March 18, 2025 • 27 mins
This week Devonnie and Jordan discuss small town romance recommendations. Small town is a subgenre of romance where the town plays a significant role in the story. Think nosy neighbors, town gossips, and local wildlife that terrorize the locals. You'll find everything from sweet connections to bully romance in these recs.
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Episode Transcript
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Devonnie (00:00):
Welcome to Romance Recs where book besties explore
(00:02):
the world of romance novels andencourage you to expand your
TBR.
Join us as we dive into thehottest releases and hidden gems
of the genre.
You can find us on Instagram andthreads at romancewreckspod.
Hey guys, welcome back.
This is Dev.
Hey.
Okay.
So I'm a little in between booksright now, but I have a advanced
(00:24):
listening copy of needy littlethings by chanel Desamores.
Desamore?
That's what I'm going to belistening to.
You're welcome.
Jordan (00:32):
Hello, Jordan here.
And I am currently listening toA Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke
by Adriana Herrera.
So buckle up for some bookishbanter because today it's just
us.
It's Dev and Jordan.
We're here.
We're gonna have some fun.
Devonnie (00:49):
Yes.
We're going to talk, be talkingabout all things, small town
romance, and this is notChristina's favorite subject.
So she skipped out on this one.
I don't blame her because we donot yuck each other's yum.
So if she's not feeling it, shedoesn't have to show up and
that's her business.
Yeah, I love that for her.
Put your foot down.
Jordan (01:08):
Uh, she was not having it.
She's you know what?
This is my hard line.
This is my trigger.
Small towns.
And that's fine.
Devonnie (01:17):
because when I want to do an episode that is straight
pregnancy trope, Jordan'sprobably going to bow out.
Jordan (01:24):
I have one.
I have one rec.
But,
Devonnie (01:28):
We celebrate each other's book likes and dislikes
and they're all Okay with us.
I don't have a quote today, butI do want to have a rant, a
little bit of a rant with youguys about my own tunnel vision.
Y'all know I love me blackauthors down.
I love the black girlies who arewriting the books down.
They are my people.
(01:48):
I love that.
Quite literally my people.
Let me stop.
But I,
Jordan (01:52):
allowed to say those things.
Will not be saying it in thatway.
Thank you.
Yes.
Devonnie (01:56):
Yeah.
So I celebrate, I love seeingwhen black women release books
and everything.
But when I was looking for therecs, cause I read a lot of
contemporary romance, I have agood selection that I can just
pluck a couple of small townromances from.
And.
I was like, where are the blackgirlies in the small town
romance?
And I was becoming more livid asI scrolled through the Rolodex
(02:19):
of my past reads, looking forthe black girlies who write
small town romance.
And my first thought could havebeen, the black girlies are not
writing small town romance.
And that's a lie because it ismy job to go find them.
And so I did so I've yeah.
So if you think there's a spacewhere you're not seeing people,
they're probably there.
You just can't see them.
(02:40):
They're not being blown up ortalked about as much.
So we got to celebrate them aswell.
So I have a couple of honorablementions of black authors that
I've.
Looked up a couple of theirbooks.
I've read some of the like plotsfor a few and they do fit the
small town vibe.
Now, some of these authors haveother books as well that are not
small town, but some people, ifyou're looking for reading black
(03:01):
women who are out there writing,we've got Brittany Cherry.
We've got Lauren Lacey, MimiGrace, Z Renee.
One author I'm actually going tomention today, uh, Zia.
Kaylee Galan, I hope I'mpronouncing her name correctly,
but she has a series that isvery small town.
It is so cute.
(03:21):
I'm going to talk about thatlater.
Uh, but yeah, the black girliesare out here writing small town
romance.
If you were concerned, they are,you just got to find them and
let's celebrate them when youdo.
So that's my rant rave for thesmall town episode.
Jordan (03:34):
I love that.
I think I'm gonna, I'm gonnatake a page out of your book,
and I'm gonna do just a littlerave.
So if you're new here, usuallywe do quotes at the beginning,
but if we don't, aren't feelingthe quotes Then we do a rant or
rave.
I am just really into threadsright now.
It really sucks that it's underthe meta umbrella.
(03:57):
I'm gonna just throw that outthere.
I wish it didn't, but anyways, Iput out a call on my tiny little
following of threads on Jordan'sbook banter account, and I said,
this dark romance girl needssome help.
I need more small town romance.
(04:20):
recommendations.
I said bonus points if it's anindie author, double bonus
points if it's an audible, Isaid self recs welcome, and boy
did I get them.
they found me.
So you went out and found them,I put out a call, and they found
me.
There were a huge diversity ofindie authors too, which was So
(04:43):
fun to find.
So I'm like following everyone.
I got 16 new authors to look at,all of who are indie.
And each one of them hadmultiple books.
So I'm putting together a post.
If it's not already out, followour socials on Instagram.
(05:03):
At the very least, I'm going tohave all of those that were
recommended to me on there.
I just love it.
I just love the book community.
Devonnie (05:11):
Yeah.
Jordan (05:12):
Threads and I also, yeah, that's where I
Devonnie (05:15):
of y'all suck!
Jordan (05:16):
yeah, no, some of you guys, I most, most of my threads
though are
Devonnie (05:20):
Or good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jordan (05:21):
people who follow authors, but the authors and
their PAs.
And it is the best world to beliving in now.
So, join me over there, becauseit's so fun.
Devonnie (05:33):
Yeah, I need to use my threads more.
I'm a silent threader.
I and repost, but I don'tactually be saying much.
So I need to use it more.
Jordan (05:40):
I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
And I'm pretending that this isthe early days of Twitter.
Back when I was just throwingshit into the void.
Devonnie (05:51):
That's
Jordan (05:51):
Yeah, that's my rave.
Thank you to all you indieauthors and those who
recommended new indie authors.
You saved me this
Devonnie (05:58):
going to share them.
Jordan (06:00):
Yeah.
Definitely
Devonnie (06:01):
it off your,
Jordan (06:02):
this is more dev's comfort zone than mine.
Devonnie (06:07):
yeah, I'm not going to lie.
I struggled limiting myself tothe books that I wanted to
recommend because I, like Isaid, I love reading
contemporary romances and sosmall town tends to, I feel like
when I got into the romancegenre, I'm not going to lie.
I cannot remember the name ofthe book.
I can slightly remember thepremise, which is kind of the
premise of every book that smalltown romance, but it was a
(06:30):
Harlequin book.
I shouldn't have been readingit.
I was probably too young to bereading it, but it was a small
town.
He was a cowboy.
He had a ranch.
She was some girl who stumbledinto town and they fell in love
and there was a past after herand stuff like that.
