Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjbGaoEKZdE

The name change makes sense, I don't mind that they changed the setting to Christmas, and Leighton Meester surprises me (in a good way), but looks like my fear about Jared Paladecki is confirmed. They have no chemistry whatsoever.

I am so happy that we got a new Mariana Zapata book this year and especially that she announced the Release Date only a few weeks ago, really nice for us impatient people😅

And I have to say all in all I loved it! From the vibes it reminded me a bit of Wait for it with the wholesome Family vibes. I just love how Mariana creates these (found) Family vibes and how immersed I get.

Also kinda loved how it deviated a bit from her other Books in the sense that in this one the MMC was the more oblivious one (at least in the how to do life sense).

But this also leads me to my only Main critic, which is That the MMC is way too oblivious how to do life for a 30 year old especially because he fully trusted strangers to manage all of his Money after his own Family had already betrayed him which is why it took me a while to warm up to him, but after a while loved him as well!

And staying true to the Zapata Universe we had a cameo from Christian Delgado (iirc we know him from the wall of Winnipeg and me)

Can’t wait to reread it in a few months🥰

Lovely people of RomanceBooks, tell us what book scenes had you hot and bothered this week!

Did you read something spicy that had you fanning yourself or glancing over your shoulder? Anything that got you horny, lusty, or thirsty? Share it with your friends here! Help us tame our thirst or make us more thirsty! This post is all about sexy passages you've read.

Please give more than just the book name and author! Tell me why you think the book deserves to be highlighted in the Thirsty Thursday thread. Share those sexy passages that brought you to comment on the thread!

Love is love is love - all pairings and varieties of thirstiness are welcome here ❤️

Kinda imaging a story where a hardened criminal who made alot of mistakes in the past are finally out of prison and he's super determined to fix his life like go straight and cleanup his mess. While FMC is that law-abiding well-adjusted sweet person how is a complete opposite of MMC..

Then he meets FMC whatever the circumstances may be like whether she's his employee, tenant, maybe they had a ONS, maybe she's just helping out. I'd even take accidental pregnancy story. Whatever the plot cooks why they are interacting.

But regardless of the circumstances it's a story of a hardened ex-con determined to not repeat his mistakes in life after prison and a woman who is a sweet kind woman who did well in life and just the polar opposite of him.

I want the dynamics of the judgement and all that towards the MMC for obvious reasons he's a ex-con with terrible past. So FMC, her family and friends are not just gonna trust him immediately and that would be a great read for it.

Contemporary would be best here but i'm fine with historical too. HEA please !

I’ve been rewatching Grey’s Anatomy’s earlier seasons after a long time and every time I restart I always have this craving for books where the FMC has a sad past, maybe neglectful parents, where she basically has no one but she is still very strong despite it. Like, she always rolls with the punches life throws at her, maybe gets depressed sometimes, but perseveres despite it. I don’t want her to be beaten down in monetary/career aspects.

The MMC could be a Derek (minus the cheating), or more caring if possible. He doesn’t have to be her knight in shining armor (but if he is I wouldn’t mind either), but I very much want her to be independently strong with a good career.

I am open to all genres (MF please). Contemporary, PNR, NA, Fantasy etc. all welcome!

I guess the requirements for the request sound a bit basic but when I searched with keywords I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. I basically want the gut punch moments to be from emotional situations, not because she is a doormat, if that makes sense. Spice level 🔥🔥++ (above closed door) please. Thank you in advance!

Some of my own recommendations with similar vibes:
- {guild hunter series by nalini singh} - Elena has a very sad past but she is a mega badass despite it, has horrible family but always perseveres

- {bride by ali hazelwood} - Misery has such shitty family she is literally named ‘Misery’, but she never stays down

- {the worst guy by kate canterbary} - Sara has a very similar parent as Meredith, they are even doctors to boot

I love a good holiday read. I just want to cuddle up and read happy holiday spirits. What is everyone’s favorite either fall or Xmas book?

Mine is {how my neighbor stole Xmas by Meghan Quinn}

If you haven’t read Meghan Quinn yet you definitely need to. She has the best banter and your stomach will hurt from laughing so hard. You can can never go wrong with her if you need some giggles.

Looking forward to seeing what else everyone else likes for some holiday spirit.

[WWTBC]

I'm trying to find a romance novel I read a couple of years ago. I can't remember any character names or where the story takes place, but I remember some specific plot details.

What I remember:

- The FMC is an elementary school teacher.

- She meets the MMC through one of her students, who is his daughter. I think he comes to pick her up from school.

- The MMC is initially quite standoffish, but they eventually get to know each other and enter into a relationship.

- There is no mention of the daughter's mother, at least initially.

- At some point, the FMC is at the MMC's house and discovers a collection of tapes. She plays them and sees recordings of herself with the MMC, which leads to a major revelation about her past.

- The big reveal is that the little girl is actually her own daughter. The FMC has no memory of her previous life with the MMC and their child.

- I can't remember whether she had postpartum depression, suffered an accident, or experienced something else that caused her memory loss.

- One scene I remember very vividly takes place in a hospital. The FMC is handed her newborn baby, stares at the baby for a few seconds, and then physically throws the baby away from her.

- After this incident, the people around her apparently decide that it is safer for everyone if her husband and child are removed from the situation, allowing her to return to the life she remembers.

Unfortunately, I don't remember anything else, including the character names, author, or book cover.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I'd really appreciate any help identifying this book!

Not very well known but one of my favorite enemies to lovers books. The disdain felt real and earned. The space politics and found family just made it 10x better!

Hello! It is my birthday and I'm all in my feels. Looking for a book rec wherein the love interest goes all out for the MC's birthday. Maybe the MC has not previously been properly celebrated. Perhaps they are not all that excited about birthdays generally.
Preference for contemporary fiction, which I think would also fit this request better anyway. Thank you!!

FMC is curious about pain and becomes enamored with the MMC when she sees that he is making another sub orgasm from pain and thinks she can offer him more than just a body to give pain to. The piercer/tattooist couple are worried about her getting tangled up with him because he’s a known baddie. They fall in love while he’s training her to enjoy pain and eventually only be able to orgasm from pain. There is exhibitionism and some sharing at the club, some medical fetish, and a lot of sadism and masochism.

I have gone back through my KU history and I can’t find it. I am almost certain this was a KU book but maybeeeee AO3? I’m on there very rarely so I doubt it. I feel like I found it through a link on this sub but I’ve searched everything I feel like would make this book come up and couldn’t find it.

Please heeelp 🙏🏽

The main tropes of the series were mafia/organised crime and arranged marriage, but I can't remember much other details. I know it was book 2 in part of a series of interconnected standalones, and there are about 4-5 books in it, and I can't find anything when googling this weirdly specific scene. I know each of the MMCs in each book are friends if not related, and they all have higher up roles in whatever criminal enterprise (may or may not be in the same group, just different areas of control in the city or something).

Towards the end of book one, the MFC had taken pity on the MMCs friend (who ends up being the MMC in book 2) and telling him *why* his wife is mad at him. Apparently on their wedding night when she was in the hotel suite bathroom, he had slept with another woman and she'd overheard it (not sure if it was actually him or some OW drama since that was in the second book which I didn't read yet). She also told the guy that his wife, in revenge, was disguising some bunny poop amongst his favourite chocolates and he'd been eating them.

I know this sounds ridiculous but I wanted to go back and read this and I can't find it in my Kindle history. I read a book a day, sometimes more, so it's hard to find anything. Sorry for so few details, but I appreciate any help!!

(Repost to add the WWTBC to the title, sorry!)