Babe in Library on Second Chance Recs You’ll Actually Love

Second Chance Romance usually gets a meh from me. I am a fool me once, shame on you type of reader, so reruns in romance rarely make my list. But today, Lisa from Babe in Library joins the podcast to flip the script on its head. She shares why this trope sits at the top of her favorites and how it offers a unique sense of safety. We also announce a big project coming this September for the We Read Smut community.

Lisa, better known as Babe in Library on Instagram and YouTube, is an avid reader and content creator. She builds deep, meaningful conversations around diverse romance and prioritizes intentional reading. Lisa fosters a community that celebrates authentic representation and provides nuanced reviews that help readers find their next favorite story.

Key Takeaways

• The YouTube Advantage: Why long-form video beats short-form clips for nuanced book discussions.
• The WRS Virtual Event: Details on the first We Read Smut virtual event scheduled for the weekend of September 5.
• The Frontal Lobe Theory: How maturity and growth make a second chance work when the first attempt failed.
• Safety and Comfort: Why returning to a familiar love feels like finding a safe corner in a chaotic world.
• WRS Approved Recommendations: A massive list of diverse titles ranging from hockey players to dark romance.

CONNECT WITH Lisa @ BabeInLibrary:

YouTube

Instagram 

Books Mentioned:

Rudy Jones’s New Year’s Novella by Aria Daze (Amazon)

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan (Amazon)

Holding by Alexandria House (Amazon)

Winter’s Eve, Then Now Always by AE Valdez (Amazon)

Reclaim Me by JL Seegers (Amazon)

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Amazon)

Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola (Amazon)

August Lane by Regina Black (Amazon)

Hard Sell by Hudson Lin (Amazon)

Almost Yours by Anna P (Amazon)

Toxic by Kenya Gorey-Bell (Amazon)

Back to Me by Katie Duggan (Amazon)

Memphis by Alexandria House (Amazon)

Full list of books mentioned (Doc) 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

How do you feel about second chance romance? Me, meh, it's not my favorite, but I think this episode might actually change my mind. Today we're talking with Lisa of Babe and Library to talk all about her favorite trope, which is second chance romance. She gives a ton of diverse recommendations, and I might give a few as well. Listener discretion is advised. This podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Hello, Lisa. I'm so excited to have you back on the podcast. Before we get into it, let's remind everybody who you are and a bit about your content.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Hey everyone, I am Lisa, better known as Babe and Library. I consider myself an avid reader who just happens to enjoy romance. I enjoy a lot of other types of genres, but romance is pretty much what you're gonna get from me. I'm typically on IG or Instagram and YouTube, which is probably the thing that Alicia knows the most about me is just my presence in both of those spaces.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Yes. Let's talk about YouTube. What is new? What's going on over there? I feel like everybody's on Instagram and everybody's on TikTok, but there is so much gold in being able to have deeper, more meaningful conversations over on some of these other platforms, like your blogs or Substack is one that I'm seeing blow up. Somehow, y'all, I got 11,000 subscribers over on Substack. I don't know what the hell happened over there, but go check that out. Apparently that's working. But yeah, BookTube, how is the content a little different over there for people who are like, I want to know more? How is the content different and how are you using it as a creator?

SPEAKER_00 1:55

YouTube is to me vastly different than TikTok, right? Because of TikTok that's very short instant clips, whereas YouTube are for people like myself that love to gab in my professional life. I am a professional talker. Like my job is to sit on meetings and talk all day. And so YouTube is that platform that allows me to expound on my thoughts. I'm really able to review books in depth. So it's not unusual that you're going to get a 20-minute, 30-minute. Some people do hour content and it spans longer parts of time, right? So instead of sitting down and filming a quick recommendations video, you can do a vlog, which is something that I love doing. You can spend weeks. Some people spend, I once did a year vlog, right? So you would see me during different intervals each month as I'm reading something, and really the culmination would be at the year. So it allows a lot more flexibility with the time you spend creating the video as well as how long you can get and engage people. That's pretty much one of the biggest differences I see between YouTube and a lot of other social media platforms.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Yeah, I think that's really important distinction, right? For people who are wanting to go deeper. And I feel like especially with social media being very, I guess the word is polarizing, but that feels almost too light to talk about for social media, but everything is political. Every because we live in a world that is dominated by politics right now, struggle bus all the way across the board. We've got, I feel like today when we're recording this, everybody's talking about the sapphic representation for season five of Bridgerton. And I'm like, we get it, you guys hate women who love women. Like, it is outrageous, but it's like hot takes or like drama, or like just sometimes I wonder if people actually like reading as much as they like drama. Like, I have questions here, but with YouTube, you're able to go deeper where you're not like distracted by all that extra stuff, and I love that.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

I would be remiss though. Let me not say it's just for long content. There is the opportunity, and I see a lot of people that are transitioning from other platforms or just, I guess, reutilizing that content, right? Because again, content is going to be different based on the platforms that you are on. So if you are doing reels or if you're doing quick TikTok videos, those can also be added to YouTube. So I think it's the best of both worlds where you can have your long content, but you can also repurpose some of those videos and post, right? It also has the ability for you to do stagnant imaging. So if you are aesthetically pleasing and you like to capture books in just like a picture, it still has that option. So for me, I think YouTube has the ability to mold towards the user. Yeah, best of both worlds, so to speak.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

I think it's interesting too, because you do a lot of solo content. Do you find that it's easier to do solo content than to do more collaborative stuff? And if so, why?

