Currently Reading in January

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On this episode of Where I Left Off, A Bookish Podcast, I'm going into part two of what I'm currently reading. I simply couldn't fit all the books in one episode. The list is romance heavy, so if you're TBR needed more in the genre, I've got you covered. If you're looking for a quick read, Amazon collaborated with several best-selling authors to create short stories for Valentine's Day. I'll go over the description from some of my favorites.

Valentine's Day Short Stories- Out now on Amazon:

Books Discussed:

Extra Link:

Abby Jimenez Fan Facebook Group

For links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list.

For episode feedback, future reading and author recommendations, you can text the podcast by clicking the "Send us a message button" above.

For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.

Kristen Bahls: 0:07

Welcome back. I'm Kristen Bahls and you're listening to Where I Left Off, a Bookish Podcast. So today on the podcast, I'm sharing part two of what I've been reading recently, and it should basically come as a shock to absolutely no one that I am reading enough for another episode of recommendations. I do plan on this becoming a regular series, just to keep you updated on what things I'm currently reading. They may not fit into a specific genre or mold or episode of their own, but I am giving you a variety so you can decide what you would like to read, because sometimes that's just the best way to find your next read for your to be read list or your TBR pile is just getting a variety of options to fit whatever your mood is, because that's definitely the way that I read. So I wanted to give you some reviews and I will preface this with I have read some really good books lately overall. So pretty much all of these are highly rated, and I know that it might sound like I'm writing all the books that I read highly, but I just haven't hit a lot of crappy books lately and if I was reading crappy books I would tell you, but I'm not. So a lot of the well, everything really so far I think that I've even talked about on the podcast has four and five stars. Because, honestly, if I didn't like something, I feel like I would just DNF it and put it down and it's just not worth my time and I wouldn't even finish it. Almost on principle, if I'm finishing a book it has to be good enough I would say for three stars most likely. I'm sure every once in a while there could be a case where you know there's some something that happens where that's not, but nine times out of 10, if I'm going to finish the book I would say it's at least three stars, at least. With all that, I'm going to go ahead and get into it. Don't really have a lot of fancy things today. Oh, you may notice that again my podcast is now Where I Left Off. I have my new podcast cover art. Everything is fancy and new and switched over. I know in my last podcast I was talking about not being able to come up with the name. I do record a little bit earlier. So since then I have figured out what the name is going to be and done all of that stuff. You are not mistaken, I used to be The Overdressed Teachers. Now I'm Where I Left Off and I am officially a fully bookish podcast.

Kristen Bahls: 2:34

And, speaking of books, there's something really special that's coming out. I'm sure you've heard it if you follow any bookstagram accounts or really author social media in the romance category, because this is something that I've seen a lot, but I first saw it on Abby Jimenez's Facebook group. So if you are not already on her Facebook group and you like Abby Jimenez novels, I would highly recommend joining. She and some other romance authors are basically releasing a collection of short stories that are going to be available on Kindle Unlimited and they're all centered around Valentine's Day in some way, and they're going to come out on January 23rd and they are free if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership, or $1.99 each if you don't and you just want to purchase them.

Kristen Bahls: 3:23

Honestly, if you're going to calculate that, I think it would be a little bit better idea to just buy like one month of Kindle Unlimited. Pretty sure I pay about like $11. 98, so basically $12. So I would say that it's probably worth it, even if it's just for a month and you cancel it later. If you genuinely wanted to read all of the author short stories, you may just want to consider getting like one month of Kindle Unlimited, so just kind of think along those lines. Okay, so these are actually not going to print and they're only going to be viewable through ebook or audiobook versions. So they are not going to print because they are short stories. The two that I'm talking about are like 40 to 60 pages, so that, yeah, that would be kind of a waste of printing, if you think about it, for a publishing company. Abby Jimenez, the one I'm the most excited about

Kristen Bahls: 4:14

I would say, it's called the Worst Wingman Ever and then we have we have a lot. Okay, I'm going to read their titles. So we have the Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez. We have The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren. You have Royal Valentine by Sarah Wilson, Drop Cover and Hold On by Jasmine Gullery, Guillory and Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne. And then, rounding us out, we have and With Any Luck, by Ashley Poston.

