K.D. Rye's Blog

I’ve heard some positive buzz around Ruby Landers and wanted to give her a shot, which was a fortunate decision on my part. Ribbonwood, while a romance novel, had more than just a love story to offer its readers. A book named after a town leads one to  believe that the town will become a sort of character. Here, it’s more that the community Lara Bennett has established is the beating heart of the story. It made me think of The Carousel by Stefani Deoul, though the romance in Ribbonwood strongly ...

This is another book club recommendation (thanks Leah!), and my library happened to have it. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Aside from being told it was literary fiction, I didn’t really know the synopsis ahead of time, but sapphic literary fiction is an easy sell for me. I enjoy the quality writing, a story that falls outside the realms of genre, and the often emotional complexities garnered from both. We Do What We Do in the Dark delivered on all fronts.

The summary is simple: a first year c...

I read Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas at the very end of 2023, then again in January, then once more last week while prepping for this review. It’s probably my favorite sapphic read of the year. Shout out to my book club for knowing me so well when they threw this my way. I hadn’t heard of the “bully romance” sub-genre before, which Tryst falls into. It’s sort of a mix of “enemies-to-lovers” and “Ice Queen,” in which one character treats the other horribly before they fall in love/admit the...

God I love a Holst novella. This is an author who really knows how to navigate literature in its shorter form (see In the Palm and Gretel on Her Own). Here we have the first installment of a series (From Sappho, with Love) that thematically centers around post cards.

It’s August, 1972 and Netty Thornton, a University student and bibliophile, has been dragged to vacation in Playa del Inglés by her younger sister. Not the partying type, Netty takes interest in the hotel’s contract bridge tourna...

After Enjoying Truth or Dare a few months ago I had to check out C. Spencer’s other published book, and I was not disappointed. Here we have a novel that is unique, both in narration style and content, that shows how different a lesbian romance can be, and I think the story is richer for it. I’ve noticed what I wouldn’t exactly call “rules,” but something close to it, that seems to carve out a certain expectation for the lesbian fiction genre. I was thrilled to read another book that operated ou...

It’s been a while since a book took my breath away. Whew. How fortunate I am to live in a world where My Home is on the Mountain by Caro Clarke can be held against my fingertips. This may be the first book I’ve ever re-read immediately upon finishing. The text was really just that fruitful.

Here’s a small summary—

Cecilia Howison, a wealthy, independent young southern woman, was driving up the mountain when her radiator overheated. In the meadow, along a water stream, laid the sleeping Air...

I’ve had my eye on C. Spencer for a while. Her social media presence is filled with artful photography, tasteful snippets of her life, and interesting thoughts. I picked up Truth or Dare expecting something unique and mindful, what I read was that and more. This title is rich in complex relationships, multiple viewpoints, and imperfect characters. To say I was pleased would be an understatement.

Here’s a quick summary—

As a snowstorm rolls into town disrupting a long weekend among friends,...

This was one of my October reads. I bought it a while ago and had been saving it for Halloween (if you can’t tell I’m a bit behind on my reviewing). The cover is what drew me in. There’s something captivating in that image, the strangeness of it, perhaps, the forewarning of grotesque, not to jump ahead, here’s a quick summary—

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Met by Eric LaRocca is an epistolary-type novella of mostly email exchanges and chat logs from the year 2000 between two women. W...

There’s been a lot of hype over The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid on social media recently. I remembering seeing this book a few years ago closer to when it first came out in 2017, but the premise didn’t catch me at the time. I’m glad my book club decided to cover it. Though I’ve never been a huge fan of stories revolving around actors and the lives of famous people, I did enjoy Evelyn Hugo as a character and the story she told. Before I get into that here’s a quick summar...

Since branching away from the romance genre, I decided to step tentatively back in with Must Love Silence by Lucy Bexley. This is a cute, humor entwined love story about an audiobook narrator falling for a writer. Given the subject, I opted for the audio version (hello to all the Abby Craden fans out there), which was a delightful way to experience this story.

A quick plot—

Reese Walker is strapped for cash when her sister’s recovery bill lands on her doorstep. Not keen on leaving her apar...