A prosecutor and a public defender clash over an arson murder in a courtroom drawn by a former defense lawyer, let down by a rushed romance. Our evidence review of Carsen Taite’s Trial by Fire.
A courtroom-accurate debut with a hot opening and a murder case readers love, held back by a romance the trial keeps interrupting. Our evidence review of Carsen Taite’s It Should Be a Crime.
Stephanie Ahn’s Deadline puts a disgraced Korean American lesbian witch in Manhattan’s magical underground. Here’s what readers love about Harry’s voice, why her choices divide them, and why there’s no romance yet.
Our review of Sunny Side Up by Missouri Vaun and VK Powell, a warm sapphic cozy mystery with a retiring police chief, a woman on the run and a town worth moving to.
Alexandra Benedict’s snowbound Christmas puzzle mystery has a bisexual heroine and a clever twelve-day game, but almost no romance and a killer most readers guess early.
A funny, Goldie-winning lesbian Christmas mystery with a lovable accident-prone sleuth, let down by a tangled conspiracy finish and a dog the book forgets.
Black sapphic vampires in 1926 Harlem is a premise readers love. Our evidence-led review of Hayley Dennings’s YA debut weighs it against the editing, the pacing and an open ending.
Verdict: A tense, steamy small-town romance between a veteran with PTSD and an icy prosecutor from her past, with a heroine readers root for and chemistry that crackles, undercut by a betrayal that a vocal minority feel is forgiven far too easily. Best for: Readers who love ice queens, damaged military heroines and explicit heat, … Read more
Verdict: A warm, action-filled second chance romance between a 54-year-old West Virginia sheriff and the high-school girlfriend who comes home three decades later — low on relationship angst, high on rescues and small-town family, and a little too in love with its hero for some readers. Best for: Readers who want leads over fifty, first-responder … Read more
Verdict: A funny, warm small-town romance between a hapless English film director and a guarded New Zealand cop, with a lovely setting and a found family at its heart, let down by a romance many Lee Winter fans found less gripping than her best. Best for: Readers who enjoyed Breaking Character, want an enemies-to-lovers romance … Read more