Bride by Ali Hazelwood Deep Dive with Paige Woodrow

Paige from @lostinthepaigeofabook joins me to talk about Bride, and we might go on a few tangents along the way.

Reading Rec:

• Frankie from @hyperunfocus Reading Rec is The Seven Year Slip.
• Dr. Melissa Dymond's rec was The Holiday Star (sweet version, spicy version).
• Submit a Reading Rec for the chance to hear your voice on an episode.

Books Discussed:

• Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
• Bride by Ali Hazelwood
• Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
• Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
• The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
• Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
• Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center
• How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
• Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center
• Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood - Pre-order
• Ghosted by Sarah Ready
• My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
• Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
• The Rule Book by Sarah Adams - Pre-order

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.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Intro and Author Signings

Kristen Bahls 0:01

If you missed it , in the last episode I introduced the Reading Rec segment and this is where readers and authors alike can send and voice memos recommending books to you , the listener . And last episode we got to hear about the Holiday Star from Dr Melissa Dymond , which is now on my TBR . Well , okay , it was actually already on my TBR , but now I'm really excited for her upcoming novel this summer . It's called Paging Dr Heart , so I can't wait for that . But today this recommendation is from Frankie , who you may know on Instagram as Hyperunfocus , so this is Frankie's rec .

Frankie 0:39

One of my favorite romance books Actually , it's one of my favorite books of all time is the Seven Year Slip , and it is my idea of perfection . It's everything that I would want out of a book , and while the romance is wonderful and incredible , it's not the entire purpose of the plot . There's a bigger plot outside of the romance . It follows Clementine as she's dealing with the recent passing of her aunt .

Frankie 1:08

And her aunt has left her an apartment and one day when Clementine walks in she finds a man standing there . But the man exists seven years in her past and that's the heart of the romance but also plays a big , important role in the actual plot of the story . And it is so beautifully written and it is wonderful and explores so many feelings that are beyond just romance , of love and dealing with grief and family and the pressure is that you go through at work . And it's wonderful . I can't stop talking about it , I can't stop recommending it . It's one of those books that I get my feelings hurt over , but it's wonderful and I'll never stop recommending it .

Kristen Bahls 1:55

Frankie has fantastic taste , as the Seven Year Slip is an awesome pick , and if you want to follow Frankie or Melissa on Instagram , check the show notes for their links down below . Welcome back to Where I Left Off - A Bookish Podcast and today I'm joined again by Paige Woodrow from Lost in the Page of a Book on Instagram . Thanks for coming back again , Paige .

Paige Woodrow 2:26

Yes , thanks for having me . I'm so excited to be back on .

Kristen Bahls 2:29

It's so much fun , yay , I know I always look forward to our monthly deep dives into books , and today we get to talk about Bride by Ali Hazelwood .

Paige Woodrow 2:39

I haven't it's such a pretty cover it is . I actually have kind of a funny story about how I have this . I'm ready , so I got to meet Ali . On Wednesday a bookstore in Austin did a, It was actually for Elle Cosimano . She's the author of the Finley Donovan books . Have you read those ?

Kristen Bahls 3:03

I haven't , but they're on my list . I've heard a lot of good things about them .

Paige Woodrow 3:06

Yeah , they're really good . I actually picked her first one for when it was my book club pick one time , nice . I loved it . And then she's been doing more and more and she just came out with the fourth one and so the meat and signing and talk was focused on L , because she talked all about her journey in how thinly Donovan came about and da , da , da . But there was Ali Hazelwood because she asked her all the questions and everything like that and I didn't know this . But she lives in Georgetown . Wait , really , yes , ally Hazelwood does Like , how does she live so close to me , so like now that I like Georgetown all the time , like can I just see her in the wild ?

Kristen Bahls 3:53

Like , yeah , just like walk around like Walmart or like the bookstore or wherever and just see if you can see her again .

Paige Woodrow 4:00

Also , did you know that that's not her name ? Oh , is that a ?

Kristen Bahls 4:05

Pen name yes , wait , what's her name ? I don't know .

Paige Woodrow 4:10

Oh , like no one knows her name I don't know her real name is and she's also like a professor somewhere , but I don't know where . I don't know if she's a professor at UT , since she lives in Georgetown , or she's a professor with like a smaller school like near there . I have no idea . But anyway , we're there and it's like a sign and I knew that it was going to be like an assigning opportunity , because it said so in like the description and like I didn't know . Like you know , I was like I'm just going to bring my favorite , which is love , on the brain , and because I'm like , oh , they'll probably only sign one , like I don't want to be that person .

Kristen Bahls 4:44

Yeah , there will be a line and they won't have time , but it's really pretty a small group .

Paige Woodrow 4:48

It was very small . There was maybe oh gosh , maybe a hundred people like he was small and we got to sit on the first row , which is amazing . They were just the sweetest ever people . Just it was such a blast listening to them talk . It was like listening to two friends just chat like . I don't know . Anyway , they were just so great . And then everyone had brought , like all of their Ali Hazelwood books and I was like I should have just brought all of them stupidly . I let a friend borrow my copy of fry .

Kristen Bahls 5:25

Oh no .

Paige Woodrow 5:25

And I was like , oh fine , I'll just , you know , get her to sign it on Monday .

Paige Woodrow 5:31

But then I was like is there a book signing on Monday ? Like can we get stuff signed ? And so we were like looking it up , looking at the tickets , like nowhere does it say that there's going to be a signing . It's at the site giant church , like there's still tickets available . So like I don't know how many people are going to be there , but I highly doubt there will be a signing . If there is , it's probably gonna be like forever long to stand in line .

