A little birdy told me...

5 Romance Recs

If you ask me “books or tv” for my free time, I will always choose books. However, I do watch an occasional show with my husband after he tries to hook me in with the trailer.

Our latest show was The Residence. Described on Wikipedia as “The Residence is an American mystery comedy drama television series created by Paul William Davies for Netflix. Inspired by The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower, the series revolves around a fictional murder scandal involving the staff of the White House.” And, it’s produced by Shondaland!

I was intrigued.

Last week we had a guest post from Olivia from Petal + Hearth who writes about slow-living. Cordelia, the detective on The Residence is the definition of slow-living. In between solving a murder, she makes time for birding. Yep, birding.

Meet in the blue room in two hours. Why? Cordelia is looking for a bird on her list and needs some free time.

It’s a fun show and I would highly recommend it. Let me know your thoughts if you’ve seen it.

Now, my ADHD brain went on a tangent with birds. Follow my train of thought.

Cordelia is birding, that reminds me of Birding With Benefits (a rom-com I loved), which makes me think of Robins, and that leads me to my home state of Michigan, and that makes me we wonder when states began to choose a state bird…

Are you still with me?

Well, if you are here’s my fun fact of the day.

The tradition of assigning state birds began in 1926 when Kentucky designated the northern cardinal as its official state bird. Kentucky was the first U.S. state to do so. In 1927, other states followed, including Alabama, Florida, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming. Arizona was the last state to select a state bird in 1973.

What’s your state bird? And is this just a US thing or to other countries do this as well? Please enlighten me!

Ok, I’m almost done rambling. Now we’ve come to the book recommendations portion of this post. I wanted to share 5 books that highlight the outdoor. (For some reason we are sorely lacking in romance books around birding.)

Here we go… 🐦

Helen Carpenter can’t quite seem to bounce back. Newly divorced at thirty-two, her life has fallen apart beyond her ability to put it together again. So when her annoying younger brother, Duncan, convinces her to sign up for a hardcore wilderness survival course in the backwoods of Wyoming—she hopes it’ll be exactly what she needs.

Instead, it’s a disaster. It’s nothing like she wants, or expects, or anticipates. She doesn’t anticipate the surprise summer blizzard, for example—or the blisters, or the rutting elk, or the mean pack of sorority girls. And she especially doesn’t anticipate that her annoying brother’s even-more-annoying best friend, Jake, will show up for the exact same course—and distract her, derail her, and . . . kiss her.

But it turns out sometimes disaster can teach you exactly the things you need to learn. Like how to keep going, even when you think you can’t. How being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes getting really, really lost is your only hope of getting found.

Check it out E-BOOK/KU or PAPERBACK.

Alexei Lebedev’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail begins with a single snake. And it is angling for the hot stranger who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Lex is prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he isn’t prepared for is Ben Caravalho. But somehow—on a 2,500-mile trail—Alexei keeps running into the outgoing and charismatic hiker with golden-brown eyes, again and again. It might be coincidence. Then again, maybe there’s a reason the trail keeps bringing them together . . .

Ben has made his fair share of bad decisions, and almost all of them involved beautiful men. And yet there’s something about the gorgeous and quietly nerdy Alexei that Ben can’t just walk away from. Surely a bad decision can’t be this cute and smart. And there are worse things than falling in love during the biggest adventure of your life. But when their plans for the future are turned upside down, Ben and Alexei begin to wonder if it’s possible to hold on to something this wild and wonderful.

Check it out HERE.

A steamy, standalone small-town romance
When a personal and professional crisis leads Will Carter to a farm in the small town of Bangalay, the last thing he expects to do is help a pixie-like woman rescue an orphaned joey from the middle of the road. What has he got himself into?

Will – I love a good legal mess. Messes of the animal variety? No thanks. I need to get this farm—and my head—sorted out so I can get back to my real life. What I don’t need? Emotional attachments. Shame my heart didn’t get the memo.

