It is Valentine's Day once again, and surprising no one, I am still single. (Trust me, it's better this way.)
My solitary status has become, for me, as ubiquitous to the pink-and-red holiday as heart-shaped boxes of dubiously-flavored chocolates and small grocery-store teddy bears that still smell like plastic. And besides, my family routinely eschews any form of major holiday gesture thanks to the fact that it takes up a spot on the calendar also dedicated to the birthday of my second-youngest sibling, who doesn't always like to share.
But as I bemoaned to said sibling recently, I do actually really enjoy Valentine's Day.
Just not in the high-pressure-floral-arrangements and expensive-restaurant-reservation sense... though I'd never turn my nose up at a dinner out. I mean more like in the "everyone gets candy" sense.
The kind where your teacher sent home lists of the names of everyone in your class so you knew how to spell them all correctly, and you spent at least an hour of class time painstakingly attempting to get more tissue paper stuck to your shoebox than your fingers. The kind with special snacks and pink cupcakes on heart-shaped plates delivered with love by the parents of kids who you otherwise barely tolerated on a daily basis, now suddenly on their best behavior. The kind where you agonized over the meager pickings at Fred Meyer in an attempt to procure the perfect card assortment, with the franchise of your choice on the front.
(Whether you deliberately picked-and-chose which cards went home with which friends was a secret that never made it into the classroom, if you were smart about it. After all, some friends get Belle and Jasmine cards, and some got Snow White. That's just how the world has to work... it's not like your mom was going to get you an extra box of 'em to even the playing field.)
So, instead of bemoaning my personal romantic woes on February 14th, I typically like to celebrate the gooey stuff in my own way. Pink-and-white checkered tablecloths, the kinds of flowers that won't kill my cat, and a self-directed sort of baking with whatever I can scrounge out of the pantry. I also have maintained the habit of individual, hand-drawn Valentines for every member of my family for years now, but we don't need to get into my crafting habits.
The point is, it's not totally out of the realm of reason that I've started a kind of annual bookish Valentine's tradition for myself, too. I like to date my books.
You've seen it on here a couple of times before - including twice in 2020, in both March and April - but I really instituted it for the first time on, you guessed it, Valentine's Day 2017. (The blogpost didn't go up 'til a few days after, so sue me.)
Here's a refresher to how the process works, exactly:
1. First, you pick a stack of books you want to read from your shelves. I usually stick around 10 or so.
2. You gather the rest of your materials: a notebook and something to write with, a timer (or your cell phone), and maybe a snack or something. A nice beverage for your troubles.
3. Assemble the books in a stack, and set your timer for four minutes.
4. When you start the timer, you pick up your first book, and read for the complete duration, until your timer goes off.
5. Then, quickly jot down a couple of notes on how you think it went! Try to take approximately, so each book gets a total of five minutes of attention. Did you enjoy the style, the voice, the action, the characters?
6. At the end of your notes, write down whether you want to read it "Now," "Soon," or "Later." If "Later," try to specify when. Depending on how easygoing you are with sending away books, try to stretch yourself to add a fourth category, like "Delete," "Donate," or "Give Away."
7. When you feel satisfied with your notes, start the timer again, pick up your next read, and repeat the process until the stack is finished!
For this particular Valentine's Day round of speed-dating, I wanted to get a little more specific.
Like I said, it's a practice I employ pretty darn regularly, especially when I'm having trouble really sinking into a good read. The problem is, when I decided to undertake this particular celebration, I'd already been experiencing an excellent recent track record: I've finished two books so far this month, am well on my way through a third, and have the next couple already lined up on my coffee table.
Instead, I decided to find something a little more seasonably appropriate... one that I'd already been thinking about recently... thanks to another challenge that might sound a little familiar to you.
Back in 2021, the first time I did the self-inflicted Paranormal Romance Reading Challenge (with the help of my brother), one of the primary complaints that I had by the end of that year, was that I didn't actually end up reading all that many romance novels: because I'm very much a mood reader, and don't do well with reading a lot of the same genre in a row, I ended up pretty solidly narrowing my scope to singularly those that were in the challenge... after all, I figured that if I was going to read any of it at all, it might as well be productive (famous last words).
Meanwhile, the ranks of the romances on my Kindle continued to spiral upwards.
The thing is - as we well know from my decisions this year to go on a Book-Buying Ban - I tend to have a bit of a hair-trigger when I see compelling ebooks up for grabs for $1.99 a piece. Which is why this past Summer, while beginning to catalog my sins from amongst my sagging bookshelves, I decided to make a Google doc with every single romance novel I owned on it, complete with author title and tropes involved.
Ninety-five. I had somehow amassed over 95 titles of Romances on my Kindle, that I had yet to read.
And by the end of 2022, a few months later? It was ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN.
