The Girl Who Cried Poetry

When asked about my favourite genres, the romance genre is always involved. Sometimes I ask myself, Why do I like reading romance? I come up with different answers.

1. It’s all I’ve really known. Apart from African Literature, the romance genre caught my eye early. From the moment I found my Aunt’s Mills and Boons Historical fictional novel in the cupboard, I never went back.

2. The erotica. Everything about the erotica. When we talk about erotica, it seems so forbidden and really, it’s not a surprise that the forbidden calls for my curiosity. Yes, I love to read about two people going at it and this is why we’re here.

3. I love love. You might think it’s because little girls grow up wishing upon a star for a love that can make them swoon and maybe that’s it, and maybe not. With reading romance novels, I have seen different ways people fall for each other and it never gets old. The enemies to lovers; the fake relationship; the forbidden; the soft sweet kind; the office romance; the fantastical one. It’s a sort of pleasure to see people loving each other in ways you might desire or in ways you imagine.

And that’s why this blog post will show you my top 10 books of 2023 that met the criteria. What’s the criteria?

• The writing style.
• The erotica(very important).
• The level of steam and slow burn.
• Did it make me shake?
• Lastly, how effective the plot was.

I don’t think I can recall the accurate number of romance novels I read this year and I might be doing injustice to the ones that blew my mind but are not on the list because of factors I couldn’t control, but in no order of preference, the following are my top 10 romance novels of 2023.


1. Bittersweet rain by Sandra Brown

Synopsis

The ties that bind … Caroline Dawson has been a loving wife to Roscoe Lancaster, a man thirty years her senior who now has only weeks to live. But the deepest love in her heart has always been reserved for Roscoe’s son. Rink Lancaster had broken Caroline’s teenaged heart a lifetime ago, and now he seems destined to break it once again. Returning home for the first time in years to satisfy his dying father’s final wish, Rink is forced to come face-to-face with a Caroline who has grown into a woman beyond his wildest dreams … a woman he will always want, but may never have.

First of all, when I say writing style draws me in a novel, I mean that it literally draws me to it. Reading this novel gave Mills and Boons air and I loved every bit of it. Caroline was in love with her husband’s son who had been away for many years. When Rink Lancaster comes home because it’s his father’s dying wish that they meet, it is obvious that the love he shared for Caroline in the past is still very much present and it turns into a whirlwind romance. I absolutely loved the push and pull nature of it and the erotica? Chef kiss.


2. The Devil You Know by Elizabeth O’Roark

Synopsis

There’s a devil on my shoulder, and every Monday morning she announces herself. She’s this delicious flame in my chest, a flurry of whispered suggestions in my ear. Suggestions I ignore…because every single one of them is about Ben Tate.

Ben—Stealer of Clients, Evicter of Homeless Women, Nemesis. Sitting across from me every damn Monday with his lovely, smug smile and his too-perfect teeth, the living symbol of everything I hate.

It’s been my policy to avoid him, but when a case comes into the firm—one that could change his career and mine—I make an exception. It means weekends and evenings by his side. It means enduring his smirk and his smart mouth and never taking the bait.

Until the night Ben says, “Beg.”
And that devil on my shoulder decides to make a few demands of her own.

When I first saw the book cover, I wasn’t very keen on reading the book for fear of stumbling upon a cheesy romance, but boy was I wrong. It might be a cliche but do not judge a book by its cover.

Let’s put it this way: We have our heroine, Gemma Charles. A good lawyer, the very embodiment of an independent feminist, working in a male dominated office. We have our hero, Ben Tate. Lawyer as well and very hot. It’s obvious they have some sort of misunderstood rivalry, but when our dearest hero makes our heroine beg, it goes from 0 to 100 real quick. Gemma loves to watch Hallmark rom coms movies with cliche plots with her mom and she wants to have a love life like that, but when her feelings for Ben rise, she starts to doubt if that’s what she truly wants.

Heartbroken once, cheated by men twice, will she let her heart give in to him?

You’ve just gotta love it. It’s a 4 ⁄ 5 for me. The erotica was lovely, the slow burn was just right and the writing style was nice.


3. Rival Radio by Kathryn Nolan

Synopsis

Theo
Whoever said “keep your enemies close” never had to share a small, dark sound booth with her. Daria Stone is the infuriating host of “Choosing Yourself.” The name is almost as ridiculous as the concept. Permanently single? Please. The woman’s made a career out of rejecting everything I stand for.

I’m looking for the one. The right woman who’s ready for marriage and a lifetime together. Not some sultry, stubborn vixen who makes my life a living hell and insists a husband can be replaced by a curated collection of bedroom toys. And I know she’s wearing those skin-tight leather pants just to annoy me.

