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Reality TV Romance, Viral Love Stories & My Reading Reset | Bookish Brunch

Episode 220 • 18th May 2025 • Reading Under the Covers: A Romance Novel Podcast • Under the Covers Book Blog

Francesca: 00:00:00

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 are doing

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our first Sunday bookish brunch

episode where we just gonna do a chill

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bookish chat and a vibe check for

the week with some recommendations

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of things that are perfect to read.

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For right now, catching up

on, what I've been reading.

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And some more thoughts as well.

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So if you're ready,

let's get right into it.

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You know how sometimes your

favorite romance novel can feel

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just as messy as reality tv?

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Well, this week I actually have

some reality TV romance books

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that are perfect to add to you.

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Your TBR,

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whether you want to ditch

your TBR and just mood, read

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them or add them to your TBR.

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today we're just gonna have a bookish

chat where I tell you about some of

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that, but also what I read this week,

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Which let me tell you, involves a hot

professor in Shakespeare inspired Fanfic,

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some cowboy romance and more.

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grab your coffee and let's

have a bookish chat together.

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this week on the blog, the theme was

all about messy reality tv, I will

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leave links to all the blog posts

in the description box down below.

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We have recommendation lists on there

for romance, books that are inspired

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from cooking competitions, dating shows,

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even books that feel like love island.

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think that these are perfect books for

Spring and because we are coming up to

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the end of the season, also great to start

of strong and transition into summer.

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if you want some recommendations, I

definitely think you should add Take the

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Lead by Alexis Daria, which is perfect.

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If you love dancing competitions.

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Lots of the heat and behind the scenes

tension that you would expect from

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a show like Dancing With the Stars.

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If your vibe is more HGTV

reality shows, then Mr.

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Fixer Upper by Lucy score is perfect.

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It's about a grumpy contractor

and a no nonsense producer.

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definitely hot tool belt alert.

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Thank you.

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Next by Kathryn Freeman is

Peak Messy Dating Show Alert.

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This one is about our heroine who

follows her ex onto a dating show and

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there runs into another ex of hers.

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And last Battle Royal by Lucy

Parker, which is perfect.

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If you love the great British Bake

off it's enemies to lovers with

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baking competitions and royal cakes.

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What's not to love.

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Now, if you want some of the

messiness of reality tv, but

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you don't want an actual show,

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definitely check out romances

that start off with going viral.

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A perfect one for that right now is

just our Luck by Denise Williams.

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It involves a winning lottery ticket,

a donut shop, some flirty strangers,

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and some fake dating as well.

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Lots of fun.

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And first time caller by BK Borison,

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And it's about a single mom and

her daughter basically volunteers

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her to find love through this

competition, through this radio show.

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And of course, she ends up falling

for the radio host instead.

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Now if you want even more recommendations

for reality TV or even going viral books,

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I have again, a ton more on the blog,

so I will leave all of those linked.

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and because we are all about

the things that are perfect to

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read in the spring on the blog,

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I also have a list of romance

books that are set in France

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and some flower shop romances.

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I did talk about flowers,

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flower shops, gardeners, and anything like

that being perfect to read in the spring.

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So I did get up my

flower shop romance list.

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So you can check that out as well.

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and I also have some lists for

romance books with time travel

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and mysteries with time travel.

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So I will leave those links down below.

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But I will definitely have a video

coming to the channel here next week.

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So stay tuned for that.

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now I wanted to also take a break

from talking about books and show you

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a couple of things that I got in the

mail that I am super excited about.

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the first one is makeup.

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'cause I've been all about very

simple kind of makeup lately.

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And this is from Tower 28.

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It is their.

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Buildable luminous color

for cheeks and lips.

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I'm actually also using it in my eyes,

which I actually really love, products

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that I can use on my whole face.

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I used to do this a lot, especially I

had a favorite one that was from Aveda

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and they discontinued it years ago.

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So I'm excited about finding something

new that also can work for my whole face.

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And this one is in the color of Magic

Hour, which I really, really love.

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It's kind of a peachy color,

and I think that that.

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Makes me look more alive.

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So I definitely recommend, I

have been enjoying it a lot.

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And the second thing that I got

this week that I am really loving

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and I can't wait to play with

it, it's a DIY book, nook kit.

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So I haven't done this before.

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I have gotten a ton of these, not this

one in particular, but I have gotten a

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ton of book nooks as presents for people.

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I think that they are the cutest.

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So this will be the first one

that I actually build myself.

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This one is an owl Bookstore

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From the brand.

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Cute.

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Bee.

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I mean, honestly, just

look how cute that looks.

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I can't wait to build this,

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And I may actually film that

if you guys wanna see that.

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So I will be building this one.

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Um, I don't know if I have time this

coming week, but definitely soon.

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I'm excited to build it.

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Hopefully I can do it without getting

frustrated and just putting it aside.

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I really would love to have this on my

bookshelf, so we'll see how that works but

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now onto my reading update for this week.

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So I actually had a

very slow reading week.

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I only read two books this week.

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And overall I was just really off and low

energy and I was just not really feeling

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the reading vibes, which is weird 'cause

I read a ton the past couple of weeks.

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So I did manage to read two books.

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They're both contemporary romance and I

don't know if that has something to do

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with it 'cause I have been trying to read

a little bit less contemporary romance.

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But one is an arc for a book

that's coming out May 27th.

