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Ha, you'll be so sorry you asked, Wendi. I grew up with a mom who watched soaps for ages until she was finally eye-rolled/mocked by more 'serious' 'friends' into not doing so, and so I never used to tell people I read romances, though I do so constantly. I prefer romance with magic or space ships, but every once in a while I revisit Real Life (TM), so I've included a few contemporaries. These are a few of the books/series I love enough to actually reread, and I'll try to suggest books I haven't previously shared:

ANYTHING by Kate Healey, because she writes ethical, well-balanced and intelligent characters, but for today I'll specifically mention her Movie Magic series, BESPOKE & BESPELLED, and SAVORY & SUPERNATURAL, because if you can have romance PLUS sewing and cooking, why wouldn't you? These books are set in the NZ film industry, from a stitch-witch making costumes for her favorite film series - and having said film sabotaged in various ways by someone who doesn't want the film to go forward, to a craft services chef who also has a tiny gift of clairvoyance... and a main actor, who is being haunted, but doesn't believe in the supernatural at all...

Zen Cho's SORCERER TO THE CROWN. This is arguably also a mystery (hmm, sensing a theme here), but this is about a "unacceptable" wizard in The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers. He's unacceptable because he's not a white Englishman, and he's doubly unacceptable because he's trying to track down why the magic of England is diminishing... and he asks a woman (gasp! clutch pearls!) for help... The sequel to this is also loads of fun.

Contemporary fiction I really loved:

CODENAME CHARMING, by Lucy Parker is about a puppy-dog friendly and clumsy British royal and his bodyguard who tries valiantly to keep he - and the royal's personal assistant, out of the tabloids. Somehow compromising photographs find them constantly, and after a real lulu, to quell rumors of her having an affair with her boss, the royal family requests that the bodyguard and the personal assistant stage a relationship. The reluctant agreement and ensuing shenanigans are a hoot.

THE HEART PRINCIPLE, by Helen Hoag - in the most unromantic description ever, I'll say it's a book about rebuilding identity after loss, about mental health, neurodivergency, and the stressors of caretaking (both of oneself, and of loved ones). The pacing is slow, the relationship gradual, but the payoff - for both parties in the coupledom AND the reader - is immense.

GEORGIE, ALL ALONG, by Kate Clayton - A personal assistant to an actor is out of work when her boss decides to step away from the field. She returns to her hometown, challenged to do something SHE wants, but her whole life and career has been built around helping others achieve their dreams. Finding a friend-fic journal from her teen years allows Georgie to embark on a journey to find the self she feels like she lost along the way. This has such a traditional trope set up as another journey/discovery book the characterization is so well done, and the emotional resonance and maturity present is lacking in similar novels. Clayton highlights the importance of friendships as well as family and romance - and explores forgiveness and rediscovering ourselves for those who fear we are aimless or failures or "duds" in life.

...okay, this is why I couldn't be a librarian - I would either ignore everyone and read, or I would NEVER shut up, and the line at my checkout would be too long. Thanks for sharing your faves - I hope you find something good here.

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Thank you for the recommendations! I have put 3 into my Audible Wishlist and will start to read the 4th one this afternoon. Your book recommendations are so great!

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Thanks so much for sharing these books! I've added them to my, to be read list. 😊

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I have read the first three and love them. Will add the rest. I love Katherine Center and Josie Silver. One day in December is an all-time favorite by Josie Silver.

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I’ve read all but Float Plan and loved them. So, Float Plan is now on my TBR. I’m a huge fan of the Flat Out series by Jessica Park and the Don Tillman series by Graeme Simsion. Both feature a neurodivergent protagonist and made me feel all the love.

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All of Annabelle Monaghan's books are great, especially the one with the professional organizer whose personal life is a mess and so is her house. Thanks so much, Wendi, for linking the interview with Annabelle a while back. I loved hearing her story.

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Thanks for all the recommendations! I just ordered three of them.

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