#RomBkBingo: A Year Long Romance Reading Challenge

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me occasionally posting to a hashtag called #RomBkBingo with a bingo card and sharing updates on my reading.

The reading challenge was started by my very own blogging partner M, and was meant to be a year long challenge! I finished mine just in the nick of time, completing my last book on November 15!

So, today, I’m here to share with y’all the books I read this year and utilized towards the bingo card!

And be sure to check out the hashtag to see what books other people read as well!

REVIEW: Human Enough by ES Yu

Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: October 7, 2019
Received From: NetGalley

When Noah Lau joined the Vampire Hunters Association, seeking justice for his parents’ deaths, he didn’t anticipate ending up imprisoned in the house of the vampire he was supposed to kill—and he definitely didn’t anticipate falling for that vampire’s lover.

Six months later, Noah’s life has gotten significantly more complicated. On top of being autistic in a world that doesn’t try to understand him, he still hunts vampires for a living…while dating a vampire himself. Awkward. Yet Jordan Cross is sweet and kind, and after braving their inner demons and Jordan’s vicious partner together, Noah wouldn’t trade him for the world.

But when one of Jordan’s vampire friends goes missing and Noah’s new boss at the VHA becomes suspicious about some of his recent cases, what starts off as a routine paperwork check soon leads Noah to a sinister conspiracy. As he investigates, he and Jordan get sucked into a deadly web of intrigue that will test the limits of their relationship—and possibly break them. After all, in a world where vampires feed on humans and humans fear vampires, can a vampire and a vampire hunter truly find a happy ending together?

REVIEW: American Love Story by Adriana Herrera

Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: October 7, 2019
Received From: NetGalley

No one should have to choose between love and justice.

Haitian-born professor and activist Patrice Denis is not here for anything that will veer him off the path he’s worked so hard for. One particularly dangerous distraction: Easton Archer, the assistant district attorney who last summer gave Patrice some of the most intense nights of his life, and still makes him all but forget they’re from two completely different worlds.

All-around golden boy Easton forged his own path to success, choosing public service over the comforts of his family’s wealth. With local law enforcement unfairly targeting young men of color, and his career—and conscience—on the line, now is hardly the time to be thirsting after Patrice again. Even if their nights together have turned into so much more.

For the first time, Patrice is tempted to open up and embrace the happiness he’s always denied himself. But as tensions between the community and the sheriff’s office grow by the day, Easton’s personal and professional lives collide. And when the issue at hand hits closer to home than either could imagine, they’ll have to work to forge a path forward…together.

REVIEW: Spin by Lamar Giles

Release Date: January 29, 2019
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC

Sixteen-year-old Paris Secord’s (aka DJ ParSec) career–and life–has come to an untimely end, and the local music scene is reeling. No one is feeling the pain more than her shunned pre-fame best friend, Kya, and Paris’s chief groupie, Fuse. But suspicion trumps grief, and since each suspects the other of Paris’s murder, they’re locked in a high-stakes game of public accusations and sabotage.

Everyone in the ParSec Nation (DJ ParSec’s local media base)–including the killer–is content to watch it play out, until Kya and Fuse discover a secret: Paris was on the verge of major deal that would’ve catapulted her to superstar status on a national level, leaving her old life (and old friends) behind. With the new info comes new motives. New suspects. And a fandom that shows its deadly side. As Kya and Fuse come closer to the twisted truth, the killer’s no longer amused. But murdering Paris was simple enough, so getting rid of her nobody-friends shouldn’t be an issue…

REVIEW: Devil Next Door by Alex Jane

Publisher: Self-pub
Release Date: April 19, 2019
Received From: Signal Boost Promotions

All Remy Harker wants is a fresh start. 

Well, maybe that’s what he tells himself as he rolls up to his nice new house, in the nice little neighborhood, in a town where nobody knows his name. 

He’s surrounded by friendly neighbors and a white picket fence. The ugly pink carpet might drive him to insanity, and he can’t stop wondering where the old lady who lived there before him died—but it’s nice. 

And if he puts his mind to it, he can be anything—or anyone—he wants to be. He can be nice too. 

At least, he thinks he can until he lays eyes on his next-door neighbor. 

Luke Boucher is nice. 

And quiet. 

And perfect. 

It doesn’t take long for Remy to insinuate himself into Luke’s life. A camera here, a break-in there. 

– It’s not really stalking if you love someone, is it? – 

But when Remy’s plan to make a good impression goes to hell, he ends up over his head in more ways than one. Then things aren’t quite so nice anymore. 

– It’s not really murder if you love someone, is it? –

Loving your neighbor isn’t so easy when you’re the devil next door.

*****

This book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance.

Warning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the fainthearted.

REVIEW: Love from A to Z by SK Ali

Publisher: Salaam Reads
Release Date: April 30, 2019
Received From: NetGalley / Purchased from Amazon

A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes—because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together.

An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are.

But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry.

When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break.

Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her.

Then her path crosses with Adam’s.

Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister.

Adam’s also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father.

Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals.

Until a marvel and an oddity occurs…

Marvel: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

Oddity: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

BOOK TAG: 50 Bookish Questions

Hello hello!

Back again with another book tag post! Two in two months? I’m as shocked as you are tbh. Post diversity? I don’t know her.

*smiles* Anyway, I saw this tag on Wild Heart Reads and was interested to answer the questions and share those answers with y’all! Again, I hope you’ll share some of your own with me in the comments!

~*~