Kiss My Giraffe

Kiss My Giraffe is one of Erin Nicholas’s contemporary romance novels in her unusual animal themed romance series, working in the territory she has built her career around. Nicholas writes the kind of contemporary romance that combines warm small town settings, family driven plots, and the kind of distinctive character work that her readers return to her for. Her catalogue is large and runs across multiple connected series and standalones in the wider contemporary romance market.

The kiss my giraffe premise hints at the kind of unusual animal themed romance setup that Nicholas has used in some of her work. A heroine whose work or interests involve giraffes in some specific capacity, with the central romance developing around the unusual animal context that the title suggests. Nicholas has explored various unusual professional and personal contexts for her romances, including small town life, animal rescue work, marine biology, and other distinctive settings that give her novels their particular flavor beyond the standard contemporary romance conventions.

Nicholas writes contemporary romance with the kind of warmth and humor that her readers return to her for. Her supporting casts often steal scenes, and the family or community dynamics in her novels add weight to the central romance beyond just the chemistry between two people. Her sex scenes are warm without being scorching, with intimate moments that serve the relationship rather than dominate the page count, and her endings tend to feel earned because she has done the work of building the emotional case.

What distinguishes Nicholas from a lot of her peers is the willingness to use unusual settings and unusual character professions in ways that give her novels their distinctive identity. Her catalogue includes connected series set in particular small towns, particular professional contexts, and particular extended family groups, with each connected world providing the kind of recurring cast that her readers love returning to.

For readers who enjoy small town contemporary romance from authors like Lori Wilde, Robyn Carr, Susan Wiggs, or Sherryl Woods, Erin Nicholas is operating in adjacent territory but with her own particular voice. Her catalogue is large enough that picking a starting point can feel daunting, but most of her standalones can be read in any order, and the connected series allow new readers to start anywhere without losing too much context. Kiss My Giraffe is a comfortable, well crafted entry into her catalogue and a fair sample of what she does. For new readers looking for contemporary romance with unusual settings and warm humor, this is a fine place to start.