Melanie/Mel

Screenshot of Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long with a white woman with dark hair in a deep pink gown standing at the bottom of a staircase her hand reaching out to touch the hand of a white man. You can only see his hand and part of his arm with white shirtsleeves. It looks like she’s leading him up the stairs.

Finally broke the ice on Julie Anne Long’s The Palace of Rogues series. I didn’t realize there’s only 8 books (so far) in this series. Should be able to finish all 8 by the end of this year.

Screenshot of Nightwork by Nora Roberts with a scenic view of a river and a house and trees off in the distance and the setting sun.

173. Nightwork by Nora Roberts

Read 🎧: 10/5/25-10/8/25

#Romancelandia

Screenshot of Nightwork by Nora Roberts with a scenic view of a river and a house and trees off in the distance and the setting sun.

173. Nightwork by Nora Roberts

Read 🎧: 10/5/25-10/8/25

#Romancelandia

Welcome to the focaccia club!

Last week it was so pleasant fall weather and even yesterday was pretty nice temps and I thought hey, I’ll make soup today!

It’s 91°F today.

a woman says yes please do it in a blue shirt Alt: a blonde woman in a printed blue blouse says yes please do it!

I still see a lot of images on here without alt text and if you go to your settings, click on accessibility, and toggle the little thingy where it says “require alt text before posting” to on, then anytime you post an image, it will literally not let you post it until you add in the alt text.

I think for books, I like it in historical romances. The stakes seem bigger. I’ll have to check out that Linden, I’ve read her before but not that specific title.

I find it really hilarious that I claim to be super meh on fake relationships as a trope and yet one of my all time favorite romances EVER is Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston and my all time favorite romcom movie is While You Were Sleeping. I am nothing if not consistent about my inconsistencies.

She has a series of them all set there and they are fantastic!

I read this one as an arc and it’s out on Thursday and it is excellent. A steamy histrom set in the PNW during the women’s suffrage movement in the early 1900s, it’s a refreshing change from regency era London ballrooms.

Screenshot of Olive Becket Plays the Rake by Kat Sterling with a cartoon illustration cover of a blond white woman in a yellow gown sitting at a piano with her hands on the keys while a dark haired white man in a suit leans on the piano. They are both staring at each other.

172. Olive Becket Plays the Rake by Kat Sterling

Read: 10/1/25-10/4/25

#Romancelandia

Screenshot of Olive Becket Plays the Rake by Kat Sterling with a cartoon illustration cover of a blond white woman in a yellow gown sitting at a piano with her hands on the keys while a dark haired white man in a suit leans on the piano. They are both staring at each other.

172. Olive Becket Plays the Rake by Kat Sterling

Read: 10/1/25-10/4/25

#Romancelandia

We have those as well but the little cans are way cheaper.

And when I empty a container, the south Asian immigrant in me rebels against tossing it so I wash it and then when a recipe calls for a teeny tiny bit of tomato paste and the rest of the can is just sitting unused, I put the remaining paste in those little cubes and freeze them.

Screenshot of Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon with a cartoon illustration of two pairs of feet wearing socks sticking out from the bottom of a blanket on a bed.

171. Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Read 🎧: 10/1/25-10/3/25

#Romancelandia

Screenshot of Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon with a cartoon illustration of two pairs of feet wearing socks sticking out from the bottom of a blanket on a bed.

171. Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Read 🎧: 10/1/25-10/3/25

#Romancelandia

gochujang caramel cookies

Made these gochujang caramel cookies for the first time and will DEFINITELY be making them again.

GARLIC!!! What’s more sensual and romantic!!?

I wish I had answers for you but I was so taken aback by this revelation, I truly did not know how to respond.

Years ago, I had a fellow romance reader tell me that when they read a book, they skip all the dialogue and honestly, that has haunted me ever since.

Sooooo….we got mass market paperbacks taken away for scratch and sniff special editions? Cool cool cool cool cool

(I also agree with your assessment of Tali and Clay, Melinda Utendorf and I did a deep dive into the Psy Changeling series during the pandemic on smexybooks and that pairing was maybe one of our least faves).

Btw I would pay a substantial sum of money for Nalini to publish the “research” Judd came up with that he later shares with Kaleb and the other Arrows.

Judd is the quintessential virgin hero does research to make sure his first time with the love interest goes well for her(especially in light of Brenna’s trauma) and he’s one of my favorite heroes in that series.

Omg I love Brenna and Judd so so much.

Review: The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel CleetonHistorical FictionSeptember 30, 2025 by Berkley Review by Melanie Let me preface this review by stating that this is very much a historical fiction an…

I reviewed The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes for smexy. It’s more historical fiction than romance and it was riveting.

smexybooks.com/2025/10/revi...

That first sex scene makes me laugh every time.

Screenshot of Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon with a cartoon illustration of two pairs of feet wearing socks sticking out from the bottom of a blanket on a bed.

Currently rereading this book, this time via audio. The MMC is bad at sex and the FMC has to show him the way is a favorite micro trope of mine and this book just nails that trope. Uh, no pun intended.

Well a thing I learned today is that LG is in the midst of a class action lawsuit over their compressors so when you go fridge shopping, maybe avoid that brand.

Screams into void (I have to buy a new fridge). I am maybe irrationally angry over this. Actually, no. My anger is perfectly rational.