Today on Where I Left Off, a bookish podcast, I'm revealing what I've been reading lately from thrillers to romance novels. Pick up one of these books and find your next great read and enjoy my plot summaries to see which you'll try first.
I record episodes ahead of time, so if you hear me reference my old name The Overdressed Teachers, don't worry, I'm officially Where I Left Off and covering all things book related.
Currently Reading Book List:
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.
Today on Where I Left Off, a bookish podcast, I'm revealing what I've been reading lately from thrillers to romance novels. Pick up one of these books and find your next great read and enjoy my plot summaries to see which you'll try first.
I record episodes ahead of time, so if you hear me reference my old name The Overdressed Teachers, don't worry, I'm officially Where I Left Off and covering all things book related.
Currently Reading Book List:
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.
Welcome back. I'm Kristen Bahls and you're listening to the Overdress Teachers podcast, and today we are talking about some more books that I am currently reading. I wanted to come back and give you just kind of a list of some books I've been reading what I think about them, some kind of general like plot synopsis summaries that I wrote, so that way you can decide what you want your next read to be. And for this I have a mix of mystery, thrillers and romance novels. So we have we have a combo two very different genres kind of put together, but that is the norm on this podcast, because that is just what I tend to gravitate to. But, before I get into that, my story of the day. So I am I've said this before but I am trying to decide on a name for the podcast and it's really difficult. So, like I said, it was all teaching content and education before, and now I really think I've decided to switch over to books. I think that's where I enjoy being in that kind of niche genre, whatever you want to call it, that podcast grouping. I, yeah, I really like talking about books. I think that is my thing. I've always been a reader. So, yeah, I think that that that is where I want to be.
Kristen Bahls:But now I have to actually decide on a name, and I think I kind of forgot how exhausting it is to try to come up with a name. And a name that you like and a name that's not cheesy, because a lot of books things are very cheesy, and so that's kind of what I'm running into is, I don't want to make it cheesy, that's not what I'm going for, I just want to make it good and I want it to be able to stick with me for a while, and then I'm going to have to get my cover art redone. So it's going to be a whole thing. But eventually this podcast will look and sound like a bookish podcast. Wow, it'll be amazing whenever that actually happens. But we'll see. But anyway, I am just I cannot decide on a name. I don't like anything I don't know. Deciding on a name is hard, and then anything that I do like is taken. It's already trademarked, whatever. So you know there are no new ideas. I don't have any. I'm trying to figure it out. I have a couple that I like, ish, but I'm just trying to decide if I want them for the long term. So that's kind of what I'm dealing with right now. But I was also thinking that I really just kind of like thinking out loud here I hit myself in the headphones. Anyway, I was gesturing with my hands too much and I hit myself in the headphone, but anyway.
Kristen Bahls:So what I'm thinking I want to do is an episode kind of centered around some older reads, so books that haven't come out recently. I mean. When I say older, I don't mean, you know, 10 years old, I mean could be, but I'm thinking more like a couple years old, because in that way you'll still be able to find them easily at the library. They might be marked down on clearance on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or any independent bookstore that you go to. Wherever you're buying your books from, bookstoreorg is what I always link in my show notes, because that hooks up to your local bookstore and so you're buying through a local bookstore but you're still able to buy online. So that is why I always link there, so that way it's not just going from Amazon, but I'm guilty of sometimes buying books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble if it is easy and convenient. I don't have a lot of local bookstores near me, which is kind of weird, but anyway, I was thinking just some older books, because you know you just like, if you follow Bookstagrammer people on Instagram or I'm not on TikTok, but if you were on TikTok and you're always looking at those reads, or if you're always looking at author stuff and new stuff and listening to podcasts, it's like new, new, new, new and then it almost makes you not content with older books because you always want to read the new, latest fancy book and I don't know,
Kristen Bahls:I feel like that just creates a bad cycle. Like the whole point of books is that you can read them whenever, but it makes you feel like you have to read a million books that you can't read because you can't keep up with them. You want to hear what they have to say your favorite books to grammar book, podcaster, book, whatever person that you listen to, book recommender. You know you want to be able to keep up, but it's just exhausting when everyone's just new, new, new and half of them get sent stuff from like publishers, which is fantastic. I mean that's great that they can tell us stuff before the publish date and kind of give us recommendation on recommendations on what we should even pick up.
