Lida RichardsonFirst to rec
“I’ve seen enough people talking about Heated Rivalry on here that I’m doing this as a public service. This is one of the best romances I’ve read recently (you better believe I’ve been reading a lot). What makes a romance novel really work is kind of an incalculable alchemy (and so personal, I think), but this one delighted me from beginning to end. There were multiple things about it I didn’t think would be my cup of tea, but it all worked so well. Which kind of goes to show that you can talk about your favorite tropes and subtropes and all that, but romance writing really comes down to characters that feel true and a relationship that feels lived-in and earned. Kind of a nice reminder in the kindle unlimited world of just printing out formulaic nonsense and whatever hell is going to happen with AI. Handles mental illness really well too (imo: again, it’s so unpredictable for me whether mental illness in a romance novel will feel unbearable and too close to home, but this didn’t). Plenty of hard stuff in here, as a warning, but it really consistently felt like a nice place to hang out for me. Audiobook excellent.
Originally found it on smartbitchestrashybooks.com, which, believe it or not, is a website I frequent. I’m being honest today.”
