It may be April Fool’s Day, but our readers are not fooling us, they love their romance books! Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and energy to the genre. Our stats are ticking along nicely. Over March we logged in 41 reviews, of 32 books, of 31 authors. Yet another stellar month for romance, bravo!

Popular and new

The romance book with the most reviews logged in over March 2019 was The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer. It popped up five times in the round up this month. Keen eyed followers of the challenge will note that The Things We Cannot Say was covered in our most recent Historical Fiction round up, by our resident Historical Fiction expert, Theresa Smith. I suspect that it will also make an appearance in the General Fiction round up, due to the strong contemporary themes in the book. I encourage you to explore all five glowing reviews of this unforgettable title from Helen Sibbritt, Kim Kelly, Mrs B’s Book Reviews, Brenda and Jennifer Cameron-Smith. The Things We Cannot Say is definitely a contender for book of the year for me.

Last month our most popular book was The House of Second Chances, the second book from Esther Campion. We continued to show our adoration for this book. In March a further two reviews were added by Ashleigh from The Book Muse and Claire Holderness.

Penguin Books Australia has a great online readers group titled, Love Between the Pages and there are some fabulous new titles being promoted through this group. Minnie Darke’s first novel, Star Crossed is a Love Between the Pages title that has recently been released. I read this title in March myself and I can recommend it highly, especially if you are after a contemporary romance novel with an interesting twist. My thoughts were also backed up by Theresa Smith Writes.

A book that is currently sitting near the top of my towering review pile is Meredith Appleyard’s latest release, Home At Last. A five star review was logged in by Brenda. Claire Holderness also had this to say:

This is my first book by Meredith Appleyard despite having one or two on my bookshelf. I was struggling to stick with a book when I picked this up, and thankfully it was a great decision because I couldn’t put it down.

An early review has also been registered for Tricia Stringer’s upcoming release, Something in the Wine. After reading Carolyn’s review, I discovered that Something in the Wine is a rural romance set in a place I am very familiar with, the Margaret River wine region. Thank goodness this book is only two weeks away from releasing, I cannot wait to get my hands on it!

A book that piqued my interest this month is The Quarantine Station by Michelle Montebello. Helen Sibbritt awarded this title five stars. Thank goodness I have a copy on hand, I am keen to read it sooner rather than later!

If you are a fan of Mills and Boon, a fresh new release hit shelves on the first of the month, Spaniard’s Baby of Revenge by Clare Connelly. Claire Holderness described it as an enjoyable romance, with a happy ever after. I would add this one to your pile if you can’t resist a Mills and Boon romance staple.

Finally, rounding off my focus on the new and popular books added to the database this round up, is a review of the Australian Romance Readers Favourite Debut Romance Author, Laura Boon’s Lion Dancing for Love. Helen Sibbritt is happy to declare that this is a highly recommended and quick romance read.

Series

During March another good handful of romance books added to our site were series based. There is quite the selection, from erotica, to historical romance, romantic suspense and rural romance. In March, our romance readers were drawn to the following list of books from a series:

• Lacey (Outback Brides of Wirralong #1) by Fiona McArthur reviewed by Claire Holderness
• Belle’s Secret (Outback Brides #2) by Victoria Purman, reviewed by Brenda
• Ruined – The Price of Play (Everhide Rockstar Romance Series book 2) by Tania Joyce reviewed by Claire Holderness
• Bound for Sin (Frontiers of the Heart book #2) by Tess LeSue reviewed by Eleni
• The Saint (Highland Brides #3) by Allison Butler reviewed by Helen Sibbritt
• Love’s Fun (Time for Love, Book 4) by Karen Deen reviewed by Jess at the Never Ending Book Shelf
• Shadows Over Wongan Creek (Wongan Creek series) by Juanita Kees, reviewed by Brenda and interview with Mrs B’s Book Reviews
• The Secrets of Palmerston House (Christie Ryan romantic mystery series, River’s End book #3) by Phillipa Nefri Clark interview by Mrs B’s Book Reviews
• The Red Dirt Road by Alissa Callen (Woodlea series) reviewed by Brenda
• Undaunted (WASP Team #1) by Leah Ashton, review and interview by Claire Holderness
• The Dairy Farmer’s Daughter (Heart of the Hinterland Book #1) by Sarah Williams review and interview by Mrs B’s Book Reviews

Returns

Our old favourites category in romance always seems to flourish. In March we saw the following books pop up again:

• Saving You by Charlotte Nash reviewed by Nicole
• The Trouble with Choices by Trish Morey reviewed by Brenda
• On the Same Page by Penelope Janu reviewed by Nicole

Older releases

This month the older romance titles we reviewed included:

• Wayward Heart by Cathryn Hein, published in 2016, reviewed by Claire Holderness
• Kiss of the Goblin Prince by Shona Husk, published in 2012, reviewed by Eleni
• Ripple by Annie Ryan, published in 2016, reviewed by Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Self Published

My shout out in this category goes to a book that caught my eye through a review submitted by Elizabeth Fitzgerald. Grounded by Narelle M. Harris is a paranormal style romance. Elizabeth states:

Grounded is one of the best paranormal romances I’ve read. It is smart and sweet, with some fantastic worldbuilding and genuine warmth between the characters.

What a fantastic parting note for our March 2019 romance round up!

I hope you have a number of books earmarked as potential reads for the upcoming Easter break. Until next time, happy reading and keep sending in those wonderful romance reviews.

About me: I am a mum of two young boys, an early childhood teacher, dressaholic, book reviewer and self confessed book geek. In 2016, I turned my passion for reading into my own blog, Mrs B’s Book Reviews. I blog daily and love nothing more than to showcase books by our talented crop of Australian women writers, especially rural romance, along with a number of other genres. Check my reviews out at the following sites, Mrs B’s Book Reviews, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram and Twitter.