love book tours

@lovebookstours

Organising successful virtual book tours since 2018..

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OPEN BOOK TOURS

Descended by Ingrid J Adams Book One UK & USA 31st May - 6th June

Season for Murder by Anna A Armstrong (The FitzMorris Family Mysteries Book 3) UK/US 12th - 23rd August

Star Lost by Amy Marie Ayres UK/US 3rd – 11th June

🐦‍⬛The Croaking Raven by Guy Hale - UK - Read Along - 1st - 30th June 🐦‍⬛

Under Her Roof by A.A. Chaudhuri UK/USA 13th June – 2nd July

War Bunny (Book 1 of The War Bunny Chronicles) by Christopher St John - USA 24th June – 11th July

Remedy by Emily Bridget Taylor UK/US/AU 23rd June - 6th July

Kelly A Lacey's Amazon page

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Author Services

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the first book tour company with fixed hosts

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Helping authors find their readers

Are you an author of fantasy, romance, paranormal, sci-fi or dystopian fiction looking to reach new readers? We're here to help! At Book Tour Gals, we believe Indie authors deserve the same quality promotion given to traditionally published titles. This is why we offer our multi-year experience as content creators to help authors reach new readers across multiple platforms with boutique, tailor-made tours catered to every budget. Unlike other tour companies, Book Tour Gals is not an intermediary between the author and the content creators. We establish a direct relationship with our authors and guarantee a professional and friendly experience.

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INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT OUR SERVICES?

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The Book Tour Gals specialize in creating customized marketing campaigns for authors and book related businesses. As the first ever tour company to operate with set hosts, Book Tour Gals pride ourselves in offering the best custom marketing campaigns for our authors and businesses. Below you’ll find a description of the different tour types we offer. Our tours are 100% customizable and pricings will vary based on the tour hosts chosen and the package selected. Please contact us via email on [email protected] or Instagram DM on @booktourgals for information and pricing. Should you choose to book a tour, we do require a $50 (USD) deposit to reserve your spot on our calendar which will be deducted from your total tour cost.

starter pack and cover reveals

This package includes: An Instagram photo on the scheduled day of posting featuring your book/product, and a story post with link sticker to the book's Amazon or Goodreads page. Hosts will not be responsible for reading and reviewing the book with this option. We will also share any sale or pre-order information in the caption upon request. Author/company will be tagged in all content.

photo promo package

This package includes: An Instagram photo on the scheduled day of posting featuring your book, a story unboxing upon receiving the book (if provided), a currently reading story post, a story post with Amazon purchase link sticker and a story post with Goodreads link sticker on scheduled day of posting. Hosts will also share reviews on Goodreads and Amazon within 4 weeks from the tour's end. We will also share any sale or preorder information in the caption upon request. Author will be tagged in all content.

reels and tiktok feature posts and cover reveals

This package includes: An Instagram Reel on the scheduled day of posting featuring your book/product, a story unboxing upon receiving the book/product (if provided), and a story post with link sticker to the book's Amazon or product page on scheduled day of posting. Hosts will not be responsible for reading and reviewing the book with this option. We will also share any sale or preorder information in the caption upon request. The reels will be reposted on TikTok. Author/company will be tagged in all content.

reels and tiktok promo package

This package includes: An Instagram Reel on the scheduled day of posting featuring your book, a story unboxing upon receiving the book (if provided), a currently reading story post, a story post with Amazon purchase link sticker and a story post with Goodreads link sticker on scheduled day of posting. We will also share any sale or preorder information in the caption upon request. The reels will be reposted on TikTok. Hosts will share reviews on Goodreads and Amazon within 4 weeks from the tour's end. Author will be tagged in all content.

feature deluxe package

This package includes: An Instagram Reel AND an Instagram Post on the scheduled days of posting featuring your book/product, a story unboxing upon receiving the book/product (if provided), and a story post with link sticker to the book's Amazon or product page on scheduled days of posting. Hosts will not be responsible for reading and reviewing the book with this option. We will also share any sale or preorder information in the caption upon request. The reels will be reposted on TikTok. Author/company will be tagged in all content.

promo deluxe package

This package includes: An Instagram Reel AND an Instagram Post on the scheduled days of posting featuring your book, a story unboxing upon receiving the book (if provided), 2 story post with link sticker to the book's Amazon page on scheduled days of posting, and a story post with link to the book's Goodreads page. We will also share any sale or preorder information in the caption upon request. The reels will be reposted on TikTok. Hosts will share reviews on Goodreads and Amazon within 4 weeks from the tour's end. Author will be tagged in all content.

