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 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.