Daria
Dr. Theo Chadwick is a professional pain in my…workplace. Sure—on the outside, the man is gorgeous. But he’s also obsessed with finding his better half and getting his radio show, “True Romance,” syndicated so he can give false hope to lovelorn listeners everywhere…

He keeps pushing my buttons with his arrogant “expertise” about how wrong I am. I just want to see him snap. Maybe that’s how I ended up here, pinned against a wall with my legs wrapped around his waist…whoops…

Can these enemies put their feud on hold and play nice in a shared timeslot to save their popular beach town radio station? Or will their sparks burn everything to the ground?

Personally, this is one of the best romance novels I have read in terms of the simplicity of the plot. Enemies to lovers, opposite attracts, couple Theo and Daria are so adorable. Daria is all about self love and giving yourself sexual pleasure. She’s all for the single and happy concept. Theo? He’s a lover boy. He’s our nerdy grouch who gives great advice on love, dating and marriage. These two couldn’t be further apart. Now what happens when they are forced to work on one channel together? Recipe for disaster? You bet it is.

I love this book a lot because the plot is simple. I’ve read romance novels where a little complication could be the very thing that turns the whole thing upside down and it’s not very nice, but this one? These two people had all the reasons they shouldn’t be together, but by the gods, they went like bread and butter. I love how true they were to themselves. It’s beautiful really. And yes, the slow burn, erotica and steam level made my legs shake so it’s a 5/5 from this side. Really, I never knew Theo could be so… skilled.


4. Midnight Hunter by Brianna Hale

Synopsis

He’s hunting me, and there’s nowhere to run.

East Berlin, 1963. I thought I understood the consequences of trying to flee to the West. Death. Imprisonment without trial. Instead I’m being hunted by the most dangerous man in the city, secret police officer Reinhardt Volker.

Now I’m his prize, no longer a traitorous factory girl but his elegant and pampered secretary. He wants to possess me, body, soul – and heart. I’ll do anything to get away from him, but first that means getting closer.

I want to feel only hatred for my captor but beneath his uniform I discover a man with a past as scarred as Berlin’s.

And if I don’t escape him soon it will be too late.

Surprised that a dark romance novel made the list? Don’t be, this one was good actually. Now, how do I put this one?

The setting of the novel is in East Berlin, Germany. From what I could deduce from it, in 1963, East Berlin put up a wall to stop its people from leaving. Anyone who left would be hunted and subject to punishment. We have our main character, Evony, who plans to escape with her father and family friends. This stands the chance of proving futile if they’re not careful because it is rumoured that He can smell the traitor who seeks to leave. Unfortunately, on the day they’re supposed to cross the tunnels and move to the West, they are caught. Evony runs for her life, but Volker? He will never let her go.

This book filled me with suspense, fear and excitement. I love the buildup from hatred to love, the German nicknames Volker called Evony were so cute and really, the buildup to the ending? Epic. 4/ 5.


5. Ricochet by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Synopsis

As a sex addict, Lily Calloway must do the impossible. Stay celibate for 90 days.

Cravings and fantasies become her new routine, but while Loren Hale recovers from his alcohol addiction, Lily wonders if he’ll realise what a monster she really is. After all, her sexual compulsions begin to rule her life the longer she stays faithful to him.

Progress. That’s what Lily’s striving for. But by trying to become closer to her family—people who aren’t aware of her addiction—she creates larger obstacles. When she spends time with her youngest sister, she learns more about her than she ever imagined and senses an unsettling connection between Daisy and Ryke Meadows.

With Lily and Lo’s dysfunctional relationship teetering and unbalanced, they will need to find a way to reconnect from miles apart. But the inability to “touch” proves to be one of the hardest tests on their road to recovery. Some love brushes the surface. Some love is deeper than skin.

Lily and Lo have three months to discover just how deep their love really goes.

This romance novel is the sequel to the first book in the series, Addicted To You. It’s a continuation of Lily’s struggle with her sex addiction and separation from her boyfriend who is in rehab for alcohol addiction. It was a very difficult book to read. Not because it’s bad in anyway, just that the themes of addiction and separation were such heavy topics displayed throughout the book. Lily’s struggle written in such a way it might make you cry.

I don’t think I’ll ever finish the series, but there’s something about Lily and Loren’s relationship that just drew me in. At first, the both of them were enabling each other’s addictions, but with the intervention of family, they sought to help each other. The growth was amazing. And for two people who had never really been apart from childhood, the resilience they both had to stay with each other despite what was going on in their lives was admirable.

A 3/ 5 for me.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. It’s times like this I’m reminded about how much I love writing and don’t worry, part 2 will be on your screens before you know it.

See you soon!