Paige Woodrow 5:57

And so I was like I don't know . And Marissa was like , well , you feel like so upset if you could have got Bride signed . And then you didn't get it signed and I was like , yes , I will . I bought another copy at the store Just so she could sign it , and she drew a little bat inside .

Kristen Bahls 6:17

Oh my gosh , she . She took the time to draw a bat . Were you like chatting with her the whole time ?

Paige Woodrow 6:22

And my friend in her book . She brought check and mate and she drew a cute little raccoon . Oh , I guess there's nothing signed or drawn in this one . But I guess I don't really know what you would draw to go with Love on the Brain .

Kristen Bahls 6:38

There's a little heart on the I , so I mean I don't know .

Paige Woodrow 6:41

But anyway , yeah , I love it , I'm so excited . And then I got home and I was like I told my husband , who's like wait , so you bought a , a copy that you already have , just you could get it signed . I was like yes , and then he was like you know , it's worth more if they don't put your name and . I was like so I have a copy that is signed , that will just be beautiful and signed , and then I have my copy that people can borrow and I would also worry about it getting messed up .

Kristen Bahls 7:14

Oh , oh yeah . And then one of her we go to the event Katherine Center and Ali Hazelw ood . Now I know , now I'm gonna bring Check & Mate , now I'm gonna bring Love Theoretically , now I'm gonna bring Bride and we'll see if she signs all of those . Like I'm gonna have to have a tote bag . Yeah , I don't know .

Paige Woodrow 7:34

I'm gonna bring my other two . I have her other two . I also have Loathe to Love You , but I don't really care for those as much , so I don't know that I want them signed . But yeah , I'm definitely gonna bring my other two , just in case , and I have two Katherine center books , so I'll probably bring those two just in case .

Kristen Bahls 7:51

I know I have . I have all of Katherine Centers books , so I know she wouldn't want me to bow them all , but I don't know she has a lot too . Yeah , she does . Yeah , I have all of them . I honestly have all of them . There's only two that I haven't read by Katherine center , but all of the others I've read . And then Ali Hazel woods' all of them I've read , so yeah , which is your favorite ?

Kristen Bahls 8:12

of Katherine ? The Bodyguard hands down . The Bodyguard was just so good . Yeah , that was my first , oh really . Oh , it's my favorite . I mean it's my favorite of hers because I Don't know , there's just something about Jack , and now I'm totally blanking on the main female main characters name . I remember their needs and I was Jack Stapleton and then I can't remember what her name is , but anyway I loved it . I just loved like their banter and just the plot was so different having like a female bodyguard . She even calls herself like a protection agent or something that's not bodyguard .

Kristen Bahls 8:46

But I can't even remember what the correct phrasing was right now . But yeah , I think bodyguards my favorite . Then Things You Save in a Fire is second .

Paige Woodrow 8:54

I was so good I think . I think that one's my favorite . I really liked that one a lot .

Kristen Bahls 8:59

So good . I I also liked a lot . I mean it's just she writes really strong like female main characters and I like how they always go through some kind of like crap or life event or something that like sets them up To be able to find hope and happiness later , kind of thing . Which ones have you not read yet ? Oh , so I haven't read . Everyone is Beautiful and and How to Walk Away ? Those are the two that I have it .

Paige Woodrow 9:27

I haven't read .

Kristen Bahls 9:29

I'm trying to think . Happiness for Beginners is good .

Paige Woodrow 9:31

What's the other one I read with ? Oh , hello , stranger , that's the other one , oh yeah , yeah .

Kristen Bahls 9:37

well , strangers like four or five , yeah , cuz it's the bodyguard , and then things you save in a fire , and then happiness for beginners is probably right under there . That one's really good . That one's a Netflix movie actually . And then , yeah , and Ellie Kemper stars in it . She was on the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt , and was she on the Officer Parks and Rec , one of those , I can't remember which one the office , the office , yeah , yeah , she's on the office and then , yeah , so she's like the lead in the movie .

Kristen Bahls 10:09

And then she actually signed on with Katherine Center and did the audiobook For it . No way , yeah , and she does all the characters in the audiobook . Which one is ? This Happiness for Beginners .

Paige Woodrow 10:22

Okay , now I gotta listen to the audiobook of that .

Kristen Bahls 10:24

Yes , that sounds so great , oh , it's gonna be good and it's like so , Happiness for Beginners is like where ? Okay , so she just got divorced . Her husband's kind of clingy , he like keeps calling her and driving her crazy , but she is just determined to go on this like soul searching camping trip and so and she's not like she's not a camper at all and this is like an expert level , like camping trip , and so she goes on it . She walks in the room and it's like all teenagers , pretty much like college kids , and there's one other guy that's a little bit older and she's like , oh crap , what did I get myself into ? And somehow , well , I mean , you find out , I don't want to spoil it .

Kristen Bahls 11:05

So somehow her little brothers best friend is also on the camping trip and she tells him to pretend that they don't know each other and so , anyway , they go on this like two week camping adventure , like hiking , camping extravaganza , like totally out in the wilderness , and their guide is like a 16 year old dude and he's like taking them through it and it's , it's just hilarious . It's really really good . Okay , cool , but yeah , it's , it's a Netflix movies .

Paige Woodrow 11:38

I better read and then watch it . Yeah , read and then watch .

