{"podcast":{"title":"What to Read Next — Book Recommendations for Romance, Thrillers & Escape Reads","slug":"what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873","podcast_index_feed_id":9873,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/whattoreadnext/","website_url":"http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/f7acd6df-7bd5-4b9f-bdcd-cc1c6c790629/4osSDj37v6rAcBIBBysi07ET.png","author":"Laura R Yamin","episode_count":928,"summary":"You know you want to read. You just don't know what. What to Read Next is the podcast for readers who love romance, thrillers, and women's fiction — and spend more time staring at their TBR than actually reading it. I'm Laura, and twice a week I bring you book recommendations built around one thing: how you actually feel right now. Not what's new. Not what's trending. The right book for this exact mood, this exact moment, this exact week of your life. Some weeks that means asking an author what they read for joy — not what they wrote, but what they reach for when they need to escape. Their answer is always your next discovery. Some weeks it means me telling you exactly what I read, what stayed with me, what I DNF'd at 40% and why, and which one I'd press into your hands right now if we were having coffee. Romance across every subgenre. Psychological thrillers. Beach reads with actual substance. Women's fiction that makes you feel seen. The books that give you the escape you came for — and a few that'll quietly change how you see things too. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. The Reading Receipt — my weekly reading log — drops every Thursday on Substack. Start anywhere. The r…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T20:17:08.396085+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873"},"episode":{"title":"Fake NOT Dating: A Bollywood-Inspired Romcom Debut |  Lavanya Lakshmi","slug":"fake-not-dating-a-bollywood-inspired-romcom-debut-lavanya-lakshmi","published_at":"2026-06-17T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/fake-not-dating-a-bollywood-inspired-romcom-debut-lavanya-lakshmi","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873","url":"http://www.whattoreadnextblog.com","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/7baff7e5-9ce4-4f85-85a5-98e376c8cf0e.mp3","summary":"This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A debut romcom inspired by Bollywood, built around one of the most delicious twists on fake dating you'll ever read — fake NOT dating . If you love big Indian weddings, chaotic families, and slow-burn tension between two people who desperately want each other but have to pretend they've never met, this episode is your sign to add Leave and Come Back to your TBR immediately. Debut author Lavanya Lakshmi joins the show to talk about her journey from Twilight fanfiction to landing a publishing deal, the Bollywood film that inspired her novel, and why she made the bold choice to get her characters together at the start of the book. We also dig into her reading life and the books she returns to again and again — including a romance she calls her holy grail. 📚 Books Mentioned Leave and Come Back by Lavanya Lakshmi — Buy on Amazon | Romcom / South Asian Romance | Audio ✅ Seven Days in June by Tia Williams — Buy on Amazon | Contemporary Romance / Literary | Audio ✅ The View Was Exhausting by Mikaellla Clements & Onjuli Datta — Buy on Amazon | Celebrity Fake Dating Romance | Audio ✅ Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin — Buy on Amazon | Literary Fiction / Women's Fiction | Audio ✅ (highly recommended on audio per guest) Summer Sisters by Judy Blume — Buy on Amazon | Women's Fiction / Coming-of-Age | Audio ✅ Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell — Buy on Amazon | Craft / Writing Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan — Buy on Amazon | Contemporary Romance | Audio ✅ Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan — Buy on Amazon | Contemporary Romance | Audio ✅ It's a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan — Buy on Amazon | Contemporary Romance | Audio ✅ Dolly All the Time by Annab…","meta_description":"This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A debut romcom inspired by Bollywood, built around…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1454,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/episodes/fake-not-dating-a-bollywood-inspired-romcom-debut-lavanya-lakshmi/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-to-read-next-book-recommendations-for-romance-thrillers-escape-reads-9873/fake-not-dating-a-bollywood-inspired-romcom-debut-lavanya-lakshmi.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}