Freyja – Getting involved with a client is never a good idea. But there’s something about Will I can’t resist. Surely, a limited-time offer will mean I can’t get too attached. Right?

Freyja’s got a lot on her plate. A failing veterinary practice. The threat of disease outbreak.
And a serious crush on her one and only client.

Meanwhile, Will has his own problems. A farm he’s ill-equipped to run. Demons he keeps tightly under wraps.
And a serious crush on his vet.

But supporting each other through the toughest time of their lives doesn’t mean they’re meant to be. Does it?

This story features a grieving, fish out of water lawyer, a vet who doesn’t have a Plan B, a town with lightning-fast gossip, and a menagerie of baby animals that steal hearts for breakfast.

Check it out E-BOOK/KU or PAPERBACK.

Can you find real love when you've always got your head in the clouds?

Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start.

Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn't the only inheritor: She has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who's as grouchy as he is gorgeous - and it turns out he has a very different vision for the property's future.

Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley's scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one's comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.

Check it out HERE.

A married couple joins a week-long wilderness expedition to help them reconnect.

High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have always been a sure thing. For the past seventeen years, they have had each other’s backs through all of life’s ups and downs.

But Sarah has begun to wonder . . . who is she without her other half?

When she decides to take on a project of her own, a fundraising gala in memory of her late mother, Sarah wants nothing more than to prove to herself—and to everyone else—that she doesn’t need Caleb’s help to succeed. She’s still her mother’s daughter after all, independent and capable.

That is, until the event fails and Caleb uninvitedly steps in to save the day.

The rift that follows unearths a decade of grievances and doubts. Are they truly the same people they were when they got married at nineteen? Are they supposed to be?


In a desperate attempt to fix what they fear is breaking, Sarah and Caleb make the spontaneous decision to get out of their comfort zones and join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches.

What follows is a life-affirming comedy of errors as two nature-averse people fight their way out of the woods in order to find their way back to their roots.

Check it out HERE.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION✨

A divorcee embarks on her “year of yes” and crosses paths with a shy but sensitive birdwatcher who changes her life in this charming rom-com that is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood.

Newly-divorced, almost-empty-nester Celeste is finally seeking adventure and putting herself first, cliches be damned. So when a friend asks Celeste to “partner” with his buddy John for an event, Celeste throws herself into the role of his temporary girlfriend. But quiet cinnamon roll John isn’t looking for love, just birds—he needs a partner for Tucson’s biggest bird-watching contest if he’s ever going to launch his own guiding business. By the time they untangle their crossed signals, they’ve become teammates…and thanks to his meddling friends, a fake couple.

Celeste can’t tell a sparrow from a swallow, but John is a great teacher, and the hours they spend hiking in the Arizona wilderness feed Celeste’s hunger for new adventures while giving John a chance to practice his dream job. As the two spend more time together, they end up watching more than just the birds, and their chemistry becomes undeniable. Since they’re both committed to the single life, Celeste suggests a status upgrade: birders with benefits, just until the contest is done. But as the bird count goes up and their time together ticks down, John and Celeste will have to decide if their benefits can last a lifetime, or if this love affair is for the birds.

Check it out HERE.

Even though I share links to these book recs, I would also just remind you to check your local library. Ok, now on to what’s been in my tea cup…

If there is one tea I could drink day after day after day… It’s Paris from Harney & Sons. It has so much flavor, but not in an overpowering way. (Insider tip… I buy it in the 1 lbs. bulk bag because I drink it so much.)😬☕🫖

Thank you again for 2 upgraded memberships this month! As a community we have now donated 14 books to women who need them.💝

Your support means the world to me! For every membership upgraded to $5, I donate a historical fiction or romance book to a local women’s shelter.

The Literary Assistant is Reader-Supported! Please note, all posts are free for everyone to enjoy. Your support helps keep this space thriving for book lovers like you! 😊

Affiliate links are used at no extra cost to you, but they help me earn a small amount—just enough to grab a tea and keep writing! ☕