We're wrapping up another month as we head into the home stretch of 2025. Our Favorite Reads… Ingrid's Pick: House of Beating Wings by Olivia Wildenstein This book is romantasy gold (from someone who has been on a multi-month romantasy binge). Holly's Pick: An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister This book fed every part of Holly's romance nerd soul. Keyword: nerd.

House of Devils, #1 Heat Factor: I can’t really talk about heat factor in a book where the heroine feels like a child Character Chemistry: Helpless meets savior complex, maybe? Plot: Loren is a helpless, human child-woman who is first hunted and then rescued by Darien, who is just like, so naughty and strong, and together they try to stumble their way through a plot just rife with holes…

Heat Factor: Hot buttered rum in front of a cozy fire. Character Chemistry: Prickly cat and golden retriever who wants to play but steps back when the cat hisses. Plot: Nora and Everett go look at mysterious snow sculptures that Everett actually made with his snow magic. Overall: I usually really enjoy Jackie Lau’s books, but this one mega did not work for me.

In honor of Thanksgiving, we focused on families for November's long-form podcast episode. Specifically, we're talking about the families characters build for themselves—and the families they leave behind.

Are you looking for the coziness of a Christmas special without the whole Christmas thing? Do you think that Thanksgiving is an under-represented romance setting? Maybe you have a secret desire to …

Erin had a plan to talk about something serious and erudite but got distracted by *big television announcements* and spent the first half squeeing.

Heat Factor: Unrequited pining that manifests as vicious rivalry means this is a slow burn Character Chemistry: You push me to be the best version of myself (but instead of admitting that I’m going to say something cutting) Plot: Sadie and Jonah get married to take advantage of a spousal hire opportunity Overall: I loved it

November’s theme prompt for Super Wendy’s #TBRChallenge 2025 was “Change of Plans.” Here are the books we chose to tackle our TBRs this month. Erin Read: Timeless by Gail Carriger Parasol Protectorate, Book #5 Why was this book on your TBR? I read the rest of the books in the series (after reading the series about their daughter because I’m more of a chaos gremlin than I thought), so it’s a completion issue.

Something is happening to our books. It’s not anything obvious; this isn’t a trend starring the sudden and overwhelming appearance of blue aliens or shadow daddies. No, it’s something subtle. Something sneaky. Something that creates an undercurrent or a feeling. It took me a long time to put my finger on it, but during my Romantasy Binge Fest of 2025, I finally figured it out.

This week on Tumblereads, we're talking about chores: what literary purpose they might serve and whether we like reading about characters doing them. Show Notes: Fated Mates Podcast: The Gorilla Twins Episode, which is about The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath (here’s Holly’s review) The book Erin was gifted about date nights at home: If you’re interested in Allie Winters, you can learn more about her books in this author spotlight. The Shoulder Check Problem Books We Mentioned:

Heat Factor: The sex scenes are barely a blip between the lovingly and viscerally described fight sequences. Character Chemistry: I am much more invested in Laila’s relationship with fighting than her relationship with Harlow. Plot: After washing out of the UFC, Laila starts hanging out at an underground fight promotion—and said promotion’s extremely hot owner. Overall: This book took me more than a week to read.

Heat Factor: The sex scenes are barely a blip between the lovingly and viscerally described fight sequences. Character Chemistry: I am much more invested in Laila’s relationship with fighting than her relationship with Harlow. Plot: After washing out of the UFC, Laila starts hanging out at an underground fight promotion—and said promotion’s extremely hot owner. Overall: This book took me more than a week to read.

Fate’s Thread, Book #1 Heat Factor: There’s a little something something Character Chemistry: grumpy x grumpy Plot: Seokga is a fallen god trying to clean up his mess to get back to Okhwang. Hani is an infamous gumiho who’s found herself in Seogka’s crosshairs. To interfere with Seogka’s hunt for her, Hani becomes Seogka’s assistant, but they find themselves in a much more dire search for a demon trying to destroy the mortal realm of Iseung. 

Bottom line: Do you like the wallflower trope? Erin: I used to like it a lot. There’s something to be said for being seen for oneself through a veil of social ineptitude or difficulty with upward mobility. Now, though, I tend to get hung up on the portrayal unless it’s framed juuuuuuust right. Holly: I also used to like it a lot…when I was an angsty, somewhat shy teenager.

tl;dr: Bookstore Romance Day expenses are up. Donations and sponsorships are not. Your d… Billie Bloebaum needs your support for Support Bookstore Romance Day

This conversation was inspired by the books of S.J. Tilly: The Alliance Series aka: the first series that was just deeply troubling (but also kinda hot?) Buy on Amazon The Sin Series aka the second series, which is still red flag city but doesn't go as hard Buy on Amazon Posts We Mentioned: Our recent mafia let’s talk tropes post…

When I started using Everand, I wanted to shout to everyone about it. Many of the indie books that I couldn’t get at the library were available there (especially audiobooks), and I didn’t have to pay per title like on Audible. Or use up all my Hoopla borrows. Essentially, it functioned as a subscription library: pay the subscription fee, borrow books as desired.