85 books like Forever...

First off, it’s set in the 80s. This is my generation. No smartphones. No social media. Just pure teenage angst.

Mostly, I love the back-and-forth conversation and inner thoughts of Eleanor and Park. Rowell nails the authenticity of teens. Their strange humor and insecurities. I want to throw my arms around them and shelter them from the cruel bullies haunting them.

Rowell sucks you into their lives, and it feels so real and raw that you remember the wonder and horror of your own teenage years. The dialogue is rich in its realness, and the tender little moments between Eleanor and Park are precious.

Honestly, this book crushed me, but in the most beautiful way possible.

It taught me that love can be found in the most unexpected places, even when faced with life's harshest realities. This narrative made me appreciate the small but significant moments in life, a lesson I try to convey in my own writing.

I expected a love story. The intriguing plot and unique characters impressed me. What I didn’t expect was one of the sexiest love scenes I’ve ever read.

Alongside the sexy stuff is the dark story of a Machiavellian circus entrepreneur and those who are subservient to his violent whims. Marlena, the abused wife/damsel in distress with a badass backbone and the young, compassionate vet, Jacob—there’s no better way to set up a white hot coupling.

While nothing in this book is red-hot erotic, there is no erotic experience greater than tacit lust that has gone unaddressed for too long between two people who not only love each other, but are allies and co-destroyers of a dark, callous personality. 

Maddy (a biracial black Asian teen) suffers from a rare illness that has made her allergic to literally everything! A modern-day “bubble girl,” the illness has kept her confined in her house for 15 years, her only company being her mom and her nurse. But when hot new neighbour Olly moves in across the street everything changes. Maddy falls in love and vows to leave the house and sneak away with Olly…cue the huge plot twist! No spoilers from me, but you will want to race to the end. Oh, and beware of the movie version, classic example of “the book was better.”

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, observing her broken body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces—to figure out what she’s lost and what she has left. If I Stay carefully walks the line on being an afterlife story because Mia is suspended--caught between life and death. But we’re suspended too, waiting for her to decide. I love books with tough choices, stories where there are no right or wrong answers, just decisions. This one is perfectly imperfect.

“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.”

Gemma James hooked me at the title—Swallow Me Whole—and delivered on the naughty bits, dirty lies, and BDSM/dark vibe.

This friends-to-lovers trope made me want to high-five Sadie for having the guts to go for it with Ashton, and to kick the men in her life to the curb who won’t support her independence. 

What I really like is that the initial “arrangement” between Sadie and Ashton hits on the perfect note of hot and intriguing as hell. Clever quips between characters offer a comic relief that shows they’re into each other way beyond sex. 

There’s actually a great plot that unfolds where the reader will root for Ashton’s evolution into the man who allows Sadie the freedom to find who she’s meant to be: a confident, sexy woman. 

Kitty King does not play when it comes to writing erotica. It’s dark AF, featuring domination/submission and BDSM.
Red Night: Xavier’s Delight had more twists and turns than a mountain road, plus plenty of kinky sex. While I didn’t really like Xavier or his lover Marissa, their disturbing love dance left me wondering whether either one was a redeemable character.

What intrigued me the most was their codependent/narcissistic love affair—degrading, terrifying, and loving. I wasn’t sure whether to root for Marissa’s honesty to self and her eventual realization of Xavier’s motivation, or Xavier’s hot-and-cold nature. His impressively-described tool helped keep this reader attached to the story (just sayin’…).

The brilliance of this dark erotic piece: a sexy dichotomy between wanting what is safe and wanting what might destroy you. 

This book was a perfect combination of on-the-edge-of-my-seat sexy and tug-at-my-heartstrings romantic.

The author created phenomenal dialogue between Fisher and Reese, so good, in fact, that their flirting was almost as hot as their eventual hookups. I really did adore this story for the plot twists that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Reese’s growth into a confident young woman who stopped thinking about how things were just happening to her and took control to make the things she wanted to happen was remarkable; their second-chance love story with all the sexy feels was exactly the heart-mind turn-on I had hoped it would be.

The best part? The effortless way Fisher and Reese not only fell in love with each other but loved their tribe, too. It made me feel just really good to be a part of this story.  

I love this book despite the incredible discomfort I experience every time I read it.

Diving in the cold waters of the North Atlantic on a good day is no picnic. But diving deep into the wreck of a mystery U-boat, not knowing if you are going to come out? Epic.

I just recently listened to the Audible book while driving back from an undersea research project in a van filled with young scientific divers. The climax had us all squirming in our seats!

I was honored to read an early draft of this novel by fellow human and Jerseyite, Val Emmich, and was immediately taken with the voice of Joan, a 10-year-old girl with a special condition that gives her the ability to remember everything, but is afraid of being forgotten. To remedy that, she wants to win a prestigious songwriting contest by writing a song that makes people both want to dance and cry (two of the strongest feelings in her opinion). So she strikes a deal with Gavin, an adult songwriter who she believes can help her make that happen. Jersey City is the primary setting for this novel, a city that along with its many other charms, offers spectacular views of the New York City skyline.