You might enjoy Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop, re contemporary romance. There IS some spec-fic elements - the love interest is stuck in time - but it's very heartwarming and slice of life and there are others things going on alongside the romance, other goals for the characters. Recommended most strongly!
Contemporary Romance recommendation: Work For It by Talia Hibbert. Grumpy/sunshine but both have their own issues and grumpy loves gardening. M/m and different body types.
Only halfway through the video and while I usually hope that the saltiness will help get things OFF my TBR, I now have 2 added lol. Because of how adamantly you yodeled from the mountaintops about The Black Feathers, I went and ordered it from Waterstones (I live in the US btw) a few weeks ago. Now I'm thinking I need to try some John Scalzi. Dang it!
John Scalzi's books are just a guarantee for a good laugh and distraction. Can only to what you said about him and the book. I recently listened to his latest "Starter Villain" and was just the weird one in the park laughing out loud while being on my own :D
I'm so glad to hear you say this about A Study in Drowning because I felt all of these things and I was so mad! It was so frustrating. I was so excited for it and it was such a let down
I tell people I like romances too but it turns out I don't love it being the only thing it has going for it. And if I don't love the characters then I don't love the romance. Example is It Happened One Summer. I wanted to love it. But I was angry by the end. I love how you described The Kaiju Preservation Society. I get so excited by books too! And the way you described it is exactly how I felt reading it. Growing up my brother had different Japanese monster toys that I randomly played with too. So that book also brought back some great memories for me too. And sometimes books just need to be fun and Scalzi understood that. Growing up I loved the Brontosaurus 🦕 but I've helped my older son make an Ankylosaurus out of paper mache. So much fun!
Oh, oh, I am BEGGING you to read You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. I also love romance but am similarly very picky about it, and You, Again was an EASY 5 stars for me this year. (Also bears mentioning that I did not get on with Twisted Love either.)
🦕🦕🦕 my forever fav dino is a stegosaurus just cause they make me happy and think of spike from land before time. But honestly Dino’s are the best no matter what
🦖 I’m not a dino girlie but my 2 year olds favourite dinosaur is a triceratops! I think I recently saw this on your tbr trolley but a recent top for me was Seventeen by Joe Gibson. Actually made me gasp and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.
I'm currently reading Witch Light by Susan Fletcher and loving it - I don't have a favourite dinosaur - my son was dinosaur crazy when he was little (and big) so I learned a lot about them and they're all fascinating 🦕🦖 ps - your videos are never too long - on the contrary they can be mighty short as far as I'm concerned 😁
If you are still on the lookout for contemporary romance where there is an adult entertainer as a main character. I can recomment A Merry Little Meet Cute. It is very cosy and body-positive.
I always love your salt! I was really excited about A Study in Drowning, but put it down after a few chapters because it the world building felt confusing. It was interesting to hear your full thoughts on it :) As someone who loves Jurassic Park I have the urge to immediately order The Kaiju Preservation Society right now. 🦖🦕
I’m so happy you picked up Stan Grant’s book - yay for Kirsty! 😊 - this has stuck with me over the years and is one that definitely needs a reread. I’m still absolutely devastated about the referendum.
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe is a great book about the history of Indigenous Australians. It looks at the facts that disprove the assumptions that the colonialists made and are still part of the thinking (taught history?) in Australia. Also,, Terra Nullius by Claire G Colman is a great fiction read.
Ooooh Dark Emu sounds interesting! Is it super graphic in descriptions of violence though? I don't want a watered down history but I definitely can't handle excruciating detail about atrocities committed against people
@@chelsey8737 I had to dig out my copy as I don't remember any descriptions of violence and can't see any on a quick spot check. It's not a chronological history. The first chapter looks at agriculture and puts colonists diary entries and prejudices up against evidence of what was really happening.
Triceratops 🦕 I’ve been reading a manga Dinosaur Sanctuary which is cute. Jurassic park without the escaped dinosaurs and the author has a research consultant helps to make sure things are accurate in the book and it also includes the research consultants lab log which gives you more factual information too throughout the volumes x
Possible romance rec, maybe Chef’s Kiss and Chef’s Choice by TJ Alexander would be up your street? They were some of my absolute favourite romances of the year, and judging by your videos my romance taste is a bit different to yours I think (I’m a big romance girlie) but I still think these two books are worth checking out
From what I've read, I've found romances by POC authors tend to have more complex story lines where the MC's problems don't get the 'true love conquers all' treatment by the end of the book. I really like the Reluctant Royals series by Alyssa Cole.
🦕 Plesiosaurus. I love the underwater dinos the best and the ones that flew. I totally want to read The Kaiju Preservation Society after your description. It sounds like such a good time. I also added The Black Feathers to my list.
Can you do a video on recommendations for paranormal romances pretty please? I love urban fantasy and paranormal romances but I struggle to find ones I like!
If you want a higher-level alternative to Empire of Pain that covers the same topic, I really liked (if you could call it that) Dreamland by Sam Quinones. It gets into the societal causes behind the spread of the opioid crisis, and how it tied into Mexican cartels as well.
I don't know that I have a favourite, but have this t-rex 🦖 I always seem to hear about something I want to add to my library TBR in your Tops and Bottoms videos, so thanks for that!
My basic ass loves a T-Rex and a Raptor, blame spending too much time watching Jurassic Park as a kid 😂 Though I did discover Titanosaur after seeing the exhibit at the Natural History Musuem last year so that's now quite high on my list of the best dinosaurs!
