It’s Monday but since I haven’t got any favourite authors with surnames beginning with the letter Q, this week’s A-Z: My Favourite Authors & Books is all about the letter R.
I’ve got 6 x favourite authors (or author combos) with surnames beginning with the letter R: Kerry Rea, Katy Regnery, Penny Reid, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Nicola Rendell & Becca & Krista Ritchie.
If you’ve missed any of them, you can find links to all my previous A-Z: My Favourite Authors & Books posts in the Archives.
AUTHOR: Kerry Rea (Website / Instagram)
Kerry Rea is a 2017 and 2019 #Pitchwars mentee. Her work has appeared in Seventeen Magazine. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, her son, and their four dogs (Author Website).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 2 (both of which were Five Star Reads).
BOOK: Lucy on the Wild Side (2022)
As soon as I found out that the MC in ‘Lucy on the Wild Side’ was a primatologist, I was instantly sold because I’m obsessed with all things primate. Columbus Zoo is a really unique setting for a rom-com but be warned; Lucy’s gorilla troop (especially Zuri and adorable baby Keeva) will quickly steal your heart. I loved Lucy’s dedication to her gorillas, her tendency to hilariously blurt out random facts about the animal kingdom when she’s flustered and her relationships with her grandmother and half-sister. Kai was a really great love interest with his own complicated back story and I adored how protective he was of Lucy especially when he was trying to help her overcome her fears of being on camera. The author’s debut novel, The Wedding Ringer was a Five Star Read for December 2022 and would have made My Favourite Books of 2022 with ‘Lucy on the Wild Side’ if I hadn’t instigated a one-novel-per-author rule.
Lucy Rourke has two great loves in her life: the gorilla troop she cares for as a primatologist and the laundry list of reality TV shows she watches to escape the fact that her actual love life doesn’t exist. And like a reality contestant gunning for the final rose, Lucy’s laser-focused on one thing: getting promoted to head keeper. So when a wildlife docuseries hosted by hotshot TV personality Kai Bridges chooses her zoo as its summer filming location, she sees an opportunity to showcase her beloved gorillas to the world and land a starring role in her department.
When Kai and his film crew arrive, however, it’s obvious to Lucy that Kai cares more about sky-high ratings than the gorillas, and he considers her a camera-averse know-it-all whose wardrobe consists entirely of khaki. But she’s surprised to discover there’s more to him than his rugged good looks and cheesy catchphrases…and that maybe a promotion isn’t the only thing she wants. But when secrets from their pasts threaten to complicate everything, Lucy discovers that happiness and success aren’t the same thing—and that finding joy just might mean getting a little wild.
WHAT’S NEXT? The Jewel of the Isle (2024)
AUTHOR: Katy Regnery (Website / Instagram)
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Regnery started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract, and Katy’s first novel, PROXY BRIDE, was published in September 2013.
Now exclusively self-published, Katy claims authorship of over 50 titles, including three RITA® finalists.
Translated into French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Turkish, Katy has sold over 1.8 million books worldwide, and has optioned her stories to major motion picture companies for production (Author Website).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 2 (I’ve got a lot to catch up on!)
BOOK: Kiss Me Kate (The English Brothers #6) (2015)
I’ve only read 2 x books so far by Katy Regnery but I love angsty, second chance romances. ‘Kiss Me Kate’ was a Five Star Read before I started blogging about them and I couldn’t write about A-Z: My Favourite Authors & Books without including it.
Kate English, cousin to the beguiling English Brothers, has relocated to Philadelphia and now works with her cousins at English & Company. The problem with moving to Philly? It was where Kate met her first love, Etienne Rousseau. Since the move, Kate can’t seem shake the painful memories of a romance that broke her heart.
Etienne Rousseau, neighbour and arch-enemy of the English family, is recently single and has every intention of enjoying his newly-minted bachelor-status. That is…until his brother inks a deal with English & Company, forcing Etienne to work with his one-time lover, Kate English. Though he wants to hate the girl who once destroyed his life, he can’t deny the fierce attraction or hide the deep tenderness he still feels for Kate.
With vibrant flashbacks of their passionate, teenage love affair making it impossible to ignore their unresolved history, Kate and Etienne will commit to unravelling the secrets of their heart-breaking past to make way for a breath-taking future.
AUTHOR: Penny Reid (Website / Instagram)
Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she writes kissing books. Penny is an obsessive knitter and manages the #OwnVoices-focused mentorship incubator / publishing imprint, Smartypants Romance. She lives in Seattle Washington with her husband, three kids, and dog named Hazel (Author Website).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 15
BOOK: Neanderthal Seeks Human (Knitting in the City #1) (2013)
This was another really difficult choice because I loved Kissing Tolstoy (My Favourite Professor & Student Romances) but ultimately I had to go with one of the books from my favourite series, ‘Knitting in the City,’ and my all-time favourite is ‘Neanderthal Seeks Human.’