So like it was very formulaic inthat way, but that's what
started my love.
(06:50):
I know.
I can't remember.
I know there was a horse.
I know somebody fell off of it.
If y'all can find the book thatI'm talking about, I would love
you so much.
But.
It was a Harlequin book, and Iloved it, and I think that's
when I really started to lovesmall towns.
Uh, so yeah, I struggled givingyou guys recs today.
Recs, I'm not gonna lie, but Ido have a couple.
Jordan (07:10):
Okay.
Devonnie (07:11):
So, the first one I'm gonna start with is actually the
one by Zia, uh, Kaylee Galan,which is, or Galan.
Saddled with Finesse.
This story follows Reese andCorey in the small town of
Alpenglow Ridge.
You get to see Reese's charactergrowth as she navigates the
obstacles life keeps throwing ather on top of her own actions.
Because, mmm, we gotta pointfingers at ourselves too, babe.
(07:35):
Uh, there's definitely foundfamily, there's like girls, uh,
there's Spice.
And the spice is done so well, Ithink yeah, I don't I'm trying
to remember if I was cringingBut also so it's by a black
author and the characters areblack.
So it was really nice to seethat world and just
Jordan (07:54):
town.
Devonnie (07:55):
yeah, very it was very small town like she grew up in
farming horses that kind of lifeand The I think what I love
about this Two is that, yes,it's a small town romance, but I
would edge it a little bittowards romantic suspense
because there is a past andanother character by the name of
(08:16):
Teddy, I think.
It's been a while since I readthis book, but there's a past
for Reese, who is the femalemain character.
Right.
And there's a Teddy who is anabsolute asshole.
You hate him every single timehe's on the page.
But.
Yeah, so there's this romanticsuspense like thriller vibe a
little bit so not too much So ifyou're like don't take my word
(08:36):
that it's a thriller, butthere's definitely more than
small town.
It's not your typical small townIt's not just comedic relief and
happy times and like growing inlove.
There is this element of darkthemes Definitely check your
content warnings Because I feellike some of them may apply to
this, which means, yeah, I guessit's a little more than a small
town if I'm telling you to checkyour content warnings.
(08:58):
But yeah, I really like thatbecause it's a little different
and I am trying, so, I mean, Iam trying to get into my
romantic suspense life.
So this was a good entry intothat because it was nice.
I really enjoyed it.
I'm not gonna lie to you aboutthat.
So yeah, that's my first wreck,I think.
Jordan (09:15):
That leads perfectly to Guilty Minds It's book two in
the Little Hope series.
So this was one of therecommendations I was given on
threads and I believe this onesomeone else came in To the
discussion and recommended thisauthor in this series and then
the author piped in if I'mremembering correctly but it's
(09:38):
by Ariana Kane And I saw thetropes for all the books in the
series, and I saw Bully Romance,Small Town Bully Romance, and I
went, we're jumping in at booktwo.
I am not gonna deal with theseother tropes from the first one.
And they are definitelyinterconnected, stand alones.
I mean, I know the whole plot ofthe first book now because of
(10:01):
how involved the characters arewith each other.
I didn't even care though,because it was so good.
So, definitely Small Town.
Enemies to Lovers, ContemporaryRomance.
It's set in an unforgiving smalltown named Little Hope.
Kayla has had a crush on Justinsince she was just 13 and he was
(10:22):
18.
So just imagine like you're only13 and you see this like hot.
Older senior, like junior orsenior in high school, and
you're just like, Ah! And, youknow, there's that infatuation.
But, even as they grew older,she didn't have much hope for
her chances.
She's from the trailer park, andhe's from the wealthy side of
town.
But, while he simply ignored herfor most of his life, actively
(10:46):
started to hate her when hereturned home from jail a few
years ago.
She has
Devonnie (10:52):
Oh,
Jordan (10:53):
Justin has no idea why he hates her so much and can't
keep up with the constantbullying from him and his cop of
a younger brother who is abusinghis power on her.
She needs to find a way out ofthis town, but there's one
complication holding her there.
(11:13):
Justin?
Can never forgive her.
He knows she's to blame foreverything horrible that
happened on that tragic nighteight years ago.
He'll never forgive her.
How could he when his family wasruined so thoroughly?
She acts all innocent like shedoesn't know just what she did
to ruin him.
(11:34):
He hates her, but He also can'tkeep her off his mind.
When he sees just how dangerousher Jeep is getting from the
neglect and old age, he can'thelp but rage fix it after
having it impounded from all theunpaid tickets his brother keeps
(11:55):
giving her.
Devonnie (11:57):
stop.
Jordan (11:58):
and that! Is even more unforgivable.
Devonnie (12:02):
Yeah, because he
Jordan (12:03):
Dare she.
How dare she be this alluring.
And how dare she drive this jeepthat she can't afford to fix.
And these dozens of tickets overthe last two years.
How dare she.
She works all the
Devonnie (12:15):
so good.
Jordan (12:16):
it's Thank you, I wrote that synopsis.
Devonnie (12:20):
Really?
Oh, no.
Jordan (12:21):
I wrote it.
I, thank you.
I feel really proud of this one.
Devonnie (12:24):
You have sold the book to me.
Like, when I tell you, give itto me now.
I need 14 of them.
I'm ready for this small
Jordan (12:30):
Yeah,
Devonnie (12:31):
No, that was good.
Jordan (12:32):
good.
Ariana let's talk
Devonnie (12:34):
Yeah.
Jordan (12:35):
this is so good.
I'm
Devonnie (12:36):
Ariana!
Jordan (12:36):
book three.
Devonnie (12:38):
Right now?
Jordan (12:39):
Yeah, I'm writing big yeah, so this is coming out
later.
I didn't mention it earlierbecause yeah, I mentioned it in
another episode of the AeonicStorm episode.
Uh, but it's I'm it's so good!
Devonnie (12:51):
Sounds good.
Jordan (12:52):
and you just know there's mis you just know
there's a misunderstanding just
Devonnie (12:56):
Yes.
Duh.
Jordan (12:58):
But like, where does that happen?
And why does the town golden boyget sent to jail for
Devonnie (13:02):
Jail.
That's where you had me at.
Why was he in jail?
Yeah.
That's what I want to know.
So yeah, I'm excited about
Jordan (13:10):
so good.
Now there are please checktrigger warnings, obviously.
This is a bully romance.
He is an asshole.
In the beginning of the book,Ariana writes just about just so
you know he's horrible.
He is horrible to her.
This is not supposed to be yourmisunderstanding or, no.
He's terrorizing her.
(13:30):
And he is the town mechanic.
So like, when I say like, whenhe sees these things on her jeep
it's so funny.
He's I need to have her carimpounded.
