Category Archives: Weekly Recs

Weekly Rec: gods in Alabama

The Rec:

This week’s rec is gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson

What it’s about:

For 10 years Arlene has kept her promises, and God has kept His end of the bargain. Until now.

When an old schoolmate from Possett turns up at Arlene’s door in Chicago asking questions about Jim Beverly, former quarterback and god of Possett High, Arlene’s break with her former hometown is forced to an end. At the same time, Burr, her long-time boyfriend, has raised an ultimatum: introduce him to her family or consider him gone. Arlene loves him dearly but knows her lily white (not to mention deeply racist) Southern Baptist family will not understand her relationship with an African American boyfriend. Reluctantly, Arlene bows to the pressure, and she and Burr embark on the long-avoided road trip back home.

As Arlene digs through guilt and deception, her patched-together alibi begins to unravel, and she discovers how far she will go for love and a chance at redemption.

(Note: This is the book description from Amazon)

What I love about it:

So much, honestly. This is one of my favorite books of all time for a reason. It packs so much heart and emotion along the main character’s journey. Really, that’s what the book comes down to: her journey and her realization and understanding of what family really looks like and what the bonds of love will lead you to do for someone else. I feel that in almost every book Joshilyn Jackson writes. There’s always a mystery/thriller element, but that is purely the vessel by which she tells a deeper, more meaningful story, typically about the bonds of family and friendship, what love is, and the personal journeys her characters go on. The same is true of this story. It’s impossible to explain exactly why I love this book so much without giving everything away, because it’s truly the tiny moments laced throughout the bigger story that make this book as special as it is.

My favorite quote:

This quote is so good. I remember needing to write a random book for some improv thing in an acting class once and using this. The guy who delivered it reminded me of Josh Gad and just said it was so much drama and mystery in his voice. So good. That said, I still remembering reading this line for the first time and thinking that I wanted to know everything. There aren’t that many lines from books that I remember reading for the first time, and even though it’s been 15 years, I still remember how this line made me feel when I read it.

You’ll love it if you love:

  • Family drama
  • Complicated families
  • Stories set in the south
  • Complex heroines
  • Family secrets
  • Sexy and extremely supportive men
  • Suspense/Mystery

I hope you’ll check this book out and give it a read, it’s truly one of my favorite books ever. If you’ve read it, hit the comments and let me know if you like it. It’s currently available on amazon in a variety of formats. The kindle edition is 10.99 to buy.

Check back next week for another book rec and follow me on Instagram @bethanymonacosmith for daily updates and shenanigans from me.

Weekly Rec: The Love Interest

The Rec:

This week’s rec is The Love Interest by Kayley Loring. It’s a fun rom-com set in New York City featuring a mid-twenties wannabe author and a jaded mid-thirties bestselling author. Also, there’s a cock.

What it’s about:

Jaded NYC author Emmett is struggling to write the next book in his action-thriller series. Fiona is just starting grad school with hopes of becoming a regency romance author. Both seeking inspiration, they meet randomly at a diner in the middle of the night and spend the rest of the wee hours of the morning together before watching the sunrise and making out for a while. 

But things are over before they start when Emmett unknowingly takes a job as her professor, meaning he can’t date her. In no uncertain terms, things. Are. Over. There’s just a tiny hitch: things can’t be over because they’re both totally into each other. They decide to write letters to each other in lieu of a traditional romance, but nothing is ever so simple when love is involved. Also, there’s a cock and plenty of very aroused nipples.

What I love about it:

This book is laugh-out-loud funny. The female lead is quirky and funny but strong and sure of herself. The male lead has a scar on his heart and has become a jaded, asshole New Yorker. But he’s just the right amount of asshole to make you love him, not hate him.

I loved a lot about this book. I loved the chemistry between the leads. I loved the way the love letters allowed you to get to know the characters without it feeling like too much exposition and the way they took the place of a typical date.

I loved that these characters were allowed to be mature and really fall for each other with natural challenges preventing them from being together rather than forced drama. It made their happiness feel earned and more enjoyable.

And, of course, I loved that ridiculous cock.

My favorite quote:

There are so many hilarious quotes in this book, but this one is my absolute favorite. I may not be from California but I relate to this so hard. 

You’ll love it if you love:

  • Rom-coms
  • Relatable characters
  • Swoony moments
  • Awesome meet-cutes
  • Romantic letters
  • Love stories set in NYC
  • Hard nipples
  • Cock 😉

I hope you’ll check this book out and give it a read. If you already have, tell me in the comments if you liked it. It’s currently available to read for free in Kindle Unlimited or to buy for 2.99.

Check back next week for another book rec and follow me on Instagram @bethanymonacosmith for daily updates and shenanigans from me.

Series Rec: The Keatyn Chronicles

Every week I’m going to be shouting out a book I love and telling you a little bit more about it. But the first Sunday of every month, I’m going to recommend an entire series. First up is one of my absolute favorite series ever: The Keatyn Chronicles by Jillian Dodd.

What it is:

Keatyn is a 12(!) book series about Keatyn Douglas. The first seven books are set over the course of a few months in the the time leading up to and after her 17th birthday. The last five books are set 10 years in the future and are a bit more mature, but feature all the characters you will come to love in the first seven books. The last five books are multiple POV where the first seven are primarily Keatyn’s POV. There’s also a short bonus book from the lead male, the swoon-worthy Aiden Arrington’s perspective.