Kristen Bahls:But, like I said, it just really creates a cycle of you always have to have the newest book and that's always going to be the one that may not have made it to the library yet, or it's supposed to expensive, and so it's just not a really like sustainable habit to constantly, always want the new books. So that's why I was kind of thinking that maybe I'll do an episode kind of focused on like slightly slightly older books, like I said, a couple years old, where you might be able to find them on clearance, but maybe not so old that you're never going to be able to find them anywhere, because that is also annoying as well or things that are on like Kindle Unlimited, or you know things that I think you can find at the local library. That's kind of more, maybe, where I would like to go for an episode. So let me know if that's something that interests you, because I just don't want to be one of those book reviewers that is only focused on the new books. But of course you know it's hard not to when all of my favorite authors are coming out with stuff. Like right now and yeah, I don't know and then you always get good reviews and write as soon as you're gonna read one and not read the book on your bookshelf, there's a better, more interesting setting book that's right there. So that, yeah, that's what I'm trying to get away from. So that may be, that may be an idea, or even like less popular books that you could still kind of find at your local library or bookstore. So that's, that's an idea that I'm throwing around there.
Kristen Bahls:For the books that I've actually read, what I'm going to do is I'm going to tell you what genre they are, my rating, if their romance will tell you the spice level, so you know. And then I'm going to give you a little plot synopsis and kind of my review. I am not putting any spoilers in this. I want this to be more of how you pick your next read over a deep dive into one specific book. If there is a specific book that you really want me to do a deep dive on, just let me know. And this is kind of more of a little bit like of a teaser, basically about what the book's going to be about. If you're picky, if you don't want to hear about certain books, if you don't like romance books, if you don't like thriller books and you have a very specific genre that you came to hear about. Then, don't forget, you can always look and skip. So I have chapters for each book and you can see that in the show notes and then you can skip around to whatever chapter you would like on your podcast player. So just keep that in mind, skip around on the chapters if you want to get to specific books, because I understand that.
Kristen Bahls:You know, I feel like I've met I'm not gonna say that I'm an enigma by any means, but I feel like I've met a lot of people that are very much I love romance and I will only read romance. Or I love thrillers and I will only read thrillers, and there isn't a lot of crossover. So the fact that I do both, I can understand that some of these just really may not be your thing. Yeah, may not be your thing. It was actually kind of hilarious because one time, whenever I was giving book recommendations to this one girl, I was giving her recommendations and she was like what even are these books about? Because I only read Coleen Hoover and I'm not, I'm not even gonna touch that in this episode, that statement, but I said, yeah, no, I recommended romances because you said you only read Coleen Hoover. So I'm not going to recommend, like a Rachel Hawkins or Riley Sager for you because I can tell that you are not going to like a thriller. Again, not even touching the co- host statement. Yep, no, not here, not now, not right now that that could be a whole episode in itself. Just talking about Colin Hoover.
Kristen Bahls:Okay, first up in my recently read this book is a new to me author and her name is Alexa Martin and this is called the Next Door Nemesis and this book actually just came out recently. It is a romance in the romance genre and I gave it five stars as its overall rating and for spice level I would say probably in the middle of my meter. So again, I'm gonna have to rework this a little bit because whenever Sarah Adams next book comes out, but normally on the left hand side, at a one star, not spice level, closed door romance, we have Sarah Adams and then on the right, Ali Hazelwood, open door romance, a lot of spice. So I would say that this book kind of falls in between, kind of solidly in between. I would say maybe like a three out of five spice level. Just so that way you know, again, it all depends on your preferences, if you want closed door or if you want open door. I mean, the good thing is you can always skip pages. So don't forget, if you're not comfortable reading, that, you can always skip some pages and you'll be just fine.