Kristen Bahls 11:41

But yeah , I know I can't wait . Now we're gonna have to , I'm gonna have so many books . I'm gonna have to , like , bring a tote bag to this . Because I was thinking , oh , only bring one book , like you said , like they're not gonna have time to sign , but if they have time to sign , why not ? I mean , yeah , if they have time to sign , true , and now that Ali lives in Georgetown , that makes so much more sense because I know Katherine lives in Houston . So that makes sense , like why she was able to drive to Austin . Because I was like , why did they just randomly pick , yeah , Austin for their yeah ?

Paige Woodrow 12:11

Yeah , but it doesn't so random in , but that that makes way more sense , yeah apparently Owl and Lark booksellers in Georgetown is like her home store so like a lot of times they'll have like signed copies of her things and like all this stuff and like I had no idea , like I need to go there , like what am I doing with my life ?

Kristen Bahls 12:34

That's so cool . That's always how it works . I was gonna say that I kind of I don't know if this is like a common thing , but with Ali Hazelwood being a pin name , there's also like a couple other teacher authors that use pin names . So I wonder if it's just Like if you don't nothing , you don't want your students to know .

Paige Woodrow 12:56

Yeah , maybe also like I'm sure she has a lot of Educational like writings that she's done , you know research papers and things like that , and you can have that like separation of name Of like this is like my , you know academic work and this is like my , yeah , but like it makes the science part in her books that much more neat that that she's actually a part of that field , you know .

Paige Woodrow 13:27

Mm-hmm but I'm listening to love on right now and it's just so good . I have like an hour left and I just love Levi . I know we're not supposed to talk about love on the brain . No , this is my favorite . Well , that's not true . Bride is my favorite of her books , but that's my favorite of her romcoms .

Kristen Bahls 13:51

Okay , now I can't remember which one it is and I'm almost positive it's an Ali Hazelwood book . It may be love on the brain . Which one is the one where okay , so the female main character , I think she decides to go for a run and she gets lost in like a cemetery . Is that Love on the Brain ? Okay , I'm gonna have to reread that . It's been too long since I've read it .

Paige Woodrow 14:13

No , it's actually been so fun because , you know , I read all of them and then I re-listened to Love Theoretically , to have the talk with you , and then I was like it was just so fun listening to it because the audiobook narrator does a great job , and so I was like I just want to listen to all of hers on audio and it's so fun rereading them because , like people say like oh , they're just so similar , like they're all kind of the same , like I would tell my husband about him and he's like didn't you just read that ?

Paige Woodrow 14:41

I'm like no this one is a little bit different , and so it's . But but it's fun rereading them because , like , because they are so similar I don't really remember like which situations happen in like which book . And so , like , we keep getting and I'm like , oh , this is the one with the cemetery , oh yeah , you know . And so I was so excited because that it that was one of my favorite scenes or situations I guess in in these books , and so that's been really fun that I like I'm not sure what crazy situations are going to happen .

Kristen Bahls 15:18

Oh man , well , now , now I'm really curious , for okay , so whenever not in love comes out , which I can't remember the date for that , I was gonna say I think it's June , june 16 . I don't know why June 16 is screaming at me . That may be wrong , but anyway , whenever that one comes out , like I know she said , it's a little bit different and I think , like a little bit more intense . So I'm wondering , like I hope it still has that magic of some of her others .

Frankie 15:41

I know , I don't know , I don't know how .

Kristen Bahls 15:42

I can get more intense almost but we'll see .

Paige Woodrow 15:45

Yeah , I'm so excited about the talk on Monday so that we can hear from Ali more , because it was more focused on L like we didn't really hear anything about Ali , you know because , like , she was just asking her questions , but she did say that she's supposed to be working on a book that's due in like two weeks , which I'm assuming is the one that's just about to come .

Kristen Bahls 16:10

That has to be not in love . Yeah , because she was still editing it a couple months ago , but she's not done yet and she's like working on all these side projects instead .

Paige Woodrow 16:19

And then in the signing line I asked her if she's going to write like a sequel for Bride , because it was so good and I want another one . And she was like , well , there's not one under contract , but that hasn't stopped me like starting one . And I was like , so I'm like what publisher would be stupid enough to not see like the success that this book has had and not do another book ? So I think we'll see another one .

Bride Spoiler-Filled Book Discussion

Kristen Bahls 16:46

Selena's love story where they left it with that . Wait , isn't Selena is it that her name ? The friend that went missing ? Oh crap , I thought it was a little bit .

Paige Woodrow 16:56

I don't remember any of the side characters .

Kristen Bahls 16:59

I know , or maybe a Serena Serena .

Paige Woodrow 17:02

Serena , oh and I loved .

Kristen Bahls 17:03

Okay , I think it's going to be Serena's love story . That would be my guess for a second . I loved that . Yes , she was so cute .

Paige Woodrow 17:11

Yeah , I loved that was fun .

Kristen Bahls 17:14

So there you go . Ali Hazelwood , if you're listening , makes Serena's love story where you left it with . I can't . Okay , I actually will get into that in a second , because I do need to say , before we get into Bride , we're going to give spoilers . This is spoiler filled . We're just going to talk about it just kind of like we normally do , and flip back and forth in between different points of the novel beginning , middle and end and we're not going to censor it . So if you do not want spoilers , go ahead and find another episode , read Bride and then come back . Okay , now where they left it at the end with Serena , and now I'm blanking on which werewolf was like , oh crap , because he liked her . At the very end , it's like the very last page .

Paige Woodrow 18:03

It was his , it was his Alex , like friend Cohen , I have to say I am such like an ol factory person , like to me since are so special , like so much . So like they trigger memories and feelings , like the other day I was walking in the grocery store and I passed this lady and she smelled just like my mama , who passed away like a couple years ago now , and like I almost asked her for a hug and started crying in the grocery store and then I was like that's weird , I'm not going to do that , but like in , like I will smell my husband and I'm like , oh my gosh , you smell so good . And like it's so upsetting to me because , like he can't smell at all , I'll be like , do you like this new like shampoo I got or whatever ? And he's like I can't smell you like I'm not sure .