How am I gonna do that?
Oh, let's go.
She has thousands of dollars inunpaid tickets.
Let's, she can't pay that.
Devonnie (13:44):
so I can fix it.
That is so funny.
Jordan (13:46):
then he has it removed from impound and we're just
brought to her work and she hasno idea how.
So good.
Devonnie (13:54):
Good job, Ariana.
That is so good.
Um, from that heavy trauma
Jordan (14:00):
Yeah, you know, just normal small town.
Devonnie (14:02):
yeah, Normals Waltz out.
I'm going to take us over toSpoons, Oregon,
Jordan (14:07):
Oh, I know this one!
Devonnie (14:09):
My favorite place to be.
So the, I know the first bookthat I'm going to mention is
Savor It by Tyra DeWitt.
Tyra is my girl.
When I tell you, I think we arebesties in my head.
I love the way Tyra writes.
Her writing is so refreshing, sounintentionally funny, but also
hilarious.
And if you follow her, Yeah.
If you follow her on any socialmedia, you understand why her
(14:31):
characters are the way they arebecause Tara, her posts crack me
up.
Her engaging with people,trolling people.
She is so funny on social media.
Whether you're reading herthreads, please go follow her.
I love following Tara.
So savor it.
We follow Sage and Fisher asthey fall in love in the small
town of Spoons, Oregon.
I've, I'm pretty sure I'vementioned this book before on
(14:52):
the podcast.
So I'm just mentioning itbriefly because I do want you to
check that out because book twoleft of forever, which follows,
it's an interconnectedstandalone book two comes out in
May, I think.
Either march or may it's one ofthe m months and it follows
sage's brother ellis and herbest friend ren and this is a
(15:14):
second chance romance and tarahas been leaking lines from the
book and When I tell you I amlike I am Foaming at the mouth
to get back to spoons, because Ithink there's one line that
Tower released recently whereRen and Ellis are divorced when
you meet them and savor it, theyare divorced.
They're not together.
(15:34):
They are co parenting theirteenage son, Sam.
There's a line in left offorever where Wren says I am so
hopelessly in love with my exhusband And when I tell you the
angst that must be in this booklike I cannot wait and there is
a line I think in savor it whereEven though Ellis is like,
(15:55):
they're not together, right?
He has to care about his ex,right?
But he says something like,she's still a bird.
And bird is Sage and Ellis lastname.
B Y R D.
And so he says that about Wren.
And it's just so good! Also,aside from the characters, Oh,
what makes a small town book isactually the town.
(16:16):
I know you're thinking, Oh,they're just in an area where
it's like not a lot of people orit's not a big city, but the
town is actually a character inthese books.
And that's what makes it a smalltown romance.
You walk down main streetbecause main street is the only
street there is baby.
That's where everything's at,right?
You walk down main street, youpass the one diner, you see the
gossipy hairdresser or waitressor, you know, so
Jordan (16:38):
It's those characters.
Yeah.
Devonnie (16:40):
And yeah the side characters and the town itself
make the small town romances.
And so like, when I tell youI'm, I want to be back in
Spoons, I want to be there.
I need to go see Gary.
Was that the duck's name?
I can't remember the duck, butyeah, I would, yeah, like in
Savor It, there's a duck and Iwant to go back to see what
Gary's been doing.
(17:00):
So I'm really excited about Leftof Forever.
I needed to do that mention ofthat series.
I do want you to read Savor Itfirst, especially if you're
listening to this right now andyou're like, needing some Rex,
go read, savor it.
And then you'll be just in timefor left of forever.
And Tara's writing is justimpeccable.
She's going to make you cry.
She's going to make you laughand she's going to make you wish
you lived in the town that she'swriting about.
(17:21):
So thank me later.
Besties.
Jordan (17:25):
I love that.
Love it so much.
I did read Savor It over theholidays because I remembered
you had recommended it.
And I just was, I was, all of asudden I needed a palette
cleanser.
I needed something cute.
And I really didn't rememberlaughing so much at a book when
I laughed at that one and I wasso pleasantly surprised because
(17:47):
it sounds so kitschy and cutesy,but you read it and it's The
writing is amazing.
Devonnie (17:53):
she's so funny.
Jordan (17:54):
we should reach out to her because she sounds like a
great person to talk to
Devonnie (17:59):
right?
I think
Jordan (18:00):
hmm.
Devonnie (18:01):
All right.
I really only have one more thatI want to share, but I'm going
to do like rapid fire.
Of two one is lc silver's rosehill series.
Y'all know i'm an lc silver stanI really just love her writing.
I love her characters herlatest.
Series outside of the chestnutspring series, but it's like
kind of connected to it stillinterconnected a little bit to
(18:23):
that same area We're in rosehail books.
One and two are already out,which are wild love and then
wild eyes and then wild sidecomes out soon.
And when I tell you, I thinkbook three is probably going to
be my favorite because it is twogrumps.
Two grumpy people.
Uh, the premise of this book,and I know the book, I know the
(18:45):
book isn't out yet, but I'mrecommending the series as a
whole so that I can get you tobook three with me.
Two grumpy people.
She, okay.
I don't even know.
Start with this.
Her sister dies.
Okay.
I'm just going to put that outthere.
Her sister dies.
Her sister had an addictionproblem and I'm, we're not sure
right now.
(19:05):
If it was due to that orsomething else, we're unsure,
but she blames the landlord whois the guy who also happens to
be, he's the male maincharacter, but he also happens
to be like a hockey player orhe,
Jordan (19:22):
where are we going?
Devonnie (19:24):
right.
But he's not currently he's, hehas money, but I can't remember
from what sport or what he wasdoing to get his money.
And he reluctantly rents out hishome to this person.
And she has a kid.
The kid is now under thesister's protection or whatever,
but for some reason the guy istied to the kid.
(19:45):
It's not his kid, but I guessbecause while the sister was
living there, he got to raisethe kid and saw the kid and
probably helped the sister outwhen she was struggling or
anything.
But when I tell you they're likeoil and vinegar, oil and what
oil and vinegar is actuallypretty good oil and water.
Like they
Jordan (19:59):
Vinegar is really
Devonnie (20:00):
Yeah.
They do not gel together andit's, I've never.
Had grumpy.
I'm trying to think in all myyears of reading.
I haven't read grumpy small town
Jordan (20:12):
It's really interesting because I was just thinking
about this a couple days ago.
I was like, I just want, becauseI kept saying grumpy
Devonnie (20:18):
grumpy Yeah, black
Jordan (20:19):
And I'm like, I want just grumpy people.
I want angry people who see eachother and just let's light the
world on
Devonnie (20:25):
yes, and that's what that you've seen hints of their
like Interactions and book two Ithink but all of a sudden in
book three where we're married.
