**A Journey Through Romance: A Reader's Take on Kindle Unlimited Recommendations**

As I sat down to answer some Kindle Unlimited recommendation questions, I was reminded of the importance of developing relationships in books. To me, a relationship that's as complex and multi-dimensional as those found in Point 57 is what truly sets great romances apart from good ones. When done well, these relationships can feel incredibly realistic and relatable, making the story even more engaging and immersive.

This led me to think of two books that I've read recently, both of which have excellent character development and subtle details that make their romances shine. Kate Stewart is one author who consistently delivers on this front, and it's clear why her books are so well-loved by readers. The difference between these two books was striking – they're not just surface-level romances, but rather nuanced explorations of love, relationships, and the human experience.

As I delved into the Christmas season with a series of cozy reads, I found myself drawn to the promise of new beginnings and the joy that comes with it. My first foray into this genre was **The Christmas Pact** by Mike Keeneland and Penelope Ward. While I didn't have time to read this book during my initial recording session (a shame, as I'm curious about its content!), I did manage to finish it in the end. Unfortunately, my thoughts on this book were somewhat lukewarm – it received three stars from me, a rating that reflects my general enthusiasm for the story despite some minor quibbles.

Next up was **A Very Shifty Christmas**, which unfortunately didn't quite hit the mark with me. This book received only two stars from my review, as I found it to be less engaging than I had hoped. I wouldn't recommend this one to readers looking for a cozy winter's read, but if you're in the mood for something more light-hearted and easy-going, there are plenty of other options out there.

I also dabbled in **All I Want for Christmas** by Nora Roberts, an author whose works often explore themes of love and relationships. While this book received two stars from me, it's worth noting that this might be a bit harsh – after all, Roberts is a master of her craft, and many readers adore her writing. For me, though, this particular book didn't quite live up to the standard set by other authors in the same genre.

One series that I do highly recommend, however, is Kate Stewart's **The Guy on the Left** and its companion novel, which are both fantastic explorations of love, family, and identity. If there's one takeaway from this video, it's that if you're looking for a romance with depth and complexity, then look no further than these two books!

Lastly, I had the misfortune of picking up **The Christmas Shop**, a book that unfortunately failed to capture my holiday spirit. Despite its promise, this book felt repetitive and depressing to me, particularly in its portrayal of the main characters – sisters who are torn apart by family expectations rather than finding their own paths. The writing itself wasn't bad, but it lacked a certain sparkle that I often find in more well-crafted romances.

**Audiobook Thoughts**

Interestingly, while I didn't enjoy **The Christmas Shop**, its audiobook adaptation surprised me in some ways. The narration, which featured a thick North Carolina accent, felt somewhat stilted at times, particularly when our main character used phrases like "even though it's not your dream sister, it's my dream to keep this Christmas shop alive." This phrase became a sort of mantra for the story, repeated ad nauseam throughout the book. While I appreciated the enthusiasm behind these sentiments, they started to feel repetitive and even a bit shallow by the time I finished the book.

**Readathon Recap**

As I wrap up this read-a-thon, I want to take a moment to recap the books that made it onto my list. **The Christmas Pact**, while not an overwhelming success with me, still offered some pleasant moments of charm and cozy atmosphere. **A Very Shifty Christmas**, on the other hand, didn't quite hit its mark – but if you're in the mood for something light-hearted, there are plenty of other options to explore.

**The Guy on the Left**, however, remains one of my all-time favorite romances, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a compelling exploration of love and family. And finally, **All I Want for Christmas**, while not particularly memorable for me, still demonstrated some of Nora Roberts' trademark skill with characterization – even if it didn't quite resonate on an emotional level.

As for the one book that will forever be etched in my memory as a disappointing holiday read is... well, you guessed it. **The Christmas Shop** simply didn't make the cut for me, despite its initial promise and enthusiasm-driven narration. While I'm always eager to give authors another chance in the future, this particular story left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed – perhaps there's something here for a different reader, but for now, I'll have to leave it on my shelf.