Kristen Bahls: 4:45

The two that I'm interested in are Ashley Poston and Abby Jimenez. I haven't looked at the other plots, so I could definitely see myself reading the other books for sure. Don't think that, you know, just because I haven't read the authors before. I'm not, and I still have not read Christine Christina Lauren, so this may be a really good way to get a taste of her writing style and read a short story by her. But Abby Jimenez and Ashley Poston I love the books that they come out with, so they're the two that I'm super interested in and I'm going to read you the Amazon description for both.

Kristen Bahls: 5:21

So, starting with Abby Jimenez's book, this is what the Amazon description says word for word. They're falling in love, yet they've never met. Maybe fate can intervene in this heartwarming, what if short story about new beginnings. Holly is dealing with the impending death of her grandmother and still reeling from a bad breakup. One bright spot, a Valentine's Day card on Holly's windshield, even if it wasn't meant for her. An amusing mistake soon turns into a lovely exchange of anonymous notes, little acts of kindness and a growing affection between two strangers. What happens when one of them has to say goodbye? And that one is 60 pages. I cannot wait to be able to read it and that is Abby Jimenez.

Kristen Bahls: 6:06

And then next, this is the Amazon description for Ashley Poston's short story called and With Any Luck, or With Any Luck. Audrey Love is cursed to be the person before you find your soulmate, the girl you dump for your true love. So when her best friend disappears hours before his Valentine's Day wedding, Audrey fears that she did the unthinkable and kissed him at last night's bachelorette bachelor party. With help from the best man, she retraces her steps to find the missing groom and, with any luck, a true love of her own, and that one's gonna be about 43 pages. Both of those sounds adorable, fun, sweet and entertaining, so I'm definitely going to read them. Why would I not. Looking forward to that. You may have already heard about it, but just something to keep an eye out. Before we really get into some of the books I've been currently reading,

Kristen Bahls: 7:00

I did want to give you another reminder that if there's a specific book that you really want to hear me talk about, but maybe you're not interested in all of them, don't forget, you can look at the chapters. I always have it chaptered out by each book, s o you can go through and click to what you want to hear me talk about. But of course I would love it if you would listen to the whole episode. But just reminding you that there are those chapters if you're trying to get to a specific book. Today is really all romance. Yeah, it's all romance and I know I don't have to explain myself, but I'm going to explain myself.

Kristen Bahls: 7:39

So at work I have been doing a lot of projects lately that are just really tight deadlines. They're pretty intense. A lot of video editing going on, so my brain is just absolute mush, to be honest, and when I get done with work I've really just been needing a break. So that's why these are all romance novels, because there's just something about a romance novel. I'm not saying that it's not highbrow, that it's mush, that it's chicklet oh, I hate the word chicklet but I'm just saying that you don't have to concentrate as hard because normally there's good banter, there's a quick, moving plot and it's just more lighthearted. So it's not like a fantasy or a thriller where you're trying to get in on the world building in a fantasy book or in a thriller or mystery, you're trying to piece together what's going on and find any clues and foreshadowing going on. Normally you don't really have to think about that In a romance novel. You can just kind of enjoy the ride.

Kristen Bahls: 8:44

So that's why all of these books that I've been reading lately are romance novels, because my brain is so tired and that is what I've been gravitating towards right now. So there you go, but with all of these, they're just unique. Some of them are pretty unique and they're different from each other, and it's not just all the same plot, trope and romance that you're gonna see happening here. There's some different, unique romances. So just kind of keep that in mind.

Kristen Bahls: 9:10

I do think that you can find something in this episode that you wanna pick up if this is your genre, but I'm actually currently reading a thriller and a fantasy novel and a romance, of course, as well. I'm reading a lot of books at once, but just keep that in mind that in future currently readings and in future episodes, they will be diversified a little bit soon in their genre. But right now I yeah, my brain is just tired and I have just needed a good romance because I just can't focus on anything else. So, as everything starts to slow down and I'm starting to pick up these other books and I'll finish those, then you'll get something that is not just romance. I promise I don't only read romance, which this is so weird for me because, like I said, I'm not normally a huge romance reader just kind of as of late.

