Heat Factor: She’s a virgin, he hasn’t been with anyone for ages (because of her, obvi), completely OTT Character Chemistry: “I love you so much, I won’t say anything for fear of upsetting you! But also, I’m kind of upset about it!” Plot: Two dumdums succumb to their mutual lust while trapped in the wilderness for a night, avoid each other for four months, then continue to avoid talking when a surprise pregnancy makes physical avoidance less desirable. Overall: It wasn’t as fun as the other two books I’ve read by this author, but it was still ridiculous and fun.

Looking for a new author to try? Here's everything you need to know about Rachel Reid, whose books included Heated Rivalry (and the rest of the Game Changers series!), Time to Shine, and The Shots You Take. What She Writes: High heat M/M romance novels, almost entirely centered on Canadian protagonists (Game Changer and Common Goal being the exceptions), and always (so far) featuring active or retired hockey players. Writing Style: Reid writes in a semi-close 3rd person, past tense, with great suggestion. Because of this, the reader has numerous opportunities to observe the protagonist lying to himself, or to catch the little hints of emotional investment that are unclear to the protagonist in the midst of his own emotional turmoil, so it packs that emotional punch that frequently results in stomach flutters.

This month was Holly's pick, and the team read The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn. There's discussion of on-the-nose metaphors, how we feel about *Paris*, and the moments that are really great. Note: There are a few big reveals in this book that happen about 3/4 of the way through, and we discuss them, so here's your SPOILERS note. Heat Factor: There’s a lot going on Character Chemistry: It’s like lightning and in those lighting flashes they are revealed to each other Plot: Damaged people overly invest themselves in other people’s unraveling wedding, and find their own impetus to change…

Swordheart, Book #2 Holly's Review of Swordheart, Book #1 | The Whole Team's Convo about Swordheart, Book #1 Holly's Take Heat Factor: A high ratio of innuendo to shagging Character Chemistry: Mutual admiration society Plot: Learned Edmund is bringing a dagger and some books to the big city but *surprise!* the dagger is a person Overall: This hits all the Kingfisher checkboxes Ingrid's Take Heat Factor: There’s heavy flirting and blushing but it’s not what I’d consider high heat.  Character Chemistry: I think meant to be opposites attract but they’re both ultimately serving as the cheerleader to each other’s humility/wounds…

Love & Spite, Book #1 Heat Factor: A solid chunk in the middle is them having allllll the sex Character Chemistry: She asks him to do activities with her and he discovers that having fun is a good thing Plot: Zoe gets revenge on her cheating ex by fake-dating his older brother. With exclamation marks! Overall: This was a fun read with surprising depth.

Our conversation this week was inspired by this piece by Rien Grey on "if only" eroticism. We do talk about sex a bit more than we normally do, so please proceed accordingly.

For several months now, I’ve been fighting the impulse to write a rant about the appalling callousness on display on social media towards people with disability, especially people notionally …

Secret of the Syphon, Book #2 Review of Secret of the Syphon, Book #1 Heat Factor: It’s mostly a lot of angry yearning, but it does have some heat Character Chemistry: They’re mates but they haven’t bonded yet and it apparently can be broken, but they don’t really want it to be… Plot: Ever flees Aeson and the Wing after killing the witch responsible for blocking the Syphons’ powers, he chases her, she re-establishes a tenuous connection with Aeson and the Wing after shattering that trust and then she pulls more shady moves because she can’t seem to help herself.

My First Smut is a recurring feature where we talk about our formative smut experiences. These short confessionals may include such details as: What book did you read? How old were you? Were there other people involved? What made the experience special? What role does smut play in your life? This week, Jessica Siskin talks about emerging from her literary fiction bubble (we're so happy to have her here!) First romance novel you read I''d read plenty of books with romance before, but the first time I realized I was reading a ~romance~ it was People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.

September’s theme prompt for Super Wendy’s #TBRChallenge 2026 was “Lush Life.” Here are the books we chose to tackle our TBRs this month. Holly Read: Something about Emmaline by Elizabeth Boyle Bachelor Chronicles, Book #1 Why was this book on your TBR? Well, this might not be in the spirit of the challenge, but Erin suggested it (very recently) for a recommendation list we were putting together, and I was like, “Oh, I definitely gotta read that one.” Why did you choose this book for this month’s challenge? Emmaline is a con artist who has finagled her way into the aristocracy.

Bottom line: Do you like the Medieval setting? Holly: OMG YES. I don’t even know why but it hits every single part of my id. Erin: It’s so stressful. And for years I really couldn’t get over how filthy everyone had to be all the time. It got better, but it’s not fully in the realm of total suspension of disbelief for me. Ingrid: I don’t? But I also think it’s half because of what Erin said and half because most of the Medieval romances I’ve read were real old and real…morally questionable.