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Asian Romance Authors You Should Read Right Now
Episode 78 • 17th May 2024 • Reading Under the Covers: A Romance Novel Podcast • Under the Covers Book Blog
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Welcome to another episode of Reading Under the Covers - a Romance Novel Podcast! In this episode, we’re shining a spotlight on some of our favorite Asian romance authors bringing you heartwarming, steamy, and unforgettable love stories. Whether you're looking to diversify the books you read or just in need of some amazing book recs, you're in for a treat.

In This Episode:

  • A deep dive into our favorite books by 10 amazing Asian romance authors
  • Highlights of the books and unique writing styles

Additional Resources:

If you’re looking for more Asian romance authors to fall in love with, check out our blog posts for even more recommendations:

Book Mentioned:

Below are the books mentioned in this episode. Purchasing through these links helps support our podcast at no extra cost to you.

  1. How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang - https://rstyle.me/+kxHr5nRxs384BqQJ1PyvmA
  2. The Bride Test by Helen Hoang - https://rstyle.me/+jx8KQngAYRtlopxLqQWhEg
  3. Cherish Hard by Nalini Singh - https://rstyle.me/+Ra_MqZgG0hBQE9ba3CDq_A
  4. On the Surface by Kate Willoughby - https://rstyle.me/+d1GLX6BaTrGE5cN29ynURw
  5. Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin - https://rstyle.me/+B8aDdYWSasKRDdkC9HyLAA
  6. Bared to You by Sylvia Day - https://rstyle.me/+fGqtwKqYjifyRNSZNgFh8Q
  7. The Stand-In by Lily Chu - https://rstyle.me/+0astI2Olotp-9pFJ73RN1A
  8. Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto - https://rstyle.me/+EohlSnsNSzriXQxq7xjz9A
  9. Once Upon a Sunset by Tif Marcelo - https://rstyle.me/+Y6NRAmDkDWDpEEx6Jf-3jA
  10. Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean - https://rstyle.me/+kjqWekRbtvwMZmDVr0FmEg

These notes contain affiliate links. That means we receive a small commission at no cost to you from any purchases you make through these links.


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Transcripts

Francesca:

Welcome to Reading Under the Covers, a romance novel podcast.

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I'm Francesca and today I'm flying

solo again with recommendations

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episode and today I wanted to bring

you some Asian romance authors

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to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month.

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We do have some blog posts that I

would love for you guys to check

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out with a lot more recommendations.

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24 of our favorite Asian romance

authors, and we also have another

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one with 15 Asian romance authors

that you can find on Kindle Limited.

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We highly recommend that you go and

check out all of those authors, but

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I have picked out 10 that are my

favorites in today's episode that I

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would love to share with you guys.

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I'm including a couple that have

just a small thread of romance, but

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they're technically different genres.

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So I do have a kind of a cozy,

funny mystery, a women's fiction,

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and a young adult contemporary.

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But don't worry, they all have a thread

of romance in them some are new, some are

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a little bit older, and I can guarantee

you you're going to find some hidden

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gems here and some quite popular as well.

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So let's get into it.

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The first one that I am dying to

share with you guys is How to End

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the Love Story by Yulin Kuang.

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This one is brand new, just

recently came out, and it is

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a debut novel by this author.

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It is both an Asian author, as

well as an Asian main character.

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If you're a fan of Emily Henry,

I think that you'll definitely

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want to check this one out.

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This author has actually written

some of the screenplays for

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Emily Henry's adaptations.

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It was also recommended by friends

that I trust their opinion, and

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I was so happy that I picked

it up and I gave it a chance.

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I always love to find debut authors and

find new authors that I want to consume

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everything they write, and Yulin Kuang

is going to definitely be one of those.

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I picked up How to End a Love Story,

and I just did not want to put it down.

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It was such an addictive read.

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pretty much a book that you can

read in one sitting just because

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you have to know what happens next.

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I don't want to give too much

away from the plot of this book.

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However, I will tell you this.

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There was a tragic accident that

changed both of their lives forever.

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There is something that is intertwined

in both of their lives and it

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also makes them basically enemies.

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It's a reason for them definitely to never

be together, and at the time, there was

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no romantic relationship between them.