Note about reviews: The rates are for advertising and promoting on our platforms and for organizing a tour on Instagram. Our rates are NOT for reviewing the book and do not guarantee a specific rating. With that in mind, our reviews tend to focus on the positive aspects of the book, but also offer constructive criticism when necessary. If an issue arises when reviewing, we will contact the author to clarify before posting it publicly. If you'd like to take note of each host's reviewing style, links to their Goodreads pages can be found in the "About Us" section of our website.

testimonials

Raven Kennedy, International Bestselling Author of The Plated Prisoner series "The Tour Gals are the top of my list recommendation for book tours. Each and every one of them puts so much heart and effort into hosting. Not only do they have beautiful feeds that enrich the Bookstagram community, but they are the nicest, most supportive people with a serious talent for gorgeous photos. I cannot recommend them enough, and yet, I want to keep them to myself!"

Ivy Asher, International Bestselling Author of Order of Scorpions and The Osseous Chronicles "The Tour Gals are the best in every possible way! The way they support and promote is leagues above other tours because they actually read and are passionate about the books they support. They put so much thought and care into everything they do and it makes a world of difference!"

Jane Washington, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of Plier "I couldn’t recommend the Book Tour Gals more. Their content is genuine, authentic, entertaining, and visually STUNNING. They’re an asset not just to authors, but to the whole book community. They were also very friendly and professional, and I’ll be recommending them to every author I know looking to boost their next release!”

S.G. Blaise, Award-winning author of The Last Lumenian series "It’s always a pleasure to work with the Book Tour Gals! They deliver!”

Ann Denton, Author of the Tangled Crowns and Feral Princess series, and of the poetry collection Ridiculous Truths "The Tour Gals are thoughtful and always seek to find beautiful and engaging ways to present the books they read. It's so easy and wonderful to work with them, and I can definitely say they've helped increase the visibility of my work.”

Cassie Alexander, Author of Bend Her "I was so happy with the time and attention the Book Tour Gals gave to promoting my new series -- all of them created really beautiful pieces of social media for it, and they really helped get the word out -- my pre-orders spiked! ”

Megan Van Dyke, Author of Second Star to the Left "The Book Tour Gals were so great to work with. They were organized, timely, and professional, but also so much fun. A genuine joy to work with. Each of the ladies embraced my book and made beautiful posts that helped me reach a whole new audience. During the tour, my book reached the #1 new release spot in its very competitive category on Amazon, which was so much more than I expected. I would certainly recommend them to other authors.”

Lit Haven Booktique, company specializing in Exclusive Collector's Edition Romance books and book boxes "The Book Tour Gals truly bring spectacular work to the table. You receive influencer size exposure, high quality content, top notch customer service, and passion for the project that’s so hard to find anywhere else. We highly recommend each of the hosts, and couldn’t have had a better experience.”

S.A. Christianson, Author of An Incarnation of Shadow and Light "An overwhelmingly positive experience from start to end. The gals were equal parts kind and professional and I can't imagine having a book launch without their services. I would work with them again in a heartbeat.”

Brian Paglinco, Author of the poetry collection Midnight Light "The Book Tour Gals are an absolute pleasure to work with. They know books, they know how to market books, and they know social media. So there’s no need to worry about it! They are confident, and they are organized. They are also kind, and they are also great at communicating. So don’t worry about that either! Their rates are great and they work very hard to make sure your investment pays off! I highly recommend the Book Tour Gals. I look forward to working with them again in the future.”

Emma V.R. Noyes, Author of The Sunken City "I can proudly recommend the Book Tour Gals to any author looking to publicize their book. The gals are absolutely fabulous to work with - fun and communicative, with top-notch social media content creation. 10/10 recommend!”

Havana Wilder, Author of the Iron Mountain series and the Kingdom Alliances series "All the gals are wonderful to work with. I definitely recommend them to all authors.”

Kitt Lynn, Author of Sana's Escape and the Hund Valley series "The BookTour Gals are the best! Their photos are creative, beautiful, and when I was unable to get the paperbacks to them in time, their photoshop skills where flawless!”

