BOOKS & BANGERS where the books destroy us, the music heals us & the absolute bangers fling our souls back into our bodies
Books & Bangers – The Weekly Vibe: 19 January 2026
This week has felt like standing in the middle of a crossroads between what I’ve always known and who I want to become. If you’ve been feeling that same pressure, like a change is brewing and you’re not sure whether you want to dive head first into it or run back to the comfort of routine… You’re not alone.
THIS WEEK’S VIBE
Second chances & knowing when to take the risk
This week hit me in a way I wasn’t expecting.
Not in a big dramatic plot twist way but in that quieter, more unsettling way where you realize you’re standing in the middle of a crossroads and you’re not sure which path—if any—is the one you want to take.
I’ve spent the last stretch of my life getting really good at stating over after walking away from versions of myself that were built around survival instead of choice. I’m in a stage of my life where I’m choosing my peace and joy, including in my creativity and that means there’s a second chance at creating the life I’ve always imagined myself living.
And now I’m in that unfamiliar place where the question isn’t, “Is this safe?” It’s shifted to, “Am I saying yes out of habit? Is this what I want or am I craving something different?”
One of my favorite series that addresses this same feeling through second chance romance is the GETTING LUCKY series by Meghan Quinn. I’m reading it again, starting with THAT SECOND CHANCE, which is book one for the series.
That’s the vibe this week.
Second chances, but not blind ones and not necessarily ones that involve looping back into something we’ve already walked away from.
Risk, but taken with discernment.
If you’ve ever felt that shift—where you trust yourself enough to choose again—you’re already in this with me.
BANGER OF THE WEEK
Full disclosure for transparency: one of my dear friends is a member of Autumn Red and I’m thrilled to be able to share their music with you.
🎧🎶Waiting for a Change by Autumn Red
Music embeds are shared via Spotify’s public tools for editorial and entertainment purposes only. No artist or band featured here is affiliated with or endorses this site. I’m just sharing the books + music I love so you can check them out and see if you vibe with ’em too.
This song hit me because it sounds like the place I’m actually standing right now—facing the inevitability of change in life.
Not the moment after everything works out.
Not the version of the story where the risk pays off and it all makes sense in hindsight.
It feels like it was written about that stretch of time where you know something has to shift, but you may not know exactly what that something is or what it might cost you in the end.
What hooked me is how patient it is without a willingness to stay complacent. There’s hope in it, but it isn’t pretending that hope comes without fear from uncertainty or a subtle longing for the nostalgia and history attached.
I’ve been sitting with it this week after noticing that I’m not afraid of the consequences or what comes after the choice that I’m facing this time. At least not in the same way I used to be, and realizing that changes the paths laid out in front of me.
The risks haven’t disappeared.
The history hasn’t been erased.
But my relationship to both of those things is different now.
Letting this song play while I think about the options ahead of me and while I consider what THIS second chance is actually asking of me this time has been cathartic, to say the least.
But y’all know me by now and know I’m not functional without a playlist, so…
This week’s playlist is built around that moment where things could shift, but only if you’re willing to take the risk. The exact space between what was and what might be if you let yourself try again.
These are the songs I know I’ll be sitting with each time the ache mixes with hesitation, creating that quiet edge of choosing growth knowing damn well it might hurt. That’s a quiet bravery that doesn’t look impressive from the outside but feels heavy when you’re the one carrying it.
These songs live in that exact moment after the lesson has been learned but before the choice is made, when you’re clear enough to know what could go wrong — and still tempted to see what’s possible.
This isn’t about chasing a second chance.
It’s about recognizing when you’re capable of handling the outcome — whatever it is.
How does this Books & Bangers sh*t work?
It’s pretty simple, actually…
> I fall into a trope filled rabbit hole and drag y’all with me
This week we’re diving into second chances… obviously.
I start my week with a song that takes control of my life, build a playlist around it so I can live in the vibes all week and then share it here for all of you—my feral book besties—to check it out if you want to.
And because a book dragon isn’t really a book dragon if we’re not hoarding books, I also give y’all a ton of book recs that fit the trope of the week.
Sometimes those books are ones I’ve read and am still spiraling over and other times they’re books I’m adding to my TBR in case y’all want to add to your book hoard too.
+100 Aura: Sign up for the free-book drops → Ascend to your final form: unbothered, hydrated (maybe), and feral book gremlin.
Think of our Books & Bangers drops like the school book fair for black-hearted BookTok girlies (and bros) trying to survive adulthood.
Instead of bringing home scented pencils and Lisa Frank stationery, we’re:
🖤 Hoarding second-chance romance books like emotional support blankies in case life throws another plot twist
🎧 Building playlists that sound like unresolved tension, late-night overthinking and kissing someone you probably shouldn’t
🥀 Quietly rooting for the ones who hurt each other once, but still feel that quiet yearning
🥤 Still chugging Monster, now with a reusable glass straw because personal growth is hot
✨ Delusional? Maybe.
✨ Committed to the bit? Absolutely.