So I can't wait
Jordan (20:37):
Oh.
Devonnie (20:40):
They're going to kill each other and I think there's a
legal reason pertaining to thekid where they had to do that.
Or something for her to be ableto keep her niece or nephew I
think she had to do that orsomething.
So we're going to see how thatplays out.
But what I tell you, I cannotwait.
I
Jordan (20:54):
Maybe they're both Aries.
My husband and I are both Ariesand so I like live
Devonnie (20:59):
that's yeah, that's fire.
So I wanted to quickfire mentionthat series
Jordan (21:04):
It's a march Aries and a april aries, so maybe that's
their deal
Devonnie (21:08):
There it has to be something and also I don't I
mean I didn't read lc's firstseries Off to the races or
something like that I think thatwas I didn't write so I don't
know the characters from thatand if she's written a like
truly grumpy character Uh yet orcharacters, but I know for me
this will be my first experiencewith that because we've have had
grumpy sunshine I've had grumpyand just like indifferent but
(21:29):
like grumpy these people seem tojust I don't understand how
they're gonna coexist So Iwanted to mention that because
rose hill itself that whole townthat small town again has its
own presence Uh, there are othercouples who are living there
because it's interconnected.
So it's really nice to kind ofsee how the town bends together
And that's why we read smalltowns next one briefly
(21:50):
mentioning it again, but I havementioned it before.
It's the Skyland, High SeaSkyland series.
I think it's by, uh, KennedyRyan.
You read the first one before Ilet go.
Jordan (22:01):
dnf'd it because
Devonnie (22:03):
And then,
Jordan (22:04):
This is so I did have to dnf it not because of any
serious.
I mean it was serious like
Devonnie (22:10):
Yeah.
There was just
Jordan (22:12):
it was so well written, but it was some really heavy
triggers for me and I was justbawling my eyes out and it kind
of put me in a place that I didnot want to go back to so I
Devonnie (22:24):
Yeah, and I feel that's fine.
I love this series.
Jordan (22:27):
Oh, it's so wet! It's so good! It
Devonnie (22:29):
ryan's just go good with orion.
Uh, the third book which is uh,one of the last characters
hendrix Her book is coming outsoon, and I can't wait to read
it.
So I wanted to
Jordan (22:39):
I'll just skip over.
Devonnie (22:40):
Hendricks book might also be super heavy but also
Kennedy Ryan is a black woman Sowe love to see that love of
black women from infinity toinfinity and it's also a good
series I don't know if I shouldclassify it really and truly as
a small town But because all ofthis is happening in like a
certain radius and we're runninginto the same places I think
that's why I'm gonna classify
Jordan (22:59):
a small community.
Devonnie (23:01):
Yeah, it's a small community So I'll toss it in
there, but my final Small townrec.
And I will die on this hill.
Do you hear me, listener?
I will die on this hill.
The greatest small townrecommendation I have for you.
Jordan (23:16):
Really?
This is
Devonnie (23:18):
It's Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon, and
uh, I want you to be, I want youto listen to me.
I know what you're thinking,Dev, there's aliens.
It's sci fi.
What do you mean?
Let me tell you something, babe.
Where are those aliens?
They're on an isolated iceplanet, okay?
They live, one, in a cave atfirst, and everybody basically
(23:40):
got their own room.
Okay.
Then after the cave, I'm notgoing to give you out too much
information.
Something happens to the cave.
We have to leave the cave.
They find a Valley where theybuild or finish huts that were
already existing in their littleValley.
They run up and down.
There's always a big house whereeveryone hangs out.
Every couple has their ownlittle hut with their families.
(24:02):
Babes, it is so small town and Iwill die on this
Jordan (24:05):
It is.
Devonnie (24:06):
just wanted barbarians.
It's for the small town
Jordan (24:09):
yep.
Because the environment and thetown play a major
Devonnie (24:13):
Major role! Exactly.
And so that is my greatest smalltown romance.
And y'all know my Ice Planetbarbarian girl.
I love them.
Uh,
Jordan (24:25):
Way to go.
I do want to slip in another,myself, uh, another rec.
I've mentioned it.
I don't think I've reallyfocused on it.
I'm not going to do too much,but Trist 6 Venom by Penelope
Douglas.
This is a small town, inFlorida.
I mean it might be technically amedium town, but like the town
itself and the community is sosmall And it's like opposing
(24:46):
communities in the same township And it, it plays a major
role in what happens.
This is another bully romance.
Heh.
But this is sapphic.
So it's two female maincharacters.
And, I know.
And so you get girl on girlbullying.
So you get one bullying theother.
Which is way harsher than anyman could ever do.
(25:09):
I mean, cause, we cut it, we cancut
Devonnie (25:12):
Women are mean, okay?
Jordan (25:15):
yeah! So, I'm just gonna put that out there really good,
but I know I have given so manyPenelope Douglas stuff, so Look
into that if you want.
I just really want to make surethat got repped.
Devonnie (25:28):
Yeah.
Jordan (25:29):
Yeah, so I'm gonna leave those at that and I'll have more
on our socials, these and more,that are on our TBR.
Yes, there's always more.
Devonnie (25:40):
Yes.
I have so many more small townromances that I want to get to.
So along with the authors that Imentioned at the beginning of
the episode that you shouldcheck out, like definitely stay
tuned.
I'll try to inform you guys orkeep you updated about the new
small town romances that I comeacross because yeah,
contemporary is just one of myfavorite genres in the romance
(26:00):
space.
So I love sharing those recswith you guys.
Jordan (26:03):
And I'm a convert.
I found my niche in
Devonnie (26:07):
Right, in the contemporary space, yeah, in
small town, I love that.
Cause they have it! They haveeverything for somebody, you
know?
Jordan (26:15):
exactly.
And if you want more small townromance, you want another
episode like this, maybe youneed a part two.
Maybe you want us to do somemore research, come back with a
part two.
Please let us know, send us amessage.
There's, where you're listening,there should be a little message
you can send to us and be like,this is great, give me more Give
us your feedback.
(26:36):
Please leave us a review, leaveus comments, subscribe wherever
you're listening.
But just thank you so much forlistening to us ramble today
about small town romance Ifyou're looking for more romance
recs, be sure to follow us onInstagram and threads primarily
at Romance Recs Pod.
(26:56):
You can find our favorite bookrecs from our episodes as well
as behind the scenes content.
Again, that's at Romance RecsPod, so please be sure to give
us a follow and we'll be back intwo weeks with another episode.
Bye.
Devonnie (27:13):
Wait, actually, what about small town romanticy?
Is that a thing?
