i snuck a lot of romances this month | august wrap up

[@redheadreads5223]

Yessss would love a guide to Christina Lauren’s books! I find them so so helpful, especially for someone like me who hasn’t read a single book by them thus far aha! 💕💕💕

[@cinamoongurl7766]

Recommend the unhoneymooners :)

[@brennasullivan8273]

This month I read: 1) Pestilence by Laura Thalassa 2) War by Laura Thalassa 3) The Stand-In by Lily Chu (disappointed by this one) 4) Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle 5) The War Widow by Tara Moss 6) Brazen and the Beast by Sarah McLean (disappointed by this one) 7) The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren (my first from them) 8) Red, White, and Royal Blue (one of my top books of the year) 9) Burn for Me by IIona Andrews 10) Black Iris by Leah Reader 11) Still Beating by Jennifer Hartman 12) Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey 13) Reviving the Hawthrone Sisters by Emily Carpenter 14) The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory 15) A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen 16) The Guy on the Right by Kate Stwart 17) Even if it Hurts by Marni Mann (don't know why this got published it was that disappointing) 18) The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang 19) Let LOve In by Johanna Lindsey I think this is the most books I've read in a month!

[@shumi7051]

that's wonderful! happy to hear that you had a great reading month!!! which one is your favorite?

[@brennasullivan8273]

@@shumi7051 I would have to say that Red, White, and Royal blue blew me away. But A taste for love and the guy on the right, and tools of engagement are close behind

[@shumi7051]

@@brennasullivan8273 i think i need to finally pick up Tools of Engagement !!!!! thank you!

[@brennasullivan8273]

Yes! You totally should! Plus, I heard from booktube that it is the best in the trilogy!

[@shumi7051]

@@brennasullivan8273 Ahhhh this is very exciting!!! Thank you!! *hugs hugs hugs*

[@bookswithbray]

I literally listened to this while doing homework because I love your videos and they’re very calming to me!

[@chandlerainsley]

thanks for listening

[@paularodriguez726]

Everyone (including me) rethinking their relationship with Riley Sager after Survive the Night is hilarious

[@abookishmess]

Lol sis could film her wrap up video in a cave with no light and I'd still be here for it like yes give me the smut recommendation 🤣🤣🤌🏾

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

Congratulations on mostly-clearing that currently reading shelf!!

[@PamNg]

I totally agree with your review of The Roommate Risk!! I DNF’d it, but I need to try the Brown sisters books

[@j2.023]

PESTIENCE IS EVERYTHINGGGGGG one of my fav book of all time ! I tellllll everyone to read this ! War was good but not as great as I wanted it to be but I still enjoyed the ending ! I’m reading famine now !

[@sayalisathe8894]

Early hooking up = breaking tension. This is the theme of today's video. I also don't like early hooking ups in the book it kind of makes the stakes low. No tension.

[@treifrogy]

I totally agree with you about the relationship dynamic in Devil in Spring-- they had a very strong friendship that didn't allow for a lot of jealousy or miscommunication. I liked Gabriel as a hero because he was so straightforward. HOWEVER, they built up his 'dark desires' so much for so little payoff. I get that LK writes pretty vanilla sex scenes but I expected something more!! lol

[@dianaandthebookhunt]

Yes please, we'd love a Christina Lauren guide vid from you!

[@KS-ks6wz]

Lisa Kleypas is really good with historical romances, esp her series. I tried one contemporary from her and learned to never go down that route again.

[@northeastcity6921]

Thanks for the video!! I kind of like the thought of Christina Lauren books video but I'm not into all of them so I understand your dilemma. Also, loved hearing you reference bachelor and gossip girl lol ♡

[@zaharabadshah5555]

Chandler 'why is everybody widowed' Ainsley...😂

[@Emmareads15]

I think this every time I see your videos, but never comment it, but you just have the most beautiful skin. Such a lovely even colour and beautiful pale skin.

[@irishgirl982]

I've read two Christina Lauren books so far and am considering reading more... however I really liked one and hated the other one... so a guide would be great so I know which ones are worth reading! (the one i hated was "twice in a blue moon" btw!)

[@summer9723]

I'm the same! I loved one book but hated another. I didn't like unhoneymooners :(

[@C4r1y1996]

I’ve read I think 7 of hers now, and I’ve liked all of them! Twice in a blue moon was meh for me as well. The plot was much duller than her other books and the ending was quite abrupt

[@natarsha2203]

Twice In A Blue Moon is definitely their worst, and the Soulmate Equation is the best IMO.

[@summer9723]

@@natarsha2203 I'll check it out and get back to you. I still can't decide if I like them. I actually read their YA novel "sublime" and it was ...sad. a very sad and dark read. Idk I'm still on the fence about their books

[@ambervictoria4083]

Love and other words is one of my fave books ever

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

I still kinda feel like 2021 just started....I can hardly believe it's almost over already.

[@TheLoveLibrarian]

From the Embers was one of my favorite romances this year!