SPEAKER_00 5:16

I think I just naturally gravitated to doing solo content. I think it was hard for a moment to find community reading the books that I wanted. So for a long time, I've been on YouTube, I want to say since 2023. And when I first joined, I would watch people, but I never connected with them other than making comments, right? So I didn't build that community as soon as I joined. I joined YouTube and I know we talked about this on the last episode. I started watching book two probably in 2011 or 2012. So I had been in the space for a very long time. But of course, at that time I was reading YA and it wasn't diverse, right? And now at this point in my reading journey, I am intentional about the books that I am reading. So it took a minute for YouTube to catch up to and my algorithm to catch up to the types of books that I was reading or the type of followers or people that I wanted to follow. So enjoining the journey, I did it solo. I am looking for opportunities to collaborate, and it can come in many formats, right? So collaboration in terms of being in the same video that may be a little bit difficult because it's a recording mechanism, but I do try to find ways to collaborate in terms of if I can find people that want to do a type of video together, there is an option for us to like share each other's video or say, hey, we are doing this video together. So I'm just trying to start that engagement. I just haven't made enough of those connections because one thing I'm starting to see is a lot of the people that were on YouTube that have been there for years are now starting to deactivate their paid. So you have to start to find new individuals to connect with, to build that community with, and find time to make that because it's different. You can engage in the comments, but actually having a DM, there's no opportunity for that. So your connection has to be intentional and work a little bit different than it is on other platforms. Not a bad thing, it's just the platform itself.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah, I definitely agree. It is harder to have more conversation, I feel like, on YouTube where someone will comment on an interview that I do, and then they're like, oh, I loved that so-and-so talks about this. And it's like, oh my goodness, me too. And like I can maybe comment back, but it doesn't always lend itself to like deeper or further conversation. Whereas I could post a story and be like, y'all, this crazy thing happened, and then people will be responding to that story in my DMs, and then we'll start deeper conversations. And I agree, it just really just depends on the platform, and you have to be really intentional about taking the people to maybe a different space like Discord or like SubSec where you can go a little bit deeper. But I think YouTube is such a great strategy for having video, especially if you're someone who wants to create more long-form content and, like you said, have the gift of gab to be able to do it.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

I think one of the things I want to, it's one of my goals for the year are to have lives, right? I know a lot of people do lives on IG. A lot of people also do lives on YouTube. And to your point, it's the ability to add a Discord or chat feature. I think that's probably the best interaction you're going to get with the people that are watching. Timing is everything, right? Do you do it on a weekend? Do you do it at night? So, and I think that is the universal no matter what platform you're going to be on. But I do like that idea of how do you establish community in a space like YouTube that is very you put the content up there and it's slow engagement or it's a one-sided conversation.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Yeah, and I'm curious too, because yeah, live videos sounds fantastic as a content creator to be able to do that. And also, like you have to plan for if no one shows up, which can feel very daunting. And then you have to be able to plan for if people do show up, and the comments distract you, like me. Like my comments distract the hell out of me. And that's why I prefer this kind of format where we're able to record ahead of time. It's literally just you and I having a conversation, and then whomever can watch or listen to this later. I can edit out things that I say that I maybe I'm like, maybe I shouldn't have said that. And it I feel like it makes it so much easier. But I am planning, this is literally the first time I'm announcing this. I'm planning an event for September for my birthday weekend. And I want to create like a We Read Smut virtual event and have some authors on. We'll do some panels, I'll have some pre-recorded interviews that'll play in between intermission and stuff. I'm thinking giveaways like the full night. I y'all, I don't know why I do this to myself.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Adding more things to my point.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

I will be your accountability partner and I will be president. Let me tell you, that sounds fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

But I was thinking, like, okay, the Black Reader Book Fest is happening this summer. We have quite a few in-person events that are maybe happened a couple years ago but are not happening anymore, especially in the diversity space. I know the event that I go to in Raleigh tits, Temptation in the Triangle is what it's.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Oh, I was like, oh, tell me more. I haven't heard about that one. It's like, sounds like a great sapphic time. It is a great time.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

So yes, Temptation in the Triangle. It's in Raleigh, and they're doing it this year, and they did it last year, and I loved it last year. I am going this year, but they're actually skipping next year because they're like, it is so much work to put on events. And then you have what was it, Steamy Lit is not doing this year. So I was like, let's do something. Like, let's have something that's fun. That's just us showing up and having a great time. And yeah, I need more work anyway.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