What it’s about:

The first seven books follow Keatyn as a stalker takes over her life, leading her away from her perfect beach home and her gorgeous surfer best friend (turned boyfriend?). Away at boarding school and lying about who she really is, Keatyn meets the God of all Hotties, new pals Riley and Dallas, and Riley’s sexy older brother, Dawson. And then there’s the most popular girl who already hates her. Torn between wanting to get her old life back or follow her new one, Keatyn learns it’s time to stop scripting her life and start living it. All while she tries to keep her stalker from finding her or hurting anyone she loves. No problem, right?

The last five books pick up ten years later and explore the lives of Keatyn, Dallas, Riley, and Dawson and those closest to them as they run a production company together and face multiple challenges in their personal and professional lives.

You can read more about the series and each book individually here.

Why I fell in love with it:

Why didn’t I? I mean swoon-worthy boys? An emotionally fulfilling story? A flawed but relatable main character? It’s got all of those things, but I fell in love with it because of all the little moments.

Despite being 32 when I first read it, I connected with the teenage version of Keatyn who was trying to find her path and her way through her life. I was going through my own period of growth and part of the reason I fell so deeply in love with these books is because I connected with her emotional journey.

I also fell in love with the incredible love story (ies) that rolls throughout the series. It was a gorgeous fantasy to escape into.

In general, I always love worlds full of awesome characters, deep friendships, boys to fall for, loves to swoon over, and emotional journeys to go on. This series nails those things over and over again.

Favorite book in the series:

This is a tough one and it depends on my mood but either Love Me (book 4) or Hate Me (book 6). Those are the ones I’m most likely to return to on bad days when I need comfort.

Favorite character:

Gahhh! How do I choose? I love and relate to Keatyn but I always lean toward the boys for favorite characters. From the very beginning, Damian and Dallas were two of my absolute favorites.

Favorite quote:

I have so many quotes from this series saved in my screenshots. But this is the one I go back to. It makes my heart flutter every single time I read it. When I’ve had a bad day, I’ve been known to flip to the end of the third book to read it.

You’ll love these books if you love:

  • Swoon-worthy boys
  • Rich, emotional stories
  • Flawed but relatable main characters
  • YA stories with a bit of heat
  • Prep/boarding school or Hollywood stories
  • Epic love stories
  • Lots of fun side characters
  • Anything else Jillian has written

If you’ve never read this series, I highly encourage you to go check it out, because it is awesome and so much more than I could ever explain in one blog post. I’m even including a little note here for anyone who has started it and not been as interested in the first book: the first book sets up Keatyn’s story, but the magic happens the most in the following books, so keep going, it’s worth the ride and then some.

Have you read it? Did you love it? If you haven’t read it yet, go now! Because from July 3rd-9th 2021 they are all on sale for 99 cents in the Kindle store (except for Aiden’s story which is free until the 7th).

I hope you read these and love them as much as I do!

Music inspiration: Magic by Ben Rector

Hey everyone, today I wanted to give a shout out to an album that has been on constant rotation for me as I write my series, Friends Like This. It’s a story about six best friends who grow up together and the misadventures and romantic entanglements that come with it. It’s full of nostalgia and friendship and love and this album connects so strongly with those emotions.

Because of that, Magic by Ben Rector has a tight hold on my heart.

I’m not someone who easily falls in love with musical artists and especially albums. I might love a song or two but it takes a lot to make me really love an album or artist. But boy do I love this album and it made me a fan of Ben as well.

Read on to find out where that love came from and why it means so much to me.

Back at the end of 2018 (? I think), I kept seeing a recommendation on YouTube for the song Old Friends by Ben Rector. I finally clicked on it and immediately fell in love. I’d recently turned thirty and this song and video screamed nostalgia. I’m a ’90’s kid and by nature I think we’re a nostalgic bunch, but I am particularly so. Naturally this song hit me right in the feels.

It became part of my regular rotation, showing up on multiple playlists of mine. It made me think of my childhood, my senior year of high school, while connecting with where I’m at now.

I’m listening to the album as I write this and the song just came on. And it made me smile like the cheesy idiot that I am. Okay, moving on.

Skip ahead two years and I’d started writing Friends Like This about a group of six best friends who grow up together from age five on. Naturally, Old Friends was a song that really resonated with me when I started writing it, so I was playing it nonstop. YouTube then recommended the second song off this album I Will Always Be Yours. I listened. And I realized it totally represented a major arc for the central love story in the book. Then I heard Love Like This (which has become one of my favorite songs ever) and it felt like that couple’s song.

I think I heard Kids next, which was also resonates with that series. And then another song off the album popped up and finally I sat down and listened to the whole thing. Not only did much of it connect with the series, it also resonated with me.

This album makes me feel all the things. It hits all my soft spots:

  • Nostalgia.
  • Friendship.
  • Love. Love. Love.
  • Cozy feelings.
  • Awesome music to listen to in the car.
  • Heartache (Sometimes makes me cry every time).

If you love any of those things, go listen. Right now. Seriously. This album is great. These songs are Magic (yeah I had to do it). Even my kids jam out to it.

If you haven’t yet, go check out this album and don’t forget to like and subscribe here so you don’t miss any of my random thoughts and tangents and more behind the scenes on music that inspires me as I write.

I hope you listen to this album if you haven’t before. If you do, let me know what you think of it. If you already have, let me know if it makes you feel all the things too!