Welcome Back, Booklovers! March is Women's Month and what better way to celebrate than highlighting some of my favorite women both real and fictional? So today I'll be highlighting a few amazing women authors and their books.
I fell in love with Elizabeth Acevedo's writing with her short story Gilded which was featured in A Phoenix First Must Burn. That same year I read The Poet X, With the Fire on High, and Clap When You Land. Her first adult novel Family Lore releases this year and is on my 2023 most anticipated release list.
Family Lore
Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides she wants a living wake—a party to bring her family and community together to celebrate the long life she’s led—her sisters are surprised. Has Flor foreseen her own death, or someone else’s? Does she have other motives? She refuses to tell her sisters, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila.
But Flor isn’t the only person with secrets: her sisters are hiding things, too. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own.
So I'm a little biased here because this is a fantasy I beta-read and then connected with the author after and she's become a friend. R.R. Egal is a fresh voice in adult fantasy. Her book Empire of Hanging Swords came out recently and if you like fantasy kingdoms and a real enemies to lovers dynamic check it out.
Empire of Hanging Swords
They say that heavy is the head that wears the crown, and twenty-year-old Neferet knows that all too well. As the Empress of the Etalan Empire, she has her hands full secretly hunting the person who ordered the murder of her father while also trying to figure out why harvests are failing left and right in her lands. Upon learning the murderer was her closest ally, the Dominus of Theron, she’s enraged by his betrayal and sets off for his kingdom to get her revenge.
Shortly after her arrival, Dante, the Dominus’s son, uncovers a conspiracy that makes Neferet question everything. Her confusion only worsens as several gods descend from the skies, each one telling her something that contradicts the other. As plague and famine encroach and war looms on the horizon, Neferet and Dante must put aside their differences and piece together the conspirators' plans—and the gods’ motives—to stop them before her empire collapses.
Dana L Davis is an author and actress. I watched her on Franklin & Bash so I was excited when I first saw Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now. She's written a few books since then including cowriting Always Young and Restless: My Life On and Off America's #1 Daytime Drama, Melody Thomas Scott's Memoir. But my absolute favorite would be her most recent release Somebody That I Used to Know.
Somebody That I Used to Know
Dylan Woods hasn’t seen her best friend, Langston, in years. After he moved to Los Angeles, he ghosted her. Then he became Legendary, the biggest teen R&B artist on the planet.
For the most part, Dylan has moved on, with her sights set on Juilliard. But when her parents announce that Langston is coming for a short stay with them, the entire family is thrilled. Except for Dylan. The idea of sharing a house with music’s biggest bad boy makes her stomach churn.
But maybe Langston hasn’t changed as much as Dylan thought—he’s kept the bucket list they made together years ago. As they start checking off items on the list, Dylan starts to remember old times, her previous self, and their shared love of music.
And there’s something else. As Dylan considers giving Langston another chance, she starts to realize that maybe her feelings for him go beyond friendship.
Maybe, just maybe, she’s falling for her ex–best friend.
Synithia Williams specializes in hot contemporary Southern Romance. She hooked me with her Jackson Falls series with it's soap opera-esque storylines and cast. And if you're looking for grown and sexy people who know how to communicate she's written quite a few of them. Her upcoming book The Secret to a Southern Wedding has my full attention.
The Secret to a Southern Wedding
It’s been years since Dr. Imani Kemp has returned home to Peachtree Cove, Georgia. As Tallahassee’s most sought-after OB-GYN, she doesn’t have much time for anything else. But when her mom announces she’s marrying a man she just met on a dating app, Imani knows she has to put a stop to it immediately. Let her mom be hurt again after the disastrous way her last marriage ended? Absolutely not. Always her protector, Imani won’t rest until her mom sees reason. She just never expected sparks to fly with the groom’s son...
After his mother’s tragic death, Cyril Dash and his father relocated to Peachtree Cove to escape the gossip and speculation. Now, in this quirky small town, they’ve made a new life for themselves, and after years of grief, his dad has finally found happiness again. And Cyril refuses to let Imani threaten that. The more determined he is to prove the strength of his dad's love, the more drawn he is to this beautiful, complicated woman who's determined to call off the wedding.
But when Cyril’s heartbreaking past comes to light, destiny won’t be denied. Because the secret to this southern wedding is you never know how far you'll go in the name of love.
