We have a bone to pick with the romantasy genre. The misuse of tropes, the imbalance of romance & fantasy plot lines, the questionable quality… The list goes on. In this episode, we breakdown what makes a romantasy book/series successful within its genre. Specifically, we’ll list out books we’ve read that do romantasy a disservice & books that redeem why we should all still give romantasy a chance. (P.S. this episode is spoiler-free!)

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💌 May Book Club: Metal Slinger - Rachel Schneider

📖 Books Mentioned:

• Metal Slinger - Rachel Schneider
• A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas
• Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas
• Shield of Sparrows - Devney Perry
• A Court of Silver Flames - Sarah J. Maas
• Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros
• From Blood and Ash - Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Heartless Hunter - Kristen Ciccarelli
• Anathema - Keri Lake
• Obsidian - Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi
• Zodiac Academy - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti
• Never Keep - Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti
• The Knight and The Moth - Rachel Gillig
• One Dark Window - Rachel Gillig
• The Ascended - Bree Grenwich and Parker Lennox
• On Wings of Blood - Briar Boleyn
• Blood and Steel - Helen Scheuerer
• This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me - Ilona Andrews
• Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews

Abby Jimenez’s new novel The Night We Met is here & we are feeling alllll the emotions. Tune in for our full review of this book in which we dive into the writing, characters, plot, romance, & more! Warning: tears ahead… (P.S. this episode contains spoilers!)

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💌 April Book Club: The Night We Met - Abby Jimenez

📖 Books Mentioned:

• The Night We Met - Abby Jimenez
• Say You’ll Remember Me - Abby Jimenez
• The Friend Zone - Abby Jimenez

Abby Jimenez’s new novel The Night We Met is here & we are feeling alllll the emotions. Tune in for our full review of this book in which we dive into the writing, characters, plot, romance, & more! Warning: tears ahead… (P.S. this episode contains spoilers!)🤍 All CTB Links: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/checkthisbookout💌 April Book Club: The Night We Met - Abby Jimenez📖 Books Mentioned: * The Night We Met - Abby Jimenez* Say You’ll Remember Me - Abby Jimenez* The Friend Zone - Abby JimenezTimestamps:00:00:00 intro & book club kickoff

00:02:15 star ratings reveal

00:04:20 high level plot

00:05:30 entering spoiler territory!

00:06:30 jumping to the end lol

00:09:45 the friend zone by abby jimenez

00:11:00 abby's writing style has changed

00:15:00 favorite quotes

00:17:30 TOP BOOK BF

00:21:15 the beginning was boring

00:25:45 woofarine???

00:27:00 the chris/mike dynamic

00:34:30 we loveeee chris

00:38:30 did we like larissa?

00:45:30 love triangle

00:52:00 our fav & least fav scenes

00:56:00 the uncomfortable ending

01:00:00 our final thoughts

01:05:00 may book club announcement

01:09:30 hannah's an author

No book is perfect, but some are pretty close! 💐 In this episode, we recommend fantasy & romance books that we rated four stars. Sure, we docked a star in our rating, but they still deserve recognition! These books are dear to us, so we bet y’all will love them, too!

P.S. This episode is spoiler-free!

🤍 All CTB Links: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/checkthisbookout

💌 April Book Club: The Night We Met - Abby Jimenez

📖 Books Mentioned:

• The Prison Healer - Lynette Noni
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V. E. Schwab
• Flawless - Elsie Silver
• The Ex Vows - Jessica Joyce
• Shield of Sparrows - Devney Perry
• Yours Truly - Abby Jimenez
• Shadow Reaper - Lynette Noni
• Heartless - Elsie Silver
• Wild Love - Elsie Silver
• Rites of Starling - Devney Perry
• The Night We Met - Abby Jimenez

⏱️Time Stamps:

00:00:00 Welcome!

01:31:19 The Prison Healer

06:38:05 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

09:10:00 Flawless

14:09:15 The Ex Vows

18:44:20 Shield of Sparrows

24:36:13 Yours Truly

30:00:07 Join our Fable book club!

On this weeks episode, we’re blasting off with Andy Weir’s hit novel Project Hail Mary. In this book review, we unpack the science, prose, humor, and plot and obsess over one of the most lovable characters we have ever read!

