I know I’ve already said this, but I really am so excited for December 1st to hit so I can dive into the #SnowInLoveBingo board! I mostly covered the rules, such that they are, and the logistics in my #SnowInLoveBingo announcement/TBR, so this post is really about providing you with recommendations in case you’re struggling to think of a book. Like last time, I’ve starred any “recs” that are ones I haven’t personally read. Those largely come from Aarya, but a few are ones that are just on my long term TBR. I also attempted to provide you with some demographic information about these books, like genre, pairing (m/f, f/f, m/m, etc.), and the race/ethnicity of the love interests. It is highly possible that I misidentified someone, so if you notice that, please let me know (if you don’t mind) and I’ll correct it quickly. And… I think that’s all I have to announce, so let’s go ahead and jump in!
Set Outside the US/Europe
Cover of Whiteout by Adriana Anders 
- Rock Hard or any other Hard Play book by Nalini Singh (set in New Zealand, m/f contemporaries)
- One Last Chance by Therese Beharrie (set in South Africa; second chance, m/f contemporary, could also work for fake relationship)
- Whiteout by Adriana Anders (set in Antartica; m/f, romantic suspense)
- The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin* (set in China; m/f historical)
- Mango Summer by Agay Llanera* (set in the Philippines; m/f contemporary)
- Pharaoh’s Bed by Mukami Ngari* (set in Egypt, I think? Or inspired by Egypt; m/f historical)
Family Drama
- Forbidden Promises, Scandalous Secrets, or Careless Whispers by Synithia Williams (contemporary, m/f, Black love interests, ARC Review of Forbidden Promises; ARC Review of Scandalous Secrets; would probably work also for brown eyes, music (Forbidden Promises), and small town by AOC)
- Sin & Ink by Naima Simone (contemporary, forbidden romance between widowed woman and her brother in law, very steamy, could work for specific profession potentially as male love interest is a tattoo artist)
- Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai (the drama here is more about Rana’s family insisting on seeing her as irresponsible or something when she’s really not, but I’m going with it counts; contemporary, very steamy, m/f, Indian American female love interest, British (white?) male love interest, could also work for rules/lists/resolutions)
- Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik (sci-fi romance, family drama is her dad is trying to capture her, m/f, white love interests, technically this would work for set outside of the US/Europe)
- Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey (contemporary, m/f, white love interests, family drama is that two siblings are competing on a reality TV show)
- You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle (contemporary, m/f, white love interests, family drama is really awful soon to be in-laws)
Hot Beverage
- Sweet on You by Carla de Guzman (Christmas romance set in the Philippines, #ownvoice, m/f, Filipino love interests, would also work for Set Outside the US/Europe, Family Drama, probably brown eyes, and Happy Holidays; ARC Review)
- The Chai Factor by Farah Heron (contemporary, m/f, set in Toronto, IR, would also work for music, family drama, and probably brown eyes)
- Well Played by Jen DeLuca (contemporary, m/f, small town, white love interests, ARC Review, would also work for happy holidays, especially if you’re looking for something with just a brief mention)
- Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert (contemporary, m/f, IR: Black woman, white man, Christmas, would also work for happy holidays and brown eyes)
- Miracles and Menorahs by Stacy Agdern (contemporary, Jewish #ownvoices, m/f, ARC Review, would also work for happy holidays or specific/unusual profession, metal artist)
- Hired by Zoey Castile (contemporary, m/f, sounds like this would also work for family drama)*
Meta
- The Bromance Book Club and series by Lyssa Kay Adams (m/f, white characters)
- Beach Read by Emily Henry (m/f, white characters, could also work for family drama)
- A Summer for Scandal by Lydia San Andres (m/f, historical, could also work for set outside of the U.S./Europe)
- Damaged Goods by Talia Hibbert (m/f, Samir is Moroccan, I think, I don’t remember about Laura, could also work for small town romance by AOC)
- A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong (m/f, historical/contemporary with a mystery, time slip, white characters)
- Go Deep by Rilzy Adams (m/f, contemporary, Black Love)
Fluffy
First, let’s begin by acknowledging that what is fluffy to one person is maybe not going to be fluffy to another person. I don’t really think of myself as being a super angsty reader, but I know that scale is subjective. So please know, you can read whatever is fluffy to you. Aarya’s pick for this is Princess Florinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir, which she says is written fairy tale style, but is very violent.
- Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
- Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian
- The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan (m/f, historical, British Chinese love interests, would also work for feels like home, rules/lists/resolutions, and small town by AOC)
Row Two
Childfree HEA
- Headliners by Lucy Parker* (contemporary, m/f, IR – white woman, Black man)
- Not Another Family Wedding by Jackie Lau* (contemporary, m/f, Chinese Canadian female love interest, would also work for set outside the U.S. or Europe because it’s set in Canada and specific/unusual profession because Natalie is a Professor of Climatology)
- One Day to Fall by Therese Beharrie* (contemporary, m/f, Black love interests, set in South Africa so would work for set outside the U.S. or Europe)
- One and Only by Jenny Holiday (contemporary, m/f, white love interests, set in Canada so would also work for set outside of the U.S. or Europe)
- Beyond Doubt by Kit Rocha* (part of a series that should likely be read in order; m/f (but very bisexual positive); white love interests)
- Pack Challenge by Shelly Laurenston* (paranormal, m/f)
- Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon* (contemporary, m/f, would also work for fake relationship because the main characters enter a marriage of convenience)
Into the Woods
- Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh, beginning with Slave to Sensation and aside from a couple of books that mostly are not in the woods, you’re pretty solid for any book in the entire series (paranormal, m/f)
- Silver in the Wood* and Drowned Country* by Emily Tesh (recommended very strongly by Aarya!)
- A Madness of Sunshine or Quiet in Her Bones* by Nalini Singh (thrillers that would also work for set outside the U.S. and Europe because they’re set in New Zealand)
- The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaller (contemporary, m/f)
- A Heart of Blood and Ashes and A Touch of Storm and Snow by Milla Vane (fantasy romance, m/f, check CWs)
- Not if I Save You First by Ally Carter (YA contemporary, m/f)
Black Historical
February is Black History Month and we really hope you’ll help us celebrate by picking up and supporting a romance novel that is preferably by and about Black people. We decided against making this square as strict as Black love because of the fact that traditional publishing hasn’t quite gotten with the program yet. However, if you’ve not yet read a Ms. Bev book, please consider fixing that.
- Indigo by Beverly Jenkins was my first Ms. Bev. It’s m/f and about two people working with the Underground Railroad.
- Destiny’s Embrace, Destiny’s Surrender, or Destiny’s Captive by Beverly Jenkins is my favorite series so far.
- Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins is her February release* (This also works for childfree HEA)
- Alyssa Cole’s An Extraordinary Union and entire Loyal League series should be mandatory reading, but did you know she also has historical novellas? My personal favorite is Let It Shine, which is about a Black woman participating in the Freedom Rides with a white, Jewish, childhood friend, ally. She also has an f/f called That Could Be Enough with Eliza Hamilton’s maid and the granddaughter of one of the men Eliza Hamilton wished to interview.
- A Delicate Affair by Lindsey Evans set in the 1900s*
- Hearth and Home by Rebel Carter*
- Love’s Serenade by Sheryl Lister set in the 1920s*
Feels Like Home
This is my favorite thing that happens in romance novels, when someone talks about the other person feeling like home. I love it every single time. Let me tell you about a few delightful books you could read about it in:
- The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan
“The truth is,” he told her, “I’m not like you. I don’t make lists. I don’t have rational explanations for everything. If you asked me why I wanted you, I wouldn’t be able to give a carefully thought-out account. I could only say that you make me feel like the home I want to live in.”
Courtney Milan’s The Duke Who Didn’t
- Pretty Face by Lucy Parker
It was like coming home.
Pretty Face by Lucy Parker
- Real Kind of Love by Sara Rider
She closed the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck. His mouth met hers and everything else in the world felt completely, utterly insignificant. The only thing that mattered was the press of his lips against hers. The way his arm wrapped around her waist. The way he felt like home.
Sara Rider’s Real Kind of Love
Birthday Shot by Rilzy Adams
She felt like home, but Kofi wasn’t going to think about that now.
Rilzy Adams’ Birthday Shot
Barista and the Bear by Rebel Carter
He was her home just as much as the house was, as much as it ever had been. Home would follow wherever they went.
Rebel Carter’s Barista and the Bear
But there are also other ways you could interpret this. Like when a character finds a place that feels like home and means it in a non-romantic light, like Evie in A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon.
