Three Questions with Romance Reviewer and Critic Carly Lane-Perry
What she's reading and recommending these days
Did you binge Netflix’s Bridgerton and are now looking for romances to read? Carly Lane-Perry is here to help. Her recent article in Vulture offers anyone needing a post-Bridgerton fix sixteen romance recommendations (and because I can’t help myself, I’ll offer one more —Mr. Malcom’s List by Suzanne Allain).
Carly is a writer and critic based in Atlanta who has written extensively about books, film, TV and how they intersect with feminism. Most recently, she spearheaded monthly science fiction/fantasy romance recommendations on SYFY FANGRRLS, alongside her fellow writer and romance fan Kayleigh Donaldson, called FANGRRLS Romance, which ran until the vertical’s shuttering in 2020. Today, she talks about books on her Twitter and in her fabulous newsletter Kissing Books (which, yes, is named for “The Princess Bride.”) If you’re a romance fan, I definitely recommend subscribing.
Carly was kind enough to answer a few questions via email about what she’s reading and recommending, and the books she’s looking forward to.
What kind of books do you typically read and enjoy?
Romance has been my main genre of choice for the last decade, but I’ve come to rely on it even more in the current pandemic landscape; it’s been the escapism method I’ve really needed. Aside from that, I tend to read a lot of historical fiction, mystery/thrillers, and literary fiction. Basically, I’m not looking to add any cis straight white men to my reading list most of the time, but from there, I’ve been introduced to so many great voices and new-to-me authors, so many of them just within the last year.
Anything you read lately that you want to recommend?
Gosh, so many it would take me forever to list them all, but a few that have stuck with me since I finished reading them: Press Play by Ash Dylan, about a pair of roommates who decide to enter an arthouse sex tape competition just for fun and then obviously have to confront the feelings they’ve always had for each other; That Earl of Mine by Kate Bateman, a deliciously tropey historical romance that manages to be both a marriage of convenience and secret relationship book — in that order; and Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane (who writes romance as HelenKay Dimon!), a twisty domestic suspense novel about a wife who realizes her dead husband’s body... isn’t where she left it.
Are there any books coming out in the future you’re looking forward to?
Again, SO many. The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon (enemies to lovers! two people pretending to be a successful couple to dish out relationship advice on the air!). The Duke Heist by Erica Ridley (that title alone should get you excited, because HEIST). Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh (I loved her previous endeavor into the thriller world, so I’m super psyched for this new story from one of my favorite romance authors). The Heiress Hunt by Joanna Shupe (a new Joanna Shupe series!). And, last but not least, The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan (for those of us who swooned over Hot Priest on Fleabag, here’s some Hot Rabbi to sate those thirsty needs).
Thanks to Carly for helping me kickoff the What To Read If Q&A series. I have an exciting line up of readers and writers that I can’t wait to introduce you to. If there is someone you’d like to see featured in this series, let me know!
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