Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare (2014)

The first in the very delightful Castles Ever After series.

Utterly charming romance novel about the daughter of a famous author who inherits a castle, which just happens to have a reclusive, scarred Duke living in it. 

 Lovely romance with great characters, humor, and very slight and sly nods to contemporary life--blink and you will miss them. So very, very romantic and a little sexy. Yay!

Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self by Alex Tizon (2014)

Alex Tizon is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, formerly for the Los Angeles Times and Seattle Times. He and his family immigrated from the Phillipines when he was a young boy, when he quickly realized that American culture stereotyped Asian men in extremely negative ways. 

At age fourteen, he started keeping files of whenever he ran across something related to Asians—mostly race and manhood and power and sex, he would make a note and file it away. It ended up being two file cabinets full of "evidence" that he had no idea what to do with until many years later, this book.

In this book, he explores the many depictions of Asians in popular culture, and how they affected his own identity. In addition to his own experiences, he travels across the world to rediscover Asian explorers, warriors and great leaders, Asian men throughout history who have been forgotten or ignored by American history books.

This is a candid, engaging and incredibly illuminating memoir that covers a subject that isn't covered much in popular culture: sex and the Asian male.

Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare (2014)

Another absolutely adorable romance in the Castles Ever After series. 

This one is about Clio, who has been engaged to diplomat and world-wanderer Piers for eight years and has had enough. Once she inherits a castle, she decides to go it alone. But Piers brother, former prizefighter and yes, rake, is trying everything he can to keep them together. Even though the chemistry between them is amazing. 

It's very cute and funny and romantic. I love how Dare combines the tropes of historical romance with strong heroines, dishy romance and the smallest, subtlest nods to contemporary culture. Fun fun!

Happily Ever After by Elizabeth Maxwell (2014)

I love a book that leaps off the shelf at me at the library and asks me to take it home. This book was misshelved while I was looking for something else and it leapt into my hand. 

Sadie Fuller is a single mother, and a romance novelist who writes erotica under a pseudonym. Meanwhile, she's raising her daughter, dealing with her gay ex-husband, and dodging the PTA. When she runs into her newest romantic lead at Target, things get interesting. But not in the way that you might think. 

It's a fabulously original unexpected story with rich, realistic characters in a magical situation. So much quiet, dry humor. I love a scene when her ex forbids her to do something, then they pause to laugh hysterically at the thought of him forbidding her to do anything. 

Funny, realistic and delightful. I love a book where I'm not even done with it and I'm already looking for more work by the author. A total hidden gem, ala Tuscany for Beginners or Nancy's Theory of Style. Adorable.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (2015)

So sigh. 

Despite a blurb from Gregory Maguire on the cover, I adored this book. A lovely fairy tale retelling which keeps the barest bones of the original tale (Beauty and the Beast) and transforms it into a magical, original tale. 

Agnieszka lives in a small village with her family in a land that is threatened by the mysterious Wood. The Dragon, a distant, cold wizard who protects the land chooses one girl every ten years to serve him in his tower. To everyone's surprise and dismay, Agnieszka is chosen. She learns that she has magic and works with the difficult, diffident Dragon to explore her magical abilities. 

But before you know it, her friends, family and land are threatened by the Wood and a magical war takes place. I love the friendship between Agnieszka and her good friend Kasia, the mysterious danger of the Wood, and the burgeoning relationship between Agnieszka and the Dragon. Plus, this book is a super dreamy grown-up romance.

I adored the insults that the Dragon throws at Agnieszka, like "recalcitrant idiot." Also, this book features very swoony kissing: "'You intolerable lunatic' he snarled at me, and then he caught my face between his hands and kissed me."

Romantic, suspenseful, well-written, and heart-rending, this is just a completely lovely novel.

You by Caroline Kepnes (2014)

Well-written thriller about a bookstore clerk who stalks, romances and stalks an attractive female customer. The stakes are high, and the perspective is really interesting. Although I normally loathe book written in the second person--to "you"--writing this narrative to the stalkee works beautifully and is very chilling. 

It's fascinating to read a stalkerish tale that takes place in the contemporary social media landscape. It's a deeply complex and yet very readable story. 

To say more would be spoilery.

George by Alex Gino (2015)

Juvenile novel about George, a young boy who considers himself a girl and his struggle with figuring herself out, telling his family, and desiring to star as Charlotte in the school play of Charlotte's Web. 

I kept bracing for something horrible to happen, and was cheered when it didn't. But Gino depicts the everyday stresses of childhood very well, and very evocatively. The look inside George's head, or as he prefers to think of himself, "Melissa," is unique and well done. 

A definite addition to the new transgender literature.

A School for Brides by Patrice Kindl (2015)

Young adult, Jane Austenesque sequel to the equally adorable Keeping the Castle, which was in its own way a nod to I Capture the Castle. 

Sometimes you just have to let a book speak for itself:

"Oh, she was pretty enough in the usual way, but she was not the heroine of a novel, fit for drama and a life of extraordinary jobs and griefs. No, she was one who would find contentment as the wife of a gentleman landowner and farmer, a magistrate and person of importance in a small country village. She was cut from a simple, strong cloth that would was and wear well, with modest trimmings for a holiday, she was not a fragile velvet or satin that must be kept for best."

"A happy marriage confers a great advantage upon all members of the union: the wife, the husband, and any children in their care. It is not essential for fulfillment in life; both sexes may live singly and be well satisfied with their lot. And not every marriage is happy; many married people must seek their contentment elsewhere. Yet where a sturdy bond does grow up between a wedded pair it becomes a source of strength and joy their whole lives through." 

 Great characters, lovely humor, adorable and sweet book. 

The Viscount Who Lived Down the Lane by Elizabeth Boyle (2014)

Lovely Regency novel about Louisa Tempest, a young woman who "comes face-to-face with the reclusive Viscount Wakefield. But even more dismaying than his foul temper is the disarray in which she finds his home. Convinced his demeanor would improve if his household were in order, Louise resolves to put everything to rights." (Thanks, Goodreads!)

What? Organizing AND romance? Yes, please! 

Don't forget the great characters, realistic relationships, and the very lovely romance. A new favorite author.

Destiny's Embrace by Beverly Jenkins (2013)

Perfectly dreamy romance. Beverly Jenkins is often mentioned as a great romance author of color and a great author, period. 

This historical romance is about Mariah Cooper, a headstrong woman who leaves her lousy, abusive mother and heads across the country to work as a housekeeper for a handsome rancher in California. 

Drama, chemistry, and love ensues as well as excellent character development, along with a fascinating thread of race issues that runs throughout the entire book. 

And very romantic! Beautiful.