Road Trip Romances, New Releases & AI Summer Reading List Drama

Welcome to Reading Under the Covers, a romance novel podcast, where we chat, fangirl, and maybe even swoon over our latest reads.

This episode is our weekly Novel Hour Replay, featuring road trip romance recs, buzzy new May releases, and some spicy book world drama. Plus, we’re joined by indie romance author Kelly Reynolds to talk about her baseball romance series and Substack!

📺 Watch the YouTube Replay: Click here

📚 Want more road trip romances?

• Historical Recs on the Blog
• Contemporary Recs
• Full Blog Expansion (27 recs)

🚘 Road Trip Romance Recs

Francesca’s Picks – Historical Romance

• The Devil and the Heiress by Harper St. George
• Lord Holt Takes a Bride by Vivienne Lorret
• Peter Cabot Gets Lost by Cat Sebastian

Victoria’s Picks – Contemporary Romance

• Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun
• Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler
• The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

📚 This Week's New Releases

Francesca’s Picks

• Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews
• Heart of the Sun by Mia Sheridan
• The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
• Love Craves Cardamom by Aashna Avachat
• Filthy Rich Fae: Fallen Court by Geneva Lee

Victoria’s Picks

• My Friends by Fredrik Backman
• The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
• The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis
• Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding by Lian Dolan
• Courtroom Drama by Neely Tubati Alexander

⚾️ Guest Interview: Author Kelly Reynolds

Kelly joins us to talk about her Rose City Roasters baseball romance series—fun, flirty, and filled with opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, and plenty of spice. All books available on Kindle Unlimited!

• All Bats Are Off – MM sports novella, sunshine player + introverted reporter.
• Hit It and Quit It – Age gap, grumpy/sunshine, and a sexy bucket list.
• Pitches Be Crazy – Rookie player x grumpy tattooed bookstore owner.

Subscribe to Kelly’s Substack

What We're Watching

• Victoria: Binge-watched Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu—aka unhinged suburban mom TV at its finest.
• Kelly: Obsessed with The Traitors—both the U.S. and U.K. versions. She's team Alan Cumming couture forever.

📰 Bookish News & Gossip

📉 AI Book List Controversy

• The Chicago Sun-Times published an AI-generated summer reading list full of fake books. Yep, seriously.
• Book reviewer Tina (@TBRetc) confirmed it in person and the story went viral, with coverage from:
• NPR
• NYT

We talk about the ethical mess of AI in journalism—and how many bookish creators (and real librarians!) are right here and available.

🎬 Book Adaptation Buzz

• Off Campus by Elle Kennedy – Hockey romance series turned TV show. Casting drama? Of course.
• My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan – Netflix adaptation starring Sofia Carson.
• Quicksilver by Callie Hart – Netflix romantasy in the works.
• Summer in the City by Alex Aster – From book deal to New Line Cinema rom-com in record time.

📎 Bonus links:

• People – Off Campus News
• Deadline – My Oxford Year
• First for Women – Quicksilver
• Variety – Summer in the City
• TikTok – Alex Aster Announcement

💬 What do you think about the adaptations, the fake book list drama, or our road trip recs? Come chat with us!

📥 Don’t forget to subscribe, and we’ll see you next week.

Happy reading, and see you under the covers. 💕

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