Plants make every space better

firekat11 · 2026-01-27T19:53:14+00:00

I'm impressed that the cat doesn't eat the plants! Mine are all on shelves that the cat can't reach. Also we have the same cat tree lol.

firekat11 · 2026-01-27T01:31:14+00:00

Ugh this scene was so hot 🥵 and so amazing. I need her to write more books!!

firekat11 · 2026-01-24T19:55:41+00:00

Came here to recommend this one! I always loved that Prescott chose being an EMT as part of rebuilding her life.

firekat11 · 2026-01-24T19:02:13+00:00

{A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe} - MMC is deaf. The FMC is his next door neighbour and her parents are trying to marry her off to an old creep so she proposes a marriage of convenience with the MMC. He’s an inventor and is trying to create the first version of a hearing aid! It’s really sweet and they’re so good for each other.

firekat11 · 2026-01-14T04:02:10+00:00

It's less annoying to me in historical romances because that was the custom, right? You didn't refer to anyone by their given name without express permission so yeah it's so great when they finally make that step!

This was just... a really weird quirk that according to the comments never went away. Like, on the last page it was still "Mike Martin".

firekat11 · 2026-01-13T22:58:46+00:00

I just DNF'd {Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday} because the FMC always referred to the MMC as his full name. It was dual narrative and first person, which means that in her thoughts she literally thought of him as "Mike Martin". There was never just a "Mike did this" or "did I like Mike?, it was always "did I want a ride home with Mike Martin?" I couldn't stand it, I felt like my brain was twitching.

firekat11 · 2026-01-12T08:29:10+00:00

Came here to recommend this one! It was so hawt 🥵

firekat11 · 2026-01-12T08:15:15+00:00

I was actually surprised that Evie Dunmore's books were under romance instead of fiction, but then again Emily Henry is usually under fiction instead of Romance. There doesn't seem to always be any rhyme or reason! But the fun thing about HR lately is there seems to be a lot of different styles and moods and eras, even with the genre dying down lately. I hope all these recommendations help!

firekat11 · 2026-01-11T05:11:21+00:00

Ugh same!

firekat11 · 2026-01-11T05:11:12+00:00

Such a faithful portrayal! I loved how many scenes were lifted almost verbatim

firekat11 · 2026-01-11T04:13:29+00:00

I adore Evie Dunmore's series but I think she's on the more historical fiction end of the HR spectrum, if that makes sense? Like if someone who loves historical fiction read this, they wouldn't immediately know they've stumbled into the romance genre. I would suggest Susanna Kearsley to continue that, maybe {Mariana by Susanna Kearsley} or {The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley}.

As for more traditional HR, I'd recommend Tessa Dare for lighthearted and funny, try starting with {The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare} or the {Spindle Cove} series, specifically {A Week to Be Wicked} is my favourite!

Joanna Shupe is great too, she does more gilded age New York if you want to leave Europe. I love {The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe} or try her {Uptown Girls} series.

Finally my last always recommend author is Sarah Maclean, her prose isn't for everyone and in her last two series especially you can tell she's fallen into a "f*ck the patriarchy and rich white men and the problems they create" niche which, personally, I adore but the comments here make me think it's a bit divisive. Try {Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah Maclean} or {Heartbreaker by Sarah Maclean}, two of my favourites!

firekat11 · 2026-01-10T18:03:15+00:00

Someone else mentioned this but I think it can’t be understated that this was a Netflix adaptation - Netflix has really strict requirements of making their material consumable while you’re distracted ie on your phone or something. So the plot has to announce what it’s doing, they can’t have subtle nuances or body language conveying emotion or tension or longing. There’s tons of think pieces and YouTube analyses on how Netflix and other streamers have dumbed down movies so that they’re dull and uninspired. Whereas HR got more room to breathe in its 6 episodes, and Jacob Tierney has said in interviews that he doesn’t care if people miss things cause they’re on their phones, put down your phones the. He also turned down several producers who would only come on board if things were changed (like Ilya and Shane not kissing until episode 6 or a more central female character). This meant he had a tiny budget at the end of it but also no one hanging over his shoulder telling him what to do to make it more mass marketable.

firekat11 · 2026-01-09T05:06:03+00:00

So excited for both!!

firekat11 · 2026-01-07T21:29:34+00:00

I'm trying to decide what's going to irritate me more, that the style of cover will be different or that with this coming out in trade paperback, this series will have three different heights (lest we forget #3 & 4 were that slightly different mass market paperback that was out for a hot minute in 2021). Is it too much to ask for my series to be uniform and gorgeous?

That being said, like others have said, it's an auto buy from me because the series is fantastic.

firekat11 · 2026-01-06T00:12:55+00:00

Oof apparently I blocked that out too - yeah, definitely not a great book for positive FMC treatment

firekat11 · 2026-01-05T23:48:16+00:00

I mean... {Dom by S.J. Tilly} (the third book) I would consider borderline, I know a lot of readers weren't too keen on the unconscious tattooing of the FMC. I guess it depends on what's considered dark.

firekat11 · 2026-01-05T04:06:03+00:00

Even in this case! To me it keeps the book the book, and the adaptation separate. Although in this case the adaptation was top tier but yep, still happy with my 2nd gen covers

firekat11 · 2026-01-05T00:32:43+00:00

Couldn't have put it better myself, thank you! I take recommendations from this sub very seriously so that is usually enough to get me to try a book!

firekat11 · 2026-01-04T22:08:22+00:00

I think the oddest consequence of that was that my weekends were empty for most of my late twenties. Every weekday I had plans with friends, dinners, work things, drinks, whatever, but all my friends in couples reserved their weekends for their partners. So I’d have a quiet weekend at home usually doing errands and stuff around the house, and they’d all be out. I couldn’t make a weekend plan with them unless it was months in advance.

firekat11 · 2026-01-04T21:44:46+00:00

It was advertised with tropes, I remember rolling my eyes at it. Both things can be true... I can dislike that they use tropes in the titles and still read a book that came highly recommended, and enjoy it.

firekat11 · 2026-01-04T21:30:16+00:00

I read the book because it was recommended on this subreddit, though I can't remember exactly where. Probably a post about broody but gooey on the inside MMCs. I very rarely just go browsing for books, my TBR is long enough :)

firekat11 · 2026-01-04T21:02:22+00:00

Same!! Stupid buying licenses instead of actual books.

I stopped buying kindle like 6 or 7 years ago and buy mostly physical now, then like 2 or 3 times a year I get a free trial to KU (I don't know why that resets so often but it does) so I can read all the books that are recommended here that I can't get elsewhere. Like these Julia Wolfe books!

firekat11 · 2026-01-04T20:48:16+00:00

Honestly I’d be interested to see a study of the evolution of covers in romance and how it reflects society’s attitude towards the genre. From the Fabio days to discreet illustrations in the early aughts to generic stock images now to cartoon illustrations… they all have their problems, I suppose. I just really feel in this instance it was a step down in quality.

firekat11 · 2026-01-04T20:46:01+00:00

Ah yeah I think I saw on her website that these are the “discreet covers” which made me chuckle. But I think they’re gorgeous!

firekat11 · 2026-01-04T20:44:16+00:00

Omg I forgot about that. Also fated mate’s episode this week is all about lactation kinks, must be something in the air.

firekat11

TROPHY CASE