Francesca:
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Welcome to Reading Under the Covers, a romance novel podcast
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where we chat, fangirl, and maybe
even swoon over our latest reads.
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I'm Francesca from Under the Covers
book blog, and today we're diving into
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this week's new releases from February
th of:
2025
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Can we believe that it's already
February, but also at the same time It
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seems that January was 350 years long.
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Please tell me I'm not the only one
feeling like this but before we get
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started with this week's new releases
and books that we think should be on
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your radar, either because we've already
read them and recommend them Or because
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we are so anticipating to read them.
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I wanted to remind you that if
you're looking for your next bookish
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obsession and if you want to keep
up to date with all of the books
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that are coming out all the time
because it can be so overwhelming.
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Don't forget that you can have
access to our book release
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database, which is now called the
book vault over on our sub stack.
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It is a paid sub stack members feature,
and you will have access to over 150
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new books that are releasing every
single month, covering everything from
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all subgenres of romance historicals,
contemporaries, paranormal, fantasy,
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And, of course, even more with urban
fantasies, fantasies, sci fi, thrillers,
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cozy mysteries, and all the things.
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There are currently already
3, 000 books in the database
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and constantly adding more.
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It's not just categorized by new releases.
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We also have them categorized by
genre and by tags, meaning we tag
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them with the tropes and the character
types and settings so that you can
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easily find the books that you're
looking for in just a few clicks
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in base of whatever mood you're in.
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So, if you're tired of scrambling to
keep up with all the new books and browse
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through endless lists to find a book
that fits your mood, then the Book Vault
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is going to be a must have feature And
we definitely have you covered there.
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I will leave a link where you can access
that on our sub stack, but you can
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just go to underthecoverscommunity.Com
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and the book vault is linked
on the menu at the top.
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But without any more delays, I know
you're here because you want to know
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what's hitting the shelves this week
that you should add to your TBR.
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And let me tell you, this week is
a doozy with some amazing books
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by some heavy hitter authors.
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So if you're ready,
let's dive right into it.
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I'm going to start off strong and
talk about Deep End by Ali Hazelwood.
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This is a standalone romance and this
time we're trading the STEM geniuses and
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we're going for elite college athletes.
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This is a new adult romance.
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And it's all about Scarlett, who
is a Stanford platform diver whose
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whole world revolves around med
school, rehab from a brutal injury,
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and absolutely zero distractions.
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She is basically the definition of
a hyper focused individual until she
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crosses paths with Lucas, who is the
swim team captain, and he's the golden
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boy of the aquatics world, basically.
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Scarlet and Lucas don't exactly run
in the same circles, but then a well
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kept secret slips out and suddenly
they have a lot more in common
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than either of them ever expected.
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So they strike up this deal, which is
basically a no strings relationship,
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completely casual and totally unemotional.
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Just an arrangement or so were
those famous last words, right?
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But the Olympics are looming
and the pressure is mounting
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so their feelings get harder to
ignore with all of that going on.
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And Scarlet starts to realize that she's
threading into dangerous waters and
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her heart might be getting involved.
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So she has some decisions to make.
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Now, if you like characters that try
way too hard to convince themselves that
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they're just in a physical relationship,
this one is going to be for you.
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Let's be honest with
Ali Hazelwood's writing.
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We already know it's going to have all
the nerdy, swoony goodness and packed with
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lots of emotional angst in the best way.
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Now I have heard this book
marketed as a BDSM romance.
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So let me clear the air here.
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Don't go into it expecting a BDSM romance.
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That's not what's happening here.
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That's not the vibe you're
going to get in this book.
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So just go into it expecting
a spicy sports college romance
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and you'll be totally fine.
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The next book, wait for it,
it's Bonded in Death by J.
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D.
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Robb.
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This is book 60, six, zero,
in the In Death series by J.
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D.
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Robb.
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And if you have not been reading
this series, you might be wondering,
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how is it possible that there
are 60 books in this series?
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60.
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Somehow, let me tell you that I am
here to be the testament that JD Robb
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still finds a way to keep things fresh,
twisty, and oh so good, no matter how
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many books she's put out in the series.
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So Bonded in Death takes us deep
into Eve Dallas's latest case, which
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starts with what seems like a random
murder and Elderly man named Giovanni
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Rossi is gunned down in New York
shortly after arriving from Rome.
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Only it's not random at all.
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It turns out that decades ago, Rossi
was part of the 12 which was a
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covert organization that operated
during the urban wars of the:
2020
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And now someone is hunting down
its former members one by one.
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So things take a personal turn when
Eve realizes that Somerset, Rourke's
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sarcastic but fiercely loyal right
hand man, was also part of the Twelve.
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This killer has a list and
Somerset's name is still on it.
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Now, Eve has to piece together long
buried secrets and chase down this
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ghost from the past to stop the
murders before they get closer to home.
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This one's got everything that you
would want from the In Death series.
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It's got high stakes mystery,
lots of pulse pounding action.
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It's And of course, Rourke
probably being disgustingly rich
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in some new and exciting way.
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But you know, I'm most excited about
seeing Somerset in the spotlight.
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If you've been reading this series,
you will probably feel the same.
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He's been in the background for so
long and now we're finally getting a
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deep dive into his past so I know that
this is going to be just a must read.
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If you haven't started reading the in
death series yet, we are running the
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in death read along again this year.
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You can find out more about
it by going to mysterylandia.
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com.
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I'm going to leave a link to a
post where we talk about it here
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in the show notes of this episode.
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I highly encourage you guys to join
us for the in death read along.
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It's very laid back, very simple.
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Basically all you have to do is read
one book in the in death series every
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single month, no matter where you start.
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If you haven't started the
series, you can start at book one.