Paige Woodrow 19:04

And so like to read a book centered so much around like the power of scent was just like so great , like so much . And it was helpful to me because , like , even though it was like him so into this and her like not being able to smell , it was like me and my husband , but swap , true , you know , it was like it was kind of nice , to hear like a she's still so into him , even though she can't smell . I don't know .

Kristen Bahls 19:39

So , like you know , yeah , I know that is a really unique take , that's a unique point . I didn't even think about it like that . I mean I knew . On the smell thing , yeah , I was like , okay , that would be so weird , if you know , he is just so affected by smell the whole time , and she's just kind of like I mean I can't , oh my gosh , I'm trying to find .

Kristen Bahls 20:02

I'm trying to find the one I loved , loved , loved the little top , like his little thoughts at the top which I did read those , because I know that you were flabbergasted that I don't read the prologue most of the time , but I did read those little notes . Are you saying you wouldn't have read those ? I did read those , but you know some people may not . Would you have not ? I don't know , I don't know . I started reading them so I did read them throughout , but I normally don't read like the prologue , so if it was all tied up in a prologue somehow , I probably would not have read it .

Paige Woodrow 20:45

They were the best part of the whole book . It was pretty cute and I'm trying to find my favorite one . I know exactly what it says .

Kristen Bahls 20:57

Oh , and if we sound like we're talking on context , so below the male main character , his thoughts are written above every chapter and they kind of relate to something either in the previous chapter and then kind of give you like a little teaser for the next chapter and it's like his thoughts about misery . So even though we don't get a full POV from him , it's kind of like his mini thought bubble process slash , slight POV .

Paige Woodrow 21:23

Oh , my gosh , the top of chapter 14 . So up until this point , keep in mind , they have not touched or interacted physically in any way . Okay , so the next title of the next chapter just says she tastes the way she smells . And I was like , oh my gosh , what does that mean ? I want to know everything . And then like the whole scene of him , like marking her on the airplane oh my gosh , I've never read anything like more like .

Kristen Bahls 22:07

I read it like three times . So when the audio book comes out you're saying that you're basically kind of like fast forward to that part and then rewind it just to listen for rewind .

Paige Woodrow 22:19

Actually , love on the brain . I don't know if you remember , but like he is spoiler for love on the brain If you haven't read it . She chats with this guy online and you find out later that he is the guy online . Yeah , and so , like you , it hasn't up until this point , like it hasn't been told to us flat out that it's him . But like I mean , come on , we all know it's him Robins trope 101 .

Paige Woodrow 22:47

Yeah , like at this point , but she's a thing and he like lays out this whole thing about , like how obsessed he is with her and how much he loves her so much . Do you remember that part A little bit ? Yes , yes , like when I read it , I read that whole section like four or five times , like I was like this is so beautiful and so like when I was listening to the audio clip , I went around it and listened to it a second time .

Kristen Bahls 23:13

You sound . You sound like me at the end of X's and O's . I don't want to ruin that one , but it's like . So the end is super cute . But then it hits the epilogue and I think I finished it at like I don't know , probably four in the morning and I'm just bawling and I'm like it is so cute . So there you go If you're looking for cute things the airplane scene in bride , the , the whole chat message and love on the brain , which is chapter 14 .

Kristen Bahls 23:48

Chapter 14 . Okay , so chapter 14 on bride love in the brain , love in the brain , love on the brain , yeah , and that whole text message scene , if anyone wants to know what it is , what chapter it's in ?

Paige Woodrow 24:01

it's in chapter 12 .

Kristen Bahls 24:03

And just X's and O's . The epilogue is just it'll get you . That's amazing . I just cannot wait to meet her . I may just be so starstruck between , like all of them , and I think we forgot to say that Julia to be there as well . I bought one of her books . Yeah , I have not read anything by her yet .

Paige Woodrow 24:20

But I did ignore November as an ARC and I haven't read it yet .

Kristen Bahls 24:26

Okay , I bought it started with a dog . I think I'm pretty sure it's called it started with a dog . I bought that one to get her to sign it , but I haven't actually read it yet . You know how you have like all these big plans of , oh I'm going to read this before I do this , and then I'm going to read this before I do this , and then it just , and then you get ARCs and it just . There was a total wrench in your plan , which it's great to get ARCs , but you know .

Paige Woodrow 24:49

I really need to start saying no to them .

Kristen Bahls 24:51

Yeah .

Paige Woodrow 24:51

Like I don't know why I keep asking or saying yes and I'm stupid . That's why it's just fun , Like it's really fun about like getting to be one of the first people to read it , and stuff like that .

Kristen Bahls 25:03

And you feel so fancy and like I haven't even messed with net galley that much I need to , but I just haven't because I keep getting like I keep talking to authors on Instagram or like publishers will send me stuff like via email Sometimes it's still through net galley , but I've gotten so many of those that I'm like no , I need to stop . I know I need to stop , but yeah , yeah , just don't add to the pile , don't add to the fire .

Kristen Bahls 25:29

Yeah , oh man . I mean , yeah it's , it's bad . And then for some reason , like a lot of people have heard them say , it's easy , like it's quicker for them to read a book on Kindle , but for me it's longer , like it takes me longer to read an ebook than it does to read a physical book . And maybe that's just because for work I've been doing like an insane amount of video editing , so my eyes are so tired that by the time I try to read on my Kindle I feel like I'm slower . Maybe that's it , but I don't know .

