Something I've Been Wanting to Say

I didn't always read closed door romance.

For a while, I read whatever was trending, whatever was all over BookTok, whatever my algorithm served me. And honestly, a lot of it was good. But somewhere along the way I started to notice that certain books were leaving me feeling a bit off. Not in a dramatic way. Just a quiet sense that what I was reading wasn't quite lining up with who I was trying to be, or what I actually wanted to spend my time in.

At some point I realised I wanted two things: books that kept the bedroom door closed, and books that didn't ask me to check my faith at the cover.

Simple enough, right? Except finding them felt harder than it should have been. The algorithm wasn't built for this. The mainstream book communities weren't really talking about it. And when I did find recommendations, they were scattered. A comment here, a Goodreads shelf there, no real home for readers like me who just wanted a good love story without having to brace themselves every few chapters.

So I started finding them myself.

I'm going to share a book a day for the next year. 365 closed door and low steam romance recommendations, all books I've personally read and rated. Some are Christian romance, some are simply clean contemporary, but all of them are the kind of stories you can sink into without worrying about where they're going.

I'll be sharing my honest rating and a short review with each one. And I want to be upfront about something: not every book I share will be a five star read for me. A rating is just one reader's experience. My three star might be your five star, and I'd rather put a book in front of you and let you decide than gatekeep a recommendation because it wasn't perfect for me.

If you've ever felt like you're searching for your people in the romance reading space, readers who love a slow burn and a swoony HEA but don't need the spice to get there, I hope this becomes a little corner of the internet that feels like home.

I'll also be sending out a weekly newsletter every Wednesday summing up that week's recommendations, so if you can't visit the blog every day, make sure you're subscribed so nothing slips past you. And if you're a TikTok or Instagram person, we're coming there soon too.