I’ve been in the biggest romance reading slump and I’m kind of sad about it. I’m also not as upset as I thought I would be because I’ve been finding so many gripping and thrilling books in genres outside of romance and the fact that I’m not sad is making me sad.
I feel the romance books that are getting hyped now a days don’t fit my reading taste. I don’t know if it’s me or the books but I think that it’s a little bit of both but mostly me. I’m usually more of an experience reader rather than a technical reader. By that I mean that I’m not really bothered by the writing if I have a good time reading the book and the plot or romance is gripping enough for me.
The romance books I’ve picked up recently have mostly been paranormal or fantasy romances where either the writing’s not the best or the plot/premise’s just not my style. The common denominator though is all the romances that I’ve been reading but not loving are all non-contemporary romances so it’s time to fix that.
Here are some of the contemporary romances that I own that I’m looking forward to getting to:
The Simple Wild by K.A Tucker
This book feels like it’s going to be heavy and I’m excited about it. This book feels like it has a small yet loyal following and I’m desperate to join it. As with most of the books I decide to read, I don’t know all the details because I like to go in knowing as little as possible. What I do think I know about this book is that involves the exploration of a relationship with an estranged parent, a grumpy pilot, and that it takes place in Alaska.
A lot of the non-contemporary romances have been quick and light in the sense that the emotional stakes aren’t high. I think I need something much more slow burn, not just in the romance sense but in the build up of the emotional stakes. Reading about familial relationships and adjusting to a place you’re not used to is something that’ll be more deeply driven into a book like this. Even though this book is probably going to be heavy, I still think that it will be cozy with the setting of the lush Alaskan wilderness.
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
I can’t believe I haven’t read this book yet. I’m kind of embarrassed about it, I’m not going to lie. I think that this is the perfect book to fall under the category of “it’s a romance but not about a romance”. I heard that this publication is the least purely romance focused release in Helen Hoang’s romance series and I’m quite excited about it. It explores topics such as burnout and dealing with both internal and external pressure. Quan is one of my favorite family members in the Kiss Quotient Universe. He’s always there for people in need and is willing to sacrifice so much to ensure the happiness of his loved ones. He’s a bad ass looking guy with a buzz cut and a motorcycle but has the insides of an emotionally intelligent teddy bear. As with all of Helen Hoang’s previous books, I’m looking forward to see how these two characters grow with each other and move past or learn to cope with and recognize some of the tough things they deal with on a daily basis. From both the premise of the book and what I heard from reviews, I know much more about the female main character and the stuff that she’s going to be dealing with in this book but not much about Quan. I’m looking forward to learning more about about the man who’s been a constant pillar of support and humor in the previous books.
The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
In my head, I categorize contemporary romances into different sections: the emotionally heavy ones, the ones that are a romance but aren’t only about the romance, and then the light, funny, modern day romances that trend much more popularly. “The Ex Talk” I feel can be considered a backlisted contemporary romance that falls into the later category, “modern day romances that trend much more popularly”.
The thing that interests me the most about this book is that it’s an enigma to me. I don’t much about it other than it involves exes or the discussion of exes and a podcast. I know much more about the other romance books I have on this list than this one. I think another problem with the past contemporary romances I’ve read is that there was so much hype for them and I was picking up these books when they were being talked about everywhere. That always led me to have way too high expectations for the books under discussion and had me more critical and analytical while reading which isn’t the mindset I like to go in to a book with.
This book was pretty hyped last year or two years ago but as of recently, I think I can say that the hype has died down. Which means, it’s time for me to jump onto the band wagon and pick it up. I really miss having a lighthearted contemporary romance to fall in love with so I’m hoping that “The Ex Talk” will help me out and be the start of a new rom com favorites list of 2022.
What are some romances that you want to check out? And are any of the ones I mentioned in my list ones that you’ve enjoyed? Suggestions are appreciated for some contemporary romances! Anything but paranormal or fantasy romances lol.