(P.S. This episode contains spoilers!)

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🤍 2026 Book Bingo Card: https://tr.ee/QO4azNLxDV

🤍 March Book Club: Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

📖 Books Mentioned:

• Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
• The Martian - Andy Weir

Madeline's Goodreads Review:

gosh, what’s not to love about this book?! the narration, relationship development, story telling, and creativity are just a small sample of the things that make Project Hail Mary incredible. +1 extra ⭐️ for how many times this book made me cry. highly recommend the audiobook!

Hannah's Goodreads Review:

Besides the cringe fist pumps & “what the fudge?”, this book was fantastic & hilarious. For my 1st hardcore sci fi, I struck gold with this one.

Project Hail Mary Synopsis:"Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission – and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realises that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone. Or does he?"⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 We Believe in Aliens 👽00:14 Intro + Back to Sci-Fi01:33 ⭐ Our Ratings (5 Stars?!)03:16 Writing Style: Funny but… Cringey?05:18 Being Alone in Space (Why It Works)09:10 Emotional Impact Already??11:12 Plot & Premise (Why It Feels Real)18:44 The Opening Hook: Amnesia + Dead Crew23:53 First Contact… Wait, That’s an Alien27:53 Rocky Steals the Show 🥹33:33 Chaos Mode: Science + Survival40:10 The Taumoeba Breakthrough46:00 The Big Sacrifice Decision50:30 The Ending (We Have Thoughts)56:00 Why This Book Made Us Cry59:30 Final Thoughts + Should You Read It?

We’re bringing the Olympics to the bookish world & it gets competitive! We each drafted our romance & fantasy teams by pulling book titles blindly then strategically decided which category they would perform best in. From one-bed bobsled to the slow burn endurance trial, every round proved a challenge. And stay tuned post-game as we chit chat about our highs, lows, & current reads!

(P.S. This episode is spoiler-free!)

🤍 All CTB Links: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/checkthisbookout

🤍 2026 Book Bingo Card: https://tr.ee/QO4azNLxDV

🤍 March Book Club: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

📖 Books Mentioned:

• We Were Liars - E. Lockhart
• The Will of the Many - James Islington
• November 9 - Colleen Hoover
• Love and Other Words - Christina Lauren
• A Part of Your World - Abby Jimenez
• Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas
• Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi
• Time Will Tell - Hannah Bonam-Young
• Out on a Limb - Hannah Bonam-Young
• Love on the Brain - Ali Hazelwood
• Good Spirits - B.K. Borison
• A Fate of Wrath and Flame - K.A. Tucker
• Zodiac Academy - Susanne Valenti & Cartoline Peckham
• A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik
• Prison Healer - Lynette Noni
• Caraval - Stephanie Garber
• Divine Rivals - Rebecca Ross
• Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros
• Bride - Ali Hazelwood
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V. E. Schwab
• Next of Kin - Hannah Bonam-Young
• Rhythm of War - Brandon Sanderson
• A Tongue So Sweet and Deadly - Sophia St. Germain
• Flawless - Elsie Silver
• Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

For Valentine’s this year, we’re reviewing The Improbable Meet Cute: Second Chances collection! 💘 Six romance authors took the prompt of ‘a second chance at love’ & wrote six short stories to binge for the holiday. We read each one & surprisingly have conflicting opinions on what these beloved & new-to-us authors had to offer. Tune in for some sibling rivalry & many laughs!

(P.S. This episode contains spoilers & explicit content!)

🤍 All CTB Links: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/checkthisbookout

🤍 2026 Book Bingo Card: https://tr.ee/QO4azNLxDV

📖 Books Mentioned:

• ​Time Will Tell - Hannah Bonam-Young
• ​Accidentally Yours - Christina Lauren
• ​Second Act Romance - Julie Soto
• ​A Play For Love - Trilina Pucci
• ​Death To Valentine’s Day - Catherine Cowles
• ​Valentine’s Slay - Navessa Allen
• ​Big Fan - Alexandra Romanoff
• ​Next of Kin - Hannah Bonam-Young
• ​The Exception to the Rule - Christina Lauren
• ​All The Missing Pieces - Catherine Cowles
• ​Lights Out - Navessa Allen
• ​Butcher & Blackbird - Brynne Weaver
• ​The Housemaid - Freida McFadden
• ​Falling - Christina Lauren

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 intro

03:30 general thoughts on short stories

05:45 the comets are fake 💀

09:20 time will tell ratings & review

15:30 accidentally yours ratings & review

21:40 second act romance ratings & review

26:20 hannah’s an actress

28:00 a play for love ratings & review

34:25 death to valentine’s ratings & review

46:20 valentine’s slay ratings & review

57:00 final thoughts!

