Christine Kelly Reads and Writes

May was a busy reading month. Thankfully I use audiobooks so I could give my eyes a break, because I read 4 author manuscripts, 2 of them at least 2 times! This is why I have to *love* the books I sign. Paying attention to details on a third or fourth read is easier when you love the story so much.

Without too much preamble, let’s jump into what I read in May! *Again, to note, this is not a rating, but a way for me to talk about books (yay!), help potential authors identify my taste to query me, and also to hopefully help authors come up with comps. Anyways, here we gooooo!

First up is The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee. There is something ery important I want to highlight here, and if you’ve been on social media, I’m sure you’ve seen a bit of it. But it’s worth mentioning (again and again) until publishing gets better. Let me start by saying, THIS BOOK IS A FREAKING DELIGHT! I had the best time listening to it (within 2 days so it’s a quick read/listen). But mostly, shame on Harper Collins for not supporting Susan Lee in promoting this book more. If you saw or heard about this book, it’s because Susan herself did the heavy lifting of promoting it. She even told her PR team she could be someplace to help SELL COPIES, and they didn’t utilize her. We see this often with marginalized authors. And then when they don’t get sales because they didn’t get marketing support, publishers won’t pick up their next book. This is why it’s so important to read BIPOC authors. Read queer stories. Read widely. Prioritize it. It’s easy to fall into the trap of reading what you *want*. But also reading what you want may end up being these authors you don’t prioritize.

Next up I listened to Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana. First I love this cover, but also her second book also has a stunning cover. And you’ll want to preorder it because this one ends on a bite-your-fist cliff hanger. While this has fae, I felt that it was something different than what we’ve seen. The world was fresh and unique. If Metal Slinger had you hooked, this one will too!

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio was next up. I actually own the physical copy, but I’ve realized my physical reading time is just too limited, so once this popped up on audio, I borrowed from the library and gave my physical copy away. (Funny story, I went to a girls night dance party and made a friend and gave her the book at the party. That’s the type of book person I am!) But this book was really interesting. I was curious the whole time, always wondering what was going to happen next. I honestly could write a sequel in my head too, in order for me to keep living this life and how the MC continued on. I am very interested in the movie– I can’t wait to watch!

Okay, Lights Out by Nvessa Allen was a trip! Not only was it a stalker romance but it was FUNNY! I know this sub-genre of dark romance isn’t for everyone, BUT I will say it’s worth a read to really understand how you can make a morally grey character like-able. You are given so many reasons and great wounds/backstory to the characters for this story, the plot, and what happens to fit and make sense. I didn’t question anything happening because it just made sense for the characters because they were so well done. The audio book was very well done too.

This was my first Carley Fortune for a while, but One Golden Summer has been on my radar since she said she was finally writing Charlie’s book. I don’t want to spoil the first book of hers– Every Summer After– but I was SO interested to see how Carley would give us Charlie’s side of the story, and a redemption arc for him of sorts. It had a bit of nostalgia, not only for her first book, but for the summer of my youths, how the characters relived what they had done in past summers. And Carley Fortune is a master at setting the scene. You feel like you’re at the lake with the characters.

Last but not least, I read Problematic Summer Romance by Queen Ali Hazelwood. If you saw my reel, you know that I had a great time reading this book because of the print quality (The smell! The page texture!). But also– again– another situation where the characters were really well done. And while it is a age gap romance (y’all if that’s not for you, I still think this book may work), this book gave us real life feelings around the romance. And real life wounds to go along with the characters and their choices and what they want. It was the most angsty, and I wanted THEM TO KISS ALREADY. And the setting was amazing– a trip to Sicily was just what I didn’t realize I need. 10/10 recommend. Ali gets better with every book. It’s amazing.

How is your June reading month looking? I’m interested to see how much I’ll get to read now that the kids are out of school and I’m off to my vineyard for the summer. TBD!