Madison Lawson, Author of The Registration "The Tour Gals were a joy to work with! They were kind and creative. The content posted was absolutely beautiful with stunning photos, thoughtful reels, and informational captions.”

Marion Blackwood, Author of Ruthless Villains "I highly recommend Book Tour Gals! They're professional and kind and put a lot of work into creating an amazing tour. The reels and photos they created were absolutely incredible! I will definitely be back for another tour with them!”

Nikki Robb, Author of Shadows of Verihdia "The Tour Gals made beautiful posts about my debut novel “Shadows of a Verihdia”, I loved having people who love books so much share their love of my story. ”

Scarlett D. Vine, Author of The Twice-Cursed Serpent "I wasn’t sure what to do expect from a book tour, but what I got from the Book Tour Gals was an amazing professional experience. I can’t recommend them enough.’ ”

I.P. Eviston, Author of The Vanguard Chronicles series "I worked with Book Tour Gals for my first and second books and couldn’t be happier with how professional each post and reel looked. Everyone was helpful and communicative through the whole process and I’ve gained a lot of new readers with their help!”

Mikaela Bell, Author of Taken by Nightfall "The Tour Gals were a pleasure to work with. They went above and beyond and helped launch my book. I highly recommend their services to everyone.”

Camilla Andrew, Author of the When the Stars Alight "Book Tour Gals was an essential component to having a successful launch week, I attribute a lot of my sales to their book influencer expertise. I will definitely be thinking of using their services again.”

Lucy Holden, Author of Woven in Darkness "I've collaborated with the Book Tour Gals on two releases, and in both cases have seen a huge jump in sales and online buzz. They are professional, efficient, reliable and very, very supportive of their authors. I will definitely work with them again.”

Holly Roberds, Author of The Lost Girls series "Working with the Book Tour Gals I saw a visible increase in sales, had so much quality content to reshare on my own platforms, and they made everything so easy! I highly recommend their services, they are professional, prompt, organized, produce amazing bookish content, and I have all my author friends running to sign up with them. I will 100% be touring again with them in the future."

R.M. Muller, Author of Sands of Ruin "Working with the team of Booktourgals was easy, and fun. Every member of the team was supportive and helpful. Highly recommend the service to indie authors looking to get their book seen!"

S.T. Fernandez, Author of The Legend of Gasparilla "The Book Tour Gals were a joy to work with. The level of creativity and enthusiasm they have is amazing. They really understand their audience and how to market to them."

Amy Boyles, Author of How To Fake It With A Fae "Doing a promotion with Tour Girls was a great choice. At first I wasn't sure if it would pay off, but the tour helped my book get wings and hold rank in Amazon, even weeks after the tour."

L.J. Shen, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of Thorne Princess "I absolutely recommend working with each and every one of the Tour Gals. It was a pleasure and I cannot wait to do it again soon!”

Saffron A. Kent, USA Today Bestselling Author of You Beautiful Thing, You "I loved loved loved working with the Book Tour Gals. They were so easy to work with, so accommodating and so understanding of my situation — I was pregnant at the time the book came out and we were juggling the dates. I truly felt loved and supported and their love for my book was shown through their posts.”

H.M. Hodgson, Award-winning Author of The Immortal Keepers series and the Three Gifts trilogy "I loved taking The Last Keeper on tour with BookTour Gals! The content created by everyone on the team was high quality, perfect for the theme of my book, engaging and individual. I’ve loved connecting with new readers through the BookTour Gals social media network, and of course it’s wonderful to see people reading my book!”

Danielle Harrington, Award-Winning Author of The Hollis Timewire series "The Book Tour Gals were so kind and supportive! They took gorgeous pictures of my books, provided insightful reviews for the Instagram Tour posts, and communicated quickly. The best part of the Book Tour was how special they made me feel! It was incredible seeing my book promoted alongside some of the big names on Bookstagram. It gave my platform and book series wider visibility and new fans who are dying to find out what happens next. I highly recommend these ladies. They were such a treat to work with!”

Sarah K.L. Wilson, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Bluebeard's Secret series "Very professional.”