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They've never seen each other since then,

and they are thrown into this situation

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where they have to work together because

our heroine is a successful author, and

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her book is getting a screen adaptation.

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The hero is a screenplay writer,

and he gets hired to be on the

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writer's team for this adaptation.

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When they see each other at that

first meeting, it definitely

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brings up all of these old issues.

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Some of them really emotional

and for good reason.

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And the fact that there's an attraction,

that it's immediate and it only grows

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as they have to work together it's

something that will test the boundaries

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that they're willing to cross.

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Now, this book does deal with some

serious subjects, obviously, and I think

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that the author does those really well.

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There are some heavy things for

them to overcome, both internally,

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individually, and obviously in order

to be together as well but at the

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same time, this book was funny.

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It was light hearted it was sexy.

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And like I said, I just had to know

what happened next at all times.

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So I think she did an amazing job at

keeping me engaged and I think you will

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not regret giving this book a shot.

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The next book I know is a favorite for a

lot of people and it is Very well known,

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but it is one of my favorite books, and

definitely my favorite by this author,

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and that is The Bride Test by Helen Hoang.

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In this story we have a sort

of arranged marriage situation,

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and the hero is autistic.

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The heroine actually lives in Vietnam,

and she's basically brought to

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America to be the wife of our hero.

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And she does it basically to

better her life and better the

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life of her family back home.

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Everything that she finds in America

and in the situation and life that

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she's brought into is completely

different from the life that she has

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lived and she has known back in Vietnam.

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So there's a lot of personal things

that she has to overcome and we see

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her dealing with things from language

barriers, cultural differences, as well

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as life as an immigrant in America.

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And on the hero's side, because he is

autistic and he went through immense

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grief with the loss of his cousin

when he was younger, there's a lot

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that we get to understand through him

about his emotions and his struggles.

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And I find that both of these characters

were so compelling, they had so much

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depth and so much growth, and both

of them were perfect for each other

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because they helped each other grow.

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They both grow as individuals as well

as a couple, and they are definitely

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there to help each other along the way,

even when they're not necessarily happy

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about having to have someone with them.

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In this book you fall in love with the

hero in the same way our heroine does,

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and it's just such a smooth transition

into really peeling back those layers

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and caring for the other person.

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It is definitely a sweet and romantic

book, it's also very thought provoking,

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and definitely an emotional rollercoaster.

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But it's another story that I just didn't

want to put down, it is so addictive.

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I think the author did both of these

characters justice, it was so well done.

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The pacing, the chemistry, the depth

of the characters, I feel the Bride

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Test is just magical, and I think that

if you haven't read it, even if you've

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read other Helen Hong's books, you

definitely need to give this one a try.

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The next author that I want

to recommend is Nalini Singh.

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And while we talk about Nalini

Singh so much because we love, love,

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love her writing, I wanted to pick

something that was a little bit

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different to recommend here today.

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So obviously you already know that you

should be picking up the Psy Changeling

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series if you like paranormal romance,

or the Guildhunter series if you like

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more urban fantasy with some romance.

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But I wanted to highlight some of her

contemporary romances, and actually,

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I didn't go for my absolute favorite,

which is Rock Hard, and it's the

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second book in the Rock Kiss series.

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But I wanted to talk about something

a little bit different, only

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because Rock Hard is a workplace

romance, and the hero is the boss.

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So I wanted to do something different

and I ended up deciding to talk to

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you guys about Cherish Hard, which is

the first book in a spin off of the

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Rock Kiss series, but actually takes

place before the events in that series.

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So it is set back in time a little bit.

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And the hero of this story is the brother

of my favorite hero from rock hard.

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Now while Gabriel Bishop, which is the

hero of Rock Hard, is a famous rugby

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player and successful entrepreneur,

his brother is actually in landscape

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and he owns his own landscape business.

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And we all know that I love a blue

collar hero, so if you love blue

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collar romances, then this is going

to be one that you don't want to miss.

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It is also a second chance at love

story because the hero had an instant

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crush on the heroine when he was 16 and

he saw her at a party that he snuck in

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at, and then he never saw her again.

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Now, as a grown adult and successful

business owner, he gets a contract

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to do the landscaping at a school,

and she happens to be working there.