But they always want to go on a
Jordan (27:19):
Oh, we could do, yeah.
Devonnie (27:21):
yeah.
Jordan (27:23):
Bye.
Devonnie (27:24):
Bye!
Welcome to Romance Recs where book besties explore
(00:02):
the world of romance novels andencourage you to expand your
TBR.
Join us as we dive into thehottest releases and hidden gems
of the genre.
You can find us on Instagram andthreads at romancewreckspod.
Hey guys, welcome back.
This is Dev.
Hey.
Okay.
So I'm a little in between booksright now, but I have a advanced
(00:24):
listening copy of needy littlethings by chanel Desamores.
Desamore?
That's what I'm going to belistening to.
You're welcome.
Jordan (00:32):
Hello, Jordan here.
And I am currently listening toA Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke
by Adriana Herrera.
So buckle up for some bookishbanter because today it's just
us.
It's Dev and Jordan.
We're here.
We're gonna have some fun.
Devonnie (00:49):
Yes.
We're going to talk, be talkingabout all things, small town
romance, and this is notChristina's favorite subject.
So she skipped out on this one.
I don't blame her because we donot yuck each other's yum.
So if she's not feeling it, shedoesn't have to show up and
that's her business.
Yeah, I love that for her.
Put your foot down.
Jordan (01:08):
Uh, she was not having it.
She's you know what?
This is my hard line.
This is my trigger.
Small towns.
And that's fine.
Devonnie (01:17):
because when I want to do an episode that is straight
pregnancy trope, Jordan'sprobably going to bow out.
Jordan (01:24):
I have one.
I have one rec.
But,
Devonnie (01:28):
We celebrate each other's book likes and dislikes
and they're all Okay with us.
I don't have a quote today, butI do want to have a rant, a
little bit of a rant with youguys about my own tunnel vision.
Y'all know I love me blackauthors down.
I love the black girlies who arewriting the books down.
They are my people.
(01:48):
I love that.
Quite literally my people.
Let me stop.
But I,
Jordan (01:52):
allowed to say those things.
Will not be saying it in thatway.
Thank you.
Yes.
Devonnie (01:56):
Yeah.
So I celebrate, I love seeingwhen black women release books
and everything.
But when I was looking for therecs, cause I read a lot of
contemporary romance, I have agood selection that I can just
pluck a couple of small townromances from.
And.
I was like, where are the blackgirlies in the small town
romance?
And I was becoming more livid asI scrolled through the Rolodex
(02:19):
of my past reads, looking forthe black girlies who write
small town romance.
And my first thought could havebeen, the black girlies are not
writing small town romance.
And that's a lie because it ismy job to go find them.
And so I did so I've yeah.
So if you think there's a spacewhere you're not seeing people,
they're probably there.
You just can't see them.
(02:40):
They're not being blown up ortalked about as much.
So we got to celebrate them aswell.
So I have a couple of honorablementions of black authors that
I've.
Looked up a couple of theirbooks.
I've read some of the like plotsfor a few and they do fit the
small town vibe.
Now, some of these authors haveother books as well that are not
small town, but some people, ifyou're looking for reading black
(03:01):
women who are out there writing,we've got Brittany Cherry.
We've got Lauren Lacey, MimiGrace, Z Renee.
One author I'm actually going tomention today, uh, Zia.
Kaylee Galan, I hope I'mpronouncing her name correctly,
but she has a series that isvery small town.
It is so cute.
(03:21):
I'm going to talk about thatlater.
Uh, but yeah, the black girliesare out here writing small town
romance.
If you were concerned, they are,you just got to find them and
let's celebrate them when youdo.
So that's my rant rave for thesmall town episode.
Jordan (03:34):
I love that.
I think I'm gonna, I'm gonnatake a page out of your book,
and I'm gonna do just a littlerave.
So if you're new here, usuallywe do quotes at the beginning,
but if we don't, aren't feelingthe quotes Then we do a rant or
rave.
I am just really into threadsright now.
It really sucks that it's underthe meta umbrella.
(03:57):
I'm gonna just throw that outthere.
I wish it didn't, but anyways, Iput out a call on my tiny little
following of threads on Jordan'sbook banter account, and I said,
this dark romance girl needssome help.
I need more small town romance.
(04:20):
recommendations.
I said bonus points if it's anindie author, double bonus
points if it's an audible, Isaid self recs welcome, and boy
did I get them.
they found me.
So you went out and found them,I put out a call, and they found
me.
There were a huge diversity ofindie authors too, which was So
(04:43):
fun to find.
So I'm like following everyone.
I got 16 new authors to look at,all of who are indie.
And each one of them hadmultiple books.
So I'm putting together a post.
If it's not already out, followour socials on Instagram.
(05:03):
At the very least, I'm going tohave all of those that were
recommended to me on there.
I just love it.
I just love the book community.
Devonnie (05:11):
Yeah.
Jordan (05:12):
Threads and I also, yeah, that's where I
Devonnie (05:15):
of y'all suck!
Jordan (05:16):
yeah, no, some of you guys, I most, most of my threads
though are
Devonnie (05:20):
Or good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jordan (05:21):
people who follow authors, but the authors and
their PAs.
And it is the best world to beliving in now.
So, join me over there, becauseit's so fun.
Devonnie (05:33):
Yeah, I need to use my threads more.
I'm a silent threader.
I and repost, but I don'tactually be saying much.
So I need to use it more.
Jordan (05:40):
I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
And I'm pretending that this isthe early days of Twitter.
Back when I was just throwingshit into the void.
Devonnie (05:51):
That's
Jordan (05:51):
Yeah, that's my rave.
Thank you to all you indieauthors and those who
recommended new indie authors.
You saved me this
Devonnie (05:58):
going to share them.
Jordan (06:00):
Yeah.
Definitely
Devonnie (06:01):
it off your,
Jordan (06:02):
this is more dev's comfort zone than mine.
Devonnie (06:07):
yeah, I'm not going to lie.
I struggled limiting myself tothe books that I wanted to
recommend because I, like Isaid, I love reading
contemporary romances and sosmall town tends to, I feel like
when I got into the romancegenre, I'm not going to lie.
I cannot remember the name ofthe book.
I can slightly remember thepremise, which is kind of the
premise of every book that smalltown romance, but it was a
(06:30):
Harlequin book.
I shouldn't have been readingit.
I was probably too young to bereading it, but it was a small
town.
He was a cowboy.
He had a ranch.
She was some girl who stumbledinto town and they fell in love
and there was a past after herand stuff like that.
So like it was very formulaic inthat way, but that's what
started my love.
(06:50):
I know.
I can't remember.
I know there was a horse.
I know somebody fell off of it.