Reina Bell, Author of the Kismet, New & Unbroken and Trust Me "Book Tour Gals are by far and away the very best at what they do. From start to finish, they are excellent communicators and make the process seamless. As an indie author with little social media experience, new to self-publishing and marketing, they are a godsend! I highly recommend all eight influencers. They are all fabulous with their own uniqueness and style, which I appreciate. I look forward to working with them for all of my future releases! Reina Bell”

Abby Millsaps, Author of Too Safe "I was thrilled with my promotional tour for Too Safe with the Book Tour Gals! From their professionalism and communication leading up to the tour, to their enthusiasm and excitement for my story, I couldn't imagine a better experience. The content they created was gorgeous, engaging, and on trend. I would highly recommend their services, and look forward to working with them again soon. ”

Angela J. Ford, Author of Married by Wind and the Tower Knights series "Working with Book Tour Gals was a pleasure, they took the time to create something exciting that would capture readers attention and I saw the boost in sales I needed. I will certainly be back to work with them again!”

Jessica S. Taylor, Author of The Syren's Mutiny series "Working with the Gals was amazing! Beautiful pics, noticeable engagement, and definitely worth the price!”

Whitney Dean, Author of The Four Kingdoms series "Book Tour Gals is made up of some incredible ladies who take the time to create content specifically for your book. I’ve worked with them twice so far with another tour scheduled for my second release. In my most recent tour, their reels catapulted my book onto the Amazon best seller list! Out of multiple tours, Book Tour Gals will be the only one I use for the rest of my series. I highly recommend them!"

Melissa Cassera, Author of Control "The Book Tour Gals are INCREDIBLE! Hands down best tour experience. The visuals they create are so eye catching, the posts are fun, there’s a ton of engagement, and they really work hard to rally behind your book. I loved all the care and attention they put in and can’t wait to work with them again!"

Clare Archer, Author of The Divine Oblivion "I greatly enjoyed working with BookTourGals. They were very professional and their posts were creative and beautiful. I was blown away by the amount of preorders I received by the end of the tour and it’s still rising!”

Kira Stanley, Author of Reluctant Queen "These gals are so creative and professional. They promise on what they deliver and are so kind and understanding about any questions you might have. They are responsive and quick (which is SOO helpful!) I would use them again in a heartbeat!”

Sara M. Schaller, Author of the the Empyrean trilogy "The Book Tour Gals are fantastic! I’ve gotten so many new readers and followers because of them. They made my book shine!”

Stephanie Storm, Author of The Confidential Heir "Loved this experience so much, that I'm already planning my next! In a world where it almost feels impossible to stand out amongst the 100s of 1000s of books that get published per day, the Book Tour Gals helped me stand out a bit, and sometimes it can be so scary because no indie author really knows what they're doing, and they're so friendly, helpful and approachable and help make this part of the journey a bit easier for us. Thank you!”

Morgan Gauthier, Author of A Song of Shadow and Starlight "Working with the Book Tour Gals was fun and easy! They are quick to respind, creative with their content, and are genuinely wonderful human beings! I will definitely work with them in the future!”

Santana Saunders, Author of A Curse of Blood and Bloom "The Book Tour Gals are AMAZING! They communicated everything well, and the results were better than I imagined.”

Raluca Narita, Author of Dark Magic "The Book Tour Gals are amazing! Working with them to prepare for the book tour was a positive experience. They clearly communicated about what to expect, and the posts that were made on social media were unique and engaging. Highly recommend!”

Kristie Price, Author of The Restricrions of Cora "This was such a great experience! The girls were knowledgeable and friendly, and their photos were beautiful! I loved the cosplay of my main female character; it was so cool and unique! They increased my books exposure and my followers. I highly recommend BookTourGals, and would love to work with them again!”

Mellie T. Tollem, Author of A Tale of Treachery "I loved working with the Book Tour Gals! This was my first tour as a debut indie author, and the ladies made it a very positive experience. The photos and posts were beautiful, and helped my book reach a whole new audience of readers. I would absolutely recommend them to other authors looking to expand their audience.”

Carter Pugh, Author of Death Rattle "The whole experience was so amazing. Each BTG crafted beautiful posts and I am so thankful. They made the process for promoting my first novel feel like the best week of my life. I was truly touched by their words and reviews and feel energized and excited about this amazing journey that I am on."

