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I read quite a few October, 2025.
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Romance book releases so far and
something magical actually happened.
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A lot of these books felt like the
romances that I fell in love with back
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in the 2010s, that nostalgic can't
put it down, energy that made me a
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romance reader in the first place.
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A lot of these books have that.
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So out of all of those, only five made
my actually recommend lists, and I'm
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sharing those here with you today.
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The thing is the range is a wild.
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So we're gonna go from primal plane in the
woods to regency ballrooms, from vigilant
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to justice to vampire therapy, spice
levels from zero to absolutely unhinged.
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So whether you want your romance
clean enough for your book club, or
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spicy enough to require a cold shower,
I've got you covered here today.
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So let's get into it.
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The first book is Willing
Pray by Ali Oleander.
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This is Erotic Romance
and came out October 7th.
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So we're gonna start strong with one
of the Spiciest books on this list.
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This definitely gave me peak
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2010
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So think like 50 shades of
gray era, but make it primal.
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Play in the actual woods.
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So here's the setup for the book.
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Claire is a divorced PE teacher
drowning in student loans, and
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Shane is a corporate lawyer who
wants to explore his primal desires.
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The deal here is a contract
30 days as his prey in the.
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For $30,000.
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Now, I have read Primal Play before,
way back in the day, but also
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recently in books like Caught Up
by Davida Allen, where there was
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a chase scene through an arcade.
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But this is the most literal, primal
playbook that I have ever encountered.
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He is literally hunting her
through the forest for 30 days.
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That is.
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The entire premise of this book.
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Now, what made this one work for
me is that the consent, first of
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all is crystal clear from page one.
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Claire has done this before.
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She's not some innocent
virgin that's discovering.
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She actually likes this thing.
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She's in it sure for the money, and
also because she genuinely enjoys it.
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So that removed any ache factor and
any problems with consent for me.
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But here's what it gets actually, good.
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Shane has tried this with other
women and it's never worked.
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But the second he's in the woods
with Claire, he realizes that she
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is what he's been searching for.
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And there's even this moment later
in the book where he's researching.
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Other kinks to try to figure
out what other things he's into.
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He's completely uninterested, but the
second that he imagines doing those
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things with her, he wants everything.
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So he's actually not just
kinky, but he's kinky for her.
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The emotional realization hits him
harder than the physical attraction.
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There's a scene with his brother
where Shane is actually more shaken
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about catching feelings than the fact
that he's been hunting women through
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the woods, and his brother is just
still shocked about the hunting.
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But I really loved how Shane
is actually terrified of love.
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Spice wise, this is a solid
three to four out of five.
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The first half is intensely physical.
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The second half brings more of the
emotions in the plot, and I think the
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balance could have been slightly better,
but I think it definitely worked.
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Now, this is an erratic romance.
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It's not just smut.
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So there is a real story here.
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Now, who should skip this book?
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If you're not into primal
play, that is not your thing,
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then this book is not for you.
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There are no C nnc vibes.
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Everything is consensual, but he is
chasing her, catching her, and using her.
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She loves every second of it, but if that
premise makes you a little uncomfortable,
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then it's best to move along.
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But if you've been craving that
nostalgic erotic romance energy with
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the taboo kink, that is done right,
this is for sure an October must read.
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The next book is Rage by Nia.
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This is a dark Romance.
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It also came out October 3rd, and
it's a vigilante story, but with
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a twist, and it was everything
that I didn't even know I needed.
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So the setup here is that Dominic's
sister, Dominic, being the hero,
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was assaulted four months ago.
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The cops closed the case.
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Private detectives gave up,
so he hires the Wildcats.
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Now the Wildcats are a group of five
vigilante women who maim, torture
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and kill on behalf of their clients.
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So our heroine Samara comes
in code named Crimson Tiger.
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She is the fighter of the group.
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No regrets and no guilt.
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She vows to find his sister's attackers,
but Dominic wants to work together.
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As you can expect, she
prefers to work alone.
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So this book is actually
marketed as female rage.
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And yes, you absolutely get to live
vicariously through Samara's violence,
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which I loved, but I was surprised me
is also how emotionally deep it goes.
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Samara is a certified badass, no
question, but she's also deeply insecure
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in ways that made her so real to me.
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And Dominic.
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Now he is not your
typical alpha billionaire.
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He's an alpha, and yes, he's a
billionaire, and yes, he wants to protect
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her, but he is also in awe of her.
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He doesn't try to dim her flames.
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He goes toe to toe with her.
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He matches her energy, but he also
really lets her shine when it comes
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to sex, though he absolutely dominates
her, and that was perfect balance.
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The Wildcats have a strong
found family presence.
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You meet all five women.
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You see all their quirks.
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You feel their trauma bonded connection.
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They tease Samara about the
romance, and then you're left
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desperate for their stories.
