Romance Recs
We're 3 romance obsessed besties sharing book recs broken down by genres and tropes, so you can be sure you’re getting exactly what you want out of your next read. We do the research so you don’t have to. You'll find new indie authors, the hottest new releases, interviews, and more. Our different tastes make sure we’ve got something for everyone here at Romance Recs. Mature content is discussed.
Romance Recs
Why Choose
There's more to love in this Why Choose episode! Why Choose refers to polyamorous relationships where there is more than one love interest and the main character doesn't have to choose between them in the end.
Genres include:
- Rockstar Romance
- Omegaverse
- Dark Romance
- Romantasy
- Contemporary
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Welcome to Romance Wrecks, where three book besties explore the world of romance novels and encourage you to expand your TBR. Join us as we dive into the hottest releases and hidden gems of the genre. You can find us on Instagram and TikTok at romancewreckspod. I'm Dev and I am currently reading Unsteady by Peyton Corrine. I'm actually listening to the audio book, which is just the male narrator. Oh my goodness. There are certain words he says that really just I have to pause the book y'all. I have to pause it to gather myself before I can continue listening to him. I actually should figure out what his name is. Cause I'm just listening to it on Libby and I haven't looked at. who the narrators are, but he might be getting a follow so I can check out the rest of his work. But yeah, that's what I'm reading.
Jordan:I'm Jordan. Hello. I just finished reading an arc of Love Under Snowfall by K. L. Parsons. So cute. If you're from the Pacific Northwest, it's set in Leavenworth, Washington, and it's adorable and the spices,
Devonnie:Is the spice good?
Jordan:the spice is good. Yep. And it actually goes with our episode last time. So I wish I'd read it earlier, but it's a, student teacher. He's a professor. Anyways, and I'm currently listening to Twisted Knight. Another arc that I just got off NetGalley, it's kind of what I'm into right now, by Kay Bromberg. It's fun so far. I'm just in the beginning, but it has a lot of potential. So buckle up for some bookish banter. We're going to get there eventually today. We are both so excited for this episode, everybody. We are giddy. Okay. I just cracked a beer. That's the mood I'm in. It's gonna be good.
Devonnie:Yes. is this episode about, Jordan?
Jordan:I am so glad you asked. This is my personal favorite trope in romance. This episode is why choose, why choose refers to polyamorous relationships. Where there is more than one love interest, and the main character doesn't have to choose between them in the end. Sometimes the female main character is the central interest and the male main characters are only interested in her separately they are interested in her sexually and romantically, but not each other. Um, and of course these genders can be swapped or there can be gender fluid. It just. More often than not. That's traditionally what I have seen in this trope, but it is. By no means the only one. Other times it is more fluid and the other characters have their own romantic or sexual relationships with each other. You will often hear these books refer to as reverse harem. Now we have recently heard discourse surrounding this term and have decided that. it is not a term. We will be using any more on the pod. When, you know, better, you do better. So that's where we're at right now, but we are so excited for this episode and this is my official request for my father to stop listening. I recently learned that my father listens to every single episode.
Devonnie:Skip this episode, Dad. Skip this episode.
Jordan:I need you to walk away. Turn it off now. Thank you.
Devonnie:Let's wait till he's gone. Okay, he's gone. Okay. Okay.
Jordan:And with that, Dev, do you have a quote for us today?
Devonnie:I do have a quote. So my quote is actually from one of my recs that I cannot wait to talk to you about this book, but I'm not going to go too much into it with the quote. I'll talk When it gets time to talk about it, I'll talk about it. But basically there are three people in this scene that's happening. There's a husband and a wife and their bestie, Drake, who's a male. The husband is Hunter. The wife is Isabel. Drake is the best friend who is currently servicing
Jordan:Oh,
Devonnie:Hunter's wife, Isabel. And this is right. This is the quote. can be rough with her. Hunter says from his place across the room. She likes it.
Jordan:Yeah, she does.
Devonnie:The
Jordan:at the support!
Devonnie:I know, we love best friends looking out for each other. The reason I actually love this quote, the reason I love this quote is because the scene that it's actually taking place in I remember reading it and going feral and just a while ago when I was like looking for the quote I ended up reading like that full page scene and I like again had to put the phone down and back
Jordan:flushed. I
Devonnie:Yes, right Okay, there is something you guys have to know about me When it comes to why choose the polyamorous relationships in books I am obsessed You With an couple being in the group, or even if they're not a couple when there is in the group. I can't tell you what it does to me. I actually cannot because I'm not sure what the rules are on the air, but it's just my favorite. It's my absolute favorite. So yeah, I really enjoyed this scene and I enjoyed this book and I'll talk more about that in a bit.
Jordan:I love it. And actually that reminded me of another book I didn't have on my list that now I think you need to read because I think it's right up your alley. So I'm gonna table that. I'm gonna
Devonnie:Please. Yes.
Jordan:that to my list, but it's also gonna be on our holiday one, I'm gonna get to my quote before we digress, because really, we could talk about this stuff all night, and we will. My quote, this is from the fourth one in the series, though. The series is Rich Demons of Darkwood. It is not paranormal. So the word demons is in there, but it is not actual demons. They're just so morally black., Make Me Burn by C. R. Jane and Mae Dawson. I actually have two quotes for you. If you're wondering if I just came in my pants. You'd be correct, little devil. A first for me, I must say. I don't, there's just something so feral about a guy being so excited that he can't hold it together.
Devonnie:Just cannot.
Jordan:in fiction, I want to specify that in fiction.
Devonnie:please. Please. Yeah, we need that specification. IRL? That does not work for me.
Jordan:little more awkward. Herricassian. I do have another quote that I want to read from that one. It's, Not as dirty. I'm not gonna do the really dirty one. If you want the really dirty one, ask us on our socials and I'll send it to you.
Devonnie:Yeah, it's hot.
