Equine Fantasy, Domestic Chaos, and a Cocktail that Turns Rye Tropical

Plus: Werewolf-Vampire Romance (JUST TRUST ME)

I have been struggling to write this introduction because the urge to begin with a complaint is so strong: winter feels like it will never end, you all should buy stock in Kleenex because I have YET ANOTHER COLD, I am waiting for things to happen with Slowest Burn and Book 2 that I know won’t materialize for another few months…

So instead, a short but sincere list of things I’ve enjoyed very recently:

-watching feral green parakeets poke around the pink cherry blossom in my neighbor’s backyard. Their song sounds like comedy laser guns (Pew-PEW!) and it never fails to delight me.

-sitting in a crowd of devoted romance fans at the flagship Waterstones on Piccadilly hearing Tessa Bailey speak to Bethany Rutter, AND Bethany giving Slowest Burn a shout-out, AND one of those fans asking me to sign a Post-It so she could stick it her copy of my book when it comes out (!!!)

-having an idea for Book 3 that would be a huge challenge but also a big leap-forward craftwise. Think both epistolary and dual timelines….

-This absolute banger from the most recent Culture Study Friday Thread on walk-up songs:

(Do you read Culture Study? You should! Receiving it is a highlight of my reading week.)

Recently I read and loved…

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

So paranormal romance is not for everyone, and werewolf-vampire sex may be for even fewer…but friends, I loved this. Hazelwood creates a brilliantly tense world where werewolves and vampires and humans coexist deeply uneasily, and the central arranged marriage between quietly ferocious Misery and stoic, duty-driven Lowe becomes an impeccable slow burn as the two opposites become more and more magnetized to each other. An unexpected treat, for sure, but a delicious one.

Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee

If you’re looking a romcom with emphasis on the com, if you’ve been hoping for a millennial version of Bridget Jones with the perfect balance of sweet and tart wit, and if you like the idea of it mixed with musings on brand-new motherhood, loving queer friendships, Southern charm, and an extraordinarily hot carpenter…Happy Birthday to you! Seriously, this novel by my fellow 2024 debut was so much FUN to read, and goodness knows we all need more fun these days. I can’t wait for Laura’s next book.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I picked up this YA magical realist novel after an OTT recommendation by fellow American-romance-writer-in-London Martha Waters, and it was so, so good to submerge myself in such a beautifully written, totally evocative world. The Scorpio Races takes place on a poor, rugged Celtic-coded island named Thisby (imagine the Outer Hebrides or the Aran Islands) where vicious water horses stalk the coasts and some men (and one girl) are brave and unhinged enough to ride them in bloody races every autumn. Stiefvater conveys poverty and ambition so powerfully, the push and pull between the tame and the wild on this rugged island and the push and pull of attraction between the two main characters. and hand on my heart, I did not want this book to end and leave Puck and Sean behind.

I also enjoyed…Goodbye, Eastern Europe by Jacob Mikanowski, Newborn by Kerry Hudson, The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

And I drank…a Surf Liner.

Yes, I’m still in my drink-like-I’m-on-vacation groove! At first rye seems like a mad thing to mix with orgeat and pineapple juice, smothering the taste of the liquor like it was bad medicine instead of the pleasure that it is. But the lemon juice and the Peychaud’s bitters pull the cocktail back from being sickly-syrupy, instead turning it into a delicious balance of sweet, tart, and spiced. Don’t get me wrong, this is not an austere drink - it begs for all the garnishes and a pink paper umbrella. But in a world of flat skies and mud and unremitting damp, sometimes we deserve pink paper umbrellas, damnit.

I also enjoyed…a Cherry Red Hook at Hawksmoor Guildhall, a Jilo Old Fashioned, Eric Bordelet Poiré Granit,

Housekeeping: In two weeks’ time I will be in New York meeting with my agent and editor (nope, still can’t believe that I get to type those words!), so the next Reading at the Bar will hit your inboxes on March 20.