Paige Woodrow 26:01

It feels like it just I honestly can't really tell like a difference . No , I don't , but I don't really know how I'd be able to tell that because , like I haven't like read one of my Kindle and then the same one , like I haven't like jumped back and forth or anything like that , so I think it's about this . Yeah , for me .

Kristen Bahls 26:22

I guess that would be the only way to do . It is just to read the same book on both and like time yourself . But I don't know who would want to do that . I don't know . You could have read like five more books .

Paige Woodrow 26:32

I don't know , I don't really care , like I'd rather just enjoy my life .

Kristen Bahls 26:36

Yeah , I know , however they come , however you get an arc , then you just you get an arc either way . So , on , bride , what did you rate it ? I mean , I can probably guess , but what did you rate it ? Five stars , I rated it five stars as well . It took me a second to get into it , but that wasn't .

Kristen Bahls 26:57

It was just because it was a fantasy and it was the world building and I was trying to get kind of not into it , but just trying to take it all in , like actually remember what's going on , which , of course , is going to be different than a contemporary romance where she can just kind of like throw you right in , like you just can't .

Kristen Bahls 27:14

I mean , you could have that in a fantasy . But like I needed a second and for some reason at first , I don't know why , like I said , I think I was just tired whenever I was reading this at first , but I for some reason thought that misery was the werewolf and then that low is going to be the vampire . Well , because they were talking about her ears , and so I didn't realize , like I haven't read a lot of fan I mean , you know , I say this every time and I haven't read that many like high fantasy books . So I don't know if it's like common for vampires to have ears , but I never read a book where the vampires have ears . So then whenever they're talking about her pointy ears , I'm just assuming they're like dog ears . So I just went right to like werewolf and then they started talking about blood and all that stuff , as she's getting ready for her wedding and I'm like wait a minute , which was the way and like in the cover you know the werewolf is behind her , but I thought it was like her shape shifting .

Paige Woodrow 28:05

Oh , so did you think like she is changing into the werewolf , okay , yes , yes , because it looks like a part of her hair .

Kristen Bahls 28:12

I thought that she was shapes shifting into the werewolf and then , whenever they were talking about her pointy ears , I'm sitting there going wait a minute . So they're both wolves . I thought one of them was a vampire , but I got it like maybe 20 pages in . I realized , okay , that's , that's completely wrong , like all of this is maybe you want to read it again .

Paige Woodrow 28:28

So bad , like you don't even know . Like this book put me in the biggest slump since reading Throne of Glass . Like , wow , I liked nothing after finishing Bride . Like I literally did not give a book over like three stars , I don't think for like 10 books . Almost like I was like nothing is good like nothing is making me happy . I just want to read it right again .

Kristen Bahls 28:54

And I mean I think that really says something , especially coming from you , who you have read both like Romanticie , high fantasy , like kind of all . I mean really like a little bit of everything . And so if you're saying that it's not just like for me you know I don't have a whole lot to compare it to because I mean it is technically fantasy Would you classify this more like paranormal romance or Romanticie or kind of in between both ?

Paige Woodrow 29:19

I think I was going to say I think it's technically classified as a paranormal romance . Yeah , I've heard that a little bit which I haven't read a whole lot of . Probably the only thing I've read of that's a paranormal romance is Twilight . I read when I was like 14 . And I refuse to read again because I'm pretty sure that I would hate it as my 30 year old self .

Kristen Bahls 29:40

So I'm just not . I think I would hate it if I read it again too . I read it like ninth grade . So yeah , I don't think I would .

Paige Woodrow 29:45

I'm not even gonna , I'm just gonna , it's gonna live in my brain in a happy little bubble of beautiful , of beautifulness and no .

Paige Woodrow 29:52

But I think this is a really good book for people who kind of want to try to see .

Paige Woodrow 29:58

If they want to try a Romanticie type book , because it is heavy on the romance , like there's not a lot of world building , I feel like it really helps that it's set in the world as it is now .

Paige Woodrow 30:12

Pretty much they're just so happens to also be vampires and werewolves that live in that world . So it's not like you're having to be explained a whole world , you're just being explained like a culture , like you know what I mean . So I feel like that kind of helps a little bit and helps with , like the imagining of things . So , yeah , I think it's a really great jumping point for people who want to see , if they want to try out something paranormal-y or romantic-y-ish , because they'll still get the heavier romance piece and it's funny , like it is funny . I've never read a romantic-y book that was so funny . It made me laugh , as Ali often does in her books , like she was clearly in this , like her craft and voice throughout the book , which I thought was so cool that she could shift and put it so effortlessly into this completely different genre than she normally writes .

Kristen Bahls 31:14

There were two parts that I can like recall off the top of my head that I thought were just like extremely funny . So there's one thing where , okay , so Misery is talking to Alex the werewolf that is super techie and is helping her with a lot of the coding , and Lowe tries to come in because he's trying to basically like ultimately he's thinking that he's gonna go break into the other territory by himself and so he is thinking that he can just like magically learn coding , so Alex is trying to teach him . And then Alex is getting really frustrated because he's like a middle-aged , lowe is like a middle-aged man , basically in like technology . And so then whenever Misery comes in on , like she kind of walks in on this and she starts talking to Alex . It said some , she said something like and I looked at Alex and a little thought bubble in Papyrus font like between about how we cannot work the computer or something like that .