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One of the things I loved about this

story is the fact that this is about

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such real characters, real people, and it

just feels like a very relatable romance.

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While it's not a cookie cutter

relationship, definitely the growth of the

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relationship between these two characters

felt very organic and very believable.

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I also always loved the trope where

the hero's younger than the heroine,

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so that was definitely a plus for me.

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And I feel like at times when that

dynamic is in place in some stories, it

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is overlooked or glossed over, while in

this book it's actually really addressed

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head on, and what I loved about it is the

fact that our hero is so confident, he

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just blasts right through any objections

that have anything to do with his age.

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But of course, we also

have a very strong heroine.

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Nalini always writes really

great heroines as well.

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And in this instance, the heroine has also

had to overcome a lot herself, between

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family acceptance, body image, and just

generally also following her own path.

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Now you know that Nalini's gonna

deliver a swoony love story, so

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definitely pick this one up if you're

looking for something that's just

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gonna put a smile on your face.

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It's going to be sexy.

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It's gonna be steamy.

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Another author that I have enjoyed

a lot and I often don't see

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talked about is Kate Willoughby.

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And I'm going to recommend the first

book in her San Diego Barracuda

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series, it's On the Surface,

and this is a hockey romance.

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If you're a fan of hockey sports

romances, I think you definitely

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need to add this series to your

TBR if you haven't read it yet.

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And this book is so sweet in a way, and

it's also one that is pretty steamy.

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The romance also goes really fast.

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We have our hero who is obviously a

hockey player, but he's a little bit

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older and he gets traded to the San

Diego Barracudas after he has a bit

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of a PR nightmare after he throws

a water bottle to an abusive fan.

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He has to lay low.

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Now he's with a new team.

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He's had a lot that has

happened in his life.

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So he's still trying to.

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come to grips with that,

his new reality, and kind of

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emotionally deal with all of that.

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And the heroine is a pediatric

nurse and they meet because he's

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obviously trying to repair his image.

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So he's doing a signing for fans and

she gets in line to get an autograph

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from him because she wants to bring that

to a doctor that she has a crush on.

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A fan in line gets a little pushy towards

her, and he happens to come to her rescue,

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and is immediately smitten with her.

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Now she wants really nothing to do with

hockey, she's not that interested, but

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because of the press coverage that him

coming to her rescue gets, he will do a

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hospital charity event with her and he is

so determined to bring her into his world.

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The chemistry between them is amazing.

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There's great banter.

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There's plenty of hockey also,

so some hockey romances don't

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necessarily delve into the sport

too much, but I feel that you do get

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quite a bit of it with the series.

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You can tell when an author is really

a fan of this sport or not, and Kate

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definitely is one from her writing.

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So if what you're looking is sports

hockey romances, then definitely

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add this whole series to your list.

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And if you're more into college

hockey romances, she also wrote

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a story for the Moo U series,

which is all different authors.

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Her story in that series is called

Darkroom and that is a college

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hockey romance that I also recommend.

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The next one is also one that I

absolutely loved and I just have to

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recommend everything from this author

because I have really enjoyed her

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books and I'm going to recommend Hana

Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin.

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I hope I'm not totally butchering the

author's name but I also really loved

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So Honorable Mention to Ayesha at Last

Which is a Muslim Pride and Prejudice

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retelling, but with Hana Khan Carries

On, I think I liked it just a little

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bit more, and it's because it does

have that bit of enemies to lovers.

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The heroine is 24.

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She works at her family's restaurant

part time when needed and she also

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is the host of her own podcast

and works at a radio station.

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Her parents emigrated from

India before she was born.

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They've been running a

halal restaurant for years

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They have not really kept up with the

times in terms of advertising and things

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like that So definitely their business

is suffering and to make matters worse,

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there's a new Halal Burger restaurant

that's going to be opening across

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the street in their neighborhood,

which is going to take a lot of the

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business probably away from them.

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They are more up to date with the

advertising and the times, and when Hana

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meets the son and father that are opening

this restaurant, she immediately dislikes

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them on the basis of basically they're

going to ruin her family's business.