Jordan:really is, but it was, I thought it was a bit too much. Anyways, this one. I don't think our story is a fairy tale by any stretch of the imagination, but that's okay, because the heroes in those books don't destroy the world to make the heroine happy. And that's what I'll do to make you happy. There isn't a line. I won't cross a law. I won't break a human being. I won't destroy in order to keep a smile on your face and prove what we have is the realist version of love that could exist. I'm going to make sure there isn't a day that goes by for the rest of our lives, that you don't know you're everything I've ever wanted out of life, that you're all that exists for me without you. I'm nothing.
Devonnie:Is this the MMC to the FMC?
Jordan:Yeah. Yeah.
Devonnie:I just love a declaration like that. That is so like kind of morally gray if you think about it.
Jordan:Oh, no! No, when you know what they've actually done, there's a lot of murder she wrote in this book. I'll tell you all about it later, but it is, this is a dark.
Devonnie:Not a pitch black romance.
Jordan:it is. I had to take breaks.
Devonnie:Oh, okay. Well love those quotes. I know love that. Sorry, as you can see we are without our christina, but I think that may change soon
Jordan:Yes!
Devonnie:Right that may change soon. So we may have her back shortly, but that is why we do not have christina with us again tonight Hopefully you will be hearing her quotes and rex In episodes to come very shortly, but I would love to get out kick it off with my first rec
Jordan:Ooh.
Devonnie:So this is an audio book that I just finished And i've been slowly chipping away at trying to read. Authors for books gowns and crowns. So this was A pickup. This is why I read this author. The book is wicked wonderland by eva chase It is part of the book Right, and I know you've read some of Eva Chase's
Jordan:does a lot of reverse hair.
Devonnie:Yes, I realized that when I was looking for a book to write, so it was a great place to start if you are looking for an author who's gonna have lots of why choose moments or books, then Definitely check out Eva Chase. I listened to the book. This is part of a series. I think it might be three or four books long. So far, I listened to the first one. It was really quick. Quick listen. It is a retelling, actually, of Alice in Wonderland. So the entire series is pretty much an Alice in Wonderland story, and it's It is, I'm sorry, because, you know, we know Alice in Wonderland. So I have the Cheshire Cat as a man called Chess. And then I have the Mad Hatter as the Mad Hatter, but we call him Hatter. And then I have, right, and then I have the Inventor slash the White Knight, who I do not remember from Alice in Wonderland. Is that a character?
Jordan:I was really hoping to get further into this conversation after you were done until I admitted this. I've never watched Alice in Wonderland all the way through, because I it weirds me out and I don't like it.
Devonnie:Yeah, I think it's supposed to word you out. I don't think this
Jordan:No, I know, but I
Devonnie:is actually for kids.
Jordan:no I just, it always scared me as a child, and as an adult. I just still get weirded out. It's one of those weird things. I also don't like Oompa Loompas from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I hate Mr. Bean because he creeps me the F out. So there are certain things that people are Like huge fans of, and I can't stand it. So I am not the person to ask.
Devonnie:Got it, okay. And I
Jordan:just lost some listeners.
Devonnie:No, I will say that Alice in Wonderland is not my favorite. It's not my favorite story. However, I do love White Shoes, and I love a retelling. So that's why I
Jordan:would know this answer though.
Devonnie:Right? Right? I don't right. I don't know if the white knight slash inventor is a character from Alice in Wonderland because it's not. One that like immediately comes to mind, but I also don't remember most of it. But anyway, this white knight, his real name is Theo and he's the third male interest. And then we have our Alice who was actually Lisa. And yeah, so Lisa falls through a looking glass after her great aunt leaves her basically like this Gothic mansion. She's cleaning out the mansion. And ends up in a room that seems like someone never touched it. There's a mirror and she falls through the looking glass, ends up in Wonderland, where everything is, of course, topsy turvy, upside down, colorful, bent over flowers are talking. It's just nuts. It's
Jordan:on acid.
Devonnie:She essentially writes like in her contemporary life and then, you know, that happens. It's, she is running from life pretty much. She's always everything to everyone. Her, she actually walked in and her boyfriend was like cheating on her. And then Yeah, that's when she got the chance to move into the Gothic mansion, she was like, I'll do it. I need to switch up. I need to change. And then she falls into Wonderland. I, okay, here's what I will say. I enjoyed it because it was quick. It was kind of entertaining. I, We'll say it is like slow burn, which I find so strange when I have, why choose relationships? It's not that I want them 6 percent in getting to it, but you know, you expect a little more at least
Jordan:have more
Devonnie:all of them, yeah. Even if all of them aren't participating at once, you expect the individual relationships to kind of take off, which for me, that's the only thing I will say that it didn't take off. And also I could not get the chemistry with her three men in her. I couldn't see it. I know it sounds like I'm dissuading you from reading
Jordan:But maybe that's the rest of the series, but maybe that's what comes next
Devonnie:And that's literally what I was going to say. There are still more books and I will get to those books. So I'm just sending you up to know that it could be a wild ride ahead and where it ends off. I can see there's so much plot as well, which I do it has tons of plot, which is nice. So we'll get into the second book. We'll see what's going on. But yeah. Yeah. Wicked Wonderland, Eva Chase, retelling slash why choose a book. But yeah,
Jordan:Thank
Devonnie:that's my first rec. You're welcome.
Jordan:Thank you I'm gonna say Right off the bat, I have a lot of why I choose in my checklist that I've read it's probably my most read trope. So I've already recommended a lot. So just to review a few, I have recommended losers part one and two. That is probably one of my all time favorite books, let alone why I choose. definitely polyamorous relationship. Beast the Briar by Elizabeth Helen. And I just read the arc. I was so lucky enough to get the arc for the fourth book. And if you're looking for a fantasy why choose and you like Beauty and the Beast retellings, like really twisted beauty, this is it. Oh, and it's definitely why choose polyamorous. It's definitely crossing crossover there. Oh, multiple
Devonnie:Our is there
Jordan:relationships within relationships in this but it's not, but it's not, I mean, it's a little messy in the sense that there's drama, but it's not messy in the, like it's chef's kiss, as you would say.