Kristen Bahls 32:14

It was just hilarious . I thought that was just kind of gold . That made me laugh way too hard . And then there's this other part where it was Misery and Anna and Anna is Lowe's like little sister I mean not technically little sister , but for all intents and purposes his little sister and she comes and sits on Misery's lap and Misery said something like I don't know what would make you think that you can just come sit on my lap , but I guess I'm gonna have to fix that or something it was their whole back .

Kristen Bahls 32:48

Yeah , that was also amazing . But yeah , there's so many different things that are funny , but those two just like really stuck out . I don't know . I've probably page flagged those , I'm sure .

Paige Woodrow 32:58

Yeah , I , now that I have two copies , I should read it again and like highlighted and like write .

Kristen Bahls 33:05

And annotated up .

Paige Woodrow 33:09

There needs to be more like merchandise . Like you know , there's so much merchandise for like ACOTAR and Throne of Glass and Fourth Wing . Like Etsy , people Make some bright stuff , I'll buy it Like let's go .

Kristen Bahls 33:25

I mean my drawing tablet is just sitting here collecting dust . So if I ever actually had time , then you never know what could happen . Oh my gosh , yeah , that is true . Like there are some things that I don't know why they decide , like all the merch and then other stuff . It's just like nothing . But I mean bright hasn't been out that long so maybe , like , give it a little bit and I feel like you'll see a lot of bright . Wow , yeah , I've heard I don't think I've honestly heard anything less than five stars from anyone that I've seen reviewed on Instagram .

Kristen Bahls 33:59

Yeah , mate , no , I really don't think I have . I think literally everyone , and they have really different reading tastes . And there was this one girl I cannot remember who it was , but she does not even like any of Allie's , like romcom books , but she totally loved bright , like she gave it five stars . So , you know , it seems like you don't even actually have to be a fan of her romcoms to enjoy this one , because it's such a different thing . And on paranormal romance , wouldn't ghost it technically count like ? Would ghost it count Cause ghost and I don't know , like maybe a very light .

Kristen Bahls 34:36

Maybe cause he's a ghost . Yeah , I could see that . I don't know . Sure , I'm just guessing here , but I don't know . My rumored is a vampire . Is another one . That's a paranormal romance . Oh , that's on my list .

Paige Woodrow 34:50

I've heard it too .

Kristen Bahls 34:51

That's good . I liked it . Yeah , I liked it . I felt like I almost had no business liking it as much as I did . Like I kind of went into it a little bit hesitant and I got it from the library and then I just was laughing so much . Cause again it . You know it was set .

Kristen Bahls 35:06

Okay , like I'm not saying that it's going to be anywhere near bride , so this is not what I'm saying . But if you did enjoy bride , there are a lot of similar elements , like the humors there , the vampires are there . It's kind of the same thing . Okay , so Jen O'Levine is the author for my roommates a vampire and it's like the way she describes the vampires , just like how Ally would . Ally would help .

Kristen Bahls 35:31

Ally Hazelwood describes the vampires and the werewolves Like they both never get to in the weeds , to where it takes you out of it , but they give you like good , concrete descriptions of how that would actually work in the real world . So you're not sitting there saying like , okay , this doesn't make any sense or how would that happen . Like they both do a really good job with that . But I will say , on my roommate as a vampire , there's like one point in the plot where they kind of run into a snafu and they fix it almost too easily . So I kind of bumped it down to four stars because I felt like plot wise maybe it was like it's not bride , but like banter wise I feel like it's close-ish to bride . So you know , just kind of go in with , it's gonna be good . It's not gonna be bride level , but it's still enjoyable , okay Well , what can be bride level ?

Paige Woodrow 36:25

I mean really . That's true , I already pre-ordered the next one , okay well , it will remain on my TBR , then , for sure . Oh , that's good . I don't know what , not really . Maybe I'll read it at like October , there you go and then reread bride right after in October . Yeah , don't read bride first though , because no , no , then you'll be disappointed . I think that's my hold back , honestly , in reading it again . I really wanna read it again , but I'm afraid it'll put me in another slump again .

Paige Woodrow 36:52

And like I finally got out of it and I've read some really good books . Like I'm a little bit afraid that some of the books that I rated actually were better than I thought they were Like I was a little too harsh or something , but oh well , it's the way the cooking doubles .

Kristen Bahls 37:07

It is what it is . Yeah , I feel like I already know your answer to this one , but based , okay , ultimately , if you're kind of thinking about bride overall , what is it that really makes it stand out from the other fantasy novels Like what is it that kind of sets it ahead of ?

Paige Woodrow 37:25

the pack . I feel like it's the fact that it is more romance based and all the other fantasy stuff is centered more around like the plot , I guess , whereas like this book seems to be more centered around the characters and like their relationship with each other . If that makes sense , More like a romance would be . So I feel like that kind of sets it apart .

Kristen Bahls 37:48

That would make sense . It's not so much like hero's journey plot kind of thing . It's more about their interactions . There is , there's a plot , yeah , yeah .

Paige Woodrow 37:57

Cause . I mean there is conflict , yeah , and that is exciting , but I don't feel like that's the it's almost like the romance is the plot and the story mystery adventure is kind of the sub plot .

Kristen Bahls 38:14

Yeah .

Paige Woodrow 38:15

Like I enjoyed that piece but honestly , if she took it out I would still love it just as much . Like , whereas , like I feel like with fantasy stuff , if you took out either one , you know it wouldn't be , it wouldn't hold together as well , I guess .

Kristen Bahls 38:34

So Do you think that Ally Hazelwood is now going to like really switch over to fantasy ? I mean , I know we already kind of talked about that she wasn't technically or she said whenever you met her that she wasn't like contracted to do a sequel to Bride . But do you think she'll switch to more like fantasy novels in general or stick to wrong comps or kind of mix it up ?

