romance
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Summer Villa (Hallmark, 2016) Reviewed by Sir Mallard Jones and Jake

GREETINGS, DEAR FRIENDS OF ROMANCEY PANTS! And moi, obviously. It’s “your duck,” Sir Mallard Jones, Duke of Hampshire County, and I’m here today to tell you all about my experiences watching a fantastic film titled Summer Villa—a Hallmark Channel original! What struck me most at first, other than Duck T’s flipper as he insisted I get my… Continue reading
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Sense and Sensibility (2024, Hallmark Mahogany) Reviewed by Star and Duck

Friends, ever since I read that a diverse Hallmark adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility was coming out this year, I’ve been super-ducking excited. And the movie did not disappoint my flippers. It’s honestly one of the best Jane Austen adaptations I’ve seen. (Generally speaking, ducks LOVE Austen.) In fact, the film’s diversity tickled… Continue reading
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A Christmas Duet (Hallmark) Reviewed by Duck and Star #MoviesThatNeedTylerHynes

Friends, you’d think with a winter festival to organize, a lodge to run, and a Top Winter Lodge Award to compete for, Averie (Chaley Rose) wouldn’t have the time to rekindle her old love with musician Jesse (Rome Flynn), but you’d be wrong. The problem is, your truly, a duck of true romance, was not… Continue reading
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A Taste Of Love (Hallmark) Reviewed by Duck and Star

Friends, if I was presenting a cooking show that clashed with my integrity, having to smile harder on camera would give yours truly a pain in the beak. No wonder protagonist Taylor, the cooking show’s presenter, is unsure of whether to renew her contract. Ducking lost, off she goes to her hometown to visit her… Continue reading
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Just Add Romance (Hallmark) Reviewed by Duck and Star

Friends, sometimes a duck starts watching a Hallmark movie just to give it a five-minute “try,” fully expecting he’ll end up giving it the Flipper, but then he watches the whole ducking thing as easily as pondweed pie. That’s how it was with Just Add Romance. My beak-holes were firmly glued to the screen all… Continue reading
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Paging Mr. Darcy (Loveuary by Hallmark) Reviewed by Duck and Star

Friends, as a humble duck, I have to admit, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice rocks my feathers. But what did I think about Paging Mr. Darcy, in which a serious literary scholar attends a Jane Austen conference as a keynote speaker and finds the whole event is filled with costumes, period dances, and a liaison… Continue reading
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Betty’s Bad Luck In Love (Hallmark) Reviewed by Duck and Star T.

Duck: Friends, Star and I recently watched Betty’s Bad Luck In Love and found it more satisfying than a goldfish sandwich. Star: True! As a kid, Betty was cursed to always have terrible luck in love, and that’s exactly the story she’s living. Devastating things happen to her boyfriends! The kind of stuff that could… Continue reading
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.)