As we wrap up this read-a-thon, I hope that my experiences offer some insight into what makes a romance truly shine. From the complexities of relationships to the nuances of holiday atmosphere, these are just a few things to consider when seeking out your next great read.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello welcome back to my channel and welcome to my 24 hour cozy little read-a-thon vlog so I'm super excited about this read-a-thon I'm just writing it to get in the Christmas spirit this is a read-a-thon that's being hosted by Soleil Lexi and Kaelyn I'll leave links to their channels down in the description down below but I'm just super excited about this I like that the prompts are super easy and not restrictive because after the secret TBR videos that I've been working on it for the past couple of weeks I just really need a break and I want to get into some really cozy winter slash Christmas themed romances and I just want to read as much as possible basically in the next 24 hours we'll be sleeping obviously I cannot stay up late but it is just now four o'clock and I want to read until four o'clock tomorrow Sunday so I thought I could kind of run through some of the books that I'm planning on reading with you guys you just go from there I have some other things planned for today and tomorrow though kind of build a gingerbread house I'm gonna bake some cookies Hayden's making dinner I need to redress my tree because my cat decided to I don't call the ornaments off so that'll be fine I'll have that in here to wrap presents it's just it's gonna be really cozy I'm really excited about it so let me tell you guys about the books that I have picked out I have some things that I just like have to read and then other things that I just want to read so the book that I'm supposed to be really focusing on first and foremost is the Christmas shop by Nancy and a goal I have a live show for this book and for mice monthly book club tomorrow posting with Geron this month it's gonna be really fun and this just seems like a cute whole markie good time it's not to rival Christmas shops in North Carolina and from the reviews that I've read they said this is very she's got mail so I'm really excited about this I know that this is not like a smutty romance but I think sometimes it's fun to switch it up I don't always have to read something that has sexually explicit content so anyway really excited about this one and this is definitely high priority because like I said I have that live show tomorrow and then I have just a whole host of things on my Kindle unlimited and my audible escape package so I just finished the Christmas pact by Viking land and Penelope Ward that was just like a three hour really short little audio book really recommend it go check it out it's very trophy it's got fake dating enemies two lovers like workplace romance vibes really cool love that I just started on a very shifty Christmas by georgette st. Claire and this one is just like it says it's about this like billionaire shifter he was looking for his mate and I don't know it's only three hours long and I listen on three times speed so it'll just be fun to kind of listen to this while I wrap gifts or something also if I have time I'd like to get to Christmas and silver Belle Falls by Samantha chase they don't really know much about this one but that's made the chase rates a lot of like Christmasy books along with other things too but I don't know this one just appeals to me the covers cute it seems fun I'm definitely putting that one on my list and then for Kindle unlimited those were all audible escapes I don't know if I said ours right like that was pretty pretty clear I have Christmas in the city which is a Christmas anthology or Christmas romance anthology specifically and I am in the middle of the first story which is Dinah by LJN and Helena hunting I don't think I'll be able to get through this entire anthology but hopefully I can get a couple of the stories in there but I just want like a quick a quick thing to break up like audible escape listening and then like the long novels I have to read and the last thing that I really like to get to for this video is the guy on the left by Kate Stewart this is a book of that I have to read before the year is over I absolutely adored the guy on the right definitely my favorite romance of the entire year and I just I'm really excited to get to the like companion novel it's about a different couple but I feel like this one oh well it's not like Christmas romance is gonna have all of the good vibes because it is a second chance romance there's like a single mom situation going on like she gets back with the baby daddy that's sort of the whole premise of the book I'm kind of worried about it because I don't love second-chance romances especially when the guy has super up and like if there's a kid involved you up and you're not hanging around your kid worried but I'm also not that worried because Kay Stuart's awesome so I'm really excited to get to this one again high priority definitely the Christmas shop the guy on the left and a couple of these like fun smutty and audiobooks that I can do while I am doing other Christmassy activities so yeah those are the things that I'm planning on reading so I think what I'm gonna do first is start on a very shifty Christmas wall I wrapped gifts and hopefully Pepe and nugget art I love my but they probably will be so I will do a little time-lapse magic and I'll get back to you once I am into that audiobook okay so I finished a very shifty Christmas I gotta say it was not a big fan I'm not gonna read this one because I actually didn't listen to the last 30 minutes of the audiobook for all intents and purposes I'm counting this as read I usually if I D enough a book don't count it as read or like don't count towards my Goodreads goal but I did for this one not that it really matters but I don't know I thought I would really enjoy this but I think this book suffered from having a few too many characters for a novella it is the