N.G. Peltier is bringing some much needed Trini romance to the Caribbean lit scene. Her Island Bites series set on the twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago has mouthwatering desserts, steamy sex, and characters that just come to life.
Don't Go Baking My Heart
Devon King has a plan. An actual with bullet points and everything plan for his life. When he’s called out at work for never participating in any of the office activities he feels compelled to take part in the upcoming office bake off competition to prove he’s a team player, as making partner at his architectural design firm is top on his list of career goals. Only problem, he doesn’t know anything about baking. Failure is not an option so when his first choice for help is unavailable, desperate times lead him to ask Reba Johnson, assistant pastry chef to his brother’s girlfriend.
Reba’s been having fun texting the super serious Devon ridiculous cat pictures, for an entire month, but she’s surprised when he asks for her help with a potential baking crisis, since their conversations have been one sided until now. When her friends make a bet that even she can’t get the stoic Devon to fall for her charms, Reba sets out to prove them wrong and get Devon to have some fun.
As the competition draws closer, their sessions get hotter with a one night stand turning into two nights then three…Reba doesn’t fit into Devon’s carefully crafted life and as he tries to focus on winning the company contest, he discovers that sweet treats aren’t the only thing baking in the kitchen, and all his perfect plans are crumbling.
Alexis Daria hooked me with her Primas of Power series. You Had Me At Hola gave me the telenovela goodness that reminded me of the days I would turn on Telemundo at night and follow a long with English captions to dramatic tales. While What the Hex was a sexy magical short that had me wanting more.
What the Hex
Welcome to Isla Bruja, a secret magical enclave and home to the richest and most powerful Latinx witch families.
When Catalina Cartagena returns home for her older sister’s wedding, she’s shocked to discover that her soon-to-be brother in law is possessed by a demon. To make matters worse, everyone else seems to be under the demon’s spell—except for Diego Paz, younger brother of the groom and Cat’s childhood rival.
With only three days until the wedding, Cat must join forces with her sexy nemesis to break the spell and defeat the demon. If they fail, demonic forces will control two of the most powerful witch families on Isla Bruja.
There’s only one bed at the magical B&B, and it’s time for these witches to get wicked…in more ways than one.
A.J. Locke is serving up my favorite blend of urban fantasy and a romance complete with a diverse cast of characters. Her fast-paced stories featuring witches, necromancers, time travelers, ghosts, and secondary worlds, have had me in a chokehold recently. They remind me of the fun of magic shows of the 00s but still feel current.
The Vanish Witch
There are a few things that could land a witch in hot water. One is having stronger magic than most. Like a Vanish Witch who can make not only objects but people disappear. Another is being in possession of amulets that contain ghosts whose touch is death.
Kitaine Neris has both.
But she keeps the flirtatious ghost hidden, stays off the High Coven’s radar, and keeps up appearances with her local coven while secretly using her magic to Vanish the corrupt and violent from her city.
But when a hit goes horribly awry, Kit ends up Vanishing instead. She’s shocked when she ends up in a chaotic, parallel world, and realizes that everything Vanish Witches made disappear wound up there.
Including her lover, Marrik, who Kit never meant to make disappear at all.
Kit and Marrik’s reunion is passionate, but they need to get back home. However, that’s easier said than done when every bad soul Vanish Witches used their magic on are gunning for Kit, wanting their pound of flesh.
When a mysterious and powerful witch presents a way home, Kit and Marrik will do whatever it takes to fulfill the conditions that will free them before the enemy enacts a vanishing act on them that sticks.
I started reading Olivia Stephens through her graphic novel Artie and the Wolf Moon which is perfect for young tweens and tweens who want a fun paranormal story about a girl who discovers she's part wolf while also balancing school and first crushes. But Olivia has range. I've enjoyed her shorter comics like Darlin and Heavy Soul which are adult and show she can tackle both horror and erotica.
The Tiger Tongue
Under the militant rule of The Tiger’s People, empowered by their animal familiars, the Claw is on the brink of war. At the precipice of adulthood, twin princesses Kelindi and Aridani hold the future of the Claw in their hands. Kelindi would sue for peace with The River’s People, those who were subjugated “to bring order,” while Aridani has never aspired to rule. But an ancient prophecy is revealed that’ll force fate’s hand for the sisters…
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