Paige Woodrow 38:54

I really have no idea , Cause , like at the thing , like you know , we didn't she didn't really talk a whole lot and I mean I didn't ask for that , but she didn't sound like she's got a few different things that she's working on , but like she didn't , she didn't allude to like what Elaborate Things . So I would think that she would probably stick with what she's doing now , or maybe do .

Paige Woodrow 39:22

I don't see her being like I'm never gonna write that again , I'm only gonna stick with this or I'm gonna switch completely to that , like I feel like she would just start doing both , like I don't know that it has to be either or whatever . But I did learn that at that thing . The publishers have a lot of say about a lot of stuff , which is crazy .

Kristen Bahls 39:46

Yes , yes , I'm learning that . Have you read Yellow Face ? No , and I saw your stories and how excited you were on it , so I need to add it .

Paige Woodrow 39:56

It is wild and I think I loved it so much too because , like I just heard Elle tell her whole story about , because , like she started writing Young Adults . This is so cool . It's like all interconnected , you'll see . So she's writing stories all about young adult thrillers , okay , and she's in this group of ladies . It's like her and two or three other authors , one of which is Ashley Elston , who wrote for- .

Kristen Bahls 40:27

Oh , oh my gosh , I'm jealous already .

Paige Woodrow 40:30

But anyway , they all are writing and they're like encouraging one another . They kind of like , you know , give each other feedback , tweak each other's stories , all this stuff . And that's how the book was born . They were at a Panera Cause .

Paige Woodrow 40:42

Ally asked her like why Panera Bread ? Cause , like the book starts off in a Panera and I don't know if you know the plot of Finley Donovan , but she is just like a mom and she's a author and she's meeting with her editor at a Panera Bread and she writes romantic suspense and she's trying to tell her editor like the plot of her story and stuff like that . And her agent her and her agent is , like you know , chatting back and forth and telling her like amounts of money and stuff like that . And this lady overhears and thinks that she's a contract killer and is getting like paid to do a job , okay . And so then she comes in . She's like , okay , I have a job for you to do . She like wants her to murder her husband and stuff . And so then all this Lewis stuff happens .

Paige Woodrow 41:32

So that whole premise happened because they met at a Panera Bread and they're young adult thriller authors and so they're talking about like who are we gonna murder and who's gonna kill them and how are we gonna clean up the body ? And she said that , like this girl that was sitting at a table right next to them like looked really afraid and just left her tray and like left the Panera bread . That's amazing . And then , like later at the hotel , one of the ladies was like wouldn't it be so funny if , instead of leaving , she thought we were like killers ? That she like wanted us for a job and that's what . Like started the whole premise for Finley Donovan and like her writing these books and like it just took off . And she talks all about how with her other stuff nothing was sticking , like nobody was wanting to pick it up . She got in with Finley Donovan . She was denied by , I think she said , like 19 publishers .

Paige Woodrow 42:26

Like so many because it doesn't fit . She said in Young Adult you can publish any type of book , cause it's all gonna go on the same shelf and it's like all that makes sense . Like there's just the young adult shelf , but with adult , like it has to fit in a box , it has to be mystery or fantasy or romance or whatever . Like you have to be in a box and Finley doesn't fit a box . Like it is like mystery , thriller , romance , comedy , like all rolled into one little package . And so publishers would be like this is really great , but we don't know how to sell it . And then they would just be like sorry bye . And so finally , you know , it got picked up and she was saying that , like some of the publishers had messaged back and being like , oh , like we hate ourselves , we can pick you up cause it's doing so well and it's like it's getting option for some TV series .

Paige Woodrow 43:21

So we got to talk about like who we think should play the characters and she's writing three more books . She's signed on for three more books , which is wild , which goes back to the whole , like they have the power , Cause it's like they want her to write three more books but she doesn't really like no , exactly what they're doing yet . Yep , and so Yellow Face is all about the publishing industry . So much like this . Girl steals her friends , her friend dies and she steals her friends . Manuscript .

Paige Woodrow 44:00

I mean it's like the first word of the book . That's like the first thing .

Paige Woodrow 44:02

Yeah so it's not a spoiler yeah , not a spoiler and so like , but she steals her manuscript and writes it off as her own and it's the whole journey of her navigating the publishing world and all of her horrible decisions and just the whole train wreck that happens because of all her choices . But it was just fascinating to read after listening to Elle talk about publishing and how challenging it is to get in the door and get accepted and get your book published and get it out there . I loved it , yeah , yeah .

Paige Woodrow 44:41

You should read both of them , the Finley Donovan books and Yellow Face .

Kristen Bahls 44:45

They're both on my TBR . My TBR is so long at this point . I mean , I'm sure everyone , I'm sure everyone's is Like if you're on Bookstagram , if you look at Bookstagram accounts , it's just going to grow . I think you even have like a reel on that , like the one where the suitcases are rolling . Yeah , yeah , I was going to say I think you have like multiple , but yeah , I've been learning a little bit more kind of about publishing , just talking to like different authors and stuff , and like I didn't even realize that a lot of them are saying , of course , you know , I mean , if you think about it , like of course , a publishing house , because they're footing the bill for everything . Obviously that's why they get a lot of the decisions and , like they , they get to decide your cover and they're trying to make sure that it matches like their brands and so it looks like their brand , with it fitting within your story . And so I just couldn't imagine like what if you took all the time to write this book and then you really didn't love your cover , but now you have to like market your own cover because it's your book , but you don't even like this thing that's like attached to your name and your picture . I don't know . That just seems so crazy , it's so weird .