No, you need community help. Yeah, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

I think that that's the thing that we've been desiring, right? Like the thought process of maybe it's hard to do things consistently, right? I know I'm the biggest proponent for, and that's why I'm so shocked my YouTube has lasted so long. I'm gonna tell y'all right now, like, I'm never going to be the person that says, yeah, I'm gonna upload on Tuesdays and Saturdays. That's not going to be me. I'm going to commit to getting you content and try to do it as regularly as possible. But it doesn't have to be like for me, I know you've talked about before book clubs, right? Book club being like an every month, the organization that it takes to do that consistently is difficult. And that puts a lot of pressure on you. But when you can do something that's like, you're saying it now, and that could be months down the line. You could change your ideas, right? But having something to work towards that gives everybody the opportunity to be excited for, I think that's a great idea. And I am here. I'm saying, I'm saying it now. I will help.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

And I feel like I've met enough people at this point where I could interview really big names and like it would be great. I could have people show up. And even thinking about what does my kind of not necessarily DEI committee, but kind of look like to ensure like my buddies, my friends, the people who are like, all right, we got you. We're gonna make sure this is a great success. We're also gonna make sure it's diverse because we're all trying to push this mission forward. And so I feel like I'm at the point where I have enough people in my corner that we could probably do this well. So, yes, y'all here heard it here first. Go follow Substack because that's probably where I'm gonna be hosting it. Yeah, that's it. Oh, it's gonna be fun. Okay, so today I want to talk about your favorite trope, which is second chance romance. And if y'all have been listening to the podcast, you know this is my least favorite. And I love this is why I love having these conversations because I'm not gonna yuck anybody's yum. Y'all like it, I love it. That is how I am. Me personally, second chance, I think this is also super Virgo energy. Is fool me once, shame on you, your mother, your dog, your cat, everybody you're associated with. I don't know you anymore, right? So I think that's why I don't really tend to gravitate towards second chance, but we got recommendations as usual, because I've of course read them. Let's go ahead and get into it. What exactly is a second chance romance? What can people expect when they're looking at a second chance romance?

SPEAKER_00 14:01

So I will say for me, second chance romance typically is someone, and I think there's two ways you could look at it. Someone has been in a relationship, usually, usually a romantic relationship with a significant other or multiple significant others, right? We're not going to, it doesn't have to be one dynamic, but you typically have had an intimate relationship with that other person or persons, and for some reason, life has happened. It could be internal factors, right? Things that you were going through in your life, you met at a young age, or it could be external factors, but something allowed you all to drift apart from one another. Doesn't have to be difficult, it could be amicable, but it is a point in which you were together and now you're not. And a lot of the times you're going to get flashbacks that a lot of flashbacks in second chance romance, a lot of already coming in with a layered assumption of why the dissolution happened, but them working through their differences and trying to find that love. Usually that love is still there, it's just hidden below a lot of different arguments or different preconceived notions, and then working through that to see if there is a chance that you can have your happy lead ever after or happy for now. That's one dynamic. I will say a lot of people also will associate second chance romance to maybe we have had a like a one-night stand and we walked away with each other and now it's a second-chance romance. So it doesn't have to be a long-standing relationship. It doesn't necessarily also have to be romantic. It's a friendship, and we we were like we were together. We were like we were a partner, and so we already have that love. We just didn't put a label on it, and now we get a second chance at something, right? So I've seen it both ways. I've seen it as like we're in a relationship and it's a second chance together, or we had a chance, it never worked out, and it's a second chance at making that work.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Ooh, yeah, I didn't, I never really thought about that second one like that. And I do think that it's important to note that it is different than what we tend to classify as a second chance at romance, where maybe your partner passes away. I'm thinking of like The Oath by TM Richardson, fantastic book, everybody go read that. But it is so good where her husband passes away and his besties come in and uh take care of her, per late husband's wishes, right? So she has another chance to fall in love, and so that is different than what we're talking about here, and so I think, yeah, it's very interesting to see that dynamic. Why do you love it so much? I want to know what is it about that trope that's like, I gotta gobble it up.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Yeah, so for me, like usually I've seen a lot of second chance romance, and you've seen those people interact with each other in other books. So, like if you're reading a series, like the tension, I am a very much a tension and angst and a buildup person, like not necessarily saying I need a slow burn. I don't necessarily need that, but I I like to get invested. I'm a character-driven person. I also, I mean, I love plot, plot has to happen, but I love the character dynamics. And so if I see a couple, they're still in each other's orbit, and you can tell that there's still something there and they want it to be. I have to invest in that romance because at this point, I have seen you drag your family and friends through the mud. Like y'all are now arguing, and you're like, why aren't they together? Like, so I'm already built in that way. But I also really do love, so I am an emotional reader, and some of the recommendations I will have today is like, it's not cheating, right? Like it's not the yeah, he or she or they slept with someone else, and now I can't forgive them, right? I very much believe like this is fiction, right? And I understand life doesn't happen this exact way. And maybe in my real life, I wouldn't give a second chance romance, or I may be a sly back, a second chance boomerang queen. Like that could be the case. But I will say there is something about, and some of the romances that I'll talk about today is like a second chance for people that have been married. I have seen time and time again, people were married at one point. They either had their kids, got out the nest, and they've gone and they explored life. They found who they were, and then they say, Hey, we are two different people, but I want to get to know you today, right? The thing for me is when people can overcome and say, like, I actually loved you. Like, I loved who I was with you, but I also loved you and like it never stopped being, but I needed something for me because we're all individuals. That's a very human part of the element of a relationship. And so I just love being able to say, I already know that they experienced life with one another and they loved each other, and it's still there. That's the thing that gets me.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Yeah, I think even to that point. So I've been my anniversary's this year, 10 years of being married, which is crazy banana pants. It's great, it's great, it's just crazy. And we've been together for 13 years, married for 10 this year. And when I think back to even who we were after first having kids, right? Our kids are 11 and 8 now. And who we were then, I went through severe postpartum depression. There were times where I was just like, I don't know what to give to anybody because I literally cannot even breathe for myself here. Where I did not want to be in a relationship with anybody, and I needed to go through some things myself and be left the hell alone to do that and process that. Then also thinking about like all the different transitions my husband has gone through, he's not the same person he was that I even think about 10 years ago. He's Italian and Irish, so he raises his voice quite a bit, even if he's excited about something. He does not raise his voice nearly as much now as he did through, right? Because he's grown into himself, and even thinking about we were both under the age of 25 when we got together, so our frontal lobes were not fully formed at all, completely different people, and then now going into our 30s and being like, man, these young is these days, like completely different, yeah, every day, completely different now. And what I love about him now is different than maybe what I loved about him. It was mostly physical stuff in the beginning, right? Let's be real, yeah, but like now the things that I cherish and love about him and the things that keep us together are different. Also, I don't know if I'll keep this in. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. We have separate rooms now, and it is honestly the best thing we have ever done. The intimacy is still happening, but I can sleep in peace. He can sleep in peace. He starfishes, I snore, it doesn't work.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