third third book in a series I think the other books are longer but I just feel like if you're going to do a novella with two characters trying to get together it's not just like a like a continuation of their story or like a Christmas vignette or whatever I think it doesn't make sense to have a lot of extra characters in this story I think the two main characters are Morgan the guy and Valerie the girl and Morgan's family is very involved in the romance and there's so many characters that I just couldn't remember the names of or remember their purpose I know that his mom was kind of bigoted and rude towards humans you know Morgan's a werewolf and or shifter whatever the I don't know I just I didn't like the Lord that much I didn't find it very interesting I didn't find the conflict very interesting and our main character Valerie is plus-sized but I couldn't tell if the representation was good or not because I mean I'm not personally plus-sized and I just I don't know I couldn't tell if it was body positive or fat phobic I think sometimes it's hard to tell if that makes sense like the her body was talked about often but I don't know that I liked the way her body was talked about but what he's uncomfortable for me might not be uncomfortable for others and vice versa so I just I don't know I didn't personally have a great feeling about the book as a whole I wouldn't really recommend it to people but I can't even say it was enjoyable honestly it just me I'm just glad to be done with it I think now what I'm gonna do is start in on the guy on the left by Kate Stewart I just really want to read something physically and I'm really excited about this book I also think I'm gonna go ahead and put my cookies in the oven because I'm really adding them I just want cookies it just sounds really good while I read a book on my couch with my lovely tree in the background it just let a candle I don't know I'm just I'm feeling all the cozy vibes right now I think I'm gonna put the gingerbread house off until tomorrow because Hayden doesn't want to do it until tomorrow so that's kind of my game plan okay so I'm 6% in and I'm loving it I knew that I would but I was just again very unsure about that promise like I told you guys earlier so this book is about a guy named Troy and a woman named Clarissa and they had kind of a one-night stand situation very steamy very into each other and Clarissa falls pregnant when she goes to confront Troy about her pregnancy she finds out some shocking information and decides that she does not want Troy in her son's life so this story is about Troy trying to win Clarissa back a few years later and find a spot in his son's life so I am liking it so much so far I'm not a huge fan of second-chance romances usually because I feel like guys usually don't deserve second chances that sounds bad but I just feel like most of the time this trope is employed it's just not something I'm into oh but of course Kate Stewart has to just knock it out of the park and do something that's gonna pull on my heartstrings so I'm enjoying it I also am just really loving getting back into the world of this book series I mean it's set like in the real world obviously but it is at a fictional university based on a university that I went to my freshman year of college so just it feels homey and nice and just I love being in this world and I'm just liking it I can definitely feel the heartache in both of our characters I really already like the son his name is Dante you super cute I'm just I'm really enjoying this it's definitely proving to me why there are definitely exceptions to every rule like this one I think works because the two characters did have a one-night stand together but didn't have a previous relationship so we're going to be able to see the progression of them hating each other a little bit and then growing to love each other I guess Troy doesn't really hate Clarissa but anyway it's gonna be the development of their relationship I'm sure I also really liked that in romance book club by Alyssa K Adams that really worked for me as well because it was a married couple who were together but they had to kind of build their relationship from scratch to kind of get to know each other better posters the source of second-chance romances I really like I don't really like it when it is a douchey guy that breaks a girl's heart and then tries to win her back years later it doesn't really work for me I'm not really that big into the whole grovelling trope usually but like I like this book I am smitten okay I knew I would be but I'm really excited so once I get 50% into this I'll update you guys again my plans for the rest of the night basically already at 50% into this read a little bit or listen to a little bit of an audiobook maybe one of the somebody wants McGill just finish an entire one and then go to sleep I'm not gonna read the Christmas shop today sadly I've already read to or listened to two audiobooks and then okay 50% done with this like it's gonna be you know what I'm proud of myself it's going good okay so I didn't end up getting a 50% into this book kind of sad about it because I I just I thought that I would but I didn't realize I had to film the announcement for the Kindle unlimited on so that's my that's my bad you know that's like on me but I got 40% into it and I'm really really liking it I did just get to the first the conflict scene between Troy and Clarissa and it's just making me really annoyed with Clarissa I just I don't know I understand why she kept her son from Troy in the first place but when a guy says he's going to step up and shows to you every day for a couple of months that he is going to show up I feel like you have to kind of give him some leeway especially when it's your baby's father so it was a little bit frustrating hearing her so much also she kept the fact that she was keeping her son from her from the son's father from her best friend so her best friend thought oh he's just a piece of like he didn't want to be there but that like wasn't the case and I