Upcoming Romance Book Club Picks
It’s summertime and it is too hot to go outside, at least for a wimp like me. Instead, let’s stay inside, turn up the AC–to a reasonable level–and crank up the heat with a romance novel.
Here is a sneak peek at the HEA–Happily Ever Afters, to the uninitiated–that we have preselected for our book club reads.
Romance Book Club meets every other Wednesday at 5 p.m., generally two times a month. On the last meeting of the month, we usually have some sort of treat. Our club reads BIPOC, LGBTQ+, feminist, polyamorous, and other types of inclusive romance.
Follow our Instagram @indigobridgelnk for more information on this and our other events, including Witchy Book Club!
On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi is July’s Pick
Meeting Dates:
For 7/10 (Wednesday)
read pages 1-164
chapters 1-14
For 7/24 (Wednesday)
read pages 165-338
chapters 15-29 (end)
“Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the ‘Perfect Immigrant Daughter.’
Enroll in an elite medical school.
Snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend.
Surround self with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends
But then it quickly all falls apart: her boyfriend dumps her, she bombs the most important exam of her medical career, and her best friend pulls away. And her parents, whose approval seems to hinge on how closely she follows the path they chose, are a lot less proud of their daughter. It's a quarter life crisis of epic proportions.
Angie, who has always faced her problems by working "twice as hard to get half as far," is at a loss. Suddenly, she begins to question everything: her career choice, her friendships, even why she's attracted to men who don't love her as much as she loves them.
And just when things couldn't get more complicated, enter Ricky Gutierrez--brilliant, thoughtful, sexy, and most importantly, seems to see Angie for who she is instead of what she can represent.
Unfortunately, he's also got ‘wasteman’ practically tattooed across his forehead, and Angie's done chasing mirages of men. Or so she thinks. For someone who's always been in control, Angie realizes that there's one thing she can't plan on: matters of her heart.”
The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez is August’s Pick
This book will be published 7/9/24. As of yet, we don’t have pages or chapters, but we do know the book will be split in half.
Meeting Dates:
8/7 (Wednesday)
8/21 (Wednesday)
No pages yet
“Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.
Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years--and when he gets engaged, she knows it's long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she's in love with. When she discovers Theo's plans to confess his feelings for his brother's fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him--despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.
Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela's bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form--just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.”
Next to You by Hannah Bonam-Young is September’s Pick
Meeting Dates:
For 9/4 (Wednesday)
pages 1-170
chapters 1-17
For 9/18 (Wednesday)
read pages 171-341
chapters 18-41 (end)
“Lane is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are all partnered up, her career is heading nowhere, and simply put, she's not happy. So, after a night out celebrating her birthday, she makes one hell of an impulsive purchase: a giant yellow forty-eight-passenger school bus that she intends to make her home.
With little-to-no renovation experience but a large sum of inheritance money, Lane enlists the help of her friend Matt--a mechanic by trade, handyman by practice, and hottie by nature.
While their mutual attraction is undeniable, Matt and Lane have silently agreed that a friendship is the only thing that can ever exist between them. Matt's a total family guy with "settle down with me" tattooed across his forehead, whereas Lane is entirely commitment averse. It could never work… right?”
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming is October’s Pick
Meeting Dates:
For 10/9 (Wednesday)
read pages 1-136
chapters 1-8
For 10/23 (Wednesday)
read pages 137-260
chapters 9-16 (end)
“Spice trader Cinnamon's quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon, in this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy, and funny as hell.
All she wanted to do was live her life in peace--maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn't involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them.
After Cin saves the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, Fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But now he's dragging Cinnamon along for the ride whether she like it or not. On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt....”
