Review: Rogue Nights anthology

Review: Rogue Nights anthologyRogue Nights
by Ainsley Booth, Annabeth Albert, Hudson Lin, Rebecca Crowley, Robin Covington, Shae Connor, Talia Hibbert
Publication Date: November 8, 2018
Genres: Romance
Pages: 409
Source: Publisher

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star


Seven tales of romance, hope, and passion. Even after the roughest night, dawn promises new beginnings.

Resisting Desire by Talia Hibbert
Activist, womanist and journalist Nina Chapman is in love with her brother’s best friend. Oops. When her attempt to seduce calm, reliable James Foster backfires, Nina’s mortified—but as much as she’d like to avoid him, she can’t. No; she literally can’t. Because Nina’s latest article has made her public enemy number one, and now the man who broke her heart just might be her only protection…

Dropped Stitches by Annabeth Albert
When activist knitter Bea goes to vote, the last person she expects to run into is her high school crush. The two women forge an unlikely election day connection, but can they see a future beyond the victory party?

Parking Lot Cowboy by Rebecca Crowley
Margot Dunn has spent months making up an elaborate fantasy about the tall, silent cowboy who serves as her fellow volunteer escort at a family planning clinic in Topeka. Then one morning he speaks, and the complicated reality of ranch-hand Tyler Olsen is better than any story she could make up.

Dare to Dream by Hudson Lin
After the 2016 election, Derek Lam kicked his political activism into high gear—it’s what anyone with half a conscious would do. Which is why he doesn’t understand how Diego Ortega, a classmate from law school and a Dreamer, could be so politically disengaged.
For Diego, pursuing law had never been about social justice. His priority has always been providing for and protecting his undocumented mother and his kid sister. Getting political did nothing but draw attention his family didn’t need.
Working on a class assignment together, Diego and Derek’s mutual attraction bubbles just under the surface. But any potential relationship will have to survive the sparks that fly from their clashing political views.

The Coffee Shop Around the Corner by Shae Connor
Political discourse is Madeline Maloney’s jam. Social media manager for a progressive mayoral candidate, she finds her interest piqued by an email exchange with a local businessman—but also by the cute guy at the coffee shop where she buys her morning cup. Palmer Harrison spends his mornings smiling at the beautiful woman who orders a caramel latte every day and his off hours emailing with a mystery woman who works for a mayoral campaign. Their parallel relationships intersect on Election Day…

Love Your Face by Ainsley Booth
Fifteen years ago, Fred left the Midwest behind and moved to New York City. Return visits have been rocky, and this Thanksgiving promises more family drama Fred really doesn’t want to deal with it. Her best friend’s surprise appearance smooths over a difficult holiday, but raises new, complicated personal feelings when the very straight Ami confesses she’s not very straight after all.

Sacred Son by Robin Covington
Adam Woodson has dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of Native Americans in court and in the legislature, a career that has kept him too busy to regret the man who got away. Judah Nighthorse is rebuilding his life after prison, fighting to regain custody of his son from a non-Native foster family so he swallows his pride and asks the man he left behind for help. When fighting the good fight together sparks desire they can’t resist, they must decide if their future holds a second chance or a final goodbye.

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I’ve read and enjoyed some of these anthologies before, and since there were also several familiar names, I just had to pick this up!  There are seven stories included, with two authors – Talia Hibbert and Annabeth Albert – that I’ve read and liked before.  Without further ado, here’s individual reviews of the stories:

“Resisting Desire” – Talia Hibbert – ★★★★

I haven’t read much of Ms. Hibbert’s work, but what I have I’ve loved!  This is a bit different from what I’ve come to expect from the anthology, as it’s actually set in Britain.  Nina runs a website dedicated to independent political reporting, and her latest article on Brexit has led to death threats.  Afraid to stay in her own home, and knowing the police will be of no help, she reaches out to her friend James for help.  Problem is, things are a bit awkward between the childhood friends after a kiss led to a make out session that blew both their minds.  Can they go back to being just friends, or is whatever between them worth risking that friendship to explore?  My favorite part of this story is that while Nina leans on James for support, she’s the one who figures out the solution to her problems.  Also, Ms. Hibbert doesn’t shy away from the realities of police racism and the double-standards for women in media, especially Black women.