If y'all can find the book thatI'm talking about, I would love
you so much.
But.
It was a Harlequin book, and Iloved it, and I think that's
when I really started to lovesmall towns.
Uh, so yeah, I struggled givingyou guys recs today.
Recs, I'm not gonna lie, but Ido have a couple.
Jordan (07:10):
Okay.
Devonnie (07:11):
So, the first one I'm gonna start with is actually the
one by Zia, uh, Kaylee Galan,which is, or Galan.
Saddled with Finesse.
This story follows Reese andCorey in the small town of
Alpenglow Ridge.
You get to see Reese's charactergrowth as she navigates the
obstacles life keeps throwing ather on top of her own actions.
Because, mmm, we gotta pointfingers at ourselves too, babe.
(07:35):
Uh, there's definitely foundfamily, there's like girls, uh,
there's Spice.
And the spice is done so well, Ithink yeah, I don't I'm trying
to remember if I was cringingBut also so it's by a black
author and the characters areblack.
So it was really nice to seethat world and just
Jordan (07:54):
town.
Devonnie (07:55):
yeah, very it was very small town like she grew up in
farming horses that kind of lifeand The I think what I love
about this Two is that, yes,it's a small town romance, but I
would edge it a little bittowards romantic suspense
because there is a past andanother character by the name of
(08:16):
Teddy, I think.
It's been a while since I readthis book, but there's a past
for Reese, who is the femalemain character.
Right.
And there's a Teddy who is anabsolute asshole.
You hate him every single timehe's on the page.
But.
Yeah, so there's this romanticsuspense like thriller vibe a
little bit so not too much So ifyou're like don't take my word
(08:36):
that it's a thriller, butthere's definitely more than
small town.
It's not your typical small townIt's not just comedic relief and
happy times and like growing inlove.
There is this element of darkthemes Definitely check your
content warnings Because I feellike some of them may apply to
this, which means, yeah, I guessit's a little more than a small
town if I'm telling you to checkyour content warnings.
(08:58):
But yeah, I really like thatbecause it's a little different
and I am trying, so, I mean, Iam trying to get into my
romantic suspense life.
So this was a good entry intothat because it was nice.
I really enjoyed it.
I'm not gonna lie to you aboutthat.
So yeah, that's my first wreck,I think.
Jordan (09:15):
That leads perfectly to Guilty Minds It's book two in
the Little Hope series.
So this was one of therecommendations I was given on
threads and I believe this onesomeone else came in To the
discussion and recommended thisauthor in this series and then
the author piped in if I'mremembering correctly but it's
(09:38):
by Ariana Kane And I saw thetropes for all the books in the
series, and I saw Bully Romance,Small Town Bully Romance, and I
went, we're jumping in at booktwo.
I am not gonna deal with theseother tropes from the first one.
And they are definitelyinterconnected, stand alones.
I mean, I know the whole plot ofthe first book now because of
(10:01):
how involved the characters arewith each other.
I didn't even care though,because it was so good.
So, definitely Small Town.
Enemies to Lovers, ContemporaryRomance.
It's set in an unforgiving smalltown named Little Hope.
Kayla has had a crush on Justinsince she was just 13 and he was
(10:22):
18.
So just imagine like you're only13 and you see this like hot.
Older senior, like junior orsenior in high school, and
you're just like, Ah! And, youknow, there's that infatuation.
But, even as they grew older,she didn't have much hope for
her chances.
She's from the trailer park, andhe's from the wealthy side of
town.
But, while he simply ignored herfor most of his life, actively
(10:46):
started to hate her when hereturned home from jail a few
years ago.
She has
Devonnie (10:52):
Oh,
Jordan (10:53):
Justin has no idea why he hates her so much and can't
keep up with the constantbullying from him and his cop of
a younger brother who is abusinghis power on her.
She needs to find a way out ofthis town, but there's one
complication holding her there.
(11:13):
Justin?
Can never forgive her.
He knows she's to blame foreverything horrible that
happened on that tragic nighteight years ago.
He'll never forgive her.
How could he when his family wasruined so thoroughly?
She acts all innocent like shedoesn't know just what she did
to ruin him.
(11:34):
He hates her, but He also can'tkeep her off his mind.
When he sees just how dangerousher Jeep is getting from the
neglect and old age, he can'thelp but rage fix it after
having it impounded from all theunpaid tickets his brother keeps
(11:55):
giving her.
Devonnie (11:57):
stop.
Jordan (11:58):
and that! Is even more unforgivable.
Devonnie (12:02):
Yeah, because he
Jordan (12:03):
Dare she.
How dare she be this alluring.
And how dare she drive this jeepthat she can't afford to fix.
And these dozens of tickets overthe last two years.
How dare she.
She works all the
Devonnie (12:15):
so good.
Jordan (12:16):
it's Thank you, I wrote that synopsis.
Devonnie (12:20):
Really?
Oh, no.
Jordan (12:21):
I wrote it.
I, thank you.
I feel really proud of this one.
Devonnie (12:24):
You have sold the book to me.
Like, when I tell you, give itto me now.
I need 14 of them.
I'm ready for this small
Jordan (12:30):
Yeah,
Devonnie (12:31):
No, that was good.
Jordan (12:32):
good.
Ariana let's talk
Devonnie (12:34):
Yeah.
Jordan (12:35):
this is so good.
I'm
Devonnie (12:36):
Ariana!
Jordan (12:36):
book three.
Devonnie (12:38):
Right now?
Jordan (12:39):
Yeah, I'm writing big yeah, so this is coming out
later.
I didn't mention it earlierbecause yeah, I mentioned it in
another episode of the AeonicStorm episode.
Uh, but it's I'm it's so good!
Devonnie (12:51):
Sounds good.
Jordan (12:52):
and you just know there's mis you just know
there's a misunderstanding just
Devonnie (12:56):
Yes.
Duh.
Jordan (12:58):
But like, where does that happen?
And why does the town golden boyget sent to jail for
Devonnie (13:02):
Jail.
That's where you had me at.
Why was he in jail?
Yeah.
That's what I want to know.
So yeah, I'm excited about
Jordan (13:10):
so good.
Now there are please checktrigger warnings, obviously.
This is a bully romance.
He is an asshole.
In the beginning of the book,Ariana writes just about just so
you know he's horrible.
He is horrible to her.
This is not supposed to be yourmisunderstanding or, no.
He's terrorizing her.
(13:30):
And he is the town mechanic.
So like, when I say like, whenhe sees these things on her jeep
it's so funny.
He's I need to have her carimpounded.
How am I gonna do that?
Oh, let's go.
She has thousands of dollars inunpaid tickets.
Let's, she can't pay that.
Devonnie (13:44):
so I can fix it.
