Diversity-Focused Romance Reviews
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Bridget Jones ‘Mad About The Boy’? Let’s Quack About Grief in Romance.
Star: I know it sounds strange, Duck, but I’d love to see more grief in romance. Duck: Star, that does sound rather ducked up, then again, you’re human so it probably makes a duck of lot of sense. Star: Exactly. And when I watched Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, which by the way I… Continue reading
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Why We’re Ducking Obsessed with Jilly Cooper’s Rivals on Disney Plus.
Duck: Star, about twenty years ago, you were super-ducking obsessed with Jilly Cooper’s novels! Star: That’s right, my feathered friend! Back then, I had a really stressful job that was causing me some serious mental-health havoc. A friend of mine said to me, “Honey, you’re so duck-darn stressed! What are you going to do about… Continue reading
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V For Vendetta: Why Now Is A Ducking Great Time to Watch This Fabulous Movie
Duck: V for Vendetta may not be categorized as a romance movie, but for me it really ducking is. But the romance in this movie is more complex than a kipper-stuffed goldfish sandwich— Star: And more meaningful. Duck: That depends on how much you love a kipper-stuffed goldfish sandwich. Continue reading
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Triple Sec by TJ Alexander – Reviewed by a Duck and a Human
Triple Sec by TJ Alexander? I’ve got to tell you, Star, this queer, polyamorous romance novel, which we listened to as an audiobook, gave me flipper tingles. First, the premise: Bartender Mel has never had a relationship with a married person before, but duck it all because she’s so attracted to Bebe. The pair’s dates… Continue reading
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Three Gorgeously Voicey Queer Romance Reads Recommended by a Duck
Friends, when a duck like me digs a narrative voice, he quacks about it for days. We love the music of words, and where do they tickle our beak-holes more than in romance novels? So, for those of you who are done with cold-fish narrative voices, here are three SUPER-DUCKING AWESOME romance reads that sound… Continue reading
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Bridgerton Season Three — Super-Ducking Diversity Obsessed. Woohoo!
Once part two of Bridgerton season three had launched, we were so quack-happy about the diversity politics that we accidentally stayed up a WHOLE HOUR AFTER our usual, conservative bedtime. Duck: And rightly so, Star! I mean, the diversity totally pulled my pondweed! Among the central characters, as well as a curvy female lead, played… Continue reading
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The Idea Of You (Amazon Prime) – Why The Duck Did We Enjoy This Movie?
Friends, it’s a simple plot. A forty-year-old woman, mother, and divorcee called Solene meets a young, stereotypically hot, and ultra-famous music star called Hayes. Big love ensues, as does MASSIVE mutual beak action … and the romantic conflict? Cruel societal attacks from ducks. No, wait. From *humans* of course. Continue reading
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Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (Amazon Prime) – A Romance Review by Duck and Star
Duck: This movie was fun as duck! And I’m not just saying that because I’m a duck. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging engrossed my beak-holes and tickled my ever-curious quacker. What a duck-darn joy! Star: True! As a Brit, I can’t believe I missed this British movie back in 2008 when it was released! Continue reading
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The Love Study (Carina Adores) by Kris Ripper – A Novel Review by Duck and Star
Duck: For a novel that contains VERY few ducks, I admit to being a BEAK-TO-FLIPPERS fan of The Love Study. Author Kris Ripper does a super-ducking awesome job! Star: Duck, I agree. My flippers were fondly tickled by main character Declan’s warmth, wit, and heart. I also love this original take on the matchmaker trope.… Continue reading
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About US
Welcome! I’m Star Tavares. I am queer and nonbinary, and I use they/them pronouns. My hubby Jake is LGBTQIA+ too. Our plush duck is called Duck and is super-ducking awesome. He likes to call himself an award-winning duck because we wrote a screenplay about him that won some awards, and who are we to argue?
The thing is, we used to publish in the romance genres, but after we came out, we thought romance didn’t want us anymore. But you know what, toots? We were wrong.
Now we’ve rebuilt our confidence and are back to living our Romancey Pants life, writing, reviewing romance movies, reading romance novels, and doing a whole lot of stretching. (Did I mention we’re getting older?)
Want to know more about Star’s writing credits? Under another name, Star has published romance stories, novels, and novellas with presses like Harper Collins and Cleis, and has won awards for their shorter works from the likes of Glimmer Train, Screencraft, and Narrative, where they also worked as an editor. More recently, Star’s nonfiction about gender identity has appeared in The New York Times and at Huffington Post Personal.
Since Jake, who is also a romance author, is starting to add more reviews here (along with Duck’s best frenemy Sir Mallard Jones) watch this space for more about him and his career.
Please sign up for our newsletter below and join us at Romancey Pants for romance reviews and personal rambles.
Let’s do this!
Recent Posts
- Why Characters Who Lie in Novels Make My Flippers Sad
- A Bowl of Self-Love Cereal (Quacker Pops Edition)
- Bridget Jones ‘Mad About The Boy’? Let’s Quack About Grief in Romance.
- Why My Fault Is Actually A Duck’s Fault
- Why I Still Haven’t Read Any Novels By Emily Henry (It’s To Do With Diversity. And Ducks.)
Romancey Pants 