again I understand why she did that like she wanted someone to be on her side I definitely understand the criticisms of this book for that particular issue that being said I'm not hating Clarissa as much as I think a lot of other reviewers did I definitely understand like I said why she's doing what she's doing I'm gonna keep reading I'm gonna go get Starbucks and then I'm gonna head home edit Micah no limited read-a-thon thing okay so I was able to get my Kindle unlimited a recommendations video all put up and post it and stuff I was kind of worried I wasn't gonna have enough time but I was able to get it done so I'm really proud of myself I just finished all I want for Christmas by norm Roberts it was one of those short 3-hour audiobooks and this was my first ever Nora Roberts which is so crazy because Nora's obviously one of the biggest names in romance and I thought this was just okay I think to be honest I'd probably give it like two stars it definitely felt like it was written a while ago I I don't want to make assumptions but I think this is written either late 90s or early 2000s some of the language around the sexier scenes I felt a little bit old-fashioned nothing terrible but it just wasn't really my cup of tea I don't know I thought it was sort of weird the choice to make children narrators for part of this book I don't know basically the story is they our two little boys Zeke and Zach and they are sons of a single father and they wish for a bumper Christmas and they're like mom eventually becomes the person who they want to be their mom basically is the choir teacher for the high school and it's just about the romance of the choir teacher and the dad and it's okay I mean I think the weakest part of the story was the bromance I really liked the choir teacher I really liked the kids but I didn't feel like the actual world man's between the two adults is very developed like I just felt like it was kind of underwhelming wasn't the worst thing ever it's definitely very Christmas heavy in terms of like you know like the kids want my mom for Christmas but I didn't I didn't love this one definitely wasn't a complete waste of time or anything but this probably wasn't the best representation of nor Roberts writing I definitely want to try something else from her and maybe something that she's written more recently to really give her a fair shot so this was just okay for me okay this is something I've been thinking about the whole time I've been reading this book but I don't want to forget it so I'm just gonna let you guys know I am loving the third roommate in this house yet I just want to know more about him obviously Troy is living with Theo who is the hero from the first book and they also have a roommate named Lance who is kind of dark brooding tattooed and he is just very quiet we don't know much about him I want to get more into like his romance like I hope he has a romance I hope that he think that if there's gonna be a third book talking on Bielema nepo like I'm very excited at the prospect as you can see this book made me email as it's gonna have to be a five star from me I Kate Stewart you do it every time like this was excellent my only complaint and the only thing that could stop me from giving this five stars would be that I think there were one too many conflicts in this book I understand that both of our characters are kind of untrusting and they have reasons not to trust each other I just think when there's a kid involved you would try to minimize the conflict and or not make it something that really keeps you guys apart you know like fight but stay together and while they didn't like right in front of a kid or anything I really wish that the conflict had just been cut a little bit I also think the book could have been just a tad shorter but overall I was so good I left a relationship development the Dante the child was hilarious I just loved everything about this I'm just so glad I got to read this definitely I mean it's a five star like always includes these little details that make me care so much and the ending and the link proposal basically so cute so so cute I don't think this beats the guy on the right for me because that story is just everything that I need but this one was also just fantastic and I think if you liked the guy on the right you'll really like the guy on the left as well I'm also happy that at the end of this book it said that the guy in the middle is coming in winter 2020 which slams the story like we are getting glance the story I'm literally so thrilled I can't the story made me some email I mean I don't even know what else to say but like definitely go check these out I think going forward and maybe for the K you via thon I'll try to read some of cases where it's backlist because I'm just obsessed with her writing like her relationships are awesome someone actually asked me and I didn't answer them so on my story I I was answering Kindle unlimited recommendation questions like I told you guys to give me prompts or tropes I'd answer one of the questions was what is like a relationship in a book that's as developed as one in point 57 and I have to say about the two books that I've read that Kate Stewart are that level of development I mean they're just just so different you know they're not surface level like a lot of romances tend to be that's what really sets a good romance apart from a great romance you know is the extra character development and the extra little things that make a romance feel realistic so anyway this is so good I think we'd start in on the Christmas shop I mean I know start in on the Christmas shop it is or 14 so I'm hoping I can finish that in the next like three or so hours I still really want to make the new bread house I don't know maybe listen to his money audio book another one I don't know who'll say oh I'll let you guys know okay um I don't how do I say this politely I don't really want to read this like it's not terrible I am like a whole one chapter into it but I just like don't care that much the writing is a