That is so funny.
Jordan (13:46):
then he has it removed from impound and we're just
brought to her work and she hasno idea how.
So good.
Devonnie (13:54):
Good job, Ariana.
That is so good.
Um, from that heavy trauma
Jordan (14:00):
Yeah, you know, just normal small town.
Devonnie (14:02):
yeah, Normals Waltz out.
I'm going to take us over toSpoons, Oregon,
Jordan (14:07):
Oh, I know this one!
Devonnie (14:09):
My favorite place to be.
So the, I know the first bookthat I'm going to mention is
Savor It by Tyra DeWitt.
Tyra is my girl.
When I tell you, I think we arebesties in my head.
I love the way Tyra writes.
Her writing is so refreshing, sounintentionally funny, but also
hilarious.
And if you follow her, Yeah.
If you follow her on any socialmedia, you understand why her
(14:31):
characters are the way they arebecause Tara, her posts crack me
up.
Her engaging with people,trolling people.
She is so funny on social media.
Whether you're reading herthreads, please go follow her.
I love following Tara.
So savor it.
We follow Sage and Fisher asthey fall in love in the small
town of Spoons, Oregon.
I've, I'm pretty sure I'vementioned this book before on
(14:52):
the podcast.
So I'm just mentioning itbriefly because I do want you to
check that out because book twoleft of forever, which follows,
it's an interconnectedstandalone book two comes out in
May, I think.
Either march or may it's one ofthe m months and it follows
sage's brother ellis and herbest friend ren and this is a
(15:14):
second chance romance and tarahas been leaking lines from the
book and When I tell you I amlike I am Foaming at the mouth
to get back to spoons, because Ithink there's one line that
Tower released recently whereRen and Ellis are divorced when
you meet them and savor it, theyare divorced.
They're not together.
(15:34):
They are co parenting theirteenage son, Sam.
There's a line in left offorever where Wren says I am so
hopelessly in love with my exhusband And when I tell you the
angst that must be in this booklike I cannot wait and there is
a line I think in savor it whereEven though Ellis is like,
(15:55):
they're not together, right?
He has to care about his ex,right?
But he says something like,she's still a bird.
And bird is Sage and Ellis lastname.
B Y R D.
And so he says that about Wren.
And it's just so good! Also,aside from the characters, Oh,
what makes a small town book isactually the town.
(16:16):
I know you're thinking, Oh,they're just in an area where
it's like not a lot of people orit's not a big city, but the
town is actually a character inthese books.
And that's what makes it a smalltown romance.
You walk down main streetbecause main street is the only
street there is baby.
That's where everything's at,right?
You walk down main street, youpass the one diner, you see the
gossipy hairdresser or waitressor, you know, so
Jordan (16:38):
It's those characters.
Yeah.
Devonnie (16:40):
And yeah the side characters and the town itself
make the small town romances.
And so like, when I tell youI'm, I want to be back in
Spoons, I want to be there.
I need to go see Gary.
Was that the duck's name?
I can't remember the duck, butyeah, I would, yeah, like in
Savor It, there's a duck and Iwant to go back to see what
Gary's been doing.
(17:00):
So I'm really excited about Leftof Forever.
I needed to do that mention ofthat series.
I do want you to read Savor Itfirst, especially if you're
listening to this right now andyou're like, needing some Rex,
go read, savor it.
And then you'll be just in timefor left of forever.
And Tara's writing is justimpeccable.
She's going to make you cry.
She's going to make you laughand she's going to make you wish
you lived in the town that she'swriting about.
(17:21):
So thank me later.
Besties.
Jordan (17:25):
I love that.
Love it so much.
I did read Savor It over theholidays because I remembered
you had recommended it.
And I just was, I was, all of asudden I needed a palette
cleanser.
I needed something cute.
And I really didn't rememberlaughing so much at a book when
I laughed at that one and I wasso pleasantly surprised because
(17:47):
it sounds so kitschy and cutesy,but you read it and it's The
writing is amazing.
Devonnie (17:53):
she's so funny.
Jordan (17:54):
we should reach out to her because she sounds like a
great person to talk to
Devonnie (17:59):
right?
I think
Jordan (18:00):
hmm.
Devonnie (18:01):
All right.
I really only have one more thatI want to share, but I'm going
to do like rapid fire.
Of two one is lc silver's rosehill series.
Y'all know i'm an lc silver stanI really just love her writing.
I love her characters herlatest.
Series outside of the chestnutspring series, but it's like
kind of connected to it stillinterconnected a little bit to
(18:23):
that same area We're in rosehail books.
One and two are already out,which are wild love and then
wild eyes and then wild sidecomes out soon.
And when I tell you, I thinkbook three is probably going to
be my favorite because it is twogrumps.
Two grumpy people.
Uh, the premise of this book,and I know the book, I know the
(18:45):
book isn't out yet, but I'mrecommending the series as a
whole so that I can get you tobook three with me.
Two grumpy people.
She, okay.
I don't even know.
Start with this.
Her sister dies.
Okay.
I'm just going to put that outthere.
Her sister dies.
Her sister had an addictionproblem and I'm, we're not sure
right now.
(19:05):
If it was due to that orsomething else, we're unsure,
but she blames the landlord whois the guy who also happens to
be, he's the male maincharacter, but he also happens
to be like a hockey player orhe,
Jordan (19:22):
where are we going?
Devonnie (19:24):
right.
But he's not currently he's, hehas money, but I can't remember
from what sport or what he wasdoing to get his money.
And he reluctantly rents out hishome to this person.
And she has a kid.
The kid is now under thesister's protection or whatever,
but for some reason the guy istied to the kid.
(19:45):
It's not his kid, but I guessbecause while the sister was
living there, he got to raisethe kid and saw the kid and
probably helped the sister outwhen she was struggling or
anything.
But when I tell you they're likeoil and vinegar, oil and what
oil and vinegar is actuallypretty good oil and water.
Like they
Jordan (19:59):
Vinegar is really
Devonnie (20:00):
Yeah.
They do not gel together andit's, I've never.
Had grumpy.
I'm trying to think in all myyears of reading.
I haven't read grumpy small town
Jordan (20:12):
It's really interesting because I was just thinking
about this a couple days ago.
I was like, I just want, becauseI kept saying grumpy
Devonnie (20:18):
grumpy Yeah, black
Jordan (20:19):
And I'm like, I want just grumpy people.
I want angry people who see eachother and just let's light the
world on
Devonnie (20:25):
yes, and that's what that you've seen hints of their
like Interactions and book two Ithink but all of a sudden in
book three where we're married.
So I can't wait
Jordan (20:37):
Oh.