Devonnie:Oh, okay.
Jordan:And this is, so this is the sister duo that writes this there's Elizabeth and Helen. They write under the pen name, Elizabeth Helen. They, I believe, yeah, so this is their first, these are their first works. They've put out the first four within a year and a half. And these are big books
Devonnie:Yeah, they're kind of thick
Jordan:and. They did it indie, they just got a trad deal in the uk. So if you are in the uk, if you're in Australia or basically anywhere except for Canada or the US you can get the trad published book.
Devonnie:Oh. Oh,
Jordan:me. But anyways, so to wa the first book I was like, this is kind of awkward. I don't like this main female main character. I'm not quite sure. But the character growth of this female main character. is such a representation of their writing This fan on the sidelines that's cheering them on going like you're doing so great I'm so proud of you and I can't wait to meet them at book scounds and crowns.
Devonnie:It. I have to read it before then.
Jordan:I will be cosplaying the first night of the convention as The dark prince as the quote unquote villain i'm gonna do a gender bent and i'm so excited
Devonnie:love that
Jordan:Anyways, i've also recommended some tate james before tate james has really great You Why choose., Madison Kate series, Hades series, The Guild. Those are all amazing. Check them out. Also, Caroline Peckham and Suzanne Valenti, I mention like every single episode. But most of their works are why choose? And I will be featuring one, so I'm gonna start with that one right now. The Harley Quinn Crew. Okay. The first one is called Sinner's Playground. This one is very different from the rest of theirs, I'd say. Still has their writing style, which I love, but it's contemporary. It's set in their world of the United States of Anarchy, but it's set in a fictional coastal town in Southern California. So the tag of the description starts with, Dead girls don't feel pain, but they like the taste of vengeance. Rogue is the female main character in this. Now, she grew up in this coastal town that is basically run by this gang, right? She grew up in the foster system and it was her and her four best friends who were guys Fox, JJ, Chase and Maverick. Fox and Maverick were basically brothers. Maverick was adopted, but they were the same age. Fox's and Maverick's dad is the leader of this gang. Okay. He's number one. So they kind of felt under that umbrella of protection in a way, but they just went around this town. They lived on the beach as kids. Something happens. And they shun her and she's forced out of town before she's even made it out of high school. As a teenager, she's forced out. We don't see this on screen until later when there's flashbacks. So it's not like you're getting high school devastation. You're getting flashbacks of that later. It's the opening scene in this book is her crawling out. a shallow grave. The guy that she had ended up with, this is 10 years later, the guy that she had ended up with, in a different town relatively far away, he ran his own gang. So she kinda, you know, you kinda stick with the life you know. And she did what she could to survive. And she was with him and she saw something she shouldn't and he strangled her what he thought was to death and buried her in an unmarked grave in a potato sack and she comes out and figures out where she is and she is on the outside of her hometown she hasn't seen these boys since they told her to get the F out when she was a teenager and her whole life went to shit, right?
Devonnie:oh my gosh.
Jordan:well, I'm dead. Everyone thinks I'm dead Anyways, I might as well get some revenge on these boys who fucked her Fucked my life.
Devonnie:Oh
Jordan:They were the loves of my life. They were all my best friends, and she comes back like literally nothing. She has to steal clothes off of someone's line on the way, like off their fence by the beach going into town. They find her. These boys, they looked for her after she left, and they've been, she's been on their mind for ten years, and they didn't, or however many years, and they didn't, anyways, it is so good also the space, so they grow up, Fox takes over the gang. Right? So Fox is now leader. Maverick, some stuff happens, and he has now formed his own rival gang and is trying to take over the town. JJ he owns the strip club, and he is the hi and he is a high end male escort.
Devonnie:I love that
Jordan:And Chase is a fucking hot mess, but he's like Fox's right hand. She comes in and they won't let her go. They find her like, you're staying here. We're not letting you out of her sight. And she's fuck you guys. But secretly she's I'm going to steal all of your shit. and fuck up your lives. Okay, this is a whole series. It's a long series, but it is so good. The relationships, the rebuilding of trust feels real because of the time that these authors put into it. These characters are fucking unhinged, but it is so good. I cried when I read this. Because these relationships, it's also the men's friendships. It's like the boys are, they're each other's boys.
Devonnie:right,
Jordan:JJ has to go through an identity crisis of my mom was a prostitute. I'm the highest mill and I am a stripper, all this stuff. But I, now he can't get it up for anyone, but rogue. So
Devonnie:my
Jordan:he gonna do? It's just so good. Any who. You should read it, everybody. Rogue is my hero. She is so badass.
Devonnie:I love that.
Jordan:The last thing I have to say is the Spice is so good. It takes a while to get there because it's a whole huge series. To really ramp up, but it does go kind of one by one and stacks them in natural progression with their, her different relationships with them.
Devonnie:Yeah.
Jordan:And, I'm sorry, people were talking about Haunting Adeline with, you know, the gun and stuff. I never read it because it didn't sound like my kind of book. But this one has that, it has knives, it has so many good things.
Devonnie:Are they good things? What? Unhinged? Not good things.
Jordan:I relinquish the floor or whatever. What do you say? I,
Devonnie:Okay, bye
Jordan:my rant. Sorry.