[@gloriaaaaa]

your videos just make my day

[@Katiedora122]

I would definitely be curious about a Christina Lauren guide, but I also know I'm unlikely to ever pick up their backlist, lol. Every (recent) book I've read has caused me to reevaluate my previous ratings, but I've had enough experience to know what I'm going to like or not. Also, I'm definitely going to check out the Ravenels!

[@gelifr9387]

Lisa Kleypas is my favorite historical romance author. I love all her series.

[@samikoller8953]

I read the entire hades and persephone series by Scarlett st Claire including the hades perspective, kingdom of the wicked, and a touch of darkness. This was very much the month of romance

[@lakshmimohan1248]

2 videos in three days? Yes yes yesss ✨😱

[@art3mis898]

This month I read , I read my first Penelope Douglas book, Birthday Girl . I loved it.

[@chandlerainsley]

yay i'm so glad you liked it!

[@evelinac2423]

I would recommend reading some Viking romance and rating them ;) Lilke the book Sky in the deep etc

[@christinekae9003]

I was knee deep in alien and then MC romances this month and loved every second! Biggest recommendations would be the Horde Kings of Dakkar series by Zoey Draven (alien) and The Kings of Mayhem series by Penny Dee (MC). They're both on kindle unlimited 💙

[@rebeccaridgway1117]

I really liked the second novella in that Talia Hibbert series, Guarding Temptation! It was so hot and I love some forbidden romance. The characters were very fleshed out imo. You should give it a try!

[@GracewithBooks]

I don't know why but I do my best work listening to your videos in the background 😂 This month I read a bunch but most excitedly I read the off-campus series by Elle Kennedy based on your recommendation and I really enjoyed it!

[@coolman9322]

Are you planning on reading mafia books? Heard bound by honor by Cora Riley is good

[@anikafeinsilver6710]

If you're looking for holiday romances, I LOVE Jackie Lau's. She has her Holidays with the Wongs novella series (indie published), which covers Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year, and Valentine's Day. They're all based on tropes, incredibly written, steamy, and genuinely VERY funny. Highly recommend!

[@chandlerainsley]

i have the first one downloaded! hoping to get to it in the next month or so :)

[@bernadettemary2135]

please read christina laurens love and other words! its one of my favourite romances.

[@Lhyoshi]

From the Ravenel series, the best one has to be Chasing Cassandra !

[@rootingbranches]

Yay! So glad you had a great reading month. 💛

[@annibtj]

omg gonna try pick up from the embers! I just read my first brittainy c cherry book and i really liked it so will def give this a go as well!

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

Can I just say... I’m really liking that "vicious little snakes" cover though💖

[@TheLuckyvictoria]

Wow, a lot of Lisa Kleypas, love her a lot. Been reed her books for a long time. How do you keep reading books in series if they are 3 stars? I can never do that🙈 I totally agree that this book by Illona Andrews is the weakest, the reast are fantastic. I have read several K.J.Charles books back in the day, maybe try Magpie lord. Historical with a dash of magic, it was rather interesting.

[@annibtj]

Also LOL thank you for the rundown on the ravenels series i read the first 6 last year and didn’t want to have to reread before the new 7th book and now i definitely don’t aha!

[@Tara-zz7ny]

Beautiful Bastard is a Twilight fanfiction and I was truly shook when I found that out lol

[@chandlerainsley]

haha i remember reading that somewhere. almost as wacky as 50 shades

[@LolasCharms]

lol it absolutely was and I'm pretty positive it came out before 50 shades/man of the universe. at the time it was one of the more popular of twifcs. i can't believe i still remember all of that lmao

[@crystalsbookishlife]

I am here for the Ravenel chat 😍 WEST Ravenel yessss

[@crystalsbookishlife]

Rhys ughhh I LOVE him. Stern Peppermint Daddy!!

[@crystalsbookishlife]

Pandora is precious 🥺❤

[@PrincessAttorney]

I’d advise reading Band Sinister by KJ Charles. It’s a stand-alone and relatively fluffy but still well developed. It was one of my favorite books this year :)

[@peerreviewed]

Ooooo, yes seconding this! I really enjoyed Band Sinister. Also if I remember correctly, not that heavy on the plot, so might fit better

[@annibtj]

Honestly would be interested in a christina lauren guide seeing as I’ve only read their recent rom com stuff? SMUT? give us the goss girl!!

[@oliviareadsalatte]

lemme just scoot on over to my stack of historicals i need to read now 👀

[@miquesbookvlogs372]

The only book I’ve read on this list is Survive The Night and lol you were wayyy kinder to it than I was 😅

[@chandlerainsley]

i guess i don't have as much to reference hahaha. like it was bad but i think if i had more experience with thrillers i could have torn it apart more

[@mah_jayjay]

I love the romance rundown!! It was nice to see your opinion on all of them. My fave book this month (or series) was A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon, which is a sleeping beauty retelling, but it was fab. And not overly Cowboy-y if that makes sense. The series is called The Cowboys of California and the last book comes out in October and I can't freaking wait. :)

[@chandlerainsley]

oo i've heard good things about that one!

