Olivia Waite

Seattle

Author and Columnist at The New York Times

Award-winning romance and sff author, New York Times romance fiction columnist. Repped by @millercallihan. Half agony, half hope, bisexual. She/her.

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Articles

New Romance Books

4 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Olivia Waite

Our critic on the month's best new releases. We all sometimes have to put up shields between ourselves and the rest of the world. But safety leaves us solitary - we need love and understanding, and both those things require us to be open and vulnerable. The characters in this month's romances are unusually closed-off, leading to uncommonly glorious endings when they finally drop those shields.
MURDER BY MEMORY by Olivia Waite Read by Blair Baker | Audiobook Review | AudioFile Magazine

1 month ago | audiofilemagazine.com | Olivia Waite

Blair Baker narrates this sci-fi mystery. Dorothy Gentleman is a detective aboard the HMS FAIRWEATHER, an interstellar passenger ship--spaceship, that is. To her surprise, she wakes up in an unfamiliar body just as a murder victim is found, a situation that leads to several more terrible developments. Baker's depiction of Dorothy's initial confusion over her predicament quickly gives way to confidence and competence as she finds her investigative footing.
Science Fiction, Locked Room Mysteries, and the Joy of Literary Games

1 month ago | crimereads.com | Olivia Waite

Let me be very obvious at the start and say: a murder victim can’t tell you who the killer is. Locked-room mysteries are puzzling because the only person you’re sure was in the room is the one person you can’t ask for testimony. That’s also what makes locked-room plots such challenging things to read or write — a baffling impossibility turns out to be an illusion with a material explanation.
ðŸŽ§ Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

1 month ago | booksofmyheart.net | Olivia Waite

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Novella Review: Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

1 month ago | bibliosanctum.com | Olivia Waite

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own. Murder by Memory by Olivia WaiteMogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars Genre: Science Fiction, MysterySeries: Book 1 of Dorothy GentlemanPublisher: Tordotcom (March 18, 2025)Length: 325 pagesAuthor Information: Website | TwitterI’d never read Olivia Waite before, but apparently she’s known for her romance writing.
Queer Historical Romance Novels: A Starter Pack

1 month ago | news.nestia.com | Olivia Waite

Queer Historical Romance Novels: A Starter Pack Our columnist recommends books featuring centuries of L.G.B.T.Q. love stories that defy tragedy, laugh in the face of shame and lean into unabashed joy. By Olivia Waite Feb. 26, 2025 Share full article 8 Writing a list of queer historical romances feels half like writing a manifesto and half like writing a eulogy. Here are the love stories we created; here are our voices and hopes and desires, when we were still allowed to openly name them.
Spicy, Sparkling New Romance Novels

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Olivia Waite

Novels have always reflected technology. How we write fiction changed after the invention of photography, radio, film and email. This month we look at two romance novels that make a strong case for what we might call the Instagram or TikTok voice, as well as a historical that reminds us that the past is not as different a country as we might wish.
Classic Romance Novels: A Starter Pack

2 months ago | news.nestia.com | Olivia Waite

Classic Romance Novels: A Starter Pack These vintage books introduce the archetypes, settings and lavishly bonkers sensibility that are the hallmarks of great romance. By Olivia Waite Feb. 5, 2025 Every now and again some starry-eyed optimist tries to craft an all-time best-of romance canon, and the gods laugh and make popcorn for the ensuing discourse fiasco.
Review: Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

2 months ago | fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com | Olivia Waite

Murder by MemoryOFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Olivia Waite writes queer science fiction, fantasy, historical romance, and essays. She is the romance fiction columnist for the New York Times Book Review. FORMAT/INFO: Murder by Memory will be published by Tordotcom on March 18th, 2025. It is 112 pages long. It is available in ebook, hardcover, and audiobook formats. OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: When Dorothy Gentleman, ship's detective, wakes up in a body that isn't hers, she's more than a little annoyed.
Three Spicy New Romance Books

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Olivia Waite

We've seen since the Regency how romance plots generate tension from the friction between characters' emotions and their family's expectations. Many contemporary romances are modern skins wrapped around this structure, like new upholstery on an heirloom chair. Please believe me when I tell you to breeze right past the cover of A BLOOMY HEAD (High Flying Poultry Press, ebook, $4.99), because that's not what's important here.