Lately, I’ve lost my appetite for angst in romance. Not conflict—romance needs conflict. A love story without obstacles isn’t a story at all. But these days, I have no patience for the ones steeped in suffering, where the characters aren’t just working through the barriers between them but are also drowning in personal misery, trauma,…

There is chatter in Romancelandia about Helen Hoang’s The Heart Principle. Where her first two books were romances, this novel–and I haven’t read it so I’m just repeating what I’ve heard–is more women’s fiction. Readers, at least romance readers, are upset because the book is far heavier than they thought it would be. There are…

Peeps–I’ve been a bit blue lately. I’m on crutches for six weeks–months after that with a cane–due to a soft tissue hip repair. Covid continues to threaten so many things. I have a neighbor who is as nasty as he can be and that just bums me out. My lovely sister-in-law suggested I read one…