August 9, LYING IS MY LOVE LANGUAGE, Olivia Simons (🇦🇺). I love a difficult woman as a romance heroine, so this one about a compulsive liar was a great time.

Melbourne and Hobart: I've got some launch events for A Study in Sparkling coming up! Both free, but registrations preferred. Readings Hawthorn, Melbourne, August 6: www.readings.com.au/events/a-stu... Fullers Bookshop, Hobart, August 13: www.trybooking.com/au/event/161...

July 26, THE RE-WRITE, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn. My schedule is so brutal at the moment that basically all my brain can handle is Love Island, so this rom-com between a villa villain and his memoir ghostwriter (who also happens to be his ex) totally hit the spot.

July 19, THE FRIEND ZONE EXPERIMENT, Zen Cho. I unearthed this second-chance romance from the depths of my Kindle, and it turned out to be exactly what I wanted.

July 12, THE PARIS MATCH, Kate Clayborn. I'm yet to read a Kate Clayborn that isn't a 10/10 banger, and this one is no exception.

July 5, REEL, Kennedy Ryan. I realised, when I sat down to read SCORE, that I hadn't read the first one in the series - and a bonus Kennedy Ryan book to read is always a wonderful surprise.

June 29, STAR SHIPPED, Cat Sebastian. You really don't need me to tell you that any given Cat Sebastian book slaps - you know this if you read romance - but this book *slaps*.

Also on sale in North America in e-book for the next few days: 💖 Not Here To Make Friends ($1.99): a reality TV villain and a producer with a very messy shared history wrestle for control of the narrative bookshop.org/p/books/not-...

North American pals: a couple of my books are still on sale for the next few days! 💖 An Academic Affair ($2.99): two rivals academics get married to take advantage of a partner hire clause in the broken jobs market bookshop.org/p/books/an-a...

June 22, NO MATTER WHAT, Cara Bastone. It's a tall order, taking a married couple on the verge of breaking up and getting them to a believable happy ending, but this book does it effortlessly.

June 14, ONE KNIGHT STAND, Amie Kaufman (🇦🇺) and Meagan Spooner. If you, like me, imprinted on the Alanna books as a kid, then this romp about a lady knight and her ladylove (the follow up to LADY'S KNIGHT) is going to absolutely delight you.

June 7, HOW TO END A LOVE STORY, Yulin Kuang. I'm shamefully behind the times on this one, for which the hype is well-deserved.

Happy first birthday* to my little book that could. These totally-just-married-for-work-purposes academics have travelled farther and wider than I ever could have imagined. *in Aus/NZ, anyway, this one had so many different release dates in various territories I've lost track of them

May 31, STRANGE FAMILIARS, Keshe Chow (🇦🇺). This book had me at "magical vet school", and kept me with its bickering rivals who can't help falling in love with each other as they vie for top spot.

May 24, ENEMIES TO LOVERS, Alisha Rai. This is a perfect example of romantic suspense, with neither element of the cocktail outweighing the other.

May 17, HOW TO FIND A GUY IN FIVE WEDDINGS, Cynthia Timoti (🇦🇺). This book has the feel of a classic 90s/00s rom-com, in the nicest way.

May 10, THE ANTIQUARIAN'S OBJECT OF DESIRE, India Holton (🇳🇿). This book is so much more than its premise, but the premise - fake hating - is pretty damn fun.

May 3, THE DUKE, Anna Cowan (🇦🇺). Imagine a duke from a Judith Ivory-esque novel, complete with greatcoat and tall boots and passionate but forbidden attraction to the courtesan blackmailing then - but imagine the duke is a woman. I got to launch this book this week, and it's absolutely stellar.

April 26, HOW TO KILL A GUY IN TEN DATES, Shailee Thompson (🇦🇺). It's a slasher, it's a rom-com, it's a combination slasher/rom-com. I wasn't sure how that hybridisation was going to work, but I tore through this one.

April 19, NEVER THOUGHT I'D END UP HERE, Ann Liang (🇦🇺). This feels at once like a classic YA romcom and a fresh take on it.

April 12, VOW OF ETERNAL NIGHT, Lily Crozier (🇦🇺). This is a *proper* vampire romance - scary, sexy, and full of teeth - and I absolutely ate it up.

A little nice thing: the Australian ARCs of my new book A Study in Sparkling have arrived, and they're very pretty.

April 5, LEFT OF FOREVER, Tarah DeWitt. Second chance romance is one of the most difficult forms to make work - why would a relationship work this time if it didn't before? This one, though, I wholeheartedly believed.

March 29, EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES, Heather Fawcett. I finally read this series after much urging from several friends, and it is - in my estimation, anyway - worth the hype. I had a lovely time.

March 22, THE INCANDESCENT, Emily Tesh. Is it a stretch calling this sapphic fantasy about the head teacher at a magical boarding school a romance? Yes. Did I love it enough to put it in my romance recs anyway? Also yes.

March 15, AND NOW, BACK TO YOU, BK Borison. I'm hardly the first person to recommend BK Borison's books, but they're consistently wonderful, and this latest one about two meteorologists forced into close proximity by a snowstorm is no exception.

Cover reveal! A Study in Sparkling is coming out on 28 July in Australia/NZ and 15 September in the US. Aus/NZ preorder: www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/A-Stud... US preorder: www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-Stud...

March 8, THE BOYFRIEND CLAUSE, Bridie Blake (🇦🇺). This is a lovely local debut: a big-hearted romantic romp, warm and funny, with the chemistry between the leads developing into real intimacy even with the high-concept premise.

March 1, ONLY FRIENDS, Lydia San Andres. A contemporary rom-com written for the Regency lover, and an unadulterated delight.

February 22, COMEBACK TO ME, Carla de Guzman. RomanceClass are masters of the short-form romance, and this one - a romance between a K-pop idol and his ex-fan - is a sterling example.