Devonnie (20:40):
They're going to kill each other and I think there's a
legal reason pertaining to thekid where they had to do that.
Or something for her to be ableto keep her niece or nephew I
think she had to do that orsomething.
So we're going to see how thatplays out.
But what I tell you, I cannotwait.
I
Jordan (20:54):
Maybe they're both Aries.
My husband and I are both Ariesand so I like live
Devonnie (20:59):
that's yeah, that's fire.
So I wanted to quickfire mentionthat series
Jordan (21:04):
It's a march Aries and a april aries, so maybe that's
their deal
Devonnie (21:08):
There it has to be something and also I don't I
mean I didn't read lc's firstseries Off to the races or
something like that I think thatwas I didn't write so I don't
know the characters from thatand if she's written a like
truly grumpy character Uh yet orcharacters, but I know for me
this will be my first experiencewith that because we've have had
grumpy sunshine I've had grumpyand just like indifferent but
(21:29):
like grumpy these people seem tojust I don't understand how
they're gonna coexist So Iwanted to mention that because
rose hill itself that whole townthat small town again has its
own presence Uh, there are othercouples who are living there
because it's interconnected.
So it's really nice to kind ofsee how the town bends together
And that's why we read smalltowns next one briefly
(21:50):
mentioning it again, but I havementioned it before.
It's the Skyland, High SeaSkyland series.
I think it's by, uh, KennedyRyan.
You read the first one before Ilet go.
Jordan (22:01):
dnf'd it because
Devonnie (22:03):
And then,
Jordan (22:04):
This is so I did have to dnf it not because of any
serious.
I mean it was serious like
Devonnie (22:10):
Yeah.
There was just
Jordan (22:12):
it was so well written, but it was some really heavy
triggers for me and I was justbawling my eyes out and it kind
of put me in a place that I didnot want to go back to so I
Devonnie (22:24):
Yeah, and I feel that's fine.
I love this series.
Jordan (22:27):
Oh, it's so wet! It's so good! It
Devonnie (22:29):
ryan's just go good with orion.
Uh, the third book which is uh,one of the last characters
hendrix Her book is coming outsoon, and I can't wait to read
it.
So I wanted to
Jordan (22:39):
I'll just skip over.
Devonnie (22:40):
Hendricks book might also be super heavy but also
Kennedy Ryan is a black woman Sowe love to see that love of
black women from infinity toinfinity and it's also a good
series I don't know if I shouldclassify it really and truly as
a small town But because all ofthis is happening in like a
certain radius and we're runninginto the same places I think
that's why I'm gonna classify
Jordan (22:59):
a small community.
Devonnie (23:01):
Yeah, it's a small community So I'll toss it in
there, but my final Small townrec.
And I will die on this hill.
Do you hear me, listener?
I will die on this hill.
The greatest small townrecommendation I have for you.
Jordan (23:16):
Really?
This is
Devonnie (23:18):
It's Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon, and
uh, I want you to be, I want youto listen to me.
I know what you're thinking,Dev, there's aliens.
It's sci fi.
What do you mean?
Let me tell you something, babe.
Where are those aliens?
They're on an isolated iceplanet, okay?
They live, one, in a cave atfirst, and everybody basically
(23:40):
got their own room.
Okay.
Then after the cave, I'm notgoing to give you out too much
information.
Something happens to the cave.
We have to leave the cave.
They find a Valley where theybuild or finish huts that were
already existing in their littleValley.
They run up and down.
There's always a big house whereeveryone hangs out.
Every couple has their ownlittle hut with their families.
(24:02):
Babes, it is so small town and Iwill die on this
Jordan (24:05):
It is.
Devonnie (24:06):
just wanted barbarians.
It's for the small town
Jordan (24:09):
yep.
Because the environment and thetown play a major
Devonnie (24:13):
Major role! Exactly.
And so that is my greatest smalltown romance.
And y'all know my Ice Planetbarbarian girl.
I love them.
Uh,
Jordan (24:25):
Way to go.
I do want to slip in another,myself, uh, another rec.
I've mentioned it.
I don't think I've reallyfocused on it.
I'm not going to do too much,but Trist 6 Venom by Penelope
Douglas.
This is a small town, inFlorida.
I mean it might be technically amedium town, but like the town
itself and the community is sosmall And it's like opposing
(24:46):
communities in the same township And it, it plays a major
role in what happens.
This is another bully romance.
Heh.
But this is sapphic.
So it's two female maincharacters.
And, I know.
And so you get girl on girlbullying.
So you get one bullying theother.
Which is way harsher than anyman could ever do.
(25:09):
I mean, cause, we cut it, we cancut
Devonnie (25:12):
Women are mean, okay?
Jordan (25:15):
yeah! So, I'm just gonna put that out there really good,
but I know I have given so manyPenelope Douglas stuff, so Look
into that if you want.
I just really want to make surethat got repped.
Devonnie (25:28):
Yeah.
Jordan (25:29):
Yeah, so I'm gonna leave those at that and I'll have more
on our socials, these and more,that are on our TBR.
Yes, there's always more.
Devonnie (25:40):
Yes.
I have so many more small townromances that I want to get to.
So along with the authors that Imentioned at the beginning of
the episode that you shouldcheck out, like definitely stay
tuned.
I'll try to inform you guys orkeep you updated about the new
small town romances that I comeacross because yeah,
contemporary is just one of myfavorite genres in the romance
(26:00):
space.
So I love sharing those recswith you guys.
Jordan (26:03):
And I'm a convert.
I found my niche in
Devonnie (26:07):
Right, in the contemporary space, yeah, in
small town, I love that.
Cause they have it! They haveeverything for somebody, you
know?
Jordan (26:15):
exactly.
And if you want more small townromance, you want another
episode like this, maybe youneed a part two.
Maybe you want us to do somemore research, come back with a
part two.
Please let us know, send us amessage.
There's, where you're listening,there should be a little message
you can send to us and be like,this is great, give me more Give
us your feedback.
(26:36):
Please leave us a review, leaveus comments, subscribe wherever
you're listening.
But just thank you so much forlistening to us ramble today
about small town romance Ifyou're looking for more romance
recs, be sure to follow us onInstagram and threads primarily
at Romance Recs Pod.
(26:56):
You can find our favorite bookrecs from our episodes as well
as behind the scenes content.
Again, that's at Romance RecsPod, so please be sure to give
us a follow and we'll be back intwo weeks with another episode.
Bye.
Devonnie (27:13):
Wait, actually, what about small town romanticy?
Is that a thing?
But they always want to go on a
Jordan (27:19):
Oh, we could do, yeah.
Devonnie (27:21):
yeah.
Jordan (27:23):
Bye.
Devonnie (27:24):
Bye!
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