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I cannot wait, but the romance
is still the main event here.
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The spice level for this one is more of
a four to five out of five love dead.
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And here's the thing, the violence and
the spice sometimes go hand in hand.
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So Dominic may get turned on when
she's covered in someone's blood or
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when she's in protective bear mode.
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So if that is not your vibe, you may
wanna check the trigger warnings.
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Speaking of content warnings,
there's discussion of sexual assault.
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On page violence, the heroin
gets shot, unloving happens.
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So this is a true dark romance in that
sense, and it really earns that label.
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But if you want a heroin who's allowed
to be violent and vulnerable for
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good reason, a hero who worships her
strength and a romance that doesn't
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shy away from the darkness, and I think
rage is definitely one that delivers.
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The third book is The Death
Made Prince by Lizette Marshall.
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This is a fantasy romance, the first in a
new series, and it comes out October 21st.
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So we're definitely switching
gears here completely.
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This is an enemies to
lovers fantasy romance.
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With necromancy run magic and the most
delicious slow burn, our heroine Raga
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is Arun Witch sentenced to the gallows
for killing her lover Lark's murders.
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The night before her execution
and Neri man gets thrown into
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herself and he decides to escape.
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So escaping with him is her only chance
to bring Lark, her ex back to life.
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But here's the problem.
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Her new ally, darling Avera, is a fire ma.
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A rope prince, a sharp tongue nightmare.
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And the son of the man who killed her
mother, he's everything she hates.
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And he won't revive Lark unless she
helps him free his sister from an enemy.
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King's dungeon first.
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So they have to work together.
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Now, I knew from page one that Lark
was not gonna be the end game here,
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and th Raga seemed so sheltered to
me, and I was convinced that she had
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a completely skewed view of the world.
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Watching her start to realize that was.
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Perfect.
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Now, Darlene, on the other
hand, is sarcastic, hilarious.
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There's this scene where they are
breaking out of the prison and
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Ragga is looking for her knife.
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She has OCD and she literally cannot leave
without finding every single one, even
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though jailers are pounding on the door.
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And then Darlene is saying to her,
do let me know if you'd like another
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two hours to catch her breath.
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'cause I like to plan ahead.
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Of course, she tells 'em to go to hell.
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And he responds well, I tend
to come back from there.
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He had so many good comebacks in this
book that I absolutely loved him.
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Sarcasm was top tier.
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Now also, let's talk about the OCD
rep because it is done so well.
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I think in my opinion, th raga
has compulsions that can be
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debilitating in high stress moments.
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She's oblivious to danger until
every knife is in the right position.
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It's not just quirky.
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It.
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Real and it actually affects her survival.
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Darling is more of the morally gray
hero in the best way, though he's got
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darkness within and around him, but he
does bad things for good reasons, and I
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think it really softens his character.
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The sarcasm helps too.
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I really love that.
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And the best part is that he once thro it
to shine on her own to prove to herself
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that she's capable instead of depending
on him the way she actually did With Lark.
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There's a line where he says that she
is entirely her own instead of saying
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she's mine, and it absolutely wrecked me.
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The spice level on this one, I would
say is more of a two out of five.
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It's a gradual build.
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It's a slow.
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I definitely think it's done
right, but here's the warning.
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This ends on a major cliffhanger, so
if you hate waiting for the next book,
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maybe you may want to hold off on
reading this until closer to that, but
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I definitely think it's so worth it
for you to read it, especially if you
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love nurse mythology inspired fantasy
with that enemies to lovers and just.
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Incredible banter.
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This is definitely one worth reading.
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Next up is Undead and
Unwed by Sam Cheetah.
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This is an urban fantasy with romantic
elements, definitely hallmark level,
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and it's out October 28, I think.
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If you loved Mary Janis Davidson's,
queen Betsy series, or Molly Harper's
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Jane Jameson series, you need
to stop everything in pre-order.
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This book, it's definitely urban
Fantasy First Romance second.
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So it's not a true paranormal romance,
but it can work as a paranormal romance.
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So we have Tiffany, our heroin.
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She's a 300 year old Ampi who is.
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Still a hot mess.
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She works at a blood bank Marathons.
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Hallmark movies with her
cat in is tragically single.
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Then she inherits a fixer upper
in Valentine, Vermont, thanks to
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a stolen identity, and she decides
that this is her chance to live
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out her holiday romcom dreams.
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But before going there, she
accidentally turns her neighbor into
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a vampire and has to bring her along.
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And her insufferable
ex-boyfriend, Vlad, also shows up.
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Plus, there's a ton of small
town drama that spirals out
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of control after she's there.
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Now, the humor in this book is.
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Absolutely everything.
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Tiffany nails vla shut into his
coffin, immediately regrets it
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because her newly turned vampire
roommate attacks a city inspector.
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There's a scene where all the
animals are freaking out around her.
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You know, because she's a vampire.