little bit stiff and there I don't know I don't even know how to describe it it just it's not it's not very sophisticated it's not bad I'm sure I like the story will get better but I'm not loving it so far and I don't know I don't know I don't know okay so I picked up the audio book of the Christmas shop and it's actually not that bad but also take a shot every time our main character is like even though it's not your dream sister it's my dream to keep this Christmas shop alive holy it's like so repetitive I mean the story's cute I'm glad I kept of audiobook I will say like the narration it's kind of stupid because no one in North Carolina has this thick of an accent or at least people I know from North Carolina don't have accents like this but I don't know it's whatever I'm not convinced that I like this but it's not terrible okay friends we've reached the end of the road I am officially done with the cozy little readathon I hope you guys had a fun time with me I thought I would just recap the books that I read because I didn't update you guys on how I felt about the Christmas shop here at the end so the first book that I read for this read-a-thon was the Christmas pact by Mike Keeneland and Penelope Ward I didn't read it during the vlog portion of this come here pepper come here mm-hmm do really bright anyway I didn't read that obviously for the vlog portion of this video but I gave that book three stars and I thought it was pretty fun next I read a very shifty Christmas which was not nearly as fun I wouldn't recommend that one give that one two stars it was it's not my thing then I read all I want for Christmas by Nora Roberts I think I'm gonna give this one two stars as well which feels kind of harsh but I just I don't know I don't think it is like the best you know Roberts to start with so I'll be trying other books out from her in the future but just one what's not it for me and then I read the guy on the left which you guys know I adored if there's a takeaway from this video it is to read a guy on the right and the guy on the left because Kate Stewart can do no wrong in my eyes and lastly I read the Christmas shop I didn't after this book I know the whole point of this video was to read the Christmas shop until I get in the Christmas spirit but unfortunately this was just not it for me I did not like this oh also can I just go back and say that the guy on the left does have a Christmas scene that's like pretty pivotal so I would I would argue that the guy who left as a Christmas romance but the Christmas shop didn't work for me it was just so repetitive and it I just I didn't like it and it was depressing our main characters a sister it was like oh just go ahead and close your clothes the family Christmas shop even though it was our ground with their shop closed it doesn't matter and it wasn't even that like this is door was bitter she was just a I don't know I was not a fan but um I had a really good time doing this vlog hopefully this was entertaining I hope you guys liked all of the Christmassy at moments and all the key moments but I will be back with some more like serious content coming up soon I love you guys so much and until next timehello welcome back to my channel and welcome to my 24 hour cozy little read-a-thon vlog so I'm super excited about this read-a-thon I'm just writing it to get in the Christmas spirit this is a read-a-thon that's being hosted by Soleil Lexi and Kaelyn I'll leave links to their channels down in the description down below but I'm just super excited about this I like that the prompts are super easy and not restrictive because after the secret TBR videos that I've been working on it for the past couple of weeks I just really need a break and I want to get into some really cozy winter slash Christmas themed romances and I just want to read as much as possible basically in the next 24 hours we'll be sleeping obviously I cannot stay up late but it is just now four o'clock and I want to read until four o'clock tomorrow Sunday so I thought I could kind of run through some of the books that I'm planning on reading with you guys you just go from there I have some other things planned for today and tomorrow though kind of build a gingerbread house I'm gonna bake some cookies Hayden's making dinner I need to redress my tree because my cat decided to I don't call the ornaments off so that'll be fine I'll have that in here to wrap presents it's just it's gonna be really cozy I'm really excited about it so let me tell you guys about the books that I have picked out I have some things that I just like have to read and then other things that I just want to read so the book that I'm supposed to be really focusing on first and foremost is the Christmas shop by Nancy and a goal I have a live show for this book and for mice monthly book club tomorrow posting with Geron this month it's gonna be really fun and this just seems like a cute whole markie good time it's not to rival Christmas shops in North Carolina and from the reviews that I've read they said this is very she's got mail so I'm really excited about this I know that this is not like a smutty romance but I think sometimes it's fun to switch it up I don't always have to read something that has sexually explicit content so anyway really excited about this one and this is definitely high priority because like I said I have that live show tomorrow and then I have just a whole host of things on my Kindle unlimited and my audible escape package so I just finished the Christmas pact by Viking land and Penelope Ward that was just like a three hour really short little audio book really recommend it go check it out it's very trophy it's got fake dating enemies two lovers like workplace romance vibes really cool love that I just started on a very shifty Christmas by georgette st. Claire and this one is just like it says it's about this like billionaire shifter he was looking for his mate and I don't know it's only three hours long and I listen on three times speed so it'll just be fun to kind of listen to this