Devonnie:Yeah, you hop it off the you know, you know why she did that y'all right? Because she probably had a little saying that she was gonna say and then forgot it So she had to switch it up I'm, just letting y'all in on how jordan's brain works Oh,
Jordan:that's the problem. It doesn't work
Devonnie:okay my next read or my next rec Oh, here she go. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead
Jordan:Nope. I'm done. Gonna mute. Start over. Oh,
Devonnie:right, guys, my next read is actually Lilac by b. Reid. So this is my first b. Reid book, but I see that she has tons of books, like she has A decent catalog, which I'll probably try to get into. But yeah, my first read was Lilac, which is actually a rockstar romance. I'm pretty sure this is my first rockstar romance as well. I'm trying to think back. I feel like I've read contemporary stories about musicians, but not in the way that I'm used to. This was done, which is really interesting. So here's a little blurb that I pieced together. Braxton Fawn is our bad ass MF, MFC. Braxton Fawn is our bad ass FMC who doesn't take any shit from anyone and definitely not her hot new band mates. They ridiculously tend. Talented trio waste no time letting Braxton know that she isn't who they picked to replace their deceased fourth band member and Pretty much spend the time making her life a living hell Lauren Houston and Jericho aka rich aka my baby daddy aka my man my man Are rock gods with a huge fan base They get everything they want. So when they finally set their sights on Braxton, lines get blurred, secrets are spilled, and they all realize that they have way more to lose than just a bandmate. tell y'all about this book. I know that's cute. When I did that little summary, I was like, Oh babes, that's cute. Yeah, what I really, I will say I listened to this book, so I'm pretty sure I have the ebook. Like I bought the ebook a while ago when I was first interested in it, but I never got around to reading it. I listened to it and. I loved this because number one, Teddy Hamilton was one of the narrators and the way I eat up some Teddy Hamilton narration. Okay. Love that. But what I especially loved was that each, he wasn't the only male narrator for these boys. He voiced Lauren, but there were two separate narrators for Teddy Hamilton. The other two guys. And I love that because it was so easy for me to picture them because all three boys are very different. They are so different. So having different voices matched like the carrot characteristics and attitude was really nice. So I'll say if you have a chance, if you do think you're going to read it, go with listening to it. Cause I just enjoyed it.
Jordan:I love it when, I love it when authors are able to do that. I know it's a lot
Devonnie:It's probably a lot.
Jordan:but it's so
Devonnie:The payoff is so good as a reader as a listener the payoff when authors are able to do this are just it's just really good This like having separate characters or narrators for each character and also having an actual duet narration I think are like top tier league audio book listens for me like they just work so well but yeah, this story was it was really the pacing was Slow, but not in a, Oh, this is awfully slow as in there was so much underlying plot and there were so many secrets that you kind of had to, keep going with it as they were trying to get in, trying to get into their separate relationships and the boys stopped bullying her basically.
Jordan:Oh, I love a good bully. Okay.
Devonnie:it's not it doesn't last long though because they pretty much crumbled
Jordan:Oh, a spine
Devonnie:Yeah. No, they had no smile once they got once they realized it was like, oh, that's our girl
Jordan:Okay. I mean, that's good. But yeah.
Devonnie:yes my of course like so this has an relationship I don't want to give too much away But it, it comes up very quick. Something is said in passing at the beginning of the book. And I said, huh, it was supposed to be an insult. But I was like, wait a minute. Two of the male characters have been with each other years ago, I guess. But now they're all just best friends. There was no like tension. Do you get this one throwaway comment and you're like, huh. But you don't see it until they actually start talking about it. And there is a scene where she says that what she wants is for just them to get together while she pretty much just watches.
Jordan:love that. I love that.
Devonnie:I was fighting for my life. Listening to that scene, washing the dishes, gripping the sink. What is happening? Excuse
Jordan:Zodiac Academy, Beast of the Briar, that almost exact scene happens too. So I
Devonnie:You said Zodiac Academy.
Jordan:Well, not that watching, but like the friends where there's a throwaway comment that's in Zodiac Academy.
Devonnie:Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay.
Jordan:and, but Beasts of the Briar, that exact thing is no,
Devonnie:It happened. Yeah. You too.
Jordan:I'll be over here. Don't mind
Devonnie:Huh. Huh. Huh. I loved it. Yeah. And this is contemporary. So if you're, it's not like a paranormal or a fantasy read. It's very contemporary. I will say definitely check the trigger warnings for this book because there is some like religious stuff. There was a 13 year old being married, which is crazy. So yeah, just read the trigger warnings. I don't want to give away too many of the trigger warnings because I feel like that can also give away the storyline. But that, that one was like, Ooh, cringy for me, like the religion and the 13 year old being married because of the religion. I just feel like I should put that out there. If that is like not your thing, it doesn't take up a lot, but it is a driving force for why our FMC is the way she is. It's not, it doesn't happen to her, but it is a cause.
Jordan:Please check trigger warnings on
Devonnie:in general yeah. Yeah.
Jordan:here. We can't list them all. There's just no way. We give you too many recs to be able to mine that for you. Take responsibility for your reading. Check the trigger warnings.
Devonnie:For sure. Especially with this list y'all, today's episode, please check don't even come and tell us how you didn't know this was in a book because I'm telling you right now, just check it. These books are not for the faint of heart. Okay. But yeah, so that was lilac by BB Reed. It's very interesting. The name of the book is very interesting. I'm not going to give that away, but that's also, yeah. A thing. Yeah, I like that.
Jordan:And I see, I've seen lilac around so much and I've always been curious about it. It's just one of those, I'm not really big on rock star romance, so I didn't ever pick it up, but I'm so glad you did because now I'm curious.
Devonnie:yeah, no. And it is a thick book. Like I've seen it on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and it is very thick and I will say it is very long. I, that's one thing I think it should be shorter. It could be short. It's just that we're on tour with them and that's why it's long. So
Jordan:Okay. Piqued my interest. My next rec is, I'm going to go completely different. I'm going to go a bit omega verse this is definitely a Y choose. This was my first true Omegaverse. And I think it's also a really good intro. You have to love spice. It's very open door and there's a lot of explicit, but you're going to need to love spice. Really with. any of my recs, but if you're looking to try Omegaverse and you've been wondering what it's about, this is perfect because I'm going to read you the description. So Packed Darling by Lola Rock. And there's two books. It's just part one and part two. You don't have to remember different names. They're both Packed Darling. After surviving childhood at the snooty, stuck up boarding school for budding omegas, I have everyone convinced I'm a dud. My awakening? Never gonna happen. Heat, mates, and a fairytale pack life? Maybe next reincarnation. All I want is to be left alone. I'm invisible, headed to a blissful solo, until the wyvern pack destroys my dream of independence. Atlas, Hunter, Finn, Jet, and Orion are poison candy. They don't want an Omega. But they need one, even if there'll never be a real spot for me in their pack. Who needs a pack? I'll keep myself safe, same as always. I'll never awaken, and I'll never give the wyverns my heart, because all they'll do is rip me apart.
