Always Booked

New to romantasy and don't know where to start? We've got you. 

We’re talking our go-to fantasy romance recommendations for anyone looking to dive into the genre. These are great stories to start with that aren’t too intense but have plenty to love! Whether you're romance-curious or fantasy-curious this is the start pack for you! 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
• Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole 
• The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow 
• Serpents and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent 
• A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L Jensen 
• Crimson Moth/Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli 

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💬 Drop your favorite romantasy pick in the comments, we want to add to our TBR <3 

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Everyone calls A Court of Frost and Starlight the boring book. The filler. The holiday special story. We are here to FIGHT about that. ACOFAS is where SJM plants the seeds for everything the rest of the series has to deliver, and we think everyone sleeping on ACOFAS is missing the point.In this reread, we're defending the "boring" book with receipts: the details dressed up as filler that are actually setup, the character moments everyone wrote off as cozy, and our theories for what ACOTAR 6 has been building toward. This is your sign to stop skipping it! Spoilers for A Court of Frost and Starlight (and the ACOTAR series, obviously).💬 Come fight with us:Think ACOFAS is actually skippable? Drop your biggest ACOTAR 6 theory below! CONNECT WITH US:📲 Follow us on Instagram → / always.bookd 🌐 Visit our website → https://www.alwaysbooked.net

We're doing our mid-year reading check in! We're breaking down our top pick for every month so far, our top 3 reads of 2026, and the books we genuinely think you should skip.

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Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is finally here and we read the book first. In this episode, we're breaking down Homer's epic, rate the film, and give our honest verdict on whether Nolan did the source material justice.We cover everything: our take on the original text, what the film gets right (and wrong), and how it holds up as a book-to-movie adaptation. Spoilers for both.CONNECT WITH US:📲 Follow us on Instagram → / always.bookd 🌐 Visit our website → https://www.alwaysbooked.net

The word "smut" didn't start as an insult to women's sexuality. It was made into one and we don't it was an accident. In this episode, we dig into the real history of the word "smut." Where it came from, how it got weaponized, and why culture specifically uses it to dismiss and belittle what women read. From book culture to broader society, we get into why this label exists and who it's really designed to silence.CONNECT WITH US:📲 Follow us on Instagram → / always.bookd 🌐 Visit our website → https://www.alwaysbooked.net

The Remarkably Bright Creatures Netflix movie is here and we have THOUGHTS. We read this book and fell in love with Marcellus, Tova, and every emotional gut punch Shelby Van Pelt packed in. So did Netflix do it justice? Spoiler: the book was better. Here's exactly why.In this episode we break down everything Netflix changed, what the adaptation got right, what it got wrong, and whether Marcellus got the screen time he deserved.⚠️ FULL SPOILERS for both the book and the movie.CONNECT WITH US:📲 Follow us on Instagram → / always.bookd 🌐 Visit our website → https://www.alwaysbooked.net

Whether you've fallen out of your reading, never quite found your book, or just need someone to hand you the right one, this is that episode. We curated picks across genres, moods, and reading vibes to give you books to get you (back) into reading.

Don't know where to start? We've got you.

📚 In this episode:

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid 

Blood Over Bright by Haven ML Wang 

Just Kids by Patti Smith 

Upward Bound by Woody Brown

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab 

Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lost It by Brooke Averick 

Into the Blue by Emma Brodie 

Educated by Tara Westover

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow 

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig 

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

CONNECT WITH US:

📲 Follow us on Instagram → / always.bookd

🌐 Visit our website → https://www.alwaysbooked.net

SJM planned this from the beginning! In this episode, we break down A Court of Wings and Ruin with fresh eyes, hunting every detail, foreshadow, and planted clue that points directly to ACOTAR 6. If you're doing your reread prep before Book 6 drops, this is required listening.We're covering the moments that hit differently on reread, the character threads we think are going to explode in Book 6, and the details the fandom has been sleeping on. Spoilers for the full ACOTAR series ahead.📖 In this episode:

• The ACOWAR details that are clearly setup for ACOTAR 6
• Character arcs we think SJM is about to pay off
• The scenes that we LOVE
• Our theories heading into Book 6

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We sat down with Emma Brodie, the author behind Into the Blue, the book readers cannot stop talking about...including us.

Into the Blue is a decades-spanning love story about AJ Graves and Noah Drew. They're two people connected by a deep friendship, the world of acting, improv comedy, and sci-fi fandom, and a beautiful cosmic connection.

We had SO MUCH FUN talking with Emma.

We talk characters, the world she built around acting and fandom, fanfics, and so much more.

CONNECT WITH US:

📲 Follow us on Instagram → / always.bookd

🌐 Visit our website → https://www.alwaysbooked.net

We've read the ACOTAR series more times than we care to say, and some scenes simply live rent free in our heads forever. On this week's pod episode we're counting down our top 10 favorite scenes from the ACOTAR series.

🌹 Did your favorite make the list? Let us know in the comments!

CONNECT WITH US:

📲 Follow us on Instagram → / always.bookd

🌐 Visit our website → https://www.alwaysbooked.net