What Are You Reading?!? (In January)

Me: A Really Good Historical Romance

I’m writing about this now for a future newsletter, but SURPRISE SURPRISE deleting my Instagram for the last three weeks has led to a lot more reading time. Some of those I’ll talk about in the monthly links/recs post, but today I wanted to spread the gospel of The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran.

A few weeks ago, I asked for recs for historical romance that didn’t feel anachronistic or like its historical details had been gleaned from Wikipedia, both of which make it difficult to submerse myself in the narrative (which is what I’m always aiming for when it comes to a romance). And let me tell you, The Duke of Shadows, which many of you rec’d, *delivers.* It takes place half in India, half in London, and features a male protagonist who’s one-quarter Indian; it’s deftly anti-colonial, never heavy-handed, and avoids fetishism/Orientalism. A rarity indeed. It’s beautifully written, with characters who don’t just feel like vehicles to get us to the next sex scene. I loved it, and unlike many romances, I also think that I’ll remember it.

I also love that the manuscript was picked from an online submission contest (and now Duran has written many, many more novels; if you have a fav of the rest of her catalog, please tell me!)

But what are you reading? What’s kept you up at night, what did you DNF, what are you excited for, what are you desperate to hear others’ thoughts about? Tell us everything.

**As is now Culture Study custom, remember to put the book title in ALL CAPS so that people can see titles easier as they go through the thread.**