while I wrap gifts or something also if I have time I'd like to get to Christmas and silver Belle Falls by Samantha chase they don't really know much about this one but that's made the chase rates a lot of like Christmasy books along with other things too but I don't know this one just appeals to me the covers cute it seems fun I'm definitely putting that one on my list and then for Kindle unlimited those were all audible escapes I don't know if I said ours right like that was pretty pretty clear I have Christmas in the city which is a Christmas anthology or Christmas romance anthology specifically and I am in the middle of the first story which is Dinah by LJN and Helena hunting I don't think I'll be able to get through this entire anthology but hopefully I can get a couple of the stories in there but I just want like a quick a quick thing to break up like audible escape listening and then like the long novels I have to read and the last thing that I really like to get to for this video is the guy on the left by Kate Stewart this is a book of that I have to read before the year is over I absolutely adored the guy on the right definitely my favorite romance of the entire year and I just I'm really excited to get to the like companion novel it's about a different couple but I feel like this one oh well it's not like Christmas romance is gonna have all of the good vibes because it is a second chance romance there's like a single mom situation going on like she gets back with the baby daddy that's sort of the whole premise of the book I'm kind of worried about it because I don't love second-chance romances especially when the guy has super up and like if there's a kid involved you up and you're not hanging around your kid worried but I'm also not that worried because Kay Stuart's awesome so I'm really excited to get to this one again high priority definitely the Christmas shop the guy on the left and a couple of these like fun smutty and audiobooks that I can do while I am doing other Christmassy activities so yeah those are the things that I'm planning on reading so I think what I'm gonna do first is start on a very shifty Christmas wall I wrapped gifts and hopefully Pepe and nugget art I love my but they probably will be so I will do a little time-lapse magic and I'll get back to you once I am into that audiobook okay so I finished a very shifty Christmas I gotta say it was not a big fan I'm not gonna read this one because I actually didn't listen to the last 30 minutes of the audiobook for all intents and purposes I'm counting this as read I usually if I D enough a book don't count it as read or like don't count towards my Goodreads goal but I did for this one not that it really matters but I don't know I thought I would really enjoy this but I think this book suffered from having a few too many characters for a novella it is the third third book in a series I think the other books are longer but I just feel like if you're going to do a novella with two characters trying to get together it's not just like a like a continuation of their story or like a Christmas vignette or whatever I think it doesn't make sense to have a lot of extra characters in this story I think the two main characters are Morgan the guy and Valerie the girl and Morgan's family is very involved in the romance and there's so many characters that I just couldn't remember the names of or remember their purpose I know that his mom was kind of bigoted and rude towards humans you know Morgan's a werewolf and or shifter whatever the I don't know I just I didn't like the Lord that much I didn't find it very interesting I didn't find the conflict very interesting and our main character Valerie is plus-sized but I couldn't tell if the representation was good or not because I mean I'm not personally plus-sized and I just I don't know I couldn't tell if it was body positive or fat phobic I think sometimes it's hard to tell if that makes sense like the her body was talked about often but I don't know that I liked the way her body was talked about but what he's uncomfortable for me might not be uncomfortable for others and vice versa so I just I don't know I didn't personally have a great feeling about the book as a whole I wouldn't really recommend it to people but I can't even say it was enjoyable honestly it just me I'm just glad to be done with it I think now what I'm gonna do is start in on the guy on the left by Kate Stewart I just really want to read something physically and I'm really excited about this book I also think I'm gonna go ahead and put my cookies in the oven because I'm really adding them I just want cookies it just sounds really good while I read a book on my couch with my lovely tree in the background it just let a candle I don't know I'm just I'm feeling all the cozy vibes right now I think I'm gonna put the gingerbread house off until tomorrow because Hayden doesn't want to do it until tomorrow so that's kind of my game plan okay so I'm 6% in and I'm loving it I knew that I would but I was just again very unsure about that promise like I told you guys earlier so this book is about a guy named Troy and a woman named Clarissa and they had kind of a one-night stand situation very steamy very into each other and Clarissa falls pregnant when she goes to confront Troy about her pregnancy she finds out some shocking information and decides that she does not want Troy in her son's life so this story is about Troy trying to win Clarissa back a few years later and find a spot in his son's life so I am liking it so much so far I'm not a huge fan of second-chance romances usually because I feel like guys usually don't deserve second chances that sounds bad but I just feel like most of the time this trope is employed it's just not something I'm into oh but of course Kate Stewart has to just knock it out of the park and do something that's gonna pull on my heartstrings so I'm enjoying it I also am just really loving getting back into the world of this book series I mean it's set like in the real world obviously