C.L. Qvam, Author of the Spindle of Life series "I absolutely loved working with the Book Tour Gals both for my debut and its sequel. I struggle with a lot of anxiety and decision-overwhelm, and they patiently helped guide me through the process whenever needed. They're a steady lighthouse in a storm for any beginner author, but I'd especially recommend for authors with romantasy novels. As a reader and regular consumer of their content, I can vouch for their excitement over a good (spicy) romance being an unparallelled force to putting a book in a reader's TBR!"

L.A. Goff, Author of Freezing Reign "Loved the convenience of working with so many book loving influencers at once!”

Elizabeth May, International and Sunday Times Bestselling Author of To Cage a God "The Book Tour Gals are such a delight to work with. Lovely, supportive and kind, with book posts that are so beautiful and professional. I can't recommend them enough, they're so wonderful!”

Sarah A. Parker, International Bestselling Author of To Bleed A Crystal Bloom "The Book Tour Gals are everything and so much more. Each and every one of them are artists in their own right, and the amount of effort they put into my book tour was astonishing—from the stunning pictures to the engaging posts and reels, all pulled together by their dedication and outstanding communication. I felt like a queen for the entire 8 days of my tour, because they treated me and my book with THAT much care and consideration. Mushy stuff aside, my sales skyrocketed over the course of the tour, and I feel a lot of that is thanks to these amazing gals. I cannot recommend them enough.”

Kate King, USA Today and International Best-Selling Author of Wilde Fae: Lords of the Hunt "I absolutely loved working with the tour gals and found it to be absolutely worth it for entering the Romantasy space. I’ve done more standard Instagram PR tours before that had more participants, but far less return on investment. Every post made a huge difference to my Amazon ranking, and introduced me to readers I never would have reached otherwise. 10/10.”

Jessica Wayne, USA Today Bestselling Author of Rise of a Warrior "The Book Tour Gals were wonderful to work with! The images and videos they put together for my book were spectacular, and I am looking forward to getting to work with them again!”

Nicola Tyche, Author of North Queen "The Book Tour Gals are exceptional! They were incredibly professional, creative, and so much fun to work with. They genuinely support indie authors, create beautiful content, and make the book release process so much more exciting. North Queen made top release charts in two large genre categories, and—as a debut author doing very little other marketing—I attribute this to the book tour. 10/10—I absolutely recommend!”

L.A. Gardner, co-owner of Papier and Pages Author Services and former PA and PR rep for USA Today and NYT Best Selling Authors "I have had the pleasure of partnering with the Tour Gals for a number of client releases. What strikes me the most is their professionalism, creativity, and genuine love of reading. They go above and beyond to create gorgeous reels, stories, and posts for their tours while keeping in tune with their audience expectations. I have seen firsthand the success of their tours with book launch after book launch and would highly recommend them to anyone needing book promotion.”

J.M. Failde, Author of The Crow Lord "I will never stop singing praise to Book Tour Gals. This tour was probably the best decision I have made for my book and its marketing. Not only were all the gals incredibly sweet, supportive, and fun to work with, they also brought me an influx of readers and followers. It's been almost a month now and I'm still seeing results from it! New readers message me often that they found me through BTG, and I just cannot recommend them enough. They are all so sweet and I will DEFINITELY be coming back to do another tour with them."

S.J. Tilly, Author of the Sleet series "Working with the Book Tour Gals was an absolute pleasure! Each and every one of them was super responsive and interactive with the Book Community, both before and after my tour, and made me feel like a part of their squad. I’m happy to have worked with them and even happier to call them my friends.”

Kate Golden, Author of A Dawn of Onyx "The gals were so easy to work with, thoughtful, creative and I saw a huge boost in sales and interactions when they posted. I will be doing all of my book launches and cover reveals with them!”

Veronica Douglas, Author of the Magic Side: Wolf Bound series "The Book Tour Gals made our last launch come alive. From showstopping photos to in-depth reviews to hilarious reels, it was a blast seeing each of their super creative posts. They helped us reach a much wider audience and made us feel like superstars. Thanks gals for our best release ever! ”

Alonna Williams, Author of the Pirates of the Withering Coast series "Love working with the Tour Gals! The pictures are always so beautiful and elegant and the communication is clear and everything runs smoothly!”

Alyssa Green, Author of Of Flesh and Steel "BookTourGals were so easy to work with. Communication was seamless and professional. I highly recommend them to any author looking to promote their book.”