Devonnie:The amount of names interesting. Yeah.
Jordan:she's an omega, one of them is actually another omega. So they already have a male omega, but he is not a scent match. So when you're reading Omegaverse, when you're building a pack, there is such thing as a scent match, and that's where they go feral. For a scent, for someone's scent, because everyone has a very distinctive scent, right? And some, you're, make you feel at ease. They, every scent makes you feel something. And it's at a base, primal level. This is not a shifter romance. So for those unfamiliar, this is not shifter. It's just, it's like a social hierarchy. And a, like a, it's almost like in their DNA. You are an alpha, omega, or a beta,
Devonnie:Yeah.
Jordan:okay? They have a non scent match. Omega already because one of the alphas has always been in love with him. And they've known these alphas are together. Their dads run basically this, it's kind of like a gang, they're the wyvern pack is what they are. She is poor at this academy that everybody has to attend, all omegas do, to teach you how to be an omega. She has suppressed her hormones her entire life. She has never had a period. She's She's a legal adult. She has starved herself. She overworks out every day. There are a lot of triggers if you have like sensitivity to eating disorder or anything like that. She does it with a purpose, not for self image. But it's more for like her own preservation. She doesn't want to be a part of a pack. She doesn't want to feel like she's owned by alphas. secretly, she is more powerful than any Omega that's walked through this door, these doors, though. She is a scent match for everybody for this pack. There's a lot of, also, trauma from her past, she knew one of the alphas when she was a kid, and she's known she was a match with him because of the way they were when they were kids. Their dads force her, because they own the school, Basically blackmail her into being an Omega for them. She comes in, the other Omega is very territorial, so it's this play thing and she tells them
Devonnie:play,
Jordan:Yeah, she tries to be as small as possible and be like, Don't worry, I'm not here to steal. Well, of course, things happen. She actually comes to and feel connected to this Omega. She's using like scent suppressants, everything, but eventually she does get her heat and things go terribly wrong. And it's.
Devonnie:All right!
Jordan:it no, not
Devonnie:Oh no!
Jordan:It doesn't go right. It is trauma. It's so hard and it ends on a horrible cliffhanger. But the next book is right there for you. I listened to this on, audio book, and it was so good.
Devonnie:I'm gonna go add it to my cart because I actually want to read this.
Jordan:I recommend this as a beginning Omegaverse because it lays out the rules of an Omegaverse very naturally. And you really learn a lot about it. Dev is looking it up and her eyes just went. It's so wide. It has a really good rating. It has a 4. 204 on Goodreads with over 15, 000 ratings. So the writing is
Devonnie:on Libby.
Jordan:The writing is amazing. These characters are all so rich, and you get to know them, and you feel so connected, and then the spice, once it hits, closer to book two, but you gotta, by the time it hits, then you are going into heat with her, and you are like, right there, it is worth it.
Devonnie:with her. That's hilarious.
Jordan:anyways, I'm talking way too much about these. So that's that, Pack Darling, Lola Rock, get it girl, it's amazing.
Devonnie:I love that. Which is crazy because my next one is actually also an Omegaverse. That's why I was like, oh my
Jordan:Oh, perfect.
Devonnie:So I have an Omegaverse it's by Liliana Carlyle. It's called the bounty. And this is very base level. Like I would consider this super entry level Omega verse as well. Again, no, it's not a shift or romance. They're not turning into wolves or anything, but it is also dystopian. So it is dystopian. It's Omega verse and it's. A why choose romance, I guess it's labeled as a why choose the fmc is like literally When I tell you this girl is also doing everything in her power not to be found by these alphas It's dystopian. So they're like it's giving handmaid's tale actually, where omegas are being rounded up. Like you cannot have money. You cannot contact your family. You are rounded up and kept in like this mansion or something to literally be at the service and pleasure of whoever, whatever alphas come in and collect you. It is so icky, but she is on the run. She has been like feeding herself. She has suppressant. She's. been doing everything she can to not be discovered. Well, one day it goes terribly wrong. It goes terribly wrong. And someone sent her, I think she cuts herself and her blood is left by, so
Jordan:bella
Devonnie:right.
Jordan:Christina's not here, but I have to make the twilight
Devonnie:Yeah, of course.
Jordan:Jasper, no! What
Devonnie:Stop. This girl is on the run from the government. Y'all not Bella. Anyway. Yeah. So she's on the run from the government.
Jordan:say?
Devonnie:Shut up. Unhinged. This is Christina's kind of conversation
Jordan:I know, I have to represent.
Devonnie:Yeah. Yeah. So anyway the alphas find her and they're pretty much we're keeping you. So this becomes an issue because not everyone is in agreement. Some people think they need to turn her in, sent, let the government take her. Cause you, if you're an alpha, you also can't keep your own Omega. Like they need to be for this. for the sharing because we need the population to keep going. It's dystopian. You see what I'm saying? So you can't just have your own Omega, my love share.
Jordan:Ew.
Devonnie:Anyway. So they're not all in agreement, which is really icky. But she makes a deal. She's she kind of latches onto the one who doesn't really want her there. And it's I will leave. I just need to call my parents. I need to figure out a way to get safe. I will get to them. Just help me, but I don't want to give too much away. It is a standalone. So you'll be in and out real quick. It's. The spice does start to spice especially once they all realize okay, no, you're lying. You just she goes into heat. She start, oh my, my favorite thing in Omegaverse is when they start making nests.
Jordan:Yes, the nesting is so cute.