Kristen Bahls:But I would highly recommend reading this book because it's just, it was pure joy and you know, with romances, pure joy is fantastic. I'm not going to be able to say that a thriller gave me pure joy. Yeah, because of the subject matter it's always intense and really creepy. So when I can get a break and actually get a book that just makes me smile the entire time, I really appreciate it. And I would say that for this there's just such a quick wit between all of the characters and it is hilarious to follow. I was either smiling or laughing the entire time.
Kristen Bahls:And there are actually a lot of references. Because this is a contemporary romance, you will get a lot of modern references. I mean, you have everything from like the housewives to Wednesday Adams and the writing style, Alexa's writing style is just so punchy and I really like a punch. I'm starting to realize that in my romance novels I just really appreciate a punch and a good banter between the characters, and she brings that in spades. I really, really, really enjoyed this book. It has a lot of sass and it's just so much fun and I feel like every time like I could skip to any little part and give you a quote from the book and you would enjoy it. And the first line is hilarious and at the end of each chapter, like the last sentence before the next chapter always ends so well, I'm just thinking, man, that's a really good line and I page flag this book up with really cute quotes. It was, it was awesome for me, like I said, five, five stars.
Kristen Bahls:So here's kind of a little little plot synopsis for you. So Collins finds herself unemployed and living alone at almost 30. She is 29. She was a screenwriter and, through an incident that you're going to find out later in the book, she ends up getting fired from her job and she goes home to her parents house. So of course she is bored with nothing to do and she ends up running into her childhood friend, slash arch nemesis, Nate, whom she describes as and this is a quote from the book Nate Adams, enemy of my heart and soul. She decides to run against him for the HOA president and then she ends up starting the screenplay like loosely based on her experience, and then gains some inspiration, while also battling it out with Nate and trying some crazy campaign tactics to try to beat him and be a HOA president, like sticking red, white and blue flamingos in the neighbor's yards, with their permission, of course.
Kristen Bahls:And through all of this her friend, Ruby is convinced that she is pretty much officially hit rock bottom. And when she stops responding to Ruby's text, Ruby rushes in and there's a lot of great banter between her childhood friend Ruby and Nate, who they were all kind of a friend group at one point before they had a falling out. And then they also meet another neighbor who went to their high school, Ashley, and so they're all kind of reconnecting and it's almost like a little mini high school reunion in the middle of the book and Ashley and Ruby become the amazing supporting characters slash sidekick for Collins and they also have fantastic storylines too. Like I said, just a banter really between the friend groups, and then also her and Nate and even her and her parents are really fun to see. I genuinely liked all of the supporting characters. There wasn't one that drove me crazy, which was really nice to just enjoy, like I just got to enjoy. But anyway, Ruby ends up stepping in as her campaign manager and then, with Ashley helping on the campaign and Ruby, they are forced to be reckoned with and I'm not going to tell you who wins or what happens. And if Nate and Colin ever see eye to eye, I don't know. You're going to have to read and then you're going to find out, because I don't want to ruin anything, but I just I really enjoyed this book and I know I've said that probably about five times, but if you are looking for a fast paced, quick wit, really smartly written, just entertaining novel, I would highly recommend this. And I will be reading more Alexa Martin books after this. She may be my next Sarah Adams, since I've already read everything that Sarah Adams has written up until this point. So yeah, if you are just needing a really good read to kind of take you out of your head for a little bit and just enjoy, I would highly recommend The Next Door Nemesis.
Kristen Bahls:Next, I am throwing in a thriller over here. So, I have The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda and I got this book through Book of the Month. I believe it is a thriller and I gave it four out of five stars. It's more of a slow burn type of thriller, or at least that's how I would describe it. It's pretty dark and basically it's about a group of nine students who survived this freak accident on a field trip where several of their classmates and two teachers died their senior year of high school. And each year all the survivors there are nine of them they meet at the beach house to catch up, slash kind of like trauma bonds, like none of them are actually looking forward to this trip. They just kind of end up there and they feel obligated to go, even though none of them actually enjoy it. And the number of survivors of those nine it's growing smaller each year because members of the group keep dying and it seems like they're dying from like suicides or accidents. But Cassidy, a member of the nine and the main character, she discovers one of the deceased friends cell phones on the beach and she really starts to wonder who she can trust and if this is an inside job and if one of the other students is responsible for killing everyone off and basically just like making it look like a suicide. That's all I'm going to give you.