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At the same time that all of this is

happening, like I said, she's running

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her own podcast, and she has had one very

loyal subscriber whom she talks to once in

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a while as well, and there is definitely

a great relationship that has developed

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between her and her loyal listener.

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And as much as she's been using her voice,

I think throughout this story there is

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so much growth in her learning that her

voice is powerful and that she can use it.

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While this story also feels very

motivational and inspirational,

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it does deal with a lot of very

serious issues and more somber issues

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like discrimination and racism.

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There's a whole amazing

cast of side characters that

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make this story even better.

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And from what I have heard, I think this

is also being developed into a film,

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which I would be so, so excited to see,

because I think that this would be both

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this and her previous Ayesha at last

would be amazing stories to see on screen.

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So if you still haven't picked up this

book, definitely go ahead and pick it up.

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I think that this is going to

be developed for Amazon Studios,

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so also watch out for that.

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The next one I'm going to give

you is sort of my classic of

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the bunch, and it's Sylvia Day.

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I think that if you have not

read Sylvia Day before, you

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need to put her on your TBR.

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She has amazing stories.

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Any genre that you want to

read, she has a book for you.

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She's done historical romance.

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She's done urban fantasy.

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I think that she writes as S.

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J.

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Day.

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Contemporary romance, paranormal romance.

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And the one that I'm going to

recommend for you guys today is

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Erotic Romance, which is Bared to you.

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It's the first in the Crossfire series.

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It is her most successful series, and

if you thought you wanted to read Fifty

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Shades of Grey at any point, or if you

tried reading it and thought that it

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wasn't that good, pick this one up.

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Is it similar to Fifty Shades?

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Yes.

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Is it better writing and better story?

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Also yes.

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It is a billionaire, kinky,

BDSM type of romance.

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But the characters, the scenes, and

everything just flowed perfectly and

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it is a series where you'll follow

the characters through multiple

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books so you're not gonna get an

HEA at the end of the first one.

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Plus if you are a fan of Erotic

romance, Sylvia Day can write

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some amazing steamy scenes.

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On a side note, I did hear that this

book was actually inspired by one of her

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historical romances, Seven Years to Sin.

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So it's sort of the contemporary version

of that story, which I have not read yet.

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It's on my TBR and hopefully

I'll actually be picking it

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up this year, because I am

excited to see the similarities.

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But if you haven't picked it up and

you want to pick up both, you'll be

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able to compare them for yourself.

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The next one that I'm excited to share

with you is The Stand In by Lily Chu.

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I had read this when it was first

released as an Audible original,

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and it was such a fun story.

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It is a celebrity romance.

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The heroine is not a celebrity, but she

is basically a lookalike to a celebrity.

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And that is noticed by said actress, and

she gets proposition to basically stand

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in for this actress and be accompanied

through all these Hollywood events by

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one of the hottest actors, and a man

that she finds completely infuriating.

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She agrees to do it because she needs

the money to get her mom into a nursing

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home, and she had just recently lost her

job as well, so this comes as the perfect

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opportunity to achieve those goals.

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And while she doesn't know at first

why this actress wants this, she

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definitely takes her up on it because

it is a godsend for her at the moment.

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The hero of the story is obviously this

actor that has to escort her around all

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these events and whom she thinks is in

a relationship with the actual actress.

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So if you're into enemies to lovers,

celebrity romance, definitely

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this is a fun take on it and one

that is a lot of fun to read.

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And now for the last three books

that I have on this list are the ones

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that have a side story of romance

but they're not romance books per se.

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So the first one is kind of a cozy,

mystery, chic lit type of story but

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it does have a romance thread and

it's Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q.

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Sutanto.

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And this book was the most fun

time that I had reading a book.

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It is over the top, but it's so funny,

and if this is ever made into a movie,

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I'll be the first one there to watch it.

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The heroine of the story goes on

a blind date at the beginning of

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the story, and her blind date is,

let's say, not the most appropriate

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person, tries to make a pass at her.

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The situation gets a little dicey, and

there's an accident, she kills him.

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And her first reaction is to call her

aunties, and they decide that they

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have to dispose of the body so that she

doesn't get in trouble for killing him.

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So this story is basically about

her aunties helping her hide

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this body or dispose of this body

while no one is supposed to know

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that she has actually killed him.

