Orc Cowboy Romance

Tusks and Saddles is, in all the best ways, like the love child of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, a Western romance and the movie Tremors.

It is two novellas about a couple of orc brothers, one a paladin and one a cleric, finding love with strong, take-no-prisoners women in the frontier town of Irongarde.

Lizzie Strong's part of the story follows Boone, the paladin orc, as he fills in for his best friend on a cattle drive. He's been in love with Willamina, his friend's older sister, for ages. And dodging rustlers and terrifying sand slithers while keeping 500 head of angry moo alive certainly has a way of bringing people together. Boone is the steadfast and loyal presence that the fiery, stubborn Will needs in her life.

Azalea Crowley's part of the story follows Welborn, the younger of the orc brothers. He's been tasked with going to Irongarde to help open the new temple to the god he worships. But when he gets there he finds out that the High Cleric in charge of the new temple has gone missing. He gets the help of the enigmatic and tough-as-nails Beatrix Eaves, a gunslinger to find the High Cleric, because Miss Eaves can't in good conscience let the naive cleric wander off into the wastes on his own.

Welborn is written as autistic and seems to be on the asexual spectrum, because he's never experienced attraction to another being before he meets Miss Eaves. Their romance is pretty fast burn, but it works well for the characters and with the pace of the story.

Tusks and Saddles was a lot of fun to read and the epilogue where the brothers finally reunite is perfect. I really enjoyed advance reading it and I hope there are more collaborations between the authors in the future.

Alien Reality TV

Alien Jeopardy is a hilarious sci-fi rom-com. This funny, spicy story centers around an earth woman, Ellison, and an alien, Ka-Rexsh.

Prior to the events of the story, earth is taken over by a race of aliens called the Roth. But even though there was a brutal invasion, once things settle down, life goes on as normally as it can afterwards. Ellison is stuck in a dead-end, terminally boring office job. After a particularly mind-numbing day, Ell and her friends gather at Ell's house for drinking, snacking and a sleepover. Before the night is over Ell finds herself (and her friends) being abducted to participate in an intergalactic reality show. Because of course the thing that aliens like best about earth culture is reality TV. 🤣

Ell is partnered with the winged and horned Ka-Rexsh in a competition called Mated and Afraid. The show is part dating show and part survival contest and the winners will be set up with a cushy new life on a colony planet. To survive (and hopefully win) Ell and Rex have to fight terrifying alien creatures, battle rugged terrain and complete various challenges all while fighting mating urges that keep growing stronger the more time they spend together.

Language and culture differences lead to some amusing misunderstandings (like Earth idioms not translating properly, causing much confusion) and halfway through the competition a plot twist throws all the rules out the metaphorical window.

If you like fast burn romance, doting, protective MMCs, FMCs who find themselves to be stronger than they believed and forced proximity, Alien Jeopardy delivers on all counts.

If Men In Black were a Rom-Com

Last year I read my first Mallory Marlowe book: Love and Other Conspiracies. I loved it so I jumped at the chance to advance read her upcoming book. I didn't think it was possible, but I love Love at First Sighting even more than Love and Other Conspiracies!

Love at First Sighting is like if Men in Black were a rom-com instead of an action comedy. El is an influencer who gets her very own Man in Black doing a bit of if government sanctioned stalking after she has a close encounter while out taking photos for her next promotion.

The Man In Black in question is Carter, who specifically requested the assignment because El's close encounter mirrors one he had 15 years prior.

El and Carter soon find themselves uncovering a real conspiracy while falling in love and discovering who they really want to be outside of government agency and influencer jobs.

I love how El was shown to be so much smarter than her curated influencer image. And Carter was a total cinnamon roll, who always wanted to see the best in everyone, whether they deserved it or not.

So if you love rom-coms, unexplained aerial phenomena, and Men in Black, give Love at First Sighting a chance when it releases on August 12, 2025.