Kristen Bahls: 9:57

One thing, though I okay, I was just going to go into what I was talking about and then I decided to go off on a side tangent, because what is a podcast if you don't have a side tangent? So this is kind of my side tangent. So I was re listening no, I don't even want to tell you what books. So I was re listening to a romance book that I'm actually going to talk about on a future episode because, you know, I said I don't really reread books, but I did have to re listen to this one because I just did not remember it enough to be able to talk about it in depth. But as I'm re listening and just kind of some of the romance books I've been reading lately, here's my question. Okay, so picture this.

Kristen Bahls: 10:33

Sometimes in romance novels, like I wonder, in between dialogue, like they'll say a character might say how are you? Like a guy character might say, hey, how are you doing? Then there's like all this description, like this intense kind of narrative description and like some metaphors to describe something. Like you know, I looked over into his sea green eyes as his hair, tousled hair, blew in the wind or whatever, or whatever random description they're going to give you, and sometimes those descriptions are lengthy and so I just wonder, like if this were a movie. Are they just staring at each other the entire time? Is there a beat before she answers him? Does she look like a complete and awkward weirdo? I think it could depend on the characters, of course, and their general personality, but I do wonder if you know to take in all of these details that they're telling us about their physical attributes, or the look on their face or the emotion playing across their face. Are they just staring at them? Did they like the man male main characters, just like being ogled? Basically like I just feel like I want to know if that's how this is playing out or we're just kind of getting random cut ins. I don't know, I can't decide.

Kristen Bahls: 11:58

Anyway, random tangents for me reading my romance novels. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear. It is a random side note, but it was just really driving me crazy and I felt like I needed to express it and get it out into the world because I could not figure out. Onto the actual books. Only 13 minutes in. I've only been chatting for a while before I actually got into the meat of this podcast. So here we go. Here are the things, first novel I went with a YA romance for this and this is actually I think it might be new adults, I don't know it's YA or new adults, I can't remember anymore but it is called Begin Again by Emma Lord.

Kristen Bahls: 12:45

I think I have talked about this in a recent episode, but I wanted to do a little bit more of a deep dive. So this romance, I would give it five stars. I thought it was really good. It just kind of blew my mind how incredible it was. I'm not saying I didn't have high expectations going in, but I just don't think that I expected to like it this much. It did, I gave it five stars and as far as the spice level, I would say none. I don't remember anything in here. So this would definitely be perfect really for anyone like high school. I'm not saying that middle school couldn't read it, you could. It's just I don't know if a middle schooler would be able to connect with some of the things only because it is centered around a college experience. So I would say, like high school, college would probably be the perfect target audience and above, but it was just awesome.

Kristen Bahls: 13:37

I felt like this kind of read a little bit more like really just a general fiction novel with the romance kind of entangled in between. It didn't seem like it was so centered on the romance, which I really appreciated. There were a lot of minor characters at play and a lot of other themes that were going on that were kind of separate from the romance. So I just want to put that out there, but really it just felt overall just refreshing and different and the characters came in with some realistic baggage that affected their experiences and I really appreciated that.

Kristen Bahls: 14:11

And Andie the main character, okay, so she is a perfectionist and a chronic over-thinker, so I love her already. And she transfers to the college of her dreams where her deceased mother and absentee father met whenever they were in college. And she dreams to recreate their memories, try to live up to their legacies and she really wants to be on the same radio show that her mom was. So her mom started the secret underground radio station and basically went on to become a famous radio personality before she passed away. And in the aftermath and completely consumed with grief after her mother's death, her father Andie's father left her in the care of her two grandmothers to raise her. So her two grandmothers actually ended up raising her together and this college, Blue Ridge, the one that she's transferring to, with all of this history and background, it just also happens to be the same school that her current long term boyfriend, slash childhood best friend, Connor, is also at. And this is going to be a slight spoiler, going to pause for one second, but it does create intrigue, so just stay with me.