Kristen Bahls:You're not going to know anymore about the mystery, you're just going to have to read it, but I would say that this has a trigger warning for really traumatic events of any kind of like school violence. Because, okay, so the president is told in Cassidy's point of view, but then they are constantly flashing back to the night of the accident and dueling POVs for all of the other characters and you learn about each of the survivors and like what secrets they have that maybe the others didn't really know about, and then any suspicions. That kind of leads you to suspect other people in the group. But they explain, like they explain in vivid detail the trauma of seeing classmates die before their eyes, and so I just want you to know that, going in that, if you have had any kind of trauma, especially anything school related, I don't know that I would read this book. I would skip it. I mean, you're probably not reading thrillers, but it's just something to know. Going in that, yeah, it was pretty, pretty graphic. You could really kind of see it in your head and it's traumatic, of course. So just know that.
Kristen Bahls:I would like to point out I'm not spoiling it, but I did predict the ending and it took me. It took me a bit to get there, though. Like I had a lot of different theories before I predicted what ultimately actually happened, and this book really helped get me out of my thriller slump. I talked about it way, way back so you may not remember, but basically I used to only pretty much read mysteries and thrillers and I would throw in a romance as a palette cleanser every once in a while. But then I accidentally crossed over into horror on accident, based on a recommendation. I did not check the genre, I freaked myself out and now I have been reading romance novels like never before, just, yeah, trying to get to the point where I can read thrillers again. So this book really did help me help get me out of my slump and I've heard kind of mixed reviews on it.
Kristen Bahls:But I really enjoyed it overall and, like I said, I have been just picking up and putting down thrillers and, like I said, I've just been picking up and putting down thrillers. So this actually got me to read the entire book and thankfully I do tend to like Megan Miranda's book, so I'm not really shocked. That's why I ended up picking up this one and, yeah, it is more of a slow burn. The story does pick up towards the end and I did find it compelling enough to keep going, but I just keep saying it's a slow burn, because the other thriller I'm going to talk about is just pretty consistently fast paced and intense, and so this one is maybe not as intense because they're on the beach, they're in the beach house, they're going through their vacation and Cassie is kind of slowly starting to piece things together. So it's just not a super fast, quick, moving plot, but I really enjoyed it and I would recommend this if you need a good thriller read.
Kristen Bahls:And then the next one that I decided to talk about is Checkmate by Ali Hazlewood. It's kind of weird. I don't think a lot of people have really read Checkmate yet. I mean, I think it's on a lot of bookshelves but it seems like a lot of people haven't gotten to it. This is Ali Hazlewood's first, I believe this is her first time going into the young adult YA romance genre. So this romance just a little bit different for her, and I gave this one five stars.
Kristen Bahls:I know it sounds like I'm rating all these books really high, but I have just picked up a really good string of books lately and I've not been disappointed. So I want to be honest. I'm reading a lot of hits right now that I'm enjoying. Can't say that this is always how it's going to be. I may get a lot of misses in a row, but right now there are a lot of good books on my bookshelf. A lot of good books have been published and so I keep running into really good books. So I will take it. You know I'll take it. I rated this one five stars. I just really enjoyed it and I couldn't put it down and I finished it pretty quickly and it's just something different which I really appreciated.
Kristen Bahls:So this entire novel, it centers around the game of chess. If you didn't already know, Ali Hazlewood tries to normally have like a STEM element going like women in STEM or some kind of like women going into some kind of like underrepresented, male dominated industry or discipline, and so this is centered around chess same kind of idea. So Mallory, the main character, she has some baggage around chess and she gave up playing years ago and her best friend convinces her to compete in this chess charity tournament because they just really need another person to be able to play, and so she decides to go. But one of the biggest names in chess at the time slash number one chess player in the world. Nolan, just happens to be there and Mallory beats him at this charity meet, which is insane. A nd so, after this happens, it propels a chess scout to find her and offer her a job that she can't refuse, and especially after she just graduated high school and she ends up putting off college and she's getting fired from her job as an auto, she just got fired as her job, oh my gosh. She just got fired from her job as an auto mechanic, and so she really needs the money to take care of her family financially. She does take care of all of her sisters. She lives with her mom and two sisters and they depend on her due to her mother's illness, so she is really the sole provider. So she just needs money.