Evie let go of his hand and started slowly walking to the far side of the room. It wasn’t anything like Supreme Chef. Aside from the quiet. It felt, again, overwhelmingly huge and yet somehow tight. There was a faint smell of cleaning products. Every shiny, metal surface was sparkling and clean. She looked at the row of gas burners, the massive deep fryer and the flat grill top. Nothing came to her. Not a sound, a scent, a flicker of a memory, but she somehow felt right at home. It would take time, but she would do it. She’d make her way back to a real kitchen.
Rebekah Weatherspoon’s A Cowboy to Remember
Or it could be a book that reminds you of home.
Fake Relationship
This is one of my favorite tropes and I actually have a specific Trope Talk about fake dating specifically, so I’ll not repeat myself with those five here and will tell you about six others.
- Like Lovers Do by Tracey Livesay (fake dating, friends to lovers, contemporary, m/f, IR – Black woman + white man, ARC Review, would work for specific profession (orthopedic… surgeon?) and probably brown eyes)
- Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (fake dating, British humor, contemporary, m/m, both love interests are white, ARC Review, would work for family drama and messy characters)
- Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (fake dating, contemporary, cinnamon roll hero, queer m/f, IR – Black woman + brown man, would also work for meta and likely brown eyes)
- A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year by Jackie Lau (would also work for Happy Holidays!, small town romance by an AOC, and technically set outside the US/Europe, fake dating, contemporary, set in Canada, m/f, male love interest is Chinese Canadian, but I can’t remember about the female love interest)
- A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole (fake dating, contemporary, queer m/f, IR – Black woman + white man, would probably also work for brown eyes)
- Luck of the Draw by Kate Clayborn (fake engagement, contemporary, very emotional, so good, love interests are both white, could arguably work for into the woods)
Row Three
The third row is a row we tried to make really simple for anyone who finds Bingo overwhelming, but also wants to play. So the prompts in this row are “Reread,” “Cover You Love,” “Happy Holidays,” “Last Book You Acquired,” and “Audiobook or HEA.” I’m going to provide some recommendations for a few different seasonal holidays in the hopes that you’ll find something you’re intrigued by, but please know that you can choose literally any holiday (including a birthday!), and let you know what a couple of my favorite romance audiobooks are.
Happy Holidays
Literally any holiday would work here, but I’m specifically listing books here for holidays that occur during December-February and that I have not already mentioned elsewhere in this post. But you could read a book for St. Patrick’s Day if you’d like or Earth Day if you can find one. Whatever you choose! (Or you can use this as a free space. Truly, up to you.)
- Christmas
- The Christmas Pact by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward (an Audible Original and therefore a good choice for Audiobook or HEA)
- Stocking Stuffers by Erin McLellan (contemporary, queer m/f, would also work for snow)
- One Bed for Christmas by Jackie Lau (contemporary, m/f, set in Canada so would also work for set outside of the U.S./Europe and snow)
- A Kiss for Midwinter by Courtney Milan (historical, m/f)
- New Year’s Eve/Day
- Dance All Night by Alexis Daria (contemporary, m/f)
- Resolutions by Lucy Eden* (friends to lovers, contemporary, m/f, would work well for Rules/Lists/Resolutions)
- Round Midnight: Specifically A Midnight Kiss by Emma Barry & Genevieve Turner* (m/f, historical)
- Grand Theft, N.Y.E. by Katrina Jackson* (m/f, heist book!)