People really don't understand the dynamics. Like for somebody that may be going through hot flashes, like you're like, it is a freezing tundra, and that person has that person has low eye, low blood, they need heat, right? The dynamics look different at different stages of your life. So I get it. Yes, but again, that's the thing, right? Like, relationships really should be about the two people in them. And I think also when it comes to that, a lot of the times with second chance romances, in my opinion, people are like, Oh, it could never be me. It could never be me. And I'm like, if you read some of these books, which we'll talk about, I'll be it might. Are you sure about that? Are you sure about that? Because you You could love that person to the moon and back, but when life happens, you don't know who the person you're going to be.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Yeah.

unknown 22:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

When those hardships happen. It's interesting too. I read a book recently. I'm going to grab it so I can show it on screen.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

You're getting into your YouTube era. I love holding a physical book.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

So From the Rope, From the Top Rope by Tamara Lemas. I read this this week past weekend. I'm still not over this book. Now, this is a sapphic romance. It is not second chance, but there is a moment of a previous lover coming back into the story that I think sometimes might it might be like, oh, why in the world would you get back with that person? That doesn't make any sense. But the way that the author did it was like, this person is my safety. So it was natural to jump back in bed with them. It was natural to hug them and feel that safety and that comfort of when I was younger and when I didn't have anything. And all these kinds of they kind of remind you of who you had in your corner back then. And then you realize actually this wasn't maybe the best idea, right? Or maybe you realize, whoa, this is actually a best idea, and we're even better together now. But I really liked that kind of explanation of it. And I think it helped me appreciate second chance a little more. It's not necessarily, oh, this person did something terrible and now don't give them a second chance. It was like sometimes you want that comfort of the person that you used to have, or the person you used to be with that person too, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Like there's some that's the one. That's the one. And I have had books like that, and I'm like, wait a minute, I am firmly no thank you on love triangles. Hick a person's and we'll figure it out. But I was like, those are the circumstances when somebody comes back around, and then I'm like, you're thriving with this person, but I do understand how this person can come back and send to you. And I'm like, nope. Gotta figure out a plan. Because I want to be respectful of people's feelings. Like these are humans, these three emotions. But I saw you post that and I was like, I might have to check this out. So thank you for it selling it again.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yes. It is a the author's Puerto Rican author, the wrestler with the red hair. She is Cuban, I want to say. Both of her parents, like her mom was an announcer, her dad was a wrestler. So she's like, let my kids are really into WWE right now. So this is my life. And yeah, WrestleMania is coming up. It's a whole thing, y'all. A whole thing. This one is fantastic. It's a rivals to lovers, workplace. I hate you in our pretend role-playing job as well as outside of it because your legacy and everything's handed to you. And but actually is it? So good. And it's spicy to this guy. But you have recommendations.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Let's go ahead and get into those. I'm gonna start off for someone that just wants something like quick, like a very much novella. This is the only book that I don't have physically yet. Aria Days, which you know Aria Days is a spice queen. Aria Days has a New Year's novella. It's Rudy Jones's second, I think it's New Year's resolution. And it's a married couple. So I think I have four books that I I can name that like married. We have been in a relationship. This is a situation with Rudy Jones. They were married really young. I want to say 18, 17, and 18. And at that point, right, I'm just gonna make a generalization, not saying that this is true for everyone, but studies show that women advance a lot quicker, they mature a lot faster, they have a different way of walking through life into a level of growth than maybe their male counterparts. And so in this situation, she stepped in, she was ready to be a wife, she was ready to start her career, she was doing all of the things, and her husband may not have been there yet. And so, like they tried, they tried. And then for some reason, they decided to separate. And now it is time she told him that he could use her family cabin for his golden birthday, not knowing that he knew that she would forget. And now he's like, this is my chance. I'm ready, and I want to get my wife back. And so, like, it was just like a good forced proximity. It is a holiday novella because I know a lot of us readers like we love like something quick, but we also love tying it to like a holiday. If you get to the point where you're like, I want to dip my toe back in, this is something I would encourage. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Yeah, when you have that, I think for that one, do you have like both points of view? It sounds like maybe you do, which I think can help in second chance to really show that the other person isn't just there for a good time, they're there for a long time, right? Like they actually care and want to reinvest the time to grow again with this person or to learn about this person again, which I think is important when it comes to the second chance. Yeah. What's next?

