbidden attraction.
His Ivy League education didn’t prepare him for spy games and illicit flames. Good thing he has the street smarts to work for it.
‘Street Smart’ is a full-length workplace romantic comedy and can be read as a standalone. Book #1 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
We straighten in alarm at the click of the lock on the main door. Crap! On instinct, I yank his shirt to pull him to the far end of the closet-like room and shove him behind one of the giant racks. Here’s to hoping whoever this person is doesn’t need to access whatever this thing is.
The clatter of the door closing, followed by the squeak of sneakers on the floor tell us someone entered, but we can’t see them through the wall of computer junk obstructing our view. This also means they can’t see us, so yay for that.
Initially, adrenaline keeps my attention fixed on the action at the other side of the room. Soon, though, hormones interrupt our regularly scheduled caper to parade neon signs of awareness that I’m pressed tightly against Marcos Oliveira. Yes, my brilliant, urgent spy maneuver was to crush him into the wall. To press my body against his in an invisible cocoon of stealth. Except this cocoon is suddenly hot. And hard. And electrified with the current of a thousand server racks. It’s inhabited by a sun god who stares down at me with blistering, intelligent eyes and full, tempting lips. Those lips spread into a smile—nay—a challenge, when they catch me gawking. An I-dare-you-not-to-touch-me-right-now message. His hard chest joins the taunt, molding solid muscle to my soft curves. His hips, gah, I can’t decline that invitation. It’s not my fault. They just—react, aligning with his of their own accord. And when his chest swells with a labored inhale at the friction, a shudder runs through me. My hands don’t know what to do either, and soon they’re exploring belt loops at his lower back. Fingers coil around fabric, hooking in until they have no choice but to pull our hips into a firmer embrace. His eyes clench shut, his breathing rapid like mine. His heart—I can feel the raging pulse, or maybe that’s mine. Where does he end and I begin right now? We’re not ourselves. We’ve melded into that new entity—that throbbing, scorching cocoon. My lips burn with a hunger to explore his neck. I grip the belt loops tighter, needing to breathe soon so I don’t lose control of a gasp and give us away.
Somehow, I manage to break one hand away, but it gets sidetracked on the return journey. Instead of safety, it seeks his chest, palm opening wide for a full, greedy experience as it slides from his waist, up solid, mouth-watering planes. My touch absorbs his heat as it travels, tingling from the contrast of the soft fabric of his shirt and the hard angles of muscle beneath. I take extra time exploring his pecs, sinking in and enjoying the way his breathing changes as I rake his skin with my nails. My hand should stop when it reaches his collar, but it doesn’t. No, it keeps moving, skimming over his neck and curving behind until my fingers tangle in his hair. My thumb glides over light stubble, locking below his jaw and angling his perfect face right where I want it. Where I need it as I lick my lips and stare at his mouth. My genius stripper intern who couldn’t be more accessible and forbidden in this moment.
“No freaking way,” a voice echoes through the room.
Marcos and I snap our gazes toward the sound. Neither of us move as we wait, our breaths coming heavy from fear now, in addition to desire. Gosh, this is pretty much the most addicting sensation I’ve ever experienced. No wonder James Bond is a thing.
About Aly Stiles
From angsty and dark to snort-laugh funny, Aly writes romance from her soul to yours.
At first glance, CD Reiss’s Mafia Bride is simply a mafia romance, complete with an arranged marriage or kidnapped bride, a groom both violent and compassionate in equal measure, and a world replete with the customs and traditions of the “old country.” As you read, it feels 100% like a CD Reiss romance, a promise of sexualized violence at every turn of the page. Yet…yet, over halfway through the book, there is a change, a profundity slithers through the story. It becomes more insightful, and if you’re paying close enough attention, you’ll read Reiss’s tertiary intent for Mafia Bride. It becomes more quizzical and questioning. And it’s there where the heartbeat of this story lies, I believe. Reiss has a distinct voice in romance: aggressively alpha heroes with heroines who are intelligent but also a bit haphazard in their sense self. She mixes her heroes and heroines into worlds where $ex is supreme and aggressive and possessive, meant for the pure titillation of her readers, and you find yourself like any voyeur watching an accident on the highway/freeway – you can’t turn away because the destruction is delicious. But…but there is always some gravity floating beneath the surface of her stories, something “more” than pure titillation and destruction. For me, Reiss is a romance writer who uses the framework of romance to challenge societal ills. A book such as Mafia Bride (and the other two books of the DiLustro Trilogy) is never “just” a mafia romance; it’s an opportunity to magnify something deeper than the brazen acts of fornication that you’ve come to expect from her stories. In Mafia Bride, she is challenging the ideas of tradition and culture, gender norms, and identity.