- Every New Year by Katrina Jackson* (m/f, friends to lovers who can’t get the timing quite right)
- Hanukah
- Burning Bright: Four Chanukah Love Stories by Megan Hart, K.K. Hendin, Stacey Agdern, and Jennifer Gracen*
- Eight Cozy Nights by Julia Wolf* (KU title; contemporary, m/f, opposites attract)
- Valentine’s Day
- Candy Hearts* by Erin McLellan (KU title; m/m, contemporary)
- A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day by Jackie Lau (contemporary, m/f, set somewhere besides the U.S. or Europe)
- Just One More by Jodie Slaughter* (contemporary, m/f, a meet disaster!, cover appears to show two Black love interests)
- His Only Valentine by Katrina Jackson* (an interlude in Jackson’s Spies series, Asian American male love interest, Black female love interest)
Audiobook or HEA
Since instead of using free space for HEA, we went with happy holidays in that square, we decided to provide a freebie or another challenge for people to choose from. For this, you can either choose any audiobook or any book with an HEA, likely a romance! I do recommend two Audible Originals here, but there are other places besides Audible to get audiobooks if you so choose. I have a post about where I get my audiobooks, but I also wanted to specifically mention that Libro.fm has Kiss Club, in which every month Avon puts about eight-ish titles on sale for you to pick up! Also, Audible has gotten rid of Audible Escape and now have this Audible Plus program that works with your membership and doesn’t have an extra fee associated. A few of my favorite audiobooks are:
- Call Me Maybe by Cara Bastone (an Audible Original, my ARC Review is here)
- The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole (an Audible Original)
- The Immortals After Dark series narrated by Robert Petkoff (he has a great voice for the series, tbh)
- The Hidden Legacy series
- The Psy-Changeling series (This narrator is controversial. I love the audiobooks, but maybe try a sample before you commit.)
- The Guild Hunters series (Ditto above.)
Row Four
Blogger Rec
This is a square, like Twitter rec, for you to just find a book that works because a blogger you follow recommended it so much you just had to pick it up! Personally, Nick influenced me to pick up Just a Heartbeat Away by Cara Bastone and Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese this year, which were two new to me authors I’m very invested in now. Jazmen is essentially the reason I read Go Deep by Rilzy Adams, bless her for that intro to Rilzy Adams because I am now INVESTED. I’m not 100% sure who had me so ready to read The Roommate because so many people were talking about, but I would say that is another book I read because of bloggers. The Roommate could also work for messy characters, because both of the love interests are going through some big life changes and trying to figure stuff out.
Brown Eyes
- The Pursuit Of… by Courtney Milan (m/m historical set in the Revolutionary War period, IR Black male and white male)
- The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan (contemporary, m/f, male is white, female is Native American)
- Thirsty by Mia Hopkins (contemporary, m/f, first person from male love interest perspective, two brown people, arguably would also work for messy characters as male love interest is trying to rebuild his life post-serving his sentence)
- Heartbeat Braves by Pamela Sanderson (contemporary, m/f, Native American love interests)
- A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole (contemporary, m/f, Black love)
- Take the Lead by Alexis Daria (contemporary, m/f, Puerto Rican female love interest and white male love interest)
Small Town by AOC
- Forbidden Hearts series beginning with Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai (m/f pairings, contemporary, one of my favorites, could also work for family drama)
- Welcome to Sea Port series… by Katrina Jackson (m/m/f, m/f, and f/f pairings, I think–I’ve only read book one)
- White Whiskey Bargain by Jodie Slaughter (m/f, set in Appalachia and a reminder that Appalachia is not all white!!, could also work for Into the Woods)
- Holidays with the Wongs series by Jackie Lau (I think all pairings are m/f with at least one Chinese Canadian love interest in each, could probably work for family drama in a light-hearted way)
- Beards and Bondage series by Rebekah Weatherspoon (Book one and two are m/f, book three is m/m/f, many (most?) main characters are Black)
- Catalina Cove series by Brenda Jackson* (m/f pairings, I believe, contemporary)
Snow
You could interpret this prompt a couple of ways. One of which is just to find snow on the cover and one is to read a book where it actually snows within the book. I just searched some of my unread Kindle books to find ones that mention snow so I’ve read none of these!
- Missing Christmas by Kate Clayborn* (contemporary, m/f, could also work for Happy Holidays!)
- In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish* (contemporary, m/m)
- Hearts on Ice by Janae Keyes* (contemporary sports romance, m/f)
- Wolfsong by T.J. Klune* (paranormal, m/m)
- Working Title by Holley Trent* (contemporary, m/f/f I think)
- The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker* (contemporary, m/f)
F/F Contemporary
- Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur (white love interests, would also work for family drama, retelling/mythology, meta, messy characters (even though Elle is not a mess, her family and Darcy think she is, at least at first) and Happy Holidays! because of Thanksgiving)
- Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters (white love interests, would also work for snow and music)
- Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner (one white love interest, one Asian American love interest)
- Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon* (at least one Black love interest, would also work for music)
- Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole (love interests are both Black)
- Learning Curves by Ceillie Simkiss (would also work for snow; if I remember correctly, one of the women is Latina)
Row Five
Messy Characters
There’s a lot to be said for competence porn and, for me, especially female main characters who have fully embraced themselves in all of their badass glory, à la Akira from A Gentleman in the Street or Rhiannon in The Right Swipe, but sometimes I just want to read about women who don’t have their shit together. My favorite character arcs are the ones where a woman starts off not exactly sure what she’s doing or where she’s going, but by the end of the book, she’s really embracing exactly who she is. It always gives me hope that eventually I too will figure it out. So, messiness can manifest in different ways and I want to make it very clear that this is not intended to be interpreted in any kind of derogatory way. My goal with these recommendations is to give you the books where you’ll get that fulfilling character ARC no matter what the character starts out struggling with.