T.R. Slauf, Author of the Legends of Lightning series "The Book Tour Gals were a pleasure to work with. Pre-tour they were extremely kind and patient with the numerous questions I had about the different services they offered. Each of them have their own unique way of creating lovely content, yet all of their styles blended together to make for a wonderful tour experience. I look forward to working with them again!”

Jessaca Willis, Author of A Delicate Betrayal "You can’t go wrong working with the Book Tour Gals! They’re friendly, professional, and super excited about hyping indie books! Highly recommend!”

Israh Azizi, Author of Heroes of the Empire: The Cavalier "I had a wonderful experience working with Tour Gals! I definitely recommend their services.”

C.H. Lyn, Author of Hope and Lies "I loved sending out my debut novel for a review tour with book tour gals. They were professional, kind, and helpful at every step. I'm thrilled that they enjoyed the story and I will absolutely be using their services again with the next installment of the series.”

E.V. Sauvage, Author of the A Sound of Battle series "Working with the Book Tour Gals was perfect. They make you feel at home with them while they prepare for the upcoming tour. You get to see in advance what is going to be posted and they always make sure it’s all good for you. I will 100% work with them again.”

Alexandra St. Pierre, Author of The Origin's Daughter "I would recommend touring with the Book Tour Gals to any authors who are looking to get exposure for their titles in the bookish community! Professional, fun and creative, they are so amazing to work with!"

Jacqueline Pretty, Author of Powerless "I had such a good experience with the Tour Gals - communication was fast and they seemed genuinely enthusiastic about my book. We had a shared Instagram chat with the hosts which I really appreciated, as it made it easy to talk about tour dates, post copy and to share post images when they went live. It was a wonderful experience and I'd highly recommend working with them!”

Emily North, Author of The Golden Alpha "Working with the Book Tour Gals took my book’s release week to the next level! I appreciated their friendly professionalism, and saw great results on my sales and social media presence. I look forward to working with them on future books!”

Steffanie Holmes, Author of You're So Dead To Me "I loved working with BookTourGals! The content they created around my book release was so fun and special – they take care to make the world of your books come alive to their audience and they know the tropes and aesthetic that will attract readers. I'll absolutely work with them again!"

E. A. M. Trofimenkoff, Author of the A Kiss of the Siren's Song "If you haven’t booked the Gals for your book tour, what are you waiting for? This was hands down one of the best experiences I could have ever asked for. Each one of the Book Tour Gals were so fun and easy to chat with, I loved the personalized and original content that each of them put into their posts and reels. I can’t recommend them enough! I’ll definitely be coming back for my future books!"

While we specialize in promoting fantasy, romance, paranormal, sci-fi and dystopian titles with a strong romantic component, over the years we have partnered with hundreds of authors and hosted over 400 tours in most literary genres and age groups, including partnerships with award-winning and bestselling authors. Click on the book covers to find out more about these amazing titles!

our fantasy and paranormal shelf

our romance and contemporary fiction shelf

our dystopian and sci-fi shelf

our fiction and thrillers shelf

our non-fiction and poetry shelf

We've also partnered with some companies! Click on the logos to find out more about them.

get to know the book tour gals

Established in 2021, our company is run by eight women united by a love of reading and photography. Our story is about a group of friends that decided to discover new books together and share the love of indie books with their communities. Click on the photos below to find out more about our hosts.

• tata.lifepages

Thais (also known as Tata) is secretly an energy engeneer with a not-so-secret passion for books and a new mama! She's a Latina living in Belgium with her husband, their newborn son and ragdoll cat, Kaz. Her favorite genres are romance and fantasy, and she loves morally gray characters! Enemies to lovers is her all time favorite trope and she has more book boyfriends than one could count! Now she hopes to influence her husband to become a reader like her! You might see him often in her content as he is her biggest supporter and filming assistant.

Vanessa or Ve as her friends and family call her, is a career mom and a student. She is a native New Yorker living in Fort Collins, CO. She has a Bachelors in Education from BAC. She is a huge advocate for Human Rights, her motto in life is to always be kind. Some of her passions are reading, photography, and home decor. She loves sharing her cozy mountain lifestyle with followers and friends. Ve's had her bookstagram account for 4 years (time flies!). She loves all things that are hygge and neutral colors. Her love for reading started in early elementary school thanks to C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia and Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree . She gravitates towards Fantasy and Romance, her favorite series is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. She also loves to dive into Sci-Fi, Dystopian, and Paranormal. Although it's not her regular go-to she enjoys reading a good thriller from time to time and is always open to read other genres.