So, that was my plan. Reading Romance novels? For Valentine's Day? Groundbreaking. But in the end, it was the right decision on all counts: by focusing on speed-dating my Romances off of my Kindle, it would help me continue to work through my TBR backlogs without eschewing them in favor of the all-too-alluring Paranormal Romances from my Challenge again.
We love a theme, you know.
And because - like a lot of things about my personal reading habits - this was all clearly my brother's fault, I made him select all of the mystery numbers in a draft-style reveal conducted over Zoom.
So if you've got questions, you know, blame him.
#4. When a Scot Ties the Knot, Tessa Dare
A soon-to-be society deb throws off the attentions of the London ton in favor of inventing a fake sweetheart, with ten years of real letters sent to maintain the ruse. Now, there is a disarmingly handsome Highlander standing at her front door, claiming that he's the true Logan McKenzie... and that he's come to marry her.
#67. The Madness of Lord Ian McKenzie, Jennifer Ashley
A now-wealthy widow has decided to settle down with a proper Englishman, in the hopes of keeping her life drama-free forever. However, her fiancé's misdoings have attracted the interest of a stark raving Lord, whose fascination with porcelain is as well known as his intense romantic entanglements... and now his eye is on her.
Well, mission accomplished: Ian McKenzie certainly comes off mad as a hatter. Heroine Beth seems like she's alright, albeit forgettable, with very little personality to speak of beyond desiring peace and quiet. I've heard this one hyped up by people I trust, but I don't really feel like anything happened in the selection I read. At least, nothing I cared about.
A major league baseball player is sent reeling when his wife voices dissatisfaction about their bedroom activities. So, he freezes her out, leading to weeks of a tension-filled home with their two daughters, and is somehow surprised when she asks for a divorce. Now, his teammates have welcomed him into the ranks of a secret book club, where reading romance novels helps unearth secrets to romantic success... which Gavin hopes will show Thea he's not giving up on their marriage just yet.
Out of all of the Romances I've tried so far, this is the one that feels the most loosely connected to even the concept of reality, in a genre that is not exactly known for its dedicated realism. On top of that, Gavin is all at once unbearably macho-leaning, while also being a little too pathetic... because his decision-making skill seem so appallingly lackluster, it's hard to position him as someone I'm interested in rooting for. I mean, the book literally opens with him being too drunk to function in a hotel room, then showing up at his house and impulsively kissing the woman who's told him to leave twice already. It's definitely easy to read, but doesn't feel like it would be all that personally edifying. Out of approximately seven minutes, I found myself 10% of the way into the book, so at the very least, it will be brief.
#101. Hired, Zoey Castile
It's not easy being a male escort, ditched by his week-long client in a New Orleans hotel room. While waiting for her return, Aiden meets the sweet-and-sensitive Faith, and it seems like, for the first time in a while, his luck in the romance department may be changing. The catch? She doesn't actually know about his profession. And her mother is running for mayor.
Another kind of not-so-appealing Hero with Aiden... he's introduced as having spent a little too much time and attention to the hotel bar over the course of two days, getting positively hammered because there's nothing better for him to do. Which begs another worthy question: why the heck did these two books both open with a sad sack Hero getting absolutely sloshed? Why is rampant drunkenness something that is so easy to find in Romance novels, especially in relation to the coping mechanisms of the Hero? Not attractive. Not to mention I managed to read a full 5% of the way into the book without meeting Faith at all, so what gives? We really needed that much more time with this guy getting hammered?
#27. Goalie Interference, Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn
Emmitt's just had his best hockey season yet, with a minor-leagues trophy in tow... only to learn that he's been traded. The good news is, it's on the professional level; the bad, he'll be playing for his rivals. He's determined to earn a spot on the team for good, but standing in his way, is the other player in line for the starting goalie position: the talented and competitive Ryu, who's a lot more distracting than Emmitt bargained for. In more ways than one.
ANOTHER Drunk Guy opening! Are you kidding me? I mean, I'm not even exactly a teetotaler myself, but to have three books in a row all open with a hungover - or actively in the process of making himself sick from drinking - Hero, feels kind of wild. Other than that, this intro reads just fine... a kind of fratty-nerdy combo appears to be in the works, which is okay, especially within the scope of LGBT Romance. I'm not super driven to read Sports Romance - which is also alarmingly present within the ranks of my Kindle selections, for some reason - but maybe Hockey will be different.
#73. Boss in the Bedsheets, Kate Canterbury
The micromanaging and detail-obsessed Ash is on the hunt for a new assistant, and after a frustrating morning at the airport, one nearly falls into his lap, due to a seating switcheroo: Zelda, a scattered, positive ball of energy, is determined to fill his business needs, as well as get him to loosen up a little. Will hot-and-cold combo find that opposites attract, or are they just too different?