but it is at a fictional university based on a university that I went to my freshman year of college so just it feels homey and nice and just I love being in this world and I'm just liking it I can definitely feel the heartache in both of our characters I really already like the son his name is Dante you super cute I'm just I'm really enjoying this it's definitely proving to me why there are definitely exceptions to every rule like this one I think works because the two characters did have a one-night stand together but didn't have a previous relationship so we're going to be able to see the progression of them hating each other a little bit and then growing to love each other I guess Troy doesn't really hate Clarissa but anyway it's gonna be the development of their relationship I'm sure I also really liked that in romance book club by Alyssa K Adams that really worked for me as well because it was a married couple who were together but they had to kind of build their relationship from scratch to kind of get to know each other better posters the source of second-chance romances I really like I don't really like it when it is a douchey guy that breaks a girl's heart and then tries to win her back years later it doesn't really work for me I'm not really that big into the whole grovelling trope usually but like I like this book I am smitten okay I knew I would be but I'm really excited so once I get 50% into this I'll update you guys again my plans for the rest of the night basically already at 50% into this read a little bit or listen to a little bit of an audiobook maybe one of the somebody wants McGill just finish an entire one and then go to sleep I'm not gonna read the Christmas shop today sadly I've already read to or listened to two audiobooks and then okay 50% done with this like it's gonna be you know what I'm proud of myself it's going good okay so I didn't end up getting a 50% into this book kind of sad about it because I I just I thought that I would but I didn't realize I had to film the announcement for the Kindle unlimited on so that's my that's my bad you know that's like on me but I got 40% into it and I'm really really liking it I did just get to the first the conflict scene between Troy and Clarissa and it's just making me really annoyed with Clarissa I just I don't know I understand why she kept her son from Troy in the first place but when a guy says he's going to step up and shows to you every day for a couple of months that he is going to show up I feel like you have to kind of give him some leeway especially when it's your baby's father so it was a little bit frustrating hearing her so much also she kept the fact that she was keeping her son from her from the son's father from her best friend so her best friend thought oh he's just a piece of like he didn't want to be there but that like wasn't the case and I again I understand why she did that like she wanted someone to be on her side I definitely understand the criticisms of this book for that particular issue that being said I'm not hating Clarissa as much as I think a lot of other reviewers did I definitely understand like I said why she's doing what she's doing I'm gonna keep reading I'm gonna go get Starbucks and then I'm gonna head home edit Micah no limited read-a-thon thing okay so I was able to get my Kindle unlimited a recommendations video all put up and post it and stuff I was kind of worried I wasn't gonna have enough time but I was able to get it done so I'm really proud of myself I just finished all I want for Christmas by norm Roberts it was one of those short 3-hour audiobooks and this was my first ever Nora Roberts which is so crazy because Nora's obviously one of the biggest names in romance and I thought this was just okay I think to be honest I'd probably give it like two stars it definitely felt like it was written a while ago I I don't want to make assumptions but I think this is written either late 90s or early 2000s some of the language around the sexier scenes I felt a little bit old-fashioned nothing terrible but it just wasn't really my cup of tea I don't know I thought it was sort of weird the choice to make children narrators for part of this book I don't know basically the story is they our two little boys Zeke and Zach and they are sons of a single father and they wish for a bumper Christmas and they're like mom eventually becomes the person who they want to be their mom basically is the choir teacher for the high school and it's just about the romance of the choir teacher and the dad and it's okay I mean I think the weakest part of the story was the bromance I really liked the choir teacher I really liked the kids but I didn't feel like the actual world man's between the two adults is very developed like I just felt like it was kind of underwhelming wasn't the worst thing ever it's definitely very Christmas heavy in terms of like you know like the kids want my mom for Christmas but I didn't I didn't love this one definitely wasn't a complete waste of time or anything but this probably wasn't the best representation of nor Roberts writing I definitely want to try something else from her and maybe something that she's written more recently to really give her a fair shot so this was just okay for me okay this is something I've been thinking about the whole time I've been reading this book but I don't want to forget it so I'm just gonna let you guys know I am loving the third roommate in this house yet I just want to know more about him obviously Troy is living with Theo who is the hero from the first book and they also have a roommate named Lance who is kind of dark brooding tattooed and he is just very quiet we don't know much about him I want to get more into like his romance like I hope he has a romance I hope that he think that if there's gonna be a third book talking on Bielema nepo like I'm very excited at the prospect as you can see this book made me email as it's gonna have to be a five star from me I Kate Stewart you do it every time like this was excellent my only complaint