4.5 stars Since I started reading romance, I’ve enjoyed many colors and stripes of them. But I have to say, I believe that possibly above all other romance sub-genres, I categorically enjoy fantasy/paranormal series that follow one couple and continue along a larger arc. I’m talking the “Fever” series, or the “Kate Daniels” series, and “Wraith Kings” certainly qualifies as well. I appreciate these longer takes for a lot of reasons: they frequently get to tease out the sexual tension over a longer period of […]
“You make a very handsome dead eel, my husband”
Radiance is an extremely clever romance, and the good-natured ribbing between the two leads, whose species find each other unforgivably ugly, is hilarious. It’s also a very thoughtful and reasoned take on societal beauty standards, and how remarkably different perceptions can be between two groups who aren’t all that dissimilar, but project and amplify their differences into something grotesque. Ildiko is a regular human noblewoman who enters a diplomatic marriage with Prince Brishen of the Kai. Neither is dragged kicking and screaming into it, because […]