BlogChat – Page 2 – A Take from Two Cities

A MINI SPORTS ROMANCE FESTIVAL

January often brings tones of blue-ness to the scene and books slumps are rife post-Christmas. What more could we need than a bit of romance, a bit of spice and add in some sports.

Micky here. I indulged in an unplanned sports romance re-read fest recently because my brain needed comfort with complete and utter attention-grabbing reads. Sports romance is a sub-genre I particularly love and I lean on old favourites as I can’t say that I’m up to date with more recent releases in this sub genre.

I’ve got some recs from my little impromtu sports-romanceathon and then some other sports romance I’d also rec. I’d love to hear from you about some more recent releases that you’d rec to me. Spice levels on a scale of 1-5 (but this is subjective).

First up, Real & Mine by Katy Evans. I lived the life of underground fighting with Remington ‘Riptide’ Tate and Brooke, his sport’s therapist and more. These were first published in 2013 and I’ve read them a number of times. They are super spicy and super alpha if that’s your bag. In truth, I don’t go for these types anymore but I will forever love these two. This is a six book series, with the first three focused on the same couple and later books are companions. Spice level : 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Content warnings for violence and mental illness

Next in my sports-romanceathon were Ride & Crash by Harper Dallas. These books are set in an elite snowboarding world with interconnected couples in each book. These stories are all push and pull, chemistry, a little drama and completely unputdownable. They’re also in Kindle Unlimited. There’s a third book to come in the Wild Sequence series and although it’s been a while, I can’t wait for more from Harper Dallas.
Spice level : 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Now to some much-loved sports romance recommendations from Hollis and I:

The Keeper by Jillian Liota (YA) – female football (soccer) — 🌶️
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu (NA) – LGBTQIAP+ hockey — 🌶️
The Wall of Winnipeg & Me by Mariana Zapata – American football — 🌶️🌶️
Kulti by Mariana Zapata – football (soccer) — 🌶️🌶️
Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez (YA) – female football (soccer) — 🌶️🌶️
From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata – ice skating — 🌶️🌶️
The Best Thing by Mariana Zapata – rugby — 🌶️🌶️
Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan – basketball — 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Wrecking Ball by P Dangelico – American football — 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid – LGBTQIAP+ hockey — 🌶️🌶️🌶️
The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen (NA) – hockey — 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Him by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy – LGBTQIAP+ hockey — 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
The Game Plan by Kristen Callihan – American football — 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

So now we need your help. Update us on the more recent sports romances that you’ve loved, please and thank you! Tell us what your favourites are and if we share any.

TOP TEN MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASES OF 2022

As we are seconds away from closing the door on 2021 (which was officially Also The Worst), we got to thinking about all the books set to release next year that we know of (which, admittedly, only really spans the January to June-ish portion of 2022, as usual). But there are so many! And so many still yet to be announced that we will also be excited for. However..

As usual, we are challenging ourselves to narrow down an anticipated list of only ten titles. Yes. Ten. Yes, we know, that’s not even one title per month. It’s a horrible exercise. Let’s begin!

Hollis’ Top Ten Anticipated Releases of 2022 (in order of publication) :
_{aka the year with very few covers yet released}

The Long Game by Rachel Reid | April 26, 2022
Book Lovers by Emily Henry | May 3, 2022
Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane | May 3, 2022
Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews | August 26, 2022
Pack of Lies by Charlie Adhara | August 30, 2022
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir | September 13, 2022
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik | September 27, 2022
Untitled (Skybriar, book one) by Talia Hibbert | Fall 2022 (date TBA)
Untitled (Iron Widow, book two) by Xiran Jay Zhao | Fall 2022 (date TBA)
In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune | 2022 (date TBA)

Micky’s Top Ten (showing we are sometimes similar) Anticipated Releases of 2022 (in order of publication) .

Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman | January 27, 2022
The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh | February 22, 2022
When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando | March 31, 2022
Elektra by Jennifer Saint | April 28, 2022
Book of Night by Holly Black | May 3, 2022
Book Lovers by Emily Henry | May 3, 2022
The Blood Traitor (The Gilded Cage #3) by Lynette Noni | June 14, 2022
Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews | August 26, 2022
The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance #3) by Naomi Novil | September 27, 2022
Untitled (Iron Widow #2) by Xiran Jay Zhao | Autumn 2022 (date TBA)

We’d love to know what you want to read next year. It is so hard to narrow it down, we know.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1..