and the only thing that could stop me from giving this five stars would be that I think there were one too many conflicts in this book I understand that both of our characters are kind of untrusting and they have reasons not to trust each other I just think when there's a kid involved you would try to minimize the conflict and or not make it something that really keeps you guys apart you know like fight but stay together and while they didn't like right in front of a kid or anything I really wish that the conflict had just been cut a little bit I also think the book could have been just a tad shorter but overall I was so good I left a relationship development the Dante the child was hilarious I just loved everything about this I'm just so glad I got to read this definitely I mean it's a five star like always includes these little details that make me care so much and the ending and the link proposal basically so cute so so cute I don't think this beats the guy on the right for me because that story is just everything that I need but this one was also just fantastic and I think if you liked the guy on the right you'll really like the guy on the left as well I'm also happy that at the end of this book it said that the guy in the middle is coming in winter 2020 which slams the story like we are getting glance the story I'm literally so thrilled I can't the story made me some email I mean I don't even know what else to say but like definitely go check these out I think going forward and maybe for the K you via thon I'll try to read some of cases where it's backlist because I'm just obsessed with her writing like her relationships are awesome someone actually asked me and I didn't answer them so on my story I I was answering Kindle unlimited recommendation questions like I told you guys to give me prompts or tropes I'd answer one of the questions was what is like a relationship in a book that's as developed as one in point 57 and I have to say about the two books that I've read that Kate Stewart are that level of development I mean they're just just so different you know they're not surface level like a lot of romances tend to be that's what really sets a good romance apart from a great romance you know is the extra character development and the extra little things that make a romance feel realistic so anyway this is so good I think we'd start in on the Christmas shop I mean I know start in on the Christmas shop it is or 14 so I'm hoping I can finish that in the next like three or so hours I still really want to make the new bread house I don't know maybe listen to his money audio book another one I don't know who'll say oh I'll let you guys know okay um I don't how do I say this politely I don't really want to read this like it's not terrible I am like a whole one chapter into it but I just like don't care that much the writing is a little bit stiff and there I don't know I don't even know how to describe it it just it's not it's not very sophisticated it's not bad I'm sure I like the story will get better but I'm not loving it so far and I don't know I don't know I don't know okay so I picked up the audio book of the Christmas shop and it's actually not that bad but also take a shot every time our main character is like even though it's not your dream sister it's my dream to keep this Christmas shop alive holy it's like so repetitive I mean the story's cute I'm glad I kept of audiobook I will say like the narration it's kind of stupid because no one in North Carolina has this thick of an accent or at least people I know from North Carolina don't have accents like this but I don't know it's whatever I'm not convinced that I like this but it's not terrible okay friends we've reached the end of the road I am officially done with the cozy little readathon I hope you guys had a fun time with me I thought I would just recap the books that I read because I didn't update you guys on how I felt about the Christmas shop here at the end so the first book that I read for this read-a-thon was the Christmas pact by Mike Keeneland and Penelope Ward I didn't read it during the vlog portion of this come here pepper come here mm-hmm do really bright anyway I didn't read that obviously for the vlog portion of this video but I gave that book three stars and I thought it was pretty fun next I read a very shifty Christmas which was not nearly as fun I wouldn't recommend that one give that one two stars it was it's not my thing then I read all I want for Christmas by Nora Roberts I think I'm gonna give this one two stars as well which feels kind of harsh but I just I don't know I don't think it is like the best you know Roberts to start with so I'll be trying other books out from her in the future but just one what's not it for me and then I read the guy on the left which you guys know I adored if there's a takeaway from this video it is to read a guy on the right and the guy on the left because Kate Stewart can do no wrong in my eyes and lastly I read the Christmas shop I didn't after this book I know the whole point of this video was to read the Christmas shop until I get in the Christmas spirit but unfortunately this was just not it for me I did not like this oh also can I just go back and say that the guy on the left does have a Christmas scene that's like pretty pivotal so I would I would argue that the guy who left as a Christmas romance but the Christmas shop didn't work for me it was just so repetitive and it I just I didn't like it and it was depressing our main characters a sister it was like oh just go ahead and close your clothes the family Christmas shop even though it was our ground with their shop closed it doesn't matter and it wasn't even that like this is door was bitter she was just a I don't know I was not a fan but um I had a really good time doing this vlog hopefully this was entertaining I hope you guys liked all of the Christmassy at moments and all the key moments but I will be back with some more like serious content coming up soon I love you guys so much and until next time\n"