“I can’t wait to watch you make history.”
“I can’t wait to make history together,” I countered.
“The couple that resists together, stays together.”

“Dropped Stitches” – Annabeth Albert – ★★★★

It’s a high school reunion of sorts in voting line when Bea literally runs into Kira, her high school crush.  After Bea finds out Kira just got dumped by her girlfriend, she invites her along to the watch party for the political candidate she’s been volunteering for.  Kira’s all competent and take-chargey, even when she gets roped into handing out signs for an event she’s just shown up to, and Bea is so kind and thoughtful, she volunteers to help Kira pick up her things from her ex’s place.  This was quite sweet, with lots of bonus knitting, and I also liked that they got into an argument, but both women were able to realize where they went wrong and apologize.  Overall, this is a sweet second chance story!

“I believe we’ve all got to do our best. For ourselves and for each other. And hope we’re doing right.”

“Parking Lot Cowboy” – Rebecca Crowley – ★★★★

Margot, newly moved to Kansas, spends her Saturday mornings volunteering as a women’s clinic escort with a taciturn (but seriously hot) cowboy.  When, after three months, he finally breaks his silence, Margot practically tells him her life story, including inviting him to dinner at the apartment she still shares with her ex-boyfriend.  Their relationship moved a bit too fast for me, but I liked that the general bent of the story was against keyboard warriors who are too busy arguing about how to fix everything wrong rather than actually trying to fix things.

“Sometimes we have to do dangerous things when we know they are the right things to do.”

“Dare to Dream” – Hudson Lin – ★★★★

Derek is a bit miffed at his fellow law student and homework partner, Diego, when he schedules their meeting for 10pm and then is half an hour late.  It turns out Derek has more things to be upset about – though Diego is a DACA recipient and his mother is an undocumented immigrant, he’s more interested in taking care of his American-born sister than protesting politically.  Diego’s frustrated that all Derek seems to see of him is that he’s a Dreamer, not his intelligence or legal skills.  Despite the fact that they’ve just met, their relationship felt like it reflected that, so it wasn’t too unbelievable.

“The Coffee Shop Around the Corner” – Shae Connor –  ★★★

Madeline, social media manager for a mayoral candidate, doesn’t realize that the cute coffee shop owner is the same person who’s been emailing her thoughtful questions about her candidate’s positions.  This was cute, but it felt like it concentrated more on the political stuff than the relationship – like, I now know a lot more about Atlanta’s infrastructure issues than I expected – so I didn’t really get a good sense of the two of them as a couple.  I think it’s really hard to write a believable relationship in a novella when the two characters have only just met (rather than relying on them being friends, old flames, etc) and it didn’t quite work for me.

“Love Your Face” – Ainsley Booth – ★★★★

Fred is a decidedly grumpy heroine, frustrated with life and the circumstances that are forcing her back to her hometown and family for Thanksgiving.  Ami, her best friend, is a much more positive person, so it’s a really good thing that she surprises Fred by following her home.  Fred’s family is set in their ways, refusing to even call her by her chosen nickname and incapable of understanding her job.  Ami’s her backup, sticking up for her when her brother and dad once again try to downplay her achievements, and it gives Fred the power to finally realize that she has the ability to chose her own family.  It was a sweetly funny take on chosen family and dealing with toxic relationships.

“My sponsor in prison said that second chances were gifts of grace. That wasting them was the ultimate insult to the universe[.]”

“Sacred Son” – Robin Covington – ★★★★

Ten years ago, Judah stomped all over Adam’s heart when he broke up with him before Adam left for college.  Now Adam’s back and working with a nonprofit that helps Native Americans with legal issues, and Judah has a case he hopes he’ll accept – regaining custody of his son.  This story was particularly heart-wrenching, given the trauma that Judah and his son faced.  It was also, I think, a nice example of allyship – Adam needs to learn to follow what Judah wants, not what he thinks would be best for him.

Overall, I thought the collection was excellent, and it was a well-timed palate cleanser given the election this week.  Very much recommended if you’re looking for some hopeful contemporary romance that doesn’t ignore the current political climate!

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