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Okay. So this is probably the one that almost literally everyone knows because it's probably the most popular. And so if I can sell you on one thing, it's gonna be this book. I know you all probably know before I let go by Kennedy Ryan. Like, if you don't like second chance, but you have heard about this book, I'm telling you, you're probably saying, Maybe I should give it a try. This one, also, formally married couple, life. We talked about how life happens, and it is not something that you're planning for. You could be loving this person to the moon. I'm not gonna tell you what happened because you absolutely have to experience this book for yourself. I will say, please do check trigger warnings, make sure that you know what is what triggers you or what is a concerning for you. But when I talk about Josiah and the way this man here and Yasmin, like the love that you have, is evident because they also have children. They are still connected because they have two children and they run a business together, right? So life happens, but that doesn't mean that everything can just fall apart. As an adult, you have experienced so much and you've built a life with this person, but again, circumstances may put you in a situation where you have to take care of you, you have to be able to step away from this situation. But that doesn't mean the love goes away. This is one where I see everyone's like, yeah, this may be a lot of people's favorite in the series. So I don't know. Have you read this one? I have, and I didn't love it.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Oh my god, I hate that. But I honestly okay. Okay, all right. I honestly think it's just this idea of giving a person another. And maybe I just need to redo redo it with maybe a more open mind. But I will say the audiobook, 10 stars. Like fantastic. I'm pretty sure it is, and I want to double check, but I'm pretty sure that one is Wesley Chabon and Jacoby DM. The power do up. Those two together. I said to somebody on a different episode, I was like, they will talk you through it.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

Anything they could read a grocery list together, and I'd be like, Yep, I'm gonna go buy it immediately. I need it that. You know what? I've never thought about cottage cheese. I would never, but I'm buying it today.

unknown 29:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

100%. Yeah, I have it on Audible, and I can see it on my shelf back here because I've got my little Kennedy Ryan shelf. And it's signed. I got to see her in person. Absolutely love her. I might need to give this one another chance.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

That's okay. That's all right. You know, I'm on my personal mission. Okay, let me say this. Everyone, the longer you read, the more you know what you like and you don't like. So I'm not here to sell you all on second chance from me. I said I'm here to sell Alicia because I know, I know her. I listen to something. All right, my next chance of bad bat. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 30:33

Okay, yes, this Alexandria House. I mean, literally anything Alexandria House does, I am here for. This one was good.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

Y'all heard it. Y'all heard it here. If you have not read the St. Louis Sire series, hockey romance, let's just start there, right? Black players, we don't get to see ourselves represented in all sports at all times. So this is one of the things. And the thing that like also sowed me about this, our female main character has a disability, right? It is her whole being, right? Like, it is not something we shy away from, it's not something that we have to work through or overcome. It is not something that someone has to learn to love and sit aside. Like this couple here, this is second chance. And I'm hoping that Alicia can also say second chance then, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:24

Because again, that one is really good. And again, I think that one is Jacoby Diem and Wesley Siobhan as well. Yeah, Alexandria House knows what she's doing when she picks her narrators. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