We are (depending on your timezone) mere hours away from the New Year and we don’t know about you — though we kinda do.. — but here at A Take From Two Cities we are hoping for a much better year than the ones that have come before.

Whether you’re having a quiet celebration with your household, hanging out on your own, making a virtual splash, or (finally!) safely with a group, we are raising a glass to you and hoping you are all safe, well, and content (we almost said “happy” but the bar is still low..).

Here’s to not only a fresh start in 2022, and hopefully a few less disasters, but also a ton of great books and a lot more laughs.

From us to you,

Hollis and Micky xx

FIVE SERIES TO FINISH IN 2022

Hi, Hollis here! A few years ago I bemoaned all my started-but-unfinished series and went to some painstaking effort to shelve them on GR to keep track. I quickly discontinued that effort but the fact remains that we as readers, and we here at A Take from Two Cities, start so many series and only manage to finish some. Whether that’s because said series are yet to be completed, delayed, or just forgotten about amidst all the other new releases, who can say. But to keep us (me) accountable, I want to start a blog series not unlike our Five On Our TBRs but where we (I) try to complete (at least!) five series a year.

This was incredibly successful for me in 2021 (I finished all five!), and kept me not just accountable but motivated.

Topping my list for series I’d like to complete in 2022 are :

Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series. As we’ve come to expect by now, this will necessitate a reread of book one and book two, as I read these back in highschool in [year redacted]. I may also attempt to read past the main trilogy (books four to six and seven to nine both have their own arcs, I believe) but I’m not committing to that on paper.

The Middle of Somewhere series by Roan Parrish. This was one of my early(ish) forays into discovering m/m authors and I only got as far as book one because I was flitting from one thing to another. While I haven’t loved everything by this author, I hope this series might turn out to be a win.

The All Souls series by Deborah Harkness. I bailed on book three after how disappointed I was by book two but almost all my bookie friends say this was a very good end, so. I need to get on this one. And the fourth book, companion, too, I guess.

Danielle L Jensen’s Malediction Trilogy was such a huge find at the time of it’s release because.. troll YA fantasy? How cool! Book one was so also good. Sadly I remember nothing about book two which might explain why I held off on book three. Unlike the last few this is an owned physical series so if this doesn’t end up satisfying..? Well at least I get back some shelf space.

And lastly, for this round up, Ellie Marney’s Every series. This is a YA reimagining/modern retelling of Sherlock Homes (sorta) except it’s about Watson and Mycroft and I absolutely went nuts for books one and two. To the point that I wouldn’t shut up about it. And then I never read book three. Much like another series on this list there’s also now a fourth book that I believe is less connected to the main series and more a companion? I’ll tackle that, too.

Last year’s edition of this post made it seem I was a “one and done” series reader. But almost this whole 2022 edition is spotlighting “Hollis has a book three problem”. I guess you can be both!

Are there any series you’re prioritizing this year? We’d love to know!

WISHING YOU..

We just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best. Whether you celebrate Hannukah, Solstice, Christmas, or nothing at all, we are thinking of you and hoping you are (again and always) well, safe, and hale.

It’s been another hard year, after an already hard year, for us all and for some of you this holiday season may be adding to that; especially for those of you on your own or unable to celebrate. You are all in our thoughts.

Micky & Hollis xx

BOOK TO SCREEN ADAPTATIONS WE WANT : CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE EDITION

We’ve spoken a lot about books we would love to see adapted to film or series but this time let’s get more specific. With the long-awaited release of The Hating Game movie finally out (in CAN/US but not yet for the poor UK folks), it’s got us here at A Take from Two Cities wondering : what other contemporary romance** novels would you love to see adapted to the big or small screen?
_{** don’t worry, we have more romance-centric lists in mind!}

Also, we know it goes without saying but, if you haven’t read any of these? We highly recommend.

Now, finally, to the good stuff.

In no particular order, Micky would love to see..

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams would fit the film market so perfectly.
The Grip series by Kennedy Ryan would be perfect for TV, this timeline needs episodes, please.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is definite film territory we think.
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren would also be perfect for a film — just don’t forget to pack the tissues.
Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis. This adaptation could go either way. The timeline in this book would totally work for a series but it could be encapsulated in a film, too.

Also in no particular order, Hollis would love to see..