• wordsbychiara

Chiara is a dedicated dog mom of one very eccentric terrier mix puppy named Indie! Though she currently lives in Naples, Italy, the years of her childhood spent in Bellevue, Washington shaped her as a reader and nurtured her love for the English language. She likes to say that Bilbo Baggins, Daenerys Targaryen and Taylor Swift gave her life direction, sparking her love for fantasy adventures, complex characters and storytelling. When Chiara isn’t reading, you’ll find her writing with her sister, Maria, cooking up her next red flag fictional boyfried, or obsessing over Damiano David (frontman of Måneskin) Chiara's favorite genres are fantasy and romance (especially the spicy kind!) She is a firm believer that red flags are just pretty shades of pink, so the more morally gray the character, the more likely she is to love them!

• pagesofmaria

Maria currently lives in Italy, but she spent a big part of her childhood in Bellevue, Washington. Those years shaped her love for reading and writing, and to this day, she still reads and writes in English. Aside from Bookstagram, her other great passion is writing. Like most things in life, it’s something she shares with her sister, Chiara, with whom she co-writes everything with the pen name C.M. Karys. Their first novel, Ilahara: The Last Myrassar , was published on November 1, 2021! Maria’s favorite author is Sarah J. Maas, Cassandra Clare, Tessa Bailey, Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood, but there are so many more! She reads anything ranging from YA to Adult, mostly Fantasy, Paranormal, and Contemporary Romance, but she also enjoys Sci-fi and Dystopian. Smut or no smut, romance is one of her favorite elements in a book, though she can just as well enjoy one that favors other aspects like mystery and political intrigue!

• canxdancexreads

Candice is stay at home mom, book hoarder, one day finish BA English major, and has dreams of being a writer. She lives in between all of the book worlds and Michigan, US. Candice has been a reader all of her life but vividly remembers early teenage years Tamora Pierce sucking her completely into the pages of books. Her favorite genres are Paranormal romance and pretty much all smut. Romance is a must have for her to really enjoy a book. That all consuming, swoon and die for each other while ripping your heart out story. Her favorite authors are Raven Kennedy and Heather Lyons and she tends to read mostly indie books. She enjoys recommending all the books for people to read and is very passionate about her bookstagram. She started her bookstagram in May 2017 and has found herself in her whimsy, blue and busy style of photos.

• literaryfaery

Shelby is a seventh year AP English teacher from Florida. An intensely passionate educator, Shelby was named the District Teacher of the Year, making her among the 2023 cohort of Florida teachers of the year. In 2016, she earned a degree in English Literature (concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Studies) from FSU, where she met her fellow educator husband. They have a son together named Saxon and currently live just north of Jacksonville. Shelby grew up a musical theatre kid and a competitive cheerleader, and of course, an avid reader! She has been obsessed with storytelling and bookish fandoms since childhood, and now feels so lucky to get to talk about books with young readers for a living! Her favorite series include Outlander , Game of Thrones , Lord of the Rings , and anything by Raven Kennedy, Bardugo, JLA, and SJM. Since 2018, book-blogging has become the perfect creative outlet to merge Shelby’s many passions, which also include cosplaying, photography, and interior design. Bookstagram has become her home where she gets to work with authors and fellow readers to help promote new books and allow others to discover indie books! Recently, Shelby has begun working as a freelance editor with indie authors, specializing in romance and fantasy genres.

• heartof.tati

Tati is a book lover, writer and enthusiast! She is a middle school teacher by day, and a smut, romance reader by night! Although those are her favorite genres, she does read a variety of books and tend to love reading outside of her comfort zone. She always describes her feed as pastel and whimsy! When she's not bookstagramming, teaching, or reading, she enjoys being around family and friends.

If you are interested in learning more about our tours and/or availability for booking please contact us via email at: [email protected] or fill out the form below. We'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. Have a great day!

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Books We Love: Love And Romance

Linda Holmes

Lauren Migaki

Rommel Wood

Hafsa Fathima

Mike Katzif

Jessica Reedy

NPR's Books We Love is a roundup of favorite books of the year, sorted and tagged to help you find exactly what you're looking for. From the meet cutes to the happy endings and through all the ups and downs in between, we're recommending great books for people who love love and romance.