Emily Henry is a staple author of ours so we must discuss People We Meet On Vacation with y’all!🌴 Diving deep into both the book & movie, we debrief the writing, characters, favorite scenes, & disappointments. This episode had us laughing hard & shaking our heads, so tune in for the chaos! (P.S. This episode contains spoilers!)

🤍 All CTB Links: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/checkthisbookout

🤍 2026 Book Bingo Card: https://tr.ee/QO4azNLxDV

🤍 February Book Club: The Improbable Meet Cute: Second Chances

📖 Books Mentioned:

• ​People We Meet On Vacation - Emily Henry
• ​Beach Read - Emily Henry
• ​Funny Story - Emily Henry
• ​Book Lovers - Emily Henry
• ​Happy Place - Emily Henry
• ​Great Big Beautiful Life - Emily Henry
• On Wings of Blood - Briar Boleyn
• Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
• The Raven Scholar - Antonio Hodgson
• In Your Dreams - Sarah Adams

⏱​️ Timestamps:

00:00:00 intro

00:01:15 star rating refresher

00:07:20 our ratings of the book

00:08:45 our ratings of the movie

00:09:20 writing style

00:17:00 that first ch was something special

00:19:00 thoughts on poppy & alex

00:24:45 men & women can never be friends

00:27:25 fav and least fav plot points

00:34:50 was the movie better than the book?

00:37:00 differences between bok & movie

00:41:30 giggle break

00:41:40 the past scenes were the best part

00:46:00 the ending & emotionally unavailable women

00:48:20 ranking emily henry's books

00:51:00 yap time! (reading journal & current reads)

We’re sharing the fantasy & romance book releases we can’t wait to get our hands on in 2026, along with our personal reading goals for the year ahead! If you're planning your TBR for the new year like us, this episode is packed with plenty of recs for you to kick off 2026!

🤍 CTB Links: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/checkthisbookout

🤍 Book Bingo Card: https://tr.ee/sH5fQ6VTZT📖

🧡 January Book Club: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (releases on 1/27/26)

📖 Books Mentioned:

• ​In Your Dreams - Sarah Adams [Dec 30, 2025]
• ​What Next - M. J. Hughes [Feb 21]
• ​And Now, Back To You - B.K. Borison [Feb 24]
• ​In Her Own League - Liz Tomforde [March 3]
• ​The Night We Met - Abby Jimenez [March 31]
• ​Rites of the Starling - Denver Perry [April 7]
• ​Our Perfect Storm - Carley Fortune [May 5]
• ​Light Wielder - Rachel Schneider [June 9]
• ​A Darker Shore: Letters from Ketterdam - Leigh Bardugo [June 30]
• ​The Secret World of Briar Rose - Cindy Pham [June 2]
• ​The Romance Revival - Christina Lauren [July 14]
• ​Burn of the Everflame - Pen Cole [tbd]
• ​Adversary to the Villain - Hannah Nicole Maehrer [Aug 4]
• ​People Pleasing - Hannah Bonam-Young [Sept 10]
• ​Grim Tidings - B.K. Borison [Sept 15]
• ​The Fires of December - Brandon Sanderson [Dec]* Tempest - Victoria Aveyard [tbd]
• ​Red God - Pierce Brown [tbd]
• ​Horneater - Brandon Sanderson [tbd]

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 - our 2026 fantasy & romance tbr

00:50 - it's our 1 yr bday!

03:35 - meet hannah

05:25 - january book releases

06:00 - february book releases

09:25 - march book releases

13:40 - april book releases

14:45 - may book releases

17:30 - june book releases

23:40 - july book releases

29:00 - september book releases

33:35 - december book releases

35:50 - TBD release dates

40:30 - our 2026 reading goals

48:20 - 2026 book bingo!

50:00 - CTB book club