- Well Played by Jen DeLuca (I mean messy in the still figuring out life here, m/f contemporary, white characters, would also work for hot beverage)
- A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole (m/f contemporary, Black female love interest, would also work for Rules/Lists/Resolutions, specific/unusual career, or Brown Eyes)
- In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (m/f contemporary, would also work for Happy Holidays! and snow)
- “I realize everyone around you being messy might make you feel like you can’t ever be, but that isn’t true. It’s okay to be messy sometimes, honey.”
- Stripped by Zoey Castile (m/f contemporary, literally the female main character is STRUGGLING to hold her life together at the beginning of the book)
- Speakeasy by Sarina Bowen (queer m/f, but some people have noted problems with the bisexual representation so be wary; heroine is a recovering alcoholic, but more pressingly, her ex-girlfriend has kind of caused her to be in a bit of a pickle at the beginning of the book)
- I Think I Might Love You by Christina C. Jones (m/f, Black love, “Jaclyn Love is a magnet for trouble” says the blurb and the beginning of this book definitely backs that up.)
Specific/Unusual Profession
- Birthday Shot by Rilzy Adams (m/f, brother’s best friend trope, female love interest is an influencer/vlogger)
- Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (m/f, female love interest is a geologist, could also work for retelling/mythology)
- Flying Gold by Vanessa North (m/f, female love interest is a mechanic for a specific type of car)
- Priest by Sierra Simone (m/f, male love interest is a priest)
- Sweet Talkin’ Lover by Tracey Livesay (m/f, female love interest is a marketing manager, male love interest is the mayor; would also work for Small Town by AOC)
- Can’t Escape Love by Alyssa Cole (m/f, male love interest is designing an escape room, female love interest runs her own website that is like super amazing)
Rules/Lists/Resolutions
- You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria (m/f, Latinx love interests)
- Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn (m/f, white love interests)
- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (m/m, Latinx and white love interests, could also work for happy holidays because they celebrate Thanksgiving and New Years)
- Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean (m/f, white love interests)
- Trade Me by Courtney Milan (m/f, Chinese American female love interest and white male love interest)
- Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (m/f, IR (white man, Black woman)
Music
- Grip by Kennedy Ryan (contemporary, m/f, IR white woman, Black man)
- Idol by Kristen Callihan (contemporary, m/f, white characters)
- Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh (contemporary, m/f)
- The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite (historical, f/f, white characters, justification: side character’s songs appear a few times within the book)
- Always Only You by Chloe Liese (justification: there’s a playlist for the book and each chapter has an associated song; contemporary, m/f)
- Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn (justification: karaoke; contemporary, m/f)
Retelling/Mythology
- The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas* (YA fantasy, Aarya loves this one!)
- Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray* (m/m, historical?)
- Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin* (m/f contemporary)
- Spacer’s Cinderella by Adria Rose* (m/f, space romance, Aarya raved about this one a couple of years ago)
- If the Boot Fits by Rebekah Weatherspoon (m/f, Black love, contemporary)
- A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean (historical, m/f, white characters)
- The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish* (m/m, would also work for happy holidays!)
- There’s also this video from Read Bliss with 10 Beauty and the Beast retellings!
And there you have it! If you’ve read all of the books I mentioned in a category (including DNF’ing or not being interested) and are stuck, please let me know and we’ll brainstorm to help you come up with a book you’d like that also fits the prompt. If you have recommendations or just want to share your favorite prompt, please let me know! I can’t wait to get started with this round of Bingo and I hope we all have a lot of fun and find some new favorites.
xx
firewhiskeyreader 
One response to “#SnowInLoveBingo Recommendations”
[…] #SnowInLoveBingo Recommendations […]
LikeLike