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Horses are going crazy and everyone
thinks it's because of this.
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Animal that she said attack the inspector
and at a bachelor auction she's trying to
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bid on her Christmas tree farmer neighbor
'cause they kind of have a thing going.
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But VLA keeps outbidding her every
single time just to mess with
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her so she can't be with him.
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It is absolutely top.
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Your funny, speaking of the
Christmas tree farmer though, he's
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definitely golden retriever energy.
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Sweet, lovely.
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All the things.
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But I was not rooting for
him at all at any time.
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It was lad always for me.
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The farmer just existed to
make lad finally make a move,
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and it works beautifully.
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Now, the spice level on this one
is definitely hallmark, cozy,
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vampire comedy with kissing.
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But what surprised me the most was
seeing a 300 year old character.
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Who still hasn't gotten her life together.
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That is the emotional core of the story.
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Tiffany's messy journey
of self-acceptance.
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Also, it's never too late to start
therapy, even if you're in immortal,
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and we get to see that in this book.
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So if you want a laugh out loud,
urban fantasy with found family, with
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holiday vibes, and a vampire who's
just trying her best, this is gonna be
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your October comfort read and Perfect
to transition from the paranormal and
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Halloween kind of books to the holidays.
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And the last book that I have
for you guys here is Sense and
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Suitability by Pepper Besham.
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This is a historical
romance with no spice.
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It's closed door and
it's out October 14th.
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Definitely something completely
different from the other books on
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this list, but it earned its spot
because of one thing, the characters.
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This is definitely a character
driven Regency romance at its finest.
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We have Emily Lockhart, who is a
secret author who sworn off love
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after Simon Reeves vanished from
her life without any explanation.
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Then two failed seasons later,
she just wants to survive with
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her dignity intact, and she's got
her own money from her writing.
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But now Simon is back,
his estate is in shambles.
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His family fortune was gambled away
and his younger siblings are running
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wild, so he needs a wealthy bride.
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Emlyn doesn't fit that role,
but she could be his friend.
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Just a friend, so she'll help him
find a suitable match and keep things
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strictly platonic, except that the
chemistry between them is still there.
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It's undeniable.
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Now, this one really worked for me,
even without the spice, because you are
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rooting for both of them from page one.
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Simon betrayed her.
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Yes, but you learn his reasons early on.
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They make sense.
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You feel for him.
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At the same time, you also feel for
Emily and what she's gone through.
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She is lovable.
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She's witty.
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She's trying so hard to protect her
heart and the tension that comes
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from watching them try to figure
all of this out and their feelings.
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As they go along, it is the
most delicious part, that slow
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realization that maybe they are in
fact meant to be together after all.
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Now, Simon also has some younger
siblings that he's a guardian
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to and they are delightfully,
rambunctious side characters.
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There's also a frog named blast and
all of that adds a lot of charm to
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the story without overtaking it.
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The banter is pure Austin.
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Also, I think Simon gives vibes to
like Anthony Bridgeton and I think
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is like a mix of Penelope and Eloise.
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So if you love Bridgeton or
any Austin adaptation, I think
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you'll really adore this one.
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Now, there is kissing, but it
stays closed door, and honestly,
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it doesn't need more than that.
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The emotional connection really
carries this book completely.
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Now, who is this perfect for?
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I think if you're craving a closed
door romance that doesn't feel
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like it's missing something.
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If you love Austin inspired historicals,
if Bridger 10 is your comfort watch,
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this is proof that you don't need spice
to have a totally spoon worthy romance.
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So those are my top five October
releases from feral forest
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hunts to regency ballrooms.
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We've covered the full ribbon spectrum
today, so if you want more details on
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any of these books and my full reviews,
plus I've got even more books to talk
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about, I've got a whole blog post
on under the covers book block.com.
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So I'm gonna leave that link in
the description box down below.
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I've got everything detailed on
there so you can check it all out.
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But now real talk.
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Which one of these are you
going to be adding to your TBR?
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Are you more of a team primal play
in the woods, vigilante justice,
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sarcastic necro, or maybe some vampire
therapy or a closed door regency one?
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So drop me a comment and let me
know, because I'm dying to know
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which direction you're leaning.
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And here's the thing about all of
these October releases, they really
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reminded me why I fell in love
with romance in the first place.
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That 2010 Energy where every
book felt like just an event
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with amazing characters.
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I think these five books really
brought that back for me.
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Now, if you're new here, I'm Francesca.
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And here at Under the Covers we talk
about romance, fantasy, mystery, and
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kind of like everything in between.
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So if you want more book corrects
like this, hit the subscribe button.
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We post new videos every single week.
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And seriously go check out the
blog for the full reviews and
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all of the details and even more
book recommendations for October.
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So I'll leave that down below.
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But for now, that's all for today,
and I will see you in the next one.
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Bye.
