Hey there! I enjoyed our conversation last month so much, I wanted to check in again. I also wanted to show you some of the spring we’ve got going on around here! It’s SPRING. My neighbor’s lawn is half covered by lily of the valley, and I want to take the deepest breaths of my life when we walk by. It smells impossibly good.   And then there’s my other neighbor who grows poppies! I honestly didn’t think they’d grow at my latitude but they’re really happy: That’s the first one, and about two days after I took this photo, there were dozens. They’re so pretty! And finally, the azalea I ad ..read more

Tiffany Girl RECOMMENDED: Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist is $1.99! This is an American historical romance. Redheadedgirl read the book after hearing about it on a panel at a previous RT conference, and she gave it a B+: I loved this and chewed through it like someone was going to take it away from me, and I’m totally going to check out more of Gist’s work.  She writes specifically American historicals, which are kind of sparse on the ground lately, and are a refreshing change of pace from the English historicals. As preparations for the 1893 World’s Fair set Chicago and the natio ..read more

Bookshelves everywhere are getting ready for Pride Month, and these are just five of the glorious May Flowers that’ll get your spring blooming, if you know what I mean. (You know what I mean.) Lavash at First Sight Author: Taleen Voskuni Released: May 7, 2024 by Berkley Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance Sparks fly between two women pitted against each other in this delectable new romantic comedy by Taleen Voskuni, author of Sorry, Bro. Twenty-seven-year-old Nazeli “Ellie” Gregorian enjoys the prestige of her tech marketing job but is sick of the condescending Patagonia-clad ..read more

Amanda and I are traveling to May 1994 and taking a look at the book reviews in this edition of RT Rewind! We’re answering many questions, including: Why does five stars mean something is a classic, but one star is acceptable? What do CS, RM, VR, and F stand for inside Contemporary and New Reality? What grade did Dreaming of You receive? There’s so much Fabio, a telepathic cat, blaming tornadoes for murder, and a lot of time travel. But my gosh, golly, gee whiz, do not miss the visuals for this episode! Music: purple-planet.com Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @lumedeodorant and get 15 ..read more

In this week’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the book reviews for the May 1994 issue of RT Magazine. Thank you to Mari, the Romance Girl for this issue! You can also find all the RTRW content at our category page for Romantic Times Rewind.  And, most importantly, if you want to listen and follow along with this entry, we have more detail in the audio, but you can click play and listen and read and absorb all the visual goodness: Ok, let’s get started! We’ll discuss the cover in the next episode, and there’s hardly anything to say about it. Really, nothing going on with this cov ..read more

A Thousand Recipes for Revenge A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato is $1.99 on Amazon! This is the first book in a series and I feel like a food-based fantasy adventure would be right up the Bitchery’s alley. A world on the brink of war and a mother and daughter on the run, in a thrilling novel of swashbuckling adventure, culinary magic, and just desserts. Adamantine “Ada” Garland has an empathic connection to food and wine, a magical perception of aromas, flavors, and ingredients. Invaluable property of the royal court, Ada was in service to the Five Gods and to the Gods-ordaine ..read more

Welcome back to Links! I can slowly start to feel the allergies. I’ve been good about taking Flonase recently, so I haven’t had my usual symptoms of sneezing and sinus pressure. I have had some severely dry eyes, which are new for me. I did buy some eyedrops; does anyone have a good hack to getting the drops in on the first try? May is looking busy for my social calendar and ending with a trip back to South Korea for a traditional Korean wedding. I had to send in measurements for a hanbok! Admittedly, I’m already hope some of my plans get cancelled (Sorry, friends, if you’re reading this! I’m ..read more

The Once and Future Witches RECOMMENDED: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow is $2.99! Carrie reviewed this one and gave it a B+: Overall I loved reading this book. I literally gasped and clapped my hands over my mouth periodically, like a silent movie star. It’s so gripping, so beautifully written, and such a powerful homage to women’s voices and the need to unify against a common enemy. In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the moder ..read more

Death in the Spires Death in Spires by KJ Charles is 99c! Thank you to everyone who let us know about this sale. Fingers crossed it lasts through today! The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered. 1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finall ..read more

It’s the last week of April! Can you believe it’s already over? For us, it’s a quiet ending to the month. We only have four books to mention this time. Looking ahead to May, though, there are some big releases we can’t wait to talk about! Which new releases are on your TBR pile? Or are you already looking forward to May books instead? Tell us in the comments! A Magical Girl Retires Author: Park Seolyeon Released: April 30, 2024 by HarperVia Genre: LGBTQIA, Novella, Science Fiction/Fantasy A millennial turned magical girl must combat climate change and credit card debt in this delightful, wi ..read more