Kristen Bahls: 15:28

It happens very soon into the novel. I don't feel like I'm ruining any ruining anything critical for you, just want to kind of pull you in a little bit more if you're still not sold on this plot. So whenever she gets there and she gets to Blue Ridge, she finds out that her boyfriend, Connor, transferred to her community college to be with her. So they both decided to surprise each other and transfer and didn't tell each other. And it's the first day of classes and they can't find each other and they're wondering where they are and that's why. So basically, yet again they're going to be a part. They just spent the last year apart and they're going to be apart again. But is that actually a good thing, and will it allow Andie the space to be on her own and just be her own person and create new memories without Connor. M aybe, she has a series of misadventures and discovers herself, with the help of a grumpy, always exhausted RA and an adorable bookish roommate, as she gains new friends one snack cake at a time. Yes, I did say one snack cake at a time. You'll just have to read it to find out what I mean.

Kristen Bahls: 16:38

But this book was delightful and I really think anyone in high school or college should read it. It's relatable and it really covers the pressures of college and just really like a vulnerable look at Andie as she tries to put herself out there and discover her college self and make new friends. And of course, that's like the hardest part of college is to make new friends. So, I just enjoyed it and I feel like at this point I'm just kind of gushing about the book really, but it just hit me. I don't know why it hit me by reading this book, like I said, I just didn't expect to love it quite as much as I did.

Kristen Bahls: 17:14

But one reason that I really love reading books just as a whole is that it can be really cathartic and allow us to do some self reflection by basically like going through scenarios in our head that we wish could happen in our own lives and kind of playing it out with fictional characters to see like which path we would actually go to, and it really allows us to put ourselves in the main character's shoes and just kind of, you know, get some different perspectives and play out some different scenarios to see what we want to apply to our own life. And without going into too much detail, I realized that there was something that one of the characters said at some point that I would like to have. That I would like to have said to me and I know it probably won't happen for me, but it was really comforting to be able to hear it in this fictional book. I'm not going to go into details, but it was really comforting to be able to hear it in this fictional book and just hope that people are half as decent and supportive as the characters. All of the characters, really minor and supporting, are like they're kind of constantly calling each other out, but in a nice way, and they're really trying to help each other grow and you could tell that they genuinely care about each other as a person and it's just really nice to read. It's refreshing. Like I've said five times, it's refreshing and I know that that sounds like a lot to ask of

Kristen Bahls: 18:32

YA novel for me to come to all of these epiphanies, but I really did and I just wanted to harp on just how profoundly I really feel like I needed to read this book, even though I thought I was just getting a cute little fun YA romance read. Up n ext, this one is is technically it's an indie novel, so this is available on Kindle Unlimited and this is called The Write Place by Allie Samberts, and The Write Place is W R I T E. The Write Place is on Kindle Unlimited. I would give this four stars overall. I really enjoyed this novel and spice, I would say, is like two to three stars out of five. It's more than Sarah Adams on my spice scale, but it is definitely not Ali Hazelwood at all. So I would say like kind of somewhere in the middle I mean it's relatively tame, but maybe a little bit closer to the middle.

Kristen Bahls: 19:32

An English teacher meets a man at a bar after her friend dragged her to the bar for a night out and in their small town she's not used to meeting strangers and basically they end up talking which leads to a kiss. And that Monday at school, Max principal her name is Mackenzie, but she goes by Mac, ask if she is willing to be shadowed by an author for his latest novel. And she agrees and then sees that it's none other than the guy that she kissed at the bar and she wants to keep it professional and he's very flirty. He lied about his name, so they're not off to a great start. And he lied about his name because he's a famous author and people instantly know him, judge him, want something from him. So that's why he used a fake name. But of course she just sees that as he's lying, so there's already miscommunication going on in the beginning. To make matters worse, she loves his work and she has read all of his books and had no idea that he was the one that she kissed, because again he's that fake name. So they spend time together and she learns that he has writer's block and he recently got out of this really intense relationship with someone that he works with. He doesn't provide a lot of details on this and will he be able to overcome his writer's block to finish the novel before his publishing deadline? And will Mac fall in love even though she's closed off after the loss of her sister and not sure that she's ready and open to be in a new relationship. Well, you will just have to read it to find out.