[@mah_jayjay]

@@chandlerainsley I highly recommend the series!!

[@aakanksha5330]

I enjoyed The ones who got away series by Roni Loren

[@chandlerainsley]

i think i have one of those! picked it up on a whim

[@700Bonnie]

Even though Beautiful Bastard has virtually no plot, it's still better than some of their recent books...at least there was tension and chemistry between characters. The series also gets better as it progresses. The third one, Beautiful Player is my favorite as well as one of the best audiobooks I've had the pleasure to listen to. I also quite like their wild season series. It's a shame they quit writing smut altogether.

[@isastar940]

Why did they quit?

[@bebella9005]

I'd love if you made a video on queer historical romances!

[@paularodriguez726]

i was today years old when I learned Christina Lauren wrote smut and not just fade to black or mild rom coms

[@chandlerainsley]

why they made the switch i'll never know (jk i do know, money)

[@abigase135]

I enjoyed their smut but none of their romcoms worked for me

[@kadabra4009]

Beautiful Player by CL is a genuinely good smut book like one of my favorites for sure, the other ones are just so-so and the first one Beautiful Bastard is a big No, so unrealistic and ridiculous. Kind of like a bad Fifty Shades of Gray.

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

“I’m just a picky bitch” SAME

[@Sharbyxo]

BUFFY ❤️❤️😍😍

[@PerfectDiamondArts]

Hey Chandler, in one of your older Videos you said that you were going to do a dark academia video. Is it still planed ?

[@chandlerainsley]

yes!

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

Anyone know whether or not Beautiful Bastard or Fifty Shades literal Twilight FanFic versions were first published? I'm mildly curious which one actually came first. 🤔 Lol

[@carolineblueskies]

Not me just finding out that Christina Lauren is two people! 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@amelia5287]

do you think you’ll be reading the new elle kennedy off campus novella in september? 👀

[@chandlerainsley]

probably not tbh

[@elvagonzalez9962]

How do you read so much sooo fast??? Give us some tips, please! I could only finish 4 books this month... It takes me about a week to read a a book of 450-650 pages.

[@chandlerainsley]

audiobooks!

[@eliananoei652]

I actually love early on hookups... I think the sexual tension is intensified. Is this an unpopular opinion?

[@redheadreads5223]

I like this toooo! ❤️

[@paularodriguez726]

me tooo! I feel like it's not that common so it's a nice smutty surprise

[@Storribook]

OMG YOU READ SO MUCH how do you do it 🤒

[@PinkCatsy]

I found The Roommate Risk to be aggressively horny, but I generally don't much care for sex scenes so I figured it was that. I agree with you generally. I'd picked it up because friends-to-lovers and like the angst around that is one of my favourite things, but it feels like a lot of the actual progression of their relationship happens essentially "off-screen" so it was very disappointing. If the sex scenes aren't really what you're here for, it doesn't feel like The Roommate Risk has much to offer you. I think The Princess Trap is better (but they do also hook-up early on in that one and it's just not as aggressively horny) but I'm not sure how it compares to the Brown Sisters books because I haven't read those yet. (I am realizing that you might have read The Princess Trap and do not need this but I cannot remember so I'm leaving it in the comment for the algorithm, I guess)

[@kiczcock]

Thanks for the (I'm assuming) pregnancy content warning. A lot of people ignore warnings for this kind of content, but it might be upsetting for people with tokophobia for example.

[@chandlerainsley]

there's actually no pregnancy in that book! but yeah i totally agree that pregnancy should be something in a book synopsis rather than a surprise

[@isastar940]

@@chandlerainsley ikr!!! I HATE pregnancy in books so I appreciate that u may start doing warnings for that 🥰💜

[@Candie183]

Home before Dark was terrible. Just terrible. But I did enjoy Lock Every Door. Me and Riley Sager aren't getting along lol

[@jackiegerring2098]

Yes please a guide to Christina Lauren. I want to dip my toe...so please please please do a video.

[@C4r1y1996]

I personally started with The Unhoneymooners and that one got me hooked - I’ve read 7 of her novels now and I enjoyed them all. One was a meh but still enjoyable

[@jeimyreid]

I love romance novels but the covers I- right?

[@chandlerainsley]

i like em

[@skipausername]

Random request… but can we get a hair tutorial please??

[@chandlerainsley]

yep! hoping to do a makeup/hair/skincare thing at some point

[@amiraalickovic980]

😍

[@Sofia_Monteiro]

Nate and Blair? You lost me, girl! Chuck Bass is the guy for Blair. Nate cheats on her with her best friend

[@chandlerainsley]

like i said, just the personalities not the relationships (as comparison)

[@ninjaturtles12121]

you should give seven husbands of evelyn hugo a try. not a perfect book i gave it 3.5-4 but kept me engaged and really good bi rep.

[@chandlerainsley]

i wasn't a big fan personally, just don't connect with TJR's writing

[@ninjaturtles12121]

@@chandlerainsley understandable

[@dhruvipatel927]

Will you be doing a check-in with your 2021 goals?

[@chandlerainsley]

yep