Kristen Bahls:So will she fall in love with chess and a certain chess player as soon as she takes this job? Well, I don't know. You are just going to have to read it. I would say okay. So, like I said, I would give this novel five stars because I just really enjoyed it, and I feel like I sound slightly hesitant, because it's not that I didn't enjoy it. It's just I've read so many good romance novels lately and like was this the best written book I've ever read? I don't know, but I just found myself really getting into it and I did not have an interest, I do not have an interest in chess, so I feel like if an author can take something that you really don't have any knowledge or interest about and make a gripping novel that you finish in a couple days, I think that that deserves five stars. So anyway, I do rate it five stars, but I did really like some of the other books. I don't know it's, it's hard to say, but this was a really good read. I would recommend it. Obviously, I would not have given it five stars if I didn't.
Kristen Bahls:I think that the banter is really great and it's similar to all of Ali Hazelwood's other books. It just has that same good banter. There are a lot of minor characters that come into play and I don't know that it just moves well, like all of her plots move pretty quick. I don't know. I don't get bored with her books. It's something in her writing style that just keeps me turning the page pretty constantly. And I will say that the spice level of this it is a YA novel, so it is going to be less than her norm. Normally she is at the higher end of my rating chart, but I would say that this is on a lower level. I would say it's maybe like a two to 2.5 out of five, on the spice scale. So this is going to be less than all her other novels. So that is something, yeah, something to keep in mind.
Kristen Bahls:I will say, without spoiling, that the ending was super frustrating. I was pretty mad, but I understand, like I understand, why she did it. If the ending seemed pointless, I may have given this four stars, but unfortunately, I understand why she had to end it the way that she did. It makes sense. Still doesn't make it any less frustrating for me to read, but you know, whatever, and there is an epilogue. Yeah, I don't know, I was just, I was miffed. Okay, I don't love the ending. I don't want to spoil it for you, but the book was so good overall that I don't I wouldn't not recommend it just because of the ending. Is, I guess, what I'm saying. Yeah, I clearly have a way with words today. If you could not tell, I think I've just recorded too many episodes in a row at this point. But checkmate by Ali Hazelwood, I would recommend picking it up. I enjoyed it. It's all about chess, really different angle from her other books that are always said in academia. So if you want something that's a little bit different and is in the YA romance category, then I would recommend Checkmate. And then, going back over to thriller land.
Kristen Bahls:Wow, I listened to on audiobook, yes, I did listen to it, Final Girls by Riley Sager. This is definitely in the thriller category and I gave it five out of five stars because I was gripped by it and with audiobooks, as I've kind of said before, I just have not been a huge fan of audiobooks. The narrators can bug me, it's hard for me to get into it. I don't know. I just don't know that audiobooks are really my thing, but this one I was gripped and it was so good throughout and it's crazy, it is a wild ride. So do not read this book unless you are prepared for a wild ride of a thriller. Like said, I gave it five out of five stars and Final Girls is the name of it, and so just a little bit of background, because I did not know this before I read the book, but they explain it in there.
Kristen Bahls:A final girl is a term from horror movies and it refers to like the last survivor at the end of the movie or murder spree. So basically the lone survivor in a murder spree. And Quincy, the main character in this novel, she survived a killing spree when she went with her friends on a weekend camping trip in college and she does not have any memory of the incident. Cannot remember a thing and she's the only lone survivor. Luckily she was saved by this young police detective named Coop. But she is not the only final girl. There are two other final girls as well. Sam is one from a motel massacre and then Lisa from a sorority house spree killing. So there are three final girls at the start of the novel and then when one of the final girls, like she, commits suicide towards the beginning and it sets off this whole string of events and the other two end up meeting to discuss. like Like they've kind of talked to each other and slightly met each other, Lisa and quincy Quincy have and kind of talked over the phone. They've never met in person. But Lisa was kind of like the, she had her life together, she figured everything out after this tragedy and so she was kind of like the um model final girl I guess, if you can even say that. And so, she always reached out to like Quincy and Sam, but you know didn't hear a lot back so they weren't super close. But of course, this propels them to meet and so Sam actually comes out of hiding and ends up meeting Quincy, because up until recently Sam has been on the fringe of society.