Stan Grant's writing is incredible and so powerful. And I'm not even going to get started on the referendum because I'm still so angry. I'm going to think on the potential contemporary romances that might work for you, too. 💖
I’m really curious to see what you think of Ashley Winstead’s other books. I’ve read them all, and The Last Housewife is the only one I like. 😅 I read the companion to The Roommate first, not realizing it was a series. I hated it, but had people tell me I should still read the first one because it was so much better. So I picked it up, but DNF’d pretty soon after the scene where she watches his movies.
🐦⬛ (I know it's a pick-me type of answer to your prompt, but I had to do it!) Have you read Beth O'Leary? I remember liking "Flatshare" and I'm not big on contemporary romance.
I'm not entirely sure which one it is, it's definitely a sauropod, but I'm fairly sure it's the brachiosaurus? I had a toy that my dad had gotten me, we had gotten two, one was - what I think is - a brachiosaurus, and the other one I _think_ might've been a stegosaurus but I don't remember. 😬So imma say sauropods in general. Sadly in all of the moves, the toys got lost.😢 I'm sure you've talked about it at some point, but my adhd brains forget... have you read Talia Hibbert? The Brown Sisters are the only contemporary romance I tried and actually liked. (I'm not particularly happy with some of the things she did with a character's neurodivergence though, but that's a whole other topic and maybe a spoiler?) Oh and Passing Strange was pretty good! (which isn't contemporary but historical, but my brain kinda classified it as such bcs it's not sff) (do check the CWs)
Have you read Spellbreaker and Spellmaker by Charlie N. Holmberg? They are not contemporary romance but are historical paranormal romance. I think you might like them. My biggest complaint is that it should have been one book. I understand were you were coming from with the Roommate. I tend to read romance in the mindset that I am listening to someone else's story/ lived life experience. Not only would I not have done most of the things that character does, I don't think I would have been friends with that character. But this is what happened to them. Plus contemporary romance is basically my fantasy genre because nothing in those books happen in the reality I live in.
im so glad i dnf's a study in drowning. not only bc it was boring, but i felt she essentially ripped off welsh culture and mythology but. didn't acknowledge it at all. it would be fine if she was actually saying that's what it was, and bring people more awareness of wales (and the colonization that the other countries in the uk suffered under england). but she just said 'oh faery core!' like that isn't the actual mythology of an actual country. I mean, the flag of her fictional country is white with a red dragon on it??
I was already planning on probably not picking up A Study in Drowning because I don't like fantasy very much but I thought maybe I could give it a shot but after your review I'm going to go with an absolute no. The reason I don't like fantasy is because I find it so difficult to keep track of all of the people/places/lore and I don't like how vague things are a lot of the time and if that's how it is in this book then I would absolutely hate it so I appreciate your honest review for saving me the grief
I have not read Stan Grant's book yet, but I've added it to my list. I recommend you have a look at Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman. It is a fantastic fantasy/sci fi about colonisation written by an Australian indigenous author.
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi: very very good and funny. If this is the result of the writer's problem with the book he was working on, I hope it happens again 🦕🦖🦕🦖
🦕I like brontosauruses 🐸 A Study in Drowning was near the top of my TBR, now it's not! Woo hoo. I am happy to remove books that I doubt I will enjoy. It's not just because you hated it because we do not always agree. It's because the things that pissed you off piss me off in other books - so yeah 👍 The Black Feathers is next now after the pile of rereads I am doing. Great to see you Lianne 🌹
When The Dogs Don’t Bark didn’t work for me either, which is such a shame because on paper it was catnip for me. The Flatmate sounds like it could benefit from getting in the bin… I like this dinosaur because of its cute little legs and long neck - beauty and grace 🦕🦕🦕
🦕🦖🦕Fumbled by Alexa Martin is a fun romance. Its also Travis Kelce coded so I felt obligated to read it. 😆 It also deals with larger issues of CTE and is from a BIPOC author. Also anything by Helen Hoang is a great choice for contemporary romance.
🦕🦕🦕 I would like to be all cool and come up with a new dinosaur, but I am a child of the 80's. I've been emotionally attached (scarred) by The Land Before Time series that I can come up with no other dinosaurs.
Dopesick by Beth Macy would be a better opiod crisis book for you. She's a journalist and it has true crime elements. The picture of the sweet old dear who was a top drug smuggler? Blew my mind.
I’m not a romance fan, but I just read Lovelight Farms by BK Borison and it was so cute! I read the second in the series after and it was ok, but Lovelight Farms I loved. Maybe check it out?
Just to warn you Leanne.... because Ashley Winstead's newest book, Midnight Is The Darkest Hour was a HIGHLY anticipated release for me and I expected delicious commentary on the religious zealots of the American South and some fun creepiness... but what I got in the very first chapter, was Twilight fanfic 😩 SO disappointed! I think her other stuff is probably amazing but she done lost her mind on this new one!
Maybe switch to queer romance. They have wildly different dynamics than straight romance a lot of times. Often less sexism, fatphobia, traditional gender expectations and stereotypical etc. They arent all about coming out either if you dont want that.
A Study in Drowning was awful. I'm genuinely baffled how so many people have this in their favourites? In a world where women are too smooth brain for literature studies, they can be architects! War is happening! Why? Who knows! Xenophobia is fine, misogyny bad. I felt dumber for having read this
I disagree with your thoughts on A Study In Drowning. Particularly, the judgement of the female main character. First, not every female lead needs to be a confident badass. It's as unrealistic as every female character being a damsel in distress, because women are real people who are varied. Second, (warning: slight spoilers ahead) this female lead was raised in a way and then traumatized later at university in a way that could make her extremely unsure of herself and emotional when we meet her. When she cried over the books at the library, it wasn't JUST about the books. It was the stress of her entire situation, and her desperation to leave it. As you learn more about the female lead you can understand her behavior more. That doesn't mean someone has to enjoy reading about that kind of female lead, but it's not a flaw in Ava Reid's writing.