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Why Your Big Sister Resents You

“Eldest daughter syndrome” assumes that birth order shapes who we are and how we interact. Does it?

By Catherine Pearson

Catherine Pearson is a younger daughter who still leans on her older sister for guidance all the time.

In a TikTok video that has been watched more than 6 million times, Kati Morton, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Santa Monica, Calif., lists signs that she says can be indicative of “eldest daughter syndrome.”

Among them: an intense feeling of familial responsibility, people-pleasing tendencies and resentment toward your siblings and parents.

On X, a viral post asks : “are u happy or are u the oldest sibling and also a girl”?

Firstborn daughters are having a moment in the spotlight , at least online, with memes and think pieces offering a sense of gratification to responsible, put-upon big sisters everywhere. But even mental health professionals like Ms. Morton — herself the youngest in her family — caution against putting too much stock in the psychology of sibling birth order, and the idea that it shapes personality or long term outcomes.

“People will say, ‘It means everything!’ Other people will say, ‘There’s no proof,’” she said, noting that eldest daughter syndrome (which isn’t an actual mental health diagnosis) may have as much to do with gender norms as it does with birth order. “Everybody’s seeking to understand themselves, and to feel understood. And this is just another page in that book.”

What the research says about birth order

The stereotypes are familiar to many of us: Firstborn children are reliable and high-achieving; middle children are sociable and rebellious (and overlooked); and youngest children are charming and manipulative.

Studies have indeed found ties between a person’s role in the family lineup and various outcomes, including educational attainment and I.Q . (though those scores are not necessarily reliable measures of intelligence ), financial risk tolerance and even participation in dangerous sports . But many studies have focused on a single point in time, cautioned Rodica Damian, a social-personality psychologist at the University of Houston. That means older siblings may have appeared more responsible or even more intelligent simply because they were more mature than their siblings, she said, adding that the sample sizes in most birth order studies have also been relatively small.

In larger analyses, the link between birth order and personality traits appears much weaker. A 2015 study looking at more than 20,000 people in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States found no link between birth order and personality characteristics — though the researchers did find evidence that older children have a slight advantage in I.Q. (So, eldest daughters, take your bragging rights where you can get them.)

Dr. Damian worked on a different large-scale study, also published in 2015 , that included more than 370,000 high schoolers in the United States. It found slight differences in personality and intelligence, but the differences were so small, she said, that they were essentially meaningless. Dr. Damian did allow that cultural practices such as property or business inheritance (which may go to the first born) might affect how birth order influences family dynamics and sibling roles.

Still, there is no convincing some siblings who insist their birth order has predestined their role in the family.

After her study published, Dr. Damian appeared on a call-in radio show. The lines flooded with listeners who were delighted to tell her how skewed her findings were.

“Somebody would say: ‘You’re wrong! I’m a firstborn and I’m more conscientious than my siblings!’ And then someone else would call in and say, ‘You’re wrong, I’m a later-born and I’m more conscientious than my siblings!” she said.

What personal experience says

Sara Stanizai, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Long Beach, Calif., runs a virtual group with weekly meet-ups, where participants reflect on how they believe their birth order has affected them and how it may be continuing to shape their romantic lives, friendships and careers.

The program was inspired by Ms. Stanizai’s experience as an eldest daughter in an Afghan-American family, where she felt “parentified” and “overly responsible” for her siblings — in part because she was older, and in part because she was a girl .

While Ms. Stanizai acknowledged that the research around birth order is mixed, she finds it useful for many of her clients to reflect on their birth order and how they believe it shaped their family life — particularly if they felt hemmed in or saddled by certain expectations.

Her therapy groups spend time reflecting on questions like: How does my family see me? How do I see myself? Can we talk about any discrepancies in our viewpoints, and how they shape family dynamics? For instance, an older sibling might point out that he or she is often the one to plan family vacations. A younger sibling might point out that he or she often feels pressured into going along with whatever the rest of the group wants.

Whether or not there is evidence that birth order determines personality traits is almost beside the point, experts acknowledged.

“I think people are just looking for meaning and self-understanding,” Ms. Stanizai said. “Horoscopes, birth order, attachment styles” are just a few examples, she said. “People are just looking for a set of code words and ways of describing their experiences.”

Catherine Pearson is a Times reporter who writes about families and relationships. More about Catherine Pearson

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