First, a few quick announcements of guest posts I've put out there in the world. Would love if you stopped by:
- Entering a Writing Contest? Five Newbie Writing Mistakes To Avoid at Savvy Authors
- Ten Every Day Items To Add A Little BDSM Spice to Your Relationship at Romancing Rakes (and a chance to WIN Fall Into You!)
All right, now on to Must-Read Monday...
You ever read the back cover of a book and think...yeah, I'm not sure how they're going to pull THAT off?
Well, even though I'm about as open-minded in my romance as they come, this was one of those books for me. A few weeks ago, I saw buzz on Twitter from some of the romance reviewers about a book called Painted Faces--a book with a straight, alpha male, drag queen hero. Yep, you're reading that right. Even though my first reaction was what I said above and I was worried because I like my heroes very alpha, my tastes tends to run closely to these particular reviewers (here are their reviews: Smexy Books, Fiction Vixen, and Dear Author) so I figured, what the hell, I'll try it. (Plus, it was on sale and you know how I am about a book sale.) And I'm SO glad I did.
This book was totally unconventional and different but also really sweet, funny, sexy (and dark at times). Nicholas dresses in drag for performances only, so during his every day life, he's in guy mode. But both sides of him are very important (and there is believable backstory attached to this.) And the heroine, Freda, embraces both sides of him, which is the beauty of their relationship. Also, Freda is a fun heroine to go on the journey with. She's quirky, awkward, sarcastic, and self-deprecating. Because this was in first POV, it also had a "new adult" feel to it.
I can't say I'd ever expected to read a romance where the hero teaches the heroine how to walk in heels, lol, but it totally worked. Don't be afraid of the unconventional hero, and check this one out. It's only 2.99 in ebook.
Has anyone else read this one? What book have you read that you kind of didn't expect to like but it totally surprised you? What's on your must-read list this week?