Kristen Bahls:Sam seems determined to ruin Quincy's perfect life of creating content for her baking blog and the steady relationship that she has with a public defender named Jeff. And will Quincy risk it all to find out if someone is murdering the final girls? After the cause of death? Lisa's death has changed from a suicide to a murder, and will this send memories of her trauma back to her subconscious? You can only tell if you read the book.
Kristen Bahls:I will say, very dark, very, very, very dark. I would classify this for sure is more of like a psychological thriller. It is did I say it is was very dark, it is very dark. So the story is told from Quincy's point of view and the character and the chapters will flash back to almost like a third person description of the night in question that she can't remember. So you're very slowly throughout the novel getting like little breadcrumbs of information To help understand what happened that night of the cabin murder. It's called Pine Cottage. It is super fast-paced. I think just after reading a lot of romance novels, it's very different. Okay, so here here's where it's really different.
Kristen Bahls:Not that we didn't already know that thriller and romance are two totally different genres, but, like in romance novels, I'm just used to seeing like someone's life may be not where they want it to be in the beginning, but then they find love and they find hope, basically over the course of the novel, and their life turns out better by the end. Whereas with this it was really difficult to see, s o one basically like wrecking slash, torpedoing their life, all in search of the truth, but kind of at what cost? And that does seem to be really a common trope in a lot of the thrillers, at least that I'm reading. They basically something happens to them, of course, and in the race to find the truth and solve the mystery and figure out what's going on, they're trying to bring balance back to their upended life and they kind of ruin it um in return. And so you know, where they come out at the end is definitely not where they started in the beginning. That is, like I said, really hard to kind of wrap your brain around after you've been used to romances where it's like, oh, everything's getting better and at the end I don't know you're, you're not really so sure.
Kristen Bahls:I will say that this book had me really thrown off and I was thinking of a million different scenarios. I mean, I like that I could not just Instantaneously guess what was going to happen. In the end I did suspect it correctly, I figured out who the killer was and what was going on, but I would say that that was probably about midway through the book I had a feeling. And then there was something specific that I want to say that kind of tipped me off to that. But you will probably be thrown in all directions and you're most likely not going to like any of the characters by the end. So this is a really fast paced, dark, traumatic thriller, but I enjoyed every minute not enjoyed every minute of it. I appreciated the fact that this was a fantastic thriller and between The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda and this by Riley Sager, it really helped finally pull me out of my thriller slump and I feel like I'm going to be reaching for more thrillers in the near future. So thank you, Riley Sager, because The Only One Left was the first one that helped really pull me out of my thriller slump. And then the Final Girls was just a really good one, but very dark. So again, only read it if you're ready for something dark.
Kristen Bahls:And then the last book, the last book that I'm going to be talking about today. I'm ending it on a lighter note, and this is Love Like Farms by BK Borson. This is a romance novel and I gave this four out of five stars. That may be controversial for some, because there are people that just absolutely love this book and I did really enjoy this book. I feel like I maybe didn't articulate that as well as I could have in the last episode where I briefly touched on it as I was talking about BK Borson's new book, but this is the first in the Love Like Farms series. There are going to be a total of four books. The Net. The fourth book does not come out until 2024. So right now there are only three books, but there will be four in the series.