Kristen Bahls: 21:07

And I thought that this was really entertaining and it was mostly realistic. So this is actually written by a teacher. The author is a teacher, Allie is a teacher, so that explains why it's realistic and I appreciated. I appreciated the fact that this was taking place in a secondary education setting. Secondary means middle or high school basically. A lot of novels, a lot of really teacher Instagram accounts and all that kind of stuff is normally really centered in elementary school. Elementary just gets a lot of credit, they get a lot of press, but no one remembers those secondary teachers. So I appreciated and thought it was different to have a book from the secondary setting. So that was one thing that I really liked about it, that I feel like I was already kind of rooting for it from the start. So, especially if you're a secondary teacher, I think that you would really enjoy this, because it's just nice and it's refreshing to be able to get to read a secondary novel. So I enjoyed this and I think I really like the chemistry between the author and the teacher and really the friend group of the teachers and students like they weave this through. So they have this whole friend group of teachers that's going on and they're kind of like talking in the faculty lounge and at faculty meetings and stuff, and then you also have the students interacting with the author, who's literally like sitting at a desk in her classroom. So overall, I really found this more relatable because I taught high school, of course, and this is the first book in the series and I believe that there are three more.

Kristen Bahls: 22:41

I am looking forward to reading the second book. I did already download it on Kindle Unlimited. I just have not had time to go back to it because I have other books that I have to read for specific purposes, so I will get back to the second one. I did like it enough to read the second one. I thought it moved really well. It was interesting. That banter between the two characters was interesting. So I would say it's definitely a solid read and I would recommend checking it out on Kindle Unlimited. And there you have it. So I would recommend The Write Place by Allie Samberts.

Kristen Bahls: 23:15

Up next we have It's a Date Again by Jeneva Rose, and this is her debut romance novel. She is known for writing thrillers, but this is her first romance. I gave this five stars. Spice level it is a one, it is closer to Sarah Adams. It is technically a closed door book, so it is definitely on the Sarah Adams spice scale for that, and just what a delight. I loved this book. Again, I feel like I'm gushing about all these books, but I loved this book. The banter, the pacing, the writing it was just everything that I didn't know I needed and I loved it. It moves so well and I am looking forward to the romance novel set she writes because I do not think that this is her last one. A lot of people love this one as well, based on the Goodreads reviews. I have to agree, obviously. I gave it five stars.

Kristen Bahls: 24:16

In this romance, I did want to point out that I actually was able to guess the ending probably about 50 pages in, and I did not even care. I didn't care that I already knew the ending and normally that would have ruined the book for me and it probably would have been almost an automatic three stars. But I was so invested in the characters and the plot was so unique and it was just utterly hilarious Like I was laughing the entire time and every supporting character really added something to the story and it was just so well done the way that they all played together, and I could see this going very wrong, especially with this plot trope. You've probably heard it or seen it before, but I thought it was just so well written and so well done. So please, Jeneva, give us more romance books, because they were awesome.

Kristen Bahls: 25:06

Here's the general plot synopsis of the book. So, Peyton gets into an accident and she wakes up from that accident with amnesia. Luckily, her two friends are by her side. She got hit by a car while she was on her way to tell the guy that she loved, she loved him. And she was even on the phone with her best friend, but she didn't tell her who that guy was. She wasn't really making a lot of sense. And then she got hit by a car from going into the crosswalk when she wasn't able to walk yet, like the light wasn't green because she was trying to rush to go tell the person she loved, she loved them, and so no one knows who it is. But her two friends are there and they're by her side. And then three guys show up at the hospital. So one is compared to Thor, one is compared to a young Denzel Washington, and then one is compared to Adam Levine. You have a variety of different looks, pretty much. Anyway,

Kristen Bahls: 26:12

so then they're all three standing there and they're all claiming to be Peyton's boyfriend, but she does not remember which one of them she loved. And so, as they're all standing there, they agree from the beginning. They all know about each other, which I liked. There wasn't any miscommunication about her dating the three guys. I think that would have muddied the waters and I wouldn't have liked that as much. I did appreciate you here, but anyway. So all three guys agree to date her again and keep dating her. A nd they had all actually even asked her to be exclusive and she hadn't really answered them yet and so they weren't really sure which one she was gonna go with either. So she ends up dating these three guys and her best friends her best guy friend and best girlfriend are there to help her along the way, and those two have known her since college. And again, I'm not really getting into like a whole lot of character names with these, just because I don't want to throw you off with a bunch of different names, because then it can kind of get confusing, because in this one there are a decent amount of characters. But it it's really funny because then Peyton has to date all three of them and their personalities are also different, and she's trying to decide which one she loves and also trying to get all of her memories back at the same time. So will Peyton figure out which one she loves? Is she gonna find her dream guy? It's definitely interesting, watching her date all three and you'll just have to read to find out who she picks.

