Angel Reads

24 Nov

The Books I’m Thankful I Found In 2020

Posted by angelreads Features, Top Ten Tuesday 4 Comments

This week I’m sharing the books that I’m thankful and glad that I read in 2020. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and Bookish and is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a Thanksgiving freebie. And I thought it would be fun to share some of the books that I’m thankful that I’ve read in 2020. There is a mix of everything on this list, but I have read a lot of romance this year. Anyway, enough of that, let’s get into it. Like always these are in no order.

Check, Please! Book 1: # Hockey (Check, Please! #1-2) by Ngozi Ukazu: I adored this one from the moment that I picked it up. Bitty is absolutely adorable and I could not wipe the smile off my face if you tried. It’s one that I am always recommending and I won’t stop.

Great and Precious Things by Rebecca Yarros: Great And Precious Things is heartbreaking, beautiful and just so good. It explores the notion of guilt and grief, as well as a fresh start. Camden and Willow were perfect protagonists that each had their own story. Rebecca Yarros knows how to tear me apart and she did again. Full Review

The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim: This is an empowering novel that explores family, mental health and trying to find your own feet. while there is darkness in this novel and sometimes you feel like there is no hope. There is also warmth. It has one of the cutest romances ever. Full Review

This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield: There should be no surprise that this has made my list and gosh I’m thankful for reading it. This is a brilliant #LoveOzYA that I think everyone needs to read. This book made me feel so many things from anger to hope. From sadness to being proud. This poignant coming of age story that captures the lives of those that struggle day by day. That tries to make the best of what they have. Full Review

Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare: Again you should be surprised that this has made my list. I adored this one, and if the series goes the same way I’m going to love it as much as The Dark Artifices. I love the characters, the friendships, the storyline and the world. It was just fantastic for me.

The Ones Who Got Away (The Ones Who Got Away #1) by Roni Loren: I’m really thankful that I started this series. This book is emotional, beautiful, heartwrenching and hit me hard. I’ve already read book 2 and I’m looking forwarding to reading the rest of the series.

Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1) by Evie Dunmore: I’m just so glad that I picked up this one in 2020. It was such a fantastic historical romance and something that I would not have read a few years ago, but now I’m loving Evie Dunmore so much. You can check out my review of Bringing Down the Duke now as well as my discussion with Ely on book two.

Lessons in Corruption (The Fallen Men #1) by Giana Darling: This is another series that I’m thankful that I read this year. I wasn’t expecting to like this one as much as I did and now I’m hanging for book 6. Like I need it right now. You can check out my review of the series as well as book 5 now.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune: This should not surprise anyone. This is by far one of my favourites reads this year and one that I am incredibly thankful that I picked up. It’s a magical and profound novel that truly takes the reader on an experience. It explores family and the notion that sometimes you find them in unlikely ways. You can check out my full review to see why else I adored this book.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo: This book just hit me in all the right places. The passion and thought that went into every word, every poem was just perfect. I love how each poem intertwined, everything felt like it belonged. The reader is truly able to feel X’s pain, her troubles and everything in between. Full Review.

And that is it for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday. There were so many more books that I want to add to this list. I’ve read a lot of books this year and so many of them have been amazing. I’m so thankful that I’ve read them.

What are some of the books that you are thankful for reading in 2020? Do we share any that is the same? Let’s Chat!

21 Nov

I Tried Three New-To-Me Romance Authors

Posted by angelreads Guest Post 2 Comments

Hello, it’s Ely and it’s time for my guest post for this month! In preparation for this post, I picked up three historical romances authors that I’d never read before and now I’m going to share with you what I thought about them and all that good stuff. So, let’s do it.

Julia Quinn

First up, you might have seen that Angel and I recently buddy read The Duke and I, which we discussed over on my blog here. I absolutely loved it and I think Quinn has a serious chance of becoming one of my top romance authors. I’ve already read book two in the series and now I’m just waiting for the next ones to arrive. I find her writing really easy to read and her characters are all so fun and witty—I love that. So this was definitely a win.

Maya Rodale

I just read It’s Hard Out Here For A Duke the other day and honestly? I did not like it. I don’t often dislike historical romances—I definitely have my favourites, but most of the time I mostly enjoy them. I just found this one kind of boring. It’s kind of dual perspective, but it switches back and forth between the two characters multiple times in a chapter. They often repeat the exact same things and that just didn’t work for me. I don’t think Maya Rodale is an author I would pick up again.

Gaelen Foley

Rounding this off with another incredible author. I read The Duke a little while ago and also loved it. Side note; why do I like Dukes so much? Anyway, this is a very different type of story to other romances I’ve read and at the start, I wasn’t too sure about it. There’s a bit of a murder mystery to it and the protagonist is also a courtesan, which kind of seemed like a strange mix but it worked. I bought the rest of the series and I’ll be reading those shortly!

And there we are. Have you read any of these romance authors? Are you adding any of them to your list?