The Hero, Ash, angrily trips over a kid while rushing through the airport and only feels capable of regarding it as a personal nuisance. The Heroine, Zelda, is so absent-minded that she triggers an airport-wide bomb response, because she's incapable of neither minding her luggage or removing her headphones. I personally feel that they are both too unlikable to keep reading... which is hilarious, because apparently one of the themes of the book is looking beyond appearances. I am burdened by no such motivation.
Lucy's cousin Kate is in a predicament: the recent newlywed has fallen ill, and her new brother-in-law, Lord Miles, might have something to do with it. Lucy jumps on the next airship to join her, and finds herself staring down not only ghosts, werewolves, and vampires, but the unpredictable lord, too, who asks for help in determining the causes of death for his own recently-deceased bride, and his sister. Can Lucy solve what's behind these mysterious happenings... and Miles' heart?
Somehow, some way, in the midst of the "let's read Romances that aren't Paranormal" exercise, I stumbled upon a Paranormal Romance. This one generated such an intense response from me, that I audibly said "No" and "Oh no" multiple times within the scope of approximately three minutes, and then dipped out of reading early because I was having such a hard time. I like Steampunk, honestly, but this one just fell a little too far outside of my interest range... and when you add vampires to the mix - let alone vampires that leave a "green vampire venom" residue on their victims, it just felt like too much. Do I really feel like reading just to see how Hot this Topic can get?
#12. The Foxhole Court, Nora Sakavic
Neil is tired of running - unless its on the Exy field - so you'd think a scholarship from a college team would be a godsend. Instead, he feels more exposed than ever before: the increased visibility means a higher likelihood that his crime lord father will find him. Will his new team help him open up, or is he destined to lose the only people who made him feel like he belonged?
Welcome to Angstville. It's like if a Mafia Romance met a Sports Romance and decided to have a tatted-and-sweatband-wearing baby. Neither of those are exactly my fave genres, unfortunately. However... the reason this was added to my Kindle in the first place, is because it came personally recommended from a friend back in college. Its legacy on Tumblr is vast and reaching... maybe worth a shot, due to fun nostalgia factors in regards to the mid 2010s?
#81. One Good Earl Deserves a Lover, Sarah MacLean
The scientifically-minded Lady Phillipa is already engaged... but it wouldn't be in the spirit of scientific process if she didn't try exploring all of London's more scandalous parts before she ties the knot. She wants the experiences of ruination, without any of the social fallout, which is exactly why she recruits gaming hell owner Cross to do it. But can she handle the results of such experiments?
Nearly died laughing when I thought the Hero of this story was 23... those are the kinds of numbers that even the Bachelor Franchise has the tendency to balk at. Thankfully, there was a time jump shortly thereafter, which makes him more worthy of a Romance novel mantle. Still, getting some Evie-and-Rick vibes from the two main characters, which is fun, even if I don't love the gaming hell setting (one of my least fave Historical tropes). Still, I'm a pretty confirmed fan of Sarah's.
Jacinda's independence is secured for her by marriage... just not her own. With her sisters, she runs a matchmaking service, one that assists members of the London ton facilitate beneficial engagements. Her new client, the Duke of Rydstrom, isn't making it easy, however, as he's clearly hiding something. When Jacinda's meddling leads to her temporary amnesia, Rydstom might just realize the right person for him to marry is closer than he'd think.
I am refreshed by the fact that instead of a naïve, nose-up debutante, the Heroine of this Romance, Jacinda, seems to be a bit of an unapologetic disaster of a human being. She's a snoop for both fun and money, and the Hero feels all kinds of shady, which is a great dynamic. I'm actually quite interested in this one. Plus, the cover is so beautifully done, that I almost owned a physical copy.
How it all shook out, you may ask? In the end, I not only knocked a tome out of the ranks of that 107-book-long TBR, I knocked out THREE.
Two of them came down to straight-up deleting off of my Kindle: nothing about Boss in the Bedsheets or Beauty and the Clockwork Beast seemed like they were my cup of tea while reading, so I decided to send them on their way.
I decided that I'll let five of them stick around for a little while in the "Later" category... honestly, it feels like an act of grace, because some of these Sports Romances are on thin ice with me, personally (which is fitting, because one of them is Hockey). The Madness of Lord Ian McKenzie, Hired, Goalie Interference, The Foxhole Court, and One Good Earl Deserves a Lover might make it onto my "Currently Reading" shelves some day... but not today.
Of course, all of this means that my winner was, in fact, When a Scot Ties the Knot. I should have just used my Tessa Dare past as a guidepost, anyways: again, she's a great way to ease into the genre, and I needed something pretty relaxed to celebrate the lovey-dovey season with.
Now, what I actually thought of reading this book? That's a tale for another time. ;)
What are some of your favorite ways to celebrate Valentine's Day? Which of the selections from this list piqued your own interest? Did I make the right choice? Let me know, in the comments below!
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