#ruby lang

Bookshelf – He’s Come Undone : A Romance Anthology (Emma Barry, Olivia Dade, Adriana Herrera, Ruby Lang, Cat Sebastian)

From the Publisher: For him, control is everything…until it shatters, and now he’s come undone. “Appasionata” by Emma BarryPiano technician Brennan Connelly lives to control details: the tension on a piano string or the compression of hammer felt. But he’s never faced demands like those heaped on him by Kristy Kwong, the diva who’s haunted his dreams for two decades. Kristy’s got her own…

Next week we’re going to get into Werewolves and Witches with Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night, but this week, we’re so excited to talk best friend’s sibling/sibling’s best friend romances with one of our favorite people: Kate Clayborn!

Show Notes

Kate Clayborn writes awesome books, but her romance think pieces at Frolic aren't too be missed.

There's nothing more hilarious than reviving old twitter threads, and in this one Kate and Talia Hibbert talk IAD.

The Game Maker series will get its own episodes, don't worry. Jen was thinking about saving this chastity belt article for then, but really, why wait?

Best of Luck was just named one of Amazon's Best Romance of December, which is as it should be. The second book in the series, Luck of the Draw, was on Sarah's Best of 2018 list for the Washington Post.

Sarah's twitter thread where people described what they'd do if they won a billion dollars is pretty fun to read. But really, there's a reason we all love that daydream.

This month, the Ripped Bodice is spearheading The Great Big Romance Read and maybe you can find a bookstore, library, or blog where you can talk about Pride by Ibi Zoboi.

The American Dream is complicated, college is expensive, and all of it freaks Jen out if she thinks about it too much.

Sarah wrote a YA historical! It's called The Season.

This is a good take on why the best friend's sibling trope is so powerful.

Sinner by Sierra Simone. She talks about her writing here. Jen doesn't really think it counts as blasphemy, but she looked it up just to be sure.

Some more about insprirational romance, and although we didn't mention her name on the podcast, Jen thinks Piper Huguley writes the best inspirational romance out there. She wrote about Piper's book The Mayor's Mission and Sarah's book Day of the Duchess in this piece on miscarriage in romance.

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare.

Well, there you have it folks. The last 8 books I read in 2019. Four of these were ARCs from Netgalley, two were free from Prime Reading, and two were physical books. Considering that I was in the process of getting my house in order for a new roommate, finishing up my floors, and working and Christmas, I feel that eight books weren’t too bad. 

I blew my GR reading challenge of 50 books out of the water with 92. I did 50 because I wasn’t really sure I could do more than that, but I guess when I’m in the mood to read, I can knock out some books. I made my goal for 2020 to be 75 books which I feel is a fair amount to challenge myself with for next year. 

My goal for next year is to be more active with a reading journal. @coffeebooksorme​ gifted me this beautiful new journal, and I’ve been looking at ideas online so I’m ready to get started. Since I’m off tomorrow, I’ll probably work on that. I think I could get my first book of 2020 finished either tomorrow or the 2nd, which will put me further ahead than this year when I decided to make IT my first book of the year. 

I was granted this ARC from Net Galley for an honest review.

I didn't realize this was the second book in the Uptown series by Ruby Lang. It reads as a standalone, so I don't see the need to read the first one if you haven't. We have Magda Ferrer and Tyson Yang, our two protagonists. Magda is up and coming real estate agent, and Tyson is a CPA who helps out at this community garden. They meet when Magda shows up to look at the garden as she has been in charge to selling it for her real estate firm. Needless to say, the first meeting doesn't go very well. Yet, these two seem drawn to each other, and they can't help feel some sort of attraction as they continue to learn about each other. They're both dealing with their own family issues, including Magda trying to sell her uncle's townhouse, which hasn't been going well for other firms. They both have experienced their own forms of losses and are still trying to figure themselves out while being in their 30's. They are funny, earnest, honest, and just a general delight to read.

The chemistry between Magda and Tyson was pretty obvious, and I love how it wasn't instant love at the end of the book. There is a build up, and these two actually talk. They are attracted to each other, but they're not undressing each other with their eyes every five seconds.  It's very rare you see a interracial couple that doesn't involve a white person, so it was refreshing to have an Afro-Latina and Taiwanese fall in love.  I love the diversity of the book, and that they bring their own experiences into the story to make it rich and wonderful.

The only thing I wish I could have seen more of was Magda's interaction with her mother. We only have a brief scene with them at the beginning of the book. We also see her having interacted with one of her sisters, but there was very little family time. I also wanted more of a development between the conflict between Magda and her sisters, but the book was only so many pages, so I can see why Ruby kept to the primary line of what happens with the garden and the townhouse. I may have wanted more, but I am happy with the overall story.

This is a very cute, easy read, and I think it's perfect for the end of summer. I'd high recommend getting it when it comes out. We all need a little more love in our lives.

Ruby Lang’s I Am Trying to Break Your Heart is a marvel of a novella, tightly written, tightly plotted, and filled with incredible character work. It will break your goddamn heart, but it will also make you laugh (and cry your eyes out—I think mine might be swollen, shit), and wince in sympathy, and, finally, it will give you the sort of happy ending that is exquisitely real and exquisitely…

Hmm, I don't love this book nearly so much as the last two in the series. Partly it's just that the romance doesn't work for me as well as the others (I was kind of bored by it), and partly I think it's not as thematically strong.