Kristen Bahls:This was number one and it is called Love Like Farms and it was kind of a Christmasy novel, I would say. The spice level on this it is higher, is closer to the Ali Hazelwood section of things, I would say it's like a four out of five stars If I was going to yeah, if I was going to rate it. So just know that in advance. It has a little bit more than than just some of the other novels that I recommend and I would say that this is really great for an atmospheric, christmasy, just kind of adorable novel. They are on a Christmas tree farm, so it really is the perfect. I don't know, it's like the perfect book, and I was just seeing, I just saw something on BK's Instagram that said that actually all four of her Love Like series books happen in different seasons and so of course, this season is winter and then the next one happens in spring and it's one of the other characters stories, and then the next one is in summer and it's another one of the characters love stories, and then the last characters love story in the book that's coming out in 2024 happens in fall. So you really get something that's perfect for all seasons.
Kristen Bahls:It was Christmasy, it looked cute, it had good reviews. That is why I decided to pick it up and I would say that it doesn't move as fast as some of the other romance novels I've read recently, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm just pointing it out so you can kind of understand that it maybe wasn't as punchy and wasn't as quick of a read. It was a little bit cuter and slower, and still good. Just a different pace from what what I've been reading. So it took me about a week to finish this. Normally I finished books in like two to three days but, like I said, it just didn't move as fast. But I enjoyed it every time I picked it up. So I would also like to point this out. I really just enjoyed like the ride that this book took me on pretty much.
Kristen Bahls:And I don't know on my rating I'm just iffy. I'm like, do I give it five stars? But if I'm compare it, see, it's like when I compare it to other books, that's when I kind of put it down to four stars. I don't know, I'm a little bit iffy on my rating. You know what ratings are hard, because you just think about these authors kind of put like their life and their soul into it and if it's really well written and you just didn't agree with something or maybe you just didn't like a plot point, it's hard to knock them down a couple stars unless the writing or something was bad or the plot was bad or something like that. So if I'm really just judging the writing, plot, atmosphere, I don't know I'm between four and five stars, but I did really enjoy this book. So enough of my random rambling where I cannot decide what I've already rated it, fantastic.
Kristen Bahls:This is what Love Like Farms is about. So in this novel, Stella owns a Christmas tree farm and as she approaches year two of owning this farm, she really needs an influx of cash because she's in the small town and she runs a Christmas tree farm, so it can be a little bit tough, kind of in the off season. So she decides that she wants to enter the social media influencers competition where the grand prize is $100,000, and she's chosen. But the only problem is that on her application for this competition she wrote that she owns the farm with her boyfriend, her non existent boyfriend. So she ends up enlisting the help of her best friend of 10 years His name is Luca to pretend to be her boyfriend, and the two already had a lot of chemistry as friends. But do they have enough chemistry to fool the influencer, her name is Evelyn, and when the contrest contest and $100,000, while still keeping their friendship intact and not crossing lines. I don't know. You'll have to read again.
Kristen Bahls:I enjoyed it. I would recommend it. If you're looking for a good Christmasy book that is very sweet and adorable, I would recommend Love Light Farms. I enjoyed it and the writing is strong. I also really appreciated how, okay, so whenever, yeah, whenever she was writing, she had all of the chapters from a certain character's point of view. It was from Stella's point of view. She's the owner of Love Light Farms and then the very last chapter switches to Luca's point of view, which I really liked the way that they did that.
Kristen Bahls:I thought that it was smart, smart writing. I mean really throughout it's all pretty smart writing and the banter is good. It's just not maybe as quick and punchy as some of the other romance novels I've read lately, but that does not mean I don't recommend it. So, as you can tell, I've hit a really good mix of books lately and they're all pretty different from each other, but I've enjoyed a lot of them and I would highly recommend them.
Kristen Bahls:And I know that you can't put all of these on your TBR to be read list, right away, but you know. Just consider as they start coming available at the library, as the newness of them kind of wears off, because I think pretty much all of these are very new, except for Love Light Farms. But I think Love Light Farms is so popular you're probably going to have a hard time trying to find it anywhere, especially around Christmas time. Maybe read it like in the off season and then you can possibly be able to find it. But I would highly recommend all of these books. I enjoyed them for different reasons. Again, sometimes I just really wanted intense thriller and other times I enjoy the romance category. So it's really just whatever. I'm in the mood to read next On my currently reading. You never know what genre mix up you're going to get. We'll see what happens next time. Hopefully this helps you pick your next read. And that's it for today on the Overdress Teachers Podcast.