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It is the most fun shenanigans that you're

going to read about and one that you will

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definitely want to put on your TBRs for

the summer if you have not read it yet.

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There is a second chance romance that

does happen throughout the story as

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she reconnects with an old flame as

she's trying to get rid of this body

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and keep him from finding out that

this is something that's happening.

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Lots of fun.

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Highly recommend.

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The next one is a women's fiction

novel with a thread of romance

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and one that I absolutely Adored.

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It is a great travel story as well.

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So it's perfect for summer It's

called Once Upon a Sunset by Tif

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Marcelo And I have read other books

by Tif Marcelo that I have enjoyed.

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Some are also YA Contemporary so

I definitely think that she has

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a wide variety of stories that

you can dive into But this one I

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specifically wanted to recommend

because it is such a great story.

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The heroine is a successful OB

GYN she has a lot of grief from

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having lost her grandmother.

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Her mom moves in with her.

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There's a breakup with her long term

boyfriend and then something happens

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during work at the hospital, which forces

her to basically take a sabbatical.

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And while she's home with her

mom, her mom finds a box of

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letters from their grandfather to

the grandmother from the:

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And what they discover is that there

is a whole other family back in the

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Philippines that they knew nothing about.

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And they both decide to go on this journey

to the Philippines to meet this family,

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reconnect with some of their roots.

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Of course, there's going to be a romance

once she gets to the Philippines,

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but it is more of that journey the

self discovery of her culture and her

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roots and the connection to her own

grandfather and all of this that she

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didn't know anything about that existed.

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People.

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places, history of things that her

grandfather had even gone through.

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So it's a beautiful story of just

reconnecting with your roots, obviously

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amazing travel story as well, and having

a little side romance is always a plus.

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And last I have a young adult

contemporary that has a small

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thread of romance as well, and it's

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean.

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I absolutely love this story.

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I also read the second book, but I

cannot recommend this one enough.

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It was such a fun, addictive read.

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So this story is about a

heroine who's Japanese American.

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She didn't know who her father was and

she's always felt a bit out of place,

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until she discovers that her father

is actually the crown prince of Japan.

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And she is just immediately

thrust into this world of royalty.

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She travels to Japan.

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:

So again, this is an amazing story

with travel and cultural experiences

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:

and reconnecting with roots.

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:

Which is a great story of self

discovery for our heroine, but

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obviously also as royalty she's

assigned a bodyguard and that

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develops into a great romance as well.

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He's more of the broody type, a

little bit grumpy, but she's able

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to connect with other people, some

also in the royalty, having to

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determine what is her new identity.

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Which really just makes this a story

super light hearted, really fun, there's

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lots of humor in it as well, a little

bit of glitz and glamour too, but also

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very down to earth, and a forbidden

romance that I absolutely loved.

344

:

So those are all the books

that I have for you guys today.

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:

Those are my absolute favorites.

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:

Like I said before, I shared a lot

more on the blog, so you can find

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:

both blog posts that I talked about

before for the Asian Romance Author

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:

Recommendations and also the Asian

Romance Authors on Kindle Unlimited, and

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just go dive into all of the stories.

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:

There's some amazing reading up ahead

and I have still a ton on my TBR that

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I can't wait to dive into this year.

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:

So hopefully I'll have a lot more

to bring you guys in the future.

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:

I would love to know if you guys have

read any of the ones I mentioned.

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:

Who are your favorites?

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:

I would love to discover new authors

as well and add them to my TBR.

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:

As always, don't forget to

follow us on the blog at Under

357

:

the covers book blog.com.

358

:

Make sure you are signed

up for our newsletter.

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:

It comes to your inbox, every single

Sunday, and you'll get all the latest

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:

news of what we've posted, books we've

reviewed, and all our recommendations.

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:

You can follow us on YouTube

at Under the Covers Book Blog,

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:

On Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and

Twitter, known as X now, as UTC Book Blog.

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:

And don't forget to learn more

about our community, where you

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:

can join and have access to our

release calendar, trope database.

365

:

We try and update that

as often as possible.

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:

There's also fun freebies

every single month

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:

and more activities to come.

368

:

Thank you so much for listening guys,

and we'll see you in the next one.

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Bye.

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