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It's much ado about hating

you by Sarah Echavarre Smith.

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So I'm giving this one, three stars.

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Or 3.25.

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I liked it,

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but it also has a ton

of red flags, I think.

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So there are certain things about

how the relationship develops, how

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the hero acts a lot of the time.

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That is definitely full

of red flags for me.

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But if you kind of like push

that aside, it's an okay read.

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I really love the premise because

the hero is a Fanfic romance writer.

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And the heroine actually is a fan of

his published work on the Fanfiction

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site, But they meet in real life

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because she's coming to his college

to do an audit, and possibly he would

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lose his job if she doesn't feel

that he's doing his job properly.

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they definitely butt heads in real life.

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They hate each other, but at

the same time, they develop this

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softer kind of relationship online

as her being a fan of his work.

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And eventually she realizes that

he is a man as opposed to a woman,

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and of course eventually also

realizing that that is who he is.

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connecting it with real life.

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So I like the aspect and

I really love the premise.

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I think the execution could

have been a little bit better.

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I was slightly underwhelmed,

but it was still entertaining.

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If you are not harping as

much on the red flags that,

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there's plenty of in the story.

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But I think overall it was

still kind of enjoyable

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and a fast read.

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other one that I read.

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I definitely enjoyed it more and I would

recommend it's Rein me in by Kayla Grosse.

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This is the first in the Cowboys

of the night hawk series,

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and it is an age gap romance.

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The hero is younger than the heroine.

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It's not a huge age gap.

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But it's a small town contemporary romance

where the heroine is dealing with grief

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still from having lost her brother,

who was also a friend of the hero.

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she had left town, so now she's back.

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and we are seeing some of her

healing journey in this one.

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Of course, the hero had

always had a crush on her,

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he's just gonna shoot his shot and

see if he can get with her, even if

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he may be coming on a bit too strong.

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So, like I said, this was a fun one,

even though it's a little bit emotional

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as well, but still one that I do

recommend and I enjoyed, especially

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when you want something a little bit

lighthearted in between heavier books.

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Now all that being said, though,

I am approaching next week with

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a bit of a different approach.

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I think I definitely need to.

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Switch up the genre and go back

to reading things that I have been

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enjoying more than contemporary.

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So I'm definitely gonna lean

into historicals and fantasy

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paranormal in the coming week.

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So I will keep you posted

on how that is working.

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that's actually something that brings

me to a topic that I talked about over

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on Substack this week, which is all

about having kind of like a reading

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identity crisis and sometimes figuring

out if things that you used to love to

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read a lot don't work for you anymore,

or having some pressure for reading

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the things that are really popular

or that everyone is talking about.

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And how it's really freeing to just

understand that you don't have to

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read for an algorithm and you don't

have to read what everyone is reading.

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you don't even have to

read all the new releases.

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You can just read for the things

that really give you enjoyment.

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and that is something that I am working

on consistently throughout this year.

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for example, this week my impulse was

to pick up a few contemporaries, but I

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do know that I tend to enjoy those less.

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I have years of stats to prove that.

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so I also know that it is time for

me to switch things up and find

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some maybe hidden gem, historical

romance, some paranormal, something

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that's going to bring back that joy

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reading something new and exciting.

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I do have queued up for my Sunday

reading Heart of the Sun by Mia Sheridan,

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is a post-apocalyptic romance, and I am

really looking forward to reading it.

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It's a bodyguard bad Boy ex-Con.

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getting a second chance with a high

school flame who is now a popular pop star

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while the world is falling

apart due to some solar flares.

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I am definitely super excited about that.

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I think it sounds weird and new and fun

and flirty, and I can't wait to read it.

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Also, some higher stakes,

so I'm excited about that.

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And I may also read to Catch a Lord

by Emma Orchard, which is a historical

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romance author that I have been

wanting to read for a little while.

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And this one is a steamy love

triangle Regency romance.

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So I think that between those two,

they should really shake up my reading

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and hopefully get me right back on track.

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if you wanna read my full article over on

Substack about kind of like that reading

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identity crisis, I will leave that link as

well down below so you can check it out.

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I would love to know from you if that is

something that you also struggle with.

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Do you also feel pressure to read

all the new releases or the books

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that everyone is talking about

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or how do you go about making sure

that You are consistently reading

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things that are the things that feed

your soul at the moment, and sometimes

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that may change over the years.

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So let me know in the

comments all of those things

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and how you deal with them.

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but that is all I have for

this bookish brunch chat.

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I hope that you guys enjoyed it.

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I was going to do a reading vlog, but I

thought, let me just sit and chat with you

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guys about what is the mood for the week.

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Let me know if you like this format

and I will try to do these more

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consistently as well for you guys.

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But also if you want more things to

read that are perfect for the season, I

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did a whole Taurus reading reset guide

for you guys so you can check out some

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reading recommendations and tropes

that are perfect to read right now.

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in the meantime, don't forget to

subscribe to our substack for free,

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so you don't miss any content that

we post across all of our platforms.

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That plus all of our socials will

be linked down below as well.

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Stay tuned next week for more

themed book recommendations.

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Updates on what I'm

reading, and much more.

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But for today, that is all.

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I hope you find something wonderful

to read this week, and I will

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see you guys in the next one.

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Bye.

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220. Reality TV Romance, Viral Love Stories & My Reading Reset | Bookish Brunch