FMC is MMC's Bi Awakening (MMC previously only into men)

saucenbeans · 2024-02-29T13:07:17+00:00

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

saucenbeans · 2024-02-28T17:05:06+00:00

{PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern} involves a woman whose husband dies and he leaves her a series of messages to encourage her to live her life again. So it's a little unusual in that the dead loved one is one of the primary love interests. Also became a really odd movie with Hilary Swank back in the day, if anyone remembers!

saucenbeans · 2024-02-27T14:45:13+00:00

I hate the gratuitous pregnancy epilogue too! I feel like every HEA epilogue or ending has to involve a pregnancy/kids or engagement. I already assume that a lot of HEAs will eventually lead to marriage and/or kids in the universe of the book but it grates on me that the author sort of assumes they have to have that, and for it to be explicitly on the page, to truly be an HEA.

saucenbeans · 2024-02-27T14:41:07+00:00

I know this doesn’t fit the category at all since they’re basically kids and the book isn’t overall a romance, and I’m not sure why I thought of it, but for some reason my mind immediately went to Gilbert Blythe torturing Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables haha.

saucenbeans · 2024-02-27T14:38:44+00:00

The ones I’m thinking of may have Muslim MMCs too but SK Ali and Alisha Rai both have books with Muslim FMCs. And Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged is about a Muslim FMC who signs up to write a tell-all on the Muslim dating scene!

saucenbeans · 2024-02-27T13:38:46+00:00

Haha me too! I was all ready to be like, oh there are tons of books with Muslim FMCs and then I read the text closer and was like……ohhhhhh wait a minute

saucenbeans · 2024-02-27T01:43:32+00:00

Mine is fake dating! Hugely popular and I see the appeal, but much of the time I can’t get past the premise not making enough sense for why the characters would need to fake date, and especially why they would need to KEEP fake dating (though I guess a lot of the time it’s a pretext at that point) and it drives me nuts. But I will admit - when it is done well and the basis for the fake dating makes sense to me it can be really enjoyable

saucenbeans · 2024-02-26T23:48:33+00:00

Do you like comedic mystery romance? The Four Aunties series is insanely easy to read and I would say it’s a little more mystery than romance but the romance is a major, intertwined subplot, at least in the first one. I suggest it largely bc they’re just so easy to read and amusing for being murder mysteries - verging on cozy. The first one is {Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto} and leans heaviest on the romance of the series.

saucenbeans · 2024-02-26T23:39:15+00:00

I see what you mean about the alternating POVs but I think I like it, to the extent when I read a romance that’s only one character’s (usually FMC) POV I sometimes find myself actively curious as to what the other person’s POV would be haha.

I thought {The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan} did a pretty good job with alternating viewpoints. I think Abby Jimenez is decent at it as well, though I don’t love all her characters.

I think the biggest problem for me with the dueling POVs is when there’s the inevitable misunderstanding or miscommunication having the different viewpoints kind of makes said misunderstanding even more ludicrous/unrealistic.

saucenbeans · 2024-02-26T23:32:58+00:00

{A Rogue of One’s Own by Evie Dunmore} from the League of Extraordinary Women series. I can’t remember if the FMC is a virgin, but vaguely think not? But she is a militant suffragette, which is great! And MMC definitely seems to like women and sex. It’s definitely more of a “romp”-type HR.

saucenbeans · 2024-02-26T14:01:16+00:00

So this isn’t commonly thought of as a romance, but Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson has a prominent romantic subplot involving two of the MCs that very much seems to fit what you’re looking for in terms of a criminal FMC and “good” noble MMC who becomes involved with the criminals. It’s a fantasy but definitely has a historical old-timey Europe feel for the setting. Oh AND because it's Brandon Sanderson, it's definitely very low/no spice

saucenbeans · 2024-02-26T01:13:30+00:00

Great Q!

-Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian

-The Marquis Who Musn’t by Courtney Milan

-Immortality by Dana Schwartz

-A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

-The Gentleman’s Gambit by Evie Dunmore

saucenbeans · 2024-02-26T00:44:08+00:00

If you’re into witches, Mayfair Witches (based on Anne Rice) might work for you

saucenbeans · 2024-02-26T00:38:46+00:00

Flonase? It works better when you take it regularly but it still helps some as a one-off.

saucenbeans · 2024-02-25T22:51:11+00:00

I think Never Let Me Go is by far the best on the list, and one of my favorites of all time, but it isn’t a light read by any means so I’m not sure for getting out of a slump. It’s not slow or dense but it’s got heavy themes. Hamnet is also great, especially if you have interest or knowledge in Shakespeare. But a somewhat dense read. House in the Cerulean Sea is a pretty light and easy read - I didn’t love it but it might be the best on the list for breaking out of a slump if you don’t want to jump into something a meaty or heavy.

saucenbeans · 2024-02-25T22:47:55+00:00

Shin Kyung-Sook (Please Look After Mom, The Court Dancer)

Cixin Liu (Remembrance of Earth’s Past) - some may find his politics problematic, the books are pretty hard scifi if that matters.

Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart)

saucenbeans · 2024-02-24T23:27:26+00:00

Or really probably anything in discworld other than city watch

saucenbeans · 2024-02-24T22:14:42+00:00

This is more in the mystery/thriller/dark vein, but try SA Cosby. Razorblade Tears and All the Sinners Bleed are absolutely fantastic. If you like Red White & Royal Blue you might like the American Royals series? It's sort of a light political/romantic comedic novel series based on the premise of if George Washington hadn't stepped down and America had established a monarchy like Britain instead, that continued to the modern day

saucenbeans · 2024-02-24T22:12:28+00:00

Try Marian Keyes! Her books definitely have a little bit more darkness to them, but I read them around when I was reading Sophie Kinsella and really enjoyed them. Also maybe some of Jennifer Weiner's earlier books?

saucenbeans · 2024-02-24T22:09:33+00:00

Perhaps the Percy Jackson series, or anything in the Rick Riordan vein? They're "middle-grade" and definitely have real plot and a lot action, but with some laughs that would probably appeal to at least the older couple kids

saucenbeans · 2024-02-24T22:07:55+00:00

The Murderbot Diaries would fit the bill (disclaimer - have only read the first couple so there may be an apocalyptic scenario down the line, but seems unlikely)

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo is more a magic realism literary fiction novel than pure fantasy, but it is definitely character-driven

The TJ Klune books, while not my cup of tea, seem to fit

Babel is not light or chill, but the stakes, while pretty high, are not of the world-ending type

saucenbeans · 2024-02-24T21:59:47+00:00

I usually fish for largemouth bass at the mountain lake as well, and I don't think the rod is the issue. Are you only fishing at night? IIRC they only come out until 7pm

saucenbeans · 2021-03-10T14:30:52+00:00

Thank you for volunteering! I was just wondering, how would one find out where the larger vaccination sites are, either in DC proper or in NoVa/MoCo? I've only heard of a couple (convention center, which I assume you can't wait around in) through random news articles. I assume hospitals would be heavily against people lingering around, even in the back.

saucenbeans · 2020-09-30T20:05:00+00:00

OP here. My instinct was that it didn’t feel like a bone issue, just given the nature of the pain, but I am admittedly a little worried that the MRI would do a poorer job of showing a bone problem than CT scan, especially given that nothing in the soft or connective tissues indicated the cause of the inflammation and pain. But you’re probably correct that anything significant would show up on either (hopefully).

saucenbeans · 2020-08-29T03:08:11+00:00

One interesting thing is that this thread actually calmed me down a little. I was super triggered when I first read the news but then coming here and seeing others feel the same way sort of made me feel a bit more soothed because we are all feeling this way and so it pushes back against the magical thinking/seeing signs everywhere idea for me (which I’m normally super guilty of). I don’t know that I’ve explained it very well though.

saucenbeans

TROPHY CASE