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If you've started the series, but you
stop somewhere along the way, you can
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pick it back up and just read one book a
month starting from wherever you left off.
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The purpose of the In Death Read Along is
to help you tackle such a large, massive
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series by doing it in bite sized chunks.
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That way you'll eventually get caught
up and you will have something to look
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forward to reading every single month
because you'll have the in death goodness
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to be one of your highlights of the month.
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So I hope you join us.
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And again, I'm going to leave the
link with all of the details for
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that in the show notes down below.
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The next book is a historical
romance and it's Never Gamble
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Your Heart by Lindsay Lovise.
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This is book two in the Secret
Society of Governess Spies series.
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So this is a historical romance
with a little bit of espionage
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and plenty of simmering tension.
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This is actually one that I've already
read and can highly recommend to you guys.
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I absolutely loved it.
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In this one, we have Frankie
Turner, our heroine, who is broke.
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She's brilliant.
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She's a mathematician
and she's on a mission.
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Now, her younger sister has
gone missing and Frankie is
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determined to track her down.
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The only clue that she has is that
there's a string of suspicious
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marriages between young women and some
truly terrible men, and they're all
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linked to an exclusive gambling club.
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called Rockfort's.
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Jasper our hero is the charming owner
of said gambling den and inconveniently
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the one man that is standing in her way.
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He doesn't really trust Frankie's
sudden interest in his business, and
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she definitely doesn't trust him either.
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But when she realizes that Jasper just
became guardian to a sulky teenage girl in
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need of a governess, she sees her opening
and she takes the job teaching the kid
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to count cards and trying unsuccessfully
to stay out of Jasper's orbit.
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So Jasper knows that Frankie's
hiding something and when he finally
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learns what she's really after,
he does something unexpected.
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He actually offers to help her.
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Suddenly, they're fake engaged,
they're tangled up in this dangerous
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scheme, and way too aware of all that
tension that is crackling between them.
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I think if you love smart, independent
heroines, maybe some morally grey
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Rakes who secretly are soft and
adorable, and some forced proximity
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with a side of crime solving.
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I think you're definitely
going to love this one.
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If you're a fan of historical romance,
I do think that you need to check
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this one out and add it to your TBR.
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I absolutely loved it and I can't
wait to read more from this author.
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If you actually want to catch a
small glimpse of this heroine,
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the author Lindsay Lovise shared
a letter to Santa Written from
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the point of view of our heroine.
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So I'm gonna leave that linked down
below as well It was so much fun.
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And I think that after you read the book,
you'll definitely really enjoy listening
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to that and if you haven't read it, it
might just be the thing that entices
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you to come and meet Frankie as well.
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So be sure to check that out.
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The next book that I have is
Smooth Sailing by Kristen Ashley.
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And this one is book three
in the Wild West MC series.
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So Kristen Ashley's bikers,
I mean, need I say more?
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So, Smooth Sailing follows Hugger,
who is a legacy member of the Chaos
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MC, who never really quite fit in.
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He patched in, he does the work, but
he's always had one foot out the
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door, like he's waiting for something
or someone to prove that he belongs.
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Then he meets Diana, who is a woman
that just gives and gives, often
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at her own expense, and she sees
the good in people, so she's got no
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intention of letting Hugger disappear
into the background of his own life.
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But here's the thing, Hugger doesn't
believe that he deserves more.
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He's convinced that bad blood runs
through his veins, that he's destined to
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be half in half out forever, so Diana,
along with his chaos brothers, have some
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serious work to do to show him otherwise.
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If you love gritty, emotional MC
romance with deep character journeys,
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found family and heroines who refuse
to let their men self destruct, then
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I think this one is going to hit hard.
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If you're a fan of Kristen
Ashley, you already know that.
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And you're probably already
hitting that buy button.
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And the last book that I have
for you guys is A Cozy Mystery
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and this is actually a debut.
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I added it to my TBR immediately
when I was adding it to our book
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release calendar or the book
vault because it sounded so fun.
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This one is RSVP for Murder by C.
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J.
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Lee.
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It had me at Bridget Jones meets
Real Housewives meets The Godfather.
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I mean, how can you pass that up?
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So RSVP for Murder follows Viv Vogel, who
is a wedding planner who just moved back
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to her hometown to launch her business.
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She's still dodging her ex, juggling
her chaotic clients and trying not to
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lose her mind when the Giovanni family
hires her for an extravagant wedding.
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Then a reality show gets involved,
then the threats start rolling
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in, and then someone turns up
dead at the rehearsal dinner.
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So now Viv is knee deep in over
the top drama, some mob family
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secrets, and a murder investigation
that might just ruin her career.
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So if you love snarky heroines and small
town shenanigans with a little bit of
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crime solving but cozy rom com vibes,
then this one sounds like an absolute
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blast and I can't wait to read it.
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This is also Kindle Unlimited so
no excuse to not pick that up.
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And there you have it.
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Those are the five books that I think
you should be looking out for this week.
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I hope you find something on this
list that catches your interest.
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Let me know if you do pick them
up and what you think of them
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or if you've read any of these.
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And also let me know what new releases
this week you're most excited to pick
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up or you've already added to your TBR.
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As always, don't forget that you
can find more recommendations
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at underthecoversbookblog.Com
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and our sister mystery site,
which is mysterylandia.Com.
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Be sure to subscribe to our free
substack so you don't miss any of the
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content that we post across all of our
platforms, as well as some exclusive sub
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stack content we have lots of amazing
things planned for sub stack as so
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be sure that you subscribe over there.
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I will leave all of those links and
the show notes down below that's
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all I have for you guys this week.
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I hope you find an amazing book to read
and I will see you guys in the next one.
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Bye.