Devonnie:I think it
Jordan:a lot of that in mine too, in fact, darling. Oh,
Devonnie:my favorite part. My favorite part. So she's they didn't, they don't realize what's happening, but they know, you know, and she's like bringing all these blankets and she's laying them in a circle and they're all just looking at her. This is interesting. You know, you don't smell like an Omega, but you're making a little mess here. And then they all help her and find like all the things. I don't it's very touching and very sweet. But yeah, I would label this as beginner Omega verse with a cool dystopian twist on it. So
Jordan:Sounds
Devonnie:she got three, three. It is a little dark, especially the government aspect because the government literally own these women's bodies. It's really weird. And you have to be like a high rolling alpha who comes in like suits you off your feet. But then there is, there's a lot going on, especially because someone's family member is act has actually been taken there. And that's why they're like all against the, Pack that we meet, they're against the place that the government is keeping the omegas because one of them has a family member there and they wanna get her out. Yeah. So yeah, go check that out. The Bounty by Liliana Carlisle.
Jordan:I like it. Okay, we're gonna go dark here. This is quite possibly This might be one of the darkest things i've ever read. This is the series that I quoted at the beginning of this episode. So Rich Demons of Darkwood. Number one is Make Me Lie by C. R. Jane and Mae Dawson. I have not finished the last book. I might even have a book and a half left because I hit a trigger and I had to step away. I intend to go back when I feel mentally prepared. It was like book four, I think, where I stepped away. I'm gonna read the description from Goodreads, but I'm gonna interject my own comments throughout.
Devonnie:Okay.
Jordan:The world knows me as the Demon's Daughter. He's a famous serial killer, and I have been his accomplice. no one knows for sure, except for me, The dangerous cruel men of the Sphinx Secret Society intend to uncover my secrets. And break me. Stellan! My childhood crush who lost his sister to the demon. Kane, the boy with the face of an angel who manipulation comes as easy as breathing. And Remington, the playboy soccer star full of secrets. Pax, the dark psycho who hides behind his fists. I hoped for a second chance at Darkwood University, only to have my dream ripped away the first time I kissed one of the handsome bastards. She had plastic surgery on her face to change so people would not recognize her as the most notorious serial killer's daughter in the country, ever to have it. Her mother left her on a park bench when she was super little. She went into foster care. One night in this horrible, abusive foster care situation, because isn't that always the case in these books? Her dad came and saved her. Because he finally found her and tracked her down, only to find out that he's a seri She grew up with him for most of her childhood, almost until she was an adult, and he forced her to be his accomplice in the most graphic, terrifying ways. Super trigger warnings. I promise you, if you have a trigger warning, it occurs in this series.
Devonnie:my
Jordan:like almost guarantee it. Okay, but
Devonnie:not a happy butt
Jordan:I was enthralled. Okay, and it's also bully romance because these boys are so she goes to university After she helps get her dad So she seeks out the FBI, like she's the one who turns him in, but is it enough to forgive? And there's apparently secret evidence later. She finds out that she was an accomplice. And so there's there's lots of drama, like Stellan, who's at this university. She didn't know he was there, but she got like a full new look. She's a different person because of her. Plastic surgery, right?
Devonnie:Oh my God. For some reason I'm seeing like a hodgepodge face.
Jordan:I know, but apparently she's super hot. Yeah, of course. But Stellan was her first bo an only boyfriend. Secret boyfriend. She loved him as a kid when she was still with the demon. They lived next door, and his sister was her best friend, but her sister went missing and was found dead. So he blames her, once he found out who the demon was. Him and his three best friends that are a part of the secret society, because, oh surprise. They're rich as fuck. And run everything. And one of them is, anyways it's a big, messy, dark thing. There's other they've murdered people And it gets into a lot of unaliving and different stuff, but if you like dark romance, and this sounds like your thing, if you're looking for a darker Why choose. version of Bryn Weaver's work, this is it. You see where I'm going? That's, this is it. If you know anything about CRJ and CRJ writes dark stuff. This is my first Jane Dawson, but whoo it's heavy, but it's good. And the spice is really good too. And I just love her. I love, I wanted to see this female main character like rediscover herself because she has to accept the dark parts of her, right? Because she's grown up with this, it's ingrained in her, but she has to find what she really believes in, where her lines are. And that's really what. Draws me to this series.
Devonnie:Okay. Yeah. I don't know if I can get into something so dark, but I was so curious.
Jordan:No, it's not for everybody. It's not for everybody. Definitely not. Not, probably not even for most. But, if it is.
Devonnie:you're gonna love it. All right. I have one last rec. This is definitely a why choose situation, but when I tell you this was when I first read this a couple of years ago now, I think this, Immediately became one of my favorite books. And it's also a part of a series, which is very popular. This book is give me more by Sarah Kate and it is book three in the salacious players club, which a lot of people know about. It's a very popular series. I think book one is talked about a lot. That one is praise, sorry, not praise. The book two is. Mercy book two might be, I can't remember. No eyes on me.
Jordan:Did you recommend Praise
Devonnie:Maybe. I think I may have spoken about praise because praise we, when we did a good girl, maybe that good girl episode, I feel like that would have fit in there. But yes give me more is. This is also from, with the quote that I did earlier in the episode. Oh my gosh. Just thinking about this book literally gives me goosebumps. So the salacious players club is like a kink club that a couple of friends own and yeah, people go there. It's wildly popular and that is like the binding thing for the entire series, right? Every, it follows like different people within the club. Give me more follows Hunter, Isabel and Drake. Hunter and Isabel are married. But Hunter, Isabel, and Drake have literally known each other since they were like teenagers, 16, 17 years old. Hunter and Drake were best friends when they first saw Isabel, and technically, Drake saw her first, but Hunter fell he was, he became obsessed, or yeah, pretty much he called Silent Dibs. And so when him and Isabel started dating and whatever, Drake was also always there because that was like a no go for Hunter. Their backgrounds like forced Hunter and Drake together, like they were best friends. Kind of like surviving the world together, best friends. So it wasn't a situation where he got with this woman and he like threw his best friend to the side. Never happened. So they're always together. And Isabel also, she loves Drake, right? That's bestie. Now we're all three besties. They do everything together.