Kristen Bahls: 27:39

Yeah, I really enjoyed this book. It was just a delight. You might be thinking, oh, I've heard this, you know trope before, it's fine, I don't need to read it. No, you do need to read it. It's just hilarious. It's so well-written and it's hilarious. I would just recommend it so much. So, It's a Date Again, Jeneva Rose, read it. Now to hear me gush about the last and final book. Again,

Kristen Bahls: 28:05

I just have hit a lot of really good books, so there you go, I'm gonna talk about them. And the last book is called My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine. So this one I would rate four and a half stars. I really enjoyed it and I would say that the spice level on this is the yeah, it's the highest out of all the books that I talked about today. I would say it's about a four out of five stars. This is definitely closer to Ali Hazelwood than, then Sarah Adams, for sure.

Kristen Bahls: 28:38

So just kind of know that going in and I'm gonna be completely honest, I I was not sure about this one. It looked cute, ish, but I don't tend to read fantasy novels anymore. I mean, I used to in like college, middle school, high school I guess, but I haven't read a lot of fantasy books in a while. So the whole vampire thing, I honestly was not sure. I ended up picking this up from the library and it was fantastic.

Kristen Bahls: 29:07

I feel like I kind of read this on a whim, just because I saw the cover, I thought it looked cute, I thought, hmm, that might be different. Because you know, after a while sometimes it can seem like all of the romance books are all the same, like they all have the same trope and it's just the same, the same, the same. So this just kind of struck me. I don't know. I was willing to take a chance on it, and I'm so glad I did, and I was just kind of hesitant if this would be my kind of book, let alone romance, and it was absolutely hilarious. It was so fun and it never got too bogged down in the vampire details to the point where it took me out of the story. And don't get me wrong, vampires are the center of this book, but it was all really easy to comprehend. So while there were details, it still moved the plot along. It's not like it got stuck in the weeds of telling you every single thing about the whole vampire trope that was in there and I just thought that this was a really, really fun read. The only reason that I didn't give it a full five stars is because the characters, like they did seem ever so slightly underdeveloped and the twist or action point that was in the middle was resolved painlessly, really without much conflict. I thought there was gonna be a little bit more like conflict of resistance to get to the resolution, but there really wasn't. But I do feel like this could be made into a movie tomorrow and it was a delight. So really, those two very small things are my only points of why I didn't give it the full five stars, but I enjoyed this so much and I would still recommend it for sure.

Kristen Bahls: 30:46

So here's kind of like a general little plot synopsis. So, Cassie, she's desperate. She's about to be evicted from her apartment and her roommate, slash childhood best friend, Sam, just got married. In order to avoid moving in with him and his husband, she acts on a suspicious listing on Craigslist for an upscale apartment in New York going for $200 a month. Her new roommate doesn't exactly dress in this century. He has a weird work schedule and this closet that is completely off limits. But honestly, she's dealt with worse at this point, until she discovers that he's a vampire and he's looking for someone to give him lessons to help him blend in. So will she be able to help him fit in as she learns more about the logistics of actually living with a vampire? Read to find out more. Of course, I was gonna tell you to read it. It's called My Roommate is a Vampire. I would highly recommend picking it up. It was also a really good read.

Kristen Bahls: 31:50

Like I said, I've just had the best luck lately with romances. I'm sure that as soon as I say that, I am totally jinxing myself, and now I'm probably not going to find any that I like for a while. So maybe I'll just stick in like the thriller, new adult, young adult genres for a little bit, read some mysteries. Like I said, I am reading a fantasy, so we'll see. Yeah, we'll see what happens. I'm trying to branch out to some different genres, but for now it just had to stick in cozy romance for a little bit. I enjoyed all of them. I would highly recommend picking up any of them. I do not think you're going to be disappointed with any of these books, and they may become your new favorite and you may have found an author that you haven't heard of before. So that's it for today, on Where I Left Off a Bookish Podcast.

Where I Left Off

Currently Reading in January - Part Two

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