Kristen Bahls 45:50

So , on the topic of bread , I like I said I've seen all five star reviews , the only like little nitpicks , and I had to search to find these . So this this little like nitpicky question that's come for people is not a lot and it's not common . But people seem to be the most annoyed with the fact that they don't get why low lied , slash like kind of hid the fact about , I know , about thinking misery was his true mate from the beginning . They don't get it . But you know , I mean I feel like this is almost kind of like love , theoretically again a little bit . You know , like it's . I mean you're at like you're not going to have the miscommunication , you're not building to the miscommunication trope and you're not building to the ultimate point of when misery realizes that they are mates If you don't have some kind of conflict . But that's like the biggest pain point that I've heard .

Paige Woodrow 46:55

There has to be some point of tension , I think , to make it exciting . And I think he just wanted to protect her Like . I think he truly really didn't think like why would she ? Because he does talk about how , like just because you're mates doesn't mean that you're going to like love each other and like want to be , like it doesn't mean that both people are going to feel like , yeah , I want to be together . And so I think that he truly thought that she wouldn't be interested and like he didn't want her to feel obligated , you know , or whatever . And so I think that's probably why .

Kristen Bahls 47:34

Yeah , I agree , and I mean they're already married , so that's kind of a lot of pressure . That's a lot of pressure to put on someone that you don't really know .

Paige Woodrow 47:42

I love it I also I've never read I've never read like a ranged married or like a where they get married because they have to and then they fall in love , kind of book Like I've never , I don't think , read a book like that , neither , which is a popular trope , but I've not ever read a Reddit , and I did really like it .

Kristen Bahls 48:06

Well , speaking of that trope , you know that the rule book by Sarah Adams her next book coming out , that's it's an arranged marriage trope .

Paige Woodrow 48:12

Yes , I'm getting . My best friend is coming into town on Monday . She's coming to the thing , oh yay , and she's bringing me the cheat sheet . Nice , oh , that's perfect . Yeah , yeah , oh , and I'm going to bring you . I'm bringing you love light farms , so make sure you bring a big enough bag for all your books . I'm bringing you love light farms and I have an extra copy of she starts . Oh yay , I'm just going to give it to you , thank you . You don't have to give it back . That was amazing .

Kristen Bahls 48:41

Oh yeah , thank you . Yeah , today I was at this whole speech event so I do toastmasters and it was like the speech competition and I decided to compete and I won my club and so this was area and I actually won area . Congrats . So now I get to go to Louisiana , thank you . So now I get to go to division .

Paige Woodrow 49:05

Oh , oh my gosh , and it's in Louisiana . You said yeah , so yeah , louisiana .

Kristen Bahls 49:12

So I'm going to have to drive to Louisiana . I'm like , okay , we'll see , I could do it online , but trying to do a speech competition online is just a no go . But anyway , where I was going with that was that whenever I was there , it was like held at a church today , and as I drove in , there was a little free library just sitting there and I was like , oh , I never see the , I never see those out in the wild , like I don't have a lot of book sales around here . And I've seen like little pictures on Instagram of everyone going up to their free library and like authors putting like signed copies in their little free libraries . Yes , yes , sarah Adams put copies in her free library and I've seen multiple others that will go in and they'll tell you which one it is , to those lucky people that get those . And some of you have put arcs , like physical arcs , in their little free library . So now I feel like every time I see one I have to stop . So , anyway , I got to see that and I got get a life .

Kristen Bahls 50:05

Chloe Brown , that's what was in there . So we'll see . It's a romance . I haven't read it , but anyway . So , yes , I , any books I can get , I will clearly take . I just I can't show them with this . I just have to grab anything and everything , oh man , but yeah , yeah , so that I mean that really concludes our conversation with bride . We both recommend it . It's , I mean , it's a five star book , paid Pidge , could reread it a million times . But you know , the reading slump is real . I feel like I've also kind of been a little bit , I don't know , like just harsh or lately or nothing's really hit me . It was kind of like I read bride and I read X's and O's literally back to back and that just ruined me . There was no , there was no going back because they were both so good .

Paige Woodrow 50:52

So I did ghosted and bride back to back .

Kristen Bahls 50:56

Oh yeah , we didn't win with our combos . We totally threw ourselves into a reading slump . I feel like I may be just now coming out of it , but yeah , we would recommend bride . We both thought it was really good . If you have any questions for us , you can always ask us on Instagram and we could do like a bride part two . Even if we're talking about another book next time , we can just cut in to a bride part two and just throw on some questions .

Paige Woodrow 51:21

We never cut in and talk about other books , though that will be really what yeah .

Kristen Bahls 51:29

We don't just like randomly throw books out to each other in the middle of an episode .

Kristen Bahls 51:33

I will say , though , trying to edit these is like insane , because okay , so whenever I'm editing something , so that way I don't have to go back I will literally keep a list on the side and anytime we mention a book , I write it down so I can link it in the show notes and so , and I'll like write down any cute sound bites that we have that I can use for social media . So whenever we have something , not only am I like editing , editing , editing , but then I'm like writing down 15 notes on the side , like constantly going back and forth . So you know , you and you look at like the show notes , and it's hilarious because we have like a lengthy list , because we both just throw there are books out there , yeah , so you could literally build your entire TVR just on our show notes from our , our joint episodes . So there you go , just do that and you come out , come out with a great TBR . But anyway , that's it for today and thanks for listening to when I Left Off a bookish podcast .