Jordan:You want your partner's best friend to be close with you?
Devonnie:Yeah, exactly.
Jordan:I mean,
Devonnie:Probably not
Jordan:don't in know. I was like, not in a real life. I don't, but like
Devonnie:In
Jordan:a nice idea.
Devonnie:So yeah. Very nice idea
Jordan:I think about mine and I'm like
Devonnie:Absolutely not. No best friends, babe. But so I will say that part of, so hunt Drake, sorry. Drake is very openly oh ho. I'm gonna just say like that. He calls himself much worse. Everyone calls him much worse. But he is very, yeah, he is very in tune with his sexuality. He bets for no single team, like he's for the streets, he is for everybody. Everyone knows that about him. However, it becomes a crutch mask that he uses to ignore his deeper feelings. Yeah. Crutch. He uses that to not really. Own up to his own feelings and you start to see that way down on his character while Hunter and isabel, i'm not sure but one day they just decide that they want a little something else, but mainly because hunter grew up with a dad who literally would try to beat the gay out of him,
Jordan:Homophobic. Homophobic.
Devonnie:Yes, he was very homophobic, but not that You He had a reason to believe that with Hunter, but if they were at the beach and he saw something like that, he would look to his son and be like, you know, make really weird comments. So Hunter has this very suppressed sexuality that he doesn't even look at. And he loves his wife to be fair. He's obsessed with her. There was no question, but there's a part of him that has always been suppressed. And you start to think maybe that's the reason that he's kept Drake around all this time. Well, they decide to give it a go. And what that's the You get a little pushback from Hunter because at first it becomes a thing where he just wants Isabel to be happy. So it's he's going to let them do their thing, but he can't give into Drake. He just can't. He doesn't know how, but it's, he loves Drake. When I tell you this man loves his best friend, he loves his best friend in his, you can hear it in his own monologues, like how he views Drake, how he views Isabel. Isabel and then how he talks about himself. It's
Jordan:one of his people. It's
Devonnie:and that is actually a quote from the book too where he says something about if we're going to ever have soulmates or something, then he is mine. And he's talking about his, it is so cute. The spice is so hot. This is so hot because of course, Drake also loves Isabel. Isabel loves them both. Like y'all, I
Jordan:Ah, more to
Devonnie:cannot tell you, I cannot tell you how hot the spice is like Richter scale off of it. Gone in the stratosphere. Like it is so hot because you also have the element of the club in it too, where
Jordan:Oh, I forgot about the
Devonnie:go on. You see what I'm saying? You see what I'm
Jordan:I forgot about the club.
Devonnie:So think about a throuple date night at the club. It's crazy.
Jordan:I can, because it happens in losers too, but there's five of them and they go to the Yeah.
Devonnie:see, yeah, like that, like a good club scene. And yeah, there's just, it's really good. And I'm saying the spice is really good. And I love that. Read it for the spice alone truly, but the actual growth, the characters make this book so wholesome watching Hunter, accept himself and in turn truly accept his best friend even more than he already does. Right. Because accepting yourself means acknowledging this other person. Who's been like, This, his whole life and free. And just also just the respect he has for his wife. It's gorgeous. It's beautiful. I love it so much. I just, yeah. And coming off of book two, sorry, coming off of book two, which wasn't my favorite in the series. I didn't have high hopes for book three, but reading book three. Push me to read the entire series.
Jordan:Okay. I just I'm so glad you said that about the characters because. While we talk about the Spice a lot, and we talk about Smut, and we talk about all this stuff, all these fun things about Romance in general, but specifically it comes up a lot in Why Choose Because there's so much, there's more options,
Devonnie:there's,
Jordan:For me, if I'm ever asked why I read so much Romance, my number one reason is not the smut. Yes, I prefer my books to have smut, but it is for the character development. It is for the relationships. It is to watch good writing, the, when there is good writing in romance and this trope specifically, Is. So moving and it is, it causes you to think about yourself in different ways. It causes you to think about people in your own life and situations differently. And I love it so much. And that is probably why this is my favorite trope or subgenre, whatever you want to consider this, because there's more of it because you have more players in the game. You have more people you're focusing on. You have one person in. two to five relationships at once and yes, it gets dramatic and messy sometimes, but it's also so rewarding to read about And watch the development unfold watch these characters come into their own and embrace that life. And it's so amazing. I love it so
Devonnie:I agree. I wholeheartedly agree. We read romance because at the end of the day, we love seeing people being loved loudly, being loved well, just, we love it. We love the romance aspect of it. So yeah, when the writing is good, when it has the spice, but when you get to see these characters flourish and just learn about themselves and also when you can connect or relate, it's. I think that's really what makes the genre and it's just there's just so much there's so many different types of it So yeah, and when you get to see I'm
Jordan:it's like you're there. It's like you're
Devonnie:Oh my gosh. It is so good But yeah, those are my recs. So check them out, please.
Jordan:with that said, I think our last recommendation that we both highly recommend, we've mentioned it before on the pod, but speaking of. watching relationships unfurl broken bonds book one in the bonds that tie series by jay brie we've mentioned it before we've briefly talked about it But we wanted to go a little bit more in depth and describe it for you here because it is for me, this is the book that introduced Why choose. to me, which is a doozy because there are a lot of men involved. There are
Devonnie:Yes.
Jordan:2, 3, 4 men.
Devonnie:Five? Four?
Jordan:five, sorry. Hello Atlas.
Devonnie:I knew it was Atlas, you were forgetting.