All right, y'all. We're trending in the right direction. Both of those, again, married couple. My last married couple, also, again, like I said, a lot of this is series-based. So this next one is based in terms of, and so far, everything that I have stated is not because cheating. And I keep emphasizing this because, again, a lot of the times we see dissolution of relationships, and it's human nature to assume one party messed something up, right? And that may not necessarily be the case. And that's the same thing for these books. Now, this one, this is Winter's Eve, Then Now, Always by A.E. Valdez. This is the second in a series. And let me tell you, her books in this series get progressively bigger, but that just means that there's so much content, right? There's so much that you have to build. This is an emotional book. So I can say some of these are light. So Rudy Jones is light holding, I won't necessarily say is light, but it doesn't have that to me, right? It may not have that like emotionally trigger or jarring situation. Whereas if you're talking about Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan, or you're talking about this one, if you are an emotional reader, and I am very much an emotional reader, this one is going to bring it out of you. And this is a couple that had been married for years, right? Let me take that back. Not yet married, they were on their way down the aisle and something happened, but they're forced to be around each other. This is a kind of like small town with like big money. So if you guys are billionaire tropes, money resides here. And they have now, I'm not gonna spoil it, but now two people in their lives are joining together in a relationship, which means that they have to be around each other. And one character has completely moved on and turned in their mind, right? Like they've moved on, they've started new relationships, they've started rebuilding their life where the other person had been stuck for so long because of things that happened. And now they're having to work with each other, they're having to see like the love that has been shared amongst their social groups, and they're like, what if? What if it were us? What happens? And I will say it's a forced proximity because I told you he has money and she has a need for money. And so, what happens in that situation where you have money? Because let's say this if somebody offers me money, who am I to tell you how to spend your money? Yes. I actually remember when you used to treat me like a princess. I would love that treatment again.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

So if you're interested in people with money, something that is very, very emotional, but the love has always been there. And I do love about this book, it's not just about them as a couple. There is so much found family and like other different types of relationships, right? So it's not just the intimate relationship between them, it's brotherhood. It is about foster, it's about so much more love, the dynamic.

SPEAKER_01 34:45

So this is going on. I've heard really good things about that series. Like people love it a lot.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

So next, these are again, so I've moved out of like married and or relationships, and like married or engaged. I'm just gonna go now to your traditional relationships. Now, again, this next one is in a series, and it's an author that I absolutely love and adore. JL Seagers, Reclaim Me. I love this book. Emotional again. This one is sometimes can be a difficult sale if you know what other tropes are in here. This has a trope that most people will not love, but I can tell you that JL Seegers, if you're gonna read her, she's going to do it absolute justice and you will like it. This is a romance where our FMC and our MMC, that he also has money at this point. Our FMC and our MMC were friends first, right? Like they started their relationship as friends. I am also a friend to lovers reader. And so they were friends and she wanted to be there for him as a friend until he became involved in things that she could not support him through. And she needed to do the best thing for her in this situation, and again, prioritizing herself. They were starting to have like really big feelings, and then she had something that took her away. She had to go away from him, and now they're back in each other's orbits, and they're having to re-engage together. And again, I'm trying my best not to spoil this because I don't know if you've read this.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

But her books are thick. And like I know they're gonna take me for an emotional ride, and so I feel like I need to mentally prepare for them.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Yeah, this one is hard because again, I am very cautious of spoiling people, and these are the books that you don't want to spoil. This one is very emotional. I will say that she has audiobooks for them as well, and they're available on hoopla. I know some of them are available with your local library, and again, my name is Baven Library. I'm always going to support my library. So if you cannot afford, I think these are going to be going out of print soon. So please know that they will be getting recovered traditionally at some point. Second chance romance, emotional, good surprise. Nice emphasis on surprise. The next one I will say, probably again, very popular, very popular author. I'm trying to make sure it's these are books that are accessible to everyone. But I am sure most people have heard of Seven Days in June by Tia Williams. This one is emotional as well, very heavy topics between the two. Now, this is something where they were in a relationship in high school. And when I say relationship, literally seven days. There is a very important part about like how long they had been in each other's orbit, but that doesn't mean like we tend to in society, we may tend to downplay like first love or puppy love and say, oh, you'll grow out of it. These two do not. These two remember the time that they spent together. They remember how they were there for each other in those difficult times and what relationship they formed. And they have been writing, these are both authors. I'll say this. They are both authors and they have been secretly writing love notes to one another in each other's books, right? So, like you can see the love has never gone away from each other. And it was not, again, they were children at the time, but they were forced apart, right? Saying this is not necessarily a spoiler because, again, they have had years and years in which they felt love. And a lot of the time it's how you remember that person. But now they've been writing each other in their love story and their books, and now they're on stage with one another. And that is where it's like, huh, there's something there. This also has like chronic representation. So again, diversifying your reading not only in terms of the genres, but also in terms of the representation on page. And I really think this had really good chronic illness rep. This one is controversial, but I loved it. Have you read it?