Because sometimes the risk is worth it.
And the rest of the time it just goes on the list of things to talk to our therapists about.
Either way… it’s tradition 😏
And because I love you degenerates
I’ll always put at least a few FREE books in the weekly email drop for you because the economy is rawdogging everyone, BUT those links only go out to my Books & Bangers – Feral Book B*tches
(It’s just our lil 21k member book club).
If you’re not subscribed, you won’t see them.
(I love you… but I’m not getting yeeted by affiliate TOS for your TBR.)
SECOND CHANCE BOOKS I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT
Hey, y’all! Just a head’s up… I earn money on this ISH. Shocking. I know. 🤯 Affiliate links exist below this statement. If you click or tap on an image to check out a book rec then I may earn from qualifying purchases you make after using my link(s).
This week’s reading sits squarely in second-chance romance done right. Those heartfelt stories where the chemistry never vanished, but neither did the damage.
The books in this section are ones I recommend because they don’t rush the reunion or sanitize the past. The characters aren’t naïve and the risk feels real.
I gravitate toward second chance romance stories where:
- trust has to be rebuilt on the page, not assumed
- past mistakes don’t get rewritten or excused
- choosing each other again carries more weight than the first time
If a second chance doesn’t cost something, I’m not interested.
These books understand that wanting someone back is easy — earning them again is the story.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
BOOKS I’VE ADDED TO MY TBR THIS WEEK
These are the ones that slid into my peripheral vision while I was scrolling BookTok and Goodreads. SHHHHH! Don’t tell anyone, I was supposed to be working
I haven’t read these yet — and I’m not going to pretend I have — but they made me pause midscroll and I don’t like to gatekeep anything that makes me hit ADD TO CART!
So, if you’re also the kind of person who adds books to your TBR based on ✨vibes✨ and questionable life choices… you’re in the right place.
Check ’em out…
YEAH, I ALSO WRITE SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE
The books I add to the list here are ones I’ve written and live in the messy feelings and questionable choices that make second chance romance one of my favorite tropes.
If you’ve made it this far, you already know whether my style of writing is your flavor—or not
These are the stories I wrote for people LIKE ME. We’re the ones who love LOVE but also know life throws curveballs and sometimes happy ever after doesn’t turn out like we thought it would and who use dark humor as our favorite coping mechanism.
If something here grabs you, grab it back.
If not, no hard feelings!
When I write more books with second chances, which I definitely will since I’m aiming for 12 NEW books this year, then I’ll add them here…
FAKE DATE WITH A ROCK STAR is part of the multi-author series FAKE DATES & HEARTACHES featuring standalone novels by multiple authors. As other authors publish in the series I’ll drop them here 👇so bookmark this page and check back 💖
THE INDIE CORNER – AUTHORS I’M VIBING & NETWORKING WITH THIS WEEK
One of my favorite parts of doing this every week is getting to cross paths with other indie authors who are showing up, experimenting, and putting their work out there without waiting for vendors to send readers their way.
This corner is for those connections.
If you’re in the mood to explore beyond your usual recommendations — or you just like supporting indie authors who are doing the work — take a look around.
You might find your next favorite read.
THE CREATIVE CORNER – Writing Updates
This week I’m back in Oak Valley, the small town where Deck and Aria from FAKE DATE WITH A ROCK STAR finally stopped running from each other long enough to build something real.
Oak Valley isn’t just a setting for me. It’s a character in its own right. It’s also the place where second chances actually stick. Where the love story doesn’t end at the reunion, but settles into a life that gets to be lived day after day. That matters to me as I build this series out, because everything that comes after is shaped by their choice.
I’m working on expanding the town around them — the people who watched their story unfold, the quiet dynamics that formed in the background, and the ripple effects of what it means when two people do get it right the second time. Oak Valley is full of history like that and I want to show it on the page(s). Because these love stories aren’t just big romantic grand gestures, but long term memory, back roads and old wounds that never fully disappeared.
This week’s focus is making sure the series carries that weight forward and that every new second-chance story in Oak Valley feels grounded in a place where love has already been tested, broken and rebuilt once before.
I hope you all have also allowed yourselves time to slow down and just exist with the people and things you love this holiday season.
And just a reminder that there are ALWAYS featured books totally free for my Books & Bangers community.
This week? There were THREE of those FREE books for my fellow bookish besties
- Fake date
- Dark(ish) rom com
- Paranormal rom com
Gotta love those VIP perks.
Yeah, we’re unwell, but we’re unwell together.
If you’re a book hoarding dragon who also uses music and books as your primary coping mechanisms, falls easily for the morally gray characters on sight and prefer to escape reality one chapter and one breakdown at a time
…then you’re my people.
Drop your email and come hang out with us.
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But like… a cool newsletter
The kind that hands you free books, emotional breakdown-worthy bangers,
and weekly permission to be delightfully unhinged.
If you’re ready to spiral with us…
Wishing you all a banger of a week!
BOOKS & BANGERS 