Jordan:no, because I'm picturing the gr That's the way I picture the beginning. Anyways, so the bonds that tie by J Bree let's set the scene for you. After the death of my mother and her bonded, Side note, bonded is this world's version of mates. I was relieved to find my own bonds. She was a teenager. I was sure everything would be okay if I had them. I wasn't. The fate of our people is in my hands and I know we're better off if I'm alone. After five years on the run, I'm caught and dragged back to face the men I ran away from. I thought I was doing the right thing. Now I'm not so sure. North knocks Griffin. Atlas and Gabe may never forgive me, but one thing is for sure, I won't ever forgive myself. So this is a rejected mate, she rejects her mates. Okay, so much trauma. There's some pretty heavy stuff that they went through that they're mentioned and that they're still processing. So please check trigger warnings for that. I would consider this a slow burn because this is a long series. But the spice doesn't really it does not hit the first book. It doesn't hit until it starts to hit the second book
Devonnie:Middle of the second book at that.
Jordan:I've listened to this book. So I have them all in audio. I bought them all. That's how much I loved them And, I've listened to them at least three or four times. This
Devonnie:I've never listened to it. That's so interesting. I might want to listen to it. I've only ever read I read it all on Kindle and then I re read all the physicals.
Jordan:Okay. I do have two major plot points that need answering from Jabri. Okay? This is just for Jabri.
Devonnie:J. Brie, if
Jordan:What is Ollie's incidental? It's never fucking mentioned. Love you, Jay.
Devonnie:made a post. She Oh my gosh, I forgot. She where did I see this? She made a post. I don't know.
Jordan:No. I'm like itching. No. How did I miss it? I follow her
Devonnie:She made a post, but I don't think she mentioned, she doesn't say what it is, but she says something like, I can't believe it's right there in the book. You guys can't
Jordan:No, it's not. No, it's not.
Devonnie:And that's what I said when I read that. It's not clear.
Jordan:because if she's saying it's the thing where she sees everybody, it's not, because that's part of her other, anyways. I don't want to give everything away yet. I think what we need to do is a bonus episode just of this series where we break it all down.
Devonnie:Yes.
Jordan:the other thing is,
Devonnie:Griffin is my man.
Jordan:Oh, no, you'll, I'll fight him for you. Honey, I would even share. I would even share. I don't believe in sharing with other women. I don't, but when it's all about, as long as the attention's all on me, I don't care. But with you, I mean, we could It could be like a divorce parent situation where we can just
Devonnie:Griffin! Griffin mother effing shore. Oh my the man that you are man
Jordan:Atlas. I mean But, okay, and I think for me, Atlas would have been even better if he would have stepped up his bedroom game a little bit differently. But they didn't get enough one on one time. They didn't get enough one on one time, I think is the problem.
Devonnie:They did it. They did it This is paranormal. Did we mention that this is a paranormal?
Jordan:So bonds are like mates. But the way it's preprocessed, so it's a world like ours. There are humans just like ours. The society is like ours. The only difference is there are essentially humans with superpowers. They each have a gift or one to three gifts, depending on their power levels their power is called bonds, and they find their bonded, which is like a soulmate, and they are, it literally says they are different pieces of the same star, or soul There's one central bond, and then she has her bonded. Olly is the central bond to these five and, well, they become bonded. They're bonds, and then they're bonded once they solidify their bond. By fucking
Devonnie:Yeah.
Jordan:Sorry, by cumming, specifically. Cause you gotta be able to make them cum to solidify
Devonnie:Literally. Literally.
Jordan:it is And
Devonnie:It is so
Jordan:we'll leave it. I mean
Devonnie:I know people don't, there are a weird group of people who don't enjoy this book, but I will never be one of
Jordan:well because they're
Devonnie:never make me hate you.
Jordan:no but they're all there are a few things that I wish I could sit down and talk to jay about
Devonnie:for sure. She needs to come on come on live and literally just
Jordan:We will question you and love you. No matter what, please We will have you if anyone wants to see her on here. Just hit her up be like, hey, you should go
Devonnie:yeah. Tag the podcast in her comments,
Jordan:in her comments be like Devonnie jordan from romance Recs would love to chat in a very welcoming way
Devonnie:Right.
Jordan:All the love,
Devonnie:love her.
Jordan:I wish there was some more groveling? And that's the one thing that Christina mentioned that I, looking back, I never thought about it, but looking back and being more seasoned in romance reads since I first read this, there could have been more groveling.
Devonnie:Especially after, yeah, how they treated her. Yeah.
Jordan:but I think the thing with this series is they just wanted to move forward so
Devonnie:Right.
Jordan:Ollie also had her own guilt. And so she wanted to move forward too. So anyways, I think we should have a special episode just for this series. If you're up for that, please let us know because we're
Devonnie:Please let us know. Yes. All good things to say about this series. But yeah we, this is probably an episode in itself. Like we can talk about this. Series forever.
Jordan:We'll do it regardless, but let
Devonnie:yeah, right? Just so you know,
Jordan:I hope everyone's found something that they would be interested in, whether you are seasoned in this trope or you are curious. Or unsure. I hope we haven't scared you away. I will on our socials on Instagram, I will be posting my own special why choose list that I have curated. It's a lot more extensive. It won't be as detailed, but it will have even more for you. So please go follow us there. If you haven't already. Also, I would like to mention that we have a discord server now. Please come join our community. Let's have a positive, no yucking of yums. We are just sharing wrecks. We are talking our favorite reads. You can debrief episodes. You can just. Connect with other listeners who are looking for reputable resources because while we all add to our TBR based off of a single quote, random quote that we find on socials, we are trying to give you a more detailed, comprehensive understanding of the books you are picking up because that's what we all want. We wanna hear from our besties, we trust, and that's what we're here to give you. So For listening to us ramble about why choose books. If you're looking for more romance recs, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Tik TOK and discord at romance recs pod discord is just romance recs server. You can. Find our favorite book recs from our episodes as well as behind the scenes content. Again, that's Romance Recs Pod, so make sure you give us a follow and we'll be back in two weeks with another episode. Bye!
Devonnie:You never know what's gonna pop up, guys.
Jordan:fun not choosing.