SPEAKER_01 39:01

I don't remember if I read it. If I did, I'd probably listen to the audiobook, but it's slightly ringing a bell, but I think it was during my too many books at one time. Yeah. And it's not that I even need to do better with remembering books. It's that I think I want to just take more time with books. And so one thing I've been doing a little more is the novellas I'll speed through, but those longer ones, like taking a little longer with books, reading a little longer books, or even going back and forth between my paperback and an audio to get like a more immersive experience. And I've been finding that's been helping me remember the books better. Or like even when I start rereading a book, because I've started rereading, which is so weird to me, because I never reread books. But this year I started rereading books and I found that I would forget it, but then as soon as I got back into the story, I'm like, oh, when this happened, okay, yep. Okay, I'm I'm set. Let's do it. But I do that with shows and movies too, where like I forget something happened and I'm like, oh, this is the oh, this is the episode where yep, you know. Because my husband will forget the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 40:13

Yeah. That's one of the best things. Like I have found like my memory is terrible. I used to be a comfort reader. Like I would read the same thing over and over. And I think that's probably for me one of the best ways to get out of a slump is let me just go pick up a book that I know I love. I need not remember everything, or I may remember literally every single part of the book, but that just gets me back into the habit of reading and loving and remembering that there's books that I can be out there to enjoy. But I will also say I am a coziest note taker. Like, so when you say, like, I don't remember a book, I'm like, me neither, but you'd be taking yeah, I you're right. Like it helps me tremendously with like reviews, it helps me to like when I'm talking about recommendations. So that's again the beauty of book tube. I know we talked about that earlier, is being able to like take a moment to pause and reflect. And like, you all don't get to see the editing magic. We're like behind the scenes cutting and slipping thing, but I can be like, okay, go. Yeah, that's the thing. So for everyone that's out there, I again we're all in different parts of our reading journey, but don't be afraid to like say, I don't remember something, or take notes. Do do whatever you need. Again, some of it's just enjoying, some of it is becoming reviewers or people to talk about different things, but I'm right there with you. I'm right there with you. I go back and I'm looking at like my reviews, I'm like, oh, I read that.

SPEAKER_02 41:42

It's a struggle.

SPEAKER_00 41:44

Don't know what I thought. Oh, three-star? Sounds about right. Yep. I have two last remaining ones. I have Sweet Heat by Balu Babalola. This one has to be read in tandem. So I will tell people don't jump into this one. Now, the hard part about recommending Sweet Heat is that you have to read Honey and Spice. Honey and Spice is technically either young adult or new adult. And so, like, I know a lot of us are like, we're no longer in that phase in that journey. I'm going to encourage you. It is one of the funniest, like best banters. It's very reminiscent. If you've been to college, you're like, Yep, I remember this. It builds up that story. And then this is years later, and now they're adults. And like you saw their romance, you were like, they're going to make it. And there was a three-year gap in between when Balu wrote the first book and then when she wrote this one. And we were like oblivious. I thought I was going to walk away from Honey and Spice, and that was it. And I was like, five stars, loved it. And then I heard this one, I was like, it's no way. Right. There's no way. Like, what else can we talk about? I don't want it. But then I read the synopsis. It said, yeah, they broke up and now they're back. And I was like, now wait a minute. So again, I will say this one is one that you do have to read in order in tandem. Again, life circumstance where you walk away from the book, like, yes, they're love happily ever after. Again, children, but again, they grow up, things happen, and now they're back together and they have to work together on a project. And their best friends are marrying one another, which is one of my favorite things. It's like we no longer vibe, but we are now in a wedding and we have to be adults. We have to show up for the people that we love. And now I have to see your face every day and walk down the aisle with you when we could have been walking down the aisle for each other. That's this type of book. The last one I will say is it is romance, but I will say it could lean more into women's fiction or just fiction, general fiction. But August Lane by Regina Black. This one is a second chance romance. Started off as friends. This one, I really enjoy this one. Like I loved it. And it wasn't as much about the second chance. It was about these characters and their relationship dynamics with their parents. And they leaned on one another as children because of the things that were going on in their home. And now one person feels very betrayed and like you are the only person that I could count on. And now you're coming back. So this is small town. This is black country artist representation. So again, a lot of diversity of being able to learn about spaces in which we were in and how we don't really see ourselves a lot of the times in certain small town romance. Like we don't necessarily think about black and brown people in those spaces or towns that were built for them or the music industry that was built for them. So this is one that if you're looking for something a little bit different, the focus isn't necessarily on the second chance romance, but that is a big dynamic about them too. And you're more looking for something that has a romance but also has family dynamics. It has hardships. I would tell you to read Regina Black's August Lynn.

SPEAKER_01 45:18

Nice. I've heard really good things about Regina Black. I don't think I've read any of her books. Maybe one. She only, I think she only had two. It's this one in The Art of Scandal. I did read The Art of Scandal.

