#TopicOfTheDay What’s the most recent romance or romance-adjacent book you read and what did you think?
@willaful I’m still reading Golden Terrace by Chinese author Cang Wun Bin Bai. I love Chinese costume dramas, so it stands to reason that I also enjoy the novels these dramas are based on. :blobcatread: And as I said in another toot, this novel is so well translated; it’s such a delight.
It’s a slow-burn m/m historical romance that combines the trope of forced marriage (between our two main leads) with a big dash of mystery and court intrigues.
@willaful @romancelandia @romancebooks Currently reading Sword Crossed. I’m only 20% in. I like it, but my brain bandwidth is not great right now, so not finding it as compelling as I need at the moment. In any case will have to give it back in 11 days to the library whether I’m finished or not (there’s a hold line for it).
@willaful @romancelandia @romancebooks I’m halfway through a bunch, but the most recent that I finished was Fake It Til You Bake It by Jamie Wesley, which I found underwhelming. The third act separation was pretty ridiculous. Before that I read Malka Older’s The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, which is a romance adjacent cozy sapphic mystery, and I loved it. Very sweet and gentle to read, even with the murder storyline.
@Tiffany I enjoyed that one very much also. Planning to read the second book soon.
Third act breakups have gotten kind of terrible, haven’t they? Sometimes they just seem so forced and obligatory.
@willaful Yes, exactly! I don’t mind a breakup that’s justified by the story and the characters. But it’s not necessary! I really enjoyed Rebekah Weatherspoon’s Cowboys of California series and I had a moment in the second book when I was bracing for the unnecessary obligatory break up and then instead, the book smoothly followed the path it had set, and I felt so relieved. Still had conflict and tension, just in its own way.