Everything you love about mafia romance with an arranged marriage is here: the violent challenges of the mafia world, the scared and virginal, but also defiant heroine, and the mafioso hero who is ready to raze the world on her behalf even though he hides that weakness. In Mafia Bride, Violetta’s voice is the strongest, mostly because Reiss provides her with more chapters than the hero, Santino. This does two things: (1) it leaves the reader in the dark for a majority of the story, and (2) it makes you pine for Santino’s POV. There is one word for this first book of the trilogy: slow. Unlike her other stories, the physicality of Mafia Bride is more threat than reality. You will wait. Additionally, in offering more of the story through Violetta’s voice, like Violetta, we are not instantly privy to the details. The pace of the story feels fast, even though the details are divulged slowly. In fact, in the end, in the face of a devastating cliffhanger, you still don’t know too much about Santino. For me, this feels natural to this trilogy. Mafia Bride is delicious decadence in its storytelling.
Now…the depth of the story is its charm. So, we live in a society right now that is trying to find better ways of viewing tradition and culture. In upending pervasive cultural norms, people are attempting to find new identities, new ways of thinking about identity. In a way, Reiss considers this challenge and journey through the scope of Violetta. There are epiphanies in this story that rock Violetta’s foundational beliefs, and it allows the story to explore mafia romance in more meaningful ways. It is in this space where I fell in love with Mafia Bride. Until these moments, I weaved through Reiss’s story, fully expecting more but ready to accept the story she wrote. I know there are two more parts of the story for Violetta and Santino, but at the beginning of Mafia Bride, it was like every other mafia romance.
Until it wasn’t.
Reiss does what she does best: she surprises you. She made my lit brain turn on, and, whether it was her intent or not, I started to see allusions to the challenges of our society. It was there where my excitement and interest in this trilogy grew.
Needless to say, I’m ready for more of the DiLustro Trilogy. Be prepared: you will not have the answers to this story. You will end CD Reiss’s Mafia Bride with more questions and a greedy soul, ready for more Violetta and more Santino.
MAFIA BRIDE from New York Times Bestselling author CD Reiss is now available! Make sure you grab this dark mafia romance and get lost in book 1 of THE DILUSTRO ARRANGEMENT!
An epic mafia romance trilogy that sets a new bar for just how dark a hero can get, from NY Times Bestselling author CD Reiss.
Some girls dream of marrying a prince, but I never imagined I’d be sold to a king.
Santino DiLustro.
The king.
The monster.
The keeper of secrets.
When he forced me to marry him, I cried for love I’d never know.
When he locked me away, I cried for the freedom I lost forever.
Every other tear I’ve shed is for my soul, because I’m falling for the devil himself.
About the Author:
CD Reiss is a New York Times bestselling author. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn’t pick up she’s at the well hauling buckets.
Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master’s degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere but it did give her a big enough ego to write novels.
She’s frequently referred to as the Shakespeare of Smut which is flattering but hasn’t ever gotten her out of chopping that cord of wood.
If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.
To find out when her next book is coming out, sign up for her mailing list at cdreiss-dot-com.
Give Love a Chai, an all-new charming second-chance romance from Nanxi Wen, is LIVE EARLY on AppleBooks, Nook, Kobo, and GooglePlay!
Tia Wang’s Wedding Planning To-Do List: 1. Find the perfect dress 2. Win her future mother-in-law’s approval 3. Divorce her not-so-ex husband, Andrew Parker
When she fell in love and married her childhood best friend on a whim in Vegas, Tia innocently thought love conquered all. Turns out, that was a crushing lie. Her world shattered as she and Andrew were torn apart by secrets and mistakes.
Ten years later, Tia has left the pain behind and carved out a new life with Mr. Perfect. The only thing standing between her and happily ever after? A divorce from Andrew.
It should have been easy for Andrew to sign his name on the dotted line. Independent, prickly, and always in control, Andrew has done everything to escape his past. But seeing Tia on his doorstep after all these years? He can’t help wondering what might have been. Andrew has never forgotten Tia and vows to fight for their relationship this time around. If he has to hold those divorce papers hostage to get his second chance, he will.
Feelings resurface, stronger and more complex than ever. But Tia and Andrew have more than Mr. Perfect between them. Can they overcome past mistakes to forge a future together, or will new threats ruin their second chance at forever?
‘Give Love a Chai’ is a full-length contemporary romance, and can be read as a standalone. Book #2 in the Common Threads series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
Nanxi Wen thought she was going to write the greatest historical novel. Turns out, her characters decided that they want to be in the 21st century with modern plumbing, online shopping, and reality TV shows. Her first book comes out in February 2021 – Give Love a Chai.
She lives in New England with her husband and two clingy monkeys (aka toddlers). When she is not despairing over word count, she enjoys reading, snacking, drinking coffee, sitting by the fireplace, hanging out with friends (far apart and with masks) and daydreaming.
Professor Romance 