SPEAKER_02 45:30

That was a good one.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Yeah, so many good ones. Okay, I have a few that I also want to add. So here are the ones that I have that I didn't hate. We'll just say that. So they should be good. The first one is a gay romance called Hard Cell by Hudson Lynn. And that one, it's got the forbiddenness of the older brother's best friend. So it's got a bit of that. They're working together. They were sneaking around, and then one of them cut it off because they were like, I'm harming your brother in some way. And the that behavior is always weird to me because I'm like, why does your brother own you? That's weird. I have a lot of feelings on that whole discussion. That is for another episode. But this one is really good. And the main characters are Asian, and the author is Asian as well. Highly recommend that one. Another one that actually has the cheating troupe, which we didn't mention. So if you're into the little bit of cheating and they were teenagers when it happened or younger when it happened, it's fine. Almost Yours by Anna P. Anna P is an Indian author, and this one is interracial. The female main character is a curvy Indian woman, and she uh is buddy buddy with this guy's best something about the best friend's brother tends to do it. She's best friends with this guy's brother, and he thinks they're head over heels in love. She's feeling like it's just a fling. She ends up hooking up with somebody else. He walks in on it, and he's like, I thought, I thought we were it, but we weren't, and now I'm mad. So this is years later, and them coming to terms with all of that discussion. That one is fantastic. Now, this one is the darkest of the dark. This is Toxic by Kenya Gory Bell. If you know Kenya, y'all know. I'm on our arc team. I know. Kenya does some dark stuff with her books, and I'm here for it every single time. So this one is dark. There is quite a bit of an interesting age gap, almost borderline the grooming a little bit. So he's older, but he's been like taking care of her, you know, helping her make sure she goes gets through high school. He doesn't hook up with her until that point he is engaged, maybe dating somebody else at this point. He ain't supposed to be hooking up with her, but he does. And then he's like, You need to go off and do your thing. And she's back, he's ready to have her now. And he will kidnap her if he needs to. So, as Kennedy Ryan said in an interview I recently saw with her, she was like, Some of y'all like your feeble man characters grabbed up and thrown in the back of a truck. This is not the kind of stuff I do yearning and like chasing, not stalking. This is the stalking. This is the throwing in the trunk kind of behavior. Another one is Back to Me by Katie Duggan. This is a sapphic romance. They were in high school together, fell in love. It ended amicably. It wasn't anything crazy or dramatic. It was just we went to college in different areas. They end up becoming roommates. It has plus size representation, it has diabetes representation. This one is really good. And also neurodivergent representation and a little bit of fake dating because they're trying to get back at one of their bosses who used to be an ex. There's a lot of fun stuff happening in that one. And then last but of course not least, Memphis by Alexandria House. Now, this one is dark. We have two assassins, the female main character and the male main character are both assassins. They work together, but he is her boss. And so she broke it off. Look, you're my boss, we're not doing this. And she kind of owns her own shit. Like, we're not doing this, and I will keep fending you off as much as I need to, and I hate your guts. Until she cannot hate his guts any longer. And that one is always a good time. Anything, Alexandria House. And I when I was looking through my list of things I had tagged, Alexandria House has quite a few second chances in there. So if you are gonna give any a try, those are gonna be good. But I also agree the Kennedy Ryan one, check your triggers again. Like Lisa said, but those are just a few of the ones that I'm like, I didn't hate these. So here you go.

SPEAKER_00 50:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

You have some good ones in there. Yep. And I think you got some new ones. Yeah, I think the second chance, when done right, it can be really enjoyable. And I think especially even to the point of earlier, so often people think, oh, someone had to do something dramatic. When it's like it literally could just be that you're in different places or stages of life at the time, and you're not ready to be in a relationship, you're not ready to have this. So sometimes it's literally just this person has no other options, or maybe they go to different colleges, right? There's just so many life things that can happen that can cause the second chance, and you just gotta figure out which one works best for you if you're hesitant, like remember, like you may not be okay with second chance in real life.

SPEAKER_00 51:15

Trust me, you nine times of the same, you probably don't need to take that person back. Stop answering their phone calls, right? But it's okay to look at that and explore that and understand, like that's the thing about as we talked about. We're reading fiction, right? Dark romance. A lot of the things that we read in dark romance, we would never like we would run screaming the other way. Reading it though, you're like, huh. Well, maybe I understand. So I completely get it, right? But again, also knowing that it's okay if you find a trope that's not your thing. That is the beauty of becoming your reader and understanding your preferences. So again, I'm not here to sell anyone on second chance, but if I were to, these are books that I would do it with. Love it.

SPEAKER_01 52:04

Lisa, this has been so much fun. If people want to hang out with you, get to know you, check out your booktube, where are the best places? And we'll make sure we have links in the show notes, but where are the best places for them to connect with you?

SPEAKER_00 52:17

Yeah, I'm Babe and Library, all one word on all platforms that I am at. Instagram, I am on YouTube. Those are the main two that I'm at. I will be at Pedals and Pros. So if you want to see me in person, I'm gonna be at Pedals and Pros in St. Louis May 1st and May 2nd. And then I will be at Cube, so the Chicago Urban Book Festival in September. And I will be at Alicia's We Read Smut virtually. So again, I'm gonna be in a multitude of places, but if you want to connect with me online, those are the two places that I will tell you. And my DMs are always open.

SPEAKER_01 52:57

Thank you so much for being on. It is always a good time chatting with you, and I think I might need to just give some of these books another try. We'd appreciate it.