19 Nov

Author Interview: Rilzy Adams | Romance Thursdays

Posted by angelreads Author Interviews, Romance Thursdays 1 Comment

This week on Romance Thursdays, I interview Rilzy Adams. You can also check out last weeks interview with K.E Osborn, where we talk about writing MC romances and more.

Romance Thursdays is a feature that spotlights romance authors to highlight how amazing the romance writing community is. Each week I’m will be interviewing a different romance author from across subgenres as well as both traditionally and self-published. I want to share their experience writing romance and why they love it so much. While also focusing on their writing and books.

Rilzy Adams is the author of the Falling Like A Johnson series, Birthday Shot, Go Deep and many more black romances. Let’s get into this interview.

Hello Rilzy, and welcome to Angel Reads. For those that haven’t read anything by you yet. Tell us a little about yourself and your books?

Heya! I am a thirty-year-old attorney ridiculously obsessed with coffee, sushi, prosecco and love. My books cover a huge range, from fun, sexy, low angst ‘Go Deep’ and ‘Birthday Shot’ to more winding roads to love such as in ‘The Gift’, which explores finding love after the death of a spouse and ‘Yours Always’ which dealt with a couple trying to hold it together after their marriage is hit by a deep tragedy. I think the important thing is, regardless of how it is presented that love with all its beauty and, at times, chaos is at the forefront!

Why did you start writing romance novels? Is there anything in particular that drew you to it over other genres?

I started off writing epic fantasy and then I guess low fantasy but I started to realize that whenever I wanted to dig into a book and get lost that I always ended up picking up a romance novel. And I loved daydreaming about love. I think it is so important to write what you can’t stop reading and or thinking about it and so it was a natural transition.

You write a range of contemporary romances from series to standalones. Is there one that you prefer to write more? Why do you like switching between the two?

I think I like series more than standalones because you get to check back in with couples you have grown to love to see how things are progressing and also explore characters who might not have had the stage in a previous book but have interesting stories to tell. I write stories as they come to me and as much as I love series sometimes the story meant to be told takes the form of a standalone.

What is your favourite thing about romance as a genre? Why do you like reading and writing it?

I think love is just the most simple but yet most complicated thing in the world and there is so much beauty and hope in that even though sometimes the path to love and experiences with love can be painful. I love exploring that through reading and writing.

There are many subgenres in romance. Is there something new that you would like to try and write? Is there a subgenre that you love to read, but don’t think you would write something in that subgenre?

The answer to both of these questions is the same. I know at first blush it doesn’t make sense but hear me out :). I love the idea of writing a paranormal romance. Also, I love reading paranormal romances but I swear every time I have a plot that I think would be a good fit and I sit down to write, it just doesn’t work. So it might be that I don’t ever end up writing something in that sub-genre but definitely not for lack of trying.

What are some of your favourite tropes that you like reading and writing in the romance genre?

I love writing friends to lovers and enemies to lovers. I love reading enemies to lovers, fake relationships and forced proximity.

Who are some of your favourite romance authors? Who has inspired you to write?

I think hands down Christina C Jones and Nicole Falls are two of my favourites. I also like Brenda Jackson and I went through a period of time being obsessed with Eric Jerome Dickey. And I pre-order anything Katrina Jackson writes even without reading the synopsis, title or anything. I think I have also probably read almost everything in Nora Roberts’ catalogue – maybe not the most recent stuff – but between the ages of fifteen and maybe twenty I tore through her books.

What are some of the ways that you think we can start overcoming the stigma of romance novels?

I think I could rant about this forever. I honestly don’t get where the stigma comes from. Well, I mean… I know. It is definitely rooted in sexism and the thought that anything that deals with emotions like love is feminine and therefore frivolous whereas genres with believed masculine energies are lauded. Love is such a universal experience – at some point in everyone’s lives, they have longed for it, chased it, run from it, fallen into it, rose up in it, embraced it, tried their damndest to figure it out. It is the most relatable thing there is. And that is even before we consider that although romance novels tell a love story there are often so many other facets of life covered: dealing with loss, self-love, social issues etc.

When I was growing up I was told that romance novels were not ‘serious’ but I was never told that when I was dug into a fantasy novel. I think the only way to overcome the stigma is to continue challenging it. In these circumstance reading and writing romance novels proudly is in itself an act of rebellion against the idiotic stigmas.

Thank you so much for coming by Angel Reads. It was lovely having you here. And I can’t wait to read more of your books!

I’m so excited to start picking up Rilzy Adams books, I already have a few waiting on my Kindle. I hope that you enjoy this interview and will check out Rilzy Adams books up as well.

If there is an author that you would like to see featured here, please do let me know and I will try my best. If you are a romance author and would like to be apart of Romance Thursdays, don’t hesitate to message me.

Have you read any books from Rilzy Adams before? Are you excited for more Romance Thursday posts? Let’s Chat!

About the Author

I’m a twenty-something lawyer by day and an author of contemporary romance by night.

Although I love love, I flirt with urban fantasy and thrillers because, well, sometimes we need a few witches and gore to spice things up! I live in the Caribbean and am addicted to coffee, sushi, Prosecco and sunshine.

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