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is sexy, diverse, and being that it’s a gender swapped Pretty Woman how could this not succeed on screen? Big or small, I’ll take it either way.
Melt for You by J.T. Geissinger would be the perfect kind of brain and eye candy film; a modern day wallflower with the (Scottish!) bad boy next door helping her to love herself and win the man she thinks she wants? Please and thank you.
Walk of Shame by Lauren Layne has a cheeky and fun narrative voice that would be perfect for film. And don’t even get me started on the meet cutes between the socialite and the stern divorce attorney. This is top tier opposites attract rom-com greatness.
The London Celebrities series by Lucy Parker would make for a great mini series with all the interconnected couples. Set against the west end of London, featuring a variety of tropes, very reality-based despite the fame and circumstances, this would be brilliant. If only the BBC would take my calls.
And, lastly (for now!), there’s the Forbidden Hearts series by Alisha Rai. This is another that that would be brilliant in mini series form. The series kicks off with feuding families, hate to love, later we have a bit of an angsty taboo connection, grief, plenty of representation throughout, and more.

What’s the first contemporary romance book that comes to mind when it comes to adaptations you’ve love to see made? And what sub-genre of romance would you like to see us dream about next?

Also, bonus question, have you seen The Hating Game yet? What did you think?

WHY I’VE STARTED WRITING MY OWN RECAPS FOR COMPLEX SERIES

Micky here. As a blogger and bookstagrammer, one of the best things is getting to read ARCS of new series but what that does mean is that I read a lot of series as they release with the inevitable wait for the next book. What I’ve found with SFF in particular (but really any complex series) is that when I come to the next book, I have gaps about what happened. I don’t have the time to re-read and searching for someone else’s recap often doesn’t work out unless it’s really popular.

What’s the answer to this problem? I started writing my own recap of the book I’ve just read, so that when I come to pick up the next book in a year’s time, I have the plot points that I think were important and any little nuggets that will prompt my mind about exactly what happened. My recaps aren’t lengthy, they’re shorthand and bullet pointed, sometime a who’s who, how they’re related to another character and the key things that happened in the story.

At first, I put these in my note app on my phone until I chatted to Hollis who suggested the private notes area on the review for the book. I’ve added a screenshot below of where I mean (the black scribbles cover some of my recap). So now I’ve transfered my recaps here. This means that no-one else can see it, you’re not spoiling anyone and it’s easily accessible. I can’t wait to be Micky next year, going to find my own recap and being ready to launch into my next read more informed!

Would you do this? Do you use recap sites or are you a re-read before the next book kind of person?

FIVE ON OUR TBRS

We’ve found that breaking down our TBRs can be something that inspires us to pick up hidden or briefly forgotten reads. ‘Five on my TBR’ is something that we have done a few times on bookstagram but it originated with someone else, though, eek, we’ve no idea who (if you’re the creator of this, please let us know and we will credit you!).

We always have the best intention to include updates in this TBR series more often than we do but, as always, it’s been longer than we thought since the last post. Nonetheless, here we are showing what’s risen to the top of our TBRs and/or what has us buzzed.

Micky’s five

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
The Dark Lady by Akala
Venom & Vulture by Bex Hogan
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

So, what the hell Micky with King of Scars, it’s still lingering, nevermind the sequel. The Dark Lady is a middle grade from an activist I admire massively. I’ve read the first book in the Isles of Storm & Sorrow, so I want to push myself to finish Venom & Vulture as they’re all published. Do we share any excitables?

Hollis’ five (four? six?)

Neon Gods by Katee Robert
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Mister Impossible by Stiefvater
The Inheritance Trilogy by NK Jemisin

Instead of having the same two books on this TBR list reappear once again, I’ve ditched them for now (Seven Devils, because the sequel is no longer out in August but pushed to January, and The First Sister, because it’s a trilogy, not a duology, and I’ll be waiting to read until fall of 2022 because I’m just like that). But otherwise? This series has been pretty successful so far! Here’s hoping it continues.

Also, I realize there are only four listings up there but the Jemisin is actually a three book omnibus so it’s technically a total of six books I’m holding myself accountable (ish) for completing. As for the rest, the Stiefvater is an embarrassment, I can’t believe I still haven’t read it, the Sutherland because fall is coming and I think that book is supposed to be spoopy, and the Robert, well. That’s hype train, baby.

Tell us the top five books on your TBR! Do any of ours make your lists?

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