There are three things you need to know about Janie Morris: 1) She is incapable of engaging in a conversation without volunteering TMTI (Too Much Trivial Information), especially when she is unnerved, 2) No one unnerves her more than Quinn Sullivan, and 3) She doesn’t know how to knit.
After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can’t help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan- aka Sir McHotpants- witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can’t afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn- the focus of her slightly, albeit harmless, stalkerish tendencies- to make her an offer she can’t refuse.
AUTHOR: Taylor Jenkins Reid (Website / Instagram)
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the author of the New York Times Bestselling novels Carrie Soto Is Back, Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones and the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as well as One True Loves, Maybe in Another Life, After I Do, and Forever, Interrupted. Her books have been chosen by Reese’s Book Club, Read with Jenna, Indie Next, Best of Amazon, and Book of the Month. Her novel, Daisy Jones and The Six, was adapted by Hello Sunshine into a limited series for Amazon. She lives in Los Angeles (Author Website).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 8
When I see how popular Taylor’s books are now, it makes me so happy because I remember a time when I couldn’t find her books anywhere but online. The book I’ve chosen as my all-time favourite (Forever, Interrupted) packs such an emotional punch that I cried whilst reading it (which was a teensy bit awkward given that I was supposed to be relaxing by a swimming pool in Sicily at the time).
BOOK: Forever, Interrupted (2013)
Have you ever heard of supernovas? They shine brighter than anything else in the sky and then fade out really quickly, a short burst of extraordinary energy. I like to think you and Ben were like that . . . in that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.
Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.
Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.
Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted will remind you that there’s more than one way to find a happy ending.
AUTHOR: Nicola Rendell (Instagram)
Bestselling author Nicola Rendell loves writing naughty romantic comedies. After receiving a handful of degrees from a handful of places, she now works as a professor in New England. Nicola’s work has been featured in USA Today’s Happy Ever After and the Huffington Post. She loves to cook, sew, and play the piano. Her hobbies might make her sound like an old lady, but she’s totally okay with that (Goodreads).
Books I’ve Read by This Author: 4
BOOK: Professed (2016)
One of my favourite types of forbidden love in romance novels is between professor and student (as long as it’s between consenting adults and the power imbalance is acknowledged by both parties). ‘Professed’ is one of the best and was included in My Favourite Professor & Student Romances.
At a secret masked ball at Yale, Naomi Costa is literally swept off her stiletto-blistered feet by a man with a killer jawline, a perfect body, and an even-better kiss. They bust out of an emergency exit and have axis-shaking sex. He pours whiskey in her belly button and after they run out of condoms, they have to get creative. That kind of sex.
The next day, she learns that he is none other than Dr. Benjamin Beck, a brand new member of the Yale faculty and the hottest thing to happen to academia since… well, ever. She has to take his damned junior seminar to graduate, but it gets worse. He’s also her College Master: her boss, her advisor, her everything. And he’s just moved in, right downstairs.
They can’t stay away from each other. They’re either fusion or fission or both. They’re making out in libraries, hiding notes between stones, and sneaking off to nautically themed AirBnbs. Hear that sound? It’s the academic code of ethics going up in flames.
If they’re found out, he’ll lose his job and his reputation. She’ll lose her scholarship and be forced to return to the life of lobster fishing that she thought she’d escaped.
And they will be found out, yes they will.
So what the hell are they going to do?
AUTHORS: Krista & Becca Ritchie (Website / https://www.instagram.com/kbmritchie)
Krista & Becca Ritchie are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors and identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love (Authors Website).
Books I’ve Read by These Authors: 3
BOOK: Amour Amour (Aerial Ethereal #1) (2014) (aka The Failed Audition)
If you’ve ever seen Cirque du Soleil, ‘Amour Amour’ is like a privileged glimpse behind the velvet curtain showcasing just how dedicated (and brave) the performers have to be in order to execute such jaw-dropping acrobatic skills. Nikolai is sexy as hell and it’s no wonder his nickname is the ‘God of Russia.’ For more from Aerial Ethereal (and Thora & Nik), you should definitely check out Infini (aka The Secret Ex-Boyfriend) which features Nikolai’s brother, Luka and his ex-girlfriend, Baylee.
Love is a circus
“Every day,” he says lowly, “I hold a person’s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me.”
The best aerial technique won’t land 21-year-old Thora James her dream role in Amour—a sexy new acrobatic show on the Vegas strip. Thora knows she’s out of her element the second she meets Amour’s leading performer. Confident, charming and devilishly captivating, 26-year-old Nikolai Kotova lives up to his nickname as the “God of Russia.”
When Thora unknowingly walks into the crosshairs of Nikolai’s after-show, her audition process begins way too soon. Unprofessional. That’s what Nik calls their “non-existent” relationship. It’s not like Thora can avoid him. For one, they may be partners in the future—acrobatic partners, that is. But getting closer to Nik means diving deeper into sin city and into his dizzying world.
Thora wants to perform with him, but when someone like Nikolai attracts the spotlight wherever he goes—Thora fears that she’s destined to be just background to his spellbinding show.
Louise Hall 
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